Baby Bonanza

“I miss them so much.” Her heart pinged again as she listened to the angry sound of Jake’s cry.

“Uh-huh, now tell me why you really called.”

Jenna scowled. “I called to check on my sons.”

“Oh, that was part of it. Now let’s hear the rest,” Maxie said.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Hold on, have to switch babies. Cooper’s finished and it’s Jake’s turn.”

Jenna waited and listened to her sister talking to both of the boys, obviously laying Cooper down and picking Jake up as the infant’s cries were now louder and more demanding. She smiled to herself when his crying abruptly shut off and knew that he was occupied with his bottle.

“Okay, I’m back,” Maxie said a moment later. “Now, tell me what happened between you and Nick.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know exactly what I mean and the fact that you’re avoiding the question tells me just what happened,” her sister said. “You slept with him again, didn’t you?”

Jenna’s head dropped to the headboard behind her and she stared unseeing up at the ceiling.

“Jenna…”

“There wasn’t a lot of sleeping, but yeah.”

“Damn it, Jenna-”

She sat up. “I already know it was a mistake, so if you don’t mind…”

“A mistake? Forgetting to buy bread at the market is a mistake. Sleeping with a guy who’s already dumped you once is a disaster.”

“Well, thanks so much,” Jenna said drily. “That makes me feel so much better.”

Maxie blew out a breath, whispered, “It’s okay, Jake, I’m not yelling at you. I’m yelling at your mommy.” Then she said louder, “Fine. Sorry for yelling. But Jenna, you know nothing good can come of this.”

“I know.” Hadn’t she awoken in an empty bed, with no sign of the tender lover she’d spent the night with? Nick couldn’t have been more blatant in letting her know just how unimportant she was to him. “God, I know.”

“Come home,” Maxie urged.

“I will. Soon.”

“Now.”

“No,” Jenna said, shaking her head as she swung her legs off the bed and sat up straight. “I have to talk to him.”

“Haven’t you said everything there is to say?”

Probably, Jenna thought. After all, it wasn’t as if she was going to tell him she loved him. And wasn’t that the only piece of information he was missing? Hadn’t she done what she’d come here to do? Hadn’t she accomplished her mission and more?

“Maxie…”

Her sister blew out a breath, and Jenna could almost see her rolling her eyes.

“I just don’t want to see you destroyed again,” Maxie finally said. “He’s not the guy for you, Jenna, and somewhere deep inside, you know it. You’re only asking to get kicked in the teeth again.”

The fact that her sister was right didn’t change anything. Jenna knew she couldn’t leave until she’d seen Nick again. Found out what last night had meant to him, if anything. She had to prove to herself one way or the other that there was no future for them. It was the only way she’d ever be able to let go and make a life for herself and her children.

“If I get hurt again, I’ll recover,” she said, her voice firming as she continued. “I appreciate you worrying about me, Maxie, but I’ve got to see this through. So I’ll call you when I’m on my way home. Are you sure you’re okay to take care of the boys for another couple of days?”

There was a long moment of silence before her sister said, “Yeah. We’re fine.”

“What about work?” Maxie was a medical transcriber. She worked out of her home, which was a big bonus for those times when Jenna needed a babysitter fast. Like now.

“I work around the babies’ nap schedules. I’m keeping up. Don’t worry about it.”

“Okay, thanks.”

“Jenna? Just be careful, okay?”

The door to the suite opened and a maid stepped in. She spotted Jenna, made an apologetic gesture and started to back out again.

“No, wait. It’s okay, you can come in now.” Then to her sister, she said, “The maid’s here, I’ve got to go. I’ll call you soon. And kiss the boys for me, okay?”

When she hung up, Jenna didn’t know if she felt better or worse. It was good to know her sons were fine, but Maxie’s words kept rattling around in her brain. Yes, her sister was prejudiced against wealthy men, but she had a point, too. Jenna had been nearly destroyed after she and Nick had split apart a year ago.

This time, though, she had the distinct feeling that the pain of losing him was going to be much, much worse.

Nick had never thought of himself as a coward.

Hell, he’d fought his way to the top of the financial world. He’d carved out an empire with nothing more than his guts and a dream. He’d created a world that was everything he’d ever wanted.

And yet…a couple of hours ago, he’d slipped out of bed and left Jenna sleeping alone in his room because he hadn’t wanted to talk to her.

“Women,” he muttered, leaning on the railing at the bow of the Splendor Deck, letting his gaze slide over the shoreline of Acapulco, “always want to talk the morning after. Always have to analyze and pick apart everything you’d done and said the night before.”

But there was nothing to analyze, he reminded himself. He’d had her, just as he’d planned, and now he was through-also as he’d planned.

Of course his body tightened and his stomach fisted at the thought, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that he’d had Jenna under him, over him, around him, and now he could let her go completely. No more haunted dreams. No more thinking about her at stray moments.

It was finished.

Scowling, he watched as surfers rode the waves into shore while tourists on towels baked themselves to a cherry-red color on the beach. Brightly striped umbrellas were unfurled at intervals along the sand, and waiters dressed in white moved among the crowd delivering tropical drinks.

So if it was finished, why the hell was he still thinking about her?

Because, he silently acknowledged, that night with her had been unlike anything he’d experienced since the last time they’d been together. Nick wasn’t a monk. And since he was single, he saw no problem in indulging himself with as many women as he wanted. But no woman had ever gotten to him the way Jenna had.

She made him feel things he had no interest in. Made him want more than he should. That thought both intrigued and bothered him. He wasn’t looking for anything more than casual sex with a willing woman. And nothing about Jenna was casual. He already knew that.

So the best thing he could do was stay the hell away from her.

Better for both of them. He pushed away from the railing in disgust. But damned if he’d hide out on his own blasted ship. He’d find Jenna, tell her that he wasn’t interested in a replay of last night-and now who was lying? Turning, he was in time to see Jenna walking toward him, and everything in him tightened uncomfortably.

In the late-morning sunlight, she looked beautiful. Her blond hair hung loose about her shoulders. Her tank top clung to her breasts-no bra-and his mouth went dry. Her white shorts made her lightly tanned skin look the color of warmed honey. Her dark blue eyes were locked on him, and Nick had to force himself to stand still. To not go to her, pull her up close to him and taste that delectable mouth of hers again.

She hitched her purse a little higher on one bare shoulder and tightened her grip on the strap when she stopped directly in front of him. Whipping her hair back out of her eyes, she looked up at him and said, “I wondered where you disappeared to.”

“I had some things to take care of,” Nick told her and it was partially true. He’d already fired the band that had refused to clean up their act, hired another one and was expected at a meeting with the harbormaster in a half