“Good morning,” she said as brightly as she could.
Dylan didn’t waste a second. He surprised her by swooping down and planting his lips on hers. Jenna put her hand on his chest to steady herself as her blood instantly turned molten. Two seconds in his presence and she was already starry-eyed. Man, she was so gone.
“Now it’s a good morning,” he said with a smile that crinkled his eyes at the corners. He linked her arm through his and drew her to his side. “Come over and meet Fee.”
As he mentioned the other woman’s name, she lifted her head and smiled in Jenna’s direction. She took a few steps toward them, her hand outstretched in greeting.
“Hi, I’m Felicity Sinclair, but call me Fee,” she said warmly. “Are these your designs? They’re fantastic,” she said, gesturing to some of the more artistic pieces the store had on display.
“Yes, mine and Valerie’s,” Jenna said, feeling a little more charitable toward the newcomer.
“You’d be very popular back home. I wish we had someone like you doing the flowers for our offices and functions. Dylan tells me you’ve got everything under control for Saturday’s opening?”
“Yes, would you like to see a mock-up of the table settings?”
The next twenty minutes passed swiftly as Jenna went over her plans for the floral displays at the restaurant. By the time they left she felt a whole lot more confident in herself and her ability to hold her own with women like Fee Sinclair.
Dylan whispered in her ear as they were leaving, “Ready for another cooking lesson tonight? I was thinking of something along the lines of dessert, maybe with chocolate sauce?”
Fire lit inside Jenna, flooding her limbs and making them instantly feel heavy and lethargic. Her cheeks flamed in turn, earning her a considering glance from Valerie.
“Sure, your place or mine?” she asked, keeping her voice low.
“How about your place. It’s closer to here for you in case we oversleep in the morning.”
She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. He kissed her again, taking her in a hard and swift embrace that promised everything, but left her hanging in a daze of sensual awareness that clouded her already foggy mind.
“See you after work,” he said, ushering Fee from the store.
After the front door had closed, Valerie zoomed straight to her side.
“And just when were you going to let me in on the secret?” she demanded, waggling a playful finger in Jenna’s direction.
“Secret?”
“You and Mr. Drop-Dead-Gorgeous. You never told me you were an item.”
Jenna smiled. “An item?”
“Sweetie, I saw the way he looked at you.” She fanned herself theatrically. “And the way he kissed you? Well, suffice to say it had my hormones racing, and it wasn’t even me he was kissing!”
“We’re friends, Valerie. Good friends,” she amended.
“He’s your baby’s daddy, isn’t he?”
Jenna felt her cheeks drain of color. Aside from Dylan, and obviously his family, no one else was supposed to know yet that she was pregnant.
“I’ve had four kids of my own, remember. I know the signs. Look, I can understand you wanting to keep it quiet, especially with him being a Lassiter and all,” Valerie continued. “I just wanted to say, good on you, girl. You work so hard, it’s about time you had a bit of play. If there’s one thing life has taught me, it’s to grab what’s offered and make the most of every darn second. You never know what’s around the corner.”
Valerie’s words continued to ring in Jenna’s ears as she forced herself to focus on her work for the day. Was she being a fool for trying to play it safe with Dylan? For not jumping, boots and all, into a future together? She didn’t doubt he’d take care of her, but did she want to be taken care of? She’d fought to be independent, to be able to stand on her own two feet. Did he accept her as an equal? She weighed the thoughts in her mind, along with the realization that she was learning to trust him, to accept who he was. Could she take that final step and agree to marry him?
* * *
“So, what did you think?” Dylan asked as he drove Fee back toward the restaurant.
“Of the designs or of Ms. Montgomery?” she asked with a twinkle in her eye.
“Both. Either. Hell, I don’t care.” Dylan laughed. “By the way, I’d like you to see that her store gets linked to the Grill in the advertising push over the next few days.”
Fee raised her eyebrows but took out her planner and made some notes. “Sure, no problem. The floral work is going to be fantastic—a perfect complement to the opening and the restaurant in general. About Jenna—she seemed familiar to me for some reason. I can’t figure out where from. I’m not sure if it’s her face or her name.”
“She did the flowers for Angelica’s rehearsal dinner. Maybe that’s where you remember her from,” Dylan said offhandedly.
“No, I don’t think it’s that. Not to worry, it’ll come to me soon enough.”
At the restaurant Dylan found it difficult to remain focused. All he wanted to do was race back to Jenna’s store and sneak her home. Fee kept him occupied for the better part of the day, though, walking him through a couple of interviews she’d scheduled for tomorrow, among other things, and by the time he left the restaurant he was itching to get to Jenna’s.
He’d barely thrown the car into Park when the front door opened and she stood on the porch, waiting for him. He couldn’t hold back the smile of satisfaction that wreathed his face. So, she’d missed him today as much as he’d missed her. That was definitely a step in the right direction. He snagged the bag of groceries he’d picked up on the way over, and raced up the path, sweeping her into his arms and delivering a kiss that he hoped showed how much he’d looked forward to seeing her again.
When he set her back down she looked a little starry-eyed, but a stab of concern pierced him when he saw how pale she was.
“C’mon, let’s get you inside and off your feet. You look as if you’ve been overdoing things today.”
He shepherded her through to her living room and sat her down on the long sofa, making her laugh when he picked up her feet and swiveled her around so she was fully reclined.
“Dylan, don’t. It’s not necessary. I just had a full day, that’s all.”
“And now you can relax. I’m here.”
He said the words with a quiet authority he didn’t really feel. In fact, with Jenna, he was never too sure just how close he was to overstepping the mark. He wanted to take care of her, to lift her problems from her slender shoulders and onto his broader ones. Especially when he saw her looking like this.
Despite her protests, he noted that she didn’t make an effort to move off the couch, so he took the groceries through to the kitchen and poured her a glass of water, bringing it back immediately.
“Did you get off your feet at all today?” he asked, sitting at the end of the sofa and picking up one of her feet in his strong hands.
He began to massage her arches, and smiled when she groaned in delight.
“Oh, that feels good,” she said, effectively dodging his question. “I’m thinking of keeping you on if you can promise you’ll do this for me every day after work.”
“You only have to say the word and I’m yours,” he answered.
“The word?”
“Yes. And in case you’ve forgotten, that would be a yes to the will-you-marry-me question.”
He deliberately kept his tone light.
“Okay, duly noted, and I consider myself fully informed,” she teased with a tired smile.
Dylan picked up her other foot and began to massage it, as well, watching as she let her eyelids drift closed. When he stopped she didn’t even move, so he gently placed her foot back down on the sofa and rose to go and prepare their eve
ning meal. It worried him that she was so tired. Was that normal? He needed to do some research or talk to a doctor or someone. Maybe Marlene could help, or Hannah. He made a mental note to call the ranch in the morning, and then eyed the ingredients he’d bought for dessert before deciding to put them away for another time.
He worked quickly and efficiently in Jenna’s kitchen, combining ingredients to form the spinach and pesto stuffing for the plump, free-range chicken breasts he’d purchased. He placed them in a shallow glass casserole dish, on top of quartered red potatoes that he’d tossed in olive oil. Then he smothered the breasts with the leftover stuffing before placing the lid on the dish and sliding it into the oven.
Just as he turned back from the oven, Jenna’s home phone began to ring. He cursed the noise it made and dived for the handset on the kitchen countertop, hoping he’d get it before the sound woke Jenna.
“Hello?”
“Um, hello. Have I dialed the right number? Is this Jenna Montgomery’s house?”
Dylan recognized Valerie’s voice from the store.
“Yes, it’s Dylan Lassiter here. Jenna’s resting.”
“Oh, good. I was just calling to see if she’s okay. She took a dizzy turn in the shop today, and while I tried to encourage her to head home early, she flat out refused. Tell her that I’ve arranged for someone to keep an eye on the kids for me, so I’ll open up for her tomorrow, would you? She can come in a bit later.”
Dylan promised to pass the message on and placed the phone back on its station. A dizzy spell? No wonder she’d been looking pale. Clearly, she was overdoing things. His gut twisted in frustration. He was in no position to tell her what to do, but every cell in his body urged him to take charge and to make it clear that her health, and that of her unborn baby, should take greater precedence over her work.
But he was beginning to understand what her work meant to her. Without the support of family, she’d grown up missing the markers of encouragement and success that most other kids enjoyed. He thought about what he’d had growing up, and how he’d had the luxury of traveling and finding his niche in the world. How he’d taken all that for granted.
There were still huge gaps in what he knew about Jenna’s past, not least of which being how she’d gone from living with her father to living here in Cheyenne with Margaret Connell. Dylan could only hope that eventually she’d trust him enough to tell him everything, to help him know her that much better so he could prove to her that spending the rest of her life with him was the best thing she could do for them all.
“Was that the phone?”
Damn, the call had disturbed her. By his reckoning she’d had only about twenty minutes or so of sleep, and judging by the darkness that underscored her eyes, she needed a whole lot more than that.
“Yeah, it was Valerie. She phoned to check up on you and to say she’d open for you tomorrow.”
“She doesn’t need to do that. I’m perfectly capable of opening the store myself. She has four kids to juggle in the morning,” Jenna protested. “It’s why she starts later.”
“Clearly, she’s juggled them so she can help you out. Why didn’t you tell me you weren’t feeling well today?” he asked, coming back into the sitting room and parking himself on the sofa again.
He lifted her legs and positioned her feet in his lap. Jenna got a defensive look on her face.
“I felt fine. I’d been bending down and when I stood up I just got a little bit dizzy. That’s all.”
“Have you felt dizzy before?”
“No, never. Seriously, I’m fine. Please don’t fuss.”
“Maybe I want to fuss over you,” he countered. “Maybe I think you need a little fussing in your life.”
She gave him a reluctant smile. “Oh, you do, do you?”
“Tell me, when was the last time anyone paid attention to you, real attention of the spoiling variety?”
Her grin grew wider. “I think that would have been last night, in bed, when you—”
“That’s not what I mean, and you know it. Jenna, sometimes it’s okay to let someone into your life, to let them share the load. I want that someone to be me.”
Her face grew serious again and for a while she was silent. When she spoke, her voice trembled ever so slightly. “I want that to be you, too. I just—”
He leaned over her and placed a finger on her lips. “No, don’t justify anything. I’ll take what you said and I’ll hold on to that for now, okay? Remember, I’m not going anywhere. I’m right here for you, whether you think you need me or not.”
Twelve
Jenna stretched against the sheets in Dylan’s bed, relishing the decadent luxury of the high thread count cotton against her bare skin. Last night they’d been out to the Big Blue for a family dinner, where the Lassiters had celebrated Hannah’s engagement to Logan Whittaker. Again she’d been struck by the genuine love and warmth shared within the family. Love and warmth that had included her.
The siren call of being a part of all of that, the whole family thing, was growing louder in her mind, especially when combined with Dylan’s attentiveness to her since Monday. He’d remained true to his word and shared her load; to be more accurate, it felt as if he’d shouldered the whole thing. Jenna still found it hard to accept gracefully, but she was learning. God, how she was learning. He’d delivered breakfast in bed each morning before driving her to work, his argument being that he didn’t want her to suffer a dizzy spell while driving. And he’d collected her at the end of each day, to return to his or her home for dinner and to sleep.
And sleep they had. He hadn’t made love to her since last weekend, insisting instead that she rest, and somehow, cradled securely in his arms each night, she’d slept better than she ever had before. She’d been unable to argue in the face of his logic, and had promised to follow up with her doctor if she felt the slightest bit dizzy again.
It was a novelty being so thoroughly spoiled. She couldn’t remember a time in her life when she’d ever felt so pampered.
Or so loved.
He might not actually say it in so many words, but with every meal, every gesture, Dylan was using his attentiveness and care to prove that he’d meant what he said about wanting to be there for her in everything. Maybe they really could make this work, she thought, stroking the small mound of her belly through the sheets. Maybe they really could be a family.
She looked up as Dylan appeared in the doorway to the bedroom. He looked so sexy in just a pair of drawstring pajama bottoms slung low on his hips. His jaw was unshaved and his hair disheveled, and she had never wanted a man more in her life than she wanted him right now.
“How are you feeling this morning?” he asked, putting the tray with her breakfast on a bedside table and sitting down on the bed next to her to kiss her good morning.
“Fantastic,” she answered with a smile. She raised a hand to trace the muscles of his chest, letting her fingers drift low over his ridged abdomen until they teased at the waistband of his pants. “In fact, any better and I think I’d be dangerous.”
“Dangerous, huh?” He smiled in return.
She nodded. “I think I should show you how dangerous. Actions always speak louder than words, don’t you think?”
Jenna rose up onto her knees, letting the sheet fall away from her body and exposing her nakedness to his hungry gaze. The look on his face empowered her. He made her feel so beautiful, so sexy, so very much in love. The realization should have hit her like a blow, she thought, but it felt right to admit it. To play around with the idea in her mind and to accept that with Dylan she could let go of the rigid control she’d developed to direct her life.
She pushed him back down on the bed, tugging at the drawstring of his pants and pushing the fabric aside to expose him to her gaze, to her fingers, to her lips. Then she showed him, slowly and lovingly, j
ust how much he’d come to mean to her—imbuing every caress, every stroke of her tongue, with all that she felt and all that she wanted for the future. Their future.
Afterward, as they lay side by side, spent, their heart rates slowly returning to normal, Jenna looked across at the man who’d inveigled his way behind her defenses and come to mean so very much to her.
“Yes,” she said simply.
Dylan’s eyes narrowed and he looked at her intently, rolling onto his side. “Yes? Is that what I think it means?”
She nodded, suddenly shy and a little bit scared. This was letting go of her last vestige of control. But it would be okay, wouldn’t it? With Dylan?
He reached for her hand and linked his fingers through hers before drawing them to his lips and kissing her knuckles.
“Thank you,” he said with a reverence that brought tears to her eyes.
“Do you think your family will be okay with it? I mean, we haven’t known each other all that long.”
“They’ll be more than fine, don’t you worry. I’d like to announce it soon, though. No more secrets. What about at the opening the day after tomorrow? Everyone who matters to us will be there. Okay?”
No more secrets. Yet she still held one very close to her chest. One that might change the way he thought about her forever. What the hell should she do? Tell him, and hope like mad that it wouldn’t make any difference? Or keep it hidden away where it would hopefully never see the light of day ever again? It was impossible to know, but at least she didn’t have to make a decision right now. After all, hadn’t she just made the biggest decision in her life by accepting Dylan’s proposal?
There was a time and a place for everything, and right now was not the time for the past. Right now was all about the future.
She slowly nodded. “Okay.”
“Then I’d like you to wear this.”
He slid open a bedside drawer and removed a pale blue ring box. Jenna’s heart raced in her chest. Was that what she thought it was? Dylan slowly lifted the lid and showed the contents to her. A giant solitaire diamond, set high on a band embedded with smaller diamonds, winked at her in the morning light.
EXPECTING THE CEO'S CHILD Page 11