Stranded with the Tycoon (Mills & Boon Cherish)

by Pembroke, Sophie

Pulling his mobile from his pocket, he called his brother. ‘Seb? That new style of hotel you wanted? I’ve got an idea.’

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  IT HAD BEEN eight weeks. He’d said he’d be away for a month, and now it was nearly two. Luce dropped her bag by the front door and collapsed onto the sofa, preparing herself for another evening of not hearing from Ben.

  Damn him.

  She should have known better than to believe him when he said he’d call. Hadn’t he made it perfectly clear what they were? One night only. He wasn’t going to call again.

  But eventually she’d have to call him. He deserved to know.

  Her head ached, her body was exhausted, and constant low-level nausea left her weak and miserable—and, damn it, she wanted to tell him! Wanted the secret off her shoulders. Wanted to share it with someone else.

  Dolly knew, of course, and had been more wonderful than Luce had imagined possible. Her little sister had grown up unexpectedly, and Luce loved seeing this new, responsible side to her. Having her onside made things bearable. But soon she would have to tell other people—her boss, her mother, Tom. God, she’d even have to tell Dennis eventually. But Ben had to know first.

  She’d have to call him. If he wasn’t back soon she’d have to tell him over the phone. Except then she wouldn’t be able to see his face, his reaction, the truth about how he felt. She’d imagined it a dozen different ways. Sometimes, if she was feeling excessively romantic, he fell down on one knee and proposed instantly. Most of the time he looked shocked, stunned and slightly horrified. That was okay. She expected that. But sometimes, after that, her imagination had him take her in his arms and tell her they’d figure it out together. And sometimes it had him walk out without looking back.

  She’d cope, whatever his reaction—she knew that. She just needed to know what it was. If he wanted to be involved in his child’s life or not. Then she could start making plans. Until then...this horrible limbo persisted.

  Time to move the action back into her own hands. Take responsibility. Take control. ‘If he doesn’t call tonight I’ll phone him.’

  ‘You’ve been saying that for weeks,’ Dolly said from the door.

  Sad, but true. ‘Yeah, but now I’m desperate. I’ll do it.’

  Dolly sighed, shut the front door behind her and came to sit on the sofa, lifting Luce’s feet to rest them on her lap.

  ‘Has it occurred to you that you might be better off without him? I mean, he’s basically disappeared off the face of the earth for two months now, Luce.’

  ‘I know. And it has.’ Luce sighed. ‘Chances are he’ll run like the wind when I tell him anyway. But he needs to know. And I need to know.’

  ‘This is all because you can’t write your “To Do” list before you tell him, isn’t it?’

  Luce chuckled. ‘Partly.’

  Dolly tilted her head to look at her. ‘Are you in love with him?’

  Rolling her eyes, Luce gave her sister a shove to the shoulder. ‘You’ve asked the same question every day for two months now. What on earth makes you think my answer might have changed? No, I’m not in love with him. But he’s the father of my child, and the responsible thing is to let him know that and have a conversation about whether he wants to be involved. That’s all.’

  Dolly’s smile was sad. ‘I think you’re getting less convincing every time you say that. Come on—I’ll make us some tea.’

  The worst thing was Dolly was right. As ridiculous as Luce knew it was to have fallen in love with someone based on three days in a cottage in the middle of nowhere, she was starting to be very afraid that was what had happened.

  She missed him. More than she’d thought she possibly could. When he’d called that first night she’d hoped that maybe they’d speak again while he was away. Then, when he hadn’t called, she’d been grateful for a while—after she took the pregnancy test and realised she had to tell him in person. She hadn’t been sure she could keep it from him if they spoke.

  But now? Now she just ached to see him. She fell asleep wishing she had his arms around her and woke up missing his morning kisses and the way, the one morning they’d woken up together, the first thing he’d done was pull her closer, kissing her neck. She missed the way he told her she had to stop working sometimes, to relax and have fun.

  And she really wished he was around to help her figure out what to do about Tom.

  Dolly brought the tea tray back to the coffee table: thick slices of ginger cake on a plate next to the teapot, milk jug and cups. ‘I picked this up from the deli down the road. They said the ginger should be good for nausea.’

  ‘Smells wonderful.’ Luce picked up her plate and took a slice. Still warm.

  Once she’d poured the tea Dolly settled into the armchair on the other side of the armchair. ‘Okay. Now that you’re fed and watered we need to talk.’

  ‘Look, Doll, I’m going to tell him. But—’

  Dolly put up a hand to stop her. ‘Not about that, for once. We need to talk about Tom.’

  Luce sank back against the cushions and ate some more cake. ‘I know we do. I just—’

  ‘Don’t want to. I understand.’ Dolly took a deep breath. ‘I think you need to tell him about the pregnancy.’

  ‘How on earth would that help?’

  ‘He’s talking to Mum about how he and Vanessa should have the house. Since she’s got kids already and they need the space.’

  Luce blinked. ‘But it’s my house. Grandad left it to me. And besides, they’ve been together—what?—three months? And they’re already talking about shacking up in my home with her kids?’ Luce could hear her voice getting higher and squeakier as she talked, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself.

  ‘Okay, you need to calm down. Think of the baby.’

  Luce rolled her eyes, but settled back obediently against the cushions. ‘As if I think about anything else.’ Except the baby’s father.

  ‘Look, I don’t know if he’s just testing the waters, or what. But Mum’s so happy to see him settled with someone that I think she’ll go for anything that keeps him that way.’

  ‘But it’s my house,’ Luce repeated, calmer this time.

  ‘I know. But you’ve always given in to them before. To me, too.’

  ‘You make it sound like I’m a doormat.’

  ‘It’s not that. It’s just that you’re always working so damn hard to make sure we’re all happy and okay.’

  ‘And that’s a bad thing?’

  ‘Not in itself, no. But Mum and Tom...they expect it now. They can’t imagine it any other way.’

  Everything Ben had ever said about giving in to her family, about giving up her life for them, came back in a rush. He was right. He’d been right all along. This was her life, and she needed to live it for herself. And she’d have someone else even more important to live it for when the baby came. She’d have her own little family to be responsible for. She couldn’t let her mother and brother run her life any more.

  ‘You honestly think they expect me to give up the house?’

  Dolly shrugged. ‘Mum and Tom both treat this place like it’s theirs anyway, when it’s convenient.’

  ‘Not when the roof almost caved in or the stairs needed replacing.’ Funny how they’d been nowhere to be seen when she’d needed money or time to help fix the place up.

  ‘Exactly.’

  ‘Exactly...what?’

  ‘They have no idea what they’d be taking on. But Tom’s so used to you doing whatever he needs I don’t think it’s crossed his mind that you won’t just happily move out into some little flat somewhere while he moves his instant family in here.’

  ‘That’s crazy!’

  ‘Luce...’ Dolly put her cup and saucer back on the tray, and leant forwards. ‘You’ve never said no to him b
efore. No one has—except Hattie, and look what happened then.’

  ‘So you’re saying I should give him my house to avoid his mental breakdown?’

  ‘Hell, no!’ Dolly shook her head violently, her long dark hair flying across her face. ‘I’m saying it’s time you did say no. Unless you want to get the hell out of this crumbling museum before the baby comes. In which case, make him buy it from you.’

  Luce looked around her at the antique furniture, the threadbare rugs and the splintering floorboards. Yes, the place was falling apart. But it was her home—would be her baby’s home. It was all she had left of her grandfather. He’d left it to her, not to Tom or Dolly or their mother, and he’d done that for a reason.

  No way in hell she was parting with it.

  ‘No. It’s my home. I’m staying.’

  ‘Fine. Then we need to make that clear to Tom. And then we need to go and buy some yellow paint for the nursery.’

  Dolly clapped her hands together with excitement. Luce wasn’t sure whether it was the painting or the standing up to Tom that was filling her with glee. It didn’t matter.

  ‘There’s something else I need to do first,’ she said. ‘I need to tell Ben.’

  * * *

  Ben was wrestling with the hotel key card when his phone rang. As the door fell open he dropped his suitcase and put the phone to his ear.

  ‘How did it go?’ Seb asked.

  Ben kicked the door shut behind him. ‘It went well, I think.’ Meetings with investors were usually Seb’s domain, but he’d insisted Ben take this one. It was his baby, after all.

  ‘Good. Full debrief when I get there tomorrow? I got Sandra to book us a meeting room.’

  ‘Sure. Just need to get some sleep first.’

  Seb laughed. ‘Welcome to the world of real work, brother.’

  The cell was cut off as Seb hung up, and Ben tossed the phone onto the coffee table. There was truth in Seb’s words. This was real work—trying to expand and transform a hotel chain that had been stuck in one mindset for too long. It was work Ben would never have been allowed to do while their father was alive—work he hadn’t even known he wanted to do until Seb had suggested it to him.

  But now? He was good at this. Better than he’d used to be. Because he cared about making these hotels right for their guests. Not just the businessmen or the couples. He wanted a chain of boutique hotels that felt like a home away from home for the families that stayed in them. That made the kids feel safe and happy—not scared of another sterile white room with a too-big bed. Not a free-for-all family hotel with everything in red plastic either, though. This was a hotel for grown-ups, too. It just didn’t exclude or alienate children.

  He had a plan, and he had convinced the backers, but he had a hell of a lot of work ahead of him.

  But first he needed to sleep.

  The phone rang again before he could make it to the bedroom. He intended to ignore it until he saw the name flashing across the screen.

  Luce.

  Snatching the phone up, he said, ‘Hey, I was going to ring you. I just got back into the country and I’m in Cardiff for a few days.’ He didn’t mention that he’d scheduled this particular leg of the trip in the hope of getting to see her.

  ‘That’s lucky,’ she said, her voice warm and familiar. ‘I really need to talk to you.’

  ‘Okay. Want to do it over the phone? Or meet me for lunch tomorrow?’

  ‘Um...neither. Look, could I come over? Where are you staying?’

  Ben felt ready to drop. His eyes itched with grit and his very bones ached with tiredness. But the thought of Luce in his arms again... ‘Of course. I’d love to see you.’

  There was a sigh of relief at the other end and Ben felt the first pang of concern at the sound. What did she want to talk about, anyway? He had hoped whatever it was was an excuse—just a reason to see him. He’d have to wait and see, he thought as he rattled off the hotel’s details for Luce. She’d be here soon enough, and he really needed to shower first.

  He barely made it. The knock on the door came as he towelled off his hair. Pulling a tee shirt over his head, he padded barefoot to the door in the comfiest jeans he’d packed and hoped Luce wouldn’t be too disappointed if he wasn’t up to hours of bedtime fun tonight.

  When he opened the door he stopped worrying about that and started worrying about her instead. Her hair was scraped back from her face and he could clearly see the redness around her eyes, the puffiness of her skin.

  ‘Are you okay? You look dreadful.’ He ushered her in, keeping an arm around her shoulders as he guided her to the sofa.

  Luce gave a watery chuckle. ‘Just what every girl likes to hear.’

  ‘Sorry. But...what’s happened?’

  ‘God—everything.’ She sighed. ‘Um...my brother Tom.’

  ‘The one you rushed back to cook a dinner for?’ Ben tried to keep the censure from his voice. He wasn’t sure he was entirely successful, though.

  ‘Yeah, that was... I shouldn’t have. I know that now.’

  Ben blinked at the unexpected victory. Except if she’d changed her mind that thoroughly... ‘What did he do?’

  ‘He wants my house.’

  ‘What?’

  Luce rubbed at her eyes. ‘He and his new partner want to move in together, with her two kids, and Tom thinks it’s only fair that they get the family house, since there’s more of them.’

  ‘That’s crazy. It’s your home.’

  ‘That’s what I’m going to tell him. And...’

  She trailed off, and Ben felt fear clutch at his insides. What else had her brother done? ‘Go on. Tell me.’

  Luce looked up at him, holding his gaze with her own. Her eyes still looked tired and watery, but they were clear as she said, ‘I need to tell him I’m pregnant. But I couldn’t do that until I’d told you. That’s why I wanted to see you tonight.’

  ‘You need to tell him... Wait—what?’ The world seemed to have gone fuzzy. Luce’s voice was buzzing in his ear, making it impossible to make out the words. ‘But... What?’

  ‘I’m pregnant.’ The words cut through the haze of confusion, clear as a bell, but still Ben couldn’t make sense of them.

  ‘Pregnant?’ he repeated numbly.

  ‘Yeah. I know we used protection, but that first time...’

  ‘I was too desperate for you.’ Stumbling to his feet, Ben moved to lean against the back of the sofa, hands braced against the edge, staring down at the cream leather. ‘God, this is just...’

  ‘I know it’s not what either of us planned,’ Luce said from behind him.

  She sounded brave, calm—but then, she’d had more time to figure all this out, hadn’t she? How long had she known? Long enough to make a twenty-five-point plan for dealing with it, he was sure. Whereas here he was, half-asleep and dead on his feet, trying to get his mind around the idea that in seven months he would be a father.

  God, how could he be? When he’d just promised Seb he’d take on the whole new business? He couldn’t drag Luce and a baby from hotel to hotel with him, like his father had. He’d lose them in a heartbeat. And Luce would never trail around after him while he worked anyway. She had her own career, and her own family tying her to Cardiff. He wasn’t foolish enough to think she’d give those up for a man she barely knew and had spent just a few days with, even if she was mad at her brother right now.

  So what did that leave?

  Luce touched him on the shoulder and he flinched in surprise, spinning round to see her watching him with wide eyes. ‘Look, I know this is a surprise—’

  ‘Surprise?’ Ben shook his head. ‘It’s a shock. A disaster.’

  Her face hardened at that, and he wanted to take it back, but it was the truth, after all. What was he going to do?

  ‘Oka
y. Fine. I just wanted you to know so you could decide what involvement you want in your child’s life. Obviously the answer to that is clear. So I’ll just—’

  ‘Wait. No. I just... I need a little time here, Luce.’

  She nodded. ‘That’s understandable. Why don’t I meet you for lunch, later in the week, and we can talk? Come up with a plan?’

  ‘No! I don’t want you to go. And I don’t want to come up with a plan! This is our whole lives being turned upside down. A “To Do” list isn’t going to fix that.’

  ‘It’s a start.’

  ‘It’s an end. It’s giving up on any other options.’

  Her face turned stony. ‘Options?’

  Ben stared at her, his eyes widening when he realised what she thought he meant. ‘Not that. No, never that. I just... I don’t know how we could make this work right now. The business... There’s a lot going on right now, and Seb needs me to do it...’

  Luce took a step back, her mouth twisted in a cruel smile. ‘So now your work matters to you? Right.’

  ‘There’s a new project,’ Ben started, but it sounded weak even to his own ears.

  How could he explain to her again, in a way she’d understand, that he couldn’t be the man his father had been? He couldn’t lose her and his child that way, have them hating him for never being there. But he still had too much to do. He couldn’t give up his dreams for a life in an office, nine to five, never going anywhere or seeing anything. Where would they even live? A never-ending series of hotel rooms would be terrible for a child, despite the new project, and by all accounts her house was falling apart. They didn’t even have a home—how could they be a family?

  ‘I just need some time, Luce.’

  She shook her head. ‘No. You’ve made your priorities very clear, thanks. I can do this on my own. I have my family to help me.’

  ‘Would that be the same family that’s trying to take your home away from you? And how the hell are you going to look after a baby in that place anyway?’

  ‘What? You think we’d be better off here?’

  She glanced around her and Ben knew she was taking in the sharp corners and sterile white and metal furnishings. Nothing like the cottage at all.