The Mommy Proposal Read online

  Brooke’s face heated. He had scored a point with that one. Wise or not, their kisses were hot!

  “Second,” he continued, looking deep into her eyes, “in another week or so you won’t be working this job.”

  Which meant she wouldn’t be here all the time. And then where would they stand? Would Nate still pursue her this intensely, or would she merely be out of sight, out of mind? The thought that she was about to hook up with another Casanova filled her with dread and made her want to pull back even more, to protect herself. “Exactly my point,” she reiterated.

  His shoulders tautened. “So what’s the problem?”

  Irritated at the continued need to spell out her objections for him, in great detail, Brooke retorted, “The problem is Landry is missing a mom and Cole is missing a dad. They like it when the four of us hang out together and have dinner and stuff, and when I’m not here that won’t be happening anymore.” Cole would miss it as much as she would. Probably Landry, too.

  Nate regarded her, incredulous. “Who says?”

  Brooke took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “You know what I mean.”

  He dropped his arms and moved in. “I know you’re trying to put up boundaries that will keep us from getting any closer.” He caught her by the arms and held her in place when she would have bolted. “It’s not going to work.” He lowered his gaze to her mouth, before returning it ever so slowly to her eyes. She stilled, fighting the riptide of desire churning through her. “Landry is bonding with you,” Nate continued in a quiet, admiring voice. “And so am I. And Cole’s important to me, too.” He coaxed her closer still. “There’s no getting away from that.”

  No getting away from how she felt whenever they were close like this.

  Brooke paused and wet her lips. “I still don’t want them to know that…”

  “We’ve kissed?” He finished her sentence for her. “And that I want to make love to you?”

  Brooke felt her stomach drop. “Just say what’s on your mind, why don’t you?” she muttered wryly.

  Her attempt to deflect the emotions with a deadpan remark failed.

  Nate only grew more serious. “I told you, Brooke. I believe in putting the truth out there, whatever it is. Ignoring feelings never accomplished anything.”

  Clearly, he wanted to kiss her again as much as she wanted to kiss him. And if it hadn’t been for the two kids, the potential for hurt, Brooke knew she would have thrown caution to the wind. Fortunately, for all their sakes, she had a mission to fulfill.

  “Honesty is always the best policy,” Nate continued.

  She thought about the hurt, confused look in Landry’s eyes just now. And worse, what could be coming up. She splayed her hands across the solid warmth of Nate’s chest, forcing distance between them. “You’re wrong, Nate,” she told him softly. “The best thing we can do is protect our kids. And make sure they don’t have to deal with anything they shouldn’t have to deal with. So I need your promise.” She pushed free of his embrace. “No more kissing me when the boys are anywhere in the vicinity.” She took a deep breath. “No more kissing me at all.”

  Nate’s eyes darkened. “I agree to the first,” he said, with the self-assured authority he probably used in board meetings. “Not to the latter.” Brooke blinked.

  He regarded her with a mixture of resignation and amusement. “Yeah, I know you’re used to calling the shots. You’ve made that perfectly clear.” He flashed a wicked, challenging smile as he came closer once again, and chucked her beneath the chin. “But I like to call the shots, too. And what my gut is telling me is that this connection we feel is something special enough to pursue. And that, sweetheart, is exactly what I plan to do.”

  “EARTH TO BROOKE?” Holly Carson said, from the opposite end of the mansion’s vast dining room at nine the next morning.

  Brooke started. She hadn’t been with it since she’d dropped Cole at camp and Nate and Landry had left for the doctor’s office. She shook off her mental fog and headed toward the talented artist, who also happened to be the wife of Nate’s business partner and good friend Travis Carson. “Sorry.”

  “You asked me to come here this morning to give you my opinion about using murals to break up the dining room into a more usable space, and all you’ve done is stare glumly out the window.”

  Brooke flashed an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry. I’m distracted.”

  “And no wonder.” Holly looked around at the big, echoing space. “It’s a huge job.”

  Brooke forced her mind back to business. “So what do you think?”

  Holly paced back and forth, studying the light coming in through the tall windows. “That you’re right. It would really help to put something on the wall at each end of the space, with a neutral-colored break in between.”

  They discussed possible themes, then walked toward the kitchen, where Holly’s husband, Travis, and another business partner of Nate’s, Dan Kingsland, were already taking measurements.

  For the next fifteen minutes, they discussed how to replace the utilitarian, stainless steel work island in the center of the room with something warmer and more family friendly. Dan, an architect, was going to do the design. The custom-cabinetry arm of Travis’s construction company would build and install the final product to match the existing wood cabinets. Marble countertops would be added—again by Travis’s company—to further dress up the space.

  They were just finishing when Nate walked in. All eyes turned to him.

  “The DNA test go okay?” Travis asked.

  Nate nodded. “We’ll get the results in seven to ten days.”

  Holly held her sketch pad to her chest. With the comforting tone of a mother who had successfully weathered her own difficulties, she counseled, “Kids are remarkably resilient, even at a young age.”

  Dan spoke with the authority of a father of four. “They are also curious. Landry would have been asking these questions eventually, and putting two and two together. Best you go ahead and deal with it now and get it out of the way.”

  Everyone, Brooke noted, seemed to be in agreement with Nate. Except her.

  “At least you’ve got time to prepare for whatever the results are,” Travis said.

  “Which is why—in the meantime—I want to do everything I can to get Landry moved into the main house, with me.” Nate paused and looked straight at Brooke. “I want us to be a family in every sense before the results come in.”

  Chapter Eight

  “This is going to be a computer room slash media center where we’ll have everything you need to read, study and do homework,” Nate told the boys after dinner the following day, as they toured a large, second-floor space in the mansion. “And next to it is going to be a video gaming room, where you can hang out and entertain friends.”

  Brooke noted that Cole smiled with all the enthusiasm Nate could have wished for—even though technically none of this was meant for her son, since he wouldn’t be living here much longer.

  “Sweet,” Cole said.

  Being careful not to touch the freshly painted walls, Landry stood with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his camp shorts, as usual. He had been remote and moody like this ever since the DNA tests were done.

  Brooke and Nate had concurred it was best to give Landry his space for the first twenty-four hours. Now, they were beginning to worry. Hence Nate’s rush to somehow get Landry involved in the design of his new home.

  Nate continued down the hall to the next set of rooms, a bedroom and private bath suite. He looked at Landry. “What do you think about this for your bedroom?”

  To Brooke’s and Nate’s frustration, there was no response either way.

  “You can have whatever you want in here—just let Brooke know,” Nate persisted.

  “I’d be happy to help you pick out furniture and linens in whatever colors and styles you like,” she offered amiably.

  The positive attitude toward the future that Brooke knew Nate had hoped to see was nowhere in sight
. Landry remained emotionally and physically aloof. He stepped away from the group, the look in his eyes far too cynical for his years. “Thanks for the offer, Nate, but—”

  Uh-oh, Brooke thought, here it comes….

  “—it’s enough right now for me to sleep in the caretaker’s cottage,” Landry continued. “You’ve been really great, especially under the circumstances, but you don’t need to do anything more. Especially since I might not be staying.”

  Nate tensed, and Brooke caught the flash of hurt on his face. Her heart went out to him, even as he recovered his composure.

  “I thought we had settled that, Landry,” he said.

  “Until the DNA results come in—” Landry scowled with the might of all fourteen of his years “—nothing is settled.” He turned to Cole, done with the revitalization tour of the mansion, and Nate’s cheerful efforts to turn it into a more kid-friendly environment. “Want to go for a swim?”

  Cole nodded, as if eager to get away from the animosity that had been simmering just below the surface for almost two days now. “Sure.”

  The two boys sauntered off in wary silence.

  Nate and Brooke remained in the upstairs hallway. “Go ahead and say it,” he said.

  She looked at him, a question in her eyes.

  “You think I’m being a little too pushy.”

  Well, duh, yes, of course. Avoiding the wet paint, Brooke started down the sweeping front staircase. She paused, her hand on the railing, and waited for Nate to catch up with her.

  Like her, he was still in his work clothes, although he had taken off his suit coat and tie. And later unfastened the first two buttons on his shirt and rolled up his sleeves.

  The sense of added formality helped—until Brooke found her gaze riveted on the strong column of his throat, and the dark hair springing out the open V on his starched shirt.

  Curtailing the urge to explore both, she turned her gaze to the handsome planes of his face. Realizing she could spend all day—and all night—just looking at him, she chided wryly, “What happened to the plan to let Landry take his time, deciding this was where he wanted to be, before forging on with the details?”

  Nate made a face—guilty as charged.

  He sat down on the stairs, clasped her elbow and brought her down beside him. “I want Landry to realize I’m serious about adopting him, and plan to go ahead with it no matter what the DNA test reveals.”

  Once again, without warning, they were involved in an intimate conversation. Once again she felt her heart going out to him. Even if his actions were wrong, she knew his motivation came from the right place.

  She watched him stretch his long legs over several stairs.

  Wanting to be more comfortable, she did the same. “I admire your determination.”

  It was all she could do not to reach over and grip his hand.

  Keeping his own hands to himself, he turned his head and met her gaze. “I hear an ‘exception’ in there,” he noted, with a quiet smile that also indicated he wasn’t about to change his mind.

  Brooke brushed the hair out of her eyes and tried anyway. “I also know what it’s like to be part of a family where decisions are made for you, your input disregarded.” She paused to let her words sink in, and continued searching his face. “It’s not a great way to live, Nate.”

  He turned slightly, so his spine was pressed against the railing, his bent knee pressed against her thigh. “Are we talking about your life with your parents?”

  Aware of the steady warmth emanating between them, Brooke shook her head. Heart racing, she kept her gaze locked with his. “While I still had them, my folks were great. I’m speaking of my late husband.” Wanting Nate to understand, she forced herself to talk about what she had always kept to herself, for fear of feeling disloyal. “It’s what happens when you marry someone twenty years older than you, who thinks he has all the answers and you have none.”

  The understanding in Nate’s expression encouraged her to go on confiding in him. And this time she did reach over and clasp his hand, tightening her fingers around his. “The only difference was, in my case, I believed Seamus was the sole authority on everything for a very long time. And that in turn led me to doubt everything I thought I knew about myself.” Brooke paused. With effort, she withdrew her hand and stood. “I know you are used to running a corporation, that you built your business on your own. But you can’t behave the same way in your relationship with Landry and expect him to want to be your son.”

  “DO YOU WANT THE BAD NEWS first or the good news?” Brooke asked Nate the following morning, after she had dropped the boys at computer camp and returned to the mansion.

  Nate, who’d been about to leave for work himself, set his briefcase beside the front door. “The good.”

  “Both the boys are really excited about your plans for the rooms upstairs.”

  “That’s great.” Nate had been up half the night researching the latest electronic equipment, games and educational software for college-bound teens. “What’s the bad?” He moved back to allow the construction crew to enter.

  Brooke waited until the men walked past before she continued in a low, worried tone. “Landry told Cole that he had been thinking about running away before his great-grandmother left him with you. He said he probably would have done so had Cole and I not showed up and allowed him to stay with us in the cottage. As long as we’re here, Landry plans to stick around, but he won’t guarantee anything once we leave.”

  “Angling to stay on?” Nate teased.

  Brooke rolled her eyes. “Uh—no.” She sobered. “Cole is really concerned about Landry taking off. And so am I. We don’t want to see anything happen to him.”

  “Nor do I.” Nate exhaled.

  “Anyway, I thought you should know.”

  “Thanks for giving me the heads-up.” He paused. “Although for the record, I think it’s just talk. If Landry was going to bolt, he would have already done so. In any case, I don’t think he would go very far from his great-grandmother.”

  “Have you talked to him about going to see Jessalyn at her new quarters?”

  “Twice. He’s resistant.” Nate sighed. “I’m hopeful if I keep asking every few days, he’ll eventually change his mind.”

  “Me, too. I think it would help.”

  “Speaking of help… I don’t know if I have articulated how grateful I am for all your help with Landry.”

  “You’re paying me double time. That’s thanks enough.”

  “Brooke—”

  Her phone rang.

  She checked the caller ID and frowned. “Do you mind if I get this? It’s Percy Dearborn, the intellectual-property lawyer.”

  Nate gestured for her to do so, then walked off to the side to wait. When she had finished her conversation, Brooke ended the call.

  Nate came back. “Everything okay?”

  She only wished. “Apparently, the proof Iris Lomax is offering is flimsy at best. But the attorney wants me to go through Seamus’s papers. See if I can find anything that will establish the work was definitively his. Otherwise, she’s going to go ahead and file a lawsuit, and it will become public.”

  “Is it possible it’s a scam?”

  Brooke considered for a moment. “It could be. Or maybe she’s just angry because he died in her arms and left her without anything, not even a mention in his will, and she finally sees a way to garner some inheritance for herself. It’s hard to tell. All I really know is that this has to be done right away, so I’m going to have to ask you for the rest of the day off.”

  “You’ve got it. And Brooke—good luck.”

  “HEY, NATE, IT’S COLE. I’m sorry to bother you at the office, but, uh…Landry and I are in kind of a jam.”

  Please tell me you haven’t done something stupid like try and run away, Nate thought, immediately wishing he had taken Brooke’s warning more seriously.

  Calmly, he stepped out of the meeting with his top managers, taking his cell phone down the hall t
o his private office. Resisting the parental urge to immediately start with the third degree, he asked matter-of-factly, “What can I do to help?”

  “Well…Landry and I both forgot to get our permission slips signed for the field trip this afternoon.”

  Nate paused. “What field trip?”

  “I guess we forgot to tell you. The camp is taking anyone who wants to go to a motion capture and virtual reality lab for kids at the University of Texas at Dallas this afternoon. And then out for pizza and a movie this evening. Only we can’t go unless we have written permission, and I can’t get ahold of Mom for some reason.” Anxiety filled his voice. “And you can’t sign for me, only Landry—I already asked. But you can fax in the permission slip. So if I can fax that to you, and you sign it and fax it right back, then Landry can go. But I can’t unless we can find Mom before one o’clock.” Cole heaved a big sigh.

  “Let me give you my private fax number. Of course I’ll sign.”

  “What about Mom?” Cole sounded glum.

  She’s at your house, going through boxes of your father’s things, Nate thought. However, he knew revealing that would invite questions neither he nor Brooke were prepared to answer. “I’ll track her down and take a copy of the permission slip over to her, and we’ll get it faxed back in for you, too,” Nate promised.

  “Are you sure you have time?” Cole asked, sounding excited and upbeat again.

  Nate looked at his watch; it was eleven-thirty. This part of parenting he could handle, no problem. “Positive. One way or another, Cole, I’ll make sure you and Landry both get to go.”

  “Thanks, Nate.” Cole’s happiness was a palpable thing. “I knew we could count on you.”

  Nate smiled. Now, if only Landry felt the same way, they’d be all set.

  BROOKE WAS IN THE MIDDLE of the living-room floor, surrounded by boxes and piles of papers and notebooks when the doorbell rang. She was half tempted not to answer it, but a glance out the window had her leaping to her feet.