by Day Leclaire
But he didn’t listen. If anything, he held her closer. Put his hands on her. Warmed her. And refused to let her go. “Shh. It’s all right, sweetheart.”
“No! No, it’s not all right. It’ll never be all right.”
“What happened? Tell me what happened.”
She caved, shrinking into herself. She couldn’t put this off any longer. Couldn’t hide from the truth, no matter how badly she wanted to. Time to face him and end it. Time to finally and completely face it herself. Time to shatter both their worlds. “It was the night you proposed,” she said dully. “You asked me to marry you and I was going to tell you something, remember?”
“I remember.”
“I was going to tell you I was pregnant with our child. I’d been hugging the secret to myself for two full weeks, waiting for the right time.”
He went rigid in her arms. And she saw those gorgeous eyes light up with almost boyish wonder and excitement. Then the light extinguished as realization set in. “Oh, God. Something went wrong. What happened? Was there an accident?”
Exhaustion filled her. “Not an accident, no. The doctors said it was a spontaneous abortion. Something was wrong with the fetus. I lost the baby.” Her voice cracked. “Oh, Gabe. I lost our baby.”
He cradled her close and simply held her, waiting out the tears. “Was Roxanne right? Are you unable to have more children?”
“I don’t know how she found out. Who knows? Maybe she called the doctor and posed as me. I wouldn’t put anything past her.”
“Catherine, please. What happened?”
She’d avoided answering his question and they both knew it. But the time had come to give it to him straight. “The ‘how’ doesn’t matter, does it? The bottom line is, yes. She’s right. I can never have children. I was crazed after I lost the baby. That’s when I left you. But the bleeding wouldn’t stop.” Her face crumpled. “A few days later I had to have a partial hysterectomy.”
He hugged her close. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Cate. That’s what you meant when you said you were broken.”
“Did I say that?” She couldn’t remember.
He closed his eyes and leaned into her. “Oh, Christ, honey. Where the hell was I when you were going through all that? It was that damn lawsuit, wasn’t it?”
“I called you from the hospital,” she offered softly. “I’m guessing you didn’t receive any of the messages.”
“No.” Just that one word. But it said it all.
“Do you understand now why I would only agree to a temporary affair?”
He tensed. “Don’t tell me you buy in to Roxanne’s load of crap.”
“She didn’t say anything I hadn’t already realized for myself.”
He raised himself up onto an elbow so he could scrutinize her expression. “You think I’d end our relationship because you can’t have children? You think I wouldn’t marry you tomorrow because of it? Are you kidding me? Do you honestly think so little of me?”
“You’ve always wanted a big family,” she stated unevenly. “We had endless discussions about it. Piretti’s has been in your family for generations. You want children to carry on the name.”
“Right, so?”
“So we can’t have children!”
“Yes, Catherine, we can. It’s called adoption.”
“But they wouldn’t be your flesh and blood.”
That drove him from her arms. “What the hell kind of a man do you take me for? Do you really think me so shallow?”
She stared mutely, shaking her head.
He snatched a deep breath and gathered up his self-control. “Tell me something, sweetheart. Do you need to have a child grow in your womb for you to love and raise a baby as though it were your own?”
“No, but—”
“Neither do I. Neither does any man on this planet, since we don’t bear children.”
“I do know my basic biology, Gabe.”
“I’m relieved to hear it. Think, Cate. Men can’t experience what women do during those nine months they carry a child. And yet we bond with our baby when it’s born, even though it didn’t come directly from our own bodies. How is that any different from what will happen when we adopt?”
She shook her head again, unable to answer. Afraid to believe.
“And what if this had happened after we married? Do you think me the sort of man who would divorce you because of it?”
She started to cry then. How could she love this man so dearly and not have seen the truth? Not have seen all the way to the very heart of him? How could she have given Roxanne so much power? It wasn’t Gabe who was guilty of not having enough faith. She was the one to blame.
“I’m sorry, Gabe. I should have trusted you.”
“I won’t argue that point. But I didn’t give you a lot of reason to trust me, not while I had my priorities so screwed up.”
For the first time in two long years, she could see clearly. “If I’d come to you about Roxanne two years ago, you’d have fired her then, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes. I had no idea she’d become such a problem for you, or she would have been replaced within the hour.”
Now for her biggest concern. “Where do we go from here?” she asked.
“That’s an excellent question.” He returned to the couch and took her into his arms, rolled on top of her so she was deliciously cushioned beneath him. “First off, we keep our weekend reservation at Très Romantique.”
A small smile crept across Catherine’s mouth and she could feel the beginnings of something precious sprouting inside her. Hope. Hope was taking hold and putting down roots. Deep, unshakable roots. “And then?”
“Then we make sure we’ve cleared away every last secret, every last doubt and every last concern while I explain to you, slowly and clearly, just how much I love you.”
She threw her arms around him and held on for all she was worth. “I love you desperately, Gabe.”
He closed his eyes and she felt his tension drain away. “You have no idea how long I’ve waited to hear those words again.”
And then he kissed her. It was a soft caress, unexpectedly gentle. A benediction. A promise. He kept it simple, the passion tempered and muted. And yet it was a kiss Catherine would remember for the rest of her life. It melded them, heart and mind, body and soul. With that one kiss, all doubts faded, replaced by certainty. This was her man, just as she was his woman. Whatever the future brought, they’d face it together.
It was a long time before Gabe spoke again. “After we have everything settled between us, I’ll need to speak with someone at Elegant Events.” He shot her a wicked grin. “I have it on good authority that they’re the best event stager in town.”
A smile flirted with Catherine’s mouth. “As a matter of fact, they are.”
“I’ll need to speak to their top event specialist,” he warned.
“I happen to know she has a very busy calendar. But she might find room for Gabe ‘the Pirate’ Piretti. If he asked nicely.” She tilted her head to one side. “Tell me. What would you need with a top-notch event specialist?”
“I need her to plan the wedding of the year.”
“Why, Mr. Piretti,” she protested indignantly. “That sounds like you’re asking me to mix business with pleasure. I thought we had rules about that sort of thing.”
“The hell with the rules.”
She pretended to look scandalized. “No more strictly business?”
He shook his head. “From now on you are my business—first, last, and foremost.”
And he proceeded to prove it in a very efficient, if unbusinesslike manner.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-2766-2
MR. STRICTLY BUSINESS
Copyright © 2009 by Day Totton Smith
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