Diamonds are for Sharing: Her Valentine Blind Date / Tipping the Waitress with Diamonds / The Bridesmaid and the Billionaire

“Not that,” she whispered to herself as he turned and left the room.

She watched him go, then followed him out into the living room, ready to ask him more about this, but he sandbagged her with a question of his own.

“So what did you think of your blind date?” he asked, sinking into the sleek yet comfortable couch.

“Who? Randy?” She flopped down into a chair across from where he was sitting. Her chin rose. “Obviously, he’s perfect for me,” she said with only a tiny touch of sarcasm.

He caught her nuance. “Is he?” Amusement danced in his dark eyes.

“Of course.” She shrugged. “Hand picked, in fact, by my best friend, Mara. And she was right. Can’t you tell?”

He allowed himself a halfhearted grin. “Oh, yeah. Nice guy. Funny guy. I enjoyed him.”

“Me, too.” She punched a pillow. “He’s exactly the sort of man I need.”

“Ya think?”

“Yes.” She faced him frankly. “He’s very calm and very …” She drew in a long, deep breath. “Very ordinary.”

“Ordinary.” He frowned thoughtfully, then raised an eyebrow. He’d never thought of that quality as an attribute. “Is that a plus?”

She nodded. “I’m ordinary. What’s wrong with ordinary?”

He gave her a look. Maybe the word didn’t mean just what he thought it did. “Did I say anything was wrong with ordinary?”

“Ordinary can be okay,” she said a bit defensively. “I come from ordinary people. My father was an accountant, my mother worked in a bank.”

“Do they live in Dallas?”

She shook her head. “No. My mother died of cancer and my father died of a broken heart.”

“Ah.” He nodded. He understood that sort of thing.

“It’s true you don’t get the thrilling highs with ordinary,” she went on. “But you don’t get the bone-rattling lows, either.” She winced, thinking of Brian. “Excitement can be scary when it goes bad,” she added softly.

He noted the haunted look in her eyes as she spoke. There had been some scary excitement in her life, something that had gone badly. Of course, there were the deaths of her husband and child she’d told him about. Tragedies like that could have life-crippling effects on a person. But he had a feeling this was something more deeply rooted in the past, and maybe more specific to one person—for instance, her husband. What else could have made her so wary of a relationship?

It only made sense. When you lost a significant other who made you happy, you tended to be in a hurry to replicate that happiness as soon as the grieving period began to die down a bit. People with good relationships believed in good relationships. She was scared to connect. Something had gone wrong somewhere along the line.

He wanted to ask her about that, find out what was troubling her, but he held back. He didn’t want to scare her off, and he knew she didn’t want to talk about personal things. She had to be coaxed, cajoled and brought along casually. He would take his time.

“So what about me?” he said instead. “Would you call me an ordinary guy?”

“Hardly.” Her sudden smile was like the sun coming out from behind a cloud, fascinating him. “You’re the sort mothers warn their daughters to stay away from, don’t you think?”

“Me?” He was genuinely startled that she felt that way. Truth to tell, he didn’t consider himself exactly ordinary, but he didn’t relish the bad-boy role either. “So what’s scary about me?”

“Nothing, I guess.” She was still smiling that radiant smile. “You haven’t scared me yet.”

He noted the “yet.”

“But you are a little larger than life,” she added, just to be clear.

He frowned, not sure he was going to like this. “In what way?”

“Let’s just put it this way—you’re a little too exciting. Too good-looking. Too powerful. Too adventurous. Shall I go on?”

“No. That’s plenty.” His frown deepened. “And not really fair.”

“Fair has nothing to do with it,” she told him firmly. “Do you think it’s fair that I’m definitely ordinary? I can’t help it. I was born this way. And naturally, if I’m going to have a relationship again, I need an ordinary man.”

There it was, the point this whole conversation seemed to be leading up to. She was giving him a message.

“Like Randy,” he said softly.

She nodded, her eyes huge in the gloomy light. “Yes.”

He gave her an incredulous look. Randy was all well and good, but he wasn’t right for Cari. She needed someone … well, someone more like Max himself. Someone with a little style and energy.

“You need excitement,” he stated firmly.

She shook her head, challenging him with her bright gaze. “No. I need security.”

He stared at her, mulling that over. What did she think she was, ready for retirement?

“Bull,” he said at last. Rising from the couch, he erased the distance between them, reached out and took her hand and pulled her up to face him.

“What in hell makes you think you’re ordinary?” he demanded, face-to-face. “You’re careful. You’re responsible. You’re a good person. If you think that makes you ordinary, you have a higher definition of the term than I do.” He looked deep into her eyes. “I think that makes you pretty special.”

She was tingling. He made her tingle more and more lately. Was that a good thing? Probably not.

What if he was right? That was what scared her. The thing was, Randy was exactly the kind of man she had decided she could deal with, if the need came. Mara had said it best—Randy was perfect. But did her senses zing when he smiled at her? Did she feel faint when he touched her? Did her breathing stall when he whispered near her ear? Did she tingle?

Hardly. Things never worked out that way, did they?

“I think it’s time to go to bed,” she said, pulling away from him and backing toward the nursery.

“Alone?” he said, pretending a plaintive tone, but obviously just teasing.

“Alone.” She smiled one last time, then turned, went into the nursery and closed the door.

CHAPTER SEVEN

IF MAX had been one to fantasize what mornings with a wife and child would be like, this would have been a part of that dream. He walked into the nursery with two mugs of coffee and there was Cari, standing in the sunlight streaming in through the window with a baby in her arms, singing a lullaby. She wore his big T-shirt and nothing else, and her bare legs looked golden and gorgeous in the morning light. She turned to greet him, her hair wild around her face, and she smiled that smile that could knock him dead, beaming happiness and welcome.

He stopped in his tracks and stared at her. “Bella,” he said softly. “Bellissima.”

“I didn’t think you’d be up this early,” she said. Her gaze traveled appreciatively over him in a way that made his pulse quicken. He’d put on a pair of tight jeans and a shirt he hadn’t buttoned yet out of expediency, but if she would like what she saw as much as she seemed to, he would do it more often.

“I brought coffee,” he said.

“I see that,” she replied.

“Here.” He set the mugs down on the dresser and turned to her. “Let me hold him.”

Her eyes widened. “You really want to?”

He nodded. “If all goes well, I’m planning to raise this child,” he said simply. “I want to do it right.”

“If all goes well,” she echoed thoughtfully as she handed Jamie to him. “In other words, if Sheila lets you take him.” And why would a mother do that without putting up a very fierce fight? Well, she had to admit, this mother didn’t seem to be quite as interested in being a mother as one would hope. Max might very well be able to negotiate something with her for enough money. But that was only a part of the problem.

She frowned, then asked a question she knew would be unpopular. “What if the DNA comes back negative, Max? What if there is no biologic connection to your brother? What then?”

He shrugged dismissively, smiling down at Jamie all the while. “I don’t think that will happen.”

“But don’t you think you ought to be prepared just in case? What do you plan to do with this baby if he isn’t Gino’s?”

His gaze rose and met hers. “I’ve already talked to a lawyer. They’re setting up legal strategies for when the DNA results comes in. We’ll play it by ear.”

Cari felt chilled. “If Sheila isn’t found and Jamie isn’t Gino’s, will you just go off and leave him?”

His face hardened. “Cari, I told you, I don’t think that is something we will have to face. Drop it.”

He was right. She had to drop it. If she didn’t, she would be riling herself up over something she couldn’t do anything about. It was best to let it be for now. Taking a deep breath, she steadied herself and tried to move on.

But the prospect of seeing Jamie abandoned wouldn’t fade from her mind. She knew she couldn’t let that happen. If it came to that, she would do something. It only bothered her that Max couldn’t make that commitment himself right now. And that made her think she’d been right to come to stay with them. Someone had to protect the baby.

They played with Jamie for another ten minutes and then his eyelids began to droop. Max laid him down gently in the crib and Cari pulled his little blanket up over him.

“Isn’t he adorable?” she said, smiling down at the shocking head of dark hair.

“He’s okay,” Max said gruffly. “He’ll do.”

She smiled to herself. He was more soft on Jamie than he would admit. It wouldn’t be long before he wouldn’t be able to turn his back on this baby no matter what.

Looking up, she found him watching her, and his intention was clear as a bell.

“Max,” she said warningly, taking a step backward. He was looking very seductive in a very Italian way, and she was feeling particularly susceptible to Italians this morning. Danger!

Reaching out, he put a finger under her chin and tilted her face up. “I’m sorry Cari, but you’re too beautiful to resist this morning. I have to kiss you.”

“Oh, Max, no.”

“Just a simple good-morning kiss. Nothing more.”

“Max …”

Somehow his name turned into a sigh, and then she was parting her lips to accept his mouth on hers. She shouldn’t do this. She’d warned herself from the start not to let this happen. But now that he was here, so close, so male, so hard and insistent, she felt so soft, so female, so ready to mold herself to whatever his passion might suggest. His mouth was hot, his tongue provocative, and she sensed her own needs beginning to waken from a long, long slumber.

His shirt was still open and she ran her hands over his muscular chest, trembling as she felt the pounding of his heart beneath her fingers. He groaned, pulling her closer, and she melted like wax against his tall, hard frame. There was only the thin fabric of the T-shirt between them. He wanted her with a force that stunned him. This was something on a different level than he usually felt. This was new. This was sweeter and more overpowering than he was used to.

He sighed against her neck, murmuring her name as he dropped kisses and let his tongue caress her. She gasped as the heat from his body flooded her with sensation. She could sense his desire quickening and that gave her a taste of power she’d never known before. He was reacting to what her body did to him. That took her breath away.

She knew it was time to put a stop to this, but she couldn’t quite muster the strength to do it yet. She was struggling to surface from a sea of pleasure, struggling to push her head back above water and breathe real air instead of this enchanted substance that felt so intoxicating, but was so dangerous. The truth was, she didn’t want to stop.

And then there was a loud knocking at the door of the suite.

“Hey, y’all, here we are.”

The voice was C.J.’s. The groan was Max’s. He dropped his face into the curve of her neck and swore softly as he dropped a string of kisses on her skin.

“What time is it?” Cari murmured groggily as he began to pull back from her.

“Too early for visitors,” Max grumbled.

But he unwrapped his arms from around her reluctantly and went to the door anyway, letting in C.J. and Randy. Cari watched him go, feeling cold all of a sudden. Max’s simple morning kiss had proven to be pretty darn special. She could grow to like this. In fact, she might get addicted if she didn’t watch out.

She pulled her arms in and hugged them close. But no matter how hard she held herself, she knew she would never come close to duplicating the magic of Max’s embrace.

“We brought doughnuts,” C.J. cried, waving the bag around as she entered the living room.

Cari slipped her fake fur shrug over the T-shirt and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked ridiculous, but she didn’t have much choice. It was either this or wrap herself in a bed sheet. So she came out, head held high and smiling.

And then she saw the doughnuts. Her downfall.

“Wow,” she said as C.J. spilled them out onto a plate. “Those look great.”

“Don’t they? We got them at a bakery Randy deals with.”

C.J. looked at her sharply, and she knew she was looking for signs of hanky-panky. The signs might very well be there. Cari was still reeling from Max’s kisses and she didn’t really care who knew it. C.J.’s gaze raked over the giant-size T-shirt with disdain, but Cari met her gaze unblinkingly. Whatever C.J. thought, she wasn’t going to show her any embarrassment. Let her deal with that.

C.J. pursed her lips, but seemed to accept that there was nothing she could do about anything between Max and Cari at the moment, so she let it go.

“Did you know our boy Randy has a catering business?” she said, giving him a quick smile that served to include him in the group.

Cari blinked, looking at the jovial man. “I thought you were a stockbroker.”

“That’s my day job.” He grinned at her and snagged the biggest doughnut.

“He hates it,” C.J. announced to the world at large. “That’s why he started up this little ole catering business on the side. He loves setting up parties.”

“No kidding.” Cari wondered if Mara knew about that side of her husband’s cousin. He looked more like a stockbroker than a caterer, but then, what did a caterer look like?

“Yup. I’m getting him some clients. I know people who give huge parties.”

Cari was impressed. It seemed C.J. had her uses after all. “Wow. Lucky Randy.”

She looked at him. He was grinning happily. It was evident he did feel like a lucky man today. Cari had to laugh inside. She might think Randy a perfect match for herself, but it was pretty obvious he had other plans. C.J. looked just right to him. Poor guy.

But then, how was Randy any more of an object of pity than she was herself? She sighed, feeling ordinary, and turned to the kitchenette to make coffee for the guests.

They were sitting around the table sipping coffee and munching on delicious donuts when C.J. dropped her bombshell.

“Hey, I talked to your mama this morning, Max.”

His head rose sharply and he stared at her in horror. “You did what?”

“I called her. Don’t worry, I paid attention to the time difference. She sure is nice. I just love her.” She darted a particularly smug look Cari’s way. “We had a great talk and we put our heads together and figured out a few ideas for presents you could get her before you go back to Venice. So I’m takin’ you shopping, you lucky boy. I know all the best department stores in Dallas and I’m going to introduce you to them, too. We’ll have a great time.”

“What?” Max sounded like a drowning man.

“Oh, come on, you old meanie,” C.J. said, slapping him playfully on the shoulder. “You want to make your mama happy, don’t you?”

He looked to Cari for help, but she shrugged. “I’m going to be taking care of Jamie all day,” she said serenely. “He needs a bath and then I’m going to take him out in his stroller.”

“You’ll probably need some help,” Max said hopefully.

“Who, me? I don’t think so.” She favored him with a devilish grin. “You’d better go with C.J. and Randy. They’ve obviously got their hearts set on making you come out to play.”

“I’m only going,” Max told her a few minutes later as he finished dressing and prepared to meet the other two in the lobby, “so that I can get a chance to work on C.J. about selling the ranch. I’ve got a new angle I’m going to try on her.”

“Why not just marry the woman and be done with it?” she teased. “I thought this was just a business deal.”

He turned to look at her. “The more time I spend with her the more I realize business like that is a perilous game,” he told her. “But you’re right. I may have to marry her. I’m just going to do everything I can think of to avoid that fate.” He looked back at her seriously as he started out the door. “But bottom line, I’ve got to get control of that ranch.”

Her smile evaporated as the door closed. She hadn’t discerned one little bit of give in C.J.’s position, but maybe Max could find something. She certainly hoped so—for his sake.

Cari called the Copper Penny later in the morning to let them know she was going to take a few days off. She felt guilty leaving them in the lurch, but this was an emergency, and she had some time off she could use. Tito drove her home to pack up some clothes, and on the way back, they stopped at a baby store. Max had given her a credit card and told her to get what she thought they needed. It was a virtual baby wonderland and she ordered an outlandish amount of baby equipment to be delivered to the hotel.

That put her in a great mood. Shopping trips often seemed to have that effect—and something told her she was having a lot more fun than Max was right now.

Taking care of Jamie was a breeze. He was such a sweetheart, so responsive and free with his baby smiles and gurgles, that being with him was a joy. And dressing him in his cute new outfits was fun, too. She was glad he was a boy and about a month older than Michelle had been, so the comparisons and memories, though they did come up and did bring a wave of sadness, didn’t sting the way they might have.

The situation that worried her most right now was the status of this baby. What was going to happen if the DNA result was negative? If Sheila appeared and had a good explanation for where she’d been, she supposed Jamie would go back to his mother and the rest of them would go on with their lives. But what if Sheila was on drugs or something else that made her impossible as a mother to this little angel? That would present its own problems. But there was no point thinking about that. Sheila claimed this was Gino’s baby and there was, so far, no reason to doubt her.

So what if Sheila didn’t return and the test did come back with the result Max was looking for? What would happen then? It was perfectly obvious. Max would pack Jamie up and take off for Venice. She would lose again. Another heartbreak.

No, now she was letting her emotions run rampant. She wasn’t that attached to this child and she wouldn’t let herself be. She was a caretaker, nothing more.

And she wasn’t going to fall in love—with either one of them.

It was midafternoon and Max wasn’t back yet. Jamie was napping peacefully. Cari decided to take a shower. A few minutes later she was luxuriating in the multiple-spray waterfall of the fancy bathroom when she thought she heard something. She turned off the water, listening intently.

There it was. Jamie was crying. Wouldn’t you know her timing wouldn’t work out? Sighing, she stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel and that was when she heard Max at the bathroom door.

“Cari, the baby’s crying. Why is he crying?”

“Well, pick him up and see what he needs,” she called back, toweling fast. She hurried to blot her hair and put on her robe. As she emerged from the bathroom, she could hear Jamie down the hall.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” she called, pulling the robe more tightly around her as she rushed down the hallway. In the nursery, Max was standing at the side of the crib looking down at Jamie. Cari pushed right past him and picked the baby up, cooing and rocking him as he slowly quieted down. Glancing up, she saw from the look on Max’s face that he was not happy.

“Why was he crying?” he demanded.

This entire scene was putting a knot in her stomach. “Relax,” she said shortly. “Babies do cry.”

His frown was ferocious. “But if it was bad when the nanny let him cry …”

A scene flashed in her mind. It had been very late and she’d been frantically trying to heat a bottle and get it back to Michelle before Brian completely exploded.

“Can’t you shut her up?” Brian had yelled from the bedroom. “I’ve gotta get some sleep. I’ve got to work in the morning, you know.”

“Just a minute.”

“Cari, if you don’t shut that baby up I’m leaving. I can’t live like this.”

“Brian, just give me a minute …”

A crash came from the bedroom where Brian had thrown the lamp against the wall.

Cari blinked away the memory. She looked up into Max’s face.

“You left him alone,” he said accusingly. “Why did you leave him alone?”

Cari took a deep breath and gathered all her resources. “Max, listen to me carefully. He was asleep when I went to take a shower. He was only alone for a couple of minutes.” She gazed at him earnestly. Surely he was mature enough to understand.

But maybe not. Maybe he was going to be like Brian. Her heart sank. If so, what would she do? She wouldn’t dare leave the baby here with him, and yet how could she stay?

“Max, this is not a major issue. Babies do cry. You don’t leave them alone to cry for hours, but now and then it’s going to happen.”

Fascinated, she watched him visibly begin to relax. He looked down at the baby and ran a hand through his hair, then looked up at her again. “I’m sorry,” he said gruffly. “You’re right, of course. It’s just, I came in and heard him crying and didn’t know where you’d gone.”

A surge of relief that developed quickly into affection rolled through her. She wanted to touch him. She wanted to reach out and run her hand down the side of his face. Instead she challenged him.

“Here’s a question for you. Why does the crying bother you so much?”

He stopped as though that was a new one he hadn’t thought about before. “I guess it’s because I’m afraid something is wrong and I won’t know what to do about it,” he admitted at last.

She smiled, feeling such relief. He wasn’t like Brian. That was becoming clear.

“Good answer,” she murmured. “So it’s not just that the noise drives you crazy?”

“Well, I can’t say I love the noise,” he said. “But I don’t think it’s driving me crazy, exactly.”

“Good.”

She hugged him. It was spontaneous and it was one-handed and it was quick. In fact, it was over before he realized it was happening. And then she was gone again and leading the way out into the living room with Jamie in her arms.

“What all have you got there?” she cried, surveying the piles of packages in exclusive department store bags and boxes.

“You wouldn’t believe it,” he said, coming out behind her. “What I’ve got is presents. Presents for my mother. Presents for the servants at my mother’s house in Venice. Presents for all the people who work for me.” He shook his head, looking at her in bewilderment. “Why the hell do women love presents so much?”

She shrugged and grinned at him. “You’re the one buying them.”

He snarled just a little. “C.J. made me.”

“Of course.” She laughed.

He looked at her sideways. “I wanted to buy you a present. But C.J. wasn’t as enthused about that.”

“No kidding.” Cari laughed again. She shook her head of wet curls. “You don’t have to buy me any presents,” she told him. “Just being here, taking care of Jamie, is enough.”

He smiled as though he enjoyed her laughter. “The whole time, I wanted to be back here with you,” he said softly.

She rolled her eyes. “Right.” She turned away, bouncing Jamie in her arms.

“No, really. You don’t believe that?”

Looking back at him, she flushed. She could see his honesty in his eyes. Yes, she believed it. But still, she didn’t trust it. She sighed, remembering the morning kiss. If she didn’t take care, they would be right back there again. She could see it in his eyes.