Harlequin Superromance November 2014 - Box Set 2 of 2: Christmas at the Cove\Navy Christmas\Until She Met Daniel (6 page)

He reached across the table and took her hand. She flinched and her head snapped up. Her dark brown eyes were wide with caution. “What?”

“Whatever you have to tell me, just say it.”

Time stood still.

Dread seeped into his veins, making him want to lunge forward and wrap his arms around her—whether in a bid to comfort or silence her, he couldn’t be sure.

Tears leaped into her eyes and her hand trembled in his grasp. “I had a baby, Scott. Your baby.”

CHAPTER FOUR

C
ARRIE
STARED
AT
Scott as his hand slipped from hers. He dropped his head forward, his gaze glued to the floor between his feet. Her heart pounded, drowning out the Christmas carols that played quietly on an endless loop throughout the hotel lobby. Bells jingled and faceless characters sang their rejoices, even as her life changed forever. Whatever happened next—whatever Scott said or did—their lives had altered.

She pursed her lips and fought the need to tell him how amazing his daughter was, that she was sorry and should have come clean before but had chosen not to rather than upset Belle’s family life for a guy she barely knew. That she knew deep down he wouldn’t be ready for a baby, but now he was older...they were older, and their baby was growing up quicker with each passing day and beautiful Belle had a right for the chance to know her daddy.

Carrie’s heart beat fast as she waited for Scott to speak. His reaction would illustrate the way forward and what she said next. For now, she would relinquish her habitual need to be in control. Empathy rose for the man sitting opposite her. She remembered all too clearly the shock of the blue line appearing on the pregnancy test. Hadn’t she pretty much shown Scott the exact same thing?

His sharp intake of breath broke the tension and he looked up. His dark, blue eyes blazed under the light and Carrie shifted in her seat. The intensity she’d found so appealing felt different now, making her stiffen with unease, rather than heightening her attraction. Uncertainty and shock showed in his expression, overshadowing the steadfast authority she’d gotten from him before.

“You’re sure it’s mine?” The color in his face faded.

Her first instinct was to be insulted, but she pushed it down. He didn’t have any more reason to trust her than she did him. She nodded. “Yes.”

“Girl or boy?”

Irritation bloomed and she raised her eyebrows. “Does it matter?”

He closed his eyes. “No. That was a stupid thing to ask. Sorry.”

Carrie released a shaky breath. An apology was unexpected—and appreciated. She swallowed against the dryness in her throat. “Her name’s Belle. She’ll be three in April. She has dark hair and blue eyes. Like you.”

His gaze stormed with a myriad of questions and a depth of pain she’d neither anticipated nor prepared for. Her stomach clenched. She’d expected dismissal, denial, even accusation, but not this barely disguised anguish.

“You’ve raised her with your husband all this time?” His voice was low, laced with a hint of annoyance.

Further guilt slipped into her veins and sent her pride soaring to high-alert. “Yes. Gerard loved her like she was his own.”

A flash of color darkened his cheeks and his gaze shot to her left hand. “Loved? Past tense? You’re not married now?”

She glanced at her ring finger and her cheeks warmed. “No. Gerard’s dead.”

“Dead?”

“He was killed in a road accident over a year ago.”

He stared at her for a long moment before glancing toward the people walking through the lobby. “I’m sorry.”

“Thank you.” She cleared her throat and fought the painful beat of her heart. She had to take control and veer the conversation away from her personal life. Belle, and Belle only. Everything else was out of bounds. “I’m not here because I want anything from you. You have the right to know you have a daughter. I shouldn’t have kept it from you all this time. Before Gerard died we discussed bringing Belle—”

“Stop.”

She froze.

His gaze ran over her face and lingered at her lips. “You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to tell me about your marriage or what happened before your husband died. Not yet.”

Heat pinched her cheeks. “That’s the last thing I want to do. I was trying to explain...apologize, for not coming here before now. I don’t want to discuss Gerard with you any more than you want to hear about him, but he is a part of this. He was the only father Belle has ever known.”

He glared. “And that’s my fault?”

Carrie’s heart picked up speed to see such anger in his eyes. “No, but—”

“Fine, then I’m not prepared to listen to you talk about the man who’s effectively raised my daughter for the last two years. Not yet.” He pushed to his feet and fisted his hand in his hair. “I need time to process the news I have a child I know nothing about. You disappeared, Carrie. Even knowing you carried my baby, you didn’t come back.”

Irritation simmered deep inside and Carrie glared. “I didn’t disappear. I went back to my life after an insane few days with you.”

His eyes locked on hers. “An insane few days?”

She lifted her chin, steadfastly refusing to acknowledge the hurt that flashed across his gaze before he blinked and it was replaced with defiance. “Yes.”

His jaw tightened. “Right. That’s all it was to you.”

Carrie looked past him to the bustling lobby. “I didn’t know how else to do this but to just come right out and tell you.” She forced her eyes to his. “You’ve got my number. If you want to contact me—”

“That’s it?”

She frowned. “You just said—”

“What did I say?” He glared. “That it’s okay for you to tell me I have a daughter and then you’re free to leave the Cove again? I don’t think so. I need some time to think. You’re going nowhere until I come find you and we decide what happens next.”

Panic skittered up her spine and squeezed like a fist inside her chest. “What happens next?”

“Yes, Carrie.”

She swallowed hard as protectiveness for Belle rose up inside her. “Nothing has to happen straight away. I wanted you to know because I can’t live with this hanging over me anymore. I don’t expect you to step up...or see her...or—”

“Be in her life any way at all unless it’s by your rules?” He huffed out a laugh and snatched his hand from his hair. “Who do think I am, Carrie? You’ve told me I’ve got a child. Now you wait for me.”

“I wait for you?” Carrie barely stopped herself from teetering from the chair. “What do you mean
wait for you?
”

“You wait for me to get my head around this.”

The anger emanating from him spilled like poison across the table between them. Carrie stood, her body shaking. “I’m leaving.”

He gripped her arm, his eyes blazing. “I don’t know what you expected, but if you thought I wouldn’t give a damn, you’re mistaken. I don’t walk away from the problems that drop into my lap uninvited. I never have before, and I’m not about to start now.”

She glared. “Belle isn’t a problem. She’s a little girl who’s lost the only father she’s ever known.” She yanked her arm from his grip. “From what your friend Nick told me, you’ve got plans, so why don’t you do us both a favor and continue with them? It’s Christmas. Go be happy with your family.”

“It seems one half of my new family is standing right in front of me.”

Her heart shot into her throat. How was this getting so out of her control? Scott was a player, a womanizer, yet the man standing in front of her was reacting so differently than a man who didn’t give a damn would or should. Panic flowed through her on a heated wave. She had to do or say something to stop the look of possession in his eyes. “Belle and I are nothing but strangers to you.”

He glared. “You really think that?”

She lifted her chin. “I know that. From what your friend ranted at me this afternoon, you already have a family.” Shame that she might have slept with a married man curdled like soured milk in her stomach. “So go and do what you need to do and call me whenever you want to talk, but I will not stand here and listen to you say Belle is your family.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Nick told you I had a family?”

“Yes.” She crossed her arms to hide the trembling. “I didn’t come here to cause you trouble. You can chastise me about my lack of thinking, but don’t for one minute start blaming me for wanting to protect my child. You can’t lay any claims or demands on me without knowing her or me. More importantly, without us knowing you.”

His cheeks darkened. “You think you need to protect her from me?”

Tears burned and she nodded. “I don’t know you, Scott.”

He stared at her for so long Carrie took a step back, nerves jumping in her stomach. “What?”

“The family Nick spoke of is my mother and three sisters.” His jaw tightened. “I’m the furthest thing from a married family man you’re likely to meet in this town.”

Relief he wasn’t married coursed through her, only to be snatched away again by the boldness of his honesty. “Right. So what are we arguing about? Clearly, you’re happy with your life just the way it is. I can leave on the first train tomorrow and you won’t need to see me ever again.”

“You’re going nowhere. Not yet.”

Their eyes locked and Carrie opened her mouth to protest, to tell him he didn’t get to lay down the rules, but nothing came out. No words of wisdom or wit burst forth to put the man in his place. She snapped her mouth closed.

He smiled softly. “Did you think I was married? Had kids?”

She crossed her arms. “And if I did, you find that funny?” She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t sleep around, and I certainly don’t sleep with other women’s husbands or partners.” Her body trembled with frustration as his gaze softened to careful curiosity rather than hostility. She blinked and glanced across the lobby. “I should go.”

“If Belle’s mine, she’s my family. I care about my family more than you’ll ever know.”

Carrie snapped her gaze to his. “
If
she’s yours?”

He shrugged.

“Get out of my way.” She pushed him. It was like trying to move a rock with a feather.

“You’re not leaving the Cove until we’ve talked some more.”

She fisted her hands on her hips. “Are you trying to scare me? Bully me? Great way to convince me I should consider you being a part of my daughter’s life.”

He tipped his head back and closed his eyes as if trying to hold on to his self-control. She knew the feeling.

He sighed. “I said I need time. You owe me that. Tell me you’ll stay and let me have time to process this. We’ll meet tomorrow when, hopefully, I can think straight.”

Her heart thumped and her body trembled. How could she refuse him twenty-four hours? He dipped his chin and his crystal-blue, black-lashed eyes bored into hers. As much as she wanted to sprint upstairs, pack and get the hell out of there, she wouldn’t. She couldn’t have done that to anyone...but especially not him. Not to the father of her child. God damn it, not when he was a man she wanted to touch so badly it made her want to scream.

More than that, how could she refuse his request when he looked at her in the exact same way Belle did when she was hurt, confused and desperate to understand what her mother had just told her?

Her shoulders slumped and she closed her eyes. “Fine. I’ll wait for you to call.”

“Promise?”

She huffed out a wry laugh. Belle would’ve said that, too. She opened her eyes. “Yes.”

“Then I’ll see you tomorrow.”

His gaze lingered over her face, slowly evolving and changing. She stood rooted to the spot as his frustration abated and turned to something equally as fiery, but now its implication ran over her body in a way that made her yearn. Her breath turned harried as her body tingled with awareness.

Just as she recognized his intention, he gripped her hand and tugged her forward. Carrie opened her mouth to protest but it was too late. His lips touched hers as he held her firmly against his broad, hard chest.

Stop this! Stop this now!
But she leaned into him, her toes curling in her boots and her core humming mercilessly. She could do this. She could match him blow for blow, kiss for kiss. A groan escaped and she raised her hand to grip his neck. She was in control...
Liar!

She had never felt so out of control since the night she slept with him. Her body trembled with a desire that hadn’t been ignited in any shape or form since Scott last touched her. This wasn’t the desire she felt for Gerard during their lovemaking. This was fraught with danger and potential heartbreak of a different kind. She had to stop the kiss and stop it now.

Gathering her strength, she pushed her hands flat against his chest and shoved. “Happy now?” She raised her eyebrows, her body a mess. “Exerted enough authority to stroke your ego? Don’t touch me again. Do you hear me?”

His gaze was feral. “I needed to know if it’s still there. I’ve never forgotten you. I’ve never had a relationship or even sex with another woman that compared to what I had when I was with you. Don’t you dare leave.”

He stormed past her, toward the exit, before she had time to tell him to go to hell or even draw a breath. She raised her shaking hand to her tender mouth. What had she done? How could she have not seen Scott Walker was a man who took what he wanted whenever he wanted it and to hell with the consequences?

Despite her bravado, the need to slump to the floor reverberated through her weakened muscles. She cast her manic gaze left and right. People lingered, watching her curiously. Embarrassment replaced her shameful lust. Her first kiss in months and it was with the man Gerard always suspected she loved. Tears burned. Was this love? Did it make you lose your mind? Do things you normally wouldn’t? Carrie trembled. Did it really hurt this much? Did it make you want to run and hide...yet still reach out for the person in question?

Inhaling a shaky breath, Carrie stormed toward the elevator. The seconds passed like hours as she waited for the doors to open.

“Good afternoon, madam. Which floor?”

She forced a smile at the elevator attendant’s greeting, cursing the world that she wasn’t alone to collapse to the floor. “Six, please.”

He pressed the button and Carrie concentrated her gaze on the rising neon numbers above the door. When the doors pinged open, it took every ounce of her self-control not to sprint through the opening like a woman possessed. Instead, she tossed the attendant a wide smile and walked out with as much dignity as she could muster.

Just as the doors closed behind her, her cell phone beeped with an incoming text. Dread knotted her stomach as she slowly extracted her phone from her bag and looked at the display.