The Blackmailed Bride's Secret Child / For Business...Or Marriage?: The Blackmailed Bride's Secret Child / For Business...Or Marriage?

Then, as if a veil lifted from before her eyes, she glimpsed deep inside him to the real Nico, so loving and sweet beneath the hard man. The Nico he hid from everyone, even himself.

Before she could change her mind, she went to him, but she didn’t do it for the bitter man before her. She did it for the Nico she’d loved more than life itself—for the pain she’d unwillingly caused. She did it for the Nico who was still somewhere inside him, hurting.

An arm’s length away, heart racing, she stopped.

He watched her closely, face inscrutable.

Being this close to him made her ache to move the last step. To touch him. To taste his skin. To feel his touch. Her body reacted to him as if no time had passed. As if they still belonged to each other.

But that time of belonging was long gone. And she was more sorry for that than he could ever know.

She held out her hand, a peace offering, trying to convey the regret that overwhelmed her without using words, which he now distrusted.

Heat flared in his brooding eyes and his jaw clenched, but he didn’t move.

He felt it, too.

The explosive sparks they generated when they were together. It’d been there again since he’d knocked on her door earlier this morning. Perhaps what she was doing would set a match to the tinder, but she remained standing, arm outstretched, offering him her hand.

Then his gaze softened and he came to her, wrapping her in his embrace and pressing her close. His body felt different to her memories—more solid, he’d filled out beautifully. She felt him shudder as she wound her arms around his neck, and they stood there, motionless for timeless minutes.

But then she pulled away, not meeting his eyes.

He didn’t make a move to stop her.

She turned and walked away, needing space from the waves of emotion and desire still rolling through her.

“Beth,” he rasped, but she couldn’t turn back or she knew she’d take him to her bed and that would only make everything so much more difficult … make his leaving utterly unbearable.

She’d always worn her heart on her sleeve with him, and if she was to keep the secret from him about his illegitimacy until after his father passed away, then shemust keep emotional distance.

She’d apologized, and that was the last time she could afford to drop her guard around him.

If he caught her in a moment of vulnerability, and asked her the right question—could she be sure she wouldn’t blurt out the secret that could hurt him and his father so deeply? She’d been incredibly fond of Tim Jordan, and for him to lose the son of his heart while he was terribly sick would be cruelty. The only solution that was fair to Tim and Nico was to wait.

The phone rang in the next room and she had to restrain herself from running to the kitchen for the salvation of the call.

“Hello?”

“Mrs. Jordan, it’s Noela from the winery.”

Kent’s secretary. As Beth leaned back against the bench, she caught sight of Nico from the corner of her eye. He stood in the doorway, leaning a hand against the top of the frame, watching her.

Beth swallowed and looked away. “What can I do for you, Noela?”

“I’m just checking to see if you’re coming to the launch of Trio tonight.” Noela paused, then continued in a gentle tone. “I can’t imagine what you’re going through, losing Mr. Jordan, and we’d understand if you decided you’d rather not come.”

Beth grimaced at the thought of attending the grand event tonight—the last place she wanted to be was with a huge crowd now Nico had turned her world upside down. All she really wanted to do was crawl into bed with a tub of chocolate ice cream. But she’d made a promise. “I’ll be there.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Jordan. I know the staff will appreciate it.”

Beth hung up the receiver and poured herself a glass of water. She needed Nico out of here, now, before he found out about the festivities at the winery.

Knowing Nico, if he’d heard about the evening he’d have mentioned it by now, and she thanked the fates she’d be able to attend alone. This impromptu reunion was hard enough to handle without it being played out in front of one hundred of New Zealand’s high society.

Nico pushed off the doorframe. He took three steps forward and leaned his hands on the bench on either side of her, trapping her with his body. “You walk away from me too often.”

Heat radiated from him, reaching out and encircling her. Something she’d never forgotten about their precious time together was that she was never cold with him—his body heat had been enough for both of them when he held her.

Would it be so bad to close her eyes and sink into his heat now? To forget the crazy situation they were in and let herself have one more night with the man who still owned her unwise heart?

His breath was warm against her ear, and she heard the moment it changed to a shallower, more uneven rhythm.

No matter what tricks her body was playing on her, she couldn’t let herself forget this wasn’t her Nico. This was a different man, one she had no future with. She couldn’t survive their separation a second time. She might be protecting him by not telling the truth about her marriage, his son, his heritage, but she had to protect herself, too. Guard her heart.

She placed her palms flat on his muscular chest, feeling his racing heart beneath, and looked up into his unfathomable, black-lash-fringed eyes. “Nico, you have to go. You’ve got your apology, now we have to move on with our lives.”

Slowly, he straightened. Then he smiled. “You’re right. It’s time for me to go. I know you’ll need plenty of time to get ready for tonight’s launch. Shall I pick you up at seven?”

The blood drained from her head. He knew! But of course he knew—the head office of Jordan Wines in Australia would know about any event one of the wineries held, let alone one on this scale. It seemed Nico was better at holding his cards close to his chest these days.

But she couldn’t go through with her final performance as Kent’s wife if Nico attended. Playing Kent’s wife was difficult at the best of times, but with Nico in the same room, affecting her so intimately, it would be near impossible.

Nico would be a center of attention—there hadn’t been a visit from Nico or Tim Jordan to this winery in over five years, despite their regular visits to the other Jordan Wines’ estates. And people would be watching her, concerned for her. So any interaction between her and Nico would be witnessed by everyone present. Any undercurrents between them would be seized upon.

She schooled her features to casualness. “You don’t need to put in an appearance.”

“And forfeit a chance to honor my late brother? I wouldn’t miss this for the world.” He smiled with no hint of humor. “I did read the amendment to the program correctly, didn’t I?”

The confident set of his shoulders, the raised eyebrow told her that he knew very well that the winery had changed the publicity for the launch of the new wine, Trio, into an event to both celebrate Kent’s life and unveil what had become his final blend.

She moistened lips that were suddenly dry. “The seating arrangements and catering have been finalized.”

“I sent an RSVP before I left Australia,” he said over his shoulder as he strode into the receiving room and picked up his jacket. “Seven o’clock, or do you have to be there earlier?”

She followed, with rising panic scrambling her thoughts. She only had one line of reasoning left. “Nico, we can’t go together.”

He slid his arms into the jacket and straightened his tie. “Nonsense. We’re Kent’s family, they’ll expect us to arrive together.” He checked his watch. “It’s two o’clock now, I’ll be back in five hours.”

In two steps he was beside her, dropping a kiss on her cheek. It lasted a little long to be platonic, and his lips moved almost imperceptibly on her skin, but before she could react he was gone, shutting the door behind him.

Beth collapsed into the couch and dropped her head to her hands. The hundred guests attending tonight would include Kent’s grieving friends and colleagues. Nothing improper could happen.

And her reaction to their embrace had proven one thing: if resisting Nico was her strongest line of defense, she was in deep trouble.

Three

The sound she’d been dreading came at precisely one minute to seven. Beth walked on trembling legs to the front door. She knew it was Nico—no one else could make a simple knock so commanding. As her hand rested on the brass knob, she took a last glance at herself in her full-length peach gown. It was hardly a dress of mourning, but she loved the skirt of gossamer layers and sheer sleeves in the same shade of peach—and she needed every thread of help she could get tonight to feel strong. Between the celebration of her late husband’s life and her wildly unsettling escort, she’d be lucky to still be sane by the end of the evening.