Reunited...With Child (2 page)

“I didn't,” Cam said, turning to Becca. “Would you like to come to the party as my guest?”

“You always have time to party,” Amelia said with a smile.

Becca realized that she and Amelia lived in two totally different worlds. To a socialite, it was no big deal to jet down to a party in Miami. But to a working single mother, it was a huge affair. While she liked Amelia, Becca had a feeling she'd never be able to understand the way she lived.

“I own my own business so if I take too many days off, then I don't get paid,” Becca said.

She wasn't going to let a table full of socialites pressure her into something she wasn't sure she wanted to do.

But Becca was curious. “Tell us more about the plans for the party.”

Cam smiled. “Nate is working the celebrity angle
so we are going to have a room full of A-listers. Justin has smoothed over the tension we had in the local community and we will be combining the party with the groundbreaking for our new Mercado. That is the work I wanted to talk to you about,” he said.

“We should probably discuss it later,” she said, not wanting to talk business now.

“Definitely,” he said.

“We can all give you some business advice, Becca,” Russell said. “No sense letting you screw up the way I did early in my career.”

“I can't imagine Russell making many mistakes,” Amelia Munroe-Devonshire said. She was the guest speaker tonight. There was a time when she'd been more infamous than famous as the heiress to the Munroe hotel chain. But then she had married Geoff Devonshire last year and had been in the spotlight lately for her humanitarian work instead of her scandals.

“I have made more than my share, Amelia. I just managed to keep them out of the headlines.”

“Touché! It's remarkably easier to stay out of the tabloids these days than it used to be. I can't believe it,” she said.

Becca smiled at the heiress. She was funny and very fashionable but also down-to-earth—something Becca hadn't expected.

“That's because I keep a firm hand on the situation,” Geoff said. Geoff was a minor member of the current royal family.

“I believe that,” Cam added. “Both of you are of
course invited to the Tenth Anniversary Celebration in Miami.”

“We are scheduled to be in Berne for a special award that Geoff's brother's mother is receiving,” Amelia said.

“You must be proud of her,” Becca said. Like most people she knew that Geoff and his two brothers had the same father but different mothers. The scandal that had rocked the world in the '70s when they'd been born had followed the men into adulthood and only last year when Malcolm Devonshire had died had it seemed to be put to rest.

“We are. Steven asked us to attend and we can't say no to family,” Geoff said.

“No, you can't,” Cam agreed. “That's why I now have a brother in New York while our business is based in Miami. Justin is up here helping his fiancée close up her apartment before she moves back to Miami.”

Geoff laughed. “You do what you have to when it comes to family.”

Family. It was something she seldom thought about except in relation to her eighteen-month-old son, Ty. Her father had left when she was two, and her mother had died of breast cancer when Becca was a junior in college. She'd been on her own for so long that it had never occurred to her that she'd taken something very precious from Ty until this moment.

Ty had uncles and a father who might want to know him. Might.

That was a big word to base her fears on. One thing
she knew for certain was that he'd never intended her to be the mother of his child.

She'd never intended it either.

The conversations turned to more private matters, and eventually Russell got up to introduce Amelia. Becca didn't know if she could sit at the table for another minute. She needed to get out of there.

She wanted to go back home to Garden City where there was comfort in the walls of the home she'd grown up in and in holding her sweet eighteen-month-old son.

As the lights went down and Amelia took the stage, Becca fumbled for her purse. It fell to the floor. Cam leaned in close, his big arm behind her.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes. I just need to step outside for a minute.”

Cam reached down and picked up her handbag, handing it back to her. She pulled out her cell phone and saw that she'd missed a call from Jasper, her nanny. Finally some karma that might be good.

“I've got to go,” she said, standing and weaving her way through the tables. She got to the lobby of the club and saw that it was crowded with patrons.

She made her way to a quiet alcove set off the main entrance. She sat down on a padded bench before calling Jasper back.

“It's Becca,” she said as he answered the phone.

“Sorry to bother you,” Jasper said. “Burt is sick so I had to take Ty to my house. I wanted to make sure you knew before you came home.”

Burt was Jasper's twelve-year-old English bulldog.
“Not a problem. Thanks for letting me know. I might stop by and get Ty tonight.”

“I figured you'd want to. I can even meet you at your house if you call when you are about fifteen minutes away.”

“I will do that,” she said, hanging up the phone.

She stood up and turned to leave the alcove but found that Cam was standing there.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

She nodded. “No emergencies.”

“That's good. Amelia's done talking and they've opened up the dance floor.”

“And?”

“I'd like to dance with you, Becca. We've never done that and it's been too long since I held you in my arms.”

B
ecca found herself pressed close to Cam on the dance floor a short while later. He smelled good, like expensive aftershave, and she had to really struggle to keep from resting her head on his chest. But she wanted to. It had been so long since she had anyone hold her, and she'd spent the last two years feeling very alone. She didn't need a man…she got on very well without one. But there was something about dancing with Cam to the slow bluesy song “Love Is a Losing Game” that Amy Winehouse had made popular a few years ago….

“You're a good dancer,” she said.

“My mother insisted on lessons. She might not have been too involved in her sons' lives, but she did make sure we were raised proper gentlemen.”

“What does a proper gentleman do?”

“He knows how to talk to a woman, how to romance her.”

“Romance? Is that what you are doing to me?” she asked. She hadn't gotten a chance to know the real Cam Stern when they'd had their affair, and though she'd thought she loved him, she knew that had been based on sex and quiet moments in the dark of night. She'd never danced with him or really even seen him outside of that hotel bedroom.

“I am,” he said, pulling her close and spinning them around. Though the dance floor was crowded, she felt like they were the only two people in the room. His eyes were intense as he looked down at her. She felt as if they could bore all the way through to her soul and the secret she kept from him.

She should go. She should walk out of his arms and leave. She needed to remember that no matter how romantic the night felt, Cam wasn't the kind of man who was interested in settling down or starting a family. And she came with a ready-made one.

He kept his arms around her, and she told herself she was Cinderella and this was for only one night. Even Cindy had gotten one night with her Prince. She knew that Cam wasn't some white knight who could rescue her. She'd seen the chinks in his armor. But when he held her close like this, it was easy to forget about that all that. It was so easy for her to just pretend that for once she was going to have her cake and eat it, too.

“What are you thinking?” she asked, as she glanced up and found him staring at her.

“That you are the most beautiful woman in the room,” he said.

She flushed and shook her head. “I'm not.”

“In my eyes you are,” he said. He leaned down, and the warmth of his breath brushed her cheek as he spoke directly into her ear. “You are the most exquisite woman I've ever seen. You have haunted my dreams.”

“Then why did you wait so long to get back in touch with me?” she asked.

“I didn't think you'd be able to forgive me. And I wasn't sure if I had fantasized about you so much that I made you into someone you weren't. But none of that matters now.”

But it did. He was talking to her as if nothing had happened except a bad breakup. But she knew there was so much more between them, and she had no idea how to tell him.

He wasn't the evil ogre she'd made him out to be. She'd known that even back then, but she had pride. Some said too much pride was a bad thing, but Becca didn't really know how to define “too much.” She had only understood that Cam wasn't the kind of man who'd take the news of her pregnancy well.

She twisted and started to walk away from him.

He caught up with her and grabbed her arm as she reached the edge of the dance floor. “Where are you going?”

“I can't do this, Cam. I am trying to pretend this is all just a nice night out, but every time I look in your face I see the past. And I'm just not ready to deal with that tonight.”

“I'm not asking you to,” he said. “I think we should forget about what happened between us—”

“I can't. It's way too complicated to go into now, but trust me when I say I could never pretend we didn't meet.”

“That's a good thing,” he said.

She shook her head and pulled away from him. “No, it's not. There are things about me that you don't know.”

“Tell me about them,” he said.

“Not here. Come to my house tomorrow morning.”

“I can't wait until tomorrow,” he said.

She smiled up at him as he leaned in close. The hardness of his body was a remembered thrill. “We already did lust. Remember?”

“Yes,” he said. “I know you remember, too. It's there in your eyes when I hold you. You still want me.”

She did still want him, but she liked to think she was older and wiser. Please, God, let her be wiser. She couldn't fall for him again. Wouldn't let herself be that weak where he was concerned. Cam Stern wasn't the kind of guy she could have a one-night stand with and walk away from.

But that was what she wanted. She wanted to pretend they were strangers with no baggage or no commitments. That they could have one night of passion with no consequences. But it was too late for that. She was emotionally entangled with him, even though he wasn't with her.

She went up on her tiptoes and rubbed her lips over his and then slowly opened her mouth and kissed him.
She held on to his shoulders and felt his mouth move against hers. He parted her lips with his own, and his tongue snaked over her teeth into her mouth.

His thrusts were light and teasing, making her crave so much more of him. She opened her mouth wider, held on to his shoulders and let everything drop away. She didn't think about the past or her secrets. She didn't think about the glittering people at this charity ball. She didn't think of anything except Cam Stern and his mouth.

That oh-so-talented mouth that was moving over hers and making her forget everything except the way he tasted and the way he felt.

His lips were firm but also tender against hers. His hands smoothed their way down her spine. One sprawled in the middle of her back and the other dipped lower to her hips, drawing her closer to him.

“Let's get out of here,” Cam said. “We need to go someplace private.”

Confused for the first time in a very long time, Becca really didn't know what to do. So she followed Cam out of the ballroom and onto the street as he hailed a cab.

 

Cam wasn't ready to let the night end. Seeing Becca again wasn't at all what he had thought it would be.

The April sky was clear, the night air a little cool but not cold when they left the club. Cam had said his goodbyes to Russell earlier and Russell had offered the car, but Cam had turned him down. He liked to do things his own way. He wanted to be in control.

Cam hailed a cab for them and asked to be taken to
his hotel, the Affinia Manhattan, which was a suite-only hotel. Though he'd only been in town for a few days, Cam liked to have room to be comfortable. At six-five, he was a big man, and he didn't like to be in a room crammed with a bed and a dresser.

“I thought you said you only wanted someplace private,” Becca said, arching one eyebrow. “Why do we need to go to your hotel?”

“I don't know any other quiet place we can talk.” He wanted her to himself. That was one thing he'd done right during their affair. They had spent all of their time together in her hotel room. Having sex and lying in each other's arms. Despite the fact that they were both working hard during the day, the nights had been filled with only each other.

She tipped her head to the side. She studied him, and he wondered what she was searching for. When he looked at her, he saw the same beautiful, sexy woman he'd known two years ago. But she had changed. There was something mysterious about the woman sitting next to him now.

“Okay, we can go to your hotel, but we are getting a drink in the lobby bar.”

“Fair enough. I want to take my time and really apologize for the way things ended.”

“Apology accepted,” she said.

She was a graceful and charming woman, and as she sat next to him during the cab ride, he surreptitiously studied her. Her heart-shaped face was framed by her hair, and her eyes were dark and mysterious in this light.

He wouldn't have thought to look into his romantic past to find a woman to move forward with, but it made sense to him now that Becca was here.

He stretched his arm out behind her and toyed with the soft tendrils of hair at the base of her neck. “Thank you. But I know you like me so I have that in my favor.”

“How do you know this?” she asked.

“The way you smile at me,” he admitted. “And the way you kissed me.”

“That wasn't about you,” she said.

“It wasn't?”

“No. It was a gift to myself. A chance for me to taste the forbidden fruit of the past and then move on.”

“Why are you in this car with me now?”

“I wanted to hear what you had to say,” she said. “I really don't know much about you.”

“Or I about you,” he said.

“I think men like it that way,” she said.

“Men? I hope I'm a little different than every other man out there,” he said. “I think I want to know everything about you.”

She shook her head. “I doubt that. As long as I have secrets then I will be mysterious and just a little more attractive to you.”

“You couldn't be anything less than you are right now, Becca. I want you.”

She shook her head again. “I know you do, but we aren't going down that path.”

“I can't think of anything except you in my arms,” he said, watching her blush.

“Why are you here? You said Justin is helping his fiancée move.”

He laughed. “Fine. I will stop talking about your sexy little body for a few a minutes, but I can't stop thinking about you naked in my arms.”

“Cam.”

“Okay.” He knew he was pushing her, but he only had this night before he had to return to Miami. And apologizing for the way things had ended between them wasn't enough to repair the damage he'd done. He wanted her back. He hadn't realized how much until he'd danced with her. Kissed her.

“I'm here visiting Justin and to attend this charity ball tonight. The African Children's Fund was one of my mother's pet charities,” Cam said as the car started moving.

“Well, that's nice.” She would have liked to think that she'd made a clean break with everything Cam Stern, but she still read about him in magazines, and late at night when she was feeling very alone, she sometimes went on the internet and read about him. She should have realized he'd be here tonight, but honestly, she'd been busy with work, and having an eighteen-month-old kept her on her toes.

“What have you been up to?” she asked.

“I think I mentioned we are celebrating Luna Azul's tenth anniversary. Even if you can't take me on as a client, I would like you to come to Miami. My invitation earlier was genuine.”

“Um…”

“Think about it, Becca.”

“I'll do that,” she said, but she knew the answer had to be no.

“Ten years is a long time,” she said.

“Yes, it is. Are you interested in redesigning the new marketplace?”

“Sounds like that will be a fun project. You can email me the details on that.”

“Are you really going to make small talk and pretend that a casual business acquaintance is all that we have between us?”

“Yup,” she said. “That's all we have.”

“I remember,” he said. “But I never meant for those weeks to be the only ones we spent together.”

“I know you wanted me to be your mistress…I'm sorry I asked for more.”

He said nothing and the silence grew between them.

“You travelled a lot for business back then and I expected you to be back in Miami frequently.”

“I stopped working for Russell so I wasn't making as many trips to Miami as I used to.”

She bit back a sad smile. To Cam she was just someone to have sex with. She'd seen that pretty early on, and while she enjoyed the white-hot passion that flowed so strongly between them, once she'd discovered she was pregnant, she knew she couldn't be with him.

She had someone else to think of…Ty. Her little gift from Cam.

But talking to him made her realize why she'd liked him so much. The truth was, from the first moment they'd met she'd liked him. He was honest and fair and
so damned handsome that she couldn't stop staring at him.

Blue
was such a nondescript word for the color of his eyes. They were deep blue, the kind of color that she'd seen in only one other place—the azure waters of Fiji. His jaw was strong and well-defined, but it was his mouth that captured her. Those strong lips that felt so soft and so right against her own.

“You're staring at me,” he said wryly.

“I forgot how good-looking you are.”

That startled a laugh out of him. “Why did you start your own business? Do you like it?”

“I do,” she admitted. “More than I expected to. And being my own boss means I can control my workload. You know Russell is a complete workaholic, so if I'd continued at Kiwi I would probably be in the office tonight.”

“Very true,” Cam said, stretching his arm along the back of the seat. His fingers brushed her shoulder and she glanced up at him to see if he was trying to distract her. But he didn't seem to notice the accidental touch.

Cam watched her carefully, and she hoped that he took her story at face value and let the topic drop. She knew that right now she had the opportunity to tell him about Ty, but she couldn't find the words.

He tipped his head to the side, and she realized that this evening wasn't going the way she wanted it to. She should be home with Ty.

She thought about how scared she'd been the first night she'd brought him home from the hospital. She had always been focused on her career, so she hadn't
had any girlfriends to come and stay with her. And every time little Ty had cried, she'd cried with him.

It had been the longest night of her life, and she'd missed her own mom so keenly it had hurt. But then morning had come, and she and Ty had found their own way.