She hugged her arms around her middle and fought to stop the tremors that racked her. No man’s kiss had ever rocked her that intensely. Not even Patrick’s. She staggered back in her tiny foyer until her heels hit the bottom stair.
Why had Ryan’s kiss packed such a punch? She searched her brain for a logical explanation for her illogical reaction and grasped on to the first idea that came to her.
“We’re just drawn to each other because of our crazy situation. You’re not my type. I don’t want you.”
His gaze dropped to her br**sts. She didn’t have to look down to know what he saw. Her n**ples tingled, telling her they were tight and very likely tenting her blouse and contradicting her words. Damn her out-of-control hormones.
She’d read some pregnant women often craved sex, but she hadn’t expected to experience the phenomenon. While she liked sex, it had never been one of those things she couldn’t live without.
Ryan brushed her cheek with a fingertip. The simple touch hit her like a crackling power line. “I don’t want to want you, either, Nicole, but I find you very attractive.”
Hearing the gravelly words only exacerbated the needy spasms of her internal muscles. She dodged out of reach on unsteady legs, stopping in the archway leading to her den. “Please don’t say that or do that again.”
He held her gaze without blinking. “I’m not making promises I’m not sure I can keep.”
Her breath shuddered out, pounded out of her chest by her hammering heart. “You need to go.”
“I’ll call you when the real estate agent locates the next house.”
She wanted to scream at him to never call again.
But she couldn’t. Beth and Patrick were counting on her to keep the peace. Somehow, some way, she would not let them down.
“Way to go,” Trent said as he entered Nicole’s office Monday afternoon.Her brother wasn’t the type to offer approval unless something really big had happened.
“What are you talking about?”
“Patrick Architectural just bought fractional ownership in a Cessna Citation X. They listed you as the referral.”
Not what she wanted to hear. But she’d been warned.
The Citation was the fastest midsize jet HAMC offered. She gave Ryan credit for going top-of-the-line. Her attention fell to the client file in Trent’s hand. His arm lifted, extending across her desk and offering a burgundy-and-gold folder. The color combination signified a contract for the highest level of service HAMC provided.
Déjà vu. Another document she didn’t want to read.
“They’ve requested you as their client aircraft manager.”
Her stomach plunged as if she’d just parachuted from a plane—something she’d never do again because she hadn’t enjoyed the being-out-of-control sensation. “Trent, my casebook is full. Please assign them another CAM.”
“Not an option.” His clipped tone warned her not to argue, but that wasn’t going to stop her. Not this time. She had too much to lose.
“I really can’t handle another client without my performance suffering on the ones I already have.”
“I doubt that will be a problem, but if you’re concerned we’ll shift some of your other customers to someone else.”
“No. I don’t want to give up any of my people. They’re like family.” And like every family, hers had some eccentrics who required special handling.
His eyebrows dived toward his nose. “Tough. This deal was contingent on your acceptance.”
She had to talk to Beth and get her sister to announce the pregnancy to the family. Until she did, Nicole couldn’t explain to her brother why she had to refuse Patrick Architectural. How could she work with someone when she was about to become embroiled in a nasty custody battle over the baby she carried with him? But until then…
“C’mon, Trent, I never argue and never refuse an assignment—not even the most difficult cases that others have dumped. You know that. So the fact that I’m asking for a break now tells you I need it.”
His face didn’t soften one iota. “Let Becky know who you’re handing over by the end of the day.”
“You’re pawning me off on your assistant? Trent—”
“Familiarize yourself with the file. Your first meeting with your new client is Friday afternoon, two o’clock.”
“But—”
“There are no buts, Nicole. It’s a done deal. Patrick Architectural is yours.” He dropped the file on her desk, pivoted and stalked out.
Case closed. Nobody won an argument with her big brother—especially when he was locked in stubborn mode.
Nicole flopped back in her office chair and stared at the ceiling. This could not happen. And it had nothing to do with that kiss. Nothing. Absolutely, positively nothing.
Her lips tingled as if she could feel Ryan’s kiss again, and that stirred up a termites’ swarm in her belly. And termites left nothing but destruction in their path. She was very, very afraid Ryan might kiss her again, and that she’d do something stupid like her mother and act on that lust.
No, she wouldn’t. The kiss had been a fluke, a combination of out-of-control pregnancy hormones and the strange tie she had with him as the father of her baby. That’s all. She was certain of it.
Well…mostly certain.
She could call Ryan and plead conflict of interest, but she suspected her arguments would fall on deaf ears. He was tightening the screws and he’d show no mercy. That meant she had to talk to Beth. Now. She bolted to her feet, and ignoring a slight wave of dizziness, charged out of her office.
“Hey, where are you going?” Lea called out. “You have Tri-Tech in ten minutes.”
Ten minutes. Normally she’d be at her desk reviewing the file ten minutes before a meeting. She couldn’t today.
“Are you okay?”
“I have to talk to Beth. I should be back, but if I’m not, make sure Ronnie gets his coffee with cream and three spoons of sugar, and a raspberry jelly donut.”
As the CAM in charge of each owner’s service team she knew her client’s preferences as well as she knew her own.
“Got it, boss.” Lea snapped a smart-aleck salute.
Nicole didn’t want to wait for the elevator or risk running into Ronnie coming up and have to return to her office before talking to her sister. She headed for the stairs and jogged down three flights. She was slightly winded and perspiration dampened her skin by the time she knocked on Beth’s open door.
With the phone to her ear, Beth held up one finger, pointed at the visitor chair and turned away. But Nicole couldn’t possibly sit still. She checked her watch. Eight minutes. She’d never been late for an appointment before and didn’t want to start now. She prided herself on promptness.
What felt like an eon later but was actually only two minutes—she knew because she counted off the seconds—Beth cradled the receiver and faced her. “What’s up?”
“We have to tell the family about the baby.”
Beth stiffened. “Not yet.”
“Beth, Ryan Patrick’s company just contracted us and demanded me as their CAM. I can’t do it. You and I know why, but I can’t tell Trent the reason I must be excused until you let the family in on our little secret.”
Beth bit her bottom lip, shifted in her seat and shook her head. “I’m not ready.”
“What do you mean, you’re not ready? I’ll be showing soon.”
Tense, silent seconds passed. “Nicole, Patrick and I are…having problems.”
Nicole’s heart stuttered. She knew they argued. “Every marriage has rough spots.”
“This is bigger than that.”
Her pulse fluttered. In the first few years of Beth and Patrick’s marriage, Nicole had selfishly wished for Patrick to realize he’d married the wrong sister. But that wasn’t what she wanted or needed now. If Beth and Patrick separated with Ryan circling like a shark, the custody issue would only get more complicated, and Ryan would stand a better chance of winning.
“Is it because the baby’s not his?”
Beth adjusted the pens on her desk. “That’s part of it.”
A fresh wave of panic hit. What would she do if they decided not to adopt her baby? Ryan would win and she might never see her child again.
“You’ll work it out, Beth. You’ve always worked it out before. You guys are perfect for each other. Remember?” She heard the desperate edge to her voice.
“This time is different.”
“I’ll help. I’ll talk to Patrick. I’ll do whatever you need me to do, but you guys have to stay together. You love each other.” The irony of begging for the man who possessed her heart to stay married to another woman didn’t escape her.
“Nicole, sometimes love is not enough. And the timing for the announcement is all wrong.”
“You’ve known for five weeks.”
“Give me a little more time,” Beth said with a tight smile. “And then everything will be settled.”
Nicole pressed a hand over the little life causing so much upheaval and felt the extra firmness beneath the skin. “I don’t have more time. And you know we’re having the ultrasound Wednesday. You’re going to want to share the pictures. The doctor even said she’d make a video of the baby for us.”
“Patrick and I will have to watch the video later. I’m not ready to share the news.”
Surprise rocked her back on her heels. “Later? You’re not coming to the appointment?”
Beth made a show of checking her calendar. “I can’t get away.”
Nicole couldn’t remember Beth ever lying to her before. Lying for her, sure. Many times. But she knew from the look in her sister’s eyes Beth was telling a whopper this time. Beth was HAMC’s publicist and there were no urgent marketing campaigns going on now. September was traditionally a slow month, and Beth’s office was practically a tomb. It had been no big deal when Patrick and Beth had skipped the earlier routine appointments, but this time they’d get their first look at their future son or daughter.
Pain made Nicole look down. She’d dug nails so deeply into her palms she’d broken a fingernail at the quick. Blood filled the tiny crack. That was going to hurt for a while.
But not as long as losing her baby would.
Her thoughts swirled like leaves in a windstorm. Needing to collect herself, she checked her watch and realized she was out of time. Panic rose within her.
“Beth. Please reconsider. I can’t keep Ryan on my client roster.”
“I’m sorry, Nicole, but we can’t make the announcement yet. Maybe in a few weeks.”
A few weeks. Two weeks ago Beth had barely been able to contain the news, then at the picnic she’d begged for a few more days. And now she was delaying weeks?
Nicole had a bad feeling about the whole situation. Something was really, really wrong, and until she knew what it was, she couldn’t fix it.
“Beth, I need your help.”
“This isn’t high school anymore, Nicole. It’s not as simple as lying for you like I did when you skipped class or picking you up when your date dumped you on the side of the road because you refused to put out, or forging Mom’s signature on a note home from your teacher. Handle your own damned problems for once and quit screaming for me.”