The Tycoon's Marriage Bid

If she could, then Alex would still be the guy who changed women almost as often as he changed shirts. She’d still be working at his side, doing a job she really had loved, and keeping her own feelings for him sternly under wraps, because she was definitely too smart to think seriously about a man who sent nearly every woman off with some tasteful gift that Nikki had arranged for him.

If she could wish away the past year, Alex’s ex-wife, Valerie, wouldn’t have come back into his life, and Nikki wouldn’t have had to quit her job because of her own foolish behavior.

She wouldn’t be lying here now in this rabid honeymooner cabin, pregnant with the child of a man whose only appeal to her had been his strong resemblance to Alex.

Chapter Four

Alex couldn’t sleep.

He couldn’t blame it on the couch, though. It was comfortable enough, for a leather sectional large enough to host a cocktail party. No. It was the fact that he was listening for every sound that came from the massive bed on the other side of the fireplace.

He’d built a fire earlier that evening, but the logs had burned way down now. The only thing left of it was the warm scent and orange glow from the embers, which did nothing but illuminate the foot of the bed.

He wished the embers would die. Then he wouldn’t be lying here peering through the firebox at the way the dark bedspread spilled partially off the rounded foot of the bed. It’d be better if Nikki would just kick it all the way off, he decided blearily. As it was, the velvety red fabric clinging tenuously to the mattress made him think of the way a woman’s dress would cling to her shoulders as it was nudged off by her lover.

A woman?

He turned on his back, scrubbing his hands down his face.

Clearly, he’d been alone too damn long when he was thinking of his young former assistant in that way.

From the other side of the cabin, he heard a soft sigh. A rustle of bedding.

He slanted his gaze sideways.

Had the bedspread slid another perilous inch?

Annoyed, he swung his legs off the couch, knocking his ankle on the tacky coffee table. He cut off the none-too-quiet oath midsyllable.

What the hell was he doing here?

“Alex?” Nikki’s voice was soft and husky from sleep. “Are you all right?”

His jaw tightened, along with every other part of him. “Yeah.” It came out more of a grunt. Good to know his Ivy League education was so useful. He gingerly rotated his foot. “Are you? What’s the matter?”

Again the rustling bedding.

God. He was something. The woman was having a crisis with her pregnancy and he was having visions of her peach-tinted skin draped in red velvet.

He should be asking what the hell was the matter with him.

“Nothing’s wrong,” she assured him. “You’re the one who’s over there swearing.”

“You feeling more pain? Dizziness?”

“No.” But she’d hesitated just a moment before answering. He reached over and grabbed his pants, hitching them up his hips as he rounded the fireplace.

There was a skylight above the bed, but the sky was so dark it didn’t help illuminate the bedroom. There were only those orange embers casting their glow, softly enough for him to see the shape of her lying in the center of the round bed. “This isn’t going to work if you’re not honest about how you’re feeling,” he told her.

She moved, and the rustling sound made Alex feel as if something was brushing against him. He shook off the sensation and stepped closer. He could see the way the sheet draped over her knees. She’d sat up against a mound of pillows at the padded leather headboard.

Details he could’ve done without.

“Well?” he demanded.

She exhaled. “I don’t lie.” Her voice was tight.

Another few steps and he was at her bedside. He wasn’t certain, but the sheets didn’t look exactly white. More like silver. With a sheen.

He’d slept on five-hundred-dollar sheets that were smoother than silk, and five-dollar sheets that were as rough as sandpaper.

He’d never slept on satin sheets covering a round bed. There probably wasn’t a single member of the Reed family who had.

You’re not going to be the one to change that.

The voice inside his head was mocking.

“Okay. So you don’t lie.” Truth was, when she’d been in his employ, Nikki had been unfailingly honest, even when it meant tactfully telling him he was acting like an arrogant jerk. “But you can’t hold back things, either.”

Her hands flopped on the mattress and he realized she hadn’t just drawn up her knees, she’d been hugging her leg. “I had a charley horse.” Even husky from sleep, her voice managed to convey embarrassment.

He sat on the bed and stifled a sigh when she practically jumped six inches back. “Relax.” He reached over and caught her leg through the sheet.

Satin. Definitely.

“What are you doing?”

“Where’s the cramp?” His hand slid down her shin. Circled a very narrow ankle. He couldn’t say he’d ever noticed before how delicately formed they were.

She’d usually been dressed from head to toe in very conservative, very tailored pantsuits.

She twisted her foot, trying to brush his hands aside. “It’s gone now.”

“And you wouldn’t admit where it was if it weren’t gone. It’s not a crime to accept help, you know.”

“I’m here, aren’t I?”

“Yeah, but you don’t want to be.”

Her foot stopped moving. “And you do? Pull the other leg. It’s got bells on.”

He reached a little farther and caught the leg in question. “Nope. No bells ringing there.” Just a cacophony of warning buzzers going off inside his head. He let go of her and stood. Shoved his hands in his pockets. “Is the bed comfortable, at least?”

“Yes. Except I feel like I might slide off the edge if I’m not careful. The sheets are pretty slippery. And I’ve, um, never slept on a round bed. It’s a little…”

“Kinky?”

“Odd.” Her voice sounded strangled. But she moved her feet again, and again he felt the sound like a physical thing. “I, um, I really could have taken the couch, you know. I didn’t mind.”