Their fingers brushed as she reached for the uncapped bottle. Luke cursed the tingle that zipped up his arm and tightened his chest. Maintaining a casual expression, he called over to Willa, the only waitress on the schedule this a.m., and asked her to cover the bar. “Be right back,” he said to the Brodys who were looking at him like he was the luckiest shit in town.
Yeah, right.
“She’s new,” Rae said, referring to the petite blonde waitress as they made their way to his office.
“You know how it goes,” Luke said as he opened the door. “People come and go all the time.”
He thought he heard Rae sigh, but she didn’t comment. She set down the Perrier long enough to shrug out of her expensive-looking down coat. He automatically helped her with it. He’d been raised to do stuff like that. Help women in and out of their coats, open the door for them, pull out the chair for them. Most women, at least all of the ones he’d dated, appreciated the courtesy.
Rae thanked him, although that sounded sort of automatic, too. “Mind if I sit?” she asked while gesturing to his secondhand couch.
“Knock yourself out.” Luke, however, perched on the corner of his desk. He was wired. He was curious. He was wary. “What kind of business?”
She blinked then focused. On him. Gaze steady. Four months ago, she’d gone out of her way to avoid eye contact. With Luke and most everyone else. He’d assumed it was because she was shy. Now he knew it was because she’d been living a freaking lie. Eyes were the window to the soul and all that.
“Without going into great detail,” she said, “I’m here to save Sugar Tots. And, if they’ll let me, I think I can help the Cupcake Lovers with their publishing date glitch.”
“How did you—”
“Sam told me.”
“He called you in California?”
“He wrote back in answer to the letter I wrote to all of the Cupcake Lovers. Then I called him. We’ve talked a few times.”
That bothered Luke more than he cared to think about. “Did you tell him about—”
“Of course not. I haven’t told anyone. It’s not the kind of thing you brag about.”
“Right. Because the sex wasn’t all that great.”
Her color rose and her eyes sparked, but she didn’t snap. She sighed. “I only said that because … Never mind. Could we keep this civil? I know I disappointed you. I know you think the worst of me. I can’t help that, but I’d like to get past it.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m going to have your baby.”
* * *
Rae hadn’t meant to blurt the news. She’d lain awake half the night on her rented pillow-soft bed rehearsing how she was going to drop the bombshell. None of her scenarios had gone like this. They’d all been more eloquent. But she was nervous. She hadn’t anticipated the rush of desire when she’d walked in and saw Luke standing behind the bar. The man was at his most confident and charming when he mixed drinks and bantered with his patrons. Adam and Kane were two of his closest friends. Thank God they’d been there to break the ice, because swear to God, Rae had frozen up. She’d sworn her heart was dead as far as Luke was concerned. How could fate be so cruel?
Just now Luke was looking at her as if she’d just spoken Greek. “Come again?”
“I’m pregnant, Luke.”
He angled his head, blinked. “And you think it’s mine?”
“I don’t think. I know.”
“How?”
What, he thought she slept around? Yeah. He probably did. “Because of the timing.”
Because there hasn’t been anyone else.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure.” Rae bore his insulting attitude with hard-won calm. She refused to lose her cool. She refused to get emotional. She’d been wrestling with this unexpected twist for two weeks. Once the shock had abated, she’d experienced a spark of wonder and joy. She refused to allow Luke to warp this miracle into something ugly. That said, she thought he deserved to know. “If you don’t believe me, I’ll submit to DNA testing, although I’m not far enough along yet.”
He shoved his hand through his shaggy hair. The same hand that had smoothed down her back, up her thigh, under her dress. “You said you were on birth control.”
“I was. But the pill isn’t fail-proof. Nothing, aside from abstinence, is.”
So far, Luke was responding exactly like she’d anticipated. Doubting her. Blaming her. Except he wasn’t yelling. He was, in fact, oddly calm. It made Rae uneasy. She swigged a quarter of the water, rolled back her shoulders. “Listen, Luke. I don’t want anything from you. I’m not expecting a marriage proposal or asking for financial support. I just … I wanted you to know. I thought you’d want to know.”
“Are you going to keep it?”
“
It?
”
“The baby.”
“You think I’d give her up for adoption or…” She couldn’t even say it.
Luke stood and paced to his file cabinet and back. Frowning, he dragged his hands down his absurdly handsome face. “I can’t believe this.”
Resenting his misery, even though she’d expected it, Rae swigged more water then set aside the bottle and forced herself to stand. “This isn’t the life I planned either, Luke, but I’m not going to run from it. I’m going have this baby. I’m going to love this baby. If you want to be a part of her life, I’ll stay on in Sugar Creek. I’ll make a life here. If not, we’ll settle someplace else.”
He cast a suspicious glance. “Why not in California? Near your mom?”
“I have my reasons.”
She saw him tense. She understood why he was bothered by her evasiveness, but he’d given her no reason to trust him with her problems. She’d thought her troubles would be over once she inherited her fortune. She thought she’d be able to lure her mom away from Geoffrey with the promise that Rae would look after her financially. She’d been wrong. She thought her own money would mean freedom and respectability. She thought it would open doors, which it did, but not doors she wanted to walk through. She’d never been more miserable and lonely.
And then she’d learned she was pregnant.
Now she had someone else to worry about. Someone to protect and nurture. Raising her child anywhere near Olivia and her toxic environment was out of the question.
“Think it over,” Rae said as she nabbed her coat. “I’m staying at the Pine and Periwinkle. Do you have my cell number?”
Caught somewhere between flustered and angry, Luke fumbled with his phone. “I don’t.… No. Not your current one.”
Rae grabbed Luke’s cell and quickly thumbed in her information. She needed to get out of here. She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. She handed him the phone then turned to leave. “I know you don’t like me,” she said, “but please do me this one favor. Don’t tell anyone yet. Dev. Rocky. Anyone. I’m only six weeks along. The first trimester … it’s iffy.” Just saying it out loud made her queasy. But she’d listened to her doctor and she’d researched on her own. Once she reached the ten to twelve week mark, the risk of miscarrying would greatly diminish.
“You keep saying
her,
” Luke said when Rae was halfway out the door. “Isn’t it too soon to know?”
“Just a feeling.” Heart pounding, Rae crossed the threshold and moved calmly toward the front door with a wave to Adam and Kane. Part of her wanted Luke to follow her, but she knew he wouldn’t. She’d just put a serious kink in the life of Sugar Creek’s biggest playboy.
SEVEN
Rocky Monroe couldn’t remember when she’d ever felt this happy. She kept waiting for the sky to fall. For her recent good fortune to tank. It’s not that she was a cynic or a defeatist, but she had a history of rotten luck. She’d spent years seething over her love gone wrong with Jayce Bello.
Years
. She’d experienced multiple and increasing financial setbacks. The absolute worst had been watching her bed-and-breakfast, her home, her
dream,
go up in smoke. Along with all of her personal possessions.
Oh, yeah. Losing everything sucked big time.
Only, when her senses had cleared, she’d realized she hadn’t lost
everything
. Certainly, not the things she cherished most.
Her family. Her friends. Her dog, Brewster.
Jayce
.
She’d also retained her confidence and drive, and her toehold in a new career as an interior decorator. Over the last three months, Rocky had settled into her new home, Daisy’s old house, with Jayce and Brewster. She’d reveled in planning her wedding along with her mom and Daisy, and her two closest friends, Chloe and Monica. She’d embraced the challenge of her new business—Red Clover Renovations. It was a slow build, but she also held a part-time job at Maple Molly’s Antique Barn—a job she loved—and Jayce had struck gold with his cyber detective agency. Financially, she,
they
were set. Emotionally, Rocky was riding a never-ending wave of love. Jayce rocked her world and Rocky gave as good as she got. Life was good. Life was great!
Except for the delay in the release of the Cupcake Lovers recipe book, and the woman who was fast becoming the new bane of Rocky’s existence, her client from hell—Harper Day.
Rocky shook her head in wonder as she pulled her jeep into her cousin, Sam’s, drive. Tasha Burke had left town and Harper Day had moved in. Not permanently, but due to her excessive texting and e-mails, she was always “present.” It was like trading one pain in the ass for another. It’s not that Rocky couldn’t handle the high-maintenance publicist from the West Coast. She just needed a reprieve for the next few weeks so she could focus on herself and Jayce. On their wedding.
That’s where Sam came in.
Hopefully.
Bundled against the frigid cold and mounds of snow, Rocky made her way across Sam’s shoveled sidewalk and knocked on his front door. She’d always loved that it was painted bright red. That had been Paula’s influence. She’d loved bright colors and everything cheery in life—flowers, pop music. She’d been Sam’s opposite in so many ways and yet his perfect mate. Rocky’s heart still ached when she thought about the awful way Paula had faded from this world. No one blamed Sam for mourning his lost love so deeply, not that he ever talked about his grief or loneliness. But everyone wanted him to find new happiness. Everyone had laid their money on Rachel Lacey, but that hadn’t worked out, and now Sam was back to closing himself off to dating.
The door swung open and Rocky’s tall, rugged, former military cousin greeted her with a teddy bear under one arm and two Miss Kitty pocketbooks slung over the other. Rocky smothered a grin as she moved inside what was usually a tip-top house. “What happened in here?”
“Babysitter couldn’t get Mina to go to bed last night. Neither could I. In an effort to tire her out, I endured a fashion show. It lasted an hour. This was the fallout.”
Rocky pressed her lips together as she surveyed the damage. Strewn about the living room were random piles of coats, feather boas, bright-colored shoes, hats, tiaras, and what looked to be about thirty fuzzy friends.
“Her audience,” Sam said, indicating the rows of ragtag stuffed animals. “Along with me.”
“Where was Ben?”
“In bed. Pretending to sleep. He doesn’t think I know, but he reads those anime books under the covers every night by flashlight.”
“You don’t want him reading graphic novels?”
“I don’t want him reading period after lights out.”
Rocky unzipped her jacket and perched her hands on her hips. “I never realized how many clothes and toys Mina has.”
“That’s because I, we, keep them pretty organized in her bedroom and playroom.”
Rocky swept up one of the boas. “Haven’t seen these before.”
“New fascination. Boas and princess crowns.”
“Why so many?”
Sam turned away, scooping up a purple elephant wearing a raspberry pink tiara. “She wanted them.”
Rocky raised a brow. Sam loved his kids more than anything in the world, but he wasn’t one to spoil them. Unless … “Mina still crying every morning when you drop her off at school?”
“Frickin’ torture. It’s all I can do not to swoop her up and hit the road.”
Rocky’s heart jerked when she caught the miserable look on Sam’s face. The rough-and-tough solider turned brawny carpenter, felled by a five-year-old’s tears. “So what? You’ve been bargaining with Mina? Don’t cry tomorrow and I’ll buy you this or that? How’s that working out?” she teased gently.
He turned now, smirking. “You see all the boas and crowns?”
“I’m sure it’s just a phase. The crying thing. I don’t know about the boas and crowns. I was never into all that girly stuff.”
That drew a slight smile out of Sam. “I remember your fondness for Tonka trucks and Legos.”
Now Rocky frowned. “When the time comes, I hope Jayce and I have boys.” Rocky had always been a tomboy. Tailing after her brothers and boy cousins … Jayce.
“Boys come with different challenges,” Sam said. “It’s all good.” He dropped an armful of toys into a jumbo plastic pink bin. “You mentioned needing a favor. Want to talk about it over coffee?”
“Sure.” Rocky followed Sam into his spic-and-span kitchen, draped her jacket over the back of a kitchen high-back chair, and took a seat. “How booked are you right now?”
“What, with custom orders?”
Sam crafted beautiful furniture. Painted it, too. Intricate stenciled and freehand art. A beautiful pine armoire he’d made for Rocky had burned up in the fire. She shoved that depressing thought aside. “That and carpentry work.”
“What do you need?”
“It’s not for me. Well, it is for me. In a roundabout way. I need to get a client off my back for a few weeks, turn her focus to something other than
the
perfect décor for her vacation home.”
“I take it she’s picky.”
“More like anal.”
“And you want to turn her loose on me and my designs?”
“Actually, the house needs a few interior repairs before we decorate in earnest.”
“What house?”
“The old Rothwell Farm.”