“That was different,” Jefferson said and walked to the balcony of his suite. Looking out over the river, glistening like quicksilver in the moonlight, he only half listened to the jumble of music drifting to him from a nearby pub. This harbor city, though it was nowhere near as big as L.A., was a far cry from the village of Craic and the otherworldly quiet that he’d become so used to. Realizing that didn’t put him in a better frame of mind. “That was you being miserable. This is me.”
“Right,” Justice said, still laughing, then to someone else added, “He says he did propose the right way.” He sighed, then said to Jefferson, “Maggie doesn’t believe you.”
“Tell her thanks for the support.” Naturally his sister-in-law would come down on Maura’s side. Female solidarity at work again. He’d about had his fill of strong women lately. Especially strong women who were currently making him insane.
“So tell me again,” his brother said, “what was Cara’s plan?”
Jefferson frowned out at the city. Westport was awake and partying. Lovers walked along the Carrowberg River, pausing now and then for a desperate kiss beneath old-fashioned streetlamps.
It was a great view, he admitted silently. But it wasn’t the one he wanted. He preferred the view of the lake out Maura’s bedroom window.
Damn it.
Months, he thought, since he’d touched her. Except for that one kiss interrupted by the movement of his child. And that kiss haunted him, waking and sleeping. Need was a clawing, vicious beast crouched inside him, tearing at him constantly. The only way to assuage the beast was to be with her and the only way to be with her was to promise her something he couldn’t.
He was a man caught in a web that twisted more tightly about him every time he tried to escape it.
“You still there?” Justice demanded.
“Yeah, I’m here.” Jefferson turned his back on the view and said, “What were we talking about? Oh, right. Cara’s plan. Well, right about now, she’s telling Maura that I’m going to fire her from the movie unless Maura agrees to marry me.”
“Are you nuts?”
Since he’d just thought the same thing himself, that was a statement hard to argue with. Jefferson muttered a curse and dropped onto the edge of the bed. “No. Maybe. I don’t know.”
“Let me get this straight,” Justice said in his slow, thoughtful style, “you’re planning to use extortion to get the mother of your child to marry you. That about cover it?”
Somehow, this idea sounded worse when Justice said it. “Yeah. That’s the plan.”
“And you think this move is going to endear you to her?”
He stood up again, feeling a swirl of something that he might have thought was panic if he’d been the kind of man to feel that particular emotion. “I never said that’s what I was going for. This isn’t about that at all.”
“Good thing,” Justice murmured.
Jefferson had thought that Justice, of all of his brothers, would understand because of his well-developed sense of honor and loyalty. “This is about marrying the mother of my baby. It’s the right thing to do and you know it.”
“Sure, if you love her.”
Exasperated now, he demanded, “Who said anything about love?”
“I think I just did.”
“Well, knock it off.” Jefferson paced his bedroom and when he didn’t have enough room, left to stride back and forth across the living area. “This isn’t about love, Justice, and since when did you become the touchy-feely brother?”
A laugh barked into the phone. “I’m not. I’m only saying that marrying someone just because of a baby is a bad idea.”
“That’s what Maura keeps saying.”
“Smart woman.” Then to his own wife, Justice added, “Not smarter than you, honey.” Then he was back and saying, “Jeff, don’t dig yourself a hole you’re not gonna be able to climb out of. You can be a part of your kid’s life without being married to his mother.”
Yeah, he could. Logically, Jefferson knew his brother was right. But he didn’t want that. He didn’t want to be a part-time father. Be one of the weekend dads that he saw all over Los Angeles. He wanted the same kind of relationship with his own kid that Jefferson himself had had with his father. He wanted a damn family for his child. That made him a bad guy? In whose book?
What was so wrong with wanting to be with his child’s mother?
“That’s not how it’s going to be,” he said firmly, feeling his resolve settle in. He’d outmaneuvered studio heads, business moguls and financial wizards. He had no doubt that he could outdo one beautiful sheep farmer.
“Your call,” Justice said, “but I’ve gotta say, I think you’re asking for trouble.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” he answered ruefully.
Maura was going to be furious. But he’d had to get her here. To talk to him. And Cara’s plan had been the only way.
There was a knock at the door and Jefferson’s head snapped up like a wolf picking up the scent of its prey. Had to be Maura. No one else would be coming here to see him. And knowing she would show up, he’d left her name at the desk, clearing her for the elevator to his floor. “Can’t talk now,” he said softly. “She’s here.”
“I sure hope you know what you’re doing, brother,” Justice told him. “Let me know what happens.”
With Justice’s less-than-hopeful words ringing in his ear, Jefferson tossed his cell phone onto the coffee table and walked to the door. He hardly noticed the lush room. It was much like every other suite in every other hotel he’d ever stayed in. Crystal vases filled with colorful flowers standing on gleaming tables. Comfortable chairs drawn up to a gas-fed hearth where carefully monitored flames leaped and danced.
He moved quickly, but even with that, three sharp, impatient knocks sounded out again before he reached the door.
When he opened it, Maura rushed right past him, anger radiating off her in thick waves. And all he could think was, God, she’s beautiful.
She wore dark-wash jeans and a red sweater beneath a black coat she peeled off and tossed across a chair the moment she was in the room. Her long black hair was windblown and there was hot color in her cheeks.
“You lying, sneaky, treacherous, no good…”
“Hello to you, too.” He closed the door and faced her, determined to play this out. He’d set his course with Cara, so he’d hold true to it until he got what he wanted.