Fortune's Unexpected Groom

“Hi, Dad,” she said, infusing her smile with all the enthusiasm she could muster. “What are you doing?”

“I was just having a nice talk with Tanner.”

As if on cue, Tanner stepped out from behind John Michael, pulled Jordana into his arms and planted a kiss on her lips. For a split second, her body responded to him—to the sheer depth and breadth of the way his big body encircled her, just possessive enough to make her knees go a little weak. Her lips parted in response. The taste of him, the feel of his lips on hers reminded her of how good he’d tasted that night. How much she’d wanted him—

She managed to wedge both hands between them, ready to shove him away, but before she could, he pulled back and smiled down at her. If she didn’t know better, she might have thought that the way he looked at her … meant something.

“Hello, darling,” he said. “I’ve missed you.”

Darling?

“What the heck, Tanner?” She dragged the back of her hand across her mouth, trying to erase the feel of his lips on hers.

John Michael frowned at her. “Jordana. That’s not a very nice greeting. Tanner flew in all the way from Red Rock to take you to lunch. What’s wrong with you this morning?”

What was wrong? Oh, if he only knew. Well, at least his asking that question suggested he didn’t know, and that was enough to help Jordana regain her bearings. But then again, her father had a great poker face. He wasn’t about to cause a scene in the office. But one thing was perfectly clear: her father seemed to think that she and Tanner were … together. A couple. She had no idea what nonsense Tanner had been flinging at her dad, but common sense dictated that she play along—at least for now—so that her father didn’t get suspicious. At least until she could break up with him over lunch.

“What are you doing here, darling?” she said to Tanner. “You’re a day early. I was expecting to see you tomorrow.” Jordana gritted her molars as she smiled.

Tanner grinned back, obviously game to play along. “Oh, I know, sweetheart.” His Texas drawl seemed exaggerated—or at least she’d never noticed it before now. “I missed you so much, I couldn’t wait another day. I decided to surprise you.”

“Well, yes, you certainly surprised me. What were you and Daddy talking about behind closed doors?”

She looked back and forth between Tanner and her father, who looked eerily smug … like he knew a secret. So she shifted her gaze to Tanner.

He smiled at her, and against her will, something in his eyes pulled her in. The same way it had when they’d danced at the wedding. Just as it had that day of the storm when she’d initially decided not to fly home with her family—because her gut instinct warned her of imminent danger. Then Tanner had stopped by the house that morning to say goodbye to everyone. After her family had left, she’d changed her mind and decided to join them after she’d learned he was on his way to the airport. Wanting to spend just a little more time with him, she’d gone against her instincts and better judgment. She’d been reeled in by the same … what was it … a look? His presence?

She’d been so shocked to see him this morning—and a bit humiliated to face him—that she’d been immune to his charms. But now, it was all coming back.

“We had a nice talk.” Tanner nodded. “Man-to-man. Spent some time getting to know each other.”

Her father was being eerily quiet. Something she couldn’t remember seeing ever in her entire life. He was letting Tanner take the upper hand, which was just downright weird.

“Yes, we did,” her father said. “I’m so grateful that Tanner was there to take care of you the night of the storm, Jordana.” He turned back to Tanner. “My other daughter Wendy might be a little scattered, but sometimes Jordana is a little too introspective for her own good. If she’d listened to us and just come with us to the airport like we’d planned, she wouldn’t have found herself in a mess and dragged you into it, too. But I guess it all worked out in the end.”

A mess? Jordana was paralyzed for a heartbeat. Did her father know about the baby? Of course he didn’t. The only way he could know was if Victoria told him. She may have blabbed to Tanner, but she wouldn’t dare tell her father. Would she?

Jordana took a deep breath and reframed the situation. If her father knew that Tanner Redmond had gotten her pregnant, he would not be standing here being so uncharacteristically personable. Cautiously, she gazed up at her father. He was a good head taller than she was—and so was Tanner, for that matter. Facing off, the two men seemed at once imposing yet somehow equally matched. At least right now. It would be a different story once her father found out. If Tanner knew what was good for him, he’d get as far away from here as possible before that happened. She was keeping this baby. She was raising her or him on her own. She wouldn’t sell out to a loveless sham of a marriage.

That was her final answer.

In an uncharacteristic burst of defiance, Jordana blurted, “If you’d listened to me in the first place, Daddy, none of us would’ve been in danger. I told you I didn’t think we should fly that day, that we should wait. But no. No one would listen to me.”

The words were spewing like the morning sickness that had seized her body the past few months. She couldn’t stop it; she knew if she tried she’d choke on the resentment. “If you listened to me every once in a while maybe a lot of things would be different.”

Whoa! She clamped her mouth shut before she said any more. Neither Victoria nor Tanner had told on her, but if she didn’t exercise a little self-control, she was going to tell on herself. Suddenly regretting her outburst, she braced for the inevitable backlash from her father. No one but no one talked back to John Michael Fortune without suffering the consequences.

Oddly, he stood squinting down at her with a neutral, if slightly bemused, look on his face. He shook his head and turned to Tanner. “Take her out to a nice, long lunch. In fact, Jordana, take the rest of the afternoon off. You obviously need a break.”

“I don’t want—”

“Jordana.” Her father silenced her with a single booming word. All traces of his earlier bemuse-ment gone, replaced by the stern glare that was famous for making grown men cry. “Leave. Now. I don’t want to see you back in this office until Monday morning.”

John Michael shook Tanner’s hand. “It was a pleasure, but I need to get back to work. I’m sure we will be talking again soon.” He glanced at Jordana, but directed his words at Tanner. “Good luck, son. She’s been in a very strange mood lately.”

Jordana snorted, but before she could say anything, her father did something so uncharacteristic it nearly rendered Jordana speechless, anyway. He hugged her and planted a fatherly kiss on her cheek. Something else Jordana couldn’t recall him doing in recent memory.

Her heart sank low in her chest. What in the world had Tanner told him?

Chapter Three

Tanner and Jordana didn’t speak as they walked out of the office and into the mahogany-paneled elevator bank. She didn’t have to say a word for him to recognize she was furious. He could feel her anger radiating off her in waves as they waited for an elevator to arrive to carry them down twenty-two stories to the ground floor.

Tanner decided if he didn’t break the tension, Jordana might burst.

“Your father is a great guy.”

Jordana shot him a look.

“Really? Nice?” Jordana asked. “I’ve heard him described a lot of ways, but nice isn’t an adjective people usually use when they talk about John Michael Fortune.”

“I enjoyed talking to him.”

Jordana turned and faced him, eyes narrowed. “Yeah, about that—” The elevator interrupted her by announcing its arrival with a loud ding.

They entered the empty car, and as it started its descent, Jordana tore into him.

“What the heck are you doing, Tanner? Why did you come here and what did you tell my father?”

Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes glistened with fury. He couldn’t remember seeing her look more beautiful. Healthy and vital … and pregnant with his child.

“You know why I came. Do you really want to talk about it here?” he asked.

“Well, yes, because I don’t know where else we would talk about it. When we get off this elevator, I’m getting in my car and going home. You are getting back on your plane—or however you got here—and going back to Red Rock.”

“Actually, I was thinking we could go grab some lunch.”

Her lips puckered with annoyance. “Are you listening to me?”

The elevator stopped on the first floor and the doors slid open, revealing the marble-and-brass lobby. A fountain in the center cascaded soft ambient noise. They stepped out of the car and Jordana stopped right outside the elevator doors. “I’m going home, Tanner. Alone. If you’d like to tell me what you and my father talked about, this is your chance. If not, frankly, I guess it doesn’t matter. I don’t have the energy to play guessing games with you.”

Tanner glanced around the professional building’s lobby. A handful of people walked with a purpose toward the exit. Others, talking on cell phones and carrying briefcases, entered the building, branching off in various directions. About three yards to the left of where they stood, two men lingered by the elevator banks, deep in conversation.

“You really want to do this here?” he asked.

“It’s up to you,” she said, an edge to her voice. “Speak now or forever hold your peace.”

“Funny you should say that.” He chuckled, hoping some levity would lighten her mood. “Because I just asked your father for your hand in marriage. I told him I was here in Atlanta to propose to you. He told me he thought it was the best idea he’d heard in ages.”