“Agreed. But—” Charles began, a smile on his lips, charm in his voice.
Ton was having none of it. She slapped a check down on the desk. “You’re under a misapprehension, Mr. Wilson. My client doesn’t want Mr. Hardison’s money. She’s offering a check for twenty-five thousand and a payment schedule for the other half. All she asks is Mr. Hardison’s leniency in allowing her to pay off her debt.”
Both women kept their gazes pinned to a stunned Charles. Will stared at them, unable to believe what he’d heard.
“I beg your pardon? Did I understand you correctly?” the lawyer finally asked.
“You did,” Tori told him, her shoulders rigid.
He looked at Kate. “You’re giving up your claim to Will’s money? I mean, I don’t want to be crass, but that’s a lot of money.”
“I have no claim to his money,” she said, her voice even, with no inflection.
“But he said—”
“I don’t know what he said, but there’s no reason for me to claim his assets. I simply want to nullify the agreement...and apologize for any inconvenience.”
Will frowned. Didn’t she remember what she’d signed? “Kate, you know you have a right to my money.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Are you denying what happened between us?” he demanded, outraged that she could pretend they hadn’t made love.
“Will, whose side are you on?” Charles demanded urgently.
She wouldn’t look at him. Only at his lawyer. “If your client will consider my offer, I’d be grateful.”
“Under the circumstances,” Tori added, “I think it’s more than generous.”
“What about the dresses, your jewelry, the car? Don’t you want them?” Will demanded, stepping forward.
Kate almost shrank in her chair, angering him even more. Continuing to stare at Charles, she said, “Those things don’t belong to me.”
“I gave them to you, damn it!” he roared, bending over to seize the arms of her chair, staring into her eyes.
“Please instruct your client to restrain himself,” Tori ordered, leaning protectively toward Kate.
“Will, please, back off,” Charles asked, rising from his chair.
Unable to stare any longer into her stoic face without touching her, tracing her lips, smoothing her cheek, Will jerked away and paced toward the window.
“Perhaps we should leave the agreement with you. You can contact me in a day or two with your client’s response,” Tori said hurriedly, standing and pulling Kate up with her. “Thank you for your time.”
“Tori, wait,” Charles called, hurrying around his desk.
Will bumped into him as he raced to stop Kate’s departure.
The two women almost reached the door in the confusion, but Will grabbed Kate’s arm as Tori took hold of the doorknob.
“Kate, what are you doing?” he demanded, his voice raw.
“Turn my client loose!” Tori ordered.
“Tori, he’s not going to hurt her,” Charles protested.
Kate closed her eyes and turned away, as far as she could with Will holding on to her.
“I want to speak to my wife alone!”
Those words made her look at him for the first time since she’d realized he was in the office.
“No,” she whispered, pain and pleading in that one word.
“Will, I don’t think—” Charles began.
“My client doesn’t want—”
“I won’t sign the agreement unless I have a moment alone with her.”
“Are you crazy, man?” Charles demanded. “She’s offering you a way out.”
Will stared at Kate’s hazel eyes, her trembling lips. “Either talk to me, now, Kate, alone, or you’re going to be a very wealthy woman.”
Charles groaned, but Will wasn’t worried. He’d finally discovered the truth about Kate O’Connor Hardison. And about himself.
He could see her gathering her strength, her courage, before she actually signaled her agreement with a nod. Without ever taking his gaze from her, he motioned to Charles to take Tori and leave.
“Kate, are you sure?” Tori asked anxiously.
Again she nodded, her gaze remaining locked with Will’s.
The door closed softly behind the two attorneys, leaving them alone. Will let out the breath he’d been holding.
“Thank you.”
She swallowed convulsively and nodded but said nothing.
“Why?”
Kate didn’t answer right away, but she continued to stare at him. Finally she said, “I don’t want your money.”
“But you came to me to get money,” he reminded her.
“I came to—to get a loan, or a grant. Not a handout. Not to trick you into anything.”
“The agreement was my idea.”
She turned her back on him. “And a wise one.”
“Then why not make me pay?”
She stepped away from him, her trembling fingers clutching the back of one of the chairs she and Tori had occupied.
“Please, Will, accept my agreement. I promise I’ll pay all the money back.”
“Is this Maggie’s savings?”
She nodded.
“I can’t take Maggie’s savings from her, Kate. You should know that.”
Her shoulders slumped. “Then I’ll give you what I have left. It’s almost twenty thousand, and we’ll add the rest to the payment schedule.”
“You’d give up your dream? You’d stop work on the diner?”
Suddenly she whirled around, anger sparking in her hazel eyes. “What do you want from me, Will? I don’t have any other choice. If you have a better plan, let me know!”
“I’ve never known a woman who’d choose poverty and a payment plan over a fortune.”
“This isn’t doing any good,” she snapped, and turned toward the door.
Will stepped in front of her. His heart was singing as he realized what a treasure he’d discovered. As he realized how wealthy he suddenly was. If he had no money left, not a penny, he’d still be rich beyond his wildest dreams.
“Kate, it’s doing my heart a world of good. Feel.” He reached for one slender hand and placed it against his chest. She tried to escape his hold, but he couldn’t allow that.
“Will, don’t, please. I can’t take much more.” The heart-wringing plea in her words moved him.
Pulling her against him, he whispered, “Neither can I.” Then his hps covered hers, and he kissed her more soundly and sweetly than she’d ever been kissed in her life, again and again taking her mouth and molding it to his, wrapping his arms around her, pressing her body to his until they almost became one, throbbing and pulsing against each other.
He finally stopped kissing her long enough to say, “I’ve missed you so much, Mrs. Hardison. Please say you’ll come back home. I need you.”
He would have returned to the business of kissing, believing he’d already discovered her answer in her lips, but she put her hand between them.
“For how long?”
Her words stopped him, and he stared down at her.
“What?”
“Our agreement is for a year. I can’t come back to you, Will, with that hanging over my head.”
He buried his face in her neck. “We’ll rip it up. I want you for my wife for all time. Kate O’Connor, will you marry me? I’ll thee endow with all my worldly goods.”
Kate’s eyes were filled with tears again, but he prayed that this time they were happy ones.
“Just give me your heart, Will. That’s the only thing I’m asking for.”
“Done, Mrs. Hardison. It’s been yours for quite a while now.”
He returned to the kissing, which removed any possible doubt of his love.
And Kate kissed him back, pledging her own devotion as they brought each other to ecstasy.
Epilogue
“Your timing is off, Kathryn,” Miriam protested. “The party at the Kavanaughs is very important.”
&nb
sp; Kate smiled wearily, not surprised by her motherin-law’s words. Miriam was all business when it came to her party-planning company.
“Don’t worry. The sauces are already prepared and frozen and my assistant can handle everything else.”
“Oh, good,” Miriam said, consulting a list she carried with her everywhere.
“Mother, aren’t you even going to congratulate Kate on such a fine job of providing you with a grandson?” Will asked, taking his wife’s hand in his.
Miriam looked surprised. “Well, of course she did a fine job. Kathyrn is most competent. Now, I’ll be on my way. But I’ll check with you tomorrow about our schedule.”
Will smiled at Kate after the door closed behind his mother. “Didn’t I warn you how difficult my mother is the first time I met you?”
“Yes, you did. But you have to admit she hasn’t bothered you about your social schedule since we married.”
“Nope. She’s been too busy planning parties for the entire city.”
“And she’s been most generous about using my catering firm.”
“Generous, hell. You’re the best there is.” He gave her a congratulatory kiss. “You’d better get some sleep before the miracle you produced wakes up and wants to be fed.”
She smiled at him and they both looked at the crib on the other side of the bed. “He’s wonderful, isn’t he?”
He kissed her again. “Yeah,” he agreed, his voice husky. “Almost as wonderful as his mother ”
Will thought back to a year ago, when Kate had first burst in upon his world. He’d been bitter and lonely, sure to remain so. But Kate, in her determination to take care of her family, to create a living memorial to her father, had brought him a greater happiness than he’d ever known existed.
“Sleep tight, Kate. I’m going to miss you tonight, but Duke and I will manage on our own. I’ll be back at breakfast time in the morning.”
“You mean you’re going to miss having a beach ball in bed with you, taking up space,” she teased.
“No,” he disagreed solemnly. “I’m going to miss my Kate. I don’t like to let you out of my sight, but for the sake of Nathan William Hardison, our brandnew son, I’ll spare you one night.” He kissed her again. And felt his arousal stir.
“Damn it, Kate, if I don’t go soon, I’m going to crawl in that bed with you, and shock the hell out of the nurses.”
She kissed him again, then pushed him away. “Go. Do all your work tonight so that you don’t even think of the office for at least a week.”
“Agreed.”
From being all-consumed by his work, Will had spent a lot of time at home this past year. With Kate. And now they’d have baby Nathan to share. And if God blessed them, more children in the future.
All because he’d gotten up the nerve to marry Kate.
And keep her.
ISBN : 978-1-4592-5925-6
MARRY ME, KATE
Copyright © 1999 by Judy Christenberry
All rights reserved Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work m whole or m part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Silhouette Books, 300 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017 U S A.
All characters m this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A
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