“Oh, I didn’t hear you come in,” she said, placing the flowers on the main counter.
“No problem. I haven’t been waiting long.”
He studied her carefully. She looked tired, a little pale. As if she’d had about as much trouble getting to sleep last night as he had. He couldn’t help himself; he lifted a hand and skimmed the back of his fingers across her cheek.
“You okay? You’re not overdoing things, are you?”
She pulled away from his touch. “I’m fine, Dylan. Trust me, I won’t do anything to harm this baby. I may not have planned for it, but now that it’s a reality, there’s nothing I want more in my life.”
There was a fierce undertone to her voice that convinced him she was telling the truth. It didn’t stop him worrying, especially when she bent to shift a large container filled with water to another spot on the floor.
“Here,” he said, brushing her aside. “Let me do that for you. I thought you had staff to help you.”
Jenna stood back, a quizzical expression on her face. “I do, but they’re part-time. I open and close the store each day.”
“Then let me do the heavy stuff today.”
“No problem, but I’ll be back to doing it again tomorrow. Unless you plan on being here for me every morning to help me rearrange everything in the store?
“If that’s what it takes,” he said as he straightened. “Or I could arrange that you had someone here first and last thing to do this if you’d rather.”
She shook her head, a rueful smile pulling at those kissable lips of hers. “I’d prefer to do it myself.”
“Hey, can you blame me for wanting to take care of you? You’re carrying precious cargo there.”
A wistful expression settled on her face. “Yeah, I am, aren’t I? But I still have a job to do. Now, I guess you’re here to see what I’ve worked out for the flowers for the opening? I’ve sketched a few ideas and also thought I’d put something together quickly with what I had out back.”
She grabbed a square of burlap and some twine, and wrapped them around a plastic-lined cardboard base. She then moved around the store, selecting stems of greenery and laying them on the counter next to the daisies. Before his eyes, she used the assortment of items to create a vision of beauty.
“Hmm, needs some berries, too, I think,” she muttered, more to herself than anything. A second or two later she turned the arrangement around to face him. “There, what do you think?”
He eyed the compilation of color and texture and decided he liked it very much. She had a genuine talent for this. There was nothing generic about what she’d created. She’d taken his minimal instructions and put together what he’d wanted without his fully understanding it himself.
“That’s great. So these would be for the tables?”
She nodded. “And then I’d do something bigger, maybe in a crate propped on some hay bales, in the foyer. What do you think?”
“I think you’re an artist.”
She gave a little shrug. “I have a knack, I guess.”
“Don’t sell yourself short, Jenna.” Dylan cast his eye over the arrangement again. “I’m thinking, though, that the colors need to be bolder. These might disappear in the decor. Why don’t you come back with me to the restaurant for lunch? You can get a better feel of what I mean.”
“You’re going to feed me again? Three times in three days? This is getting to be a habit.”
“We need live subjects to try the menu, and some of our waitstaff need the experience, too,” he explained, even though it was more a case of now that he’d seen her again, he didn’t want to let her out of his sight. “You’d be doing me a favor.”
He didn’t fool her for a second, that much was obvious from the smile that spread across her face. “A favor, huh? Well, since one of my workers is due in shortly, I think I’d be able to slip away for an hour for lunch.”
“Just an hour?”
“I do have a business to run. Besides, won’t it be better for your team to get used to working with customers who are in a hurry?”
“Good point,” he acceded, even though he wished he could just whisk her away for the afternoon and keep her to himself.
“I’ll come at one, okay? I have some orders I need to put together for our delivery guy and—” she glanced at her wristwatch “—I need to get to work on them now if they’re to be ready on time.”
“That’s great. I’ll be waiting.”
* * *
Jenna watched him leave, surprised at herself for agreeing to lunch today. Despite all her tossing and turning last night, and her resolve to try and keep things purely business between them, it appeared she wanted to see him again more than she’d realized. True, this visit was under the guise of checking the decor of the restaurant, but the prospect of spending more time with him, even if only an hour, made her bubble inside, as if the blood in her veins was carbonated.
Valerie, her assistant, came in through the front door.
“Wow, tell me the guy just leaving wasn’t an apparition.”
“Oh, no.” Jenna smiled. “He’s quite real.”
“Just my luck to be running late today, or I could’ve served him.”
Jenna looked at her long-married friend, a mother of four, and raised a brow. “Seriously?”
“Well, a girl’s entitled to her dreams, isn’t she? He looks vaguely familiar. What did he want? Please tell me he wasn’t ordering flowers for his girlfriend.”
“That was Dylan Lassiter,” Jenna said with a laugh, “and he’s ordering flowers, through us, for the latest Lassiter Grill opening.”
“He is? Wow, that’s got to be good for business. You think they’ll keep us as a regular florist? It’d be a fabulous lift for our profile.”
“I haven’t discussed future work with him, but we have a good start. Which reminds me, if I don’t get my work out of the way this morning, I won’t be able to make it to the restaurant for our next meeting at one.”
“I could always go for you,” Valerie suggested with a wink.
“I’m sure you could,” Jenna said, still laughing, and imagining Dylan’s face if she took Valerie up on her offer. But an unexpected surge of possessiveness filled her. She didn’t want anyone handling Dylan’s requests but herself. Dragging her thoughts together, she briskly continued, “C’mon, help me with these orders before Bill gets here for pickup.”
The balance of the morning flew by. While she worked, Jenna considered the ramifications of having a regular corporate account with the Lassiter Grill. The exposure for her business would be great, there was no denying it. She made a mental note to raise the subject with Dylan, and went to get ready for their lunch date.
She was running late by the time she arrived at the restaurant but luckily found a parking space just around the corner.
Dylan was waiting by the front door as she jogged up the sidewalk.
“I was beginning to think you’d stood me up,” he said, opening the door for her and guiding her inside.
“Just a busy morning, that’s all.”
“We have company for lunch. My brother, Sage, is joining us, together with his fiancée, Colleen.”
Jenna immediately felt at a disadvantage. “Oh, I wish you’d said so. I’m not dressed for company.”
Dylan turned his gaze to her and she felt him assess her from top to toe. “You look mighty fine from where I’m standing.”
Heat bloomed in her chest and flooded all the way up to her cheeks. Great, now she’d look like a little red fire engine when introduced to his family.
“I mean it, Dylan,” she said awkwardly.
“So do I. Seriously, you have nothing to worry about. They’re my family and they’ll love you any way you’re dressed.”
He grabbed her hand and le
d her inside. Her eyes darted around the dining room, taking in the design features that were such an integral part of the pictures she’d seen of each Lassiter Grill. While the building had a stone exterior, the interior walls were log lined. Her eyes roamed over the high ceilings, hung with massive iron fans, and down to the wooden plank floors. A huge floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace held a place of dominance in the center of the restaurant. What they’d sacrificed in space they’d more than made up in character. She loved the ranch-style atmosphere. It was realistic without being over the top. An idea popped into her head.
“I’ve been thinking about the opening and about how you’ll dress the tables for the night,” she began.
“Uh-huh?”
“What do you think of burlap table runners on white linen?”
He paused a moment, considering. “That sounds like a good idea. D’you have pictures of what you’re thinking?”
She nodded.
“Good, we can talk about them after lunch. C’mon over and meet my brother.”
Her nerves assailed her and she tugged at Dylan’s hand, making him stop and turn to face her.
“Do they know?”
“Know?”
“About us, about the baby.”
“Not yet. Do you want to tell them?”
She shook her head vehemently. It was enough that Dylan knew, but she wasn’t ready to share the news with others.
“Okay, but they’re going to find out sooner or later,” he warned.
“Just not yet, okay?”
They crossed to the table where the couple were seated. Sage rose to his feet as they approached. Slightly taller than his brother, with medium brown hair sprinkled with a touch of gray at the temples, he looked like a man used to being in control. He also didn’t seem like the type you could hide anything from for long, and the way his gaze dropped to her hand clasped in Dylan’s larger one, and then back to his brother’s face, told her he saw a great deal more than what lay on the surface. She pulled free of Dylan’s grip as a frisson of unease wended its way down her spine. She so wasn’t ready for this.
“Jenna, this is my brother, Sage, and his fiancée, Colleen. Sage, Colleen, this is Jenna Montgomery.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Jenna said, taking the bull by the horns and stepping forward with her hand outstretched. “Dylan’s asked my firm to do the flowers for the opening. I hope you don’t mind my crashing your lunch, but he wanted me to see the restaurant before we confirmed a color palette.”
She knew, as soon as the words left her mouth, that she’d overcompensated. As if sensing her discomfort, Colleen rose from her chair with a welcoming smile and shook Jenna’s hand.
“I’m pleased to meet you. Didn’t you do the flowers for—”
“Angelica’s rehearsal dinner, yes,” Dylan interrupted, his swift interjection earning him a curious glance from his brother.
“I was going to say for a friend of mine’s dinner party a couple of weeks ago,” Colleen corrected smoothly, still holding Jenna’s hand. “She was thrilled with what you did. I know you’ll do a great job for Dylan.”
Jenna began to feel herself relax as Colleen took over the conversation. It didn’t mean that Sage stopped his perusal of her, but she allowed his fiancée to distract her as they turned the discussion to the pair’s upcoming wedding and what the best flowers and style of bouquet might be. Across the square table, Dylan and his brother bent their heads together in deep discussion. Despite the differences in their coloring, their eyes were very much the same and the shape of their jaw and their mannerisms spoke of their strong familial connection.
Dylan looked up and flashed Jenna a smile before shifting his attention back to his brother, and she felt herself relax a little more. Colleen was very easy to talk to, and by the time they’d ordered off the menus and awaited their meals, Jenna found herself beginning to enjoy the other couple’s company. Sage, while appearing a little standoffish at first, was clearly very much in love with his fiancée, and Jenna had to quell a pang of envy.
What would it have been like to meet Dylan and let a relationship with him progress the way most normal couples started? She shoved the thought aside for the piece of mental candy floss it was. She couldn’t afford to indulge in thoughts of what might have been. She had been dealt large doses of reality in her lifetime, and coping with those, while keeping her wits about her, was paramount.
When their orders came Jenna applied herself vigorously to her serving of smoked baby back ribs with fries and grilled corn on the cob, which certainly beat a hasty sandwich grabbed in between customers at her shop. It felt strange being the only diners in a restaurant, waited on so industriously by the staff there, although the other three seemed to take it in stride. Jenna took her cue from Dylan and tried to act as if she was used to this kind of thing.
About thirty minutes later, when Sage made his apologies and rose to leave the table, Jenna decided she should do the same.
“No, wait for me here while I see Sage and Colleen out,” Dylan insisted. “We still have those colors to discuss, as well as the table dressing you mentioned.”
She nodded and turned her attention to the glass of mineral water Dylan had ordered for her. The water reminded her she needed to find the restroom. She got up and moved to the front of the restaurant, but before she could reach the facilities she overheard Sage talking to his brother.
“She’s pregnant, Dylan. I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“I know she’s pregnant. It’s my baby.”
“It’s what?” Sage couldn’t hide the shock in his voice.
“It’s my baby and I’m going to marry her.”
“Don’t be a fool, man. It’s not like you were even dating. You don’t know her or anything about her. You don’t even know for sure if the baby’s yours—it could be anyone’s. Shouldn’t you at least wait until it’s born, so you can do a paternity test?”
The sour taste of fear filled Jenna’s mouth. This was exactly what she’d hoped to avoid. She didn’t need Sage’s censure or his implications. Yes, she had behaved like a tramp that Friday evening back in March. But so had Dylan. It was unfair that there was always one set of rules for guys and then another for women. The fact remained that they were dealing with the outcome of their dalliance, but the last thing she wanted was for it to become common knowledge. Not when she’d worked so hard, for so long, to wash away the taint of her father’s behavior from her life.
She was where she was and who she was despite her upbringing. And, dammit, she would make a great mother even if juggling her business and motherhood would be a challenge. Jenna knew, to her cost, that life wasn’t about easy solutions. It was about making the right choices and working hard to hold on to them.
“I don’t like your insinuation, brother. Be very careful what you say about Jenna. I plan to marry her and I will raise my kid with her.”
Dylan’s tone brooked no argument and Jenna’s spirits lifted to hear him defend her.
“Look, I didn’t mean to offend you, but let’s be realistic about this. At least have her investigated. If you won’t, I will.”
Ice cold sensation spilled through her veins. Investigation? It wouldn’t take much to unearth her past, a past she’d fought hard to put behind her. Dylan’s voice was raised when he answered his brother.
“I am being realistic about this, Sage. You know what family means to me. You know what you mean to me. I am not walking away from my son or daughter, and I’m not walking away from Jenna.”
She held her breath through the tense silence that developed between the brothers, but she couldn’t help but shift slightly. She really needed to pee. Her movement must have made some sound, because Dylan turned his head, his eyes spearing her where she stood.
“Um, I was just looking for the restrooms?” she said, hor
ribly uncomfortable that she’d been caught standing there, eavesdropping.
“Through there,” he said, pointing.
She scurried in the direction he’d indicated. After she relieved herself, she washed her hands under cold water, and then assessed her reflection in the mirror. She’d faced condemnation before and survived. It wasn’t pretty, but she’d do it again if she had to. She dried her hands and returned to the restaurant. Dylan stood waiting for her.
“I’m sorry you had to hear that.”
“It’s okay. It’s only what everyone will think, anyway.” She brushed it off, but a note of how she was feeling must have crept into her voice.
“Jenna, I—”
“Look, let’s just leave it, okay? Thank you for lunch. Now that I’ve been here I think I’ll have a better idea about what you’ll need for the floral designs, and I agree, bold and strong colors will be best.” She flicked a look at her wristwatch. “I need to get back to the store.”
“What about the other matters we were going to discuss?” he asked, searching her eyes. But she found herself unwilling to meet his.
“I’ll email you.”
“That sounds suspiciously like a brush-off.” He cupped her shoulders with his big strong hands, the warmth of them swiftly penetrating the thin knit jacket and silk blouse she wore. “I’m not giving up on us, Jenna.”
“Dylan, there is no us.”
“I refuse to accept that,” he said succinctly. “And one thing you need to know about me is that when something or someone is important to me, I never give up. You are important to me, Jenna Montgomery. Don’t doubt it for a second.”
When had anyone ever said anything like that to her before and meant it? She’d tried these past few days to keep Dylan at a distance, emotionally at least, but those few words wedged a tiny crack in the shell that had formed around her heart and began to split it apart. And when he lowered his face to hers, and caught her lips with his own, she felt herself reaching up to meet him halfway, as needy as a flower seeking rain on a drought-parched prairie. Wanting his promises, wanting his attention as she’d never wanted anything from anyone before.
EXPECTING THE CEO'S CHILD Page 7