Книга - The Kincaids: Southern Seduction: Sex, Lies and the Southern Belle

The Kincaids: Southern Seduction: Sex, Lies and the Southern Belle
Kathie DeNosky

Rachel Bailey

Day Leclaire


A Secret PregnancyFamily scandal has flipped heiress Lily Kincaid’s world upside down. Also, she’d like to avoid telling sexy, larger- than-life CEO Daniel Addison that she is pregnant. Daniel knows all about boardrooms and bedrooms, but will he be ready to claim what’s his – including Lily?Saving a Child’s Life…Millionaire Matthew Kincaid’s son needs something only Flynn’s true biological mother can provide. Susannah immediately agrees to help, but the minute she is in Charleston under Matthew’s roof, passion consumes them. Is this relationship doomed?












The

KincaidsSouthern Seduction

Sex, Lies and the Southern Belle

Kathie DeNosky

What Happens in Charleston …

Rachel Bailey











www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)



Sex, Lies and the Southern Belle




About the Author


KATHIE DENOSKY lives in her native southern Illinois with her big, loveable Bernese mountain dog, Nemo. Writing highly sensual stories with a generous amount of humour, Kathie’s books have appeared on the Waldenbooks bestseller list and received a Write Touch Readers Award and a National Readers’ Choice Award. Kathie enjoys going to rodeos, travelling to research settings for her books and listening to country music. Readers may contact Kathie at PO Box 2064, Herrin, Illinois 62948-5264, USA or email her at kathie@kathiedenosky.com. They can also visit her website, www.kathiedenosky.com.


Dear Reader,

When I was invited to write the first book in the new Dynasties mini-series, I was absolutely thrilled. I love working with other authors on these special projects and this one was no different. I mean, who wouldn’t enjoy collaborating with such talented ladies?

And, as impossible as it might seem, as I wrote Sex, Lies and the Southern Belle, my enthusiasm grew even more. Researching Charleston, South Carolina, and specifically the historic homes in the Battery, I fell in love with the antebellum architecture and the beauty of a city so rich with history.

That’s one of the reasons the antebellum mansion Lily inherits on Battery Street plays a major role in the telling of their story. As grand as any castle, the gorgeous historic home is where Lily and Daniel work to overcome the secrets of the past and together find a love that will stand the test of time.

As you read about the modern South and get acquainted with all of the Kincaid siblings, it is my fervent hope that you enjoy these stories as much as we, the authors, enjoyed writing them.

All the best,

Kathie DeNosky


This book is dedicated to the wonderful authors I worked

with on this series. It was a real pleasure, ladies!

And to Charles Griemsman. I look forward to

working with you on many more in the future.




One


A knot began to form in Lily Kincaid’s stomach as she looked around the conference table at her family and the three strangers who had attended her father’s funeral the day before. They were gathered for the reading of Reginald Kincaid’s will and as difficult as it was to believe her beloved father was gone, the fact that he had led a secret double life for the past three decades was almost impossible for her to grasp. It was just beyond comprehension to think that he’d had a second family up in Greenville all these years.

When Harold Parsons, her father’s attorney, walked into the room with a thick file and sat down at the head of the table, then removed several envelopes and papers from the folder, her apprehension grew. She hated that her father had been taken from her, hated that his life’s work was about to be divided up into shares. More than that, she hated that the perception she had of him had been nothing more than an illusion—an illusion that had been shattered with seemingly no way for it to ever be repaired.

“Before we begin, I would like to express my sincere condolences for your loss,” Mr. Parsons said, his normally gruff voice softened with sincerity. “I knew Reginald for many years and will sorely miss his sense of humor and quick wit. I can remember the time—”

Lily bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling when the man claiming to be her half brother, Jack Sinclair, rudely cleared his throat and glanced at his watch as if he wanted to hurry things along. How could a man as warm and loving as her father had been have spawned such a cold, unfeeling son?

Her oldest brother RJ’s scowl was formidable. “In a hurry to be somewhere, Sinclair?”

“As a matter of fact, I am,” Jack stated flatly. “How long is this going to take, Parsons?”

Mr. Parsons’s bushy white eyebrows met in a disapproving frown above his reading glasses. “It will take as long as it takes, young man.”

“Please don’t, Jack,” Angela Sinclair begged, her voice trembling as she placed her hand on her son’s arm. Her chin-length blond hair swayed slightly as she shook her head. “Please don’t make this any more difficult than it already is.”

If circumstances had been different, Lily would have probably felt sorry for the woman. It had been apparent yesterday at the funeral and today as they sat awaiting the reading of the will that she was taking the death of Reginald Kincaid extremely hard. But considering the nurse had been her father’s mistress for the past thirty years and had shown up to mourn his death as if she and her sons were a legitimate part of the family, it was almost more than Lily could bear. Angela Sinclair either didn’t realize or didn’t care about what a shock and devastation it would be for the Kincaid family.

“You’ll have to excuse my brother’s impatience,” Alan Sinclair spoke up, giving Lily and her family a sympathetic smile. “I’m afraid Jack is still trying to come to grips with Reginald’s death.”

Angela’s youngest son, Alan, seemed to be the exact opposite of his older half-brother in every way. While Jack was tall, with dark hair, blue eyes and a cold, ruthless demeanor, Alan was shorter, had dark blond hair and hazel eyes like his mother, and appeared to be sympathetic to the shock and disbelief the Kincaids were going through. Not only were they having to cope with the death of their father, possibly by his own hand, they had been blindsided by the ugly truth of his clandestine life.

“Don’t apologize for me,” Jack growled, turning his hard stare on the younger man. There was such animosity in his expression, it was obvious there was no love lost between the two. “I have nothing to be sorry about.”

“Enough!” RJ said, his voice deadly. Turning to the lawyer, he nodded. “Please continue, Mr. Parsons.”

“If Sinclair doesn’t want to stick around for the details, I’m sure you can send him a letter outlining what our father wished to leave him,” Matt said, backing up RJ.

Only a few years older than herself, her brother Matt had already seen his share of heartache. It had been only a year since he had buried his wife, Grace, and been left to raise their young son, Flynn, on his own. Losing their father so soon after her passing had to bring up some very painful memories for him.

Lily glanced at her mother to see how she was holding up through this latest upheaval. The epitome of a true Southern lady, Elizabeth Kincaid had maintained an elegant calm about her throughout this whole ordeal that Lily couldn’t help but envy. It appeared her mother was faring much better than Lily and her two sisters. Laurel, Lily’s oldest sister, kept dabbing at her tears with a lace-edged hankie, while Kara looked as if she was in a state of total shock.

“Please continue, Harold,” her mother said, smoothing a strand of short, dark auburn hair into place.

“Very well, Miss Elizabeth,” Mr. Parsons said, using “miss” the way most older Southern gentlemen did with any lady, single or married. He read aloud the preliminary legalese, then clearing his throat, began to go through the list of her father’s assets. “‘Regarding my personal properties, I would like for them to be divided as such. To my son RJ, I leave the Great Oak Lodge in the Smoky Mountains. To my daughter Laurel, I leave my beach house on the Outer Banks. To my daughter Kara, I leave my vacation home on Hilton Head Island. To my son Matthew, I leave the Kincaid family farmhouse where we used to spend holidays. And to my daughter Lily, I leave the Colonel Samuel Beauchamp House in the Battery.’”

Tears filled Lily’s eyes. Her father had known how much she loved the historic homes in the Battery. It was one of the prettiest sections in Charleston and quite possibly the entire state of South Carolina. But she had been completely unaware that he owned one of the stately mansions in that area.

After outlining the money and properties her father wished to bequeath to Elizabeth and Angela, Mr. Parsons added, “When Reginald updated his will, he wrote these letters and asked me to give them to you at this time.” He passed each person in the room, except Elizabeth, a sealed envelope with their name on the front before he continued, “As for Reginald’s business holdings, they are to be divided up as follows. ‘RJ, Laurel, Kara, Matthew and Lily are each to receive nine percent interest in The Kincaid Group. My oldest son, Jack Sinclair, will receive forty-five percent interest.’”

Silence reigned for several long, uncomfortable moments as the gravity of her father’s last wishes sank in.

“What the hell!” RJ’s expression was a mixture of barely suppressed fury and total disbelief.

Lily gasped and the knot in her stomach turned to a sickening ache. How could their father do that to his children and especially to RJ, his oldest legitimate son? RJ had worked tirelessly for years as the executive vice president of The Kincaid Group and had been led to believe he would one day take over as president of the vast enterprise when their father decided it was time for him to retire. The news that their father had given the majority of the shares in the family business to Jack Sinclair was hard for all the Kincaid children to take, but it had to be completely devastating for RJ.

“That’s only ninety percent,” RJ said, his frown formidable. “Where’s the other ten?”

Mr. Parsons shook his head. “Due to attorney/client confidentiality, I’m not at liberty to say.”

The room erupted with heated allegations and threats of legal retaliation from both sides of the table and Lily felt as if the walls were closing in on her. She knew if she didn’t leave, she was going to be physically ill.

“I need … some air,” she said to no one in particular.

Rising to her feet, she stuffed the unopened letter from her father into her purse and blindly ran from the room. She wasn’t certain whether it was the news of her father’s complete betrayal of his legitimate family or the new life growing inside her that caused her to feel sick, but she had to escape the law office.

As she hurried down the hall to the reception area, she wasn’t paying attention and suddenly ran into someone standing as if rooted to the spot. Strong hands immediately came down on her shoulders to keep her from falling and when she looked up, her heart skipped several beats.

Of all the people she could have met up with in the law office, why did she have to run headlong into the owner and CEO of Addison Industries?

Daniel Addison was not only The Kincaid Group’s fiercest business competitor, he was the father of her unborn child. A baby he knew absolutely nothing about.

“Where’s the fire, sweetheart?” Daniel asked as he steadied the woman who, in the past couple of weeks, had treated him as if he had the plague.

“I need … air,” Lily said, her voice barely more than a whisper.

Her unnatural pallor and the desperate look haunting her vibrant blue eyes caused his heart to stall. Yesterday afternoon when he attended Reginald Kincaid’s funeral, he had seen her upset. But this went beyond the grief of losing a loved one. Lily looked as if her whole world was crashing down around her.

“Come on,” he said, placing his arm around her shoulders and leading her toward the office exit.

“My family … I can’t leave,” she gasped.

Stopping at the receptionist’s desk, he quickly told the woman he would call and reschedule his appointment, then instructed her to get word to the Kincaid family that he was taking Lily home. As he led her out the double glass doors and onto the sidewalk, he watched her gulp in the cool January air and knew that she was seconds away from losing her breakfast. Guiding her over to a trash can, he held her long, red hair back while she was sick.

“Please, go away and let me die in peace,” she said when she finally raised her head.

“You’re not going to die, Lily,” he said, gently cupping her chin with one hand while he wiped the tears from her eyes with his handkerchief.

“I’m pretty sure you’re wrong.” She took a deep breath. “Right now I feel like death … would be a blessing.”

“Did you drive your car?” he asked.

“No, I rode … with Momma,” she said, her voice sounding a bit more steady.

He put his arm around her and tucked her to his side as he ushered her toward the parking garage across the street. “Good. I won’t have to send someone back to get it.”

“I can’t leave,” she said, starting to turn back toward the law offices of Parsons, Gilbert and Humbolt.

He held her firmly to his side. “This isn’t negotiable, Lily. You’re upset to the point of making yourself sick.” Opening the passenger door of his diamond-white Mercedes for her, Daniel nodded toward the inside of the car. “Get in. I’m taking you home.”

“You’re being a bully about this,” she said stubbornly.

Daniel shook his head. “No, I’m making an executive decision. Now, will you please get into the car or am I going to have to pick you up and put you there?”

She glared at him. “You wouldn’t.”

“Try me, sweetheart.”

They stared at each other for several seconds in a test of wills before she finally moved to sit down in the leather bucket seat. “Fine. Take me home and then you can be on your way.”

He closed the door and walked around the car to slide into the driver’s seat. “We’ll see about that.”

Considering her emotions at the moment, Daniel wasn’t about to upset her further by telling her that he wasn’t leaving her alone until he was certain she was going to be okay. He might be many things—ruthless in business, arrogant and fierce when he was in competition for a new client and jaded about most things in life—but he wasn’t an uncaring bastard who left an obviously distraught female to fend for herself. Especially when that female was Lily Kincaid.

For reasons he couldn’t explain, he had been drawn to her from the moment he laid eyes on her last fall at the Children’s Hospital Autumn Charity Ball that his mother had helped organize. Young, vivacious and with a zest for life that he found utterly charming, he had introduced himself and asked her to dance, then asked her out to dinner. He hadn’t really expected her to say yes, considering the thirteen-year difference in their ages, but to his delight she had accepted. That had been over three months ago and until the past couple of weeks, they had seen each other almost every night.

When he realized that Lily had fallen asleep, Daniel reached over to cover her delicate hand with his. He hadn’t intended for things to progress between them so quickly, but he couldn’t really say he was sorry they had. She was the most exciting woman he had ever met and the time they spent together had made him feel more alive and less cynical than he had in years. What he couldn’t understand was why out of the clear blue sky, she stopped taking his calls and started making excuses not to go out with him.

As he turned the car into the driveway and drove around the Kincaid family home to the carriage house where Lily had an apartment, Daniel shook his head. He didn’t know what had happened or why she suddenly wanted nothing to do with him, but he had every intention of finding out.

Parking the car, he reached over to trail his fingers along her smooth cheek. “You’re home, sweetheart.”

Her eyes fluttered open and she slowly sat up straight to look around. “Thank you for bringing me home, Daniel. I’m sure you have somewhere else you would rather be.”

Before she had the chance to reach for the handle, he was out of the car and opening the door for her. “Give me your key,” he said as he helped her from the vehicle.

“Really, I’ll be fine.” She shook her head. “You don’t have to see me in.”

“What kind of gentleman would I be if I didn’t see you safely inside?” he asked, smiling.

For the first time since running into her in the law office, she looked him directly in the eye. “Give me a break, Mr. Addison. It’s midmorning and I seriously doubt that there’s a safety issue for you to be concerned with.”

He reached up to trail his index finger along her creamy cheek. “So now it’s Mr. Addison? I thought we were a lot closer than that, sweetheart.”

“I … uh, at one time … I suppose we were,” she said, clearly uncomfortable with his observation.

Daniel had heard about someone looking as if they were a deer caught in headlights, but until that moment he hadn’t seen it for himself. But that was the only way to describe the expression on Lily’s pretty face. She looked trapped and desperate.

The question was, why? What had made her so clearly uncomfortable about being in his presence?

Unfortunately, he was going to have to bide his time until she was feeling a little more in control before he got to the bottom of what was going on with her and why she had ended their affair. The past few days had been a nightmare for her and her family and he wasn’t going to add more stress by interrogating her as to what had changed between them.

Placing his hand at the small of her back, he felt a slight tremor course through her and instinctively knew it had nothing to do with the mild winter weather Charleston was experiencing. Good. At least she hadn’t developed a complete immunity to him.

“I know that all this has been extremely hard on you, Lily,” he said, meaning it. “For my own peace of mind, I want to see that you’re all right before I leave.”

“There’s nothing I can say that’s going to dissuade you, is there?” she asked, sighing heavily.

“No.”

She looked more tired and world-weary than he had ever seen her and he hated that the events of the past several days had suppressed her fun-loving, free spirit. Whether she realized it or not, Lily needed someone to help her get through one of the toughest times in her life and he had every intention of being the one she turned to.

“Why don’t you sit down and put your feet up while I make coffee?” he said when they walked into the living room and he helped her out of her coat.

“No caffeine for me.” Her long wavy hair swayed as she shook her head. “I, um, haven’t been sleeping well.”

“I can understand that.” He nodded as he removed his overcoat, then guided her to the couch. “You’ve been through a lot in the past few days, sweetheart.”

“You have no idea,” she said as she sank onto the cushions. Tears filled her pretty blue eyes as she looked up at him. “Why did he do it?”

If the account of Reginald’s death in the newspaper had been correct, the man had used one of the antique guns in his collection to take his own life. Daniel knew for a fact that Lily and her father had been very close and his apparent suicide had to have been extremely difficult for her to cope with.

“I can’t tell you why things happened the way they did, Lily,” he said, sitting down beside her to take her into his arms. “It might never be clear why your dad felt compelled to end things in such a drastic way. But once the shock has worn off, I’m sure you’ll be able to put this behind you and look back at the good times you shared together.”

She stubbornly shook her head. “I’m not so sure. Not when everything I thought I knew about my father has turned out to be a total lie.”

He had meant to console her, not upset her further. “Give yourself some time. Right now your emotions are still too raw to see things clearly.”

“You don’t understand, Daniel.” She pulled away from him to meet his gaze head-on. “I mean literally—everything about Daddy was a lie.”

Something about her impassioned statement told him there was a lot more to the story than what the media had reported and she needed to get it out or risk going into emotional meltdown. “What leads you to believe that, Lily?”

She hesitated for a moment as first one tear, then another, spilled down her cheeks. “I might as well tell you. It’s going to be the talk of Charleston by the end of the week.”

“I’m listening.”

“Did you notice that older blonde woman and the two men with her that sat just behind my family at the funeral?” she asked.

He nodded. “Are they relatives from out of town?”

“No. Yes.” She swiped at her tears with the back of her hand. “To tell you the truth, I’m not sure what I should call them.”

“Slow down, Lily.” He didn’t like that she was becoming more agitated. “Who are they?”

“That was my father’s second family,” she said as if the words tasted bitter. “For the past thirty years, all of his out-of-town business trips were nothing more than excuses to travel up to Greenville to spend time with that woman and her two sons.”

Of all the things Lily could have told him about Reginald Kincaid, that was the last thing Daniel expected. “Let me get this straight,” he said slowly, trying to digest the revelation. “Your father had another wife and two kids up in Greenville that you’re just finding out about?”

Lily nodded. “Actually, Angela Sinclair was my father’s first love and her oldest son, Jack, is my half brother. Her youngest son, Alan, belonged to her late husband.”

“Jack Sinclair is your half brother?” He had heard of the man and the resounding success Sinclair had made of his start-up company, Carolina Shipping, but Daniel hadn’t had the opportunity to meet the man or do business with him. “But didn’t you just say he was the oldest? How could his younger brother belong to another man?”

“My dad and Angela were involved when they were very young, but my grandparents didn’t think she was the right type of girl for him,” Lily explained, rising to pace the floor. “The way I understand it, my grandfather was building his shipping business into what The Kincaid Group is today. He and my grandmother wanted my father to marry someone who could further their standing with the social set of Charleston.”

Daniel knew all too well how the bastions of Southern high society worked. His mother came from old money and was well-entrenched in the ranks of the social elite. She and her so-called friends looked down on anyone whose fortune didn’t go back at least four generations, or whose family tree didn’t include at least one or two officers from the Civil War.

“As an act of rebellion, Daddy joined the army to escape their matchmaking and since he was in a Special Ops unit, there were months at a time that no one could communicate with him,” Lily went on. “From what was said yesterday at the funeral, Angela tried to get word to him that she was expecting his child, but by the time Daddy was wounded and sent back here, Angela had seemingly dropped off the face of the earth. He thought she got tired of waiting for him and moved on.”

“So when he couldn’t find her, he gave in to his parents and married your mother?” Daniel guessed.

Lily nodded. “The Winthrops were an old, well-established family in Charleston, but by the mid-seventies their fortune had dwindled to almost nothing and they were desperate to maintain their lifestyle and place within their social circle.”

Although Daniel hated the snobbery and pretentiousness of it all, it was the social order he had been born into and knew exactly how it worked. He had seen many of the old Southern families swallow their pride and encourage their sons or daughters to marry one of the nouveau riche. If they didn’t, their lack of means effectively ostracized them from the wealthy social community.

“So it was advantageous for both families when your mother and father got married,” he said, nodding. “Your dad’s parents went up several notches on the social register and your mother’s family gained someone to help them financially, as well as prop up their position in high society.”

“I think that sums it up perfectly,” Lily agreed.

“How did your dad and Angela get back together?” Daniel asked, wondering how Reginald had managed to find the woman after all those years when he hadn’t been able to before. “And what about her husband? Where does he figure into the equation?”

“Apparently, her parents gave her a choice of marrying Richard Sinclair or giving up her child.” Lily shook her head. “Given no other choice, I would have done the same thing and married a man I didn’t love to keep my baby.”

Daniel frowned. “What about Sinclair? What happened to him?”

“After they married and moved out of state, Angela gave birth to Jack and then several years later, she and Richard Sinclair had a son they named Alan.” She shrugged one slender shoulder. “I’m not sure if it was an accident or if he became ill, but Richard died not long after that.”

“So he’s out of the picture and your dad finds Angela again,” Daniel thought aloud.

Lily sighed heavily. “I don’t know how he did it, but when he found her and discovered that she had given birth to his son, Daddy set up her and the two boys in a house in Greenville. Apparently she had been struggling to make ends meet on her nurse’s salary and life got a lot easier for them when Daddy came on the scene. After that, he starting going on frequent business trips, which were actually visits to spend time with her and her sons.”

Daniel shook his head as he tried to digest the story. “And you found this out yesterday at the funeral?”

A tear slid down her cheek and she bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling a moment before she answered. “Y-yes. But what we learned this morning at the reading of the will just compounded the hurt and betrayal we were feeling about his second family.”

“What’s that, sweetheart?” He couldn’t imagine how the situation could get more complicated.

“Daddy left the majority of The Kincaid Group to Jack Sinclair, while my siblings and I were each given nine percent interest,” she said swiping another tear from her cheek. “My father led RJ and Matthew to believe they would be running TKG one day. How could he betray Momma this way? And, for that matter, how could he betray all of us?”

Daniel didn’t hesitate to stand up, walk over to her and take Lily into his arms. He knew how crushing the loss of her father had to have been for her, but finding out that he had led a secret life for so many years, then handed control of his business to someone the family hadn’t even been aware existed had to increase the emotional pain ten times over. Pulling her against him, he held her as he tried to lend her his strength and support.

His compassion seemed to open the floodgates and he tightened his embrace as she sobbed against his chest. He didn’t like seeing a woman cry. It always made him uncomfortable and at a loss as to what he should do. Lily’s tears made him feel more useless than ever. He wanted to help, wanted to make the hurt she was suffering go away.

Unfortunately, only the passage of time could heal the pain and anguish of losing a loved one. He knew that firsthand from losing his own father to a heart attack fifteen years ago. But the disillusionment she was feeling over her father’s indisputable betrayal might never go away.

“I’m okay now,” she finally said, pulling from his arms.

“Are you sure?” he asked, reluctant to let her go. Although he hated what she was going through, he liked having Lily in his arms.

Nodding, she walked over to the couch, then curled up in the corner of it. “Thank you for bringing me home, Daniel. But I’m really tired. Could you please lock the door as you let yourself out?”

He had been dismissed and it didn’t sit any better this time than it had for the past couple of weeks. But he knew she was completely exhausted from lack of sleep and the emotional turmoil she had been going through. Now wasn’t the time to get into why she suddenly had no time for him.

“I’ll be back this evening to check on you,” he said, reaching for his overcoat.

“I appreciate your concern, but I’ll be okay,” she said, hiding a yawn behind her delicate hand. She snuggled down to lay her head on a plush pillow. “There’s no need for you to go to the trouble of stopping by later. Really, I’ll be fine.”

Shrugging into his coat, he shook his head as he started toward the door. “It’s not a problem. I’ll pick something up for dinner and see you around six.”

He expected her to protest, but when he turned around, Daniel discovered that Lily’s eyes were closed and she was sound asleep. Good, he thought as he walked over to the couch to remove a colorful crocheted afghan from the back, then covered her with it. At least she couldn’t tell him not to bother.

“Get some rest, sweetheart,” he said quietly as he leaned down to kiss her forehead. “I’ll be back in a few hours.”

She murmured what sounded like his name, but she didn’t wake up to protest his returning and, as far as he was concerned, that was as good as her consent.

As he let himself out the front door and walked to his car, Daniel knew he was taking advantage of the situation. Lily had made it perfectly clear that she wanted nothing more to do with him and up until this morning, he had respected her wishes and backed off. But for some reason, he couldn’t let it go, couldn’t walk away without an explanation of why she’d had a change of heart about their affair.

Opening the driver’s door and sliding in behind the steering wheel, he sat and stared at the carriage house for several long minutes. Considering his feelings on love and relationships, he was mystified why it even mattered. Maybe it was the fact that Lily had broken things off between them without telling him why and he was allowing curiosity to get the better of him. Or more likely, it was his stubborn pride that wouldn’t allow him to drop the matter without making her tell him what had caused her to stop seeing him.

Whatever the reason, he was going to help Lily weather the emotional storm of losing her father and the family scandal that was about to erupt. Then he fully intended to get his answers from her and move on.




Two


After waking up to find Daniel had done as she asked and left her alone, Lily frowned at her feelings of disappointment. “Get a grip on yourself,” she muttered as she pushed the afghan aside and sat up.

Daniel Addison was all wrong for her and the sooner she came to terms with that fact, the better off she would be. She had known when they first started seeing each other that it would end one day. It had to. They were exact opposites and wanted entirely different things out of life.

She wanted love, marriage and babies. But after going through a bitter divorce from his wife, Charisma, several years ago, those were the last things Daniel wanted. All he cared about were short-term affairs devoid of deep emotions, commitment and children. And if Lily hadn’t known that from the gossip she had heard at some of the social functions around Charleston, she had certainly found out when his mother took great pleasure in telling her.

A shiver slithered down Lily’s spine when she thought of how poorly she had been treated at the dinner party she and Daniel attended at Addison House, just before Christmas. His mother was, without a shadow of a doubt, the coldest, most unpleasant woman Lily had ever had the misfortune to meet. The woman had even gone so far as to accuse Lily of trying to elevate her social standing by being associated with Daniel—implying that because her father’s fortune didn’t go back several generations, Lily wasn’t worthy of circulating among those considered to come from “old money.”

She shuddered at the thought of ever being near the woman again. But more upsetting was that Charlotte Addison was the paternal grandmother of Lily’s child.

Lily nibbled on her lower lip as she tried to calm the butterflies in her stomach. She was having Daniel’s baby and at some point she was going to have to tell him. But how? How was she going to break the news to a man who had no interest in ever having a child of his own that whether he wanted to or not, he was going to be a daddy? And considering his feelings about children, would he try to get her to end the pregnancy?

She placed a protective hand over her still flat stomach. She truly didn’t think he would ask that of her, but it wouldn’t matter if he did. This baby was hers and she loved it with all of her heart.

Rising to her feet, she wandered into her studio and glanced at the drawings for the latest children’s book she was illustrating. Children were so very important to her and she couldn’t imagine anyone not wanting to have a child to enrich their life.

She released a shuddering breath. It would just be his loss, she thought sadly. Whether he wanted anything to do with the baby or not, it was only right to let him know about her pregnancy, and as soon as she found a good time, she fully intended to do just that.

As she stood there pondering how to go about telling him that he had fathered a child, the phone rang. When she answered, she wasn’t at all surprised to hear her oldest sister’s concerned voice.

“Are you all right, Lily?” Laurel asked.

“I’m fine now,” Lily said, smiling.

She loved her family and the closeness they shared. But she hadn’t told them about her pregnancy and she wasn’t sure how to broach the subject. It was a given they would be supportive, but they were all busy with their own lives and she hated to add her problems to theirs. As public relations director for The Kincaid Group, Laurel was going to have to handle the media frenzy the scandal was sure to cause, as well as get ready for her upcoming wedding. Thankfully, their sister Kara was using her skills as a wedding and party planner to pull it all together for Laurel, but at the same time she was booked up with jobs for her thriving business, Prestige Events.

Lily could always turn to her brothers for advice, but they were no less busy than her sisters. Until today, RJ had his hands full being interim CEO of The Kincaid Group since their father’s death, but she suspected he would soon be turning his attention to a legal battle as he tried to regain control of the business now that Jack Sinclair held the majority of the shares. That left Matt. Poor Matt was so busy trying to juggle his job as director of New Business at TKG and being a single father, that he didn’t have time for himself, let alone to give her advice on how she should handle this new twist in her life.

“You left so quickly this morning, I wanted to make sure that you’re feeling better,” Laurel went on.

“I just needed some air,” Lily said, sorry for the worry she had caused her sibling. “I still can’t believe that Daddy left the biggest part of the company to that awful man.”

“I know,” Laurel agreed, sounding as disillusioned as Lily. “We’re looking into finding who owns the missing ten percent. If we can get whoever it is to vote with us, then as a whole, we’ll have controlling interest in TKG. And at this point, that’s imperative. After you left, Jack smugly told RJ and Matt that he expected a full report of assets, expenses, projected growth and a comprehensive customer list for TKG by the end of the month.”

“What is he going to do with it?” Lily asked, alarmed. Did he intend to sell his shares back to the Kincaids at a ridiculously high price? Or was he planning to split the company and sell it off piece by piece?

“At this point, it’s anyone’s guess what he’ll do with the information.” Laurel’s sigh echoed in Lily’s ear. “But RJ and Matt are going to be busy working practically around the clock to get things together.”

“I can only imagine how frustrated and angry RJ feels about all this.” RJ was not the type of man to put up with Jack Sinclair’s arrogance any longer than it took him to find a way to defeat him.

“RJ doesn’t have a choice,” Laurel said. “But I don’t want you to worry about any of this, Lily. RJ and Matt will figure it out and if there’s a way for us to regain control of TKG, they’ll find it.”

“Asking me not to worry is like asking me to make the sun rise in the west tomorrow morning. But I do promise I’ll try.” A knock on the front door had her walking out of her studio. “I have to go, Laurel. Someone’s at the door. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Love you.”

“Love you, too,” Laurel said, ending the conversation.

Lily put the cordless unit on the charger, then continued to the door. It was probably one of her other siblings dropping by to check on her. After the way she’d fled Mr. Parsons’s office this morning, she really wasn’t surprised. Since she was the youngest in the family, her brothers and sisters had always watched out for her and she loved them all the more for it.

But when she opened the door, she found Daniel standing on the other side with a large paper bag in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other. “I was beginning to think you might still be napping,” he said as he brushed past her and walked toward the dining area at the opposite end of the room.

“What are you doing here, Daniel?” she asked, closing the door to follow him.

Looking over his shoulder, he gave her an indulgent smile. “Don’t you remember? I told you I would be back with dinner around six.”

She frowned. “I remember telling you that you didn’t need to bother stopping by, but I don’t recall anything about you bringing dinner.”

“You might have fallen asleep by that time,” he said, pulling cartons of delicious-smelling food from the paper bag to place them on the table.

“Might have?” She shook her head. “It’s more likely that you purposely waited until I had gone to sleep to mention bringing dinner.”

He shrugged as he removed his coat, then walked over to lay it on the back of one of the armchairs. “Either way, I did mention it.” He returned to the table and picked up the bottle of wine. “Besides, you have to eat and I didn’t think you would feel like making something for yourself.”

Even though the food he had brought smelled heavenly and she was ravenous, she wasn’t willing to give in so easily. “I might have plans,” she said stubbornly.

“But you don’t.” He gave her a smile that caused her to feel warm all over. “Now, why don’t we sit down and enjoy this before it gets cold?”

If there was one thing about Daniel Addison that she had learned in the past several months, it was that he never lacked confidence. She only wished she could say the same for herself, especially now that she was going to have to find a way to tell him about her pregnancy.

When he reached for two wineglasses on top of her small liquor cabinet, she shook her head. “I’m going to have a glass of milk.”

He nodded as he removed the corkscrew from the cabinet drawer and popped the cork on the wine bottle. “Considering how sick you were this morning, that’s probably a good idea.”

She didn’t comment as she walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. It would probably be best if he was sitting down when she told him the reason behind her illness this morning and why she wasn’t drinking wine with her meal.

When she returned to the dining area, she wasn’t surprised that he had gotten plates from the china cabinet and was setting their places at the table. He was a man who took charge and was hands on when he saw something that had to be done. A tiny tingle coursed through her when she remembered his hands on her and the magic he created whenever he …

“Lily, are you all right?” he asked, bringing her back to the present.

“Um … of course, why do you ask?” She had to stop thinking about what they had shared in the past because there was absolutely no future in it.

A shadow of concern clouded his dark blue eyes. “You’re not acting like yourself, sweetheart. You seem distracted by something.”

The endearment Daniel always used made her long to go back a few months to when they first began seeing each other and everything was much simpler. His mother hadn’t said those mean things to her and she hadn’t known that her beloved father had been leading a double life since before she was born.

“I was just thinking about how everything was before Christmas.” She shook her head as the gravity of all that had happened settled across her shoulders. “We had no way of knowing that it would be our last holiday with Daddy or that we would start out the new year with his funeral and a family scandal that will undoubtedly be talked about for years to come.”

When Daniel took her glass of milk from her to set it on the table, then reached out to wrap his arms around her, Lily placed her hands on his broad chest to push away from him. Her whole world had changed in ways she could have never imagined and it was almost more than she could take in. But she couldn’t allow herself to be drawn back under his spell.

“Please, Daniel,” she said, trying to hold herself away from him.

“Hush, sweetheart,” he whispered. “You need someone to lean on right now.”

“Not literally,” she said, unwilling to give up so easily.

His deep chuckle sent a shiver straight through her. “I think literal has its merits.”

Unfortunately, Daniel was much stronger and the more she pushed, the closer he drew her to him. Suddenly too emotionally exhausted to resist any longer, she rested her head against his broad chest. Just for a moment, she wanted to forget that the past few weeks had happened and pretend that her life was the same as it had always been—carefree and happy.

But the feel of his hard muscles against her cheek, the steady beat of his heart and the solid strength of his arms around her, caused a longing to build inside her that had nothing to do with comfort and support. She had missed this man more than she had thought was possible, and it would be in her best interest to put distance between them.

Looking up into his navy eyes, Lily started to pull away, but just as a night creature often became trapped in the headlights of an oncoming car, she couldn’t seem to look away as he slowly began to lower his head. He was going to kiss her and, for the life of her, she couldn’t remember why she shouldn’t let him. But the sudden rumbling of her stomach reminded both of them that she hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast.

Daniel took a deep breath, kissed her forehead and smiled. “It would probably be a good idea if you eat something, sweetheart.”

“I think you’re right,” she said, thankful that hunger had intervened and kept her from doing something she would regret later. The last thing she needed to do was fall under his spell again. Stepping back, she turned to pull out one of the chairs at the table and sat down. “What smells so delicious?”

“When I stopped by Miss Pauline’s Southern Cupboard, I wasn’t sure which you would prefer, baked chicken or roast beef,” he said, seating himself at the head of the table. “So I got both.”

“I’m positively starved,” she said, meaning it. She might have been sick every morning for the past couple of weeks, but every evening, her appetite seemed to return with a vengeance. “I think I’ll have a little of both. I love Miss Pauline’s food.”

“We also have mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans, corn fritters and fresh-made corn bread,” he said, reaching for her plate. “And be sure to save room for apple pie.”

“It all sounds heavenly,” she said, watching him fill her plate. “I have some vanilla ice cream in the freezer that would be fantastic with the pie.”

They both fell silent for several minutes as they enjoyed the delicious food. But the longer Daniel watched Lily eat, the more fascinated he became. They’d shared many meals, but he didn’t think he had ever seen her quite so hungry. She was eating like a longshoreman after a full day’s work at the docks of Port Charleston.

“When was the last time you ate?” he asked, watching her put another corn fritter on her plate, then reach for the carton of green beans.

She nibbled on her lower lip a moment as if trying to decide what to say. “I couldn’t stand the thought of breakfast this morning,” she said tentatively. “I only had a few crackers and a cup of tea. Then I slept through lunch and only woke up about an hour before you arrived with dinner.”

He could understand her inability to eat earlier in the day. Knowing that she was going to come face-to-face with her father’s second family for the reading of his will was enough to cause anyone to lose their appetite. And as exhausted as she had been, Daniel wasn’t at all surprised that she had missed lunch. But it appeared she was making up for it now.

“Don’t forget to leave room for the pie and ice cream,” he said, smiling as he watched her enjoy another bite of roast beef.

“I know that the amount of butter Miss Pauline uses when she cooks is probably not the most healthy. But she has the best food in South Carolina.” He watched Lily smile blissfully as a forkful of the buttery mashed potatoes disappeared into her mouth.

“I don’t think it does any harm to eat like this occasionally,” he said, amazed that she still had room for another bite of corn bread. “It’s having food like this every day that isn’t good for you. It clogs arteries and can add several pounds.”

As soon as he said it, Daniel wished he could call the words back. If he had learned nothing else in his disastrous marriage, it was definitely not to mention gaining weight to a woman.

Lily slowly laid her fork on the edge of her plate and gave him a penetrating look. “Do I look as if I’ve gained weight?”

Damn, Addison! Way to stick your foot in your mouth. How are you going to talk your way out of this one? Mentioning weight gain to a woman was the best way in the world to have her hand a man his head on a silver platter.

“I didn’t say you looked like you had gained weight,” he said, choosing his words carefully. “Just that if a person ate this way all the time, they would.”

Instead of tearing into him for mentioning weight at all, as he thought she would, to his surprise Lily smiled as she shrugged one shoulder. “I suppose gaining a little weight isn’t the end of the world.”

It was all Daniel could do to keep his mouth from dropping open. If he had made the same blunder with Charisma, his ex-wife would have made his life a living hell for at least a month and it would have cost him an expensive piece of jewelry or a whole new wardrobe of designer clothes to pay for his sins. Then, every time they had any kind of disagreement, she would have dragged his comment on gaining weight into the fray. But Lily seemed to take it in stride and didn’t act at all concerned about it. Amazing!

Deciding there was no sense in pushing his luck any further, he stood up to carry their plates into the kitchen. “I’ll get the pie and ice cream.”

“I’ll help,” she said, starting to rise from her chair.

Smiling, he shook his head. “Just sit there and relax. You’ve had a rough day and although I’m lost about most things in a kitchen, I’m pretty sure I can handle dipping a scoop of ice cream onto a piece of pie.”

When he returned a couple of minutes later and placed the dessert in front of her, Lily smiled as she picked up her spoon. “For a man who doesn’t know his way around a kitchen, you did pretty well. It looks delicious.”

He chuckled. “I’m afraid this is as far as my culinary skills go. Why do you think I took you out to eat all those times?”

“I really hadn’t thought much about it,” she said, closing her eyes as she savored the combined flavors of vanilla, cinnamon and apple.

As Daniel watched, her expression changed to one of pure pleasure and he couldn’t help but remember the times he had seen a similar look come over her as he made love to her. A spark ignited in his lower belly at the thought of how responsive she had been, how passionate.

He swallowed hard and tried to think of something innocuous. He might have succeeded had it not been for Lily slowly licking a drop of melted ice cream from her lips. The action reminded him of other talents she had with that perfect little tongue and had him shifting to relieve the mounting pressure of his suddenly too-tight trousers.

When had the simple act of eating a piece of pie become so damn erotic?

“Don’t you want yours?” she asked, unaware of his wayward thoughts.

Daniel stared down at the dessert in front of him. Oh, he wanted, all right, but it wasn’t pie that he was craving. It was the memory of her delicious body pressed to his that fueled his hunger and caused his mouth to feel as if it had been stuffed with cotton.

Taking a gulp of his wine, he forced his body to relax. He had no doubt that at any other time, he would find Miss Pauline’s pie quite tasty. At the moment, it might as well have been a piece of rubber on his plate.

“Are you okay?” Lily asked, reaching over to steal a spoonful of his ice cream.

Nodding, he did his best to focus on Lily and her seemingly insatiable appetite. She had finished her pie and ice cream and now it appeared she was starting on his.

“I’m not all that hungry, why don’t we share?” he said, picking up his spoon. He dipped it into the melting ice cream, then held it to her lips.

Her eyes met his as she opened her mouth and he immediately knew he had made a huge error in judgment. In all of his thirty-eight years, he didn’t think he had experienced anything more provocative than having her gaze locked with his as her lips slowly closed around the bite of ice cream. His libido kicked into overdrive, reminding him that it had been the better part of three weeks since they had made love.

“I really hate to cut the evening short,” he said suddenly, making a show of glancing at his watch. “But I just remembered I have to make an overseas call as soon as the Japanese markets open.”

Lily had been on an emotional roller coaster for the past several days, and taking advantage of a woman’s vulnerability to seduce her had never been his style. But if he didn’t get out of there and damn quick, that was exactly what was going to happen.

“Thank you for bringing supper,” she said, placing her napkin on the table beside her plate. “It really was delicious.”

“It looked as if you might have been happy with my choices,” he said dryly.

Confident that he had his body back under control, Daniel rose to his feet, quickly helped Lily clear the table, then walked into the living room to find his coat. “I’ll come by tomorrow to see how you’re doing.”

Lily followed him to the door. “Thank you for your concern, Daniel. I do appreciate it. But it really isn’t necessary. It may take some time, but I’m going to be fine. Really.”

It appeared she was back to giving him the brush-off and that didn’t sit well with him one bit. Turning back, he didn’t think twice about reaching up to run the back of his hand along her smooth cheek. As he searched her upturned face for what she might be thinking, Lily swayed ever so slightly and leaned into his touch. He could tell it wasn’t a conscious action on her part, but it was all the indication he needed that she still desired him. Taking her into his arms, he gathered her to him.

“Daniel, don’t—”

“Hush, sweetheart,” he said, brushing her mouth with his. He intended to remind her of how responsive she had always been to his touch.

Teasing her with feathery kisses, he nibbled at her perfect lips to test her willingness to allow him to continue. When she moaned softly and brought her hands up to his chest to grasp the fabric of his shirt as if to steady herself, elated satisfaction coursed through him. Whatever her reason had been for trying to distance herself from him the past few weeks, it wasn’t because she no longer wanted him.

As difficult as it was, Daniel fought the urge to deepen the kiss. He had proven his point and although he fully intended for them to become lovers once again, he wanted to build her frustration to the degree that she could no longer deny her need for him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Lily,” he said, untangling her fingers from his shirt to take a step back.

The confusion on her pretty face and the disappointment she couldn’t quite hide caused him to smile and, before she had the chance to find her voice and protest, he opened the door and stepped out into the cool January night. His body throbbed with longing and Daniel knew as surely as he knew his own name, he was in for a miserable, sleepless night. But in the long run, it was going to be well worth whatever hell he had to go through to have Lily back in his life and in his bed.

He just hoped he didn’t go completely insane before that happened.

Staring at the closed door, Lily couldn’t believe the myriad of emotions roiling inside her. She had wanted Daniel to actually kiss her, not just tease her to the point of utter frustration. But that was exactly what had happened and her disappointment that he hadn’t kissed her senseless led to a deep annoyance with herself for wishing that he had.

She shook her head as she turned to walk into the kitchen to load the dishwasher. She couldn’t believe how easy it would have been for her to throw common sense out the window and lose herself in Daniel’s arms. Thank heavens he had backed off and hadn’t taken things any further. She wouldn’t have been able to resist him and that was something she had to do at all costs. Calling a halt to their seeing each other had been one of the hardest things she had ever done, but it was the only way to ensure she didn’t suffer more hurt when he found out about the baby and walked away. They wanted different things in life, and it was best to stop now before she lost her heart completely.

But that didn’t explain why she had failed to let him know about the baby when he noticed her voracious appetite. It had been the perfect opportunity to explain why she ate more than usual and that she fully expected to gain weight as her pregnancy progressed.

Her pregnancy hormones had to be responsible for her mixed emotions as well as her reluctance to let him know he was going to be a father. Either that or it was the dread of telling him and knowing for certain that his interest in her would come to a swift and permanent end.

Sighing, Lily started the dishwasher and wandered into the living room. She supposed she should work on the new children’s book she had been commissioned to illustrate. But when the family had been informed that her father had died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound at his TKG office, she had put work on hold and hadn’t been able to concentrate on it since.

She still couldn’t believe all that had happened over the past several days—especially what had taken place during the reading of her father’s will just that morning. But as she thought about her father’s betrayal of his legitimate family, she remembered the letters Mr. Parsons had given to them. She had forgotten about them after running into Daniel at the law office.

Lily stared at her purse, which was lying on the end table, and her hand shook when she finally worked up the courage to reach for it. She wasn’t at all certain she was prepared to read her father’s last thoughts to her. But then, she didn’t think she would ever be ready for what was probably his final goodbye.

For several long moments after retrieving the envelope from her bag, she simply sat there holding it while she stared at her name in her father’s handwriting on the front. Given all that she had learned about him in the past several days, could she even believe what he had to say to her?

Finally, she decided that whether she believed what he had written or not, the only way to know would be to open the envelope. Taking a deep breath, she turned it over and, using her fingernail, lifted the sealed flap. When she pulled out the letter and unfolded it, her breath caught on a sob when she noticed the date. It was only a few days before he died.

My dearest Lily,

One of the greatest joys in my life has always been that you thought of me as your knight in shining armor. Whether it was chasing away the monsters from your closet when you were three, kissing a skinned elbow to make the hurt go away when you were eight or listening to your hopes and dreams as you got ready to go off to college, every second of the time we spent together has been very special and I never wanted you to see me as anything but your hero. Unfortunately, Lily-girl, I’m just a man with a man’s faults.

By now you’ve discovered that your dear old dad had feet of clay and wasn’t quite the champion you thought me to be. I never meant to disappoint you and I hope one day you can find it in your heart to forgive me for my weaknesses. No matter what you hear about me and my transgressions, please know that the bond between us was not only real, but very precious to me.

One of the many things that you and I shared together was a love of the historic district of Charleston. That’s why I’m leaving you the Colonel Samuel Beauchamp House in the Battery. It’s one of the city’s finest examples of Southern architecture and I know from the Saturday afternoons we spent in White Point Gardens when you were a child that it’s your favorite. You may meet with a bit of resistance from the former owner, Charlotte Addison, but stand your ground, Lily. You’re a strong, capable young woman and whatever decision you make concerning the property, I know it will be the right one for you.

I love you, Lily, and I have no doubt that without me you’ll find the strength to weather whatever challenges life brings your way. From the moment you were born, you have been my little princess—the ray of sunshine that brightened my life and I feel very blessed that you are my daughter.

With love,

Daddy

Tears streamed down Lily’s face as she slowly folded the letter and returned it to the envelope. Deep down she had known that the closeness between her and her father couldn’t have been a lie, but the hurt and disillusionment of the past few days had overshadowed their relationship and caused her to question what she knew in her heart to be true. No matter what he had done, her father had loved her.

Unfortunately, it was going to take her some time to get past his handing over controlling interest in TKG to Jack Sinclair, while more or less cutting his legitimate children out of the picture. Lily sighed heavily. Then there was his betrayal of her mother, even though Elizabeth Kincaid didn’t seem to be nearly as upset about the disturbing revelations as Lily would have thought.

“What were you thinking, Daddy?” she murmured aloud.

As she sat there wondering what her father could have possibly thought to accomplish by what she could only describe as inexcusable choices, something she had read in the letter caused her to catch her breath.

Quickly removing the letter from the envelope, she reread what her father had left her and the name of the Beauchamp mansion’s former owner—Daniel’s unpleasant, ill-tempered mother. Dear heavens, what had he gotten her into?




Three


After a miserable couple of hours waiting for her morning sickness to subside, Lily sat with her elbow propped on her art table, her chin cupped in her palm. She wasn’t accomplishing anything by staring off into space, but she couldn’t seem to settle down to work. All she had been able to think about since reading her father’s letter the night before was what she was going to do with the Beauchamp property.

She had never been inside the structure, but from the outside the beautiful four-story antebellum mansion had always captured her eye. With three levels of piazzas overlooking White Point Gardens and Charleston Harbor beyond, she was almost certain that the Sullivan’s Island Lighthouse and Fort Sumter could be seen in the distance.

She smiled wistfully. As a child, whenever she had passed by the stately double house, she had imagined how wonderful it would be to stand in the cupola on top of the tall roof and pretend to be a princess, surveying her kingdom below. And now the home she had thought to be as grand as any castle was actually hers.

What on earth was she going to do with it? It was such a big house and she didn’t need all that space. Of course, when the baby came there would be the two of them, but it was still going to be much more room than they would need.

As she pondered what to do with the mansion, she was reminded of her father’s warning. What had he meant when he told her that she would meet with opposition from Charlotte Addison? What was that all about?

Deciding she wasn’t getting anything done anyway, Lily left her art table and walked over to the laptop on her desk. With everything being accessible online these days, she should be able to find out some of the mansion’s history and the connection that Daniel’s mother had with the place. A few of the homes in the Battery had been passed from one generation to the next, never being occupied by anyone outside of the family who built them. A sense of dread began to settle in the pit of Lily’s stomach.

Her suspicions were confirmed when the first link she clicked on was a twenty-year-old article on homes in the Battery. According to the reporter from the Post and Courier, Charleston’s newspaper, the mansion had been in Colonel Samuel Beauchamp’s family since it was built in the late 1700s. It went on to read that the home had been passed down to his descendants and, at the time the article was written, belonged to Mrs. Charlotte Beauchamp-Addison, who anticipated keeping it in the family when she eventually passed it on to her son, Daniel.

A chill traveled the length of Lily’s spine. No wonder Charlotte Addison had treated her so poorly when she had shown up with Daniel at the dinner party. She obviously resented the fact that Reginald Kincaid, one of the nouveau riche, as the woman had called him, had purchased her ancestral home. Lily had been condemned simply because she was his daughter. If the mansion had meant so much to her, what could have possibly caused Charlotte to sell it to him?

Lily suddenly caught her breath. Did Daniel know about all this? Was he aware that her father had bought the home he was supposed to own one day and could that be the reason he had become interested in her to begin with? Had he hoped to somehow use his association with her to get the Beauchamp mansion back into his family?

Frowning, she nibbled on her lower lip. She didn’t think that was the case. He had told her on more than one occasion that he loved the new condo he’d bought after his divorce. It was close to the Addison Industries office building and within walking distance of Charleston’s French Quarter.

Trying to unravel her tangled thoughts, Lily jumped when the phone rang. “Hello Matt,” she said, recognizing her brother’s office number on the caller ID.

“Lily, could you do me a favor and watch Flynn one night a week for the next several weeks?” Her brother sounded rushed and she could only imagine the tremendous amount of stress he was under after hearing that Jack Sinclair was going to be in control of The Kincaid Group.

“Of course,” she said, smiling. “You know how much I love my nephew.”

“Great. RJ and I are going to be working late for who knows how long and I’m trying to line up babysitters,” Matt explained.

“What nights do you need me?” Lily asked. She loved spending time with Flynn and found that playing with him had inspired some of her best illustrations.

“Are you free Thursday evenings?” he asked. “Laurel is watching him Mondays and Kara has Tuesdays and Wednesdays covered.”

“That’s fine. What about the weekends?”

“He’s going to spend Friday nights and all day on Saturdays with Mom.” Lily heard him shuffle papers and realized Matt was trying to work and arrange child care at the same time. “I’ve already told RJ that Jack Sinclair can wait on the reports he wants until hell freezes over if need be, but Sundays are mine with Flynn and I’m not going to give that up for Sinclair or anyone else.”

“Good for you,” Lily said, meaning it. “Is there anything else I can do to help?”

She heard her brother sigh heavily. “Not unless you can figure out a way to add several more hours to the day.”

“Sorry, Matt, but I don’t think anyone has figured out how to do that just yet. What time do you need me on Thursday evenings?” When he named a time, she added, “Please take care of yourself. Whatever is going to happen, it’s not worth sacrificing your health.”

“Thanks, sis,” he said, sounding tired. “I’ll try to keep that in mind.”

After ending the call, Lily started to return to her worktable to try to get something done, when the phone rang again.

“Good afternoon, sweetheart,” Daniel said cheerfully. “I’m about five minutes away. Would you like to start setting the table for lunch?”

“Daniel, I’m not sure—”

“Have you eaten yet?”

“No, but—”

“Then set the table,” he said, breaking the connection.

Lily stared at the phone in her hand for several seconds before placing it on the desk to go set the table. She thought about calling Daniel back and insisting that he respect her wishes to be left alone. But she did need to talk to him and try to find out how much he knew about the sale of the Beauchamp mansion to her father as well as try to find a way to tell him about the baby.

Maybe then she would know more about what kind of battle her father had gotten her into with the Addisons. And how Daniel was going to react when he learned about the baby.

As Daniel steered his Mercedes around the Kincaid mansion to the carriage house in the back, he couldn’t help but smile. After having lunch with Lily, she had asked him to stay for a bit so they could talk, but he’d had to decline because of an afternoon meeting with the president of the dockworkers’ union. He had, however, managed to convince her to let him pick her up after the meeting for a trip to check out the most recently renovated exhibit at the aquarium, then have an early dinner at the little bistro she loved in the French Quarter. As far as he was concerned, that was progress in getting things back to the way they had been before his mother’s dinner party.

Parking the car, he hesitated before opening the driver’s door. Everything had been going great between them until the night of the party. But immediately afterward, Lily had decided to be conveniently busy whenever he asked her out. Could his mother have possibly said something to Lily that evening, causing her to have a sudden change of heart about seeing him? Or had the thirteen-year difference in their ages suddenly become a problem for her?

He dismissed the latter thought outright. Surely he would have had an indication if age had become an issue. They both enjoyed most of the same things and there had never been any sort of gap in conversation when they discussed the kind of music they liked to listen to, the books they had read or type of movies they preferred. No, the problem had to have been generated by his mother. He narrowed his eyes. It wouldn’t surprise him if she had said something to insult or hurt Lily. In the past, when Charlotte Addison felt that someone was beneath her, she had never hesitated to let that person know all about just who she was in the pecking order of society. On more than one occasion, he had witnessed her boasting about her family pedigree and the fact that the Beauchamps were considered to be in the highest echelon of Charleston’s social order.

But when could she have had the chance that evening to talk to Lily alone? He had purposely tried to keep Lily at his side throughout the evening, anticipating that his mother might say something insulting. And he had been certain that given the chance, she would. Not only was The Kincaid Group the chief rival of Addison Industries, his mother seemed to have a huge problem with Reginald Kincaid in particular.

As he got out of the car and walked toward Lily’s door, Daniel decided that by dinner he fully intended to have his questions answered and things straightened out between them. Then at his earliest possible convenience, he would confront his mother and firmly suggest that she mind her own business and stop meddling in his social life.

“I see you’re ready to go,” Daniel said when Lily stepped out of the carriage house before he reached the door.

“Actually, I had just returned from checking on my mother to see how she’s doing when I heard you arrive,” Lily said as she walked toward his car.

“How is your mother faring?” he asked, knowing the entire family had been dealing with one shock after another since their ordeal began.

“Momma is holding up surprisingly well,” Lily said, frowning. “It makes me wonder if she might not be in a state of shock and everything that’s happened will come crashing down on top of her later.”

Opening the passenger door, Daniel helped her into the car, then walked around to slide into the driver’s seat. “Sometimes grief brings out a strength in people they never knew they had,” he suggested, suspecting that might be the case. With a quiet grace about her, Elizabeth Kincaid had always impressed him as having the heart and soul of a steel magnolia lying just beneath the surface of her soft-spoken, genteel exterior.

“I think you might be right,” Lily said. “It’s like she’s become the rock that the rest of us are leaning on.”

Reaching over, he covered her hand with his. “And don’t forget. I’m here for you too, sweetheart.”

Lily gave him an odd look before she finally nodded. “Thank you, Daniel. I appreciate your compassion, but as I’ve told you, I’m going to be fine.”

Neither had a lot to say on the drive to the aquarium and Daniel hoped that the exhibit he wanted to show her would help relieve some of her tension and stress. “When I heard the plans for renovating this area of the aquarium, I knew it was something you would enjoy,” he said as he bought two cups of shrimp from Gilligan’s Shrimp Shack not far from the entrance to the exhibit.

Lily eyed the two plastic feeding sticks the attendant handed him as they walked toward the Saltmarsh Aviary. “What are we supposed to do with those?”

“We’re going to feed the stingrays,” he said, anticipating her reaction. He wasn’t disappointed when her eyes brightened with almost childlike excitement.

“I’ve always thought stingrays look so graceful as they swim,” Lily said as they walked up to the enormous tank.

He placed a shrimp on the end of one of the sticks, and handed it to her. “Just stick it down into the water and wait.”

As he watched, Lily did as he instructed and in no time a large ray glided up to the stick and ate the shrimp. “Oh, Daniel, this is definitely my new favorite thing about the aquarium.”

Her enthusiasm was infectious and by the time both shrimp cups were empty, Daniel felt as if he were a good ten years younger. It was always this way when he was with Lily. Her zest for life never failed to improve his mood and he found that his outlook wasn’t nearly as jaded and cynical as it had been just a few hours ago.

“Thank you for bringing me,” Lily said as they walked on to view the puffer fish and diamondback terrapins in the mock saltmarsh tidal creek.

He shook his head. “No, I’m the one who should be thanking you.” Reaching down, he took her hand in his and brought it to his lips to kiss the back. “Seeing all this wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun without you.”

By the time they left the aquarium, Lily looked more relaxed and he gave himself a mental pat on the back for thinking to bring her to the exhibit. “What do you have planned for after dinner?” he asked on the short drive to her favorite bistro.

For the second time that afternoon, she gave him a look as if trying to decide what she wanted to say. “Mr. Parsons stopped by my mother’s this morning to drop off the keys to the different properties my father left to me and my siblings. I thought I would go take a look at the home I inherited.”

“Where’s it located?”

“In the Battery.”

“Nice area,” he said, meaning it. He had been raised in the Battery, and it was where some of the finest homes in Charleston were located. Steering the car into the restaurant’s parking lot, he switched off the engine and turned to face her. “Since we’re already out, why don’t I drive you over there after we eat?”

She gave him that look again—the one she had been giving him all afternoon. If he didn’t know better, he would swear she suspected him of something. But he didn’t have a clue what he could have done to deserve it.

“That might be a good idea,” she finally said. “I think I’d like to get your opinion on what I should do with the place.”

As he guided her into the bistro, Daniel grinned. “If you want to know how to pack it, ship it or liquidate it, I’m your guy. Decorating? Not so much.”

After a scrumptious dinner, Daniel drove along South Battery Street toward the Beauchamp mansion, and Lily couldn’t help but feel a bit apprehensive about touring the house with him. She purposely hadn’t told him that the home she inherited was once owned by his mother—the very house that was supposed to one day be his. She wasn’t sure why she had omitted the information, other than she had a feeling his immediate reaction when he saw the place would tell her if he was interested in getting it back or really didn’t care about it.

“That’s it,” she said, pointing to the stately home up ahead.

“You inherited Colonel Sam’s old place?” Daniel asked, clearly astounded. “Up until fifteen years ago, this used to belong to my mother.”

His surprise was genuine and Lily was almost certain that Daniel was unaware her father had bought the home. “I’ve always thought it was one of the most beautiful mansions in the Battery,” she said, smiling.

He shrugged as he turned the car into the driveway. “I guess it’s all right.”

“Don’t you like historic homes?” she asked, wondering how anyone could resist the charm and beauty of antebellum architecture.

“I think they’re great when someone takes the time to keep them up,” he answered, getting out of the car. When he came around to open her door for her, he added, “It’s when they’re allowed to fall into a state of disrepair that they look like any other old house that’s been let go.”

“The outside looks as if someone has been taking good care of this one,” she said, crossing her fingers that the inside looked just as nice.

“I hope for your sake they have,” he said, guiding her up the steps onto the piazza. “The last time I was in this place it was in need of some serious renovations and looked to me like it could turn into a bottomless money pit.”

Reaching into her handbag, Lily removed the set of keys Mr. Parsons had tagged as belonging to the house. “I hope the electricity is on. Otherwise, I’ll have to come back tomorrow in the daylight to see what needs to be done.”

Daniel took the keys from her and, unlocking the door, stepped inside ahead of her. “Let me find the switch and we’ll see if the lights work.”

When the foyer’s crystal chandelier sparkled to life, Lily crossed the threshold and felt as if she had indeed entered the princess’s castle. Apparently her father had seen to it that the mansion had been completely restored to its original grandeur.

“This is everything I thought it would be and more,” Lily said, in awe of her surroundings.

The walls, wainscoting and ornate dentiled ceiling cornice had been painted a rich cream that glowed warmly in the chandelier’s light and contrasted perfectly with the highly polished heart-pine floor. A graceful sweeping staircase with a black cypress banister and steps ascended to the upper floors and Lily could only imagine how beautiful the rest of the house had to be.

“Wow,” Daniel said, looking around. “I’m impressed. Your dad spent a small fortune to bring this old place back to life. I’ve never seen it look this good.”

“I can’t believe it’s mine,” Lily said, falling in love with the house all over again.

“Let’s check out the rest of it,” he said, taking her by the hand.

As he led her through the mansion, Lily marveled at the attention that had been paid to detail. Every room was fully furnished and although the furniture was new, it had been chosen to complement the antebellum style, while still projecting a comfortable homey atmosphere.

Whoever designed the master suite had pulled out all the stops to make it the most luxurious room in the house. From the balcony off the sitting room overlooking the courtyard below, to the his-and-her bathrooms, the interior designer had outdone himself.

By the time she and Daniel had toured all the rooms and walked out onto the lighted terrace, Lily had to ask, “How could your mother part with such a beautiful place?”

“It didn’t look anything like this when she owned it and besides, she really didn’t have a choice.” Putting his arm around her shoulders, he led her across the yard toward the carriage house. “Right after I graduated from college, my dad died and I had to take over Addison Industries. That’s when we discovered that he wasn’t the best of managers. The business was in such bad shape financially, it took her selling off the summer home on Hilton Head Island, as well as parting with this place, just for her to survive until I could get the business back in the black and out of the danger of bankruptcy.”

“I’m so sorry, Daniel.” Lily couldn’t begin to imagine how stressful the situation had to have been for him. “You’ve done an amazing job of bringing it back. I’ve heard RJ and my father talk about Addison Industries being TKG’s toughest competitor.”

He shrugged. “It wasn’t easy, but I think it was harder on my mom than anyone else. For the first time in her life, she had to adhere to a strict budget and she was scared to death that some of her snooty friends would find out that she was on the verge of being destitute.”

Lily couldn’t help but wonder how Charlotte Addison’s pride had survived such a devastating blow. “Did you know she had sold the home to my father?”

“I had my hands full with getting Addison Industries back on its feet,” he said, shaking his head. “I didn’t have time, nor did I care what she did with this place, just as long as I didn’t have to deal with it.” His adamant tone convinced Lily that Daniel truly had no idea who had bought the mansion or that he had any interest in getting it back.

As he started to unlock the door to the carriage house, she turned and, rising on tiptoe, impulsively kissed his cheek.

“What was that for?” he asked, chuckling as he turned and wrapped her in his arms.

“I’m just happy,” she said, not wanting to explain about her unfounded suspicions. “Do you mind?”

“You’re not going to get any complaints out of me,” he said, using his index finger to trace her jawline.

His gentle touch reminded her of how tender he could be, how much care he took when he made love to her. “Daniel, I’m not certain—”

“I’ll be sure for both of us,” he said, lowering his head to brush her lips with his.

When his mouth settled over hers, Lily brought her hands up to his chest to push away from him, to put distance between herself and the temptation he posed. The issue of how much he knew about her father buying the house had been settled, but she had yet to tell him the news that would no doubt put a permanent end to his attraction to her.

But as his arms tightened around her and he traced her lips with his tongue, she abandoned all thought and allowed him to kiss her the way she had wanted him to do the night before. There would be plenty of time within the next few days to tell him about the baby and face the future without Daniel in her life.

As he explored her with a thoroughness that threatened to turn her insides to warm pudding, a tingling sensation began to spread throughout her body and she welcomed his deepening of the kiss. It had been the better part of three weeks since he had held her like this, made her feel as if she was the most cherished creature on earth. And heaven help her, she didn’t want him to stop.

He pulled her closer and the feel of his hard, muscular body pressed to hers sent a flash of heat racing from the top of her head to the soles of her feet. His chest muscles beneath her hands flexed as she clutched his shirt and she could feel his heart pounding against her fingertips.

“I’ve missed you, sweetheart,” he said, easing away from the kiss. “I’ve missed holding you like this.”

“Me, too.”

Lily could have denied that she had missed him, but what was the point? Her response to him had been every bit as eager as it had always been and there was no sense in her lying to either one of them.

“What happened, Lily?” he whispered close to her ear. “Why did you stop seeing me?”

“Please, not now,” she begged, not wanting reality to intrude. She kissed the exposed skin at his open collar. “Could we please leave this for another time?”

Just when she thought he was going to press the issue, he leaned back and, staring down into her eyes for several long moments, finally nodded. “It can wait for now.” He gave her a smile that made her feel warm all over. “Why don’t we check out the carriage house, then lock up and go back to your place.”

“It sounds like we have a plan, Mr. Addison,” she agreed. “You can drop me off and then go home.”

He gave her an exasperated look, but didn’t comment.

She knew he was confused by her insistence that she wanted to be left alone, then her allowing him to hold her, kiss her. But she was doing her best to distance herself from him and if he wasn’t such a source of temptation for her, she would be able to do that. Unfortunately, from the moment he took her into his arms at the Autumn Ball, she had discovered a weakness within herself that she hadn’t known existed. Whenever Daniel touched her, she seemed to lose a will of her own. It was something she needed to work on—had to work on—or risk losing her sanity when he found out about the baby and lost interest in her.

When they entered the carriage house, they found that her father had turned it into a studio with huge floor-to-ceiling windows to let in plenty of natural light. “It looks like your dad had planned on an artist using this,” Daniel said, giving her a knowing wink as they looked around the spacious work area.

Lily had a hard time blinking back her tears. It was clear her father had her in mind when he’d commissioned the renovations of the property, meaning that he had planned for some time to make her childhood dream of living here come true.

“When I was a little girl, Daddy used to take me to White Point Gardens across the street. We would sit for hours on one of the benches staring at this place and I would tell him stories I made up about the princess who lived here.”

“I’ll bet she had red hair and blue eyes,” Daniel teased, walking up behind her to put his arms around her.

She nodded as she indulged herself just one more time and leaned back against him. “The princess would stand in the cupola and look out at Charleston Harbor.”

“What was she looking for?” His deep baritone vibrated against her back and caused a delightful fluttering in her lower belly.

“She was watching for her prince to sail into Charleston Harbor and come home to live with her in the castle,” Lily answered.

“Of course,” he murmured close to her ear. “Any princess worth her salt always waits for her prince, whether he’s sailing up in a ship or riding a big white horse.”

“Now you’re making fun of me,” she said, smiling as she turned in his arms to face him.

“Maybe just a little,” he said, grinning. “Have you ever thought of writing children’s books, instead of just illustrating them?”

“My father always thought I should,” she said, doing her best to stifle a yawn. She had missed the afternoon nap that she had been taking since becoming pregnant. “But since college, the major children’s publishers have kept me so busy illustrating for others, I haven’t had time to think much about it.”

“You should,” he said, kissing her forehead. “Now, why don’t I walk you to my car and then I’ll go back and lock up. You’re starting to look pretty tired.”

She nodded as they left the carriage house. “It has been a long day.”

While Lily waited in the car for Daniel to return from turning off lights and locking the house, she couldn’t help but think about what her father had said in his letter. She was a strong, capable woman who he was confident would make the right decision about the mansion. He hadn’t insisted that she keep the property, but he had everything in place for her, anticipating that she would want to.

Staring up at the stately home, she knew it was foolish for one person to even contemplate living alone in a house with more than ten thousand square feet of living space. But her father had spared no expense in getting it ready for her. He had given her her dream and, wise or not, she was going to take it.

“I’ve made a decision about what I’m going to do with the mansion,” Lily said when Daniel returned to the car.

“And just what might that be?” he asked, starting the car and driving it down the driveway to the street.

“It’s going to take me a week or so to make arrangements, but as soon as I can get things packed up, I’m going to move in and live here.”




Four


For the next week after touring the mansion with Lily, Daniel found himself embroiled in a labor dispute with the dockworkers that left little time for anything but a few hurried phone calls and a standing order at the local florist for a daily bouquet of flowers to be delivered to her apartment. Lily hadn’t asked him to stop calling and seemed to appreciate all of the flowers, but they still weren’t completely back to where they had been with their affair before Christmas. That was the first thing he intended to remedy as soon as possible.

It would already have been taken care of by now, if not for the snag that had developed with the labor force. He had thought he and the union president had worked things out the day he had taken Lily to the aquarium, but apparently the rank and file had other ideas. Just that afternoon, he had been able to come to an agreement with the dockworkers and anticipated being able to spend a lot more time with her.

Unfortunately, tonight was not one of those times. In one of their phone conversations, Lily had explained that she would be babysitting her nephew on Thursday evenings for the next few weeks, while her brothers worked on getting reports ready for Jack Sinclair. So what was he going to do with his evening?

As he sat at his desk contemplating his options, his cell phone rang. “Daniel Addison,” he said, answering the call.

“Daniel, I’m so glad I caught you.”

“Hello, Charlotte.” At her request, he hadn’t called her “Mom” or “Mother” in years.

“I haven’t talked to you since Christmas Day and I was wondering when I may expect a visit,” she said in her usual formal tone.

“I’m free this evening,” he answered, deciding not to put her off. He did want to talk to his mother about the night of the dinner party and what she might have said to Lily. This evening seemed as good a time as any to do that.

“I think that would be marvelous, Daniel. Shall I have Cook set an extra place for dinner?” she asked.

Barely able to keep from rolling his eyes at her pretentiousness, he sighed heavily. “Sure, why not.”

“I’ll expect you at six then.” His mother ended the call as she always did, without saying goodbye.

Twenty minutes later, as he drove to the home he had grown up in on East Battery Street, just half a mile from the Beauchamp mansion, Daniel couldn’t help but think about how vastly different his childhood had been from Lily’s. She had been raised in a loving home with several brothers and sisters, who remained quite close as adults.

He, on the other hand, had been the only child of a frequently aloof mother and a father who could only be described as a dreamer. To say his parents were a mismatched couple was an understatement and Daniel couldn’t understand how they had managed to stay together for over twenty-five years of marriage.

Charlotte Beauchamp-Addison was all about maintaining her standing in society and feeling superior among her circle of so-called friends, while George Addison had drifted through life with a laid-back, “whatever will be, will be” attitude. Daniel sometimes even wondered if his father had purposely ignored the signs of an impending heart attack, in order to die and get away from the pretentiousness and snobbery of life with Charlotte.

When he parked his car, Daniel entered through the back door of the house. He had always liked coming in through the kitchen. At least he got a warm greeting from Rosemary, the housekeeper and cook who had worked for his parents for as long as he could remember. It hadn’t been easy, but he had managed to see that the woman remained on the job, even through the times when he hadn’t been sure he would be able to bring Addison Industries back to solvency. But the woman was, and always had been, considered part of the family.

“How’s my favorite girl?” Daniel asked, smiling as he walked over to where the gray-haired woman stood, stirring something in a pot on the stove.

“I’m mad at you, Daniel Addison,” she said, her attention never wavering from what she was cooking. “You haven’t been by to see me in almost three weeks. Do you know how hard it is for a woman my age not seeing the boy I helped raised? I could very well die of a broken heart.”

Daniel chuckled as he kissed the woman’s wrinkled cheek. “I’m sorry, Rosemary, but there’s been a lot going on since Christmas. Will it make you feel better if I try to do better in the future?”

She turned to give him a sympathetic look. “I heard about Miss Lily’s daddy. How is that poor child doing?”

“As well as can be expected under the circumstances,” he answered. The woman had only met Lily once, at the dinner party before the holidays, but she and Lily had hit it off right away.

“My heart goes out to that girl, losing him the way she did,” Rosemary said, her kind brown eyes shining with unshed tears. “You be sure to tell her that I’ve got her and her family in my thoughts and prayers.”

“I’ll do that,” he said, knowing the kind-hearted woman his mother insisted on calling “Cook” was completely sincere with her sympathy.

Continuing into the sitting room, he found Charlotte posed by the window, staring out at Charleston Harbor. It was her favorite place to be when receiving guests.

“I don’t know why you insist on coming in the back way like a common servant, Daniel,” she admonished, turning to face him.

“Hello to you too, Charlotte,” he said, sitting down in one of the chairs by the fireplace. “How have you been?”

His question was all it took to get his mother started on the various charity functions she was helping to plan and the latest gossip circulating through the garden club. Barely listening, something she said suddenly caught his attention.

“What was that?” he asked, sitting up straight in the chair.

“I said that Madelyn Worthington told me all about poor Elizabeth Kincaid’s betrayal by that wretched man,” Charlotte said, patting an imaginary out-of-place hair back into place. “I’ve known for years that Reginald Kincaid was nothing but a low-bred scoundrel and I’m not the least bit surprised he turned out to be such an embarrassment to his family. Having a mistress and two bastard children in Greenville is just a disgrace.”

“Only one of the woman’s sons belongs to Kincaid,” he corrected. “And when did you start feeling sorry for Elizabeth Kincaid?” He distinctly remembered Charlotte referring to the woman as being a fool for marrying beneath her station.

His mother ignored the question, asking one of her own. “Are you still keeping company with that youngest Kincaid girl?”

“As a matter of fact, I am,” he said proudly.

Charlotte looked anything but pleased. “Really? I thought the two of you had a parting of the ways just before Christmas.”

Daniel narrowed his eyes. Now he knew his mother had something to do with his and Lily’s breakup. Otherwise, how would she have known?

“We stopped seeing each other for a few weeks, but just recently started dating again.” Technically they had only gone out once since running into each other at the lawyer’s office, but he fully intended for their trip to the aquarium to be the first of many outings they shared. “Why do you ask?”

“Oh, the night of my dinner party it seemed like she was losing interest in continuing your association,” his mother said calmly.

With years of practice at being a master manipulator, he wasn’t fooled by Charlotte’s disinterested demeanor. His mother knew a lot more about why Lily tried to end their affair than he did and he intended to find out what that was.

“What did you say to her?” he asked. “And don’t tell me you don’t know what I’m talking about, Charlotte. I know exactly how you operate.”

She didn’t so much as flinch at his accusation. “I just pointed out that since your divorce, you’ve made it no secret that you aren’t interested in anything long-term with a woman or marrying to carry on the family name.” Her smug smile caused him to clench his back teeth together so hard, he was surprised it didn’t break his jaw. “She comes from a large family and I’m sure that she has ideas of raising a brood of her own one day. It’s better that she knows now that isn’t what you’re interested in than to give her false hope for the future. Besides, she doesn’t have the breeding of a young woman suited for a man with your standing in the community.”

“And I guess Charisma did?” Daniel retorted.

“I’ll admit that Charisma was a bit high-strung, but you can’t deny she had a suitable background,” Charlotte answered as if the issue was as important to him as it was to her. “Her family has been a part of Charleston society almost as long as the Beauchamps and Addisons. She would have passed along the traits you would want in an offspring.”

“I shouldn’t be surprised that you thought she was good wife material,” he said, unable to keep the bitter tone from his voice. “She’s just like you, and I think that the traits you seem to think are so important would be better off not polluting the next generation.”

“Charisma is like me, isn’t she?” Charlotte said, smiling as if he had paid her a compliment and completely ignoring his disdain for the qualities her grandchild might inherit. She shook her head. “She was my best hope for a grandchild to carry on the family’s esteemed name.”

“Yeah, the two of you were as alike as I’ve ever seen—sweet as honey when things are going your way, but when they aren’t, you turn as vicious as a shark in a feeding frenzy.” He shook his head. “If I had wanted to carry on the family name, it certainly wouldn’t have been with Charisma.”

“Then why did you bother marrying her in the first place?” Charlotte asked, raising one darkly penciled eyebrow.

“Because, like you, she only showed the side of herself that she wanted me to see until she got her hooks in me,” he said, disgusted with himself for not seeing through his ex-wife’s facade sooner. “By the time she showed her true colors, it was too late. We had already walked down the aisle.”

“But you must have cared for her at some point,” his mother persisted. “The two of you were married for almost three years.”

“I tried to make things work, but I’m not like my father,” he stated flatly. “I finally faced the reality of the situation and realized that no matter what I did or how I did it, it was never going to keep her from making my life a living hell. I chose the peace and freedom of being single over a life of the abject misery Dad suffered.”

“Your father needed a strong woman to guide him,” Charlotte said, unabashed by her son’s observations.

“Well, I don’t.” He glared at his mother. “I prefer a woman to be my equal, not one who tells me every move to make and how to make it.”

“Do you honestly believe that Kincaid girl is your equal?” Charlotte scoffed.

“Yes, I do. But that is absolutely none of your concern.” Daniel had heard enough and he didn’t think he could stomach much more of his mother’s arrogance. “I think I’ll take a rain check on that dinner, Charlotte.” He rose to leave. “And I’m giving you fair warning. In the future, you would do well to keep your nose out of my business and your opinions to yourself. I’ll see who the hell I want for as long as I want and I don’t intend to listen to another word about it from you.”

Without waiting for his mother’s reaction, he walked out of the room. On his way through the kitchen, he apologized to Rosemary for skipping her delicious meal, then headed home to the peace and quiet of his condo. Eating alone was preferable to listening to Charlotte extol the virtues of his cold, intractable ex-wife’s pedigree, while running down a warm, caring woman like Lily.

To keep from saying anything against his mother, Lily had simply stopped seeing him rather than cause a rift between them. That was the kind of class and breeding Charlotte should applaud and strive for—not run down.

Lily Kincaid was twice the woman his mother or his ex-wife would ever be and if he hadn’t known that before, he certainly did now.

“Are you sure that living in that huge house all by yourself is what you really want?” Kara asked, clearly worried.

“Yes.” Lily knew her sister was voicing the concern of her entire family when she stopped by to pick up some extra rolls of Bubble Wrap Kara kept at her shop. “I’ve always loved that house and now that I’ve seen the inside, I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather live.”

“I haven’t driven up to Hilton Head to see about my property yet,” Kara said, handing Lily a box filled with several rolls of the packing material. “I’ve been so busy trying to get everything ready for Laurel and Eli’s wedding, I just haven’t had the time.”

“Has Laurel chosen the colors she wants to use for the wedding and reception?” Lily asked, hoping her sister chose a shade for the bridesmaids’ dresses that didn’t clash with red hair.

“She’s leaving it up to me and Eli to decide.” Kara shook her head. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a bride who didn’t care what color scheme was used at her wedding or who encouraged the groom to help the planner make all the choices for her.”

“Well, she is rather busy now that she’s handling the press releases for the family, as well as public relations for TKG,” Lily said, wondering if that was all there was to Laurel’s disinterest. At times it seemed that Kara was more excited about their sister’s wedding to Eli Houghton, owner of a luxury resort on Seabrook Island in the Outer Banks, than Laurel was.

“I’m sure that her hands are full,” Kara agreed. “But still—” When the phone rang, she stopped and held up her finger as she picked it up. “Prestige Events, may I put you on hold for just a moment?”

“I’ll let you get back to work,” Lily said, smiling when her sister muted the call. “My dishes and I thank you for the Bubble Wrap.”

“If you need more packing materials or someone to help you move, just let me know,” Kara said, already pressing the button to return to the call.

As Lily drove back to the carriage house from Kara’s shop, she went through a mental checklist of all that she wanted to accomplish for the day. She needed to sketch out a few more scenes for the new children’s book she was illustrating and pack more of her things for her move to the Beauchamp mansion. And, of course, somewhere between drawing a mouse wearing a fedora and wrapping china with Bubble Wrap, she would need to take a nap.

She smiled as she turned into the driveway leading back to the carriage house. Once filled with almost boundless energy, since becoming pregnant she required a nap around the same time every afternoon. The doctor had told her that the fatigue was common and would probably disappear after the first trimester only to return during the last few weeks before giving birth. But as out of character as it was for her to sleep during the day, she fully intended to enjoy every minute of her pregnancy even if she had to do it without the baby’s father.

Thinking about Daniel, she sighed wistfully. She hadn’t seen him for the past week, and whether it was smart or not, she had missed him. He had called her as often as he could and sent flowers every day, but it wasn’t the same as being with him. And that was dangerous to her peace of mind.

She wished things could be different—that he wanted what she wanted. But he didn’t, and all the wishing in the world wasn’t going to change that. She was going to have to tell him about the baby, and as soon as she got moved into the Beauchamp House, that was exactly what she was going to do.

When she drove around her parents’ home to the carriage house in back, she found Daniel waiting for her. Parking her Mini Cooper next to his white Mercedes, her heart sped up. “Speak of the devil,” she murmured.

“Don’t you have to work today?” she asked as they both got out of their cars. Opening the back of the Mini to remove the box of Bubble Wrap, she started toward the front door. “I thought you had another meeting with the dockworkers.”

“It was canceled,” he said, walking over to take the box from her. “We were able to get things resolved late yesterday afternoon.”

“It must be a relief to have that over with.” She knew from listening to her father and brothers how disruptive the labor force walking off the job could be to an international shipping company.

“But don’t you have other duties to attend to as CEO of Addison Industries?” she asked, not at all pleased with herself for being so happy to see him.

The trip to the aquarium and the kiss they shared at the mansion were wonderful, but they changed nothing. He was still a man who was completely turned off by commitment and having children. And she still wanted the happily-ever-after—a loving husband, marriage and a big family.

But it was going to be a serious test of her willpower not to fall for him all over again. He just looked so darned good. In a suit and tie, he was drop-dead gorgeous. Daniel Addison wearing blue jeans, a black T-shirt and a brown leather blazer was positively devastating. It was all she could do to keep from abandoning her resolve and throwing herself into his arms.

“That’s the beauty of being the boss,” Daniel said, oblivious to her inner struggle. Easily handling the lightweight box with one arm, he held up a sack from a nearby Chinese restaurant with the other. “I can take off for an early start to the weekend whenever I want to.”

Opening her front door, Lily led the way into the apartment, then took the box of Bubble Wrap from him. “As you can see, everything is in a state of total chaos right now,” she said, finding an empty place next to a bouquet of flowers on the coffee table to set the box.

“I see you have quite a few things packed.” She watched him look around at the cartons and boxes already sealed and stacked for the move. “You aren’t taking the furniture, are you?”

Lily shook her head. “Since Daddy had the mansion fully furnished, there wouldn’t be anywhere to put any of it.” She threaded her way around a pile of empty containers to the dining table on the far side of the room. “I thought I would leave my furniture here in case Momma wants to let one of the servants move in or if she decides to rent it out to someone.”

He set the sack of takeout on the table. “When do you plan on moving?”

“Over the next three days.” She walked into the kitchen to get a couple of disposable plates and plastic cutlery. “I thought I would take the lighter boxes over there tomorrow and Sunday. Then, when the movers get the heavier things on Monday, all that should be left to do is find where I want to put things at the mansion.”

“I have an idea,” he said, taking food from the sack. “Why don’t we move some of this over there this afternoon. Since I’m off for the rest of the day, I can carry boxes inside while you start putting things away.”

Lily nibbled on her lower lip as she thought about his offer. “It would be nice if some of this mess was cleared out of the way.”

Daniel looked over at the tall stack of moving cartons in the living room. “I’m going to go so far as to say it would be a hell of a lot less dangerous, too.”

“It is going to take several trips,” she thought aloud as they sat down to eat. “My little car can only hold so much, even with the backseats folded down, and I’ll probably need the extra afternoon to get everything moved.”

“Do you actually enjoy driving that little toy?” Daniel asked, handing her a carton of sweet-and-sour chicken.

“You sound just like my brother,” she said, frowning. “RJ keeps telling me I should replace it with a real car.”

He raised one eyebrow. “I take it that isn’t something you want to do?”

“I love my Mini Cooper,” she said, defending her little car. “I could easily afford to replace it with a larger, more expensive model, but I don’t want to. It’s fun to drive and I think it suits my personality.”

“Okay,” Daniel said slowly, as if knowing he was treading on a sensitive subject. “We’ll use it and my car this afternoon, then tomorrow I’ll get one of my company pickup trucks to move what’s left.”

Having his help would greatly cut down on the amount of time it took her to move. But the more she was with Daniel, the bigger threat he posed to her peace of mind. If she continued to be around him, there was a very real danger of her falling for him again, and it would make things that much harder for her when she told him about the baby and he walked out of her life for good.

“I can’t ask you to do that,” she said regretfully. “I’m sure you have other things you need to be doing.”

“Nope. And besides, you didn’t ask.” Reaching across the table, he covered her hand with his, sending a tingling awareness spiraling throughout her body. “I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t want to help, sweetheart.”

“I don’t want—”

“Just say yes, Lily,” he commanded with the same smile that never failed to make her heart skip a beat.

Lily stared at him for a few seconds longer as she began to realize that she had already lost the battle she had been waging within herself. Sighing, she gave in to what they both wanted. “All right. Yes, you can help me move.”

Daniel carried the last box of art supplies into the studio in the Beauchamp carriage house just as daylight was starting to fade to dusk. He and Lily had made several trips from her parents’ place over to the mansion and reduced the amount of boxes piled in her living room to just a few. They had even managed to move most of her clothes and toiletries.

“It shouldn’t take long to move the rest of your things tomorrow,” he said, watching her lay out drawings of a mouse wearing a trench coat and fedora across her worktable. “We’ll be able to move twice as many boxes with the truck. You’ll probably even be able to cancel the movers for Monday.”

“Thank you for all the help, Daniel. I really appreciate it.” When she looked up, her vivid blue eyes brightened and he could practically see the wheels turning in her pretty head. “If I wanted to, I could even start staying here tonight.”

“You could,” he said, nodding. “But by the time we have dinner and you got back over here, it would be time for bed. Wouldn’t it be better to get a good night’s sleep at the apartment, then you’ll already be there to finish the move when I come by tomorrow morning with the truck.”

“I suppose you’re right,” she said, putting the last of her drawing pencils into a holder on the worktable.

Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her to him. “Why don’t we go back to your place, have a pizza delivered and open a bottle of wine to celebrate your move.”

“That sounds nice, but I think I’ll pass on the wine,” she said, resting her head against his chest. She was too tired to pull away and besides, it felt good to be in his arms. “I think I’d rather have the pizza and then a big bowl of ice cream with lots of chocolate syrup and peanut butter mixed in with it for dessert.”

He leaned back to see the expression on her face. “You’re serious?”

“Absolutely,” she said, grinning. “I’ve had ice cream, chocolate and peanut butter almost every night for the past few weeks.”

“Really?”

She nodded. “Why do you think I keep that large carton of vanilla ice cream in the freezer?”

“Okay, I’ll give it a try. We’ll have ice cream to celebrate,” he said, laughing. He kissed her forehead. “Then I’ll run an extra couple of miles tomorrow morning just to work it off.”

Ten minutes later as they turned the corner onto the street where the Kincaid home was located, Daniel slowed the car to a stop and swore under his breath at the sight a couple of blocks ahead. “What the hell’s going on?”

Lily gasped. “Are all those vans and cars parked in front of my mother’s house?”

“It looks that way,” he said, deciding to drive on past the media circus. “Why don’t you call to see what’s up before we try to get past them to your apartment.”

“I’m almost afraid to.” When she took her cell phone from her purse, he noticed that her hands were shaking. “I’m not sure I want to know.”

He could understand her apprehension. Although he hadn’t been with her when the family had been notified of her father’s death, Daniel had seen the news-footage reporting from in front of the Kincaid mansion. He imagined it had to have been something like the scene up ahead of them.

“The line is busy. I’ll try RJ’s number,” she said as they sped past the reporters and cameramen from all the area television stations. “RJ, what on earth is going on at Momma’s?” she asked when her brother answered.

Daniel had a gut feeling that whatever was going on, it wasn’t going to be good news.

“Oh, my God! You can’t be serious.”

One glance at Lily and Daniel steered the car over to the curb. Her peaches-and-cream complexion had bleached to a ghostly white and her eyes were bright with tears.

Looking over at him, she nodded. “Yes, I’m with Daniel. We moved most of my things to the mansion this afternoon.” She paused. “Yes, of course. I’m sure I’ll be fine at the Beauchamp house tonight. Do you think the media will be gone by morning?” She paused for her brother’s answer, then added, “I promise I’ll wait for you to call tomorrow before I try to go back to the carriage house.”

“What’s happened?” Daniel asked when she ended the call.

“The police just released a report stating that my father’s death has been ruled a … homicide,” she said, the single word catching on a sob. “RJ strongly suggested that I stay at the Beauchamp house tonight if I want to avoid being accosted by the media when I try to get back home.”

“You could stay at my place,” Daniel offered.

“I’d rather not,” she said, shaking her head. “It wasn’t a secret that we were seeing each other before Christmas and I’m not entirely certain some photographer trying to get a story won’t be lurking in the shadows.”

What she said made sense. They had been featured on the society page of the newspaper more times than he cared to count during their three-month affair, and with the breaking news that Reginald Kincaid had been murdered, there was a very real possibility that his condo would be on the media’s radar as well.

“I’m staying with you,” Daniel said, steering the car back onto the street. “I don’t want you being alone until things quiet down.”

“I’ll b-be okay,” she said through chattering teeth that had nothing to do with the mild winter temperature. “I don’t w-want—”

“This isn’t negotiable,” he said firmly. “If you’re concerned about the sleeping arrangements, don’t be. I understand that things between us moved a bit fast when we first started seeing each other. We haven’t been intimate for several weeks and you’re not ready to make love with me again. I get that. But there are five guest bedrooms in that house and I’m sure I can find a comfortable place to sleep.”

When she fell silent, he took that as a yes, and after a quick detour to his condo for a change of clothes, Daniel drove them back to the Battery and, parking at the rear entrance of the house, used Lily’s key to let them in the back door. He didn’t want to use the front entrance for obvious reasons. It wasn’t common knowledge that Lily had inherited the mansion, but he wasn’t going to take any chances that a stray member of the paparazzi had recognized his car when they drove past her mother’s place and followed them.

As soon as he had the door secured behind them and the alarm system turned on, Daniel took Lily into his arms. “I’m so sorry all this is happening, sweetheart. If I could make it all go away, I would.”

“I can’t believe someone … murdered my father,” she said, wrapping her arms around his waist as if he was a lifeline. “Who would do that? Why would they do that?”

“I don’t know.” He held her close. “But I’m sure the authorities will find whoever it is and bring them to justice.”

“I hope so,” she said, trembling against him. “RJ said that after the police interview the security team at TKG and get preliminary results from the autopsy, they’re going to interview each member of the family. Does that mean we’re all under suspicion?”

Daniel didn’t want to tell her that was most likely the case. She’d had enough upset and he wasn’t going to cause her more by confirming her assumption.

Thinking quickly, he shook his head. “It’s probably just a matter of investigative procedure. There might be something that you or one of your siblings could tell the detectives that would give them a lead to follow or a clue who the killer might be.”

“I suppose you’re right,” she said, sounding emotionally spent.

“One of those boxes we brought over contained towels, didn’t it?” he asked. When she nodded, he guided her toward the back stairs, leading from the kitchen to the second floor. “Let’s go upstairs and get you into a warm bath. Maybe it will relieve some of the tension and help you sleep.”

While Lily took a nice soaking bath in one of the two master bathrooms, Daniel took a quick shower in the other. As he toweled himself dry, he wondered who could have killed Reginald Kincaid and why.

It was a fact of life that men in high corporate positions weren’t without their share of enemies. Whether it was a disgruntled employee, a business rival or a radical member of a special interest group, there was always someone who didn’t agree with the way a CEO conducted business and the decisions he had to make for the welfare of the company. But who would have taken their grievance to the extreme and resorted to murder?

Pulling on a pair of boxer briefs, Daniel walked into the bedroom and sat on the edge of the king-size bed as he waited for Lily to finish her bath. He didn’t like that she was having to relive the loss of her father. She had just started to adjust to losing the man and now the uncertainty of what had happened, and why, was starting all over again.

But he liked even less that there was an unknown murderer on the loose and there was no way of knowing if he intended to target another member of the Kincaid family.




Five


When Lily came out of the bathroom, she stopped short at the sight of Daniel sitting on the edge of the bed wearing nothing but a pair of dark blue boxer briefs. She had seen his body many times during their three-month affair and it never failed to cause her pulse to race. But tonight? With learning that her father had been murdered and seeing reporters camped in front of her mother’s house, how could she possibly be distracted by how sexy he looked?

But that was exactly what she was thinking. With broad muscular shoulders, well-developed pectoral muscles and enough ripples on his abdomen to make a bodybuilder proud, Daniel Addison exuded over six feet of pure sex appeal.

“Feeling more relaxed?” he asked as she walked over to the side of the bed.

“A little,” she said, wishing that she could close her eyes and things would be the way they were before his mother’s dinner party. Her father would still be alive and she wouldn’t be getting ready to have the talk that she knew would send Daniel running in the opposite direction from her. But then, that would mean she wasn’t pregnant. And no matter how strained things became between them when she told him about the baby, her pregnancy was something she wouldn’t wish away for anything in the world.

Rising to his feet, he walked around to where she stood and pulled her to him. “I’m sure things will look a little brighter in the morning when you’re more rested.”

“Daniel, there’s something we need to discuss,” she said, loving the feel of his bare chest pressed to her cheek. She had put off telling him long enough. He might not want a child but he was going to have one, and it was past time that she told him about the baby. “It’s really important.”

“Not tonight.” He shook his head and, reaching down, pulled the comforter back for her to get into bed. “You need sleep and there’s nothing that can’t wait until tomorrow.”

“But if I don’t tell you now, I might not—”

He put his index finger to her lips to stop her. “Whatever it is, you can tell me in the morning.”

Too tired to argue, she simply nodded and climbed into bed. Daniel was right. Her news had waited this long, it could wait another eight hours.

“I’ll be on the couch in the sitting room if you need me,” he said, pulling the comforter over her.

“I thought you were going to sleep down the hall in one of the other bedrooms,” she said, unable to stifle a yawn.

Leaning down, he gave her a quick kiss. “I decided that was too far away. Now try to get some rest, sweetheart.”

As she watched him walk through the open French doors and into the sitting room, she couldn’t help but feel disappointed that he had stuck to his word about sleeping in another room. She shouldn’t be, she told herself, rolling to her side. Being held by him throughout the night, even if they didn’t make love, would only complicate things and make it that much harder for her when they finally did discuss her pregnancy tomorrow morning.

Unable to stop thinking about how she should tell him that he was going to be a daddy in seven months, she must have drifted off to sleep. The next thing she knew, Daniel was stretching out on the bed beside her and gathering her into his arms.

“It’s all right, Lily,” he said, cradling her to his bare chest. He wiped the tears from her cheeks with the pad of his thumb. “I’m here, sweetheart. Everything is going to be fine. It was just a nightmare.”

Leaning back to look at him, she couldn’t tell him that it might have been a bad dream, but it was one that she feared would turn out to be all too prophetic. In the dream, she had told him about the baby and watched the attraction in his eyes turn to utter contempt.

When she had ended their affair, she might have told herself that she was calling a halt to things before she got in too deep and suffered a broken heart when he lost interest in seeing her after learning about the baby. But the truth of the matter was, she had already fallen in love with Daniel, had most likely loved him from the moment they met.

She knew it was foolish and that she would suffer more emotional pain when he learned her secret and severed all ties with her, but she couldn’t resist wanting one more night in his arms. Snuggling against his solid strength, she asked, “Will you please keep holding me, Daniel?”

“I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart,” he promised as he ran his hands up and down her back. “Not until you tell me to.”

Lily rested her head on his shoulder and her hand on his broad chest. With the steady beat of his heart beneath her palm and his strong arms wrapped around her, she felt more content, more secure than she had in several weeks. It felt as if in his arms was where she belonged, where she would always belong.

“Lily, don’t get me wrong,” he said, his voice a bit rusty. “I love the way your hand feels on my body. But if you keep that up, I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to continue being a gentleman for much longer.”

Realizing that she had been moving her fingers over his pectoral muscles and the upper part of his abdomen, she stopped immediately. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize …”

When she started to pull her hand away, he covered it with his and, holding it to him, gave her a kiss that sent heat streaking to the darkest corners of her soul. “I’ve missed holding you, Lily. I’ve missed you touching me like this and me touching you. It’s all I’ve been able to think about for three weeks. But you’ve had a lot of trauma in the past several days and I won’t take advantage of that. I came in here to comfort you and I promise that’s all that’s going to happen.”

As she stared up at him, she realized that he was trying to do what he felt was honorable. But was that what she wanted? To simply be held by the man she loved? Possibly for the last time?

Considering his views on love and having children, they had no future together. She knew that and, although it made her sad, she had accepted the inevitable. Could she resist one last night of knowing the strength of his lovemaking and the ecstasy of their bodies coming together as one heart, one soul?

“You wouldn’t be taking advantage of the situation,” she said, realizing that her decision had already been made. “I want you to make me forget that outside the doors of this house there’s a world waiting to intrude.” She kissed his strong jaw. “I want you to make love to me, Daniel.”

She watched him tightly close his eyes and swallow hard before opening them again as he eased her to her back. “Are you sure that’s what you want?” he asked, propping himself on one elbow to stare down at her. “I’d rather go take a dozen cold showers than to have you regret one minute of my making love to you.”

“There are a lot of things I’m not certain of,” she said honestly. “But I do know that no matter what tomorrow brings, I won’t regret being with you tonight.”

It was apparently all the assurance he needed to hear, because, without hesitation, Daniel lowered his head to capture her lips with his. Teasing and coaxing, he masterfully built her anticipation of deepening the kiss and when he did take it to the next level, his tongue stroking hers sent a tingling wave of excitement flowing throughout her entire body.

As he explored her inner recesses, he moved his hand down her side to the tail of her nightshirt. His fingertips grazing her thigh as he slowly inched the garment upward caused a shiver of pure delight to race up her spine and she had to remind herself to breathe. But when he continued up her side to the swell of her breast, then paused to worry her taut nipple with the pad of his thumb, heated sensations spread to every cell in her being.

Unable to lie still, Lily raised her shoulders to help him remove the nightshirt. She wanted to feel his hands over every part of her and she wanted to touch all of him as well. In one smooth motion, he tossed her nightshirt over the side of the bed, and the feel of her sensitive skin pressed to his bare flesh caused the stirrings of an empty ache deep in her core.

Running her hands over his chest and abdomen, she reacquainted herself with the width of his shoulders and the dormant power lying just beneath his smooth skin. She loved his body, loved that it contrasted so perfectly with her softer feminine form.

“I’m going to love every inch of you,” he murmured against her skin as he nibbled his way down to her collarbone and beyond. “And when I get done, there won’t be a doubt left in your mind how much I’ve wanted and missed you these past few weeks.”

The promise in his voice caused a quiver of anticipation to course through her. When he reached the slope of her breast, then kissed his way to the sensitive tip, her breath caught and a coil of need began to tighten deep inside her. She held his head to her when he took her into his warm mouth. Unable to stop a tiny moan of pure pleasure from escaping, she reveled in the many sensations he was creating inside her. He was driving her completely insane and she loved every minute of it.

“Does that feel good, Lily?” he asked as he trailed his lips down her abdomen to her stomach.

“Y-yes.”

He traced the elastic waistband of her panties with his finger. “Do you want me to stop?”

“I-if you do … I’ll never forgive you,” she said, gasping for breath.

His deep chuckle seemed to vibrate all the way to her soul. “Sweetheart, there’s no way I could stop now.” When he slid his hand down inside her panties, she automatically raised her hips to help him and in no time, the scrap of silk and lace joined her nightshirt on the floor. “Those three weeks without you have felt like a lifetime.”

Before she could tell him that she felt that way too, he caressed her side, her hip and the inner part of her thigh. Her heart pounded against her ribs as she waited for his touch. When he finally cupped the soft curls at her apex, then slipped his fingers inside to stroke her with tender care, the aching desire he created was almost more than she could bear.

“P-please … Daniel,” she gasped, reaching down to find him. She gave to him as he was giving to her, but she wanted more. She wanted him to fill the empty ache that threatened to consume her. “I … need you now.”

Lily felt him shift as he removed his underwear, then the feel of his body pressed to hers, his arousal strong against her thigh, caused an answering flutter in her lower belly. She wanted him to join their bodies, to make them one heart, one mind, one soul.

“Sweetheart, I got so carried away, I forgot that I don’t have anything to protect you,” he said, his voice filled with regret.

“There’s, um, no need … to worry about that,” she assured him.

“It’s a safe time of the month?” he asked as his fingers continued to excite her in ways that she could have never imagined.

“Mmm.”

She knew she was being evasive and that it was unfair not to tell him that there was no need to protect them from what had already happened. But she wanted this one last time with him, wanted to store up the memory for the empty nights that lay ahead of her.

With no hesitation, he parted her legs with his knee, then levered himself over her. Reaching down, she guided him to her and Lily closed her eyes as she savored the exquisite feelings of becoming one with the man she loved.

“Open your eyes, sweetheart,” he commanded when their bodies were fused completely. “I want to watch your pleasure build until you can’t wait any longer. Then I want to watch you the moment I take you over the edge.”

Gazing into his eyes as he slowly began to move within her, she felt as if she might drown in the dark blue depths. Heat spiraled throughout her being and ribbons of excitement threaded their way to the ever-tightening coil deep within her as her body responded to his rhythmic thrusts. Holding on to his broad shoulders to keep from being lost, Lily felt her feminine muscles begin to contract around him as Daniel fulfilled his promise of creating a passion in her so strong that she lost sight of where he ended and she began.

Time seemed to stand still as the tension inside her built to a crescendo, then suddenly broke free to send waves of pleasure coursing all the way to her soul. Moments later, Daniel groaned and she felt him stiffen inside her as he found his own shuddering release. When he buried his head in her shoulder and collapsed on top of her, Lily held him close as they both slowly drifted back to reality.

Loving the feel of him still inside her and the weight of his large body covering hers, when his breathing eased and Daniel moved to her side, she felt a deep sense of loss.

“Are you all right?” he asked, pulling her close.

She wanted to tell him that she loved him—would always love him—but it wasn’t what he wanted to hear. Instead, she nodded. “That was perfect.”

“Oh, I still have a few tricks up my sleeve that will make it even better the next time,” he said, kissing the top of her head.

“You’re not wearing a shirt,” she teased. “How could you possibly have anything up sleeves that don’t exist?”

“Hush, woman,” he said, laughing. “Rest assured, I have more ammunition in my sensual arsenal that I’m going to take great pleasure in showing you.”

She knew that once he learned about the baby, that would change. But snuggling against him, she decided to face that in the light of day, along with all the other recent harsh realities of her life.

The first light of day had just started to peek through a part in the bedroom drapes when Daniel lay his arm over Lily’s stomach to draw her close. He smiled at the feel of her soft curves nestled at his side. Last night had been mind-blowing and he still couldn’t get over how much he had missed Lily’s uninhibited response to his lovemaking. She was so receptive to his touch, and the fact that she wasn’t the least bit shy about touching him in return never failed to arouse him in ways a man could only dream of.

He propped himself up on his elbow to stare down at her sleeping so peacefully beside him. He had even missed waking up in the mornings with her warm bare skin against his hair-roughened flesh. Not that they had spent the entire night together all that often, but he had forgotten how pleasant it was to wake up with her the few times that they had.

Watching her sleep, he frowned. He wasn’t entirely sure he was comfortable with how easily he had gotten used to the little things like waking up next to Lily or how cute he found her propensity to crowd him on his side of the bed. It certainly wasn’t something he missed about his ex-wife. Of course, Charisma would have had to sleep with him more than a few times a month for him to have become accustomed to having her next to him in bed.

Daniel lay back and pillowed his head on his folded arms. His ex-wife had used sex as a bargaining tool—a way to coerce him into buying her a new pair of diamond earrings or the little red Ferrari she just had to have for her trips to the mall. Otherwise, she slept in the master bedroom, while he was perfectly content to sleep in a room down the hall.

But that was one thing he never had to worry about again, he thought contentedly. He was single and intended to stay that way.

He glanced over at the sleeping woman beside him. Whatever he and Lily had going on between them was special and, without outside interference from his mother, they would be together for as long as it lasted. Then, when the time came for them to stop seeing each other, he would go his way and she would go hers. No hard feelings and no emotional pain for either of them.

As he lay there patting himself on the back for keeping his life simple, Lily moaned and stirred next to him. He wondered if she was having another nightmare until she sat straight up in bed, threw back the covers and bolted for the bathroom.

“What the hell?” He grabbed his underwear from the pile of clothing on the floor and pulled them on, then knocked on the closed bathroom door. “Are you all right, sweetheart?”

When she failed to answer, he tried the knob. The door was locked.

“Lily, what’s going on?” he demanded.

“P-please go … away,” she said a moment before he heard the sounds of her being sick.

“As soon as you’re able, open the door,” he said, wondering what could have caused the upset.

Retrieving her pink fluffy robe from the closet, every possible reason that might have caused her to be sick ran through his mind as he waited outside the closed door. It couldn’t be a case of food poisoning because they had both had the same thing for lunch and skipped dinner and he was fine. Of course, she might be sick because she hadn’t eaten. Or maybe it was a delayed reaction to learning that her father had been murdered. That coupled with the media circus outside her mother’s place and the fact that the police intended to question the family was enough to cause anyone’s nerves to get the better of them.

When he finally heard the click of the lock being released, he was waiting for her when she opened the bathroom door and after helping her into her robe, walked her over to sit on the end of the bed. “I’ll be right back,” he said, going into the bathroom to wet a washcloth. Returning to the bedroom, he knelt in front of her and patted the cool, damp terry cloth over her cheeks and forehead. “Feeling better now?”

She nodded. “Daniel …” She paused to take a deep breath. “We have to talk.”

“Why don’t you lie down and rest a little more?” he suggested. “We can discuss whatever you like after you’re feeling better.”

“I have to tell you now,” she said shaking her head. “Otherwise, I might lose my nerve.”

Something in her tone caused the hairs on the back of his neck to stand straight up. “What?”

He watched her close her eyes, then she took another deep breath and looked him square in the eyes as she announced, “I’m pregnant.”

“Pregnant.”

A mixture of shock and disbelief coursed through him and it suddenly felt as if all the oxygen had been sucked out of the room. Slowly rising to his feet, he walked over to sit in the chair across the room. Propping his forearms on his knees, he stared down at his loosely clasped hands as he tried to wrap his mind around the single most life-changing word of his life.

“You’re pregnant,” he repeated, knowing he sounded like a damn parrot, but unable to stop himself.

It had been the last thing he expected her to say. Lily was pregnant and there wasn’t a doubt in his mind it was his baby.

“The baby is the reason I’ve been sick in the mornings but ravenous the rest of the day,” she said, her tone a bit unsure. “It’s also the reason I’ve been so tired and have to take naps in the afternoon.”

Daniel opened and closed his mouth several times as he tried to decide what to ask first. Should he question her about when she discovered the pregnancy? Should he ask when the baby was due? Or should he find out how she wanted to handle things? How the hell was a man supposed to deal with something he thought he’d never face?

“How did this happen?” he finally asked when he found his voice. When she gave him a look that suggested she thought he might be a little simpleminded, he immediately shook his head. “Strike that. I know the biology. I’m just trying to figure out when it could have happened. We were always careful.”

“I think it might have been the night after Thanksgiving.” She sighed. “If you’ll remember, we got so carried away we didn’t think about protection until after the fact.”

He nodded. “That was the only time it could have happened. But when did you find out about the pregnancy?”

“The morning of your mother’s dinner party,” she said, sounding a bit hesitant. “I was going to tell you that night after the party, but—”

“Charlotte had her little talk with you first.”

“How did you know about that?” Lily shook her head. “I didn’t say anything.”

“You didn’t have to,” he said, getting up to pace the floor. “After I thought about it, I realized that you had stopped taking my calls and refused to go anywhere with me right after the party. And knowing my mother’s penchant for snide comments and sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong, it all added up. Then, when I asked her about it, she admitted it.” He stopped pacing as a thought occurred. “If we hadn’t run into each other in the lawyer’s office the day your father’s will was read, would you have told me about the pregnancy?”





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