Harlequin Romance September 2013 Bundle: Bound by a BabyIn the Line of DutyPatchwork Family in the OutbackStranded with the Tycoon

by Kate Hardy

  ‘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?

  ‘Okay. 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.

  ‘I think you’d be better off with me.’

  ‘Living out of hotel rooms? Never settling down? Isn’t that what you said you’d never do to a child?’ The words stung as she bit them out. ‘Or will it be you, gone for months on end, sleeping with every woman who smiles at you in a hotel bar? No, thanks. A family takes more than a one-night rule, Ben.’

  He swallowed back an angry denial, not least because he knew everything she said was true. His father hadn’t been able to do it, and Seb wasn’t even trying, for all his talk. Ben wasn’t content to be one of those once-a-month visiting dads. So maybe Luce was right. Maybe there was no place for him at all.

  ‘I can help. Financially.’

  She threw him a scathing look. ‘I don’t want it,’ she said.

  Ben heard, I don’t want you.

  ‘Money isn’t going to give you a quick fix this time.’

  Why was he even surprised? he wondered as Luce walked out, slamming the door behind her. He’d never expected his father to love him more than his work, or his mother to love him more than her freedom. He certainly couldn’t expect Luce to love hi
m more than her child.

  Their child.

  ‘Hell,’ he whispered, and went to pour himself a very large whisky from the mini-bar.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  LUCE REFUSED TO CRY.

  She stayed resolutely dry-eyed while flagging down a taxi. She remained calm as they drove through the dark Cardiff streets and as she paid the driver. She didn’t even give in while she fumbled with the keys to get into her house.

  But at the sight of Dolly, asleep on her sofa with a blanket over her knees, having obviously failed in waiting up for her to get home, Luce fell apart and sobbed.

  Dolly awoke with a start, jerking upright and tossing back the blanket even as she stumbled to her feet. ‘What happened?’ she asked, her voice bleary.

  Luce shook her head and pulled Dolly down to sit on the sofa with her. ‘I can’t... Just...don’t ask, please.’

  ‘Idiot,’ Dolly whispered. ‘Tell me he wasn’t more of an idiot than Tom?’

  ‘It’s a toss-up.’

  ‘Useless. All of them. We should run away to some women’s commune and raise her there.’

  ‘It might be a boy.’

  ‘Doesn’t matter. We’ll dress him in skirts.’ Dolly shook her head. ‘Except then Tom would just steal the house while we were gone, and that’s no good. So we’ll stay here.’

  ‘We?’ Luce blinked up at her sister

  Dolly took a deep breath. ‘I thought I could move in and help you. If you want me. And not at all in a house-stealing sibling way. Because you already have one of those. I know I haven’t always been much help in the past, but I think it might be time for me to grow up and take care of myself.’

  Luce tilted her head to look at her sister. ‘You have grown up. I don’t know what changed.’

  Dolly shook her head. ‘Doesn’t matter. The only thing that does is that I want to be here to help you with the baby. To look after you for a change.’

  ‘That would be wonderful.’ Relief started to seep into her chest. She didn’t have to do this alone. Even if Ben wasn’t there she still had Dolly.

  ‘And besides, I thought the rent money might help you with doing this place up a bit. Making it safe for the baby.’

  Luce stared at her. ‘You don’t have to pay rent. You’re still my baby sister.’

  ‘And I’m a grown-up now, remember? I can pay my own way.’ Dolly smiled a lopsided smile. ‘Maybe we can help look after each other. Because it seems to me that there’s going to be someone soon who needs your love and care a lot more than me or Tom or Mum.’

  ‘Especially if I’m the only parent it’s got.’ Luce slumped back against the arm of the sofa.

  ‘Idiot,’ Dolly muttered again. ‘But it doesn’t matter. You’ll be the best mum any child could hope for. And I’ll be the coolest auntie.’

  ‘Of course.’

  There was a pause, then Dolly asked, ‘What did he say?’

  ‘He’s got a lot of work on at the moment. He offered me money.’ That was a reasonable summary, Luce felt.

  ‘How dare he!’ Dolly’s voice grew ever more vehement.

  ‘The thing is, he’s not a bad man. He...he looked shell-shocked at the whole thing. Trapped. Like he couldn’t see a way out.’

  Dolly shook her head. ‘Doesn’t matter. He should have manned up and supported you.’

  ‘Yeah, I know.’ Luce twisted her hands in the blanket. He should have. Of course he should. And she couldn’t quite believe that he hadn’t.

  ‘But...?’

  Luce looked up at her sister. ‘The thing is, I think I might be a little bit in love with him.’

  Dolly laughed and pulled her into a hug, her arms warm and comforting around her. ‘Oh, Luce. Of course you are. I’ve known that for weeks.’

  ‘Then how come I only just figured it out?’

  ‘Because you were too busy trying to come up with a sensible plan for all this. Except love isn’t sensible, and it can’t be planned.’

  ‘Is that why you fall in love so often? Because you’re not sensible and can’t be planned either?’

  ‘Exactly.’

  How had her baby sister grown up so smart? Luce laid her head against Dolly’s shoulder and stared out into the darkened room. She knew where every stick of furniture was, exactly where each painting hung on the wall. They’d been there her whole life, after all. ‘What do I do now, Doll?’

  ‘You just take each day as it comes. It gets easier, I promise. And I’ll help you.’

  Luce nodded. Time to try life without a ‘To Do’ list for a while.

  * * *

  Ben woke feeling jet-lagged and hung-over, and cursed his alarm clock before he’d even opened his eyes. A headache pounded behind his temples, beating a rhythm that sounded like a door slamming over and over again. Still, he had work to do. And since, after last night, work was all he had, he supposed he’d better make the most of it.

  Dragging himself out of bed, into the shower and then into a suit took twice as long as normal. He skipped breakfast, his stomach rebelling at the idea. How much had he drunk after Luce had left? The mini-bar looked suspiciously empty.

  Seb was waiting for him in the meeting room and raised his eyebrows at the sight of him. ‘Jet-lag?’ he asked, pouring Ben a coffee.

  Ben dropped into an empty chair and pulled the saucer closer. ‘Amongst other things.’

  ‘Thought you’d be immune to that by now.’

  ‘Twelve time zones in eight weeks is hard on anyone’s body.’ Which was true. It just wasn’t why Ben felt so awful.

  Seb tilted his head, looking sympathetic. ‘You need some time off?’

  Ben shook his head. ‘I need to work.’

  ‘Why?’ Seb’s brow furrowed. ‘What’s going on, Ben? You’ve been different lately. First your trip away with your “university friend” then a sudden desire to revamp our hotels for the family market. Anything you need to tell me?’

  ‘She’s pregnant,’ Ben said, his voice flat.

  Seb’s eyebrows shot up. ‘Really? Well, that explains a lot. When did you find out?’

  ‘Last night.’

  ‘Oh. So the hotel thing was...?’

  ‘Coincidental. I hadn’t seen her since we came back from the cottage. She stopped by last night and told me. I...reacted badly.’

  ‘You were exhausted last night, Ben. I’m sure if you call her, talk to her...’

  ‘No. She’s right. It’s better that I’m not a part of the baby’s life.’

  ‘She said that?’ Seb shook his head. ‘That can’t possibly be true.’

  Ben shrugged. ‘What could I give a child? I have no idea how to be a father, my job means travelling pretty much all of the time, and I won’t force a kid to come along with me like Dad did. This is something I can’t fix. She told me as much.’

  ‘You mean you won’t try.’ Seb’s tone was flat. Disappointed.

  Ben glared up at him. ‘You don’t think I would if I could?’

  ‘I think you’re scared. I think you’ve got so used to swooping in and solving a crisis before retiring victorious you’ve forgotten that some things take more than that. Some things are worth more than that. More than just throwing money at a problem, or hiring and firing people.’

  ‘That’s my job,’ Ben snapped.

  ‘Yeah, and this is your life. Your future. It deserves more than a quick fix. Your child deserves more.’ Seb stared until Ben flinched. ‘You need to decide right now that you’re in this for the long haul.’

  The long haul. For ever.

  With Luce.

  After the last couple of months of being miserable without her, how could he give that up without a fight?

  Ben swallowed. ‘Okay. Say I’m in. What the hell do I do? She still t
hinks I’m the same person I was at university, with no sense of responsibility. She thinks I’ve never grown up.’

  ‘Then maybe it’s time to prove her wrong,’ Seb suggested.

  Ben blinked at his brother. ‘What do you mean?’

  Seb got to his feet, coming round to lean against the front of the conference table, next to Ben’s chair. Ben appreciated the gesture. It made it easier to remember that Seb was his brother, not just his boss, and definitely not their father all over again. Brothers. That was good.

  ‘You’re not that kid any more. I remember you at university. You’re miles away from that now. You work hard, you value your friends, you want to make a home—’

  ‘Where did you get that one from?’ Ben asked with a laugh. ‘I live in hotel rooms.’

  ‘Maybe. But I’ve heard you talk about your cottage. About your plans for the château. What are they, if not homes?’

  An image of Luce, leaning against the kitchen counter in the cottage while he cooked, flashed into his mind. Then one of her curled up on the sofa with a book and a blanket. Working at the desk. Sprawled across his bed, smiling at him, waiting for him to join her.

  The buildings weren’t home. Whatever he did to them, however he filled them, they couldn’t be—not on their own.

  They needed Luce there. Luce was home. Luce and their child.

  ‘Oh, God,’ he said, collapsing back in his chair. ‘I’m in love with her.’

  ‘Well, I thought that was obvious,’ Seb said. ‘Now, what do you want to do about it?’

  ‘What can I do? She thinks I’m an idiot, and I still can’t imagine how I could have a family right now.’

  Seb picked up the phone. ‘Business Services? Could you get us some more coffee in here, please? And we’re going to need the room a little longer than anticipated. We need to have an important planning meeting. Right now.’

  ‘Do you want me to send in some pastries, too?’ came the muffled reply.

  ‘Definitely,’ Seb said, looking at Ben. ‘Now, come on. Let’s find a way to make this work.’

  * * *

  ‘I can help with that, you know,’ Luce called up the stairs, behind the struggling Dolly and her suitcase. ‘I’m pregnant. Not an invalid.’