Debra frowned. “This isn’t the fifties. Women have babies by themselves all the time.”
She wished she had her friend’s confidence.
“When are you planning to tell your parents?”
With a frustrated groan, Bianca dropped her head against the bench and stared up at the ceiling. They were the problem. The last thing the family needed was a scandal. And the Beaumont daughter being jilted and knocked up by her fiancé would be the talk of the town.
Suddenly, she lost her appetite. She could just see herself having that conversation with her parents. They would look at her with disappointment and shame. All her parents cared about was how things looked. And having a daughter pregnant and un-married would be an embarrassment to the Beaumont name. Her mother was never going to forgive her.
Bianca looked over at her friend and saw the sympathy in her eyes and shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“You can’t keep it a secret. At some point you’re going to starting showing.”
Blowing out a breath, she nodded and said, “Yes, I know.”
Debra was right. The whole thing with her keeping her fiancé/baby’s daddy a secret had gone on long enough. Soon, she promised, soon she would go to her parents’ house and drop the bomb in their laps. Then she could go hide her head under the sand for the next six months until the baby was born.
“I guarantee that when your parents see that beautiful little baby they will get over it,” Debra replied with a confidence Bianca wished she felt.
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“Maybe, but what about the rest of the town?”
“Forget these nosy folks around here.”
Bianca reached for her glass and was just about to take a sip when she felt a powerful stir. She looked over at the door and her gaze locked onto London’s. Her heart did a somersault and landed somewhere low in her stomach. Damn, he made her nervous, but boy did he look good. He moved across the polished floor in dark blue jeans that hung low on his waist and a green-and-white short-sleeved, button-down shirt. He looked sexy and downright lethal.
“Hello, ladies.” He stopped in front of their booth and reached over and gave Bianca’s shoulder a gentle squeeze. His long fingers sent tingling shards of awareness through her body.
Dammit! She couldn’t concentrate with him standing that close.
“Hello, London. Come and have a seat next to me.” Without waiting for an answer, Debra slid across the seat and patted the space beside her.
He lowered himself onto the bench, and Bianca swallowed the lump in her throat. He was sitting directly across from her. Their eyes met and she felt uneasy underneath his intense gaze. London smiled that enticingly sexy smile that always made her want to go with him to the nearest bedroom and satisfy her curiosity.
“How are you, Bianca?” he said, breaking into her wayward thoughts.
She blinked twice and returned to the present. “Well, let’s see,”
she began, “my fiancé is a two-timer and I’m twelve weeks’
pregnant, but other than that everything is peaches and cream.”
“Everything would be if you’d accept my offer.” He covered her hands with his and gave her a long, serious look.
Ms. Dramatic started fanning herself. “Ooh-wee! Girl, you’d better take him up on his offer. I’ve never see London this determined before.”
With a roll of the eyes, Bianca pulled her hand away. “His offer is ridiculous and he knows it.”
“It’s no more ridiculous than your trying to raise a baby all by yourself.”
“Women do it all the time,” Bianca challenged.
“Yes, but they don’t live in Sheraton Beach, nor is their last name Beaumont.”
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He did have a point, Bianca thought.
“Wait until your mother finds out,” he added.
“I know that’s right,” Debra mumbled under her breath.
Bianca groaned inwardly. Why did he have to remind her?
“You know, we were having a really good time until you showed up. Don’t you have something else to do, like meddle in someone else’s life?”
“I guess I deserved that one.” He chuckled and didn’t seem the slightest bit intimidated by her comment. “Debra asked me to join you.” Bianca looked over at her best friend, who gave her an innocent look.
“I want the two of you to talk,” Debra said.
“There isn’t anything to talk about,” Bianca replied then reached for her fork. “Besides this is not the type of conversation I want to have in public,” she said stubbornly, then took a forkful of her macaroni. The smell of fish at the next table threatened to make her sick. She lowered her fork, reached for a napkin and spit the food out. Quickly, Debra reached over and gave her a plastic cup. With one hand over her stomach, Bianca stared across the table. “What am I going to do with that?” she asked with a ridiculous laugh.
Debra gave her a sheepish grin. “I thought you were about to throw up.”
“And you thought I’d use this itty bitty cup?” she asked, then chuckled despite the queasiness of her stomach. “Yeah, right.”
London moved around the table and slid onto the seat beside her. “Are you still having problems keeping food down?”
She nodded and tried to ignore the smell of his cologne. The light musky scent didn’t bother her at all. She blamed the way her pulse was racing on the virile man alone. The last thing she needed was to get sick in the restaurant. “Yes, but the doctor said it should pass soon.”
“Let me get you some crackers,” he offered and before she could stop him, London rose and walked over to the counter.
As soon as he was out of earshot, Debra leaned across the table and slapped Bianca on the arm. “Girl, you’d better marry that man. Look at how attentive he is!”
Bianca answered with a rude snort. “Puhleeze, he just feels Angie Daniels
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guilty for screwing up my life. If he hadn’t meddled, I wouldn’t be thinking about being a single parent.”
“No, instead you would have been marrying a two-timer.”
“Yeah, I know.” She knew she couldn’t blame London, because it wasn’t his fault. Not really. But as long as she continued to blame him for ruining her life, it made it easier to stay mad at him. “I need somebody to blame.”
“Then blame Collin. I don’t see him here trying to track down saltine crackers for you.”
Bianca stared at Debra over the top of her eyes and despite her dilemma she couldn’t help giggling. Her life was a mess. It was either laugh or cry because the whole thing was too ridiculous for words.
London returned with a small plate of saltine crackers. “Here, try these. I even got you some club soda to settle your stomach.”
She glanced up at him towering over her and saw genuine concern. “Thanks, London.”
His lips threatened to smile. “You’re welcome.” He returned to his seat next to Debra.
Bianca reached for a cracker, then paused and stared across the table at London for a long intense moment. He leaned back in his chair and continued to watch her.
“Look, I need to know something. Why would you want to help me?”
“Because I like you, why else?”
“Do you always offer to marry women you like?”
His eyes twinkled. “Only the pregnant ones.”
She couldn’t resist a smile, then tore her eyes away, ignoring the pounding of her heart.
Debra was grinning from ear to ear. “I think the two of you will be great together.”
Bianca didn’t agree. “Don’t you want to marry a woman you really love?”
He gave her a long, thoughtful look before answering.
“Maybe one day I’ll meet a woman who makes my heart beat faster and who’ll cry when I ask her to share the rest of my life with me, but until then I’m available to help a friend. The same goes for you. I’m sure some day you’ll meet a
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and fall in love. Just because your fiancé was a jerk doesn’t mean the right man isn’t out there for you.”
She disagreed. “I think there is someone out there for everyone, my brothers’ wives and my parents’ forty-year marriage is proof of that. But for some reason I have a history of picking the wrong men and that’s why I don’t intend to ever allow myself to fall in love again. But that doesn’t mean I don’t believe marriage can work. It just doesn’t work for me.”
“Because…”
“Because it means giving my heart, and I’m not willing to do that again.”
“It’s too soon to say that.”
Bianca shook her head. “No, it’s not.”
“That’s too bad if you think sex will be enough,” he said, as if he were challenging her. Sex was one path she did not want to go down with him. Just thinking about having him in her bed caused a warm deep sensation to pool down low.
London rose. “I’d better get back to the restaurant. I just wanted to stop in and see why the two of you were eating across the street at the competition.” He winked, then strolled out the same way he’d come in.
Bianca nibbled on a cracker and watched as he crossed the wide cobblestone street and stepped inside his restaurant. When her eyes shifted, she noticed Debra shaking her head.
“What’s wrong?”
“You, if you pass up a good thing like that. Hell, if I were in your shoes I’d be giving him my heart and a permanent place in my bed.”
She broke off a tiny piece of cracker, lifted it to her lips and said, “I think we need to eat and get out of here.”
“Okay, ignore me if you want to, but I saw the way the two of you were looking at each other. And that was more than friendship passing between you. I saw attraction and strong sexual chemistry. You’re just too stubborn to admit it.”
“I am not stubborn,” she denied.
Debra rolled her eyes. “Yes, you are. You know I’m your girl, so I’m not going to lie to you. You have a tendency to want things your way.”
Bianca lifted a brow. “And what’s wrong with that?”
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“Everything, when you’re too blind to see what’s standing right smack in front of your face. Or, in your case, what just walked across the street.”
She gave an impatient sigh. “And what’s that?”
“The answer to your problems.”
Debra was wrong. Giving in to her feelings would stir up a whole new barrel of problems. Her attraction to London was something she could deny for only so long before she’d weaken and give in to him. And that would be a disaster. He was definitely a player, hardly husband material.
She was pulled from her thoughts when Debra slapped her across the arm. “Earth to Bianca.”
“I’m listening.”
“I asked you what your parents are going to say when you don’t bring Collin to dinner with you tomorrow.”
“Oh, no! I forgot that tomorrow is Thursday.”
“Yep, and you’ve been making excuses long enough. They’re going to know something is up.”
“I guess I’m going to have to tell them the truth. They’ll be relieved to know the engagement is off.”
“Yeah, but what are they going to say to, ‘Oh, by the way, I’m pregnant.’”
Now that was the real problem. A cracker lodged in her throat and Bianca reached for her glass of club soda, hoping to wash it down, then took a deep breath. All she could do was pray that her mother didn’t have a fit.
Chapter 11
Jessica Beaumont waited until the table had been clear and coffee had been served to ask the question that she had been anxious to ask all evening. “When are we going to meet your fiancé?”
The conversations at the table ceased. All eyes were again on Bianca. She closed her eyes and gave a silent groan before looking at her mother again.
She brought her cup to her lips, sipped and sipped again.
Stalling. The look on her mother’s face said she’d had enough.
“Maybe next week.”
“You said that last week.”
“He’s been out of town.”
Her mother’s lips formed a disapproving line. “He can’t possibly be out of town every week. What kind of life will the two of you have if he’s never around?”
Bianca lowered her gaze to the slim gold watch on her wrist.
“He’s in the military, Mother. I’ll bring him next week.”
“Really?” Her tone said she didn’t believe Bianca for a minute.
Jaden rose from the table. “I’m starting to think that your fiancé is make-believe.”
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Bianca rolled her eyes over in his direction. “If you thought that, then you wouldn’t have paid London to spy on me,” she spat.
She saw the surprise register in his eyes.
After a long, tense moment, he finally replied, “I only did that because I care about you.”
“Whatever. I’m tired of everyone trying to run my life,”
Bianca said angrily.
Luckily, Danica changed the subject when she announced the results of her second ultrasound. It was confirmed. They were having a little girl. The table exploded with excitement and, to Bianca’s relief, she was out from under the microscope…for now.
After coffee, the family moved into the great room. Bianca edged her way to the door, hoping to make a quick escape. She had kissed her niece, rushed down the wide marble hallway, turned the knob on the door and was almost safely on the other side—
“Bianca.”
Stopping dead in her tracks, she swore under her breath at the sound of a cultured voice coming from the living room. Bianca turned with a practiced smile. “Yes, Mother?”
Jessica shot her daughter a withering look. “Are you trying to sneak out while I’m not looking?”
Her shoulders sagged. There was really no point in lying.
“Yes, Mother. I’m tired of your butting into my personal life.”
Dramatically, Jessica brought a hand to her chest and gasped.
“That’s what mothers do…we worry about our children and want only the best for them. For Pete’s sake! Can you at least tell me your fiancé’s name?”
Bianca looked at her. Her eyes were steady. The grim determination of her mother’s mouth said she wasn’t backing down until she had answers.
“Okay,” Bianca began and before she realized what she was doing, she took a deep breath and said, “His name is…London.
London Brown.”
Bianca parked her car in the driveway, slammed the door and headed up the drive. With each passing hour, she was sinking deeper and deeper into hot water. What in the world had she been thinking, telling her mother that she was engaged to London? She 74
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was almost certain her mother was already on the phone telling all her friends.
“Great, Bianca. Just great.” Now she needed to do some damage control quickly before word got back to London.
Wearily, she stuck her key into the lock. She was tired and needed to lie down for a few minutes, then she would change into jeans and a T-shirt and go see London, and tell him what happened before her mother told Jaden and then…all hell would break lose.
She unlocked the front door, stepped inside and went completely still when she spotted Collin reclining on her sofa. Her exhaustion was replaced with anger. “What are you doing here?” she said.
He rose and gave her his dimpled smile, while leaning his weight on one leg with his hands deep in his pockets. She knew him well enough to know that meant he wanted something. She was so determined to wipe that cocky smile from his face. She’d once found him attractive, with his bald head and dark brown eyes. Now she saw a man who was so manipulative, so full of crap she couldn’t believe she had ever been attracted to him in the first place. How could she have bee
n so stupid? So blind? And now she carried his child.
“How did you get in?”
Without breaking eye contact, he removed his hand from his pocket, and held up a ring that held a single key.
Bianca drew her head back and her eyes widened. She had never given him a key. One afternoon she had let him use her key to go back to her house and retrieve his laptop. He must have had a copy made. The smirk on his face told her he thought he was smarter than she was.
She shut the door behind her then crossed the room with determination. As soon as she neared him, she stuck out her hand and reached for the key, but Collin quickly stashed it back in his pocket.
“Give me my key,” she demanded.
Instead of returning it, Collin reached out for her hand and held it. “Baby, please hear me out. I made a mistake. I love you and want to marry you.”
Shock stopped her midstride. “What?”
“I love you. That woman meant nothing to me. She was Angie Daniels
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someone from my past. I was trying to find a way to break the relationship off without hurting her feelings.”
He was so full of crap. She yanked her hand away. “You don’t love me, Collin. It was all a big game to you. Please just give me my key and get out of my house. I’ve already given you back your ring—what more do you want?”
“You. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
“The rest of our lives?” She crossed her arms and glared at him. “Now how in the world is that possible?”
She glimpsed a touch of panic before his gaze danced away and then returned. His throat worked as he swallowed. “Easy. I’m sorry. Why don’t we go on our honeymoon to Alaska early. That way I can have ten days to show you how sorry I really am.”
Bianca laughed loud enough to echo off the walls. She shook her head in disbelief. Did he really think she was that stupid?
She’d rather eat dirt than be stuck ten days on a ship with him out in the middle of nowhere. She tilted her head back and gave him a menacing look. “You’re full of crap.”
“Come on, Bianca. Please believe me. What is it going to take for you to understand that I’m really sorry?”
Suddenly, Bianca felt an onslaught of nausea. She prayed it would dissipate. She placed a hand to her stomach then quickly removed it.
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