Ryan’s gaze skimmed over neighbors and other company until it landed on Beth and Patrick Ryan huddled in the corner of the patio. They were arguing. Again. Ryan had caught several heated exchanges between them during the past three hours.
Nicole might believe this was the perfect setup for raising a child, but Ryan sensed trouble in this suburban, cookie-cutter paradise. The tension between the couple was palpable from fifty feet away, and it had been even more obvious when he’d presented his offer before the party. Just one more reason to make damned sure he got full custody. He didn’t want his kid to be a bone of contention in an ugly divorce the way he’d been. And he’d bet his Corvette, his boat and his motorcycle the Ryans would land in divorce court sooner than later.
Beth reminded him of his mother. She wore the same self-suffering martyr attitude his mother had pulled in the years after she’d packed up a ten-year-old Ryan and moved away from her husband. Millicent Patrick had spent the next eight years using Ryan as a weapon against his father and bitching about his father’s mistress—work.
Her complaints had fallen on deaf ears. A love of architecture was something he and his father had had in common even back when Ryan had been a snot-nosed kid. For as far back as he could remember, Ryan had spent hours beside his father’s drafting table asking questions, begging to be allowed to “help.” His father had always indulged him until the separation after which he’d had little time for his only son.
Work was the only mistress he and his father respected or committed to for the long haul. Women couldn’t be trusted or counted on. A lesson he’d learned the hard way compliments of his ex-wife, the lying, cheating bitch.
His gaze shifted to the youngest Hightower. She interested him because as much as she resembled her mother and Nicole, she didn’t fit in. The roar of her Harley splitting the silence of the neighborhood had been his first clue. Like him, she was an outsider here. Not even Nicole’s frequent attempts at drawing her sister into the crowd could breach the gap between her and the rest of the siblings. And Nicole seemed to be the only one making an effort to include her sister.
The Hightower in question looked up, caught his eye and headed in his direction. Her black leather boots and jeans-covered legs crossed the lawn with a long stride. In the past the rebel in her would have called to the rebel in him. But for some reason, her wild side didn’t twitch his interest today.
She stopped in front of him. “You don’t look like one of Beth’s snooty neighbors.”
Ryan smiled. He’d made the same assumption about the guests’ attitudes. He offered his hand. “Ryan Patrick and, no, I don’t live in the area.”
Her eyebrows rose when she heard his name, but she didn’t comment. Her handshake was firm and brief with no sparks despite her resemblance to her sister. “Lauren Lynch.”
She looked enough like Nicole that he would have sworn they were closely related. “You’re not a Hightower?”
“Jacqueline is my mother, but William isn’t my father. My father died a couple of months ago. And before you strain your brain trying to unravel that long, boring story, my mother had an affair with a Hightower Aviation pilot. I’m the byproduct. She delivered me, left me with my dad and returned to her husband and other children like a good little wife.”
That explained the tension between Lauren and the Hightower siblings. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
She shrugged. “Thanks. Losing my dad was hard, but his passing gave me the opportunity to meet a family I didn’t know I had. So what brings you here? Are you a Hightower Aviation client?”
He wasn’t ready to reveal the truth. “Not yet, but I’m considering contracting the company.”
Access to a plane would make his life easier since he traveled the country on a regular basis. He definitely wanted to contract one of the Hightowers. But not for flying.
“Married?” Lauren asked.
He gave her credit for being direct. “Not anymore. You?”
“No way. Never have been. Probably never will be. Do you have any children?”
“Not yet.”
Lauren glanced down at her beer bottle then back up at him through lashes as long and thick as her sister’s. “Can I give you a hint?”
About what? “Sure.”
“Nicole’s probably the most decent one in the bunch. Maybe even the only decent Hightower. But she’s going to be a hard nut to crack because…Well, she just is. I’ll let you figure out the whys. Stick with her. She’s worth it.”
Were all women born with a matchmaking gene?
“What makes you think I’m interested in Nicole?”
Lauren grinned and sipped her beer. “Could be the way you’ve been watching her all afternoon.”
Guilty. But how else was he going to learn about the mother of his child? He searched for her. Nicole had joined her sister and brother-in-law and was currently engaged in a hushed but animated conversation. Nicole covered her belly with one hand. Her gaze bounced over the crowd and landed on Ryan. He didn’t know what her sister had said to upset her, but the distress on her face was clear. Adrenaline shot through his system.
“Go ahead,” Lauren prompted.
“Go ahead and what?”
“Ride to her rescue. You know you want to.”
Smart girl. “Is Nicole the type to need rescuing?”
Lauren grimaced. “Let’s just say if I were her, I would have told this bunch of leeches to go to hell a long time ago. But she’s the one deputized to maintain the peace.”
Lauren was full of interesting factoids. One of these days he’d buy her dinner and pick her brain. “Nice meeting you, Lauren.”
“You, too, Ryan. And good luck.”
He wasn’t going to need luck. He had the law on his side.
His feet carried him across the grass to the trio. “Problem?”
Beth shook her head and gave him a disingenuous smile—the only kind he’d seen from her to date. “We’ve decided against announcing Nicole’s pregnancy today.”
He liked the sound of that. The longer they delayed, the more time he’d have to prepare for the possibility of the entire Hightower clan siding against him. The extra time would give him time to plot a new strategy.
But why would the decision to keep the news under wraps upset Nicole? He searched her face, but didn’t find his answer.
Little did she know, she’d done him a favor by showing him the dissension amongst the Hightowers, and she’d given him ammunition toward suing for sole custody.
He needed to divide and conquer the trio wanting a piece of his kid, starting with the weakest link.
Nicole’s brother-in-law, the greedy bastard.
Three
“R yan Patrick is here for your lunch appointment.”
Lea’s announcement made Nicole’s already stretched nerves snarl. Her fingers spasmed on the keyboard, filling the document on her monitor with a spew of gibberish.She punched the intercom button. “We don’t have a lunch appointment.”
“Yes, you do. He called and I scheduled it.” She wanted to strangle her assistant. “What does he want?”
“There’s only one way to find out.” The smirk in Lea’s voice came through the speaker loud and clear.
Nicole saved her work, closed the file and rose. She’d fix the gibberish later. She wasn’t capable now. “Send him in. But Lea, don’t make any more surprise appointments for me. And stop matchmaking. Your record proves you suck at it.”
Over the past few years Lea had made a determined effort to find the man who could make Nicole forget Patrick. Her friend couldn’t accept that such a man didn’t exist.
Unlike Nicole’s fickle mother who changed her lovers as often as she touched up her manicure, Nicole would only love once in her lifetime. She’d rather be alone than with the wrong man—or a series of them. And she was very careful not to let herself board that crazy lust-love-crash roller coaster. Whenever she realized she was in line for that ride she stepped aside. No more heartache for her.
Moments later her door swung inward and Ryan filled the opening. He wore a black suit with a white shirt and a cobalt tie that matched his eyes. Her stomach fluttered.
Who would her child take after? Him or her?
The man would make beautiful babies.
Never mind. Looks don’t matter. A healthy baby is all you’re after.
“Nicole.” He nodded his dark head in a greeting and his eyes raked over her, making her very conscious of how her raspberry-pink V-neck, wraparound dress clung to her pregnancy swollen br**sts. “Ready?”
His low-pitched voice scraped over her nerve endings like an emery board, leaving her feeling raw and exposed and strangely out of sorts.
“Why are you here, Ryan?”
He pushed the door closed between him and Lea. “Because I’d like to know something about the woman carrying my child besides the sparse raw data in the clinic’s file. I imagine you have questions concerning my health and history, too.”
Now that he mentioned it, she did. With Patrick she hadn’t needed to ask because she’d already known everything about him.
Do this for Beth and for the baby you’re carrying for her.
What was it the old cliché said? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Ryan Patrick qualified as the latter. He definitely threatened all she held dear. And the only way she could learn more about him was by spending time with him.
“I can give you a couple of hours.”
“That’s all we’ll need.”
She grabbed her purse and crossed the room. He opened the door as she approached and pressed his hand to her waist to guide her through as she passed by him. Every cell in her body snapped to attention startling her so much she bumped the door frame.
He caught her upper arm and steadied her, his fingers branding a circle around her biceps. “Careful.”
Their gazes met. Her heart stuttered. Why did he have to have this effect on her? The man was an arrogant ass.
You’re carrying his baby. Of course you’re going to have a reaction to him.
Nicole shook off his hold.
Lea grinned unrepentantly. “Have a great lunch. Don’t rush back. I have everything under control.”
Nicole frowned at her assistant. “I’ll be back in time for my next appointment.”
“Your two o’clock postponed until four. I can reschedule him until tomorrow, if you’d like.”
Nicole glared a warning. “Don’t you dare.”
“Well, take it easy. You have plenty of time.”
Not what she needed Ryan to hear when she wanted an excuse to cut lunch short. But she bit back her reservations and accompanied him outside to his Corvette. He opened the door for her. She avoided his touch and slid into the leather seat.
He climbed into the driver’s side, making the luxurious sports car feel crowded. His scent filled her nostrils and his nearness addled her nerves.
“Why did your sister failing to announce your pregnancy upset you?” he asked as he started the car.
Give the man points for being perceptive. But her feelings were none of his business. “It didn’t.”