Kitabı oku: «Nine Months Part 2»

Chapter Four

Paige Summers couldn’t wait to get to her parents’ home on Juniper Lane, a neat two-story frame they’d bought shortly after her father’s retirement. She’d show her mother the sonogram pictures before dinner, and then afterward, they’d watch the video. Accepting the fact that his unmarried daughter was pregnant was difficult for her father, but he loved her and she knew she could count on his support during the months and years ahead. She didn’t think she’d ever be able to bring herself to tell him that she’d gotten pregnant by a stranger the night of the horrible June rainstorm when she’d been trapped in the Wellman Building elevator. Walt Summers was far too old-fashioned. If he had any idea about the identity of the man who had fathered Paige’s child, he’d go after the guy with a shotgun.

Paige giggled when she pictured her father holding a shotgun on L. J. Montgomery and demanding the man marry his daughter. But the image of her walking down the aisle with Jared quickly wiped the smile off her face. Nothing short of a wedding would satisfy her father or Jared.

If circumstances were different, if Paige thought there was a chance Jared might learn to love her and accept her for the woman she was, she’d willingly marry her baby’s father. If they loved each other, they could find a way to overcome their many differences. But any man who could map out his personal life the way he planned his business ventures wasn’t capable of real love. If Jared loved her, he wouldn’t be so concerned about her being such an unsuitable mate.

And even if she loved Jared—and that was a big if—her romantic heart would wither and die without having her love returned in full measure. Her soul needed a soul mate. Although she couldn’t deny that she was physically attracted to Jared, that she found him downright irresistible, she wasn’t sure whether what she felt for him was just infatuation or real love.

Perhaps she had been trying to convince herself that she’d fallen in love with Jared at first sight because loving him would justify her pregnancy. After all, what woman would want to admit that she’d done something so monumentally foolish for any other reason than love?

Maybe she had fallen for the cowboy stranger she’d made love with in the elevator, but L. J. Montgomery was a different man. He was her boss! How could she possibly love someone so domineering and arrogant?

She turned her white Chevy Malibu into her parents’ drive, directly behind her brother Austen’s mud-splattered Chevy pickup. The front porch light shone brightly, casting a creamy glow over the wide front yard filled with neatly trimmed shrubs and barren flower beds. Paige dropped her keys into her shoulder bag, double-checked the zippered side pouch to make sure the sonogram pictures and video were still there and got out of the car.

The moment she opened the door, the cool October wind chilled her to the bone. Adjusting her shoulder bag, Paige buttoned her wool jacket before she hurried up the drive and onto the porch.

Apparently her mother had been watching for her. Dora Summers flung open the front door, reached out and pulled Paige inside, then closed the door quietly.

“Mama—”

“Shh!” Dora put a finger to her lips, then yanked Paige into a corner of the foyer. “He’s here!”

“Who’s here?” Paige asked.

“Him.”

“Mama, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Who’s here?”

“Your fiancé, of course.”

“My what?”

“L. J. Montgomery,” Dora replied, her brown eyes huge as saucers. “Your daddy was fit to be tied when he told us that he was your baby’s father—”

“He did what?”

“But it’s all right now. The minute he showed us the diamond ring he’s going to give you and told your daddy that he wanted to ask his permission before y’all made it official, Walt’s attitude changed completely. Land sakes, they’re in the den now with Austen, the three of them talking about football and skiing and the army. You know, all that man stuff.”

Paige had noticed over the years that whenever her mother got excited, her Mississippi accent became more pronounced. And Dora was quite excited now. Happily excited. But why shouldn’t she be? Why shouldn’t her entire family be delighted? After all, they’d been told that their unmarried, pregnant daughter was engaged to one of the wealthiest men in the Southwest.

She should have known that Jared wouldn’t abide by their agreement and let her handle their situation. He was too accustomed to being in charge, to issuing orders and having them instantly obeyed. He planned and arranged every element of his life to his liking. He didn’t leave any room for other people’s feelings, other people’s hopes and dreams.

He had screwed up his precisely made plans for the future, but he was adapting quickly, altering his plans to include a wife and child, neither of whom he loved or wanted. He was so determined to have his own way that he didn’t care what she wanted. And he was in the den with her father and brother right now, cleaning up the mess he’d created four months ago.

Paige hung her bag on the pine coat tree, then removed her jacket and hung it over her purse. “He’s not going to get away with this,” she murmured.

“What did you say?” her mother asked.

“Nothing, Mama. Just muttering to myself.” Paige wrapped her arm around her mother’s shoulders. “How long has Jared been here?”

“About an hour, dear. A taxi brought him. And Mr. Montgomery…I mean Jared…he told us to call him Jared. Well, anyway, he brought flowers and wine and told us who he was and that you had invited him to join us for dinner.” Dora slipped her arm around Paige’s waist. “Why on earth didn’t you tell us about Jared, that the two of you were planning to get married?”

“Because I haven’t agreed to marry him.”

“Why on earth not?”

“Because he doesn’t love me, Mama. He just wants to marry me because of the baby.”

“Well, in my day, that was a darn good reason.”

Paige had never heard her sweet, gentle mother say a curse word, no matter how angry or upset she became. Dora Elkins Summers was a sparkling ember from the dying fire of Southern gentility.

“Mama, please. I’m going to need you to be on my side.” Paige grasped her mother’s hands. “I know Daddy will want me to marry Jared, no matter what. But I can’t.”

“Don’t you love him, Paige?”

She looked into her mother’s dear, worried face and accepted defeat. Temporary defeat. After this little family dinner party ended, she was going to get Mr. Wonderful Future Son-in-law alone and give him a piece of her mind. When she got through with him, he would be sorry he’d ever tried to get the best of her.

“Jared Montgomery wouldn’t be an easy man to love. You can’t imagine how infuriating he can be. Half the time he acts like an infuriating jerk.”

“Oh, sweetie, he’s a man. Most of them are like that. Being infuriating is a male trait.” Clasping Paige’s hand, Dora tugged gently, urging her daughter to follow her. “Let’s go on in. We all heard your car drive up, but I told them I needed a few minutes alone with you for mother-daughter time.”

“Thanks, Mama.” Paige plastered a phony smile on her face, tilted her chin high, squeezed her mother’s hand, and together they paraded into the den.

“There you are, sweetheart.” Walt Summers held his arms open.

Paige caught a glimpse of Jared standing near the rock fireplace beside Austen, but she didn’t glance his way. Instead she rushed into her father’s arms.

“We’ve been getting to know your Jared.” Walt gave Paige a bear hug, then released her.

“So Mama told me,” she said.

Paige’s heart sank when she saw her father’s broad smile. Dammit! He liked Jared. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Jared wasn’t supposed to be here.

Without any warning, Jared slid his arm around Paige’s waist and drew her to his side. He nuzzled her ear. She shivered. “Honey, I hope you aren’t upset with me for showing your folks your engagement ring and springing our good news on them before you got home.”

Smiling politely, her jaws aching from the effort, she patted Jared’s cheek, barely refraining herself from slapping him. “Why, no, darling, how could I ever be upset with you when your every thought is of what’s best for me.”

“I knew you’d understand why I decided that I should be the one to introduce myself and assure your parents that I’m going to take very good care of their little girl.”

“Isn’t this just too wonderful for words?” Dora wiped the tears from her eyes with the edge of her gingham apron. “And to think how worried we’ve all been.”

“Now, now, all’s well that ends well.” Walt cleared his throat. “Mama, why don’t you and Austen and I go on out in the kitchen and leave these two lovebirds alone? I’m sure Paige is dying to get a look at that ring.”

“No!” Paige cried out. “Don’t go.” When everyone stared at her, their eyes questioning her plea, she took a deep breath. “I mean, why don’t we go ahead and have dinner. Jared and I plan to go back to my apartment later and discuss our future.”

Short, stocky, seventeen-year-old Austen slapped Jared on the back. “Hey, man, if she had any idea of the size of that rock, she’d want it on her finger right this minute. Why don’t you show it to her?”

“Good idea.” Jared pulled a velvet box out of his coat pocket, flipped open the lid and held it up in front of Paige. “The moment I saw it, I knew it was meant for my future wife.”

Paige gasped. Oh, my God! He had to be kidding? The emerald-cut diamond sparkled like a star. A large star. Maybe this ring was meant for his future wife, but not for her. He hadn’t been thinking of her when he’d chosen the diamond; he’d been thinking of what was suitable for L. J. Montgomery’s fiancée.

“She’s speechless,” Austen said. “See, what’d I tell you? Hey, sis, I bet you never thought you’d ever be wearing a perfect six-carat diamond, did you?”

Paige swallowed. “No. Not ever.” If Jared’s intention had been to dazzle her, he had succeeded. Indeed, he seemed to have dazzled her whole family. But if his intention had been to please her, he had failed miserably.

While she stared at the diamond, totally mesmerized, Jared removed it from its velvet bed. “Let’s make it official, honey.” He lifted her hand, slipped the ring on the third finger of her left hand and brought her hand to his lips.

Paige tugged on her hand, trying to remove it from his grasp. He tightened his hold, then kissed the knuckle on her ring finger. She bit down on her bottom lip, whether in an effort not to cry or not to spit in his eye, she wasn’t sure.

“Let’s open that bottle of wine Jared brought and make a toast to the happy couple,” Walt said.

* * *

Three-and-a-half hours later, Paige unlocked her apartment, opened the door and flipped on the light switch. She wasn’t sure how she had managed to spend the entire evening at her parents’ home and endure the drive back into town alone with Jared, without strangling the man. She had counted to ten a least a dozen times.

God, he was such a manipulator. She could hear him now.

“Austen, whenever you or Bryant want to take a few friends to Aspen, you’re welcome to use my condo.”

“Wow, man, thanks!” Austen had been duly impressed.

“And, Walt, I’d really appreciate your including me in your plans the next time you and your boys go hunting,” Jared had said.

After dinner he’d raved to her mother. “Mrs. Summers, that was the best fried chicken I’ve ever eaten. And the peach cobbler was delicious.”

The minute they’d gotten into her car, she’d warned him not to say one word to her. “I can’t drive and chew your ass out at the same time.”

“Tsk-tsk, honey,” he’d said. “Your mother wouldn’t approve of your being mean to me, would she?”

Paige had given him an evil glare. He’d grinned, but he had shut up and remained silent all the way into Grand Springs.

Jared walked into Paige’s apartment behind her, closed the door and casually crossed his arms over his chest. “I like your family,” he said. “They’re good people.”

“Yes, you’re right, they are good people. And I don’t appreciate the way you manipulated them tonight.”

“And just exactly how did I manipulate them?”

“You know damn well how.” Paige laid her shoulder bag on the coffee table. “You invited yourself to dinner when you knew I didn’t want you there. You told my parents that you’re the father of my child and that we’re going to get married.”

“I am the father of your child. And sooner or later, you are going to marry me.”

Crinkling her face into a disgusted frown, Paige threw up her hands and screeched. “I am not going to marry you. I thought I made that perfectly clear this morning. And I thought you agreed.” Paige removed her jacket and flung it on a nearby chair.

“What you made perfectly clear this morning was that I had to take some drastic measures to persuade you that marrying me is the best thing for you and our child.”

“It isn’t going to work, you know.” She kicked off her heels and slumped down onto the sofa. “Just because you charmed my family and put this—” she held up her right hand “—expensive ring on my finger, does not mean you’ve won.” She jerked off the ring and held it out to him. “Here, take this thing to the jeweler’s and get your money back. A ring like this isn’t my style, anyway.”

Glancing down at the ring lying in her palm, Jared shrugged. “Well, that ring—” he nodded to the perfect six-carat diamond “—is my style, and it’s exactly what my fiancée would wear. So, you’re going to keep it. Besides, if you don’t keep the ring, you’re going to find it difficult to explain to your parents why you gave it back to me. After all, I’m their grandchild’s father, and I’m more than willing to make an honest woman of you.”

“I understand now why you’re so successful.” Paige glared at him. He grinned. Damn the man! Damn him for making her stomach do evil flip-flops every time he smiled at her. “You’re manipulative and underhanded and conniving and deceitful and ruthless.” She laid the ring on a brass coaster on the end table.

Uncrossing his arms, Jared strolled across the room toward the sofa. “You forgot to mention ‘determined.’ I never give up until I get what I want.” He sat down beside her, trapping her between him and the sofa arm.

She tried to get up; he held her down. “You can’t force me to marry you,” she said.

He pulled her into his arms. “No, but I think I can persuade you.” When he tried to kiss her, she thrashed around, twisting her head from side to side.

Laughing, Jared released her and leaned his head back against the sofa. “You don’t want to disappoint your parents, Paige. They’re the kind of people who expect their daughter to be married when she has a child.”

“I know what my parents expect,” she said. “But they wouldn’t think I was going to marry you if you hadn’t lied to them.”

“Look, I like your parents. I wouldn’t intentionally hurt them. They’re warm, loving people and I envy you the life you must have had growing up in such a caring, supportive environment.”

“I’m very lucky.”

“Yes, you are. My parents were always too busy for me when I was a kid. My father didn’t have time for anything except working and chasing women. And my mother didn’t have time for anything except her social obligations.”

“I’m sorry, Jared, you must have been a lonely little boy. Were you an only child?”

“Yep, I was the only heir to the throne. But don’t feel sorry for me. I had everything money could buy.”

Paige glanced over at her purse lying on the coffee table and thought about the sonogram pictures and video. Her family had been so excited about her “engagement,” she’d never had a chance to bring out the sonogram results. How would he feel if she told him about his child? If she did, maybe he wouldn’t be so eager to marry her. “You want a son, don’t you? An heir for all your millions.”

“Of course that’s what I want. It’s what every man wants.”

“You won’t get what you want if you marry me. I’m totally unsuitable to be L. J. Montgomery’s wife. You said so yourself. You need to follow through with your five-year plan and find another woman to give you a son. You see—” she looked him straight in the eye “—the baby I’m carrying is a girl.”

“A girl?” he asked. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. I had the sonogram today. Remember? I’m going to have a daughter, not a son.”

“Well, I’ll be damned.”

Jared had never for one minute considered the possibility that he might have fathered a girl. Hell, he’d never even thought about having a daughter. He had planned for a son. He had also planned to wait another five years to marry and produce an heir. But Paige Summers had changed his plan. He was going to marry now, instead of in five years. He was going to have to mold Paige into the kind of wife he wanted and needed, instead of choosing someone already suitable. And he was going to have a daughter and not a son.

“Well, I suppose things have a way of working out, don’t they? You want a son,” Paige said. “I’m having a daughter. So, I’ll have my little girl and one day you’ll marry someone else and she’ll give you a boy.

“I’ll explain to my parents that we reconsidered marrying just for the sake of the baby and decided not to trap ourselves in a loveless marriage. I know my father will be disappointed, but in time, he’ll understand. And my mother will—”

Jared grabbed her shoulders and kissed her soundly. She was too startled at first to resist, and by the time she realized what he was doing, he ended the kiss and stared at her, a self-satisfied smile on his face.

“Little girls adore their fathers, don’t they,” Jared said, a dreamy look in his eyes. “You adore yours. I could tell tonight that you’ve got him wrapped around your little finger.”

“Yes, I adore my father,” she agreed. “But what does that fact have to do with anything?”

“I was just wondering if my little girl will adore me.” He had sworn that no woman would wrap him around her little finger, not ever again. But a man’s daughter—his own child—was something entirely different. He sort of liked the idea of doting on his child.

“You don’t want a little girl. Remember? You want a son. Someone to fill your shoes when you’re gone.” Paige didn’t like the way Jared was smiling, all goofy and soft and silly, as if he’d been hit in the head.

“The more I think about having a daughter, the better I like the idea.” Yes, sir, he couldn’t think of anything nicer than having a little redheaded toddler in a frilly dress put her arms around his neck and call him Daddy. There wasn’t anything in this whole wide world he wouldn’t do for his little angel. He’d give her the world. Hell, he’d buy her the moon and the stars!

“But—but you said you wanted a son, that you’d planned for a son!” Dammit, she was not going to let him do an about-face on this issue. How could a man, who had his whole life mapped out in detail, adapt to so many changes so quickly?

“Maybe we’ll have a boy next time.” Jared ran his hand down her arm, over her waist and across her stomach. He caressed the tiny bulge. “Let’s name her Angel.”

“What?” Paige grabbed his hand and tried to lift it off her stomach.

Clasping her hand, he draped her arm around his neck. “Well, if you don’t like Angel, I suppose we could name her Angelica or Angela or—”

“What do mean we’ll have a boy next time?”

“You don’t want our Angel to be an only child, do you?” Jared lifted Paige’s other arm and draped it over his shoulder so that her hands overlapped across his neck. “If this marriage thing between us works out, I’m sure we’ll both want more children.”

If this marriage thing works out! “There isn’t going to be any marriage thing between us. We aren’t in love. No love. No marriage. We can’t give a child the kind of family life I had because we don’t love each other the way my parents do. And that’s what I want. I’m not going to settle for anything less!”

“Why are you being so stubborn, honey?” Jared drew her into his arms. “You’re just making things more difficult for yourself. I’m not going to give up. And in the end, I’ll get what I want.”

He was too close, far too close for comfort. Her heartbeat roared in her ears. Her stomach churned. Her nipples tightened. “I’m not what you want. Remember your five-year plan? I’m the woman who messed up everything for you. You want a suitable wife and a son, not me and my baby girl.”

He nuzzled her neck. Paige moaned. He ran the back of his thumb across her lower lip. She sighed.

“But I do want you and our little girl. We can have a son later. And as far as your not being suitable, we can work on that. You’re young and bright and lovely. With the proper tutor, you can learn how to be the perfect wife for me.”

Before she could utter a word of protest, Jared covered her lips with his. Her mind warned her to fight, but her body melted against his and she returned his kiss with equal fervor. Every time he touched her, she fell to pieces. It just wasn’t fair that she had no control over her response to him. This wild, crazy passion between them was what had gotten her into trouble in the first place.

Breaking away, she shoved against his chest. “No! I can’t do this. I can’t let you seduce me into agreeing to marry you.”

Paige jumped up off the sofa. “Go home, Jared. Please. Go home and leave me alone. I can’t think straight when you’re around. Every time you get near me I either get so angry I want to strangle you or I get so…so—”

“Aroused?” he offered her a suitable word.

“Yes, all right, damn you. I get so aroused that I’m tempted to…to do what we did in the elevator.”

“Make love?”

“Have sex.”

Jared stood, picked up the diamond from the end table and reached out for Paige’s hand. She tried to avoid his touch, but he grabbed her hand, slid the ring on quickly and folded her fingers over into a loose fist.

“Marriages have succeeded on a lot less than fantastic sex. Just think about what it could be like for us, honey. Sleeping in the same bed every night. Setting the sheets on fire every time we make love.”

Paige stood in the middle of her living room and watched Jared open the door and walk out. He didn’t look back or even say goodbye. When he disappeared from sight, she rushed over and slammed the door closed, then locked it.

She shook from head to toe. Why did she let him get to her that way? Because you’re probably in love with him and you don’t want to be.

Paige held out her hand. Jared’s big diamond twinkled brightly, as if it were winking at her. She dragged the ring to the tip of her finger, then stopped and slid it back into place. She’d wear it, just for tonight. It was beautiful. And it fit her finger perfectly. If only it were a symbol of Jared’s love, instead of an emblem of his victory. If only he had chosen it specifically for her and not for the future Mrs. L. J. Montgomery.

Tomorrow, she promised herself, she’d give the ring back to him.