Nine Months

by Beverly Barton

  Oh, no! He’d told her about his five-year plan, hadn’t he? He’d told her that she wasn’t quite what he’d had in mind for the perfect wife. Jerk! How could he have said something so stupid? And he’d called the baby an accident that had messed up his plans!

  And don’t forget that you told her you expected her to sign a prenuptial agreement, he reminded himself. Hell, no wonder she’d lit into him the way she had. He was just surprised that she hadn’t called him a lot worse than an arrogant, egotistical, macho bastard. Undoubtedly, her vocabulary of gutter words wasn’t all that extensive.

  “Here’s your coffee.” Paige handed him a white ceramic mug.

  “Smells great. Thanks.”

  “Be careful. It’s hot.”

  He sipped the steaming brew slowly, eyeing Paige over the rim of the cup. Obviously she had already showered and dressed for the day. She looked immaculate in her brown skirt and crisp beige cotton blouse. She had plaited her long, glorious hair in a neat French braid. A pair of small gold hoops dangled from her ears. How could she look so good so early in the morning?

  “What time is it?” Jared asked.

  “Nine-fifty,” she said.

  “Damn, why did you let me sleep so late? I’ve got that meeting with Saunders at eleven and I haven’t even gone over my notes.” Jared gulped a mouthful of hot coffee. Yelping when it burned his tongue, he slammed the mug down on the end table and reached for his shoes and socks.

  “I’ve already called Kay and told her to reschedule your meeting with Mr. Saunders for one-thirty this afternoon.”

  “You did?” He slipped on his socks, then his shoes. “How did you explain about our not coming into the office this morning?”

  “I told her that you got drunk last night, passed out and had to sleep it off on my sofa.” Paige grinned mischievously.

  “You what!”

  “Relax, Mr. Montgomery.”

  When he tried to stand, Paige shoved him back down on the sofa. “I told Kay that you knew I was pregnant with your child and that we were both taking the morning off to discuss our options. And I cautioned her not to tell anyone about my being pregnant or your being the father, so you’ll have to think up a reasonable explanation for Mr. Addison.”

  “You’re a regular Miss Bossy-butt, aren’t you.” Jared suddenly realized how very little he knew about Paige Summers, the mother of his child.

  “I can be,” she said. “When it’s necessary.”

  Jared glided his tongue over his teeth. His mouth felt downright rancid. Cradling his chin in his hand, he ran his thumb over his heavy beard stubble. “Guess I look like hell, don’t I. I need a shower, a shave and some clean clothes, and I hardly have time for us to settle things between us, then drive all the way out to my house and get back in time for my meeting with Jim Saunders.”

  “There’s a one-hour laundry and cleaners in a minimall about a mile from here,” Paige said. “So, while you shower, shave and have some more coffee, I’ll take care of your clothes and bring us back some lunch.”

  “I knew you had everything at the office organized to perfection, so I guess it should come as no great surprise to me that you’re able to reorganize our morning so competently.” Jared removed his shoes and socks. “I’m surprised you didn’t have a plan for your life, too, the way I had, considering—”

  “I did have a plan,” she told him. “As a matter of fact, having a baby doesn’t change my plan. It just alters it a little and delays things by a few years.”

  He wanted to believe her. His heart told him that he could. But his mind warned him to be careful. Maybe snagging a rich husband by getting herself pregnant had been a part of her plan all along.

  “Look, Paige, what I said last night about the baby being an accident and your not being quite what I wanted in a wife, well—”

  “We’ll discuss all that later, after we eat lunch. For now, go in the bathroom and strip, then toss your clothes out into the hall.”

  Jared wanted to suggest that he’d enjoy his shower a lot more if she shared it with him, but he knew better than to even hint at the possibility. It was apparent that she had made their plans for the morning. As much as he admired strong, aggressive, take-charge women in the business world, he wasn’t sure those were qualities he wanted in a wife. He had assumed that a young working girl such as Paige would be more pliable, more easily influenced by his likes and dislikes. Perhaps she would even eagerly look to him for guidance.

  How wrong could a guy be? Apparently, Paige intended to be the one in charge. Did she think that by denying him sexually, she could bend him to her will more easily?

  “Hurry up,” Paige said. “We have a lot to do before your one-thirty meeting with Mr. Saunders.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Jared followed her orders to the letter. He stripped off in the bathroom, tossed his clothes out into the hall and turned on the shower. The front door slammed shut. He grinned as he reached for the soap. His little redheaded drill sergeant was going to be hard to handle, but she’d met her match in him. If she thought she was going to run this show, then she’d better think again. He would let her have her way—up to a point—then he’d let her know who was boss. The last time a woman had him wrapped around her little finger, he’d been a horny young fool of twenty. But no woman, no matter how much he wanted her, would ever make a fool of him again.

  * * *

  “How dare you pilfer through my things!” Paige threw his neatly laundered and dry-cleaned clothes at him and dropped the brown paper sack she held.

  Jared stood there with a large blue towel draped around his waist, his long, hairy legs and broad hairy chest naked, and shook the appointment card in her face. “You weren’t going to tell me, were you.”

  “No, I wasn’t going to tell you!”

  “This is the reason you let me sleep so late this morning. The reason you rescheduled my meeting with Jim Saunders for exactly one-thirty.”

  “That’s right. You can’t be in two places at one time, and I was afraid that if I told you about my appointment, you’d want to go with me.”

  “I’ll cancel with Saunders,” Jared said.

  “Mr. Saunders won’t like it if you don’t show up after canceling on him this morning.”

  “Tough.”

  “I don’t want you to go with me,” she told him. “I don’t need anything from you except my job until after the baby’s born.”

  “Tough.”

  “You need to broaden your vocabulary a little.”

  “Tough sh—”

  “You’re not going with me to see Dr. Petrocelli and that’s final!”

  Ignoring the clothing lying at his feet, Jared placed his hand over Paige’s belly. “I’m the father of this baby and I have every right to be present when you have a sonogram.” He pointed the card in her face. “That’s what this says, doesn’t it? ‘Paige Summers. One-thirty. Sonogram.’”

  Paige grabbed his hand and flung it off her stomach. “I don’t want you there. Can’t you understand plain English?”

  Jared willed himself to get under control. Maybe he had overreacted just a little when he’d accidently noticed her appointment card attached to the side of the refrigerator with a plastic magnet. His gut reaction had been a feeling of betrayal. Here he was offering Paige everything on a damn silver platter, and her thanks to him was to deny him his paternal rights. What sort of game was the woman playing? Did she think playing hard to get would up the ante? Did she think he’d want her enough to give her absolutely anything if she held out long enough?

  “I don’t understand why you’re so damned and determined to keep me from going with you. I’m the father, dammit. I’m practically your husband. We’re getting married next week. You’re moving into my home.”

  “Get dressed, Jared.” She glanced down at his clothes. “We need to talk. I promise to stay calm and explain exactly how I want to handle everything.”

  Not only didn’t he like what she’d said, h
e didn’t like the way she’d said it. What did she mean, she would explain how she wanted to handle things? Just who did she think she was, dictating the rules to him?

  Jared grabbed her arm and drew her up against him. Paige huffed loudly, but didn’t try to pull away. He lowered his face so that their noses almost touched. “Go ahead, honey. Explain how you want to handle things.”

  “I’d prefer to talk after you’re dressed.” She met his piercing glare defiantly, narrowing her eyes as she returned his stern look.

  “And I’d prefer we talk right now.”

  “All right, if you insist.”

  “I insist.”

  Jared dragged her over to the sofa, sat down and pulled her onto his lap. She struggled to get up, but he held her in place.

  “Keep wriggling around like that and you’re going to wriggle this towel right off me. Is that what you want?”

  She sat perfectly still, her back straight as a board, but she refused to look at him, gazing instead at her lap where she’d folded her hands together.

  “There, that’s better,” he said as he slipped his arm around her waist. She didn’t move a muscle. “I’ll go first. It won’t take me long, and then you can have your say. Is that all right with you?”

  She nodded agreement.

  “I’ll take care of you and our child. We can be married as soon as possible. All I ask is that you sign a prenuptial agreement. I’m not the kind of man who can walk away from my own child, so I’m willing to adjust my plans to include you and our baby.” He surveyed her from head to toe. “So what do you say, Paige? Marry me and I can turn Cinderella into a princess.”

  She didn’t respond immediately. Her body trembled slightly. She counted to ten. Turn Cinderella into a princess, indeed! “You don’t love me, do you?”

  “What?”

  “You don’t love me, do you?” she repeated.

  “No, I don’t love you. I hardly know you. What’s that got to do with our getting married?”

  “Nothing to you, I suppose, since you never planned to marry for love, anyway, did you? But I did, and that’s the problem. When I marry, it will be for love. And the man who really loves me will love me for exactly who I am.” He won’t think he needs to change me, to turn me into a princess. He’ll think I’m already a princess!

  “Love is just a romantic notion that keeps songwriters and romance novelists in business,” he said. “You and I share something far more real, honey. We may not love each other, but we sure as hell want each other.”

  “I need love, not just lust.”

  “You’re being unreasonable.”

  “I think it’s my turn,” Paige told him. “I will not marry you. Let’s get that straight right now. All I want from you is my job until the baby’s born, so I can keep my insurance. I won’t tell anyone else that you’re the father, but if you choose to be a part of our child’s life, I’ll allow you visitation rights. But this is my body.” Opening her palms, she spread them over her abdomen. “And this is my baby. I make all the decisions. The only rights you have are the ones I grant you.” She paused long enough to take a deep breath. “And I do not want to be turned into a princess, thank you very much!”

  At that precise moment, Jared wanted to throttle her. She was being totally unreasonable. Thinking like an irrational woman. But then, he supposed her hormones were raging now that she was pregnant and that might account for her ridiculous attitude. The last thing he wanted to do was upset her and possibly harm her and their child. His wisest course of action, he decided, probably was to go along with whatever she wanted. At least for the time being. Sooner or later, he’d wear her down and convince her to marry him. He just hoped he could do it sometime in the next five months. In time to save his son and heir from illegitimacy.

  Jared draped her body with both arms, sliding his hands over hers across her stomach. “This is our baby. But however you need to handle the situation is the way we’ll deal with it. Just don’t shut me out. Please, let me take care of you and the baby.”

  More than anything, Paige wanted to curl up in his arms, rest her head on his shoulder and surrender completely to him. But she couldn’t. She didn’t dare. If she gave him an inch, he’d take a mile. L. J. Montgomery was just the type. If she wasn’t very careful, she’d find herself agreeing to marry him and then spend the rest of her life regretting it. She couldn’t endure the thought of a loveless marriage, and that’s the only kind Jared would ever have. The man simply wasn’t capable of love. He wanted to own her, to rule her, to guide her!

  She pulled out of his arms. “If you meant what you just said, get dressed, and then we’ll eat lunch. Afterward, you can go into the office for your meeting with Mr. Saunders while I keep my appointment with Dr. Petrocelli for the sonogram.”

  As much as Jared wanted to protest, he didn’t. “All right. Then tonight, I’ll take you out to dinner and you can tell me about the sonogram and what the doctor said and—”

  “I’m having dinner with my family tonight. I’ve already promised my mother.”

  It took every ounce of control he could muster not to blow sky-high, but he reined in his anger and frustration enough to say, “Whatever you want, honey.”

  He’d let her think she’d won this round, that she was getting things her way, but by day’s end he’d figure out a way to get what he wanted. If Paige actually thought she could keep him at arm’s length for the next five months, then she’d definitely better think again.

  Paige Summers couldn’t wait to get to her parents’ home on Juniper Lane, a neat two-story frame they’d bought shortly after her father’s retirement. She’d show her mother the sonogram pictures before dinner, and then afterward, they’d watch the video. Accepting the fact that his unmarried daughter was pregnant was difficult for her father, but he loved her and she knew she could count on his support during the months and years ahead. She didn’t think she’d ever be able to bring herself to tell him that she’d gotten pregnant by a stranger the night of the horrible June rainstorm when she’d been trapped in the Wellman Building elevator. Walt Summers was far too old-fashioned. If he had any idea about the identity of the man who had fathered Paige’s child, he’d go after the guy with a shotgun.

  Paige giggled when she pictured her father holding a shotgun on L. J. Montgomery and demanding the man marry his daughter. But the image of her walking down the aisle with Jared quickly wiped the smile off her face. Nothing short of a wedding would satisfy her father or Jared.

  If circumstances were different, if Paige thought there was a chance Jared might learn to love her and accept her for the woman she was, she’d willingly marry her baby’s father. If they loved each other, they could find a way to overcome their many differences. But any man who could map out his personal life the way he planned his business ventures wasn’t capable of real love. If Jared loved her, he wouldn’t be so concerned about her being such an unsuitable mate.

  And even if she loved Jared—and that was a big if—her romantic heart would wither and die without having her love returned in full measure. Her soul needed a soul mate. Although she couldn’t deny that she was physically attracted to Jared, that she found him downright irresistible, she wasn’t sure whether what she felt for him was just infatuation or real love.

  Perhaps she had been trying to convince herself that she’d fallen in love with Jared at first sight because loving him would justify her pregnancy. After all, what woman would want to admit that she’d done something so monumentally foolish for any other reason than love?

  Maybe she had fallen for the cowboy stranger she’d made love with in the elevator, but L. J. Montgomery was a different man. He was her boss! How could she possibly love someone so domineering and arrogant?

  She turned her white Chevy Malibu into her parents’ drive, directly behind her brother Austen’s mud-splattered Chevy pickup. The front porch light shone brightly, casting a creamy glow over the wide front yard filled with neatly trimmed shrubs and barren flo
wer beds. Paige dropped her keys into her shoulder bag, double-checked the zippered side pouch to make sure the sonogram pictures and video were still there and got out of the car.

  The moment she opened the door, the cool October wind chilled her to the bone. Adjusting her shoulder bag, Paige buttoned her wool jacket before she hurried up the drive and onto the porch.

  Apparently her mother had been watching for her. Dora Summers flung open the front door, reached out and pulled Paige inside, then closed the door quietly.

  “Mama—”

  “Shh!” Dora put a finger to her lips, then yanked Paige into a corner of the foyer. “He’s here!”

  “Who’s here?” Paige asked.

  “Him.”

  “Mama, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Who’s here?”

  “Your fiancé, of course.”

  “My what?”

  “L. J. Montgomery,” Dora replied, her brown eyes huge as saucers. “Your daddy was fit to be tied when he told us that he was your baby’s father—”

  “He did what?”

  “But it’s all right now. The minute he showed us the diamond ring he’s going to give you and told your daddy that he wanted to ask his permission before y’all made it official, Walt’s attitude changed completely. Land sakes, they’re in the den now with Austen, the three of them talking about football and skiing and the army. You know, all that man stuff.”

  Paige had noticed over the years that whenever her mother got excited, her Mississippi accent became more pronounced. And Dora was quite excited now. Happily excited. But why shouldn’t she be? Why shouldn’t her entire family be delighted? After all, they’d been told that their unmarried, pregnant daughter was engaged to one of the wealthiest men in the Southwest.

  She should have known that Jared wouldn’t abide by their agreement and let her handle their situation. He was too accustomed to being in charge, to issuing orders and having them instantly obeyed. He planned and arranged every element of his life to his liking. He didn’t leave any room for other people’s feelings, other people’s hopes and dreams.