The Texas Tycoon’s Christmas Baby

by Brenda Harlen

  But he had found Penny, and he’d lost her without understanding why. Of course, everything was clear to him now, and though he understood her reasons for withdrawing from him, he still wasn’t ready to give up on her, on what they’d shared together. And now that he knew she was carrying his child, he was even less willing to let her go.

  Gabby was right—he knew how to make things happen.

  And he was going to make Penny McCord his wife.

  Penny was zipping up her duffel bag when the knock sounded on the door.

  “Come in,” she said, because she assumed it was her sister. Because she assumed that Jason wouldn’t have the nerve to come looking for her after what he’d done.

  Then he stepped through the door, and she realized she’d assumed incorrectly.

  He looked at the bag, then at her. “You’re leaving?”

  “Your powers of deductive reasoning are amazing.”

  “Because of me?”

  “Believe it or not, Jason, the world doesn’t revolve around you.”

  She reached for her bag, but he grabbed the handle first.

  “I’d like you to stay,” he said. “Just through the weekend, so that we can figure some things out.”

  “Tomorrow is the busiest shopping day of the year, and I need to be at the store.”

  “You work on the design end, and you can sketch anywhere. At least, that’s what you used to say when you spent weekends at my penthouse in Houston,” he reminded her.

  She used to say a lot of things—and so did he. But she refused to go down that road with him. “There are times when I need to be available for customer consultations. This is one of those times.”

  He didn’t look happy with her response, but he was in no position to refute her argument. “I could come to the city for the weekend,” he offered instead.

  “I appreciate that you’re making an effort, but the fact is, I’m going to be busy all weekend, and it would be a waste of your time to come to Dallas if your only purpose is to badger me.”

  He ran a hand through his hair, a rare gesture of impatience. “I have to go out of town on Monday.”

  “You don’t have to account for your whereabouts to me,” she told him.

  He ignored the edge in her voice. “I’ll be gone most of next week, but when I get back, we’ll make plans to talk.”

  “Talk? As in discuss? Because as far as I can tell, you don’t discuss anything. You make decisions and act upon them, regardless of the impact on anyone else.”

  “You’re annoyed that I announced your pregnancy to our families,” Jason guessed. And maybe he had overplayed his hand there, but he wouldn’t make the same mistake again.

  “It wasn’t your announcement to make.”

  “It’s my baby, too.”

  “As if I could forget,” she muttered.

  “How many times do I have to say I’m sorry?”

  “You can say it as many times as you want, but those two little words can’t undo what you did.”

  “You’re right,” he agreed. “So why don’t we put the past behind us and move forward?”

  “I am moving forward,” she told him. “And I’m doing it without you.”

  “Come on, Penny. Have you never made a mistake? Done something you regretted?”

  She met his gaze evenly. “Yes, I have.”

  He forced himself to remember that he knew how to overcome opposition, even if he wasn’t accustomed to that opposition being presented in such a maddeningly attractive package.

  “I know you’re angry with me,” he said reasonably. “And you have every right to be. But I’m not going to let you cut me out of our baby’s life.”

  “You don’t want this baby, Jason. Why are you pretending otherwise?”

  “How do you know what I want?” he challenged.

  “Okay, maybe I should have said that you didn’t plan this baby.”

  “Neither of us did.”

  “And if I wasn’t pregnant, you wouldn’t be here right now.”

  “But you are pregnant,” he pointed out.

  “Maybe you should put it on a billboard,” she said, yanking the handle of her bag from his hand and slinging it over her shoulder. “Because it’s possible there are still some people in the great state of Texas who haven’t actually heard you shout out the news yet.”

  He realized that both of their voices had risen and he deliberately lowered his when he responded.

  “Obviously, we both need some time to think about things. We’ll continue this discussion when I get back next week. But while I’m gone,” he continued, in what he thought was a perfectly calm and reasonable tone, “I want you to think about a wedding date.”

  “You don’t want to marry me, you want the baby. And Jason Foley doesn’t give up on anything he wants.”

  “You’d be wise to remember that,” he told her.

  “How could I forget, when that’s what got me into this situation?”

  “Maybe there’s something else you’ve forgotten,” he said, and crushed his mouth to hers in a hard, punishing kiss.

  Penny kept her lips tightly clamped together. No way was she going to respond to such Neanderthal tactics.

  But then his lips softened, moving more persuasively than persistently now, and it was just like the first time he kissed her…

  Chapter Five

  Penny hadn’t really wanted to attend Missy Harcourt’s wedding. Though they’d attended the same private schools and moved in the same social circles throughout the years, she and the bride had never been particularly close. But it was important, her mother said, for there to be a representative of the McCord family at the wedding, since the Harcourts were old friends of the family. Since Penny was the only one who didn’t already have plans for the day in question, she was nominated.

  When she complained about attending the event alone, Tate had mentioned that he had a colleague who was interested in going out with her. It turned out that Doctor Edmond Lang had actually been hoping to score a date with Paige, but, as Penny’s outgoing twin never had any trouble lining up her own escorts, had been persuaded to settle for Penny. Not that either Tate or Edmond admitted as much, but her date calling her Paige—not once but three times—was a pretty big clue.

  In any event, when Dr. Lang was paged by the hospital just as dessert was being cleared away, Penny wasn’t overly disappointed. And she figured losing her date was a valid excuse for her to cut out early, too. In fact, she was on her way to the hotel concierge desk to request a taxi when she saw him across the hotel lobby.

  Jason Foley. Of the infamous Foleys, sworn enemies of the McCord family since the Civil War. While the Foleys and the McCords were unlikely to issue challenges of pistols at dawn to one another in the current day, they were just as unlikely to cross a room to say hello to a member of the other family. But that knowledge had never prevented Penny from admiring any of the very handsome Foley brothers from afar. And Jason Foley—the second of Rex Foley’s three sons—was the one she’d admired the most. All six-foot-two, Colin-Farrell-look-alike yumminess of him.

  Her heart gave a little bump against her ribs.

  It wasn’t fair that a mortal enemy should look so darn good, or that she should be so attracted to a man who would never look twice in her direction.

  She’d seen him at various society events over the years, but never had he given her more than a passing glance. This time, however, his eyes locked on hers—and held.

  Penny’s heart gave another, harder bump.

  Then he crossed the room, actually going out of his way to approach her. Had there been anyone else in the vicinity, she would never have made such an assumption, but all of the other guests were still inside the main ballroom.

  “You’re not trying to duck out already, are you, Penny?”

  The deep baritone voice skimmed over her skin like a caress, raising goose bumps on her flesh. But it was his use of her name that nearly made her knees buckle. Not even her own da
te had remembered she wasn’t her sister—or maybe he hadn’t wanted to remember. But Jason had somehow known who she was and had sought her out anyway…

  Her pulse was racing now, but she lifted one shoulder, deliberately casual, determined not to let him see how much he’d flustered her. “My date had an emergency and—”

  “I didn’t come with a date,” he interrupted smoothly. “So I would be incredibly grateful if you’d take a turn with me on the dance floor.”

  He wanted to dance…with her?

  “I appreciate the invitation, Mr. Foley, but—”

  “Jason,” he said, interrupting her again. “And the way to show your appreciation would be to accept the invitation.”

  Penny took his proffered hand and hoped he didn’t notice that her fingers trembled.

  It was, after all, only a dance.

  But even when the dance was over, he didn’t leave her side. It was only when the bride and groom had departed that she realized they’d been talking for a long time, and while she was reluctant for the evening to end, she knew that she should be getting home.

  Jason seemed equally reluctant to say good-night, and when she politely declined his offer to go somewhere for coffee, he insisted on at least giving her a ride home. That offer she accepted, simply because it was more expedient than waiting for a taxi.

  And then he insisted on seeing her to the door. Jason Foley walked her right up to the front door of her parents’ house and lightning didn’t strike.

  And then he kissed her. And she thought maybe she’d been wrong about the lightning, because the moment his lips touched hers, something jolted through her system and singed her right down to her toes.

  And with that first kiss, he’d completely swept her off her feet.

  Of course, Penny still hadn’t believed anything more would ever come of it. Or maybe it was more accurate to say she hadn’t dared let herself hope anything would come of it. Because although his kiss had awakened every hormone in her body, it was still just a kiss. Sure, no one had ever kissed her with such tenderness and passion before, but she was certain Jason Foley had kissed a thousand women in just the same way.

  Okay, maybe not a thousand, but the man did have something of a reputation. And he’d dated a lot of women. Glamorous and sophisticated women. And while Penny knew she wasn’t the ugly stepsister—how could she be when she looked exactly like her twin?—her innate shyness frequently relegated her to the shadows behind her fabulous and outgoing sister.

  When she didn’t hear from Jason the next day, she wasn’t surprised. Obviously, he’d been bored at the wedding and was simply toying with her.

  But the day after that he did call, and he invited her to grab a cup of coffee. She had been as excited as she was surprised by the invitation, and happily agreed. Somehow, coffee had led to dinner. And during that first dinner, all of her preconceived notions about him—and about herself—went flying out the window.

  And so began their relationship.

  She’d had boyfriends before—she wasn’t a complete neophyte when it came to dating. But she’d never had a relationship that made her feel so good about who she was, and so optimistic about the future. She had never felt anything like she felt when she was with Jason.

  With every date, every touch and every kiss, she fell a little bit deeper and harder for the handsome executive. It wasn’t just flattering to have a man like Jason Foley interested in her, it was mind-boggling. But Penny had been too thrilled that he was, to question why.

  For the first time in her life, she hadn’t been the “youngest daughter” or someone’s “sister” or “Paige’s twin”—she’d been her own person. She’d been the woman Jason Foley chose to be with.

  The only factor that took some of the shine off her happy glow was that she couldn’t tell anyone they were dating. She didn’t dare.

  Growing up in Devon McCord’s home meant that “Foley” was a taboo F-word, so she’d kept their relationship a secret.

  Until one night at dinner, frustrated by the patronizing attitudes of her family, she blurted out the truth. Even then, she wasn’t sure anyone believed her relationship with Jason was serious, and—in retrospect—the doubts had been well founded.

  But Penny had romanticized the obstacles she and Jason faced, believing they were star-crossed lovers, like Romeo and Juliet. But she’d trusted that their attraction was stronger than the influence of their respective families, stronger than a silly old feud.

  Then she learned that their entire relationship had been fuelled by that feud, by Jason’s determination to ensure that the Foleys finally bested the McCords. She’d been falling in love and he’d been digging for information.

  And still, it seemed as if she’d learned nothing from the experience. Because all it took was a look, a touch, a kiss, and she was like putty in his hands, willing to forget everything he’d done and give him another chance.

  But another chance for what? To break her heart? Or to be a father to their baby? Because if he wanted to be part of their baby’s life, then he would inevitably be part of her life, too. And how the heck was she supposed to deal with that?

  She should hate him. She wanted to hate him.

  But in her heart, she couldn’t forget how wonderful he’d been.

  Maybe it had all been an act, but her heart wasn’t entirely convinced. Deep inside, she clung to the belief that if all he’d wanted from her was information, he could have found out what she knew—which was actually nothing—over the occasional cup of coffee. But the first cup of coffee had led to an invitation to dinner, and dinner had led to more kissing, and maybe she was guilty of having her head in the clouds, but she was pretty sure she would have remembered if he’d been asking about diamonds and querying her on the McCord finances while they were naked together.

  And that was what she kept coming back to, the hope that refused to die, the belief that, regardless of Jason’s motives, he had grown to care about her.

  Or maybe she was as pathetically naive as everyone believed her to be.

  Although Jason had cursed—loudly and creatively—while he’d been making plans to go to Denver to untangle a mess that had been left behind by the now-departed VP, he realized that a few days away would give him the time and distance he needed to really think about Penny’s pregnancy and make plans for their future.

  If he wasn’t quite ready to be a father, he knew he had no one but himself to blame, and that he obviously should have given the matter some thought before he got naked with Penny. Not that he’d simply disregarded the use of birth control. No way—he was smarter than that.

  Unfortunately, he was not smart enough to realize that when a woman with decidedly less experience assured him that she was “safe,” they might be thinking different things. And he was not smart enough to have known that when she hesitated before saying she didn’t sleep around, what she really meant was that she’d never been with a man before.

  And despite this miscommunication, he was the villain because he’d seduced sweet, innocent Penny McCord.

  Okay, so she was sweet—probably the sweetest woman he’d ever known.

  And she had been innocent.

  She’d also been willing and eager, sexy and seductive, and incredibly and passionately responsive…

  After weeks of long late-night telephone conversations and occasional stolen moments when Jason was in Dallas, he’d finally convinced Penny to come to Houston for a weekend. He told her about a new dance club that had opened up and that he was anxious to check out, and how he really hoped she would go with him. When she’d hesitated, he hastened to assure her that he had a guest room in his penthouse, and she’d finally agreed.

  It was nearly eight o’clock when the doorman called to tell him that he had a guest. While Penny was riding the elevator to the twenty-second floor, Jason uncorked the chardonnay he’d chilled and poured two glasses. They would have a drink, nibble on the fruit and cheese he’d set out, share some conversation, then h
ead out around ten.

  His plan flew out the door when he opened it and saw her standing there.

  He’d always known she was attractive. Though she had a tendency to downplay her natural prettiness, there was no disguising the luster of her long red-gold hair or the sparkle in her deep green eyes. But in the little black dress that was more little than dress, with her hair spilling down her back in wildly spiraling curls, she wasn’t downplaying anything tonight. In fact, her mile-long legs were shown to full advantage in the short skirt and sexy heels that brought her five-foot-eight-inch frame to a height that nearly matched his own, putting that slick, glossy mouth in direct line with his.

  “I opened a bottle of wine,” he said, finally recovering enough to speak. “But you look as if you’re ready to go.”

  “Wine would be nice.” She took the glass from his hand, lifted it to her lips. She sipped, then traced her tongue over her lower lip. “Yes, very nice.”

  He swallowed hard as two thoughts battled for supremacy inside his addled brain: “what happened to sweet Penny McCord?” and “how soon could he get her naked?”

  “Are you hungry?” he asked. “Because we could go out for a bite before we head to the club.”

  He hadn’t forgotten about the fruit and cheese, he just figured it would be smarter to go out to eat, to leave the penthouse. Now. Or they might not leave at all.

  He didn’t know if she read his mind or if she simply wanted the same thing he did, because she said, “Actually, I was thinking that maybe we could stay in.”

  “Oh. Well.” He sounded like an idiot, but he found it difficult to form words with his tongue tied in knots. “I thought you wanted to go to the club.”

  “I thought you could give me a tour of your place…including the guest room I have no intention of sleeping in.”

  Well, he didn’t need to be hit over the head. Not more than once, anyway.

  He took the forgotten glass of wine from her hand and set it aside, then he reached for her.

  They came together, hearts pounding, mouths fusing, bodies straining.