Teddy Bear Heir (12 page)

Neither of them said a word. They simply stared at each other. Finally, Cameron spoke.

"When were you planning on telling me?"

She knew how damning the entire thing had to look in his eyes. It was obvious, from the way he'd been studying the nursery, that he realized she'd known about her pregnancy for some time.

"No lies, now," he said softly. She could tell from his tone of voice that he was so very angry with her.

She nodded her head, not trusting herself to speak. Though she had counted Cameron as one of her closest friends until this moment, she felt as if their relationship was held together by the most tenuous of emotional threads. One wrong move, one false, dishonest move, and she would sever their connection completely.

She didn't want to do that. The ironic thing was, on the way home she'd resolved to tell him. Oh, she hadn't expected him to get down on his knees and propose marriage. Cameron Black was a man who lived by his own rules.

But she'd known he would be good to their child, to the result of their tempestuous union. And she'd thought of her father and all he'd meant to her. She'd realized, deep in her heart, that she wanted this baby to know its father. To be loved and cherished by its father, the way Mike Larkin had loved and cherished her.

She'd been planning to tell Cameron but she'd been too late. Now she knew how damning and deceptive her actions had to look in his eyes.

"How far along are you?" His voice was deadly calm.

"Almost four months." It amazed her that her voice didn't tremble, that she could form coherent words. She'd thought her heart had broken the night she'd drank Scotch with Cameron in his hotel suite but now she knew better.

This was heartbreak.

"You were the mystery woman in my hotel room."

"Yes." She knew at that moment he hated having been so vulnerable with her that night.

"Why?"

She swallowed. He was making this so very difficult for her. She couldn't really blame him. She’d never meant to hurt him this way but she doubted she'd ever be able to make him see that now.

"I—" She thought of taking the easy way out, of telling him she'd had a little too much to drink and had been a little too lonely. But fierce Irish pride brought her chin up. She faced him head-on.

"I wanted you."

Something in his eyes changed, the most infinitesimal expression. And she knew at that moment that she had a little bit of power in this relationship — if she chose to use it.

"Were you trying to get preg —"

"No."

"You didn't know you could conceive?"

"My husband lied to me. He couldn't have children but made me believe our problem was...my fault."

He nodded his head and was silent for such a long time she almost turned and walked out of the nursery.

Then, the most damning question of all.

"Does Julian know?"

She hesitated a fraction too long and he had his answer.

"He guessed."

She could feel his anger, a shimmering, palpable presence in the sunny little room.

"Was this all some sort of
plan
  the two of you cooked up?"

"No!"
Her heart was in her mouth as she said the one word. She wondered how she could ever make him believe her. Trust her. Once she'd wanted him to love her but now that seemed impossible.

She gripped the side of the crib to steady herself.

"Did you find all this... amusing?"

She shook her head.

"What were you doing that afternoon, giving me advice in my office?"

Her shame was absolutely complete. "I—I didn't know I was pregnant then."

"So you would've let me look for you forever."

"I thought... I thought maybe after a while you'd stop."

"Oh, no. Not when I really want something. You know me better than that."

She couldn't look at him.

"Where were you tonight? After work."

"I was fired."

"I know, I stopped by your office."

She stared at him.

"Cassandra told me."

Neither of them spoke for a moment.

"Where did you go?"

"I went to see my travel agent—"

He got up from the rocking chair with that lithe grace she'd always admired and crossed to her side. Then he slid her purse strap down her arm, took the bag away from her and opened it. The ticket was in his hand in an instant.

"Mexico?"

"I thought…a trip. I've been under a lot of stress."

"Lying does that to you."

Her temper flared. "Haven't you ever been scared?"

"That's what this is about?"

She turned away from him, her frustration complete. Cameron Black, an unemotional machine. Cameron Black, who would never show emotion, never be warm and forgiving like a normal person.

Perhaps she'd been wrong. Perhaps he wasn't at all like Mike Larkin and didn't have what it took to be a father.

She heard the sound of paper ripping and turned back in time to see her ticket being tossed into a Winnie the Pooh wastebasket.

It was too much. She flew at him, began pummeling his chest with her hands until he grasped her wrists and hauled her up against him. She was no match for his strength and they both knew it.

"You'll have to work out another contract, Mike."

"Get out!"

"I want it all in writing."

"You
bastard!
"

"I'll be generous."

"I don't want a damn thing from you!"

She felt his fingers beneath her chin as he tilted her head up so she had to look at him.

"You still don't understand, do you?"

She looked away.

"Are you all packed?"

She hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

"The cats are taken care of? The house?"

She nodded again. "Where do you think you're taking me?"

"We're going to go somewhere where we won't be interrupted, where no one else will be watching or commenting or coming between us. We're going to straighten out this relationship, Mike, and come away with some sort of contract."

He had one of her wrists in his hand and practically dragged her toward the door of the nursery.

"No! I won't go—" He interrupted her by sweeping her up into his arms and carrying her down the stairs and out the door, taking her keys out of her purse and locking up the house while she struggled in his arms.

Once inside the car, he asked his driver to take them to the airport.

"You can't do this-"

He merely looked at her.

She knew how she had to appear, after struggling with him down the stairs and into the car. Now she desperately sought to calm her racing heart, to try to appear in control of the situation.

This was the twenty-first century, wasn't it? He couldn't just sweep into her life and kidnap her even if she was carrying his child.

She tried the door. Locked.

He smiled.

She tapped on the glass separating them from the driver.

No response.

They were headed for San Francisco airport and from there she didn't know where. She was going to be alone with a man who despised her.

What would he do to her?

Michaela decided to try one last time.

"Cameron," she began, trying to keep her voice steady. "I don't want this to happen. I don't want any sort of contract between us. I don't want anything from you."

He didn't touch her physically but his gaze raked over her. First she felt a chill up her spine then she was suffused with heat.

"You still don't get it, do you?" he said, his voice low and rough. Just for her. "I'm through asking."

It was a beautiful evening for flying.

They reached San Francisco airport with no trouble, traffic was light. Once out on the airstrip Michaela realized they were using the company jet.

She'd flown on it once before when Julian had loaded it up with toys and gone to the scene of a disastrous flood. One of the principles of Teddy's Toys was to give back, especially to children. Julian considered them the innocent victims of so much unhappiness. He gave away a considerable amount of his company's product every year, especially at Christmas.

As she and Cameron boarded the luxurious jet, she realized she had no idea where he was taking her. Oddly, there was a feeling of relief in letting him take charge.

Ever since she'd discovered she was pregnant, she'd thought of what he would do when she told him. In her wildest, most romantic dreams, he'd look deeply into her eyes, declare his love for her, and be incredibly happy about the life they'd created together.

That was definitely a dream. In reality, she wasn't sure how he felt about the baby.

Since they'd boarded the plane they hadn't spoken. All he did was escort her to a seat. He made sure she had a pillow, blanket and a drink, then left her to her own devices. On a plane this size it would be difficult for the two of them to avoid each other for too long. But with Cameron, she wouldn't be surprised.

She had no fear of flying so she simply looked out the window during takeoff, watching the lights of the city grow fainter and fainter as the ascended higher into the clouds.

Michaela didn't know where she was going. She only knew she was headed toward her destiny with Cameron.

* * *

The one flight attendant shook her shoulder gently, and Michaela came out of a deep sleep.

"I'm sorry to disturb you," he whispered. "But this call seemed urgent."

She took the phone out of his hand, already knowing who it had to be.

"Julian?"

"Michaela. How are you?"

More and more, the elderly man seemed to be filling part of the void left by her father's recent death.

"Not so good."

"He was angry."

"Mmm... that about covers it."

"He gets that way. Black Irish moods. He's that way with me."

"That’s a relief. I thought he saved all of it up for me."

Julian laughed. "They phoned me from the airport. They always do when the corporate jet's being used. It didn't take me too long to figure out Cameron was probably taking you away."

She swallowed against the tightness in her throat. "I don't think it's going to be much of a vacation."

"Oh, no, my dear girl. It's quite a necessary step. Do you like fairy tales?"

For a moment she thought Julian might have a slight case of dementia. Fairy tales? At a time like this?

"You mean like Bluebeard, where she finds out he's really a monster and tries to kill her?"

Julian chuckled. "I hope my great-grandchild has some of your spirit."

She couldn't help smiling.

"If you study your fairy tales, you know there's always a moment where he takes her to his kingdom, a place where he alone rules and his word is law."

"I thought that was the office," she said dryly.

Julian laughed. "Oh, my dear, no. I may appear to be an old fuddy-duddy, but I still consider myself the acting head of Teddy's Toys."

"Of course," she murmured, ashamed of herself.

"Don't worry. I know you meant no harm. No, my grandson is taking you to his island—"

"Where?"

"Second star to the right and straight on 'til morning."

"Julian!"

"It’s in the Caribbean. Somewhere near Aruba. It’s quite well hidden, actually. That was one of the reasons he bought it."

"Is it... totally isolated?"

"The house is and I'm sure that's where he'll take you. There's a tiny village down by the shore but I don't know how much of it you'll see."

She was silent for a long moment.

"His bark is much worse than his bite, my dear."

"He thinks I deliberately tricked him."

"He'll understand it all in time."

Now she knew who Julian reminded her of. As well as Kris Kringle, the elderly man reminded her of Merlin, King Arthur's wizard.

"You know him better than I do," she finally admitted.

"You know him in a way no one else ever will," Julian replied softly. "He's angry with you, Michaela, for you've gotten closer to him than anyone else. It frightens him."

"Why?" she whispered, hoping he'd give her an answer that made sense.

"You know how his parents died?"

"Yes."

"He was five at the time." Julian took a deep breath. "Quite the little chatterbox. But it took him almost a year after their deaths before he spoke."

She couldn't answer him as the enormity of that statement sunk into her consciousness.

"Mary and I did our best but I believe there was a part of him we were never truly able to reach. He's afraid of deep feeling, Michaela, and I'm sure his feelings for you are quite powerful."

"That was—" She forced herself past her embarrassment. "That's just sex."

"No. That’s magic. Your father was wise enough to hold on to it when he found it, wasn't he?"

"Yes," she whispered.

"And I knew the minute I saw my Mary."

Tears welled in her eyes. "Oh Julian, I've made such a total mess of things."

"No, no, you haven't. You see, the men in my family are a funny bunch. They love only once. But when they do it's for this lifetime and beyond."

"What do you mean?"

"I know I'm going to see my Mary again. I'm sure of it. There was no one else for me and there's no one else for Cameron but you. And this baby."

"Julian." She was so deeply ashamed but she had to confide in someone. "He wants a contract."

Julian laughed softly. "Of course he does. The stubborn boy is right on schedule. If he has a contract he thinks he can control things."

"Should I let him have one drawn up?"

"Let him do whatever he wants. He's already lost. It's a feeling he's never liked, not since he was a little boy."

"Then why is he taking me away. Control?"

"Exactly."

"Do you think the idea of a baby frightens him?"

"No.
You
  frighten him."

She considered this for a long moment, comforted by knowing Julian was on the other end of the line.

"So he's trying to win."

"Exactly. If you think of love as a game, my girl, you've already lost."

"I don't want to think of it that way."