The Expectant Secretary (14 page)

And would condemn any marriage to failure.

 

The bridal couple began their first dance as man and wife. Their bodies moved fluidly as one, the bride's handkerchief skirt swishing around her long, lithe legs. Their hands blended together. Their smiles melted into a united kiss. The music swirled and dipped. It became hard to distinguish if the music or the couple was leading. Jillian felt a lump of longing form in her throat.

Her gaze inadvertently shifted toward Brody. The deepening tones of sunlight glinted off his black hair, giving it the shine of split coal. Dressed in a marble-gray suit that matched his eyes, he wore a butter-cream-colored tie. The expensive suit fabric moved over his chiseled muscles with the fluidity of a smoky
mist, stirring hot images inside her head, making her remember what he'd said to her only a week ago.

Take all the time you need. I can wait. I've waited this long for you. I can wait until you're ready.
His voice had radiated in her head, burned her with his truth, his desire. Heat shimmered off her skin in tiny waves.

Desperate to gain control of her faculties and her resistance, which she felt slipping each time she looked at him, she sipped the glass of cool ginger ale and averted her gaze. Brody stood so close to her she could feel his warmth, his interest as strong and glaring as the sun's red and orange rays as it dipped toward the horizon.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't divert her thoughts away from him. His musky scent saturated her senses. His bold glances and broad shoulders stirred emotions and longings she'd long ago forgotten she possessed. His warm, melodic voice as he whispered in her ear, making sure she had everything she needed, sent tiny shivers down her spine and made her wish for things she had no right to hope for.

“Here you are!” Matilda declared as she sidled up to them, a glass of champagne in one hand and a plate of cake in the other. “Wasn't the wedding dreamy?”

Jillian nodded, grateful for the interruption. “Beautiful.”

“I'd say Reed's lost what little sense he once had.” Brody's sudden smile gave his words the right tint of humor.

“You don't have a romantic bone in your body.” Matilda set her plate on a nearby table and batted the
back of her hand against his arm. “No wonder you couldn't keep Jillian when you had her.”

Brody's gaze sharpened but he remained silent, brooding. All Jillian could hear was the thud-thud-thud of her heart battering her chest. Lack of romance hadn't been the problem between them. He'd always been too charming, too persuasive. Was she falling for the same old line again?

Now that they knew what had transpired between them, torn them apart, now that Brody had refuted Gail's version, Jillian wondered if they couldn't pick up where they had left off ten years ago. Or was that foolhardy?

Oblivious of her fumbling statement, Matilda turned to a woman trailing after her. “I wanted to introduce you to Dr. Willa Simms. This is my unromantic brother, Brody. And his assistant, Jillian Tanner.”

The woman with slate-blue eyes and wavy auburn hair gave them a pleasant but reserved smile.

“Doctor?” Brody asked.

“Purely academic,” she said, shaking his hand.

“She has her Ph.D. in political science,” Matilda added. “A real brainer.”

“I suppose I'll be seeing you often,” Willa said, “while I'm staying at the Double Crown.”

“Oh?” Brody quirked an eyebrow.

“Willa is Uncle Ryan's godchild,” Matilda explained. “She's going to be teaching at Texas A&M University this fall and is waiting for her apartment in College Station to be redecorated. Until then she's all ours. So we'll have to make her feel welcome.”

“Oh, you already have.” An embarrassed hue
brightened the petite woman's delicate features. “The Fortunes have been very generous with their hospitality.”

“Watch out for my sister, though,” Brody said, smiling. “She'll set you up with every cowboy between here and the Red River if you're not careful.”

Matilda nudged her big brother with her elbow. “Can I help it if I believe in love? Maybe I'll bring Willa to San Antonio for a wild weekend at your place. Jillian, you'll have to go out with us.”

Brody frowned. Jillian wasn't sure if he resented his sister's intrusion or worried about Matilda's penchant for fun.

“San Antonio is where Brody's been spending more and more time lately.” Matilda pouted, as if irritated that she hadn't seen enough of her big brother. “You rarely come out to the Double Crown for weekends anymore.”

“I've been busy,” he explained. His gaze slanted toward Jillian. “With this merger.”

Even though the temperature dipped slightly as evening turned to night, an intense heat burrowed within her. His warning that it was only a matter of time before they took their relationship further echoed inside her head and rattled her composure. Was she ready? Was he? Did he only want her? Or could he love her as well as her baby?

Her desire battled her fears. Need swelled inside her, like a wave crashing over her, consuming her. She wanted Brody with all her heart. But those desires had almost killed her a few years back. What if she was making another mistake? She'd made so many.
How could she tell if this was a smart move or a fatal error? How could she trust her own instincts?

“How are you feeling?” Matilda asked, turning her attention on Jillian.

“Fine, thanks.” She felt the gazes of the others in the twinkling candlelight focus on her and her insides shifted uncomfortably.

“Jillian's pregnant,” Matilda explained to Willa.

“Matilda,” Brody admonished.

“It's all right.” Jillian put a hand on his arm and felt the tension ripple along his muscles. “I don't mind others knowing…not now…not anymore.” Not since he'd learned her secret. After all, soon nothing would hide the obvious, not even the flared waists of her suits.

“Congratulations,” Willa said. “How wonderful.”

“Isn't it?” Matilda beamed. “I think being pregnant would be the most exciting experience. I envy you.”

Jillian didn't doubt Brody's younger sister's words but she wondered what logic the young woman was using. After all, Jillian was a single woman, without a husband, without a family to support her. It was not an ideal situation that she would have readily planned. But she also couldn't resent her baby. After the pain and suddenness of James's death and her financial straits, being pregnant had buoyed her spirits. Her baby was the one thing in her life that gave her hope and pride.

Then she noticed Brody's deepening frown as he stared at his sister, as if struck dumb by her comment on being jealous of Jillian's pregnancy.

“Well, come on, Willa,” Matilda said, picking up
her plate of cake and giving a couple of hip thrusts to the lively salsa music the band was playing. “I want to introduce you to some others over here. Maybe we can stir up some action…or at least some dancing partners.”

“It was nice to meet you two,” Willa said as she followed the brash young Fortune woman.

Brody gulped the rest of his champagne. A smile tugged at Jillian as she watched concern consume him. His overprotectiveness endeared him to her even more. Watching him today with his family, seeing the way he accepted his new cousins and loved and respected Griff, Jillian began to think Brody might be the perfect man for her, as a husband, and for her baby, as a daddy.

“I'm sure she didn't mean what she said.” Jillian offered the only words of comfort she could think of as sparkling lights surrounding the courtyard were switched on. The tiny white lights winked and blinked like stars, accentuating the flickering candlelight from the tables.

“You mean, about wanting to be pregnant?”

“That, and envying me.” She gave a coarse chuckle. “What's there to envy?”

His gaze softened on her, and her pulse quickened. “Everything.”

“Did I hear Matilda right, what she said?” Griff Fortune stepped up to them, his frown matching Brody's.

“Let the woman alone.” Dawson Prescott, the top financial analyst at Fortune TX, Ltd., moved in between Griff and Brody.

“Woman?” Griff looked astonished. “Why, she's only a kid.”

Brody managed a harsh laugh. “You heard right.” He reached for another flute of champagne off of a passing waiter's tray. He handed Griff and Dawson their own glasses. “Think we could hire twenty-four-hour-a-day guards for Matilda?”

“Not a bad idea,” Griff said, his gaze narrowing on his little sister across the room. “I'll look into it. Who's that pretty woman hanging out with her?”

“A guest of Uncle Ryan's. Seems harmless.”

Griff snorted. “You can't be too careful. Not with Clint Lockhart still on the loose.”

“You two are impossible.” Jillian laughed. “Leave Matilda alone.”

“She's a grown woman, for Pete's sake,” Dawson added, his gaze more appreciative of Matilda's curves than either brother would have liked.

“Who's Pete?” Griff asked, tipping his champagne glass to his lips.

Dawson laughed, his hazel eyes sparkling. “Guess I said the wrong thing.”

“Never mind.” Jillian shook her head with dismay. “Don't worry about them. They're just being overprotective big brothers.”

“I'd imagine Matilda might call it something else.” Dawson took a bite of cake.

“A nuisance,” Jillian added with a nod.

Brody scowled. “We've got to do something about her.”

“There's nothing you can do,” Dawson said. “Believe me, my half sister just married your brother. Trust me on this. When it's time, little sisters are go
ing to do what they want. You can't stop it. Especially when they fall in love.”

“Like hell,” Brody said.

“You're no help these days,” Griff complained. “Seeing you're so busy with…the merger.” His narrowing gaze on Jillian told her he knew something besides mergers and acquisitions was taking place in their San Antonio offices. Turning to Dawson, he cornered his friend. “You have to help.”

“With what?”

“Keeping an eye on Matilda,” Brody clarified.

“You're nuts.” Dawson took another bite of cake.

“Desperate,” Griff supplied. “Will you do it?”

Dawson shrugged. “Sure. I guess. If I see her around, I'll keep an eye out for her. But I doubt I'll be seeing much of her. With her staying here at the ranch. But if she comes my way, then I'm your man.”

“She says she wants to come back for a visit in San Antonio,” Brody added.

“You men!” Jillian laughed. “You're all so arrogant. If a woman is going to fall in love, there's nothing that can stop her.”

Brody's gaze focused on her. “Tell me more.”

“You know,” Dawson said, “if I had a lady as beautiful as Jillian standing beside me, I wouldn't be concentrating on my little sister. I'd be off dancing.”

Brody gave Jillian a smile that could have melted Antarctica. “Right. Not a bad idea.” He took Jillian's glass of ginger ale and handed it to his business associate along with his own. “If you'll excuse us…”

Whisking her into his arms, he moved her onto the dance floor stationed in the middle of the courtyard.
His arms were strong and demanding, his embrace as warm and intoxicating as the night breeze.

“Prescott was right,” he said, his voice deep and resonant.

“About what?”

“This is much better,” he said, whispering in her ear, his voice rolling over her like warm water.

Her nerves knocked together like her knees. She tried to sort through her jumbled thoughts. It was one thing to stand next to Brody and try to suppress her desire. It was quite another to be in his arms, feel his hand on her waist, be but a kiss away from him. “Better than plotting a strategy against your little sister?”

“Not against,” he protested. He tugged her closer and breathed in the scent of her hair. “What sister?”

Tilting her head upward, she gave him a smile. “You're something, you know?”

“Only when I'm with you.” Quickening his step, he maneuvered her around a thickening band of dancers.

She felt the music flow over them, sweeping them into a world where only she existed with Brody. A world of starlight and candlelight. The surrounding darkness swallowed the wedding party and curious family and friends into the shadows. Jillian's desire struck like a flame, burning her with the touch of his hand, the warmth of his breath on her cheek, the solid heat of his chest and sturdy shoulder. Her stomach did a slow roll as if the sun were tumbling out of the sky.

This time, she couldn't blame the sensations stirring inside her on the baby.

She wasn't sure if she wanted to kiss him or push
him away. Her heart knew the answer that her body had been trying to beat into her head. She wanted Brody, needed him more than she'd ever desired any man. The years and distance between them hadn't dulled his powerful, shattering effect on her. And she knew his words were correct. It was only a matter of time before she fell hard.

Why was she fighting him? Why was she fighting herself?

Holding on to him as they swayed together to the romantic music pulsing around them, she thought of Brody and his extended family. He readily accepted and felt only respect and love for his uncle Ryan and the Texas Fortunes. He treated Griff as his real, flesh-and-blood brother, even though she knew Griff had been adopted. Her heart began pounding out the truth.

If Brody could accept his family so easily with all its idiosyncrasies, then maybe he could accept her baby as his own. Maybe, just maybe, there was a future waiting for them. It was simply waiting for her to realize and accept.

As the final chords of the romantic song drawled like an east Texas accent, Brody dipped his head and claimed her mouth. His lips were gentle yet demanding, urgent but patient. Her pulse fluttered, and her heart took flight. As her senses swirled, she put an unsteady hand on his chest. In spite of the chaotic sensations tumbling through her, he made her feel steady, secure, safe. It was a heady excitement she couldn't remember experiencing. Only Brody made her world stop spinning, and at the same time sent her into orbit.