Six Hot Summer Nights

He only hoped he didn’t break it. His track record with love wasn’t all that great. In fact, it sucked. And right now, this journey he and Mia were on scared him to death, but he’d never backed away from a challenge, or fear. Or love.

And if he was scared, he could only imagine how Mia felt. She literally had no one else. He had a family who loved him, and he knew he could turn to them at any time—something he’d always taken for granted until he saw a glimpse into Mia’s life.

Just as Bronson reached the first floor, he saw Mia closing the front door, a huge smile spread across her beautiful face.

“I take it from your smile and the aroma that your lessons went well.”

Mia turned to him, still beaming. “Oh, Bronson, that was one of the best experiences of my life.” She closed the space between them and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’ll remember this forever. Thank you.”

Bronson’s cheek rested against her silky hair, and he couldn’t help but smile, too. “You are more than welcome, but I did this for selfish reasons.”

Pulling back, Mia quirked a brow. “Oh, really?”

“I wanted authentic Italian food and I didn’t want to have to leave the castle to get it.”

Mia playfully slapped at his chest and turned back toward the kitchen. And, as always, Bronson followed those swaying hips.

“Grab a plate and see if my lessons paid off,” she told him, removing the lid from the pot of sauce.

“I have a better plan.”

Bronson pulled out some bowls and poured sauce into one and the pasta into another. He grabbed the bread and laid everything on a serving tray. “Get your dessert and follow me.”

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“Trust me.”

Two words that had really come to mean so much in their relationship.

Relationship? He guessed that’s exactly what they had, and he was becoming more and more comfortable with that notion. Actually, the idea had him smiling even more as he led the way to the third-floor bedroom where he’d set up the romantic table on the balcony.

“Bronson,” Mia gasped as she stepped through the doorway. “This is beautiful.”

He set the tray down on the dresser just inside the bedroom. “I thought you might like the view from up here. Besides, we haven’t used this room, yet.”

Mia set her tiramisu on the dinner table and moved into him. “I don’t know what I did to deserve all this. Words cannot express just how thankful I am.”

She slid an arm around his waist, leaned her head on his shoulder and looked out over the view of the rolling green hills and the breathtaking countryside.

“I’m all for your showing me your thanks if words aren’t enough.”

He slid his arms around her waist, encountering that slight belly bump he just couldn’t quite get used to. Each time he saw it, touched it, a lump rose in his throat. He was falling in love with this child, with this woman. But what if something happened to one of them? He couldn’t afford to go through that nightmare again.

“I have to tell you something,” he whispered into her hair. “I know this baby is mine. I know it because I’ve come to know you. You’re genuine, honest. I also believe that you and Anthony are friends—probably better friends than I’d like, but that’s your business.”

Mia looked up at him, her eyes swimming with unshed tears. “Bronson, you can’t know what that means to me. I want us to have trust. I want to be able to give this baby stability.”

“We will,” he assured her.

He couldn’t wait to show her the final surprise he had in store. More than once he’d almost let it slip, but he wanted to see the expression on her face when he revealed the gift he’d been working on.

Mia didn’t want this moment to end. Wrapped in Bronson’s arms, looking on to the Tuscan countryside, feeling the soft flutter of their baby in her belly, nothing else in life mattered right now. There were no problems, no secrets. Nothing to keep her from happiness.

But as he pulled away to assist her with her chair, reality set in. There was a problem and there was a secret. She wanted to tell Bronson, wanted to tell him while they were in this magical place where the outside world couldn’t touch them. But she was bound by loyalty to another man to keep his secret, and no matter how deep the love she had developed for Bronson, she would never go back on her word.

Bronson moved the flower to the side of her plate before dishing out hefty helpings of pasta.

“You okay?” he asked.

She forced a smile. They were in this magical castle, and she refused to think about what would be waiting for them upon their return home.

“I’m fine,” she assured him. “Just nervous about your trying my first authentic Italian meal.”

As he came back with bread, Mia poured a glass of water from the pitcher he’d had on the table. “What’s this?” She tapped on the stainless-steel bowl with lid.

“Open it,” he told her, taking a seat across from her.

Mia lifted the lid, stared at the contents and laughed. “All green M&M’s?”

He shrugged. “Just in case your homemade dessert didn’t turn out, I knew you liked those.”

Mia’s heart swelled even more. There was no question Bronson loved her. How many ways had he shown her? Did she need him to say the words? They would be nice to hear, but she knew he wasn’t ready to say them, and his actions had seriously spoken louder than three simple words could.

But what she prayed for more than anything was that he trusted her. And that he would still trust her when he discovered the truth about Anthony. That he would come to her, let her comfort him and explain why she hadn’t been able to tell him what she knew.

Because if she lost Bronson from her life, she truly doubted that she would ever find love like this again.

Fourteen

“Another surprise, Bronson?” Mia asked as she climbed into the sporty silver rental car.

After a night of passionate lovemaking and testing her scrumptious dessert in bed, Bronson woke her with orders to get dressed and be ready in an hour.

“Trust me,” he told her as he started the engine. “You may love this surprise most.”

“More than a castle getaway, the cooking lessons, my own bowl of green M&M’s?”

He smiled, steering them down the narrow street. “More.”

Now that had her even more intrigued. “Can you tell me what it is?”

Reaching over, he grabbed her hand and laughed. “You have really got to learn some patience, Mia.”

“I will. Tomorrow. Now tell me where you’re taking me.”

The infuriating man merely laughed as he drove. They traveled for nearly an hour before coming to a beautiful little town with bistros and specialty shops.

“What are we doing here?” she asked once he’d parked.

“Shopping.”

Mia jerked around. “You like to shop?”

“Not really, but I love seeing you happy. We’re looking for baby furniture.”

Mia squealed. “Baby furniture?” She glanced out the window at the small, locally owned shops. “Do they have a furniture store here?”

“Even better. They have a store where you can custom-order your furniture and it’s all made and shipped to you.”

Was this a dream? And she’d thought in Cannes she’d outdone Cinderella. This was much, much bigger than anything she could’ve ever imagined.

“The owner has made some pieces for my mother and Victoria,” Bronson told her as he unbuckled his seat belt. “I’ve never been to his store, but I’ve spoken with him on the phone a few times with this day in mind.”

Unable to contain the excitement bubbling within her, Mia shoved open the car door. “Let’s go.”

Bronson came around, took her hand and led her to the store down the block. “I called Fabrizio yesterday and informed him we’d be in. He’s fluent in English and is known worldwide for his baby furniture collection.”

Anticipation spread through her as Mia entered the quaint store, a small bell chiming overhead. Sample pieces of intricate headboards made of solid oak sat along the wall. Tables of all shapes, sizes and various stains were all around them. Classy chairs and sofas upholstered in an array of fabrics anchored the room, drawing her eye to the middle-aged man coming toward them.

“Mr. Dane, welcome.” The man closed the gap, shaking Bronson’s hand. “And you’re the lovely Mia. I’m so thrilled you chose to come here. It doesn’t seem like that long ago I was building a crib for your parents.”

Mia’s breath caught as she risked a glance to Bronson, who merely smiled and nodded. He’d planned this. Love flooded her as she looked back to Fabrizio.

She slipped into Italian so easily. “Avete conosciuto I miei genitori?” You knew my parents?

The elderly man smiled. “Ero un amico d’infanzia con il tuo padre.” I was childhood friends with your father.

Mia couldn’t stop the tears from collecting. “I’m honored to meet you,” she told him, switching back to English. “I’m even more honored you’re going to make my baby’s furniture.”

“Oh, my pleasure. My Viviana and I had eight children of our own. There’s nothing as special as welcoming a child into this world.”

He motioned for them to follow as he made his way toward the back of the store. “Come into my office. I’ve pulled some books for you to look at. Some old designs, some new.”

Mia followed the Italian man with a heavy accent and graying temples. Of course with eight kids, it was a wonder the man wasn’t bald.

Mia rubbed the side of her belly as a little flutter tickled her. She couldn’t wait to see her baby, to savor the treasure of motherhood and communicate with her child face-to-face.

They went into a small office where many binders and loose pictures were displayed across the desk. Mia took a seat in a cozy, curved, velvety chair and picked up one of the pictures.

“These are amazing,” she murmured, truly taken aback by the beauty. “I’ve never seen anything like them.”

“After Mr. Dane called me, I wanted to give you a variety.”

He leaned a hip on the edge of his desk. “If there’s something you like in more than one picture, we can try to combine styles or colors. Whatever you like, I’ll try to make it happen.”

After several minutes of looking in silence, Mia choked up as she studied the perfectly round crib with a little pink canopy over the top. Easily she could see her baby snuggled in a deep slumber beneath the silky canopy.

As she looked through more pictures, Bronson remained standing, not saying a word. Did he want to distance himself from this? Was he just letting her choose because he still had doubts about whether this baby was his?

No. If he didn’t believe he was the father, he wouldn’t have done this for her and their baby. She had no doubt he was still frightened that something would happen to the child, but still, she wished he’d say something. Take some part in this decision.

Mia went back to the first picture that had captured her attention. The soft colors and delicate woodwork were appropriate for either gender.

“I want this one.”

Fabrizio nodded with a smile. “Any changes you’d like made?” he asked.

“None. But I don’t know if I’m having a boy or girl, so I’m unsure of the bedding.”

“You can call me and let me know, or we can choose a unisex color for the bedding. There are so many nice materials for a universal crib.”

Mia’s mind worked overtime, thinking of the layout of her cottage, the way the windows let the morning sun in and how that would affect the color scheme.

“Could I see the materials and pick one for a boy and one for a girl and let you know?”

The man smiled. “Of course. It will take a few weeks for me to complete this design. But I’ll try to have it ready in two weeks because you are a special client.”

“We have an appointment in two weeks to learn the sex of the baby,” Bronson told the man. “I’ll give you a call.”

“Fine.” Fabrizio motioned for them to follow him out of the office and onto the showroom floor. “Now let’s look at fabrics.”

After choosing all the necessary materials and designs for either sex of the baby, Mia couldn’t help but impose on Fabrizio another few moments to question him about her parents. This was the closest connection she’d had to them, other than the locket around her neck, and she wanted to hold tight to that thread of similarity.

Bronson stepped outside the office, giving them privacy, and Mia delighted in hearing childhood stories about her father, then about how he and her mother were so excited to be having a baby.

Mia choked up a few times, but Fabrizio was a gentleman and offered her a tissue as he continued reminiscing.

Before long, an hour had passed. Mia apologized and promised to keep in touch and send baby pictures once her little one was born.

Now more than ever Mia knew Bronson loved her. He’d purposely found this man who knew her father. He’d set up this meeting, this day, all so she could have that glimpse into her past as it collided with her future.

So many emotions whirled around inside her, and she just didn’t know how to react. One thing was certain, though, she needed Bronson to still feel he could trust her once they returned home and he discovered the truth she’d been hiding from him. She hadn’t come this far to lose him now.

After lunch at a small bistro and some more shopping in the cute little specialty stores, Mia was thankful to be back at the castle and put her feet up.

“I had no idea a baby could zap so much energy from your body,” she said, sinking into the leather sofa in the main living room. “This is all starting to seem so real. The baby, I mean.”

Bronson laughed, settling in beside her. “You mean the morning sickness wasn’t a sign of it being real?”

She shuddered at the thought. “Oh, yeah. That was real enough, but this trip, being here with you, feeling the baby move, picking out furniture. Everything just seems so … right.”

As Bronson wrapped an arm around her, Mia settled in closer to his side. They only had one more day here, and Mia had so much she wanted to tell him. So much she needed him to see about her life so he would understand her actions when he discovered the truth.

She rubbed the scar on her hand, as if to draw courage from the fateful night that had changed her life, molding her into the person she was today.

“You know I’m not lying about this baby.” Silence answered her, sending a stabbing pain through her chest. “I need to know you believe me, Bron.”

“I do.” His voice, thick with emotion, enveloped her. “I’ve been afraid to admit it for fear of losing another baby I loved, but I know.”

Months’ worth of worry, of fear, evaporated at his heartfelt declaration. He loved this child.

“I know this is probably hard for you, but I promise nothing is going to happen to this baby.” Mia rested her hand on Bronson’s denim-clad thigh. “I don’t know how to thank you for all you’ve done for me. Introducing me to Fabrizio … I’ll never be able to thank you enough.”

“You don’t have to thank me.” He toyed with the ends of her hair. “I care about you and this baby. I wanted you to get a glimpse of your past. I have my family, and I’m glad I got to show you a side of yours.”

Mia glanced up at him. “You’ll be a wonderful father. You have such a loving family, and you’re all so close. This baby won’t want for anything.”

“My father passed away when I was ten,” he told her. “The media actually handled it better than my mother thought they would by letting us have our privacy. I always wanted to be like him. He was the man of the house, and it didn’t bother him at all that my mother was a Hollywood icon. Some husbands would’ve been jealous, but he was so proud of her.”

Mia watched a play of emotions cross Bronson’s face. “I knew my career in the film industry would come before anything, but once I had my footing, I wanted a wife, a mother for my children, and I wanted to be my dad. Devoted, loyal, loving.”

Why couldn’t he see he was all those things and more?

“I met Jennifer on a movie set and thought I’d found the one,” he went on, staring into the fireplace as if watching the movie unfold before him. “Then she lost the baby. We argued about everything. Looking back I know we weren’t compatible, but lust screws up the senses. She knew about my feelings toward Anthony—hell, everyone in the industry knows we don’t get along on set. She’d worked on a film with him in the past and told me he was the father of the child.”

Mia’s heart ached for him and for Anthony. This entire fiasco between these two was, she feared, going to get a whole lot worse before it got better.

“You know she was lying, right?” Mia asked. “I mean about Anthony. I can’t say if she had an affair or not with someone else, but I know Anthony and I know how much he loves his wife. I’ve seen firsthand how hard he fights for their marriage.”

Bronson snapped his gaze down to hers. “I never thought of her lying about the father, but when she threw that in my face—true or not—it shattered what little relationship we had left.”

“I’m not her, Bronson.” Mia lifted her hand, cupped his cheek and eased her body around just a bit more to face him. “I’m not lying to you. I assure you, Anthony and I are, and always have been, just friends. That’s why I stopped working for him—because I saw the struggle he was going through with Charlotte, and I knew he loved her or he would’ve just walked away at the first sign of scandal.”

Bronson’s blue eyes, which never failed to impress her, studied her face. “I know you’re not her. You’re a fighter and stand up for what you believe. You’re loyal and honest.”

Tell him, the voice in her head practically screamed, but Mia couldn’t do it. She couldn’t betray the trust of a friend. She just had to believe that Bronson would understand her reasoning once the truth came out.

“I’m not sure what kind of mother I’ll make,” she told him, easing back down against his side. “I mean, I haven’t had an example, and I’ve never really been around babies. One of my foster homes had a toddler, but I wasn’t there long enough to get attached.”

“You were bounced around a lot?”

Mia nodded. “Yeah. After my parents died, I was placed into four foster homes by the time I was ten. When I turned ten, I was placed in a home with other kids waiting to be adopted. I was there until I turned eighteen, and then I decided it was time to take control of my life and do something that pleased me. I had no one else to please or answer to.”

“I’m amazed at the woman you’ve become, Mia, considering you were so young when your parents were killed.”

Mia nodded, rubbing her scar. “Yeah. I was five.”

He slid a finger alongside hers. “And that’s where this came from?”

“I only had minor injuries, but my parents were killed. Sometimes life isn’t fair,” she murmured. “I may not be the best mother, but I will love this baby with every fiber of my being and always put her needs before my own.”

Bronson moved in front of her, taking her hand in his. “I have no doubt you’ll be a fantastic mother, Mia. I’m not worried about that one bit. You go into everything in life with excitement at full throttle and give 110 percent.

“That’s one of the reasons I brought you on a getaway.” He leaned forward, placing a soft kiss on her lips. “I want you to know that I believe you, that I trust you and that I want to see where this thing between us will lead. That’s all I can offer, but I hope you’ll be patient with me.”

Love speared through her, nearly bursting to get out. She’d never, ever felt like this—so alive, so happy. She wrapped her arms around Bronson, choking back tears.

“Love is patient,” she whispered in his ear. “I’m not going anywhere.”

She eased back, noting the desire in his eyes, knowing hers matched his. Sealing the new milestone in their journey was logical, and Mia hoped every time they made love he could see, feel, just how much she did love him.

Bronson’s strong hands slid up the skirt of the tunic-style dress Victoria had made for her. Warmth spread through her as he leaned in to capture her lips again, massaging her thighs.

Mia broke the kiss, coming to her feet. Gripping the hem of the garment, she pulled it over her head and tossed it aside. Desire shot straight through her as Bronson’s gaze slid up her body, pausing at her matching yellow bra-and-panty set.

“You always have the most amazing things on under your clothes,” he told her, coming to his feet.

Mia slid his polo shirt off as he worked his jeans down and kicked them aside. He palmed her shoulders and tugged her toward him until she fell against his hard, solid chest. Mia looked up just as his lips came crashing down on to hers.

The swell of her belly brushed against him as their bodies molded together. Mia poured her emotions, her desires, her love into the kiss.

Bronson eased back, bent down and picked her up to carry her. “Where to?”

“Bronson, I’m getting too heavy for you to carry,” she scolded. “Put me down.”

“You’ve barely gained anything, and if I want to carry my family, I will.”

Mia’s eyes stung as she stared back at him. “Your family? In that case, take me anywhere you want.”

Hope sprang to life within her. He thought of them as a family. Did he intend to make them a family in the legal way?

Oh, God. Her dreams of a family, a real unit, could come true and with a man she was totally in love with. She realized she’d never want a family with anyone but Bronson.

He carried her down the narrow, stone hallway out one of the back doors. “I want to make love to you outside, in the open, under the stars.”

Mia knew there was no one around to see since the castle sat on a huge lot and they were the only residents.

He set her on her feet, wrapping his arms around her. “Look at me, Mia.”

She lifted her face, knowing her love shone in her eyes.

“Know that I care for you, know that what is between us is real to me and that I’m giving all I can emotionally.”

Mia smiled, holding his face between her hands. “I know, Bronson. I know more about you than you know about yourself. Make love to me.”

With soft, tender touches, he kissed her as he rid her of her bra and panties. Once she stood wearing only a kiss of the moonlight, Bronson placed his hands on her belly. He leaned down, kissed her stomach and murmured, “I love you” to the baby.

Mia choked back tears, knowing he was taking a giant leap outside his comfort zone by declaring his feelings aloud. His vulnerability was now out in the open for her to see. Which told her right there that he trusted her—and possibly loved her, too.

Bronson came up to his full height, framed her face with his hands and kissed her, backing her up until her legs hit the outdoor sofa. He spun them around and took a seat, urging her down to straddle him.

Mia hovered with her face above his, looking into his eyes, needing him to know that her love was genuine. “I love you.”

As they became one, Bronson’s eyes closed. Mia leaned down to kiss him as he stroked his hands up and down her bare back. The crisp night air pricked her skin, sending even more sensations surging through her.

She tilted her hips, arching her back as she lifted her face to the night sky. Bronson’s talented hands found her breasts and sent Mia over the edge. She cried out and let the climax spread through her.

In no time Bronson’s body stiffened as he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back against him, capturing her mouth.

Mia held on to his shoulders as their tremors merged into one and knew that this was the man she was meant to spend her life with. There would be heartache, she had no doubt about that, but she intended to fight for him, for their family.

He loved her. Now she just had to pray that love was strong enough to get them through the next few days.

Fifteen