The Billionaire's Borrowed Baby & Baby Business: The Billionaire's Borrowed Baby / Baby Business

It was only much, much later that he realized his money was actually a stumbling block.

A faint noise made him turn his head. Hattie hovered in the doorway, her sun-streaked blond hair pulled back into a short ponytail, her feet bare. She was dressed as casually as he was.

He patted the seat beside him. “Would you like more wine?” The upcoming conversation might flow more easily if she relaxed.

She shook her head as she perched gingerly on the far end of the couch, tucking her legs beneath her. “No, thanks. Water would be nice.” Her toenails were painted pale pink. The sight of them did odd things to his gut.

He went to the fridge behind the bar, extracted two Perriers and handed her one. As he sat back down, he allowed the careful distance she had created to remain between them. It meant she was nervous, and that gave him an edge. He handed her a slim white envelope. “We’ll start with this.” Inside were three credit cards with her soon-to-be name, Hattie Parker Cavallo, already imprinted.

She extracted them with patent reluctance. “What are these?”

He stretched an arm along the back of the sofa. “As my wife, you’ll need a large wardrobe. I entertain frequently, and I also travel often. When it’s feasible, I’d like you and Deedee to accompany me. In addition, I want you to outfit the nursery upstairs. I’ve put a selection of baby furniture catalogs in the desk drawer in your bedroom. Ana will show you the suite I picked out for Deedee. If it doesn’t meet with your approval, we’ll decide on another.”

She paled, her eyes dark and haunted.

He ground his teeth. “What’s wrong?”

She shrugged helplessly. “I…I feel like you’re taking over my life. Like I’ve lost all control.”

His fists clenched instinctively, and he had to force himself to relax. “I understood there was some sense of urgency to the situation…that we needed to back up your lie quickly.”

“There is…and we do…but…”

“But what? Do you disagree with any of the arrangements I’ve made thus far?”

“No, of course not.”

“Then I don’t understand the problem.”

She jumped to her feet and paced. With her back to him, he could see the way the soft, worn jeans cupped her butt. It was a very nice butt. With an effort, he dragged his attention back to the current crisis.

She whirled to face him. “I’m used to taking care of myself.” The words were almost a shout.

Something inside him went still…crouched like a tiger in waiting. He feigned a disinterest he didn’t feel. “We don’t have to get married at all, Hattie. My team of lawyers loves going for the kill. Custody situations aren’t their usual fare, but with Eddie in self-destruct mode, it shouldn’t be too hard to convince a judge that you’re the obvious choice to raise Deedee.” He paused, risking everything on a gamble, a single toss of the dice. “Is that what you want?”

Hattie pressed two fingers to the center of the forehead, clearly in pain. Her entire body language projected misery. “I want my sister back,” she said…and as he watched, tears spilled down her wan cheeks.

He tried to leave her alone, he really did. But her heartbreak twisted something inside his chest. She didn’t protest when he took her in his arms, when he pulled the elastic band from her ponytail and stroked her hair, careful not to further hurt her injury.

She felt fragile in his embrace, but he knew better. Her backbone was steel, her moral compass a straight arrow.

The quiet sobs didn’t last long. He felt and sensed the moment she pulled herself together. She stiffened in his embrace. Though it went against his every inclination, he released her and returned to his seat on the sofa. He took a swig of sparkling water and waited her out.

She studied a painting on the wall. It was a Vermeer he’d picked up at an auction in New York last year. The obscure work immortalized a young woman in her tiny boudoir as she bent at the waist to fasten her small shoe. The play of light on the girl’s graceful frame fascinated Luc. He’d bought it on a whim, but it had quickly become one of his favorite pieces. Impulse drove him at times—witness the way he’d agreed so quickly to this sham marriage.

But in the end, his impulses usually served him well.

He grew impatient. “I asked you a question, Hattie. Do you want this marriage? Tell me.”

She turned at last, her fists clenched at her sides. “If I don’t go through with this, Eddie’s family will know I lied. And they’ll use it against me. I don’t have a choice.”

Her fatalistic attitude nicked his pride. His heart hardened, words tumbling out like cold stones. “Then we’ll do this my way. You can’t run out on me this time, Hattie. I love irony, don’t you?”

* * *

His sarcasm scraped her nerves. She was being so unfair. Luc had done everything she had asked of him and more. He didn’t deserve her angst and criticism. She owed him more than she could ever calculate.

The fact that her body still ached for his only complicated matters.

Swallowing her aversion to the feeling that she was being bought and paid for, she sat back down and summoned a faint smile. “Giving a woman that much plastic is dangerous. Should we discuss a budget?”

His expression was inscrutable. “I know you pretty well, Hattie Parker. I doubt seriously if you’ll bankrupt me.” He reached in his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box, laying it on the cushion between them. “This is next on the agenda. I thought it was customary to make such things a surprise, but given your current mood, perhaps I should return it and let you choose your own.”

She picked up the box and flipped back the lid. This was a flawless diamond solitaire. Clearly he understood her style, because the setting was simple in the extreme. But the rectangular stone that flashed and sparkled was easily four carats.

She bit her lip. “It’s lovely,” she said, squeezing the words from a tight throat. He made no attempt to take her hand and do the honors. She told herself she was glad. When she slid the ring onto her left hand, the brilliant stone seemed to take on a life of its own.

“So you don’t want to exchange it? I wouldn’t want to be accused of controlling your life.”

His tone was bland, but she felt shame, nevertheless. “I love it, Luc. Thank you.”

It was his turn to get up and pace. “I’ve made some preliminary wedding inquiries. Do you need or want a church wedding?”

Disappointment made her stomach leaden. Like most girls she had dreamed of her wedding day. “No. That’s not necessary.”

“Our family owns a small private island off the coast, near Savannah. If you’re agreeable, we can have the ceremony there. The location precludes the possibility of Eddie or any of his relatives showing up to make a scene. Do you have someone you’d like to stand up with you?”

She picked at a stray thread on the knee of her jeans, her mind in a whirl of conflicting thoughts. “My best friend, Jodi, would have been my choice, but her husband is in the military, and they were transferred to Japan two months ago. With Angela gone, well, I…”

“I’m sure Ana would be honored to help us out.”

It was a good choice, and a logical one given the circumstances. “I’ll ask her tomorrow.”

“A honeymoon will be important,” he said, bending to turn on the gas logs in the fireplace. The spring evening had turned cool and damp.

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

He turned to face her, his expression blank. “We can’t risk any accusation that our marriage isn’t real. I know you’ll protest, but I really think we should go away for at least a week. Ana’s niece is a college student working on her early childhood certification. I’ve already spoken to her, and she’s willing to stay here at the house with Ana and Sherman while we’re gone, to help with the baby.”

Hattie gnawed her bottom lip. He’d neatly cut the ground from beneath her feet. Every argument anticipated and countered. It all made perfect sense. And it scared the heck out of her. “You seem to have thought of everything.”

He shrugged. “It’s what I do. As far as the wedding dress and the ceremony itself, I’ll leave that to you. I have a good friend who is a justice of the peace. He’s prepared to fly down with us and officiate.”

“Who’s going to be your best man?”

“Leo.”

“Does he know about me…about Deedee?”