The Tycoon's Marriage Bid

by ALLISON LEIGH,

  * * *

  He shouldn’t have put the courier pouch within ten feet of her slender hands, Alex thought later that night as he watched the foot of the bed again through the flames flickering in the fireplace. He’d left her poring over the contents, and when he’d checked on her again, she’d fallen asleep with her cheek against a press release for the Valentine’s Day dance Huffington sponsored every year benefiting various charities. The dance wasn’t for another month, but his marketing department was gearing up for the good PR that the event garnered each year.

  Nikki had slept right through dinner. Hadn’t stirred when he crouched beside the bed and quietly spoke her name. Had done nothing but sigh a little and turn more fully toward him when he’d done the monumentally stupid thing of brushing her hair away from her cheek.

  He should never have touched her hair. Not that night in the bathroom when she’d lost her cookies.

  Not tonight when she’d been sound asleep on a pile of papers that he paid staff to handle.

  At least she was sleeping, though, and not leaning over the toilet losing her lunch.

  He held up the cell phone he’d been using since she’d loaned it to him, and hit Redial. Valerie’s voice mail at the Echelon was, again, the only answer he got.

  God knew where his ex-wife was these days. She’d been out every evening when he’d called, ever since he’d come to Montana. She’d gotten herself more under control since she’d shown up nearly a year earlier in Cheyenne, desperately upset over another episode with Hunt. She’d stuck with AA for longer than she’d ever managed before. And as long as she kept passing the drug tests she’d agreed to she was doing a decent enough job handling PR for Huffington’s philanthropic interests. She was on the ball at least when it came to the Valentine’s Day dance.

  She was probably out at a meeting.

  Alex hoped.

  The last thing he needed was Val taking a nosedive again. Aside from the time he gave to Huffington, he’d spent more time saving her from herself than anything else in his life.

  He’d known he was taking a chance on being gone this long. But he’d needed to do something where Val was concerned. She’d been getting too attached to him lately. He’d support her in most any way he could, because they went back so far, but he wasn’t about to be a substitute for Hunter. Not again. He wanted her to stand on her own feet for once.

  Trouble was, unless she’d answer her phone, he was left wondering whether his absence helped the situation or had her backsliding all over again.

  He tossed aside the cell phone, then jabbed the poker into the fire a few times before putting the screen in place on both sides of the fireplace.

  Then he looked through the flames at Nikki. He’d already moved aside the mess of papers and envelopes, and pulled the velvet spread over her legs.

  She was about as different from Val as a woman could get. Val of the blond hair and killing smile who’d needed him would never understand the independence that drove Nikki. She’d considered it her due to accept help. Nikki did so in order not to interrupt her sister’s honeymoon or her mother’s vacation.

  He turned off the lamp next to the red couch and peeled down to his shorts and T-shirt. Then he grabbed the quilt that he’d been using as bedding, and stretched out. Tomorrow he’d have his new cell phone, he’d handle the conference call with the boys at Macfield, which had taken him too bloody long to arrange, and he’d tell his human resources department to pull in an administrative assistant from one of the other sites.

  He’d pay the person whatever it took to get him or her to Cheyenne. Even though he was loyal to the town and his flagship clinic, he knew it wasn’t always an enticing prospect for someone living in a major metropolitan area where his other sites were located. Money, though, had a way of overriding such details.

  He threw his arm over his eyes. Outside the cabin, the wind picked up, whistling through the eaves, gusting down the chimney to make the flames spit and dance. The storm the news had been predicting all day had evidently arrived.

  Suited him just fine.

  He couldn’t go around rattling windows and screaming through trees.

  Sleep wasn’t coming any easier tonight than it had since they’d arrived, though, and he finally found the remote for the television and flicked it on, keeping the sound low so it wouldn’t disturb Nikki. The cabin didn’t come with a phone line, but it came with satellite television.

  Go figure.

  He found a sports channel and tossed aside the remote. The leather creaked as he lay back on the couch. But the sports recap didn’t hold his attention the way he’d hoped, because he kept looking through the flames at the bed.

  Far as he could tell, Nikki hadn’t moved a muscle. He exhaled roughly and finally rose, going to check on her. He turned the light on in the bathroom so he could see better, but pulled the door nearly shut so it wouldn’t disturb her.

  She was curled in a knot, one arm flung wide, palm upward, fingers curled slightly. Her breathing was soft, barely noticeable, particularly with the howling wind.

  Okay. She was fine. Still sleeping. And he wouldn’t let her do any work tomorrow, because it had obviously been too taxing.

  He was supposed to be watching out for her, not wearing her out.

  He’d turned back to the bathroom to douse the light again when a gust of wind shook the cabin and the bulb crackled loudly and went black.

  The fire snapped and popped, the only sound inside the cabin aside from the storm. Lightning strobed through the skylight over the round bed.

  ‘Alex?’ Nikki’s voice was soft, thick with sleep. And it put him in mind of early mornings, tangled sheets and more closely tangled bodies.

  ‘What are you doing?’ she asked.

  Losing his mind, evidently. ‘Power went out.’

  She sat up a little. ‘Really? Feels like a hundred degrees in here.’

  It wasn’t. In fact, without the hum of the electric furnace, the cabin was cooling rapidly. A good thing on a personal front.

  ‘What time is it?’

  ‘Around eleven.’ He was glad he was standing in the shadows, pretty much out of the firelight. ‘You slept through dinner. I can heat it up over the fire, I suppose. Just spaghetti. Probably won’t harm it any.’

  ‘I’m not hungry.’ She sat up a little more. ‘But I need to go would you mind?’

  He frowned in the darkness. ‘Just a second.’ He wasn’t about to carry Nikki Day without his pants on. He wasn’t into living that dangerously. His jeans were where he’d left them, lying in a heap next to the couch and he quickly pulled them on, then went back to the bedroom and scooped her off the mattress.

  Heat radiated from her like the furnace would have done had it been operating. He stopped cold.

  Pressed his hand to her forehead. She was sweating. ‘You’re burning up.’

  ‘Just a little too warm,’ she murmured. ‘The, um, the bath’

  ‘Yeah. Yeah.’ He carried her carefully into the bathroom and set her on the bench. ‘Hold on. I’ll get you a candle.’

  ‘I can manage.’

  ‘I said hold on.’ Testy, still feeling the heat of her, he retrieved one of the candles that lined the mantel and lit it effectively by shoving the tip in the fireplace. Then he carried the fat, squat thing into the bathroom and set it on the sink. ‘There.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  He closed the door and paced back to the fireplace. Kept glancing toward the bathroom and catching his lightning-splashed reflection, along with the round, mammoth bed, in the mirror.

  He wasn’t going to barge in on her in the bathroom again, but waiting for her to call for him took more patience than he’d have liked. When she did so, she’d pulled off her sweater and wore only a thin, sleeveless shirt that clearly defined her swollen belly, plus the taut thrust of her full breasts.

  But with more skin showing, he could feel even more fully just how hot she really was. ‘You’re running a fever,’ he muttered. ‘I’
m taking you to the hospital.’ He didn’t pause, even though he expected an argument. But he got none.

  Which made him move all the faster. He blew out the candle before going into the bedroom to set her on the bed. ‘What’d we do with your shoes?’

  ‘I don’t know. I haven’t worn them since we got here.’ She curled onto her side, obviously wanting to go back to sleep.

  ‘I knew I shouldn’t have let you do any work.’ He finally found her boots one under the bed, the other nearly hidden beside the nightstand.

  ‘I’m not running a temp because I sorted some mail.’

  He closed his hand around her ankle and she stilled, audibly sucking in her breath.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ he demanded.

  ‘Nothing.’

  Didn’t sound like nothing. But she didn’t pull away, and he finished working her boot over her stockinged foot, then repeated the process with the other one. ‘I’ve got to bring the truck around from the shed. Don’t go anywhere.’

  She groaned a little at his poor joke.

  He went into the living area and yanked on a sweater and boots, then shoved his arms through the sleeves of his coat. The keys to the SUV were still hanging on a hook near the door where he’d left them when they’d arrived.

  ‘Be careful,’ she called just as he let himself out into the howling wind. He yanked up the collar of his coat and trudged off the steps in the general direction of the shed.

  With no moonlight and no flashlight to guide him a candle would’ve been useless with the wind it was slow going. But there was little between the two structures to impede his progress, and fortunately, it wasn’t snowing.

  Nevertheless, he managed to clock himself in the head on the log building, and swore viciously as he groped his way to the swinging door and heaved it open.

  Climbing inside the SUV at last, he started the engine, flipped on the blessed headlights and drove right up to the steps of the cabin. Alex left the passenger door open and hustled inside.

  Finding Nikki’s coat, he pulled it over her bare arms, then picked her up and carried her to the truck.

  ‘I’m sorry about this,’ she murmured as he nudged her fumbling hands out of the way, to fasten the safety belt himself.

  ‘I’m the one who’s sorry,’ he countered. Sorry he’d let her lift a single finger. Heat was coming off her in waves, and he hoped to hell it was because of the contrast between her and the freezing conditions outside.

  Certain that she was tucked in safely, he slammed the door and strode around to the driver’s side. In seconds, they were heading down the road, buffeted by the wind.

  ‘This is terrible weather to be driving in. Nobody should be out in this.’ Nikki shifted in her seat, obviously uncomfortable.

  He’d have driven faster if he weren’t afraid of sliding off the damn road. ‘No better than back home.’

  He shot her a quick look. Her face looked tense in the green glow of the dashboard lights. ‘If you had to have a vacation now, why not pick someplace warm at least?’

  ‘Cody and I were going to spend our honeymoon in Lucius. That’s where his parents stayed. They spent their wedding night at Tiff’s.’

  Alex’s fingers tightened on the wheel. The tires spun a little as he turned onto the highway, heading to town. Who the hell was Cody? ‘Were going to spend,’ he repeated. ‘Is he the father’

  ‘I wish.’ Her comment was barely audible. Then she cleared her throat. ‘He died before the wedding.’

  Alex had always known Nikki hadn’t sprung from a rock the day she’d begun working for him. But he’d never asked what sort of life she’d actually had.

  ‘He was only twenty-two,’ she said after a moment.

  ‘And you were ’

  ‘Twenty-two, also.’ She gave a quick sigh. ‘He had an undiagnosed heart condition. He died on a Thursday afternoon during football practice.’

  The lights of Lucius were visible now. Alex had the accelerator pressed to the floor and the SUV

  flew down the road. Twenty-two. They’d been babies. ‘Must’ve been tough.’ An understatement.

  ‘Umm.’ Her head fell back against the seat. ‘I came to Lucius to put things to rest. Seems like all I’ve done is stir things up. Caused inconveniences wherever I went.’

  He snorted and wheeled into the hospital parking lot, shooting straight up the ramp to the emergency-room entrance. ‘Gonna send out invitations for the pity party?’

  The comment had the desired effect. She stiffened, fortunately no longer looking on the verge of tears.

  He parked dead center of the entry and went around to carry her inside. As soon as they entered, along with a blast of howling wind, a nurse hurriedly produced a wheelchair, and Alex settled Nikki on it.

  ‘Labor?’ The nurse cast a critical eye over Nikki, undoubtedly noting that she looked nowhere near term even swaddled the way she was in her thick coat.

  ‘Fever. Backache. Dr. Carmichael was treating her less than a week ago.’

  ‘Ah. I was on vacation last week. We’ll pull your wife’s record in a sec.’ The nurse, a comfortably middle-aged woman who radiated calm, smiled at Nikki. ‘But first let’s get you to a room where you’ll be more comfortable. Your husband can fill out the paperwork and join you when he’s finished.’ She didn’t wait for a response, but sailed backward through a swinging door, pulling Nikki’s wheelchair after her.

  She’s not my wife. The words sounded inside Alex’s head.

  But as he turned to the desk, where a bleary-eyed clerk waited with pen in hand, he didn’t voice them.

  The question was, why?

  Chapter Seven

  ‘A bladder infection!’ Nikki couldn’t contain her relief. She’d been lying in the examining room for what seemed hours.

  ‘It’s not uncommon.’ The doctor on duty this time was a woman. ‘I was plagued with them with each of my three pregnancies, in fact.’ She glanced over the top of her modern, black-framed glasses. ‘My doctor advised me to drink more water. Of course, I was already drinking enough water to float a cruise ship, but that was beside the point.’

  She scribbled her pen across a prescription pad, tore off the small sheet and handed it to Nikki.

  ‘Antibiotic. Take them until they’re gone. And drink more water.’ Her lips quirked. ‘If you’re not feeling considerably better within twenty-four hours and by better I mean no fever whatsoever call us immediately.’

  ‘And she still needs to stay off her feet,’ Alex confirmed. He’d been leaning against the opposite wall, doing a good imitation of a stone pillar for nearly an hour, with his arms crossed over his wide chest and his expression unreadable.

  ‘Absolutely.’ The doctor flipped through the chart. ‘Dr. Carmichael wants to see you next week, I see. Monday. He’ll undoubtedly reevaluate you at that point.’ She smiled. ‘Assuming we don’t see you again over the weekend.’ She tucked her pen in her lapel pocket. ‘Your temp is just about normal now, so unless you have any questions or other concerns, you can blow this pop stand.’ She raised her eyebrows, waiting.

  Nikki shook her head, and with another admonishment to drink more water, the doctor handed over the insurance forms and left.

  Nikki stared blindly at the pale pink forms. Once again, Alex had footed the bill. ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘For not drinking enough water?’ His voice was dry. ‘For scaring another couple dozen gray hairs onto my old head?’ He straightened away from the wall, picked up her coat from where it was draped over a straight-back chair, and spread it across her shoulders. Then he scooped her off the exam table and settled her in the wheelchair. ‘At least while we were in here the storm blew itself out.’

  Nikki propped her head on her hand, still staring blindly at the slip the doctor had given her. ‘The hospital probably has an all-night pharmacy.’

  ‘Good thing. Doubt there’s any other place in Lucius that’s open at this hour.’ He pushed her out into the waiting room. ‘You going to be okay here wh
ile I get that taken care of?’

  She nodded. He plucked the scrip from her fingertips and strode away, swiftly querying the admissions clerk about the location of the pharmacy. He was nearly to the elevator when Nikki called his name.

  He stopped, turning on his heel. ‘Yeah?’

  His hair was tousled, the gray strands he’d joked about barely visible. His jeans were stiff with mud around the hems. He needed a shave and his eyes were bloodshot.

  He looked as far from her impeccably dressed, workaholic boss as he could get.

  Something unraveled inside her. The something that kept a barrier between the unattainable and everything else.

  She swallowed. ‘Thank you.’

  His head tilted. Then his lips quirked in a smile before he stepped into the elevator and the doors slid closed.

  Nikki exhaled, shaken. She felt as if all the vibrancy in the sleepy waiting room left with him.

  She glanced around. Three other people sat in the molded chairs circling the room an elderly woman dozing over the mound of knitting in her lap, and a young couple clinging to each other’s hands, their eyes tired and glazed.

  Nikki’s expression was probably not much different.

  She rested her head on her hand, closing her eyes, dozing just a bit. How on earth would she ever repay Alex? Not just for the money he’d spent, but for his time?

  For a moment she actually wished she’d cashed Hunter Reed’s abhorrent check. What would be worse? Using his money, or being in Alex’s debt?

  At least she respected Alex.

  He could be a hard man, true. But he had integrity. To the core.

  He would never evade his responsibilities. Nor would he ever substitute someone for another in a fit of weakness.

  ‘Here.’

  She started, looking up. Alex held a small white bag in one hand and a bottle of water in the other, and he dropped them in her lap. She wrapped her fingers around the water bottle, bemused. This was a hard man? A man who fixed her meals, carried her hither and yon, put up with her cabin-fever moods?