A Hard Man to Love (8 page)

She cared about him, no matter how much she didn’t want to.

“Yeah,” he said. “And I’m fishing for them in the wrong place.”

A tight pain pulled at her stomach, and she turned around. “What do you mean by that? Are you going to cast your net somewhere else?”

He stopped midstride on the way out the door and turned to face her. “Why would I need to seek out other women when I have a beautiful wife at home?” he asked, his voice rife with sarcasm. With slow steps, he approached her, and her heart tripped with trepidation. “Which reminds me—I need to inform you that your time is almost up. And a word of advice . . .” His gaze swept the length of the robe, and she shivered at the hotness of his gaze.

The clothing seemed inadequate when before it had sufficed. She almost felt as if he could see right through the silk and the nightgown under it.

“Consider yourself lucky that I’m tired right now. In the future, I suggest you wear a potato sack or garbage bag when you walk around the house at night, because if I ever catch you in anything remotely close to what you’re wearing again, your time to get used to the marriage will come to an end.”

With those words hanging in the air, he left.

Chapter Eight

Bright and early Friday morning, both Cassidy and Celeste pulled up to the house at the same time in separate cars. Rather than a simple lunch, the three had decided to go shopping together. When Eva met them downstairs in the foyer, Cassidy—petite in contrast to her tall brothers—greeted her with a big smile and hug.

“Hi, sis!”

Cassidy’s boisterous personality made Eva smile. She was the youngest of Derrick’s siblings. She worked four ten-hour days, so she always had Fridays off, and with Celeste a stay-at-home wife, they had the entire day to hang out.

“Ready to go?” Celeste asked. She was model tall and more reserved, but Eva remembered she’d liked her right away when they met.

“Yes. Too bad your daughter’s in school and couldn’t come with us. She’s so adorable.”

“No, be thankful. She’ll talk your ear off about this, that, and the other. Believe me, it can be exhausting. Right now she wants to be an astronomer and can’t stop talking about all the constellations.”

“An astronomer? Constellations?” Eva closed the front door and followed the other two to the waiting car. “Sounds pretty advanced for a six-year-old.”

The driver stood at rigid attention with the door open, dressed in black from the top of his cap to his shiny shoes. As they piled into the vehicle, the other two laughed at her surprise.

“Didn’t Derrick tell you? Roarke is an astrophysicist. Arianna’s always been interested in science. I don’t know where she gets it from, because it certainly wasn’t from me or her father. She and Roarke are as thick as thieves. He’s been good for her, nurturing her interest. It helped them bond much faster than I would have expected.”

“Believe me, Roarke loves it, too,” Cassidy said. “No one else will listen to him drone on and on about stars, black holes, subatomic particles, and blah, blah, blah.”

“Awww, that’s one of the things I loved about him when I first met him.” Celeste turned to Eva with love shining in her eyes. “He’s so passionate about it. I’m interested in what he does—I really am—but I have to admit, sometimes it’s so far over my head I space out.”

“I knew it!” Cassidy said with satisfaction. She started handing them glasses from the minibar.

“Don’t you dare tell him.”

“I won’t, but he probably knows already. Everybody gives him a hard time.”

Celeste continued talking to Eva. “He’s going to Europe next year to present his latest findings at a conference in Germany. I’m so proud of him.”

“Roarke is smart,” Cassidy agreed. “If he did oncology research, we’d probably have a cure for cancer by now.” She poured champagne for herself and Celeste and sparkling cider for Eva. She held up her glass. “Okay, ladies, we’re going to shop till we drop. You got your credit card?”

“I do,” Eva replied, patting her purse.

Derrick had given her a credit card, and he set up a checking account for her, into which an obscene amount of money would be deposited the first business day of each month as her allowance.

When she’d protested and told him she couldn’t fathom spending that much money every month, he’d shrugged and said if she didn’t, that was fine, but it was available for her use. He reminded her that as his wife, she would need “a new wardrobe, dresses for various social engagements, maternity clothes, clothes for the baby, and we’ll have to decorate the nursery. It’ll be gone in no time. Trust me.”

The three women clinked their glasses together. “Where are we headed first?” Eva asked. When Celeste had called to invite her out, she had been very secretive. She and Cassidy had planned the entire day for the three of them.

Celeste looked at Cassidy with a mischievous smile on her face. “Should we tell her now or wait?”

“Let’s tell her now.”

“We’re going to New York.”

“New York?” Eva looked from one to the other. “As in New York City?”

Cassidy nodded excitedly. “Your assistant worked with us on everything. We’ve got appointments at some of the most exclusive boutiques, and lunch and dinner plans are all set. Derrick let us use the corporate jet for the day, which means no horrible airport security lines. It’s gassed up and ready for us.”

“And here I was thinking we’d just visit some of the shops in the Atlanta area. It must be awfully expensive.”

Cassidy crossed her legs and reclined against the black leather seats. “It is, but Derrick doesn’t care, and neither should you. You’re married to my brother. Relax and enjoy the ride.”

“This is typical Derrick,” Celeste added. “He does everything with style.”

And what style it was.

They were greeted at the private airstrip by a smiling flight attendant who escorted them up the stairs into the cabin, which divided into three compartments. A small boardroom could be enclosed behind sliding doors covered in frosted glass. The second compartment was made up of tan, extra-large leather chairs that swiveled 360 degrees and reclined all the way back to accommodate sleeping. They were grouped in fours, separated by polished wood tables. This area led into a small, open lounge that contained sofas made of cushiony soft nylon in the same color as the leather chairs. In front of each were two narrow tables with space in between them to pass through to the third compartment, the bedroom. It contained a shower and queen-size bed.

Once they reached cruising altitude, they took off their seat belts, and the flight attendant served hors d’oeuvres and drinks. Individual itineraries, which had been waiting for them on the plane, listed each store and appointment. The entire day had been planned with military precision, and the excitement generated by her sisters-in-law carried over to Eva. Because the situation between her and Derrick hadn’t improved, today’s outing boosted her morale.

In New York, a car service took them to each of the appointments where personal shoppers laid out designer gowns and chic outfits befitting the wife of a multimillionaire. Eva had to admit she enjoyed all the fuss, and once she relaxed about how much the clothes cost, the day became less stressful.

It boggled her mind to think she didn’t need to look at the price tag. If she wanted it, she could have it, along with all the accessories and shoes to match. By lunch, they were ready for a break and stopped at a trendy Manhattan restaurant where they counted three celebrities seated at tables around them.

“I can’t eat another bite,” Cassidy groaned, pushing her empty dessert plate to the edge of the table.

Celeste snorted. “Now that your plate is empty, you can’t eat another bite?”

“Don’t judge me. That cheesecake was delicious.”

Eva nodded her head vigorously in agreement as the last bite of her slice melted on her tongue. “Mmmm. I may have to get one to go.”

“Me, too. And one of those chocolate cakes Celeste had. Antonio has a weakness for anything chocolate—brownies, cake, you name it. I’ll have to get one for him.”

“Is that the way you get whatever you want out of your husband?” Eva teased. “Bake him some brownies and you’re good to go, huh?”

Cassidy shook her head. “I can’t cook a thing. I even burn water.” Eva and Celeste giggled. “I’m serious. He doesn’t care about that, which is shocking, because his mom and sister, who’s my best friend, can get in the kitchen and whip up a yummy meal in two seconds flat. Lucky for me, I’ve found other ways to keep him happy.” She winked.

“Don’t start,” Celeste warned.

“Don’t start what?” Eva asked, on the verge of laughing already. Cassidy was quite a character.

“People get uncomfortable when I talk about sex,” she said, rolling her eyes. “It’s natural, and I don’t talk about it with everybody—only the people I feel comfortable discussing it with.”

“Except the people you feel comfortable discussing it with don’t want to discuss it with you.”

“Whatever.” She took a sip of her water. “Can I just say one little thing?” She leaned over the table and lowered her voice. “Sometimes, when we’re making love, he talks to me in Spanish. It’s so sexy. Ohmigod.”

“Do you know what he’s saying?” Eva asked.

“Yeah, he might be saying, ‘Oh, my back, my back.’” Celeste laughed at her own joke.

“Ha ha. Very funny.” Cassidy shook her head with a smile. “No, I don’t know what he’s saying, but I’ve started taking a Spanish course. When we went to see his
abuela
—that’s
grandmother
in Spanish—in Puerto Rico for her ninetieth birthday last month, I couldn’t communicate with her and some of the other family members. I thought it would be nice for me to learn some words and phrases to ease communication.”

“Good idea. I’m sure Antonio will appreciate it.” Celeste signaled for the waiter. “We better get moving if we want to get to the next store in time for our appointment. I can’t wait to see all the cute little baby outfits.”

“Let me run to the bathroom,” Eva said, rising from the chair. She placed the credit card on the table to cover the meals. “I swear my bladder’s down to the size of a pea. Go ahead and get the chocolate dessert for your husband.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Cassidy said.

After Eva used the bathroom, she pulled out her lipstick to touch up her lips. As she stood there, a woman came in, but instead of going into one of the stalls, she walked over and stood next to her.

“Hi,” the woman said. Her dark brown eyes gave Eva a once-over, as if she were checking her out.

“Hi,” Eva said cautiously. A knot of unease settled in her gut.

The other woman was much taller, and her hair was cut very low in a short Afro. The haircut complemented the strong bone structure of her face. Her polished, stylish appearance made Eva think she came from a wealthy background.

“You’re Eva, right? Derrick Hoffman’s new wife.”

The knot grew larger. “Yes, that’s right. Were you at the wedding?”

“No. I’m an old friend of Derrick’s.”

The way she said the words, Eva knew immediately there had been nothing friendly about their acquaintance. She practically licked her lips when she said his name.

“My name’s Johnnie. When you passed by my table, I wasn’t sure at first if you were Derrick’s wife. I’m in Atlanta almost as much as I’m in New York because I have a place there. I saw the announcement in the society pages.”

Eva nodded, not sure what to say. “Oh, okay. Well, it was nice to meet you.”

As she turned to go, Johnnie said, “Well played, by the way.”

Against her better judgment, Eva stopped and turned around. “Excuse me? What does that mean?”

“It means exactly what I said. Getting pregnant was genius. The ratio of women to eligible men in Atlanta is something outrageous, isn’t it, like ten to one or something? At least that’s what I keep hearing, but who knows if those statistics are true? I’ve always been able to find a man.” She laughed softly with the confidence of someone who understood her appeal and capitalized on it. “Whether those numbers are true or not, you hit the jackpot by scooping up one of the most eligible bachelors in the city off the market, and right after his daddy left him all . . . that . . . money.” Johnnie proceeded to pat her short hair, though it didn’t need it.

Eva suddenly felt hot all over. How many people knew about the pregnancy? How many other people thought the same thing? She felt the need to defend herself.

“Not that my marriage is any of your business, but I didn’t plan to get pregnant to nab Derrick.”

Johnnie’s eyes looked back at her from the mirror. “Please don’t take what I said the wrong way. I’m not mad at you; I’m jealous. Wish I’d thought of it first. He was always so careful, though. He always wore a condom, and he only used condoms
he
bought, as if he didn’t trust me.”

Eva swallowed down the nausea creeping up her throat. She didn’t want to hear about any of Derrick’s past sexual exploits, and she certainly didn’t want to talk to one of his previous lovers about his habits in bed.

“Maybe he had reason not to.”

The comment came out before she could censor it, but in all honesty, she didn’t want to. This woman had no right to approach her with this type of conversation. It was insulting, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to let her or anyone else make her feel guilty or embarrassed about something she didn’t do.

Johnnie stopped admiring herself in the mirror and faced Eva head-on. She placed one hand on her hip and smiled like someone who relished knowing a secret no one else was privy to. “It doesn’t seem like I’m the one he had to worry about, now does it?”

Somehow Eva restrained herself from slapping the smirk off of Johnnie’s face.

The bathroom door opened, and in walked Cassidy.

Johnnie smiled. “Hi, Cassidy. Good to see you again.”

“The pleasure’s all yours,” Cassidy said loud enough to be heard as Johnnie took leave of the bathroom. She walked over to Eva. “What did that catty bitch want? I saw her come in after you and thought she might be up to something.”

Instead of answering, Eva asked, “How do you know her?”