She froze, then turned slowly to face him.
“I can’t take your mother’s ring. Not for a business deal.”
His eyes seemed to glow in the candlelight.
“Don’t worry,” he said with a twisted smile. “I’ve got a clause in the contract. If we divorce, you’ll have to give it back.”
“But Grant…”
“My mother passed away almost a year ago. She would have liked you. I’m sure she would approve.”
She didn’t know what to say. Somehow, this just wasn’t right. His mother’s ring-what if she lost it? But she could see that he wasn’t going to listen to argument tonight. She would save that talk for later.
“It’s wonderful, Grant. Thank you so much.”
He smiled. He was so close, she could feel him as well as see him. He was going to kiss her now. She could sense it. And this time, she thought she might just let him. She smiled and looked at his beautiful mouth and waited, heart beating. But he didn’t come any closer. And suddenly he was talking about garage parking places and getting her a key to his apartment and all the other details of everyday life they were going to have to adjust to.
She hardly heard him. She’d been so sure he was going to kiss her. It wouldn’t have been much of a kiss, of course. This wasn’t the place for passion-and anyway, passion wasn’t supposed to be a part of their relationship, she added to herself hastily. But a soft kiss to seal the deal would have been appropriate. Wouldn’t it? She’d been so ready. Surely he’d seen how she’d tilted her face to accept him. And yet, he’d held back.
She would have liked to blame it on his mouth still being sore from the stitches. Maybe that was it. But somehow, she doubted it.
Bottom line, did he feel anything for her at all?
Hold on there, Callie, she told herself briskly. He wasn’t supposed to feel anything. Remember?
This is not a love match. This is pure business.
Okay. Then that was the way she was going to treat it. Even if she fell in love with him.
Deep inside, she groaned. Where had that thought come from? From her darkest fears, no doubt. She’d been telling herself for years that she didn’t have the knack for falling in love. She’d come in contact with a lot of attractive men and felt nothing. She didn’t expect to fall for Grant. But what if she did? Was she crazy to risk it this way?
Maybe. But she’d made her decision and she was going to stand by it. A lot was riding on success here.
“Should we decide on a doctor?” she asked when he’d stopped talking for a moment.
He looked surprised. “Don’t you have an ob/gyn?”
“Of course, for the pregnancy. But who are we going to use for the…You know.” She gave a small shrug, surprised to find herself embarrassed.
But he frowned, looking at her as though he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“No, I don’t know. What are you talking about?”
She couldn’t imagine why he was being so obtuse. What had he been talking about all this time, anyway? He was the one who’d wanted to do this first.
“Well, we’re going to need to be tested,” she reminded him, trying to be as delicate as she could. But it wasn’t easy with a subject like this. “And you’re going to need to…make a deposit and…”
“Wait a minute.” He stared at her, thunderstruck. “You thought we were still going to use artificial insemination?”
She blinked at him. “Why yes. I thought…”
“Callie!” He laughed a big, booming laugh that rolled across the room and turned heads. “I think we’re perfectly capable of doing this on our own. Don’t you?”
She wanted to put a hand over his mouth and quiet him down. The whole room was listening. And here was Grant, saying…
“On our own?” She gazed at him, puzzled. “Oh, you mean…”
“Of course. That’s what I mean. You and me. Together.”
He stared at her, suddenly realizing she was serious. It hadn’t occurred to him that she would still be thinking along those lines. He was going to have to step lightly here.
“It’s up to you, of course. But I think we can manage something a little bit more personal, don’t you?”
She bit her lip. Her heart was thumping. She hadn’t realized…But of course he was right. One of the things that had turned her away from artificial insemination had been the cold, clinical nature of the process-not to mention the prospect of all those doctor’s visits.
“After all,” he was saying, “we’ve both been married before. We’re both sexually experienced. Aren’t we?”
“Actually…” She looked down at where her hands were curved around a coffee cup and turned beet-red.
“You’re kidding.” He didn’t know what to say. “You were married, right?”
“Yes, but…” She looked up at him, her dark eyes filled with a confusion that touched him in a way he hadn’t expected at all. “He couldn’t…He didn’t…”
How could she explain her marriage to a man who seemed to think of her as a sort of doll, a prized possession rather than a flesh and blood woman? His lack of interest in marital relations had confused her from the beginning and she still didn’t really understand it herself.
“You poor kid.” He wanted to pull her into his arms and hold her tightly, but this was too public a place for that. Instead he touched her cheek lightly. “Callie, don’t worry. We won’t do anything until you’re ready.”
Her smile seemed a bit tremulous at first, then she appeared to regain her equilibrium and it broadened.
“Same here,” she told him, a mischievous light in her eyes. “I won’t push you into anything you’re not ready for, either.”
He grinned. “Don’t worry about me. I’m ready right now.”
She laughed, but he wasn’t joking. Watching her, with her beautiful face and her silken skin, and that hair that fell around her shoulders like a symphony come to life, he knew he was more than ready. He wanted her in a deep, aching way that was going to be a problem if he didn’t watch out. But something told him it would be a problem he could live with.
CHAPTER FIVE
WHITE lace and promises.
What a picture those words conjured up-every girl’s dream. Callie had always loved weddings, the more white lace the better. But she hadn’t loved her first wedding much. Stark and quick, it had been kind of strange. She was beginning to worry that her second wedding wasn’t going to be any better. She was going to have two weddings under her belt and neither one of them traditional. Oh well, maybe she just wasn’t meant to be a traditional girl.
Grant had made the arrangements and from what he’d told her, the prospects were good this one was going to be as spare and unromantic as the first one had been-a utilitarian ceremony in a government office somewhere with just two witnesses. It sounded a lot like getting a driver’s license. She’d been dreading it the way she dreaded a trip to the dentist-something unpleasant that had to be done in order to get on with life. Nothing to look forward to at all.
She’d been working at the office all week and she liked her new job. She even liked seeing Grant across the room every now and then. The people she worked with had oohed and aahed over her engagement ring, but she’d managed to keep the name of the groom mysterious. It was going to be an awkward moment when she finally revealed that she was marrying the boss. Oh well. Just another of life’s little bumps in the road.
Grant had taken her to dinner a few nights into the week, and his sister had joined them. Gena was tall and slender and just as attractive as her brother was. They both had the look of Texas aristocracy-people whose ancestors had ridden through the purple sage and fought off attackers and run cattle across the land and built this state into what it was today.
And here she was marrying into that legacy and expected to produce an heir with those bloodlines. When you thought about it that way, it was quite a responsibility. Maybe she should feel honored. Somehow, she didn’t.
