Wed on His Terms: Million-Dollar Marriage Merger

She managed a small smile then glanced at the antique sideboard filled with platters of food. “Where did all this come from?”

Tony shrugged. “It’s the Presidential Suite.”

“And that makes food magically appear?”

He laughed. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“You might be used to being treated like this, but this is … overwhelming to me.”

Tony walked over to stand before her. He searched her eyes. “I don’t live like this, Rena. But it’s a special occasion. I thought you deserved a little pampering.” He stroked her cheek, his finger sliding along her jaw line tenderly. It had been so long since she’d been touched like this. So long since she’d had any real tenderness. She was nine weeks pregnant, and though she’d tried to be strong when David died, there were times when she just needed some gentle contact.

She looked into Tony’s dark beautiful eyes, then lowered her gaze to his mouth. It was all the encouragement he needed. He took her carefully in his arms and bent his head, bringing their lips together in a soft kiss.

Rena relished his lips on hers, the gentle way he held her, the warmth and comfort he lent. It wasn’t a sensual kiss but one of understanding and patience.

He surprised her with his compassion, and that made her wary. She couldn’t put her faith in Tony—he’d destroyed that years ago. If she’d had any other way out of her dilemma she wouldn’t have married him, despite gentle kisses and kind overtures.

“Rena, don’t back off,” he said.

“I have to. You offered me a business proposal. Your own words were, ‘this isn’t a real marriage.’ And now, now … you’re expecting me to fall into the role as your wife.” She shook her head, and her emotions spilled out. “Don’t you understand? At one time, I would have trusted you with my life, but now there’s not much you could say or do to make me trust you. My heart is empty where you’re concerned. I was forced to marry you … otherwise I wouldn’t be here. I’m protecting myself, and my baby.”

“That’s what I intend to do, Rena. Protect you and the baby.”

“No, you’re going to help build my company back up. Period. I can’t let you get too close to my child. I can’t let you hurt my baby, the way you hurt me.”

“How could I ever hurt your child?”

“The same way you hurt me. By walking out. By leaving. By finding something more exciting than being a husband and father. While I’ve recovered from you leaving, it would be devastating to a child to be abandoned that way. My son or daughter may never get over it.”

Anger flashed in his eyes. His jaw tightened, and his body went rigid. “I don’t intend on abandoning either of you.”

“What if you get the racing bug again? What if you’re called back? It’s in your blood, Tony. You love racing.”

“That part of my life is over. I did what I set out to do. I’m not going back, ever.”

Rena shook her head, refusing to believe him.

“You have my promise on that,” he said. Then he spoke more firmly. “Did you hear me, Rena? I’ll never leave you or the baby. It’s a promise.”

Tony stared at her for a long moment, and when she thought he was so angry he’d walk out of the room, he handed her a plate. “Eat up,” he said. “We’re going to have some fun today.”

Rena glanced at him. “We are?”

“Yeah, even if it kills me.”

Rena chuckled, despite the tension in the room just seconds earlier. She had to hand it to Tony for lightening the mood. “That’s not my intention.”

“Can I bank on that?”

She shrugged as she filled up her plate. “Sure,” she offered. “You can bank on that.”

They exited the hotel, and because it was a glorious day, they decided to walk the crowded streets. A few times, Rena and Tony got separated in the onslaught of foot traffic, so he grabbed her hand and they strolled along that way, browsing through shops. When Rena took a lingering look at a ruby necklace, her birthstone with a setting that was beautifully unusual, Tony dragged her into the store and purchased it for her. “You don’t have to do this,” she said.

“Consider it a wedding gift, since I didn’t get you a diamond ring.”

“I know, but I don’t need this. What I need is for my vineyard to thrive and be solvent again.”

“That’ll happen too, Rena. You don’t have to give up one to get the other.”

Rena sighed inwardly. She’d been doing that most of her life, sacrificing her own needs and wants in order to assure Purple Fields’ survival. It had been years since she’d known what it was like to simply have something she wanted without guilt.

Next they took the trolley to Fisherman’s Wharf and ate clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls, then stopped at an ice cream parlor and ate sundaes until Rena thought her belly would expand out of her pants. “Oh, I’m so full.”

“Me, too,” Tony said, looking at her empty dish. “I guess you never get over loving hot fudge over strawberry ice cream.”

“With nuts on top.”

“Hmm and whipped cream. Remember the whipped cream fight we had?” Tony asked.

Rena remembered how they’d each taken out a can of Reddi-wip from Tony’s refrigerator. No one was home and they’d just finished eating sundaes. “Yeah and you cheated!”

“I did not. I fight fair. I couldn’t help it that your nozzle got stuck.”

“You took advantage then and squirted me until I was covered with it. That stuff even got in my hair.”

“You were sweet from head to toe,” Tony said with a nostalgic smile.

The memory popped into her head of Tony kissing it off her until kissing wasn’t enough. He’d taken her to his bedroom then, stripped her down and licked every bit of the whipped cream off. They’d made love in the shower, deciding that strawberry sundaes were their favorite dessert.

“I never have whipped cream without thinking of you,” Tony said, his eyes fixed on hers.

Her cheeks heated and she inhaled sharply. “That was a long time ago.” What she didn’t add is that the same held true for her.

“But a good memory.”

“I don’t think about the past anymore,” she fibbed.

He watched her intently. “Maybe you should. We had something special.”

“'Had’ being the key word.” She refused to let Tony get to her.

Tony leaned over and kissed her on the lips. “Let’s go,” he said abruptly, taking her hand again. They rode the trolley back and checked out of the hotel. Rena took one last look around, feeling oddly sentimental. She blamed it on her fickle hormones.

When Rena thought they’d head back to Napa, Tony drove her to a four-story shopping mall and parked the car. “What are we doing here?”

He grinned. “We’re getting baby things.”

“Baby things?”