The four of them had had dinner together the night before, and though Lucia had been sure it would be an uncomfortable couple of hours given the tension between her and Dave they’d all had a good time. In fact, seeing Dave interacting with Joe Curran, hearing him laugh and tell stories about past cruises had really opened Lucia’s eyes. For so long, she’d thought of him only as a player. A man only interested in getting as many women as possible into his bed. A man who wasn’t interested in anything that wasn’t about momentary pleasure. Now she’d seen glimpses of a different man. One who could enjoy himself with people who weren’t members of the “celebrity crowd.” A guy who could buy silly T-shirts for babies he wasn’t even sure were his. A guy who could still turn her into a puddle of want with a glance. “Do you want to talk about it?” Mary asked quietly. Lucia took a long, deep breath and looked around the room to avoid meeting Mary’s too-knowing gaze. Muted sunlight, diffused by t
“Do you want me to tell Lucia?”Dave frowned at his assistant, then let the expression fade away. Wasn’t her fault he felt like he was tied up in knots. “No, thanks. I’ll do it.”“Okay.” His PA took a deep breath, held it, then blew it out. “Look, I know this is none of my business…”“Never stopped you before,” he muttered with a smile.“No, I guess not,” she admitted, swiping one hand through her wind-tousled hair. “So let me just say, I don’t think Lucia’s trying to play you.”He went perfectly still. From the shore came the sounds of car horns honking and a swell of noise that only a crowd of tourists released for the day could make. Waves slapped halfheartedly at the hull of the ship, and the wind whipped his hair into his eyes.He pushed it aside as he looked at his PA. “Is that right?”She lifted her chin, squared her shoulders and looked him dead in the eye. “That’s right. She’s just not the type to do something like this. She never did give a damn about your money or who you w
From below decks, a soft sigh of music from the ballroom reached her, and the notes played on the cool ocean breeze, as if they’d searched her out deliberately. The plaintive instrumental seeped into her soul and made her feel wistful. What if coming on this trip had been a big mistake? What if telling Dave about their sons hadn’t been the right thing to do? What if..she stopped her wildly careening thoughts and told herself it was too late to worry about any of that now. The deed was done. What would happen would happen and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it now.She sighed, leaned on the balcony railing and stared out at the sea. Moonlight danced on the surface of the water in a shimmer of pale silver. Clouds scuttled across a star-splashed sky, and the ever-present wind lifted her hair from her shoulders with a gentle touch.“This reminds me of something.”Dave’s deep voice rumbled along Lucia’s spine, and she had to pull in a deep breath before she turned her head to
“Atta girl,” he murmured and took her mouth in a kiss that stole her breath and set her soul on fire.His tongue slipped between her lips, stealing into her warmth, awakening feelings that had lain dormant for more than a year. His arms slid around her waist, pulling her in tight. Lucia lifted her own arms and linked them around his neck, holding him to her, silently demanding he deepen the kiss, take more from her.He did.His arms tightened until she could hardly draw breath. But who needed air? Jenna groaned, moved into him, pressing her body along his, and she felt the hard length of him jutting against her. That was enough to send even more spirals of heat dancing through her bloodstream.Again and again, his tongue dipped into her mouth, tasting, exploring, divining her secrets. She gave as well as took, tangling her tongue with his, feeling the molten desire quickening within. He loosened his grip on her and she nearly moaned, but then his hands were moving, up and down her spi
“Come for me,” Dave whispered, his voice no more than a hush in her ear. His breath dusted her face, her neck, while his fingers continued the gentle, determined invasion. “Let me see you. Let me feel you go over.”His voice was a temptation. Because she was so close to a cl**ax. Her knees trembled. Her body weakened even as it strove to reach the peak Dave was pushing her toward. Her breath came in ragged gasps, her heartbeat thundered in her ears and the tension coiling within was almost more than she could bear. And when she thought she wouldn’t survive another moment, she cried out his name and splintered in his arms. Her body shattered, she rode the exquisite wave of completion until she fell at the end only to be caught and held in his strong arms.Lucia dropped her head onto his shoulder, swallowed hard and fought to speak. “That was..”“Only the beginning,” Dave finished for her and picked her up, swinging her into his arms and stalking back into the suite. He was teetering on
Out of the shower, she dried off and dressed in a pair of white shorts and a dark green tank top. Then she sat on her bed and tried to figure out her next move. The only problem was, she didn’t have a clue what to do about what was happening in her world. This had all seemed like such a simple idea. Come to Dave. Tell him about the boys. Go home and slide back into her life.But now, everything felt…complicated.Muttering under her breath about stupid decisions and consequences, Lucia glanced at the clock on the bedside table and noticed the phone. Instantly her heart lifted. That’s what she needed, she realized. She needed to touch base with the real world. To talk to her sister. To listen to her sons cooing.Grabbing the receiver, she immediately got the ship’s operator, gave them the number she wanted and waited while the phone on the other end of the line rang and rang. Finally, though, Maxie picked up and breathlessly said, “I don’t have time for salesmen.”Laughing, Lucia eased
Probably,Lucia thought. After all, it wasn’t as if she was going to tell him she loved him. And wasn’t that the only piece of information he was missing? Hadn’t she done what she’d come here to do? Hadn’t she accomplished her mission and more?“Maxie…”Her Nanny blew out a breath, and Lucia could almost see her rolling her eyes.“I just don’t want to see you destroyed again,” Maxie finally said. “He’s not the guy for you, Lucia, and somewhere deep inside, you know it. You’re only asking to get kicked in the teeth again.”The fact that her sister was right didn’t change anything. Lucia knew she couldn’t leave until she’d seen Dave again. Found out what last night had meant to him, if anything. She had to prove to herself one way or the other that there was no future for them. It was the only way she’d ever be able to let go and make a life for herself and her children.“If I get hurt again, I’ll recover,” she said, her voice firming as she continued. “I appreciate you worrying about me
She hitched her purse a little higher on one bare shoulder and tightened her grip on the strap when she stopped directly in front of him. Whipping her hair back out of her eyes, she looked up at him and said, “I wondered where you disappeared to.”“I had some things to take care of,” Dave told her and it was partially true. He’d already fired the band that had refused to clean up their act, hired another one and was expected at a meeting with the harbormaster in a half hour.But he’d still been avoiding her.“Look, Dave”“Lucia—” he said at the same time, wanting to cut off any attempt by her to romanticize the night before. Bad enough he’d done too much thinking about it already.“Me first, okay?” she spoke up quickly, before he had a chance to continue. She gave him a half smile, and Dave braced himself for the whole what-do-I-mean-to-you, question-and-answer session. This was why he normally went only for the women who, like him, were looking for nothing more complex than one night
It would be so easy to reach out and take the comfort and warmth and pleasure of being with him again. He’d wrap her in his arms and stroke her back and kiss her hair, and she’d feel his body stir with desire for her and…She’d missed him so much. But if she gave in to the need aching through her now,Micheal would be encouraged to stick around, and the inevitable consequences would be worse than her current sense of deprivation.Better to remain independent.“I don’t need your help, Micheal,” she said flatly.“That’s not how it looks to me,Lucia.” He reached out and took her left hand, fondling it warmly, persuasively pressing a link between them as he added, “I think we should get married as soon as possible.”“No!” She snatched her hand away, feeling as though he’d burned her. Her eyes blazed fierce conviction. “I won’t marry you, Micheal.”“Why not? It’s the most sensible, practical thing to do.”“I will not subject my baby to a father who doesn’t want her.”“If you’re worried about
She was tempted to hurl it in Micheal ’s face. It might sober him up. Whatever impulsive and stupid ardour had driven him into this room needed dampening down. He wasn’t thinking straight, any more than she’d been seeing straight. But she could see straight through him! Having figured out what she was doing in a maternity ward, he had a hot case of guilt.“You need looking after, Lucia,” he said gruffly. “And I’m the man to do it. Drink up now.”She sipped, just to moisten her throat. Then she glared her outrage at him. “Don’t you tell me what to do, Micheal. You have no right.”He returned a determined look. “I contributed to this situation and—”“You did not.” She cut him off with more belligerent determination. “You trusted me to get the contraception right, and I messed up. It’s all my fault.”“Accidents happen,” he said grimly.“Well, you don’t have to pay for this one. I take full responsibility.”“Sure! And you’re doing a fine job of it, letting yourself get so run down you alm
Maurice’s question broke through the glaze of horror in his mind. They were looking quizzically at him. Had he missed something? Apart from a nine-month pregnancy?“Sorry.” He sucked in a deep breath and swallowed hard. “I was just thinking how great the three of you look together.”Ingrid laughed. “Time you found yourself a wife and started a family, Micheal.”Join the club. They all said that. Once they were caught in the family trap, it was as though anyone who was free of it was an offensive reminder of what they’d given up. The hell of it was he might very well have a child somewhere on this ward, a child whose mother had decided was better off fatherless than having Micheal in their lives.“Aren’t you thirty-something?” Ingrid persisted.“Darling, I’m forty,” Maurice reminded her. “Age has nothing to do with it. If I hadn’t met you, I’d still be a freewheeling bachelor like Micheal.”Micheal didn’t want to be a freewheeling bachelor. He wanteded Lucia. He didn’t care if she came
“He’s got my ears, poor little blighter.”Micheal smiled. “Well, one can always resort to plastic surgery.”Maurice laughed indulgently. “They’re not that bad. He’ll grow into them.”“Bound to,” Micheal agreed, his face aching with smiling.Micheal obediently performed the comparison, studying the straight, aristocratic nose of Maurice’s buxom blonde wife and the longer, slightly bumpy one of his friend. He forced another smile. “Yes. Much the better nose.”Why was it obligatory to divide a baby’s features between the parents? It was inevitably done, like a ritual, perhaps affirming true heritage, or an assurance that a little replica would fulfil its parents’ expectations. Not only was it a deadly boring exercise to Micheal,, it almost drove him to snap, “Let the kid be himself, for God’s sake!”But that wasn’t the done thing.He wondered whom Lucia had been visiting on this floor. Not that it mattered. No point in trying to find some contact point with her. From the attitude she ha
Her hair was cropped short, but he couldn’t mistake that face, those eyes as she stared straight at him. Recognition, shock, disbelief, fear, anger…each expression pulsed briefly at him from a stillness that shrieked with tension. Then she whirled past him, jabbed a finger at the control panel inside the elevator and hugged herself against the back wall, glaring a fierce rejection of him until the doors closed.The message burned into his brain. She didn’t want him. She didn’t want anything to do with him. He quelled the raging instinct to chase after her, find her, make her listen to him. Useless. She’d made her decision to shut him out. It hadn’t changed. It wasn’t about to change. She’d just done it again.He forced himself to walk away, to check the room numbers he passed along the corridor. He’d come here to oblige a friend. Never mind that he had no heart for it. It gave him something purposeful to do. He had to forget Lucia.But why had there been fear in her eyes? He’d never g
Micheal darkly reflected, undermined every normal, congenial intercourse between intelligent adults. They infiltrated people’s lives even before they entered the world, then took over like tyrannical dictators. Nothing was safe from them.Micheal brooded over these truths as he drove through the tunnel under Sydney Harbour, taking the shortest route to Paddington and the Royal Hospital for Women. He wished Maurice had been satisfied with hearty congratulations on the birth of his son. It was totally unreasonable of him to insist Jack actually come and view the new pride and joy. Paternal enthusiasm run rampant. Micheal wondered how long it would last.One by one his friends had succumbed to the lure of fatherhood, only to find themselves knocked off their happy perches of being the main focus of attention in their households. They’d groaned out their misery and their complaints to him, envying his freedom from the chaos they had brought upon themselves.“Good sex is impossible.”“You
“I think we can sort something out there. You don’t have to worry about that.” I tuck her hair behind her ear. “There's no doubt we’ve got a few issues to iron out, but I want to be with you. The fact that you’re pregnant with my baby is not the driving force, either. It just ends up being a bonus, that’s all.”“Does that mean…?”“That I want to raise the baby with you? Yes, I do.” I tilt her face up and kiss her softly. “I’m not asking you to marry me. I’m just asking you to be my girlfriend. Because I want to be with you—would you agree to that?”“Do you think I can say otherwise when I’m in your arms, and you’re kissing me like this?”“Okay.” I release her and step back. “How about now? Can you give me an answer?”“Micheal!”“What? You said you struggled to give me a proper answer when I was holding you.”“That’s not…” Lucia groans. “God, you’re an asshole.”“There is a teenager nearby, Lucia.”“I’m sure she’s said worse than that.” Lucia regards me thoughtfully. “You really mean i
“Could you put the kettle on and see if you can make Lucia a cup of tea? Then give us some space.”“Sure, Dad.” Regina hesitates. “Is it going to be okay?”I hope so. I send her a smile as I urge Regina to sit down.“I’ll be fine. Off you go.”Regina disappears, and Lucia frowns up at me.“You remember that I prefer tea to coffee?”“Of course I do. How can I not know when you’ve got teabags all over your apartment.”“Hey! No, I don’t!”“Close enough. I do pay attention to these things.”I sit beside her, and I have no idea what to say for a moment. How do I start this? Maybe with what I heard when I arrived. That would be a good starting point.“So…” God, I sound like a fool starting this. “You’re pregnant.”Lucia looks nervous, shifting a little away from me.“I am,” she mumbles.“And it’s my baby?”She doesn’t verbally respond. She nods, and I see the tears in her eyes. I’m about to ask why she’s about to cry when Lucia suddenly starts speaking so fast she’s almost tripping over her
Michael “There’s her dad’s house,” Katie says as she points. “Helen said it had some rose bushes in the garden with a red front door.”“And it looks like she’s already got a visitor,” I grumble as I pull up behind a black sedan. I can see Nathan and Lucia arguing on the sidewalk with a man I’m guessing is Lucia’s dad standing on the lawn with his arms folded and a garden hose in his hand. He looks ready for a fight. I can only hope he doesn’t turn that hose onto me.“Wait here, Regina.” I undo my seatbelt. “I don’t want you getting in the middle of this.”“Why?”“Just…do as you’re told, will you?”Regina sighs and sits back with her arms folded.“Okay, fine.”Grateful that my daughter is listening, I get out just as I hear Lucia shouting at Nathan.What are you talking about? No, of course not! Why would I waste my time and get back with a cheater?“Because I love you.”Well, I don’t love you!” Lucia snaps. She looks like she doesn’t know whether to lose her temper or burst into tear