Jared was playing with his dinosaur on the floor when he got off the phone. Sabine was staring out the window at Central Park, her arms crossed protectively over her chest.
“Sabine?” She turned to look at him, an expression of sadness on her face. “Are you okay?”
She nodded softly. “Yes. I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry about everything I said to you. I was upset and scared when I found out something had happened to Jared. Blaming you was the easiest thing to do. It was wrong of me. Your son was in danger, too.”
“I said things I didn’t mean, too.”
“Yes, but you were right. I was being selfish. I was so afraid of not having Jared all to myself that I kept him from you. I shouldn’t have done that. I’m glad that Clay saw me and told you about him. It was a step I couldn’t make on my own. I’m really glad you’re going to be a part of his life.”
“What about your life?”
Sabine’s eyes narrowed. “Of course Jared is already a huge part of my life. Any more, he is my life.”
Gavin took a few steps closer to her. “I wasn’t talking about Jared. I was talking about me. Will I get to be a part of your life, too?”
She sighed and let her gaze drop to the floor. “I don’t know, Gavin. The last few weeks have been nice, but it has been a lot, and fast. We have a lifetime of sharing our son. I don’t want anything to mess that up. I know how important he is to you.”
“You’re important to me,” he emphasized. “Both of you. Not just Jared. All this time, all that we’ve shared together these weeks... It wasn’t just about our son or wooing you into giving me what I wanted. You know that, right?”
Sabine looked up at him, her pale green eyes still sad and now, a touch wearier than before. “I want to believe that, Gavin. Truly, I do. But how can I know anything about our relationship when you won’t tell me how you feel? You’d rather let me walk away than tell me you want me to stay. I can’t spend all our time together guessing. I need you to talk to me.”
“You know that’s hard for me. I’ve never been good at voicing my feelings. I’ve spent my whole life watching people walk away and never come back. My parents were always busy, foisting me and my siblings off on one nanny after the next until I was old enough for boarding school. They were so worried about keeping up appearances that I changed schools every few years to move on to a more prestigious program. It didn’t take long for me to learn to keep my distance from everyone.”
“Not everyone is going to leave you, Gavin.”
“You did. You said that you would’ve stayed if I had asked, but how do I know that for certain? What if I told them how I felt and they left anyway? I’m not good with words. Can’t I just show you how I feel?”
“More kisses? More gifts and fancy dinners? That doesn’t mean anything to me. I need more, Gavin. I need to hear the words coming from your lips.”
He reached out for her hand. “I’m offering more. But first, please, I want to show you something.” He tugged gently until she followed him down the hallway toward Jared’s newly renovated bedroom.
“You already showed me Jared’s room.”
“I know. This time I want to show you the other room.”
Gavin turned the knob and pushed open the door to what used to be his office. When he flipped on the light switch, he heard Sabine gasp beside him.
“Remember in the car when I said that I knew of an available property that you would love? This is it. I had the old office done up for you. An art studio just for you to work. You don’t have to share it with a toddler or storage boxes or cleaning supplies. It’s all yours for you to do whatever you like.”
Sabine stepped ahead of him into the large, open room. He’d had the hardwood floors refinished. The walls were painted a soft, matte green very close to the color of her eyes. “The consultant I worked with told me that this shade of green was a good choice for an art studio because it wouldn’t influence the color of your work and would provide enough light with the off-white ceilings.”
There was one large window that let in plenty of natural light and several nonfluorescent fixtures that he was told were good for art. A leather love seat sat along one wall. Several cabinets lined the other, each filled with every painting supply he could order. Several easels were already set up with blank canvases perched on them, and a few framed paintings were hanging on the walls.
“That shade of green also looked wonderful with the paintings I had of yours.”
“It’s beautiful. Perfect.” Sabine approached one of the three canvases hanging on the wall and let her finger run along the large wooden frame. “I didn’t know you had bought any of my work. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I bought the pieces after you left me. It was my way of keeping you in my life, I guess.”
She spun on her heel to face him, her brow knit together with excitement tampered by confusion. “When did you decide to do all this?”
“Three years ago.”
“What?” she gasped.
“The room was nearly finished when you broke it off. I was planning on asking you to move in with me and giving you the room as a housewarming gift. I decided to go ahead and complete it, and then I didn’t have the heart to do anything else with it. I’ve just kept the door shut.”
“You wanted me to move in with you?” Sabine’s hands dropped helplessly at her sides. “I wish to God you would’ve said something. I didn’t think I mattered to you. I loved you, but I thought I was a fool.”
“I was the fool for letting you walk away. I wanted you here with me then, and I was too afraid to admit to myself that I still wanted you here with me now. I would’ve bought you any apartment you chose, but I knew you were meant to be here with me.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about it when you showed me Jared’s new room?”
Gavin took a deep breath. “I thought it was too soon to show it to you. We were slowly rebuilding our relationship. I didn’t know where we would end up. I thought that I might scare you away if you saw it. Too much, too soon.”
“Why would you think that?”
“You’d already laughed off my proposal and shot down any suggestion of moving in with me.”
“To be fair, it wasn’t much of a proposal.”
“True. Which is why I worried you would think the studio was my way of trying to bribe you into moving in with me after you told me no already. It’s not a bribe. It’s a homecoming gift. I started working on this place years ago because I wanted it to be a home for us. Now, a home for all of us. Not a part-time, alternate weekends and holidays home. For every day. All three of us together.”
He watched tears start welling in her eyes and didn’t know if it was a good or bad sign. He decided to go with it. The moment felt right even though he wasn’t as prepared as he would like to be.
“Sabine, I know I’m no good at talking about my feelings. I built this space for you because I...I love you. I loved you then and I love you now. This was the only way I could think of to show you how I felt.”
“You love me?” Sabine asked with a sly smile curling her lips.
“I do. Very much.”
“Then say it again,” she challenged.
“I love you,” he repeated, this time without hesitation. A grin of his own spread wide across his face. It was getting easier every time he said it. “Now it’s your turn.”
Sabine leaned into him, her green gaze focused intently on him. “I love you, Gavin,” she said without a moment’s indecision. Then she placed her hands on his face and leaned in to kiss him.
Gavin wrapped his arms around her, thankful to have this again after two days without her touch or her kisses to help him get through it. He’d worried that he’d ruined it again.
“I’m glad you do,” he said. Gavin pulled her hands from his face and held them in his. “That will make this next part less embarrassing. I want to ask again if you’ll marry me, but this time, even if the answer is no, please don’t laugh
. A man’s ego can’t take that twice.”
“Okay,” Sabine said, her face now perfectly solemn in preparation for his query.
Gavin dropped down to one knee, her hands still grasped in his own. “Sabine Hayes, I love you. And I love our son. I want us to be a family. There is nothing on this earth—not a jet, not money—that I want more than for you to be my wife. Will you marry me?”
* * *
Sabine could barely withstand the rush of emotions surging through her. She really was on an emotional roller coaster. She’d experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows all in a few hours’ time. If Gavin wasn’t looking up at her with dark, love-filled eyes, she might start nervously twittering with laughter again simply from the stress of it all.
But she couldn’t laugh. Not this time. Gavin wanted to marry her and there was nothing funny about that.
“Yes. I will marry you.”
Gavin stood back up and swept her into his arms. His mouth eagerly captured hers, sealing their agreement with a kiss that made her blood sizzle through her veins. She wanted to make love to him on the leather couch of her new studio. The sooner she could start creating memories in her new home, the better.
Of course, that would have to wait for nap time.
Instead, she looked up into the dark eyes of her fiancé. The man she loved. The father of her child. There, in his arms, everything felt right. This is what she’d missed, the thing that made all those other apartments seem cold and unappealing.
“Gavin, do you know why I didn’t like any of the apartments we looked at?”
He gave her a lopsided smile in response to her unexpected question. “You wanted crown molding and granite countertops?”
“No. Guess again.”
He shrugged. “I’m out of guesses. Why didn’t you like them?”
“Because they were all missing something—you.”
Gavin laughed. “Of course. There’s only one apartment in Manhattan that comes equipped with Gavin Brooks. It’s a very exclusive address. The only way to get into the place is through marriage.”
“Well, wouldn’t you know that THE Gavin Brooks just asked me to be his wife?”
He picked up her left hand and eyed the bare ring finger. “This won’t do. The first thing everyone will do when you tell them we’re engaged is look at your hand. We need to get you an engagement ring.”
“Right now?”
“We’re two blocks away from Tiffany’s. Why not right now?”
Sabine sighed. It had been an exciting couple of days. Too exciting if you asked her. She was happy to spread out some of the big moments to later in the week. “There’s no rush. I know you’re good for it. There’s a million dollars in cash lying around on the living room floor in a JanSport.”
“Okay, you win. What about tomorrow?”
“I have to work tomorrow morning.”
Gavin eyed her with dismay. “No, you don’t.”
“Yes, I do. I’m not going to abandon my wonderful, pregnant boss when she needs me. You’re the one that suggested a vacation. I at least have to stay at the store long enough for her to take one.”
“What about if we go early, before the boutique opens?”
“Okay,” Sabine relented. If he wanted so badly to put a dangerously expensive rock on her hand, she would let him. “But make sure you don—”
“Spider-Man!”
Sabine and Gavin turned to find Jared standing in the doorway of his new bedroom. He flung the door the rest of the way open and charged in the space that was custom-made for a little boy with dreams of being a superhero.
The workers had done an excellent job on the room. It was just as Gavin had described. Red walls, a loft with a rope swing for an adventurous young boy, and a comic-book motif sure to please. All it needed was his favorite toys from their place in Brooklyn and it would be perfect.
Jared crawled up on the new bed, bouncing ever so slightly on the new Spider-Man comforter. “Big bed!”
“Yep, it’s a big boy bed.”
“Mine?”
“It is,” Gavin replied. “Do you like it?”
Jared flipped two thumbs up. “Love Spider-Man!”
Sabine was nearly overwhelmed by the joy and excitement on their small son’s face. Gavin turned to look at her and frowned when he noted the tears pooling in her eyes.
“And I love you,” she said.
“More than Spider-Man?” Gavin asked.
“Oh, yeah,” she replied, leaning in to kiss him and prove her point.
Epilogue
Sabine was exhausted. There wasn’t really another word to describe the state a woman was in immediately following childbirth. The messy business was over. The doctors and nurses had cleared out and the family went home. Now it was just Sabine and Gavin in a quiet hospital suite.
Well, make that just Sabine, Gavin and the brand-new Miss Elizabeth Anne Brooks in a quiet hospital suite.
Beth made her arrival at 4:53 p.m., weighing seven pounds, two ounces and shrieking with the finest set of lungs to ever debut at St. Luke’s Hospital. They named her after Gavin’s private plane—Beth—and Sabine’s mother, with whom she’d recently reconciled.
Gavin’s parents, siblings and the housekeeper had left a few hours ago with Jared in tow. Their son had been very excited to see his new sister, but the novelty wore off pretty quickly when she didn’t do anything but sleep. He insisted that Grandpa and Grandma take him for ice cream and when visiting hours ended, they relented.
It had been a long day filled with excitement, nerves, joy and pain. And now, she was enjoying a private moment she would remember for her whole life.
Gavin was beside her in the reclining chair. Beth was bundled up in a white blanket with pastel stripes. She was perfect, tiny and pink with Sabine’s nose. The nurses had put a hat on to keep her head warm. It hid away the wild mohawk of dark hair she’d been born with. Gavin said her crazy hair was from Sabine, too. Beth had fallen asleep with her small hand clutching his pinky finger, content, warm and safe in her daddy’s arms.
But the best part was watching Gavin.
The past nine months had been an adventure for her husband. Since he’d missed out on her first pregnancy, Gavin wanted to be a part of every moment from sonograms to Lamaze classes. Sometimes she wondered if he regretted getting so immersed in the details of the process.
He could handle running shipping empires and flying jets, but preparing for the arrival of a new baby—and a girl at that—nearly did him in. During labor, he was wide-eyed and panicked. Occasionally even a little green around the gills. It was pretty adorable.
Then she was born, shouting her displeasure to everyone in the maternity ward. Of course, Sabine looked at her baby first, cataloging fingers and toes and noting how beautiful and perfect she was. But the moment Beth was laid on her chest, Sabine’s eyes went to Gavin. The expression on his face was priceless. It was quite literally love at first sight.
And now, while he held her, a marching band could parade through the room and Gavin probably wouldn’t notice. He couldn’t tear his gaze away from his daughter. It was as though the answers to all the questions in the universe were wrapped up in that blanket. It was the most precious thing Sabine had ever seen.
“You’re my hero.”
Sabine didn’t realize Gavin was looking at her until he spoke. “Your hero?”
“Absolutely. You were amazing today.” Gavin stood slowly so he didn’t wake their daughter and carried Beth over to her.
Sabine accepted the bundle and smiled up at him. “Eh, piece of cake. I think I only threatened your life once.”
“Twice, but who’s counting?” Gavin eased down to sit on the edge of the bed and put his arm around her shoulders. “Seriously, though, I don’t know how you did it. Before. With Jared. I mean, I knew that I had missed a lot, but one thing I never really considered was how it was for you. To do this all alone...”
It certainly was different this time. Bef
ore, one of her gallery friends came by the next day. That was it. This time, she had an entire cheering squad waiting in the next room, a crew in Nebraska staying up to date on Facebook and a husband holding her hand. What a difference a few years could make.
“That was the choice I made.” She shrugged. “The wrong one, obviously. It was definitely better with you here.”
Gavin leaned in to place a kiss on her lips and another on Beth’s forehead. “I have to say I agree.”
They both spent a moment looking down at their daughter. “She looks like you,” Gavin said.
“That’s fair since Jared looks like you. Besides, it would be unfortunate for a girl to have your chin.”
“I can tell she’s going to give me trouble. If she’s half as beautiful and smart and talented as her mother, the boys will be lined up the block.”
“She’s four hours old. I don’t think you need to start polishing the shotgun just yet. You’ve got years of ballet recitals and princess parties before we need to start worrying about that.”
Gavin smiled and leaned his head against hers. “I’m looking forward to every pink, glittery second.”
* * * * *
If you liked Sabine’s story, don’t miss these other novels from Andrea Laurence
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All available now, from Harlequin Desire!
If you liked this BILLIONAIRES & BABIES novel, watch for the next book in this #1 bestselling Desire series, THE SARANTOS BABY BARGAIN by USA TODAY bestselling author Olivia Gates, available May 2014.
Keep reading for an excerpt from A NOT-SO-INNOCENT SEDUCTION by Janice Maynard.
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You want to leave behind the everyday! Harlequin Desire stories feature sexy, romantic heroes who have it all: wealth, status, incredible good looks…everything but the right woman. Add some secrets, maybe a scandal, and start turning pages!
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