by Terra Little
“I’m not getting married. I’m moving to London next month. Or, rather, I was moving to London next month. The only plan I had was to tell Cooper that I was pregnant and then call him from London, after I was already gone for good.”
“They’re in the hallway now,” Broderick murmured. When Cooper only stared back at him blankly, he dropped a hand on Cooper’s shoulder and squeezed. “You okay?”
From somewhere, Cooper managed to find his voice. “Yeah.” He nodded to help convince himself that he was telling the truth. “Yeah... I’m okay. I’m just... London?”
“I chased Elise all the way to Florida,” Broderick told him matter-of-factly. “The Carrington women are beautiful, but they’re also stubborn.”
“I heard that,” Elise drawled.
“I love you, baby.”
“Whatever. I’m in my bedroom. Now be quiet so I can hear.”
Taking Broderick’s cue, Cooper nudged him aside and took the lead, turning the doorknob and slowly opening the basement access door. Silently he stepped out into the mudroom, which was just off the kitchen, and after making sure that the coast was clear, motioned for Broderick to join him.
Chapter 19
It was nearly six o’clock in the morning and Cooper still hadn’t come to save her. That either meant one of two things: that he’d missed her call altogether or that her hands had been shaking so badly when she’d placed the blind call in the first place that she had pressed the wrong button. For all she knew, the most that she had succeeded in contributing to her own rescue was to leave a confusing voice mail for her tax accountant to listen to when he arrived at work in a few hours. By then she could very well be dead already. Either way, she realized with a disgusted sigh, unless she suddenly had a stroke of genius and devised a master plan to escape—which was highly unlikely, since these days she could barely remember her own name—she was pretty much screwed. She had never stood a chance.
When Olivia thought about it like that, her predicament was kind of funny. Only kind of, because there was still the gun pointed at her chest to consider. But still. She wasn’t above finding the humor in any situation, and this one was no exception.
The first giggle bubbled out of her mouth as she was forced back into the study at gunpoint, carrying a pair of leather Prada driving moccasins in one hand and her purse in the other, and ordered to sit down on the sofa. She plopped down in the center of it and set her purse on the cushion next to her, giving in to a second giggle because she was too nervous not to.
Shannon was incredulous. “Are you actually laughing right now?”
“Yes,” Olivia said and did it again. “I’m s-sorry.” Unable to continue speaking coherently, she dissolved into a fit of giggles that sounded hysterical even to her own ears. She had lost the ability to control herself, though, so she threw up her hands in defeat, let them fall back to her lap noisily and went with it.
“Shut up!”
“I’m s-sorry,” she sputtered in between giggles. Noticing the fury on Shannon’s face, she made a visible effort to sober up, sucking in a dramatic deep breath and releasing it slowly, complete with hand gestures and exaggerated facial expressions. “Okay,” she huffed a few seconds later. “I’m back now. Where were we? Oh! That’s right, I was just about to put on my shoes and drive you to the ATM so you can steal all of my hard-earned money and skip town.”
“You think this is funny, Olivia?” Shannon snarled. “You think I’m funny?”
“No, of course not,” Olivia said and burst out laughing. “N-not you—m-me,” she said, almost panting the words out between giggling spells. “I’m what’s f-funny. My life is wh-what’s f-funny.”
“Yeah, you’ve got it so hard around here,” Shannon sniped as she looked around the sumptuously furnished room with disdain. “Put your shoes on and let’s go. I forgot to dump out your jewelry box when we were upstairs, so we have to go back up there before we leave. Hurry up.”
“No.”
“I said hurry up, Olivia!”
Olivia giggled again. “Yeah, I’m not doing that, Shannon. You’re probably going to kill me anyway, so just do it now and get it over with, okay?”
Shannon’s gaze narrowed suspiciously. “What is this, more of your reverse-psychology bullshit?”
“Nope,” Olivia chirped. “I think your insanity is starting to rub off on me, because sitting right here, just now, I experienced a startling moment of clarity. I saw the future, and do you know what it has in store for me?”
“No, and I don’t ca—”
“I saw myself living halfway across the world, raising a child alone. A child who only gets to see its father during the summers and on alternate holidays, which by the way is sooo unfair. I saw myself going to weekly speed-dating sessions, hoping to meet another man who makes my heart skip a beat the way Cooper does and never quite succeeding. So I keep going and going, week after week, until I’ve earned myself one of those embarrassing nicknames. You know the ones they give older single women, something ridiculous and hurtful like Speed-Dating Sally or Thirsty Thelma...” She trailed off, shaking her head incredulously. “After Cooper, nothing will ever be the same for me again. I’ll compare every man I meet to him and they’ll all fall short in one way or another, so I’ll die alone.
“I saw myself wasting what’s left of my life, pining away for a man who wants to marry a soccer mom—not someone like me. I’m not his type, Shannon, and knowing that no matter how much I love him, I could never pretend to be something that I’m not, well, that breaks my heart. And I don’t think I’ve ever had my heart broken before. Can you believe that?”
Shannon snorted sarcastically. “What I can’t believe is that the legendary man-whisperer, Olivia Carrington, is sitting here, whining about a damn man. That’s what I can’t believe. As interesting as that little tale that you just told was, you can stop stalling and get up now. Just for that we’re going to stop by Elise’s room and collect her diamonds, too.”
“Yeah, I’m not doing that, either. I mean it, Shannon. You’re going to have to shoot me.”
The gun cocked.
“Wait!” Olivia cried, throwing up her hands like a human shield. “Just...give me a minute, will you? At least let me say a quick prayer or something.”
“Take all the time you need, baby,” Cooper said as he stepped through the partially closed, double pocket doors at the far side of the room. The Glock in his hand was pointed straight at the side of Shannon’s head as he advanced into the study with measured, purposeful steps. His flat, unblinking stare was fixed on Shannon’s profile. “She’s not going anywhere and neither are you.”
“Cooper!” His name on her lips was the sound of complete and utter relief. As if someone had flipped an invisible switch, tears sprang up and spilled over onto Olivia’s suddenly flushed cheeks. “Please be careful. She has a gun.”
“I can see that,” Cooper said calmly.
“And so do I,” Broderick said, easing into the room via the foyer. Both his gun and his eyes were fixed on the back of Shannon’s head.
* * *
“One of us is going to have to lower our weapon, and I think you know that it’s not going to be me, Karen,” Cooper informed Shannon calmly. Her gun was still aimed at Olivia but her eyes were locked in a battle of wills with his. He refused to allow her to look away from his face. “That is your real name, isn’t it? Karen Lewis?”
“Shut up,” she said and then surprised them all with a burst of maniacal-sounding laughter. “Olivia, get up and come over here.” Olivia didn’t move. “Do it or I’ll shoot your ass right now!”
“Don’t move, Olivia,” Cooper snapped. “Listen to me, Karen. I’ve had a long day and I’m tired. And after listening to my woman describe how delicious Harriet’s pot roast is, I might just be a little hungry, too. So I won’t be in the mood to play with you for much longer.”
&n
bsp; “Does it seem like I’m playing to you?”
“No, it doesn’t, which means that we have a problem, don’t we?” His eyes flicked over to Broderick’s for the space of a heartbeat. “I can’t just stand here and let you shoot the woman I love. Aside from the fact that it would absolutely destroy me, I couldn’t help but overhear her tell you that she’s pregnant with my child. How do you think that makes me feel? My woman is having a baby—my baby—and here you are, pointing a gun at the both of them. I don’t want to kill you, Karen, but I will.”
“You had this planned all along, didn’t you?” Shannon spat at him. “You knew you were going to ruin my life when you came here to interview me the first time, didn’t you?”
“No, I didn’t. I didn’t start to suspect that you were a sociopath until later,” Cooper replied candidly, his gaze and his gun steady. “I didn’t find out the extent of it until later still, and I never told Olivia. You’ve got approximately three seconds to put down your gun or I’m going to put you down.”
Shannon had the nerve to look amused. “Wait, so we’re all just going to start shooting on the count of three?”
Cooper cocked a brow, shrugged. “I guess so. One.”
“You’re bluffing.”
“Two.”
“Okay, so you’re not bluff—”
A single gunshot fired into the room and everyone froze. Then Shannon began screaming in agony. Broderick was the first to spring into action, kicking the gun that fell to the floor at Shannon’s feet clear across the room and then catching her slumping body midair before it could meet the same fate. With a flick of his wrist, he spun her around and, with little sympathy for the fact that she’d just been shot in the hand and was bleeding profusely from the resulting wound, handcuffed her. “Sit,” he barked and dropped her into the nearest chair. “And be quiet,” he snarled as he whipped out his cell phone and began dialing. “Elise?” he called out, seemingly as an afterthought.
“Right here,” Elise Carrington said, rising from where she’d been crouched in a corner of the room, hidden behind a wing-backed side chair and a towering artificial tree. Per the plan they had worked out before moving in, she had crept down to the first floor and positioned herself in the study while Olivia and Shannon were upstairs in Olivia’s bedroom. The pearl-handled .22 gun that she was never without was still smoking in the palm of her hand when she set it down on a side table and hurried over to Olivia.
“Oh, baby! Come here!” She folded Olivia into her arms and held on for dear life. Pulling back after several seconds of relieved sobbing, she smoothed Olivia’s hair back from her face and searched her eyes. “I was worried sick! What were you thinking, goading her like that?”
“Ups-stairs,” Olivia sputtered, clinging to her sister for dear life. “When w-we walked out of my bedroom, I looked down the hallway toward your bedroom and I s-saw the door open and the l-light on. I knew I hadn’t left it on so I thought... I hoped...” She trailed off as she collapsed into Elise’s arms and dissolved into tears again. “Oh my God, I was so scared.” It didn’t seem to occur to her until after she had cried herself empty that Elise was actually there with her in the flesh. She pulled back, wide-eyed and staring in disbelief. “Wait. What are you doing here?”
Clinging just as tightly, Elise smiled through her own tears. “I was going to surprise you,” she said. “Surprise! Oh and apparently Broderick has our house bugged, so we’ve been listening in this whole time.”
“What!”
“Never mind that right now, sweetie. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Just a little shaken up and my head hurts like hell. But I think I’ll survive,” Olivia said, reaching up to touch the lump on the back of her head gently and grimacing. Her gaze fell on the tall, muscle-bound man across the room just then and her bottom lip trembled. “Broderick,” she whined pitifully, pulling away from Elise and rushing over to him with tears in her eyes for a bear hug. “I’m going to kill you later but I’m so glad to see you right now! When did you two—”
“Uh, excuse me...”
All eyes swerved over to Cooper’s ashen face. “I’m sorry to interrupt this touching little family reunion, but I’m not all right, in case anyone cares,” he put in tightly.
“Um...babe, why don’t we take Shannon and wait for the police outside, on the porch?” Elise suggested, shooting Broderick a meaningful look. “I think these two could use a little privacy.”
Liking her immediately, Cooper nodded his thanks without taking his eyes off Olivia’s face. As soon as they were gone and he was alone with her, he looked for her eyes and found them moist and brimming with possibility. His heart twisted in his chest as they stared at each other. “You are...” He trailed off as the full magnitude of what had just happened, of what could have just happened, slammed into him. Momentarily speechless, he lifted unsteady hands and dragged them down his face wearily, his breath whistling through his tense fingers forcefully. A moment later he sank down onto the arm of the couch and took a second to get himself together. “Do you have any idea how scared I was, listening to you goad her into shooting you? I thought... You don’t even want to know what I thought. Are you all right?”
“Yes.” She reached up and fingered the goose egg on her head and grimaced. “Mostly. I’m sorry you were worried.”
“Worried?” He looked at her like she was crazy. “Olivia...you are everything to me. Worried doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface. Baby, I was beside myself. I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. It just occurred to me that I could’ve lost you tonight, and that would have devastated me. So I’m sorry, but after what happened here tonight, if you think that I’m going to just stand by and allow you to move to London, then you’re out of your mind. Because—”
“I’m not,” she cut in. “I won’t.”
As if in a trance, Cooper stared into Olivia’s beautiful, watery eyes and released a long, shaky breath. “You’re pregnant?” She nodded hesitantly and he thought that she’d never looked more beautiful. “How long have you known?”
“Only a few days. I was going to tell you today...when I called you back.”
“At four o’clock.”
“At four o’clock. But then everything happened and... Are you angry?”
“Angry?” Cooper sputtered incredulously, gaping at the love of his life. “How could I possibly be angry, Olivia? I just found out that the woman of my dreams is carrying my child, a child that we made together, while we were falling in love. I just found out that the woman I love is having my baby and you want to know if I’m angry? My God, Olivia, anger is the last thing I’m feeling right now. What I am is so in love with you that it scares the shit out of me. What about you? Are you angry? I hurt you and I never meant to do that. Can you ever forgive me?”
“I already have. I was going to tell you that today, too. I love you, Cooper.”
“I’m glad to hear that because, while I was listening to you risk your life, I too experienced a moment of clarity, Olivia. I saw the future too, and there wasn’t a goddamn soccer mom anywhere in it. There was only you, love. Marry me.”
“Yes!” Olivia cried, racing across the room, toward Cooper. “Yes, yes, I will!” He opened his arms just in time to catch her when she leapt.
* * *
The Sweetest Affair
Bridget Anderson
There was something about the slow way his gaze traveled up her body before meeting her eyes that made her take a deep breath. She shook her head, then quickly changed directions. “I mean, yes. Of course we do. Does anybody else need anything?” she asked as she walked around the table. Everyone said no.
Tracee dashed into the kitchen and found the steak sauce in the pantry. She couldn’t believe that guy was sitting in their dining room. He’d recognized her, but he hadn’t said anything about yesterday. Steak sauce in
hand, she returned to the dining room.
When she set the bottle on the table, he thanked her with a self-satisfied grin on his face.
“I hope everything went all right yesterday,” he added before she walked away.
Tracee placed her hands on her hips. So, he wanted to acknowledge what he’d done.
“Luckily yes, everything was fine. Thank you for asking.”
Bridget Anderson writes provocative romance-filled stories about smart women and the men they love. She’s written for Kensington, BET Books and Harlequin. Rendezvous (Kensington, 1999), a romantic suspense novel, was later adapted into a made-for-television movie by BET Books. Bridget always knew she’d be a writer. Her first book was made of construction paper, cardboard and pink yarn. In fact, she still has it.
While growing up in Louisville, Kentucky, Bridget penned several short stories, for her eyes only, which fueled the flames for a writing career. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, Georgia Romance Writers and The Authors Guild. When she’s not writing, she loves to travel. She’s fallen in love with Paris, France, and can’t wait to get back to Ghana, West Africa.
Bridget currently resides north of metro Atlanta with her husband and a big dog that she swears is part human.
Books by Bridget Anderson
Harlequin Kimani Romance
When I Fall in Love
The Only One for Me
Something About You
The Sweetest Affair
Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.
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To Shirley Harrison, who’s always there to help me out of a tough spot.