The Baby Deal
Delia couldn't believe what she was thinking. What she was considering.
A vacation fling?
She didn't have flings, vacation or otherwise.
No strings. No attachments. No future. No further expectations. Nothing to answer for.
But here she felt free. Free enough to indulge whatever whim struck her. As if her real self had been left at home while she was in some faraway place where whatever she said or did remained when she returned to her everyday life.
Never before had Delia done more than laugh at the very notion. But now?
Now it seemed to be beckoning to her.
He's a stranger, she reminded herself. And we're out here, on the beach, in the open.
It wasn't something Delia McCray did. Ever.
But tonight Delia McCray was back in Chicago, while she—whoever she was at that moment—was here. In paradise…
Dear Reader,
No matter what the weather is like, I always feel like March 1st is the beginning of spring. So let's celebrate that just-around-the-corner thaw with, for starters, another of Christine Rimmer's beloved BRAVO FAMILY TIES books. In The Bravo Family Way, a secretive Las Vegas mogul decides he “wants” a beautiful preschool owner who's long left the glittering lights and late nights of Vegas behind. But she hadn't counted on the charms of Fletcher Bravo. No woman could resist him for long….
Victoria Pade's The Baby Deal, next up in our FAMILY BUSINESS continuity, features wayward son Jack Hanson finally agreeing to take a meeting with a client—only perhaps he got a little too friendly too fast? She's pregnant, and he's…well, he's not sure what he is, quite frankly. In Judy Duarte's Call Me Cowboy, a New York City girl is in desperate need of a detective with a working knowledge of Texas to locate the mother she's never known. Will she find everything she's looking for, courtesy of T. J. “Cowboy” Whittaker? In She's the One, Patricia Kay's conclusion to her CALLIE'S CORNER CAFÉ series, a woman who's always put her troublesome younger sister's needs before her own finds herself torn by her attraction to the handsome cop who's about to place said sister under arrest. Lois Faye Dyer's new miniseries, THE McCLOUDS OF MONTANA, which features two feuding families, opens with Luke's Proposal. In it, the daughter of one family is forced to work together with the son of the other—with very unexpected results! And in A Bachelor at the Wedding by Kate Little, a sophisticated Manhattan tycoon finds himself relying more and more on his Brooklyn-bred assistant (yeah, Brooklyn)—and not just for business.
So enjoy, and come back next month—the undisputed start of spring….
Gail
THE BABY DEAL
VICTORIA PADE
Books by Victoria Pade
Silhouette Special Edition
Breaking Every Rule #402
Divine Decadence #473
Shades and Shadows #502
Shelter from the Storm #527
Twice Shy #558
Something Special #600
Out on a Limb #629
The Right Time #689
Over Easy #710
Amazing Gracie #752
Hello Again #778
Unmarried with Children #852
*Cowboy's Kin #923
*Baby My Baby #946
*Cowboy's Kiss #970
Mom for Hire #1057
*Cowboy's Lady #1106
*Cowboy's Love #1159
*The Cowboy's Ideal Wife #1185
*Baby Love #1249
*Cowboy's Caress #1311
*The Cowboy's Gift-Wrapped Bride #1365
*Cowboy's Baby #1389
*Baby Be Mine #1431
*On Pins and Needles #1443
Willow in Bloom #1490
†Her Baby Secret #1503
†Maybe My Baby #1515
†The Baby Surprise #1544
His Pretend Fiancée #1564
**Babies in the Bargain #1623
**Wedding Willies #1628
**Having the Bachelor's Baby #1658
The Pregnancy Project #1711
The Baby Deal #1742
Silhouette Books
Downhome Darlin'
The Baby Bombshell
Her Sister's Keeper
World's Most Eligible Bachelors
Wyoming Wrangler
Montana Mavericks: Wed in Whitehorn
The Marriage Bargain
The Coltons
From Boss to Bridegroom
Logan's Legacy
For Love and Family
VICTORIA PADE
is a native of Colorado, where she continues to live and work. Her passion—besides writing—is chocolate, which she indulges in frequently and in every form. She loves romance novels and romantic movies—the more lighthearted, the better—but she likes a good, juicy mystery now and then, too.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter One
White sandy beaches. Crystal-clear water washing over coral reefs. Lush, dense foliage below enormous palm trees. Soft, lilting music. The scent of sea and soil and sweet, sweet flowers wafting on a balmy breeze.
Paradise.
Tahiti really was paradise, Delia McCray thought as she looked out over the small table where she sat.
The last night of her vacation.
A trio of Polynesians played guitar, ukulele and drums to one side of the wooden dance floor, where her half brother Kyle and his wife, Janine, and Kyle's and Delia's half sister Marta and Marta's husband, Henry, swayed to the sounds.
Delia smiled at the sight. The five-day trip had been her treat, a reward for everyone's hard work. It was also her own first vacation in ten years—so it wasn't something she'd done lightly—and it was heartening to see how much everyone was enjoying it.
Despite the fact that the three McCray children weren't full-blooded siblings, they'd been raised by the mother they'd shared and they were close. They'd always looked out for each other, and it was nice that they'd been able to have this time together. Even if Delia was aware of being odd man out at moments like this when the two couples paired up.
Her focus settled on Kyle, who was holding Janine close and saying something to her that made her laugh. Delia had no idea what he'd said, but she smiled, too, warmed even from a distance by what they shared.
Kyle was the baby of the family at twenty-eight and Delia couldn't help feeling proud of him, of the man he was. The man he'd made of himself in a houseful of women.
Kyle was un-tall, as he liked to say, but he was lean and wiry, and while he had Delia's same white-blond hair, his hazel eyes and ruddier skin color were more like Marta's.
Marta, who danced into Delia's view just then and diverted her attention, was the middle child at thirty-two.
As Delia watched, Marta pressed her cheek to the shoulder of her husband, Henry. Henry laid his cheek atop Marta's short-cropped black curls, and his hands dropped lovingly to his wife's curvaceous hips.
It wasn't any surprise that no one ever guessed that Delia and Marta were sisters. They looked nothing alike. Marta's nose was a bit hooked at the end, while Delia's was turned up. Marta's eyes were a mishmash of brown and green, while Delia's were decidedly blue. Marta's lips were fuller, Delia's skin was much more pale, and they'd never been able to trade bras because Delia couldn't even begin to fill one of Marta's. But despite the external differences
, they were soul mates.
“You could be out there dancing, too…”
Delia smiled at the deep voice that came from behind her, feeling the scant brush of breath against the ear her very straight, blunt-cut shoulder-length hair was tucked around.
Andrew.
“I could be out there dancing if I had a partner,” she countered, braver and more flirtatious than she would ever have been if she were home in Chicago. Or without the liquid courage provided by the sour-apple martinis she'd been drinking.
Andrew came around to set a tray full of fresh drinks on the table and—again under the influence of the liquor that was making her head light—Delia's gaze went unabashedly to the man she'd only met the day before. He was handsome enough to cause even the splendor of paradise to fade into the background.
Andrew.
She knew him only as that, since they hadn't exchanged last names. He was tall, at least six feet, with broad shoulders, a strong back and pure, solid muscle, the only bulk he carried.
His hair was a sun-streaked light brown and he wore it a bit long on top.
His face was an interesting combination of refined features and a touch of ruggedness that carved the edges of his jaw and his nose into sharp angles. His brow was square. His cheekbones were pronounced. His lips were slightly on the thin side and his eyes were so dark a shade of brown they were the color of Columbian coffee beans.
With looks like his, he seemed to be the kind of man who would squire models on each arm and not fraternize with lesser mortals, yet since they'd met he hadn't appeared to notice any of the women who had ogled him. He'd just fit in as one of the guys—one of the McCrays—and if he were aware of how he put height-challenged Kyle and paunchy Henry to shame, he didn't show any sign of it.
Or maybe he was just so comfortable with his own striking good looks that he forgot about them. Anything was possible, Delia conceded, acknowledging to herself that she didn't actually know anything about Andrew except that he was good company and had been able to tell them where the best spot on the island was to snorkel.
He'd arrived at the resort the day before, had overheard them talking at dinner the previous evening about their plans for their last day in Tahiti and he'd offered his advice. And since he was apparently as familiar with their surroundings as any native, when he'd also offered to show them the spot he'd suggested, they'd taken him up on it and spent the day with him.
As thanks for his guidance, the McCrays had invited him to have dinner with them. And now here they were, at the palapa—the open-air bar and dance area covered by a thatched roof only a few yards from the water—savoring the last few hours of their final evening in Tahiti.
Well, the McCrays' final evening. Andrew wasn't leaving.
He was, however, holding out a hand to Delia just then.
“I'd love to be your dance partner,” he said with a smile that flashed perfect white teeth and created a dimple at the left corner of his mouth.
“You don't have to,” Delia demurred, some of her bravery flagging suddenly.
“I do, though,” he insisted. “These are my dancing shoes.”
His own dark eyes dropped to his feet and Delia's followed, albeit somewhat slower as her glance drifted down his taut, polo-shirted torso to his narrow waist, to hips caressed by khaki slacks, to thighs thick enough to hint at their existence within his pant legs.
He was wearing deck shoes, not dancing shoes—without socks—and Delia had to quell a tiny shiver of something that almost felt like arousal at the sight of nothing more than a fraction of an inch of naked foot between the vamp of his shoes and the break of his slacks.
At home, deck shoes and no socks would have been a turnoff. But then at home she also wouldn't have been in nothing more than a tight, spaghetti-strapped camisole that she usually only wore underneath things, a brightly colored sarong tied at her waist over her bikini bottoms and sandals. But she wasn't at home. She was in Tahiti. On vacation.
And anything goes, she thought.
Andrew was still holding out his hand to her, waiting for her to take it, to accept his invitation to dance.
“Come on,” he said in a deep voice that tempted and cajoled at once.
Why not? Delia asked herself, taking the plunge. And his hand. And getting to her feet at the same moment Andrew's extremely handsome face erupted into a grin.
“Good girl! I knew you had it in you,” he praised, teasing her.
He led her to the dance floor and swung her into his arms. The movement sent Delia's head spinning, warning her that she really was already under the influence of alcohol.
It didn't matter, though. Not when she felt so good. Not when everything seemed right with the world.
Marta gave her a thumbs-up over Henry's shoulder when she caught Delia's eye, bestowing sisterly approval and encouragement of Delia letting down her hair—an uncommon occurrence.
Delia only smiled in return as Andrew pulled her closer and proved he was as adept at dancing as he'd been at everything else they'd done today.
And it was nice. Nice not to be odd man out anymore. Nice to feel a man's strong arms around her—something that hadn't happened in a long, long while. Nice to be where she was, who she was, with her family and this very pleasant, personable stranger. Nice to be oh-so-relaxed and fancy-free, with nothing to do but have a little fun. Nice, for once, to just go with the flow….
And that was exactly what Delia did for the remainder of the evening. She danced with Andrew and Henry and Kyle. She drank more—and more—sour-apple martinis. She laughed and flirted and had a good time until one by one the other people in the palapa disappeared. Until Kyle and Janine wandered off to their bungalow. Until Marta and Henry wandered off to theirs.
Until Delia was left all alone with Andrew, on the dance floor yet again.
His arms were slung low on her hips. His hands were clasped together at the small of her back. Her arms were hooked over his shoulders. Her brow was against the wall of his chest. His chin was on the crown of her head. And they were barely swaying to the lazy strains of a very slow song.
“Why is it that vacations take so long to get here and then end so soon?” she lamented in a singsongy, dreamy voice.
Above her, Andrew chuckled a throaty chuckle that was all male. “I don't believe in ever letting them take too long to get here,” he said. “And who says it has to end? You could change your plans. Stay…”
Delia laughed. She sounded giddy to her own ears but she didn't care. “Stay?”
“You could send Kyle and Janine and Marta and Henry on their way and stay,” Andrew said. And unless Delia was mistaken, he was serious.
She lifted her head from his chest to peer up at that face that was too good to believe. “I can't stay,” she said, not sounding serious even though she was.
“Sure you can. A few phone calls can arrange anything. I know the owner of this resort—I stay here often. I'll get him to let you keep your bungalow. And I'll be here….”
That last part was the real enticement.
Again Delia laughed. “No, no, no,” she said un-firmly.
“Yes, yes, yes,” he responded, dipping forward enough to press a kiss to the spot just above her ear.
The kiss surprised her. He hadn't done anything like that before. But somehow it didn't shock her. Or put her off. It was just another thing that seemed nice. And tantalizing. Like him.
“No, no, no,” she repeated, still not strongly and not even sure herself whether she was saying no to his suggestion that she remain in Tahiti or to that kiss. But either way, it didn't have enough force to mean much.
“A few more days—what harm could it do?” Delia laughed.
“Don't ask me hard questions after I've had so many martinis.”
It was Andrew's turn to laugh. He also squeezed her enough to bring her closer still to the solid wall of his body. “I'll miss you if you go.”
He made that sound genuine even though Delia doubted it was true.<
br />
“I think you'll probably survive the horrors of Tahiti without me,” she said facetiously.
“But at what cost?” he asked with a voice full of mock drama, making her laugh again.
The bartender had been working at closing the bar for a while and had apparently finished his tasks, because he stepped from behind it to leave just as the last strains of music came to an end.
“That's all for tonight,” the ukulele player announced in French-accented English, and the trio picked up and followed the bartender.
But Andrew didn't pay them any attention. His gaze never wavered from Delia, and he went on swaying as if there were still something to sway to.
“I think we've closed the place,” Delia whispered as if it were a confidence, meeting his coffee-colored eyes with her own.
Andrew merely smiled a small, contented smile and then dipped down to kiss her again. This time on the lips. A soft, soft kiss that sent tiny tingles raining through her as if it were midnight on New Year's Eve and someone had just dropped a handful of confetti over her.
He stopped kissing her but the tingles lingered.
“Does this mean our night has to end?” he asked, his voice suddenly so deep it was nearly inaudible.
Delia glanced around at the empty tables, the abandoned bar, the drum set left deserted, and then looked up at Andrew again. Only as she did, she became aware of just how much she didn't want this night to be over quite yet.
“We could take a walk on the beach,” she suggested. Another smile spread across his supple mouth, slow and lazy and pleased.
“Better than nothing,” he said, swaying a few minutes more before finally bringing their semblance of dancing to a halt.
He caught one of her hands in his to hold as they left the palapa and headed towards the surf.
Delia had no idea what time it was. But as they passed the bungalows—all of them over-water bamboo bungalows with palm-thatch roofs that could only be reached by crossing a wooden bridge to a dock that connected them—she couldn't see a single light on anywhere. No signs of life appeared on the beach itself, either, making it seem as if she and Andrew were the only two people on the entire island.