Not Quite Married

“Good for you. And?”

“He said he was recently divorced—and then he wanted to know if I had someone special. I told him there was no one. And then, feeling beautiful and wanted and thrilled to be getting a taste of exactly what I’d been dreaming of, I went to his suite with him and spent the night.”

“Bold.”

Even with all that had happened since then, the memory of that first night—of all the nights on the island—remained wonderfully sweet. “I thought so, yes. And it was the best, that night with him, better than anyone or any time before. In the morning, we agreed to spend the next two weeks together. We decided we would live completely in the now and not talk about our ‘real’ lives. And when the fantasy was over, we would go our separate ways.”

Rory was chewing her lower lip. “Reality always intrudes, though, doesn’t it?”

“Sadly, yeah,” Clara admitted. “But for two incredible, perfect weeks, we were lovers. We were open and tender and passionate with each other—in the moment only, I mean. Mostly, we managed to keep our real lives out of it. The sex was just beautiful. And we climbed a volcano, went parasailing and scuba diving. Even bungee jumping. At night, we danced under the stars by the light of the moon. By the end, I knew I was falling in love with him.”

Rory asked in a whisper, “Did you...tell him?”

Clara put her hand on her belly, rubbed it slowly and gently, feeling the love well up, the gratitude, in spite of everything. Her baby might not have a daddy. But she would be a good mother. Clara would make sure her child had a great start in life, with love and happiness to spare. “On the last night, I finally worked up the nerve. I told him I wanted to keep seeing him when we got back to Colorado...”

“Oh, my darling. And?”

“My fantasy crashed and burned.”

“Oh, no...”

“Yeah. He told me that he’d had a beautiful time with me and he would never forget me, but he would only mess things up if we tried to have more.”

“Mess things up? But why? I don’t get it.”

“He said it was different, that he was different, there with me, on the island. He said he wanted to remember me that way, remember us that way. That his marriage had ended not that long before, and it was his fault. And he wasn’t ready to try again. He didn’t think he’d ever be ready. He wanted to stick to the agreement we’d made.”

“That’s just so sad.”

“Believe me, I wanted to argue. I wanted to ask him why he couldn’t at least give it a try. But then, I was pretty much reeling that I’d put myself right out there for him—and gotten instant and total rejection. Plus, well, he was right that we did have an agreement. It wasn’t as if he owed it to me to change everything up just because I’d decided I wanted more. So I went home and tried to forget him. Unfortunately, a few weeks later, I realized I was having his baby. I agonized for another few weeks.”

“You should have called me. I would have come running.” At the time, Rory was still living in her family’s palace in Montedoro on the Cote d’Azur.

“I couldn’t. I felt that I should tell him, tell Dalton, first of all, before anyone else.”

“Well, fair enough. I can understand that.”

“So I started trying to figure out how best to reach him...” Clara stared out the breakfast nook window. It was already dark. All she saw was her own reflection, a reflection that blurred as pointless tears rose. She swallowed, hard, and brushed them away.

Rory got up again and circled the table. This time, she just stood by Clara’s chair, looping an arm around her shoulder, then smoothing her hair so that Clara gave in to the comfort she offered and rested her head against Rory’s side. “I take it you found him.”

“It wasn’t hard, really. A little searching online and I learned he was a big shot from a Denver banking family.”

“Wait. ‘Ames’ of Ames Bank and Trust?” There was a branch right there in town.

“That’s right.” Clara tipped her head up and caught Rory’s eye. “And the supposed ex-wife? Maybe not so ‘ex’...”

Rory gasped. “You’re kidding. He lied? He had a wife the whole time?”

“No. They had been divorced. But there were recent pictures of the ‘ex’ on his arm at some big charity event. She’s gorgeous, by the way. Beauty-queen gorgeous. Blond. Willowy. Perfect. In the pictures she was smiling at him in this teasing, intimate way. The gossipy article that went with the pictures hinted that maybe a remarriage was in the offing.”

Rory stroked her hair some more. “So that’s why you put off contacting him?”

“Yeah. I kind of lost heart, you know? I didn’t want to mess up his reunion with his ex—really, I didn’t want to deal with him at all by then.”

“Completely, one hundred percent understandable.”

“I decided there was no real rush to tell him about the baby. At that time, I wasn’t due for months and months.”

“I get that.”

“But then those months went by. I continued to put it off, kept avoiding the moment of truth when I would have to face him. And in the middle of that, there was all that frantic planning for the wedding to Ryan that ended up not happening. And, well, now it’s April and my due date is six weeks away. I couldn’t put it off anymore.”

“So you’ve done it. You’ve told him.”

“Yep.”

“And...what next?”

“What do you mean, what next?” Clara stiffened. “I’ve told him, that’s it.”

“But what does he plan to do now?”

“How would I know what he plans?” Clara pulled sharply away.

Rory took the hint and stepped back. Gently, she suggested, “Well, I was thinking he might want to—”

“I said I don’t know.” Clara got up, grabbed their empty bowls and carried them to the sink. “We didn’t get into any of that,” she added without turning.

Rory, still standing by the table, asked, “So you have no clue whether or not he wants to be involved with the baby?”

Clara put the bowls in the sink and flipped on the water. “It’s not like we had a real conversation. I told him that I was pregnant and that I didn’t expect anything from him. I gave him a card with my numbers on it, so he can contact me if he wants to. That was it.”

“But—”

“Look.” Clara left the water running and whirled on Rory. “How would I know what he’ll do next? Probably try to figure out a way to tell his wife that some woman he boinked last summer on Anguilla is having his baby.”

Rory marched over and flipped the water off. “Sweetheart.” She pulled Clara close. “It’s all right. You’ve done what you had to do and you were brave to do it. I’m not getting on you.”

Clara stiffened—and then let her defensiveness go and wrapped her arms good and tight around her cousin. “God. I hate this.”

“I know.” Rory gave her another good squeeze, then took her hand and led her past the breakfast nook to the sofa in the great room. They sat down together. Rory asked, “So he is remarried, then?”

“How would I know?”

“Well, you just mentioned him telling his wife about the baby.”

“I don’t know, all right? I’m just assuming he married her again, from what I read in that article.”

“Today, when you told him about the baby, did he say anything about a wife?”

“No.”

Rory offered gingerly, “So, then, maybe you’re jumping to conclusions a little, don’t you think?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Of course it matters.”

“Not to me.” She wrapped her arms around her belly and her precious unborn child. “I don’t care what he does. He’s nothing to me.”

“Clara—”

“No. No, don’t do that, Rory. Don’t look at me like that, all tender and patient and sorry for me. I don’t need anyone feeling sorry for me. I’m fine.”

“I know you are. Darling, I love you and I can see how hard this has been—how hard this is for you, that’s all.”

Clara let out a moan. “Oh, Rory...”

“Come here. Come on.”

So Clara sagged against her cousin again. And Rory held her close and stroked her hair and whispered that it was going to be all right. Clara cried a little. And Rory dried her tears.

And Clara said, “I’ll probably never see the guy again, you know? And that’s okay. I can live with that. I don’t like it. It’s a long way from my fantasy of how things would go. It’s just...what it is. I’m having my baby and we’re going to be a family, the two of us. I have a whole lot to be thankful for in this life, people I can count on, people who have my back, a successful business and a beautiful home. I may not have a man to stand beside me. But I have everything else, and that’s plenty for me. I’ve done what I needed to do, told Dalton Ames about the baby. And now I’m going to buck the hell up and get on with my life.”

Rory left an hour later.

Clara went to bed and slept the whole night without waking up once. She felt...better. Calmer. More able to cope. She’d done what she needed to do; then she’d shared the whole long, sad story with someone she trusted, and she’d had a good cry over it.

Now, at last, she could move on.

Two days later, Dalton Ames knocked on her door.

Chapter Two

It was a busy day at the café, with every table taken and customers lined up to get a seat.

The lunch rush went on and on. They turned the place over four times before things started easing off. Between eleven and three, Clara never sat down once. It was exhausting, especially in her pregnant state. Also, fabulous. More proof that the Library Café was a bona fide success.

After the rush, she had meetings with salespeople, scheduling and ordering to deal with, followed by a trip to the bank. It was almost six when she finally walked in her front door.

She headed straight for the shower, shedding clothes as she went. Twenty minutes later, barefoot in her softest, roomiest lounge pants and a giant pink shirt with Mama Needs Ice Cream printed across the front, she had a light dinner. Then she stretched out on the sofa to veg out with a little mindless television.

Her head had just hit the sofa pillow and she was pointing the remote at the flat-screen over the fireplace when the doorbell rang.

What now? She wasn’t expecting anyone, and her tired, pregnant body had zero desire to get up from the comfy sofa and walk all the way to front of the house.

However, she just happened to be one of those people who answered phones and doorbells automatically. It could be something important and you might as well deal with it now as later. So she put down the remote, dragged herself to her feet again, shuffled to the front door and pulled it wide.

And there he was. Dalton. As tall, dark and wonderful to look at as ever. In a suit even more beautiful and pricey-looking than the one he’d been wearing two days before.

Her hopeless heart gave a leap of ridiculous, giddy joy just at the sight of him. The rotten SOB.

He said, “Hello, Clara.” And those eyes, which were a deep crystal blue surely not found in nature, swept from the top of her head down over her giant pink shirt all the way to her bare feet—and back up again.

And she said, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“May I come in?” Stiff. Cool. So completely unlike the man she’d once been idiot enough to think she loved. “We need to talk.”

Oh, did they? She braced a shoulder against the doorframe and folded her arms on top of her baby bump. “About what, exactly?”

He looked vaguely pained. “Not on your doorstep. Please.” It came out more like a command than a request.

She stayed right where she was and just stared at him for a long, hostile moment. “I thought I gave you all my phone numbers.”

“You did.”

“Then why didn’t you call? A little fair warning isn’t that much to ask.”

“I apologize.”

“You don’t sound sorry in the least.”

The blue gaze swept over her again, rousing a thoroughly uncalled-for shiver of excitement. “Let me in, Clara.”

Oh, she was so tempted to shut the door in his face. Because she was tired and her feet hurt and there was a really good tearjerker on Lifetime.

She didn’t want to deal with this. Not now.

Not ever, really.

But she and the stranger on her front porch had made a baby together. And the baby trumped everything: including her burning desire never to have to see his face again.

With elaborate disinterest, she dropped her crossed arms and stepped away from the door. “By all means. Come on in.”

Giving her no opportunity to change her mind, he stepped right over the threshold and into her private space. She blinked and looked up at him and couldn’t believe this was happening.

“Nice house,” he said, his fine lips curling upward a fraction at the corners.

“Thanks. This way.” She took him through her formal dining room to the combination kitchen, breakfast nook and great room at the back. Stopping at the long kitchen island, she turned to him. “Do you want coffee or something?”

“No, thanks.”

“Well, all right, then. Have a seat.” She gestured at the sitting area across the room.

He went on past her, all the way to the wing chair next to the sofa, but he didn’t sit down. For a moment, she hovered there at the end of the island, reluctant to get closer to him.

Dread curled through her. He wore the strangest look on his face, and a great stillness seemed to surround him. The moment felt huge, suddenly.

What in the world did he plan to say to her? Something awful, probably, judging by the seriousness and intensity of his expression.

Reluctantly, she approached him. He simply waited, watching her come.

She stopped a couple of feet from him. “Aren’t you...going to sit down?”

He didn’t answer. He didn’t sit. Instead he reached for her hand.

The move surprised her enough that she didn’t jerk away. His fingers closed over hers, warm. Firm. So well remembered. Tears scalded the back of her throat. She pressed her lips together and swallowed them down. “What?”

And just like that, he lifted his other hand and slid a beautiful diamond ring on her finger.

She gasped and gaped down at it, a giant marquise-cut central stone, surrounded by twin rows of glittering smaller stones, more diamonds along the double band.

“Marry me, Clara. Right away. You can move to Denver and we’ll work this out. We’ll make a family for our child.”

She gaped down at that sparkling, perfect, beautiful ring. And then, slowly, her breath all tangled and hot in the base of her throat, she lifted her head and looked at him.

The really terrible, awful thing was, somewhere inside herself, she longed to throw her arms around him and shout yes!

And that made her furious—at herself, as much as at him.

Because who was he, anyway? When he touched her, she felt the thrill, yes. Her body seemed to know him. But her mind and her confused, aching heart?

Uh-uh. No. She didn’t know this man at all.

She pulled her fingers free of his grip and took off the ring. “No, Dalton.”

“Clara...”

“Take it. I mean it.” He shook his head. But he did hold out his hand. She dropped that gorgeous thing into his palm. “No way am I marrying you, let alone moving to Denver. Justice Creek is my home. I have my family, my friends and my very successful business here, so this is where I plan to stay.”

“Listen to me, I—”

“Stop.”

Miraculously, he did.

“We need to get straight on something here right from the start,” she said.

He eyed her sideways as he dropped the ring into his jacket pocket. And then he asked carefully in that voice of his that was so gallingly manly and deep, “By all means. Let’s get it straight. Whatever the hell it is.”

“Are you married or not?”

“Excuse me?” He gazed at her as though he had his doubts as to her sanity. “Married? Me?”

“That’s right. Do you have a wife?”

The blue eyes, impossibly, got even bluer and that square jaw went to rock. “Of course not. I’m divorced, and have been since before the island. And I know that you know this. I told you myself.”

She had to get away, get some distance from him. So she turned and marched over to the fireplace. Better. She straightened her shoulders and turned to face him again. “Look. I saw you, okay? I saw pictures of you online, with your supposedly ex-wife on your arm at some fancy party. The two of you were looking very chummy.”

“Chummy? Astrid and I are not the least bit chummy.”

“You looked pretty damn chummy to me.”

“Astrid is a lovely woman. She’s active in her community, doing what she can to help disadvantaged children and victims of natural catastrophes and such. Occasionally she asks me to support her various causes. I’m happy to help. Once or twice, I’ve acted as her escort.”

“Well, isn’t that civilized?”

“Yes, it is, as a matter of fact. Is there something wrong with being civilized?”

She decided not to answer that one. “There was talk about the two of you getting married again.”

“Talk? Who said that?”

“I don’t know who. It was just...somewhere online, is all.”

“And you always believe everything you read somewhere online?” His eyes were practically shooting sparks.

Ha. As though he were the one who’d been shabbily treated. She wrapped her arms around herself again as she had at the door and held her ground. “Just answer the question. Are you married or not?”

“No.”

“Are you dating your ex-wife?”

“No. I told you, we’re on good terms, Astrid and I. But the marriage is over and it has been since before you and I were together on the island—as I made perfectly clear the first night that we met.”

A small but definite humph escaped her, a sound she honestly hadn’t meant to make.

“I heard that,” he muttered darkly. “And what do you want from me? There is absolutely nothing going on between Astrid and me. We’re cordial. And we’re civil with each other and when she wants help with one of her causes, I do what I can.”

She knew it was petty of her, but she couldn’t resist remarking, “And if I believe that, maybe you’ve got a bridge you want to sell me?”

He regarded her, those laser-blue eyes boring twin holes right through her. “You think I’m lying to you? You think I would come here and ask you to marry me if I was already married?”

Okay, maybe he had a teeny-weeny point there. She tried to dial it back a notch. “You didn’t exactly ask me, Dalton. You told me.” It came out sounding plaintive and she couldn’t decide which was worse: being a raving bitch or coming off as pitiful.

He demanded, “Do you think I’m lying to you?”

“I...” She gave up all pretense of angry defiance, dropping her arms away from her body, letting out a low, sad sigh. “I don’t know. I don’t know anything—not about you. Not really. On the island, you were...like someone else entirely, completely different from how you are now. It’s very disorienting.”

He looked almost stricken. For about half a second. But then his jaw hardened again and his eyes narrowed. “I think you should call Astrid and ask her if there’s anything going on between her and me.”

Her mouth dropped open. “Excuse me. Did you just say I should call your ex-wife?”

“That is exactly what I said.”

“Not. Going. To. Happen.”

“Why not? Afraid to find out I’m not a lying, cheating would-be bigamist, after all?”

“Of course not.”

“Then you will call Astrid.”

“Hello. Are you there, Dalton?”

“That’s a ridiculous question.”

“Just trying to be absolutely sure you can hear me.”

“Of course I can hear you.”

“Good. The last thing I’m up for is a little chat with your wife.”

“Ex-wife,” he curtly clarified. And then he lifted a hand and pinched the bridge of his nose. Was he getting a headache? She certainly was. “All right,” he said. “This has not gone well. I need to regroup and come up with another plan to get through to you.”

“Get through to me about what? Because, honestly, Dalton. Two strangers getting married is not any kind of viable solution to anything.”

“We’ve lost months because you read something on the internet and jumped to conclusions.”

“Don’t forget that you put a detective on me.”

“...And learned that you were getting married.”

“But I didn’t get married.”

“Which I didn’t find out until Tuesday when you finally came and talked to me. The heart of the matter is you should have come to me earlier.”

She clucked her tongue. “Fascinating analysis of the situation. Also totally unfair. Why would I want to come to you? You made it way clear on the island that you were done with me.”

“I wasn’t done with you.”

“It certainly sounded like it to me.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose again. “It was different on the island. I was different.”

“I’ll say.”

“I didn’t want to ruin something beautiful and I was afraid that if we continued when we returned home, it would all go to hell.”

“So you’re saying that on the island you were pretending to be someone you’re not.”

“No, I’m...” He stopped himself, glanced away, and then said, way too quietly, “By God. You are the most infuriating woman.”

She started to feel a little bit bad about then. In his own overbearing way, he really was trying. And she wasn’t helping. Because he had hurt her and she just couldn’t trust him. And his proposal of marriage had actually tempted her—at the same time as it had made her want to beat him about the head and shoulders with a large, blunt object. As she tried to think of something to say that might get them on a better footing with each other, he pulled a phone from his pocket and poked at it repeatedly. Her cell, on the coffee table, pinged.

He put his phone away. “I’ve texted you her number.”

“Her, who?”

“Astrid. You have her number now. You can call her and she’ll be happy to tell you that she and I have no plans to remarry, that we are amicably and permanently divorced, that we are not dating or in any way romantically or sexually involved with each other.”

Now Clara was the one pinching the bridge of her nose. “I don’t need your ex-wife’s number.”

“I mean it. Call her. And once you’ve talked to her, call me. Because you and I are not done yet. Not by a long shot. Good night, Clara.”

And with that, he turned on his heel, crossed the great room, went through the kitchen and disappeared from sight. A moment later, she heard the front door open and close.

That motivated her.

Even hugely pregnant, Clara could move fast when she wanted to. She zipped through the kitchen and straight to the window in the dining room that looked out on her porch and front yard. She got there just in time to see him duck into the backseat of a limo.

A moment later, the limo slid away from the curb and drove off down the street.

“Astrid.” She scowled. “No way am I calling Astrid.”

* * *

And she didn’t call Astrid.

But in the days that followed, she did think about Dalton a lot. She felt guilty, actually, for the way she’d behaved that night—so bitchy and angry, ready for a fight.

The hard truth was she still had that thing for him—for both of him, actually. The wonderful man she’d known on the island. And the sexy stuffed shirt who’d shown up at her door out of nowhere with a ring in his pocket and the arrogant assumption that she would pack up her life and move to Denver because he told her to.

She needed to buck up and deal, to reach out to him again, and do a better job of it this time. In the end, he was her baby’s father and she had a duty to do what she could to encourage some kind of a coparenting relationship with him.

However, she didn’t deal. She put it off, just as she’d put off telling him about the baby in the first place. Every day that passed, she had less respect for herself and her own behavior.