released her and watched intently as she signed one page after another. When it was all done, she handed the documents back to him. “Is that it?”
Luc tucked the paperwork away. “I have a couple of other things I think we need to discuss, but it requires a private setting. We’ll be more comfortable at home.”
“Oh.” Her scintillating response didn’t faze him. He seemed perfectly calm. He summoned their waiter, paid the check and stood to pull out her chair. As they exited the restaurant, she was hyperaware of his warm hand resting in the small of her back.
Hattie was silent on the drive back. Her skin was hot, her stomach pitchy. What on earth could he mean? Sex? It seemed the obvious topic, but she had assumed they might work up to that gradually…after they were married. She hadn’t anticipated talking about it so bluntly or openly. They had been as close as two people could be once upon a time. But that was long, long ago.
Was she willing to go to his bed? To be his wife in every sense of the word? He was well within his rights as a husband to insist.
Did she expect him to be faithful in the context of a sham marriage? And if Luc no longer wanted to be intimate with Hattie, was it fair to deny him physical satisfaction?
She wouldn’t lie to herself. She wanted Luc.
Dear Lord, what was she going to say?
In a cowardly play for more time, she stalled when they got back to the house. “I’d like to check on the baby and change clothes. Is that okay? It won’t take me long.”
Luc dropped his keys into the exquisite Baccarat dish on the table in the foyer. “Take your time. I’ll meet you in the den when you’re ready.”
Chapter 5
Wearing ancient jeans and a faded Emory T-shirt, Luc sprawled on the leather sofa and stared moodily at the blank television screen. Was he insane? Power. A nice fantasy. Clearly he was fooling himself. What man was ever really in control when his brain ceded authority to a less rational part of his body?
Just being close to Hattie these last few days had caused him to resort to cold showers. He told himself that his physical response to her was nothing more than a knee-jerk reaction to memories… to sensual images of the way he and Hattie had burned up the sheets.
She’d been a virgin when they met, a shy, reserved girl with big eyes and a wary take on the world. As if she was never quite sure someone wasn’t going to pull the rug out from under her feet.
He’d been embarrassed to tell her how many girls he’d been with before meeting her. A horny teenager with unlimited money at his disposal was a dangerous combination. In high school, he’d been too concerned about keeping his body in shape for sports to dabble in drugs. And even drinking, a rite of passage for adolescent boys, didn’t hold much allure. Perhaps because he had grown up in a house where alcohol was freely available and handled wisely.
But sex…hell, he’d had a lot of sex. Money equals power…even sixteen-year-old girls could figure that out. So Luc was never without female companionship, unless he chose to hang with his buddies.
When Hattie came into his life, everything changed. She was different. She liked him, but his money didn’t interest her. At first, he thought her attitude might be a ploy to snag his attention. But as they got to know each other, he realized that she really didn’t give a damn that he was loaded.
She expected thoughtfulness from him, attention to her likes and dislikes. She wanted him to know her. And that was something money couldn’t buy.
It was only much, much later that he realized his money was actually a stumbling block.
A faint noise made him turn his head. Hattie hovered in the doorway, her sun-streaked blond hair pulled back into a short ponytail, her feet bare. She was dressed as casually as he was.
He patted the seat beside him. “Would you like more wine?” The upcoming conversation might flow more easily if she relaxed.
She shook her head as she perched gingerly on the far end of the couch, tucking her legs beneath her. “No, thanks. Water would be nice.” Her toenails were painted pale pink. The sight of them did odd things to his gut.
He went to the fridge behind the bar, extracted two Perriers and handed her one. As he sat back down, he allowed the careful distance she had created to remain between them. It meant she was nervous, and that gave him an edge. He handed her a slim white envelope. “We’ll start with this.” Inside were three credit cards with her soon-to-be name, Hattie Parker Cavallo, already imprinted.
She extracted them with patent reluctance. “What are these?”
He stretched an arm along the back of the sofa. “As my wife, you’ll need a large wardrobe. I entertain frequently, and I also travel often. When it’s feasible, I’d like you and Deedee to accompany me. In addition, I want you to outfit the nursery upstairs. I’ve put a selection of baby furniture catalogs in the desk drawer in your bedroom. Ana will show you the suite I picked out for Deedee. If it doesn’t meet with your approval, we’ll decide on another.”
She paled, her eyes dark and haunted.
He ground his teeth. “What’s wrong?”
She shrugged helplessly. “I…I feel like you’re taking over my life. Like I’ve lost all control.”
His fists clenched instinctively, and he had to force himself to relax. “I understood there was some sense of urgency to the situation…that we needed to back up your lie quickly.”
“There is…and we do…but…”
“But what? Do you disagree with any of the arrangements I’ve made thus far?”
“No, of course not.”
“Then I don’t understand the problem.”
She jumped to her feet and paced. With her back to him, he could see the way the soft, worn jeans cupped her butt. It was a very nice butt. With an effort, he dragged his attention back to the current crisis.
She whirled to face him. “I’m used to taking care of myself.” The words were almost a shout.
Something inside him went still…crouched like a tiger in waiting. He feigned a disinterest he didn’t feel. “We don’t have to get married at all, Hattie. My team of lawyers loves going for the kill. Custody situations aren’t their usual fare, but with Eddie in self-destruct mode, it shouldn’t be too hard to convince a judge that you’re the obvious choice to raise Deedee.” He paused, risking everything on a gamble, a single toss of the dice. “Is that what you want?”
Hattie pressed two fingers to the center of the forehead, clearly in pain. Her entire body language projected misery. “I want my sister back,” she said…and as he watched, tears spilled down her wan cheeks.
He tried to leave her alone, he really did. But her heartbreak twisted something inside his chest. She didn’t protest when he took her in his arms, when he pulled the elastic band from her ponytail and stroked her hair, careful not to further hurt her injury.
She
