The Fortunes of Texas: Whirlwind Romance

“Here you go.” She handed him the mug. “I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m due in the office for a conference call in less than an hour and I still have to get dressed. So drink up.”

He lifted his eyebrows but held her gaze. “I didn’t come here to drink coffee. Though I do appreciate you making it for me—”

“I know. So, let’s cut to the chase. You’re here because my cousin Victoria made you believe I need your help. I don’t. I may be pregnant, but I’m not in trouble. I’m going to have this baby, and you are under absolutely no obligation to me or to the child.” She paused and drew in a deep breath, hoping to quell another wave of nausea. “I think that covers just about everything.”

She remained standing, hoping he’d take the hint. Instead, he took a long sip from the mug. “Mmm … good coffee.”

Seriously? Irritation skittered along her nerves. “Tanner, did you hear what I said?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I heard you. But what you don’t seem to understand is this isn’t just your child. It’s mine, too. You may think you have it all under control, but you need to know right now. I’m not leaving here until you agree to marry me. Because no child of mine will be born out of wedlock.”

“Marry you?” she squeaked.

He watched the emotions play out on her face. First, confusion. Next, a look that resembled something just short of horror. Then the color faded from her cheeks, leaving her deathly pale. Despite the spectrum of emotion, the stubborn set of her jaw never eased.

So, she was going to make this hard on both of them. Didn’t she understand it could be so simple? Really. All she had to do was the right thing and agree to marry him, and then he’d leave—for the moment, anyway. She could get dressed, go to the office for her phone meeting—or whatever it was she needed to do—while he made arrangements with a notary or the justice of the peace to marry them right here in Atlanta. They would make their union legal sooner rather than later. For the sake of the baby.

Or maybe because he wanted to pin her down now before she managed to slip away again like she did the last time he saw her. The morning after the storm, he’d taken her to find her family and she’d left him with a handshake. A handshake and a “Thanks … for everything.” He’d known his share of women—spent the night with more than a few—but none had ever shaken his hand the morning after.

“Look, Tanner, you can’t just waltz into my home and expect me to marry you.” She looked exasperated. “Do you really think that’s the answer to this … this … situation?”

So, that’s what she wanted to call it. He looked at her for a moment, weighing his words. “Who else knows about our little situation?”

She crossed her arms over her ribs, pressing the robe against her frame. She didn’t look pregnant, but then again, he had no idea how far along women were when they started showing.

“No one else knows I’m pregnant, and I’d like to keep it that way. For now, at least.”

“Well, they’re going to find out eventually. Don’t you think it would be better to hear it from you … or us? Do you have any idea what it was like to learn that the woman I hadn’t spoken to in four months was pregnant with my child? Jordana, why didn’t you tell me before Victoria forced your hand? Why didn’t you call?”

She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, looking a little guilty. “I’ve only known I was pregnant for about three months.”

She was hedging. “Three months is long enough. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I guess I was afraid. So many pregnancies don’t make it past the first trimester. I just didn’t want to alarm you.”

“Alarm me?” he said. “Were you ever going to fill me in?”

Her mouth held that stubborn line, but then he realized her brown eyes were swimming with tears. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I never meant for this to happen.”

The hard-nosed approach to getting Tanner Redmond out of her condo hadn’t worked. But the tears did. Jordana wasn’t an actress. The waterworks were genuine, compliments of the perfect storm of pregnancy hormones and frustration that consumed her all at once. It hit like an emotional tidal wave crashing down on her before she could run for cover.

After that, Tanner had easily agreed to give her time to think, time to get dressed so she could make her meeting on time—but only after she’d agreed to meet him for lunch tomorrow—Saturday, her day off.

She lifted the mug of naturally decaffeinated English breakfast tea and sipped at it tentatively, unsure of how her stomach would respond. But it was her conscience that felt ill. She’d decided the best way to let him off the hook was if she unexpectedly got “called out of town” tomorrow.

Jordana had decided she’d be doing Tanner a favor by doing this. Her administrative assistant, Marta, would call and deliver the news later this afternoon. She’d tell him, No, unfortunately, she was not certain when Jordana would return.

That meant there would be no way Tanner, who had a business to run back in Red Rock, would be able to wait for her in Atlanta. He’d have to get back to tend to his flight school. Once he was able to put some distance between them and think things out rationally, he’d realize getting married was not the answer. They’d work out a visitation schedule—one of the perks of Tanner being a pilot was he’d be able to fly in and see his child as often as he liked. By that time, he’d see that marriage was just an unnecessary burden to place on everyone involved.

She straightened a stack of papers on her desk, beginning her daily tidying-up ritual early. Because she planned on leaving early. She was indeed going to take herself out of town. She’d take her laptop and the files her father had asked her to read through and go to her favorite bed-and-breakfast on St. Simons Island. The time away at the beach would do her a world of good. Not to mention, she wouldn’t have to ask Marta to lie to Tanner. Truly, she would be out of town—on business.

He could rest assured that he made a valiant effort, but he would know full well that he was absolved of any and all obligation to her and the baby.

Jordana stared out her office window on the twenty-second floor, high above Peachtree Street. The breathtaking view of downtown Atlanta did little to soothe her. The shiny, mirrored buildings only seemed to reflect the fact that running away to the beach didn’t make the real challenge go away. Eventually, she would have to break the news to her parents. The mere thought turned her stomach inside out. She put a protective hand on her belly. Maybe what she was feeling was the remnants of the morning sickness. She glanced at her desk clock. It was nearly noon. She needed some nourishment, needed to feed the baby something other than saltine crackers. She wrote a reminder to herself on a Post-it note to follow up on an idea she wanted to present to her father before she left for St. Simons—the idea stemmed from a lead he had mentioned. Maybe if she proved just how conscientious she was at work, he would be more accepting of the news that she was about to become a single parent.

The buzz of the phone intercom startled her and made her drop her pen.

“Ms. Fortune,” said Marta. “There’s a gentleman here to see you.”

Jordana’s heart hiccupped. She wasn’t expecting anyone, but she had a dread-filled hunch she knew just who it might be.

“Thank you, Marta. Does this gentleman have a name?” She purposely softened her voice so not to shoot the messenger.

Marta was quiet for a few beats before she said, “Yes, ma’am. He says his name is Tanner Redmond.”

Chapter Two

For a very brief moment, Jordana contemplated an escape plan. It was a crazy idea, of course. Tanner was standing right in front of Marta and had heard her talking to Jordana. Escaping or pretending she wasn’t in the office was not an option. But it didn’t mean she had to make herself available to him.

She just needed a moment to think….

“Marta, would you please ask Mr. Redmond to have a seat in the lobby? I’m in the middle of something and I need to get to a stopping point. Please tell him I’ll be out to see him in a few minutes.”

“Certainly, Miss Fortune.”

Jordana sat in silence, rubbing her right temple. The last thing she needed was to argue with Tanner about their situation, right here in the office. The more she thought about the way he’d just barged in here, the more it irritated her. Really, it was pretty darn presumptuous of him to just show up. But maybe that was his way. After all, hadn’t he appeared unannounced on her doorstep at daybreak, expecting her to receive him in a moment’s notice?

Then again, she had set the tone for those instant expectations. One-night stands tended to give a guy the green light to bypass the basics of common courting courtesies and slide directly into home plate.

A pang of guilt squeezed her heart. It just figured, didn’t it? The first time she had sex—the one time—she’d gotten pregnant. The thought made her feel sick, but this time it had nothing to do with morning sickness. The reason she couldn’t bear to face him went much deeper than one-night-stand regret. Yes, every time she looked at him she remembered how out of her mind she’d been that night of the hurricane … out of her mind because she was afraid she was going to die in the midst of a tornado, never having made love to a man.

Until that night with Tanner, Jordana had been a virgin.

And Tanner didn’t even know that she had given him the most precious gift she had to give a man. A part of herself she’d guarded jealously, because it was reserved for the man who would be the love of her life. That’s why she’d been a twenty-nine-year-old virgin when she’d met Tanner.

She closed her eyes against the memory, as if squeezing them tight enough might obliterate the mental images of the way she’d thrown herself at him. She hadn’t even been aware that she had the power to seduce a man.

She placed her hand on her stomach. Giving him that part of herself had led to another gift … a baby that would tie them together. Forever. Whether they got married or not.

She pressed her fingertips over her closed eyelids and tried to obliterate the image of herself in Tanner’s arms. When that didn’t work, she opened her eyes and forced her mind onto a different train of thought.

Maybe Tanner had come to the office to tell her he’d changed his mind. Jordana sat up straighter in her chair. Yes, that was better. Maybe he had to go back to Red Rock earlier than expected, and had come to say goodbye …?

As much as she wanted to believe it, she knew inherently it wasn’t so. He’d been too persistent that morning. So persistent, in fact, he’d almost been convincing … that they could get married and be a family … the three of them. That somehow love could bloom in the shadow of a marriage in name only.

A life built on a foundation of resentment held together by a mortar of obligation and duty.

She drummed her manicured fingers on the desk. Why was Tanner so eager, when he hadn’t even cared enough to call her since they’d said goodbye in late December? Was she selling her child short by not even considering the possibility of a life with Tanner?

The thought turned the skin on her arms to gooseflesh.

Could it work? She’d been so embarrassed seeing Tanner again for the first time since that night, she hadn’t even allowed herself to think about possibility and hope. That she and Tanner might be able to get married first and learn to love each other later.

Her pulse beat in her ears like a ticking bomb, and for a moment, she let herself go there. She imagined living together as a family, spending holidays together, rather than alternating time with their child as dictated by a custody agreement, celebrating all those milestones in their child’s life that Tanner had insisted he would be there for, whether she liked it or not. She imagined waking up in his bed—their bed—every morning. And then the reality bomb exploded when Tanner was absent from her vision. Instead, she saw herself waking up alone; he was nowhere to be found because he didn’t love her … or maybe it was because she didn’t love him.

Tanner wanted to marry her. Yet, he didn’t even know her. Not in the the-man-I-marry-will-know-all-about-me-and-still-love-me-despite-myself sort of way.

The way she’d always dreamed her marriage would be.

Jordana wanted to do right by her child and give the baby the best possible life. But agreeing to a loveless marriage simply wouldn’t be what was best for the child. The realization brought with it the kind of sadness that made her heart ache down to its very center.

She’d been so careful her entire life, saving herself for just the right man, and one careless move had changed everything. All her life she’d dreamed of falling in love and having a family of her own. In those dreams the man she loved had loved her back with a ferocity that could move mountains. If she agreed to Tanner’s impulsive, loveless plan, they would end up hating each other, and the one who would suffer the most would be their child.

Suddenly, what she needed to do was perfectly clear. She needed to have a frank conversation with Tanner—right now, outside of the office—and set things straight once and for all. The sooner he was on a plane back to Red Rock, the better off everyone would be.

John Michael Fortune had a bad reputation of being a hard-ass. But Tanner knew from personal experience a person didn’t get to Mr. Fortune’s station in life without being strong willed and having a clear-focused vision of what he wanted.

That’s why when John Michael entered the lobby as Tanner waited for Jordana, he greeted her father like an old family friend. Tanner had spoken with the Atlanta Fortune patriarch only on a handful of occasions, and was much closer to the Fortunes of his own generation, such as Scott Fortune, Jordana’s brother. But to his pleasant surprise, John Michael rewarded Tanner’s fortitude with a hardy clap on the back and a firm handshake.

“Tanner Redmond, good to see you,” he said.

“Mr. Fortune,” Tanner returned.

He hoped John Michael’s greeting was the beginning of a long and amiable relationship. Because it would make life much easier for everyone involved if he and the grandfather of his child were on solid terms.

“How’s business?” John Michael asked. “I heard Redmond Flight School took a beating in that tornado.”

“Business has never been better.” Tanner stood a little taller reporting this news, because it was true. “It was rough in the days following the storm, especially after one of my flight instructors, Gary Tompkins, died. But we worked hard and pulled everything together. Business had to carry on. I’m sure you know how that is.”

John Michael nodded. “I was sorry to hear Gary died. Scott told me he was a real asset to Redmond Flight School. But you have a good attitude. So is everything rebuilt and repaired?”

“Sure is. In fact, I’m looking into expanding. I want to begin offering charter services before the end of the year. I have a line on a Cessna Citation that’s on the market for a reasonable price. If I get it, I’m going to hire a crew and a pilot.”

John Michael’s right brow arched. “Sounds ambitious, but it also sounds like you know your stuff. I’m sure you have everything under control. What brings you to Atlanta? Are you here on business?”

Mustering his most sincere smile, Tanner responded, “I’m here to see Jordana. I’m taking her to lunch.”

John Michael did a double take and furrowed his brow.

“I didn’t realize you and my daughter were seeing each other.” The look on the older man’s face did not suggest objection; surprise and puzzlement, maybe, but not dissent. “Red Rock to Atlanta is quite a commute for a lunch date. Is this relationship serious? That daughter of mine never tells her mother and me anything.”

Tanner worried the button at the cuff of his blue oxford shirt as he considered how to answer the question. That’s when it hit him: his best chance at getting Jordana to marry him was standing right in front of him. If her father was on board with the wedding, Jordana would be more likely to agree. He looked the man square in his brown eyes—a feature Jordana had inherited from her father.

“Yes, sir, I believe we are serious. In fact, one of the reasons I’ve come all this way is to ask you a very important question—actually, I’d like to talk to you before I take Jordana to lunch. Would you happen to have a moment now, or should I make an appointment with you?”

John Michael’s expression suddenly sobered and he studied Tanner as if searching for weakness. Tanner redoubled his resolve to carry through with what he knew he had to do.

“Please hold my calls,” John Michael instructed the receptionist. “Come to my office, Tanner.”

Tanner let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He reminded himself that despite the man’s formidable reputation, he’d seemed easy enough to get along with. Of course, that was before John Michael realized Tanner had his eye on Jordana. Tanner could only hope his future father-in-law would be this even-tempered once he learned exactly how serious his and Jordana’s relationship had become.

Jordana made her way out to the lobby to collect Tanner, but when she got there he was gone. She glanced around the empty reception area.

“Where did he go?” she asked Marta. “Did he leave?”

“No, he’s in your father’s office.”

“What?” Jordana’s heart constricted then lodged in her windpipe. She had to clear her throat before she could muster a calm voice and ask, “How long have they been in there?”

Marta squinted at the clock on the wall, then pushed a strand of brown hair off her forehead. “Not very long. Your father arrived shortly after I buzzed you to let you know Mr. Redmond had arrived. Mr. Fortune asked me to hold all calls, but I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if I buzzed him to say you’re looking for him and Mr. Redmond.”

Jordana stared out the floor-to-ceiling windows along the office’s front wall as the ramifications of what might be happening—that Tanner might be telling her father about the baby before she could—settled around her. The gorgeous view of the Atlanta skyline seemed to tilt a little. She steadied herself on the edge of the reception desk and shifted her gaze to the leather chairs in the waiting area.

“No, that’s okay. I’ll just wait until they’re finished.”

Like heck she’d wait. What in the world was Tanner doing in her father’s office? Well, there was only one way to find out.

As soon as she was out of Marta’s line of sight, Jordana speed-walked down the parquet-covered hallway toward her father’s office, her high heels tap-tapping on the wood. In the process, she nearly ran into the intern, who was looking down at a stack of papers as he stepped out of the copy room.

“Oh, excuse me,” he said. “I’m sorry, Miss Fortune. I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

She mustered her best smile and kept walking as she said, “No problem, Ben. I was … I’m sorry, too.”

When she reached her father’s office door, she paused before she knocked, composing in her head what she’d say to them.

Well, it would depend on her father’s demeanor. If he was in a good mood, then Tanner hadn’t betrayed her; if he was in a bad mood … it was a good thing she could run in heels. But then there would be the moral dilemma whether she should check on Tanner, because if he spilled the beans, her father would surely kill him.

And if her dad didn’t, she would.

Before she could knock, the door opened and she was standing in front of her father. Tanner, she noted, was a few paces behind him—still standing. No visible bodily harm.

For a moment that seemed to last a lifetime, Jordana held her breath as she gauged her father’s mood.

“Jordana, there you are.” He smiled.

Jordana exhaled. Good mood. He was in a good mood. Oh, thank God.

“Hi, Dad,” she said, infusing her smile with all the enthusiasm she could muster. “What are you doing?”

“I was just having a nice talk with Tanner.”

As if on cue, Tanner stepped out from behind John Michael, pulled Jordana into his arms and planted a kiss on her lips. For a split second, her body responded to him—to the sheer depth and breadth of the way his big body encircled her, just possessive enough to make her knees go a little weak. Her lips parted in response. The taste of him, the feel of his lips on hers reminded her of how good he’d tasted that night. How much she’d wanted him—

She managed to wedge both hands between them, ready to shove him away, but before she could, he pulled back and smiled down at her. If she didn’t know better, she might have thought that the way he looked at her … meant something.

“Hello, darling,” he said. “I’ve missed you.”

Darling?

“What the heck, Tanner?” She dragged the back of her hand across her mouth, trying to erase the feel of his lips on hers.

John Michael frowned at her. “Jordana. That’s not a very nice greeting. Tanner flew in all the way from Red Rock to take you to lunch. What’s wrong with you this morning?”

What was wrong? Oh, if he only knew. Well, at least his asking that question suggested he didn’t know, and that was enough to help Jordana regain her bearings. But then again, her father had a great poker face. He wasn’t about to cause a scene in the office. But one thing was perfectly clear: her father seemed to think that she and Tanner were … together. A couple. She had no idea what nonsense Tanner had been flinging at her dad, but common sense dictated that she play along—at least for now—so that her father didn’t get suspicious. At least until she could break up with him over lunch.

“What are you doing here, darling?” she said to Tanner. “You’re a day early. I was expecting to see you tomorrow.” Jordana gritted her molars as she smiled.

Tanner grinned back, obviously game to play along. “Oh, I know, sweetheart.” His Texas drawl seemed exaggerated—or at least she’d never noticed it before now. “I missed you so much, I couldn’t wait another day. I decided to surprise you.”

“Well, yes, you certainly surprised me. What were you and Daddy talking about behind closed doors?”

She looked back and forth between Tanner and her father, who looked eerily smug … like he knew a secret. So she shifted her gaze to Tanner.

He smiled at her, and against her will, something in his eyes pulled her in. The same way it had when they’d danced at the wedding. Just as it had that day of the storm when she’d initially decided not to fly home with her family—because her gut instinct warned her of imminent danger. Then Tanner had stopped by the house that morning to say goodbye to everyone. After her family had left, she’d changed her mind and decided to join them after she’d learned he was on his way to the airport. Wanting to spend just a little more time with him, she’d gone against her instincts and better judgment. She’d been reeled in by the same … what was it … a look? His presence?

She’d been so shocked to see him this morning—and a bit humiliated to face him—that she’d been immune to his charms. But now, it was all coming back.

“We had a nice talk.” Tanner nodded. “Man-to-man. Spent some time getting to know each other.”

Her father was being eerily quiet. Something she couldn’t remember seeing ever in her entire life. He was letting Tanner take the upper hand, which was just downright weird.

“Yes, we did,” her father said. “I’m so grateful that Tanner was there to take care of you the night of the storm, Jordana.” He turned back to Tanner. “My other daughter Wendy might be a little scattered, but sometimes Jordana is a little too introspective for her own good. If she’d listened to us and just come with us to the airport like we’d planned, she wouldn’t have found herself in a mess and dragged you into it, too. But I guess it all worked out in the end.”