“It’s all right, Cecilia.” Stacy nodded knowingly at Dani. “You feel like you’re going to throw up, don’t you?”She was having to concentrate on not throwing up and couldn’t answer her.“And you were dizzy, weren’t you?” Stacy went on. “I know all about that. That’s how my mom feels every time she gets pregnant.”Pregnant. The nausea began to subside and Dani waited several beats, then cautiously took her hand away from her mouth. “I am not pregnant, Stacy. I think it’s just a little hot in here.”Elizabeth raced back to her and handed her a glass of water. Gratefully she took it and sipped. She supposed her symptoms did replicate those of early pregnancy, but in her case, it wasn’t true. It couldn’t be true.“Are you sure you’re not pregnant?” Stacy persisted.“Yes.” A cold, sick feeling suddenly gripped her and slowly she turned her head and looked in the mirror. A pale face stared back at her. Her gaze dropped lower to her breasts and stayed. Was she imagining it or were they sligh
She grabbed one of the pillows and threw it as far as she could. It landed in a pot of fringed irises. With a groan she fell back against the remaining pillows. There was no point in putting this off on him. She was the one who had been stupid.And there were more reasons not to tell Nathan she was pregnant.Protectively she laid her hand over her stomach. Dr. Robison had called this pregnancy a miracle, and it was. But there were no guarantees that another miracle could happen, and Nathan had said he wanted kids— plural.Then there was the fact that Dr. Robison had asked her to cut out everything strenuous. To her that meant it was entirely possible she might lose the baby before she could bring it to term.And something else too. Thanks to her, Nathan thought she and John were having an affair. Consequently Nathan would automatically think the baby was John’s. Great. Just great.As for herself, her hormones were running amok, carrying her spirits to dizzying heights of joy about the
“I’m sorry, but I can’t give you that information.”She tried to remain calm—getting upset wouldn’t be good for the baby—but she could feel her frustration climbing, along with nausea and a light-headed feeflng. “Look, I just want to see Nathan.”She was beginning to believe that she shouldn’t have come here after all. But it was the right to do, she reminded herself, and more than anything else, she didn’t want to have to make this trip again. So while she was here, she wanted to try everything possible to see Nathan. Then, if it didn’t work out, she wouldn’t blame herself. She took a deep breath and tried one more time.“If you would just tell Nathan Damaron that Danielle Savourat needs to see him, I would be extremely grateful. I promise I won’t take much of his time.”“Miss Savourat,” the young man said firmly, “I will give your name to Mr. Damaron’s assistant. After that, it will be up to Mr. Damaron as to whether or not he wishes to meet with you. In the meantime, if you don’t w
She set the water on the desk and wrapped her arms around herself. “It might seem incredibly stupid to you now, but at the time I thought I was doing the right thing.”“Stupid doesn’t even come close to what I think about it. Dammit, Dani. What in the hell were you thinking? In the first place, we’d only known each other a short time by then. There was no thought of anything long-term between us, at least not on my part.”“You’re right. There wasn’t.” By then she’d already fallen in love with him, but that was something she didn’t want him to know. “It’s just that I didn’t want to stick around and see what happened. I decided the longer we were together, the more our inevitable parting would hurt.” She swallowed against the rising nausea. “Nathan, try to put yourself in my position. That accident that Gil and I had was the greatest trauma of my life. It not only robbed me of Gil and our future, and the child I was carrying, it also, according to the doctors, robbed me of my chance of
“Much better, diank you, but you didn’t have to hang up on your call.”“My cousin and I were just going over some numbers for a project, but we’d finished.”Yaz—his beautiful cousin Yasmine, she translated to herself, the one she’d seen with him at their charity ball. She remembered wondering what it would be like to be the recipient of such uncensored warmth and genuine, uncomplicated love from him. She still wondered.“Why didn’t you wake me up when we arrived here?”He smiled. “You were out cold. You obviously needed the rest.”There was no disputing that. She’d spent most of the last few nights wrestling over the decision of whether or not to tell him about the baby. “Still, there was no reason for you to stay.”“There was every reason. Earlier today you told me you were having my baby. In my book that means we have a great deal to talk about.”She stifled a sigh. “I don’t want to argue with you again.”“We’re not going to argue. We’re going to discuss. But first, you should try t
If one more overdressed, intoxicated, holly-jolly male patted her cheek, or any odier part of her anatomy, Justine Miller was going to scream. In fact, if anything else went wrong today, she’d explode.Any normal person who had just gone through what she had would feel this way, she reassured herself. She forced yet another smile and moved through the boisterous Christmas-party crowd, skirting around the huge tree that twinkled merrily with lights. No, she corrected grimly, any “normal” person would have broken down by now and cried. But Justine didn’t break down or cry easily, and she wasn’t about to start.“Sis.”Her already tense body tightened as the need to escape nearly overwhelmed her. The grip she had on a still full glass of champagne became perilous. But she’d never run from a problem. Never. Besides, this was her beloved brother. He hadn’t meant to hurt her. Slowly she turned to face the tall young man with the too-serious blue eyes that matched her own. “Devlin.”“Hi.” His
Then Justine blinked, and the hurt and mistrust came back in a flash.“Is it true?” she said to Devlin, her petite hands listed at her sides. “You sold the Daily News to him ?” She jerked her shoulder toward the “him” in question.“Well . . .”“Devlin!”“It’s true,” Mitch said. Gently, he took her bare elbow and turned her back to face him. Simply touching her made his hand shake. Her skin felt incredibly soft. She wore the same scent, that irresistible blend of innocence and sensuality that drove him wild. “The paper is mine. But I only bought it because—”“I asked my brother." Each word was grated out through clenched teeth. The glass at their feet crunched as she yanked her arm free and backed up a step. Her chest heaved with each breath, and the already plunging neckline of her dress sank even lower, making him wonder just how secure she was in that gown.“Ask me , Jussie,” he said, aching at the hurt on her face. “I’m standing right here. You can’t ignore me forever.”“Why not?”
“It has to be off the record.”“Why?” she demanded. “Still hate publicity? It’s a little late for that, after the entrance you made.”He couldn’t handle the hostility in her eyes. “I want to talk to you, not the entire population of Heather Bay.”“Then why did you show up like that? You knew everyone would be there, you knew we’d draw a crowd.”“I had to see you right away.”He didn’t add that he’d come to her as soon as he could. The threat to him was gone, and Hopkins had released him from both the Federal Witness Protection Program and his obligation as a special agent for the FBI. Reluctantly, but he’d done it. “I knew if I showed up at your house or at work, you’d refuse to listen.”“You have no idea how I’d react to anything. Not anvmore.”There was a hitch in her breathing he was afraid to analyze. “Jussie—”“No. We’re over.” Her voice wavered and he leaped on that.“I can explain—”“I know,” she said sadly. “And the worst thing is, I’d probably believe you, fool that I am. I u