The Billionaire’s Baby (12 page)

Well, she’d have to get used to it. Either that or tell a bunch of people she’d only just met her personal problems, and she had no intention of doing that yet.

She might have laughed at the incessant teasing from his sisters and relaxed in the sprawling homestead on a half-acre block in outer suburbia, but they still weren’t her family.

Her family
…It was times like this she missed her folks, her mum in particular. They’d always been close, she’d always confided in her, and during her harrowing health ordeal she’d wished for her mum’s comforting hugs too many times to remember.

Ever since Blane had sowed the seed that maybe, just maybe, her folks had done what they’d done out of love rather than an awful desire to control her, she’d been wondering if it was time to lay the past to rest, to head home and give her folks a chance to explain.

It wasn’t as if they hadn’t tried to breach the gap, but she’d slammed the door in their faces, metaphorically, every single time. Until they’d stopped trying.

Coming here, surrounded by genuine warmth and happiness and familial love, rammed home how much she missed her own family. Being welcomed by the Andrews family as Blane’s wife was lovely. Maybe it was time to reintroduce her family to her husband.

‘Hiding away won’t work. They’ll hunt you down eventually.’

Blane slid his arms around her waist from behind, enveloping her in welcome warmth, cuddling her close. ‘They love you, you know.’

Turning in the circle of his arms, she slung her arms around his neck. ‘Your family’s great.’

Some of the tension around his jaw eased as he snuggled her closer. ‘Can I let you in on a little secret?’

‘Shoot.’

‘I was worried about you being thrown in the deep end meeting the whole clan at once.’

He paused, his arms tightening as if he expected her to bolt. ‘Facing Sandy, Monica and Jodi in all their nosy glory. You’ve been a real trouper.’

Her heart clenched. He looked so happy she’d passed the
family test with flying colours, when in fact the last few hours had served to deepen the chasm between them.

She’d never felt so torn, wanting him so badly it hurt, knowing she couldn’t give him what he wanted.

And, as painful as it was, seeing him with his nieces and nephews today showed her that no matter what he said, having only her would eventually, one day, not be enough.

Pain sliced through her, swift and deep, cutting her determination, weakening her resolve, at the thought of letting him go. But there was no other way. How could she not? She loved him that much. He’d once let her go to follow her dream, she’d have to do the same for him no matter how much it would tear her apart.

‘Oh-oh, you’ve got that face again.’

She managed a small smile while her insides churned with dread at the enormity of what she had to do.

‘What face?’

‘This one.’

He pulled a tight-lipped, frowning, cross-eyed face, drawing a chuckle from her.

‘I call it your “thinking too much” face.’

He smoothed a finger between her brows, his touch soothing, as she wished he could erase the ache in her heart as easily as the lines from her forehead. ‘It always worries me. It means you’re deliberating something big or going to deliver news I won’t like. Correct?’

He knew her too well. However, now wasn’t the time or place to get into what she was thinking.

‘I’m just tired. The café was jam-packed last night, and I had to do some inventory ordering after we closed.’

‘And you’re exhausted after letting the twins clamber all over you. I know the feeling.’

He leaned closer and brushed a kiss across her lips, a soft,
lingering kiss that touched her soul. ‘You really were amazing today. Thank you.’

‘For what?’

Drawing back, he scanned her face as if searching for an answer she couldn’t give him.

‘For making an effort, for being here, but most of all for being you.’

Her breath caught at the adoration in his gaze, and, at that moment, with the squeals of excited children, the low rumble of desultory conversation on a warm Sunday afternoon, and the distant cackle of a kookaburra in the background, she knew. Setting him free would be the hardest thing she’d ever have to do.

She loved this man, heart and soul, always had, always would. Staring into his handsome face with its bronzed skin, crinkly lines around the eyes and perpetual smile, she knew he was her future, her destiny. And she had to walk away from him…

Trying to ignore the dull ache spreading through her chest, squeezing her heart till she thought it would burst, robbing her lungs of air and the ability to speak, she closed her eyes, unable to bear looking into his beautiful eyes one second longer.

‘Hey, that was a compliment,’ he said, brushing her hair off her face, the slight rasp of his calloused fingers sending a shiver down her spine.

‘I know.’

She had no option but to open her eyes, to let him glimpse the devastation ripping her apart.

‘You’re crying! Are you okay? Hell, I knew I should’ve eased you into meeting them one family at a time rather than something this big.’

She shook her head, blinking rapidly, and laid a stilling hand on his arm as he pulled away.

‘No, your family is great. It’s just the exhaustion catching up with me.’

Lame, lame, lame, but what could she say? I love you more than life itself, but I have to let you go?

Concern slashed a vertical indentation between his brows. ‘You know, I’m not buying that. But I’m not going to push it, not here.’

Grabbing her hand, he pointed to the front of the house. ‘Let’s get out of here.’

‘But what about saying goodbye?’

‘Think you’re up to it?’

He brushed away her tears with his thumb, the depth of his caring doing little to stem the flood she was barely managing to hold back.

‘Give me a few minutes inside, then I’ll pop out, thank your family, and then we can leave.’

‘You sure?’

She wasn’t sure about anything: about the sanity of what she was contemplating, about how she could walk away from him and, most of all, how long it would take her to pick up the pieces of her life without him in it.

‘Uh-huh. Give me five minutes, and I’ll be back to say goodbye.’

‘Okay.’

He dropped his arms, and she instantly had the urge to burrow back into them, craving the warmth and security of his embrace.

Taking a deep breath, she lifted her head and squared her shoulders. It wouldn’t do her any good to think like that anymore. Blane wouldn’t be around much longer, and the thought fragmented her heart into painful little pieces all over again.

‘Cam?’

‘Yeah?’

‘I love you so much,’ he said, his tender smile radiating a depth of emotion she’d waited a lifetime for.

His declaration should have made her feel the luckiest woman in the world. Instead, with a sinking heart, she sent him a weak smile and headed for the house to marshal her defences.

For what she had to face when she set him free, she was going to need them.

B
LANE
leaned against the bar, content to nurse his beer and watch Cam strut her stuff.

She bounced around the café, flitting from one group to another, equally at ease mingling with the highfaluting advertising execs as she was with the wannabe starlets preening in the hope of being seen at Melbourne’s newest hot spot.

Dressed in a slinky black wrap-around dress which highlighted her figure, her hair straight and sleek around her shoulders, and a permanent mega-watt smile on her face, she looked a million bucks.

A woman in control, in charge, and at total odds with the vulnerable mess she’d been at the barbecue.

They hadn’t spoken about it since. He hadn’t wanted to push his luck on the way home, not when most of the afternoon had gone so well.

Even now, a week later, he couldn’t figure out what had gone wrong towards the end. He’d replayed their conversation in his head a hundred times and was still none the wiser.

As if thinking about her tugged on an invisible link binding them, she glanced up at that precise moment, sending him a dazzling smile while tucking a strand of luscious chocolate hair behind her ear with one hand, wiggling her fingers at him in a saucy wave with the other.

He raised his glass in her direction in a silent toast, chuckling as she held up a finger in a ‘be with you in a sec’ motion to Anna, who was frantically tugging on her arm and motioning to the kitchen, while her eyes never left his, sparkling and sassy even at a distance, her lips curving into the teasing smile he knew so well.

With a slow, deliberate wink, she turned her back on him and tilted her head towards Anna, casting a regretful look over her shoulder before following her employee into the kitchen.

He glanced at his watch, wondering if the crowd would leave soon. Launch parties for up-and-coming advertising firms weren’t his thing. He’d been to a few similar shindigs when trying to choose the right firm to represent BA Constructions, and they were all the same: guys with money to burn, girls there to be seen, loads of fake conversation and schmoozing, business and pleasure deals sealed over one too many G and Ts—though in this case, espressos all round.

This scene left him cold, and he couldn’t wait to get Cam all to himself. Greedy? Hell, yeah. He’d only come because she’d said the party wouldn’t last long, and every minute she spent flitting around the room playing the social butterfly was a minute too long in his books.

‘Having fun?’

She’d crept up behind him, sliding her arms around his waist, pressing her breasts against his back as his mind instantly blanked and his heart beat like a drum.

‘I am now.’

He turned around, regretting his action when she dropped her arms and waved at an exec strutting out the door with a blonde on each arm.

‘Sorry, it’s been a bit frantic tonight. Great party, huh?’

He’d never seen her so animated: her eyes sparkling, her
cheeks flushed, and her mouth in a perpetual dazzling smile. She thrived on this scene; that much was obvious.

Leaning down, he slid an arm around her waist and murmured in her ear, ‘Actually, it’s a bit crowded for my taste. You know, I’d prefer a private party for two.’

She laughed, a fake, brittle tinkle that sent an arrow of foreboding through him.

‘I like crowds. It’s one of the reasons I moved to Melbourne in the first place.’

Doing a little spin on her stilettos, she tossed her hair over her shoulder and held her arms out wide. ‘Guess you can’t keep a good city girl down, huh?’

‘I guess not.’

What had got into her? She was behaving as if she’d been serving alcohol rather than speciality coffees all night.

‘So, you want to party on after this? Some of the guys mentioned hitting a club or two. I love dancing.’

She gave another bizarre twirl, though thankfully his ringing mobile saved him from answering.

Camryn watched Blane’s face blanch as he clutched his mobile to his ear, a finger pressed in the other so he could hear above the din.

She didn’t blame him. The noise levels in here were giving her a headache, too. She’d had some stupid, half-baked plan to show him her party side tonight, exaggerate it just a tad, accentuate their differences, maybe annoy him in the process so when she told him the truth later, it wouldn’t be so difficult for him to accept they weren’t so well suited after all.

Sounded simple enough, but it was just plain dumb. She didn’t want Blane to hate her, and she sure didn’t want to lie to him. She owed him the truth. Hopefully it would set him free.

‘Stay calm. I’ll be right there.’ He snapped the phone shut
and thrust it into his pocket, slamming his glass onto the bar before turning to her with wide eyes.

Their bleak expression shocked her. She’d never seen him anything other than upbeat, relaxed or passionate.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘Jemma’s in the hospital. The entire family’s there. I have to go.’

She knew what was coming next even before he opened his mouth. Not that he had to ask. Her first instinct was to drop everything and go with him to see if the darling little girl who’d captured a small piece of her child-immune heart was okay.

‘Come with me.’ He grabbed her hand, his eyes beseeching, his tone desperate.

‘You don’t have to ask.’ She stood on tiptoe and planted a quick kiss on his lips. ‘Let’s go.’

‘What about all this?’

Touched by his concern for her when she knew how frantic he must be, she laid a silencing finger against his lips. ‘It’s not important. I’ll have a quick word with Anna and meet you at the car, okay?’

‘You’re incredible.’ He cupped her cheek for a moment, his love for her enveloping her in a warm, welcome shroud she hated to shrug off. ‘Thank you.’

‘Go.’ With a gentle shove, she pushed him away, waiting till he headed for the door before letting her face crumple.

She had to find Anna, get her to wrap things up here so she could be there for Blane. He needed her. With what she’d had planned for later, it would be for the last time.

Blane swiped a hand across his eyes, but nothing could banish the gritty dryness from lack of sleep.

Not that he was the only one. Glancing around the hospital waiting room, he saw every member of his family in various
sleepless poses: his folks sitting upright and rigid in the horrible orange plastic chairs, gripping each other’s hands, Sandy and Monica with their heads resting on the wall at their backs, and Jodi, her forearms resting on her belly, her hands clenched.

The girls’ spouses were at home looking after the kids, and he suddenly wished he could be there, away from the harsh sterility of this place with its pungent antiseptic odours, its bustling medical personnel, and the glare of fluorescent lighting on the exhausted and worried expressions etched across the faces of his family.

He hated seeing them like this, hated the thought of his precious little niece under the knife of some surgeon they’d never heard of. There’d been no choice: remove her appendix before it ruptured and possibly killed her, and, while it was a simple enough operation, he couldn’t imagine a two-year-old having to go through it.

Sliding across an empty chair, he reached out and draped a comforting arm across Jodi’s shoulders.

‘She’s going to be fine, Sis.’

Jodi lifted her head, raising red-rimmed eyes to meet his.

‘Is she?’ she whispered, her hands shaking so hard she had to clasp them together and rest them on her belly.

‘Of course she is. Now, you need to look after this little one and let the docs do their job and look after Jem.’

He briefly laid a hand on her bulging belly, silently praying he was right. Contemplating any outcome other than a positive one was inconceivable, and, while his gut churned with worry, he could only imagine what Jodi must be going through right now.

‘I just feel so helpless,’ Jodi said, resting her head against his shoulder, and he cuddled her close, wondering if wanting this parent gig so desperately was a wise choice after all.

‘Mrs. Lee?’

Jodi sat bolt upright as a youngish doctor in scrubs appeared before them.

‘How’s Jemma? Is she all right?’ she blurted, clutching his hand in a bone-cracking grip.

Blane held his breath, his gaze fixed on the doctor’s mouth, willing him to speak, willing him to deliver the good news his family so desperately needed to hear.

After what seemed like an eternity, the doctor’s face creased into a smile. ‘Jemma’s going to be fine. The surgery went well. She’s in recovery now but should be out shortly, and then you can see her.’

‘Thank God.’

Jodi sank against him like a lifeless doll—a heavily pregnant doll—as he sent a silent prayer of thanks heavenward.

The doctor’s weary smile said he’d been through this scenario a hundred times before, and he sent them a polite nod before hurrying away as his pager beeped.

The family crowded around Jodi, and he backed off, giving them space, just as Cam appeared around the corner, tottering on high heels and trying to balance a cardboard tray bearing enough coffees to keep the entire Andrews clan up all night.

Her worried gaze noted the doctor’s retreating back, skimmed over his family gathered around Jodi, before slamming into his, and what he glimpsed there took his breath away. She cared, not just the obligation type of caring for people she had just met, she really, truly cared about Jemma and for what they were all going through.

Sending her a reassuring smile, he met her halfway across the waiting room, taking the tray out of her hands, sliding it onto a nearby table and enveloping her in his arms.

‘Is there news?’

‘She’s going to be okay,’ he murmured, stroking her hair,
loving how her body fit against his as if they’d been made for each other.

Which they had. He’d known it from the first moment they’d met, and how close they’d grown lately merely reinforced what he’d always known.

‘Thank God.’

She sagged with relief, her hand insinuating its way between their bodies to surreptitiously swipe at her eyes.

‘Hey, the worst part’s over,’ he said, pulling back slightly to run a thumb across her cheek, catching a lone tear as it trickled down.

‘I know.’

Though from the scared gleam in her eyes, he knew she didn’t believe him. Either that or something else had put that anxious look in her eyes, and he had no idea what.

‘Come on, let’s get out of here. You must be exhausted.’

She didn’t protest, and as he slung an arm around her shoulders and headed for his family to say goodbye, he couldn’t help but ponder what was going through his wife’s head.