She knew what he was asking. Her breath got trapped in her lungs. “Yes.”
He straightened away from the door. “Good. Let’s get you inside so you can pack.”
“Pack?”
“After the ceremony we’ll be staying at the Atlantis Reno to enjoy our honeymoon. Only you and I will know what goes on behind closed doors at the hotel. Hopefully Bonnie will be ours in a matter of days.”
She froze. “I thought the whole point was to do all this in secret. If we check in there, you’re bound to be recognized.”
One corner of his mouth curved, almost knocking the breath out of her. “It could happen. More to the point, you and I have to make this look as romantic as possible. That’s why I booked a luxury suite in the Concierge Tower there. It will help carry off the myth that we’ve been secret lovers over the past twelve months. Our family and friends will expect that we celebrated our marriage in the open like any besotted newlyweds.”
Her legs almost buckled. “Since you live so far away from Reno, is anyone going to believe we ever had a relationship?”
“I’ve been flying here on personal business to see my uncle three to four times a month for years,” he confided. “Finally the family will under stand why I was willing to console myself away from the ranch as often as I did. My brother John and his wife Rosemary will be de lighted with our news.”
Not so the women who would like to be Cole’s exclusive love interest, Catherine surmised.
“Bonnie’s going to come as a huge surprise.”
His eyes softened. “She’s going to breathe new life into the Farraday clan at a very critical period. So will you,” he added silkily. “As for my sister Penny and her husband Rich, they’ll be overjoyed I’ve found love again after all this time. She’ll tell you she’s been worried I’d end up wifeless and child less.”
“Is she one of those sisters who never leaves you alone?”
A chuckle escaped, giving her the answer. Its deep male timbre excited her. “You’re lucky.”
He stared down at her through narrowed eyes. “Right now I know I am.” When he said things like that her insides melted.
“Maybe it’s bad luck to get too far ahead of our selves.”
“I don’t believe in bad luck, just bad timing.”
Her thoughts reeled. If there was one man who could impress a judge and make things happen with lightning speed, it was Cole.
No sooner had he helped her from the car than Amy drove in the next parking stall. She didn’t waste any time walking over to them with a flirtatious smile centered on Cole. There wasn’t a woman alive who wouldn’t be attracted to him.
“We meet again.” Her eyes swerved to Catherine’s “Aren’t you going to introduce me?”
“I’m her fiance,” Cole declared, effectively negating any reason for Catherine to speak. “We’re about to be married, so forgive us if we have to rush off…”
Her heart thudded at the possessiveness in his tone.
After he’d ushered her inside the condo, Catherine turned to him. “She didn’t like me before. I’m afraid that en counter just made things worse.”
“Since you won’t be living here from now on, it’s no longer your concern. You’ll need to give notice at your work.”
He moved too fast for her.
“I asked for a week’s emergency leave for personal reasons, and got it, but until we know whether Bonnie is ours, I’ll wait to call the chairman of the board who actually hired me.”
“The adoption’s going to happen,” he stated, as if it were a
She paused in the doorway to the hall. “Are we getting married in one of those wedding chapels?”
“No.” A simple word, but she sensed his distaste at the mere idea. He regarded her steadily. “The ceremony will take place at the judge’s home, with only his wife and my attorney present.”
“I’m glad,” she confessed in relief.
“Once we know Bonnie’s ours, we’ll repeat our vows at church in Elko.”
She bowed her head. “I’d like that.” Suddenly his presence in her small living room was too over powering for her to function with any coherence. “I-if you’d like to sit down and read a magazine, I won’t be long,” she called over her shoulder before disappearing into the bedroom.
Catherine had been making a mental list: a dress to be married in, a business suit to wear in front of his attorney, a couple of tops and pants, a nightgown and robe.
The choices staring at her from her closet were hardly awe-inspiring. The more she examined her wardrobe, the more anxious she became.
On impulse she rushed back to the living room, where she surprised Cole in the middle of the room talking on his cell-phone. His glance darted to hers. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t have anything appropriate to get married in.”
“Then we’ll buy you something in one of the boutiques at the hotel and change in our suite before we drive to the judge’s residence.”
“I was hoping you’d say we had enough time. I’ll hurry.”
Though this was more of a business merger between rational adults than the romantic elopement of two young lovers, she didn’t want to embarrass Cole. He was a well-known figure. Becoming his wife would bring her into the spot light.
There hadn’t been time for them to talk about their public life together as man and wife, but she knew enough about him to realize he expected her to be a woman he could introduce with pride.
She couldn’t bear the idea of his friends and family thinking he’d made a serious mistake in his choice of bride. Perish the thought they’d feel sorry for him. For tonight she determined to go all-out to look beautiful for him.
Earlier Cole had asked her if she under stood this was to be a “real” marriage and she’d said yes. On the outside chance it would have to be annulled, she hadn’t allowed her thoughts to drift that far.
That was then. This was now.
She was really getting married in a little while, and found to her shock that she wanted it to last-even if they couldn’t adopt Bonnie.
CHAPTER SEVEN
THE suite on the twenty-third floor of the hotel had adjoining rooms leading off a private lounge, both of which over looked the Sierra Nevadas. Cole had just emerged from his room wearing a new stone-gray suit with a deeper hued shirt and silver monogrammed tie.
