Fortune's Unexpected Groom (Harlequin Special Edition) Read online

  Great expectations

  Jordana Fortune never expected to be single at twenty-nine. She never expected to lose her virginity in the midst of a tornado. And she most certainly never expected to be expecting. But her impulsive encounter with gorgeous pilot Tanner Redmond left Jordana in a family way. How much longer could she keep her condition under wraps?

  Nothing stays secret in Red Rock for long. When Tanner learns the truth, he runs straight to Jordana’s door, demanding matrimony. No child of his would grow up without a father! He offers wealth and protection, and a name for the baby. Yet his blushing bride is hesitating—holding out for the one thing Tanner believes he can’t give....

  “Since we barely know each other, I think we need to allow each other an escape clause.”

  “What do you mean?” A gamut of perplexing emotions flooded through Tanner. One minute Jordana was talking about being true and how hard her parents had worked at making their marriage work, now she was negotiating an escape clause?

  “What I mean is we hardly know each other and we’re talking about taking a step that people who have known each other for years agonize over. Think about it…what if we get married and we end up being incompatible?”

  Honey, you and I are way too compatible. That’s what got us into this situation. He almost had to bite his tongue to keep himself from speaking his thoughts.

  Dear Reader,

  I love quotes. It started back when I was a kid and my mother shared the “Prayer of Serenity” to help me keep life in perspective. Now, I have it taped to my computer and refer to it daily.

  Another favorite is from Voltaire: “Perfect is the enemy of very good.” It helps when I’m struggling to let go of something…say, a book I’m writing. I remember Voltaire’s words and realize it will never be perfect, because nothing is perfect.

  Jordana Fortune, this book’s heroine, would’ve benefitted from Voltaire’s advice. In her quest for perfection—being the perfect daughter, cultivating the perfect life, finding perfect love—she almost misses out on living. That is, until fate blows her into the arms of Tanner Redmond and turns her belief system upside down.

  Along their journey, Tanner and Jordana realize the most perfect kind of love is imperfect; it encourages a person to be themself and knows that even on those very human bad days there’s a safe haven in unconditional love.

  Please drop me a line at [email protected] and let me know what you think of the story or share your favorite quotes.

  Warmly,

  Nancy

  Nancy Robards Thompson

  Fortune’s Unexpected Groom

  Books by Nancy Robards Thompson

  Harlequin Special Edition

  †Fortune’s Unexpected Groom #2185

  Silhouette Special Edition

  Accidental Princess #1931

  Accidental Cinderella #2002

  *The Family They Chose #2026

  Accidental Father #2055

  Accidental Heiress #2082

  Harlequin NEXT

  Out with the Old, In with the New

  What Happens in Paris (Stays in Paris?)

  Sisters

  True Confessions of the Stratford Park PTA

  Like Mother, Like Daughter (But in a Good Way): “Becoming My Mother…”

  Beauty Shop Tales

  An Angel in Provence

  *The Baby Chase

  †The Fortunes of Texas: Whirlwind Romance

  Other books by this author available in ebook format.

  NANCY ROBARDS THOMPSON

  Award-winning author Nancy Robards Thompson is a sister, wife and mother who has lived the majority of her life south of the Mason-Dixon line. As the oldest sibling, she reveled in her ability to make her brother laugh at inappropriate moments, and she soon learned she could get away with it by proclaiming “What? I wasn’t doing anything.” It’s no wonder that upon graduating from college with a degree in journalism, she discovered that reporting “just the facts” bored her silly. Since hanging up her press pass to write novels full-time, critics have deemed her books “funny, smart and observant.” She loves chocolate, champagne, cats and art (though not necessarily in that order). When she’s not writing, she enjoys spending time with her family, reading, hiking and doing yoga.

  This book is dedicated to talented ladies I worked with on this continuity: Karen Templeton, Marie Ferrarella, Judy Duarte, Susan Crosby and Allison Leigh.

  Thanks for making this such a fun journey!

  Also, Sarah McDaniel Dyer, for your great editing eye; and Gail Chasan and Susan Litman,

  because you’re fabulous, fun and very wise.

  Special thanks and acknowledgment

  to Nancy Robards Thompson for her contribution to

  The Fortunes of Texas: Whirlwind Romance continuity.

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Prologue

  December 30, 2011

  “What in the world possessed your family to try and fly out in the middle of a storm like this?” As Tanner Redmond closed the door, shutting out the storm, his eyes shone with a certain tenderness that made Jordana Fortune’s pulse quicken. Despite having every reason to be angry with her—or at least at the situation she’d put them in—he didn’t seem mad. In fact, as he crossed the room, wiping the rain off his face with both hands, he looked quite compassionate.

  “I’ve asked myself the same question at least a dozen times.”

  He sat next to her on the worn couch—the only piece of furniture in the dilapidated hunting lodge, where the storm had forced them to seek shelter, the place where she’d dropped when her legs had given out after running for cover. Now, he was so close to her that their legs almost touched.

  Almost.

  But not quite.

  Jordana’s breath hitched and she fought her natural reflex to pull away, to reclaim her personal space. She’d met Tanner at her sister’s wedding. The attraction had been instant. This evening, he’d stopped by the hotel to say goodbye.

  She’d been so glad to see him.

  The bad weather was the reason she’d initially refused to accompany her parents to the airport, opting instead to catch a later flight from Red Rock back to Atlanta once the weather improved. From the start, she’d had a bad feeling about the storm—no, more than a bad feeling. She’d been terrified. But she’d quickly changed her plans once Tanner had arrived at the hotel. …

  It had been a very long time since she’d met a man who’d made her want to change her mind once it was set. But he’d been on his way to the airport to batten down the hatches of his company, Redmond Flight School. She’d asked if he would drop her at the airport. All trepidation about flying during the tornado watch was shoved aside. Just so she could have a few more minutes with him.

  Now, here they were. They could both be dead right now because of her impetuousness. If she hadn’t detained him with the time it took to go back to her room to get her bags and check out
, Tanner could’ve been safely at the airport instead of stuck in the middle of nowhere in this shack, his car in a ditch along the highway where he’d swerved to avoid a falling oak tree that had been uprooted by a gust of wind.

  Why had she not honored her gut feeling and stayed put like she knew she should? What the heck was wrong with her?

  She gazed up at Tanner—at the strong line of his square jaw, the masculine slope of his perfectly imperfect nose and the fullness of his mouth that might be a little feminine if not for the way it was counterbalanced by the imperfection of his nose.It looked like it might have been broken once. A keen awareness slowly started to burn in her innermost core.

  Suddenly she knew exactly what her problem was. She was twenty-nine years old. Still a virgin. She could’ve died tonight—still might if the storm spawned other tornadoes, which was a very real possibility. All the careful planning and saving herself for the one could very well amount to naught.

  She’d saved herself and it was all coming down to this?

  Suddenly, the cabin felt an awful lot like the bungalow Dorothy had ridden to Oz on the tailwinds of a similar storm. In fact, any minute she expected to see the wicked witch fly by on her broom, as the log hunting lodge lifted off for areas unknown.

  And Jordana would die a virgin.

  She shivered.

  “Are you cold?” Tanner asked.

  Before she could answer, he slid an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. She melted into his warmth.

  He smelled good and the hard flex of muscle against her softer curves felt even better. But the wind howled a mournful song. She could’ve sworn it was lamenting that they could both be dead by morning.

  She shivered again and snuggled in closer, closing her eyes, wanting to disappear until the rain stopped and the wind quit howling.

  A virgin… I am going to die a virgin.

  “You’re shaking,” he said.

  “Shh, don’t talk. Just…hold me.”

  He closed the circle around her with his other arm, holding her tight. She nestled into his neck, breathing in the intoxicating smell of him—bergamot, leather and…something sexy and primal she couldn’t label…something she was suddenly finding very hard to resist.

  So, if she didn’t want to die a virgin, why was she clinging to her virtue like a punctured life preserver?

  Why… When Tanner Redmond was right here holding her so close?

  Chapter One

  April 20, 2012

  Tanner Redmond had always believed the axiom What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. The fact that he was still alive after all he’d lived through proved he was one strong sonuvabitch. So why, then, was he afraid a baby might be his undoing?

  He parked in a space in front of Jordana Fortune’s condo in the Buckhead area of Atlanta. Sitting in the rental car for a moment, he tried to quiet the anger that had simmered inside him since he’d heard her voice on the phone less than twenty-four hours ago.

  He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. Had she really planned to keep this secret from him? What made her think she had the right?

  He had no idea, but as soon as their conversation—which had gone nowhere—had ended, he had flown into Atlanta from Red Rock, Texas. Now that he was here in person, she wouldn’t be able to put him off so easily. He intended to make it perfectly clear he wasn’t going away.

  With a quick jab of his thumb, he sprung the car’s seat belt. He headed up the walk of pavers toward the hunter-green double doors set like a bruised eye in the middle of the stately, two-story red brick building.

  He pulled back the brass door knocker and gave three sharp raps. It was slightly before seven o’clock in the morning. It was early, but his plan for the daybreak visit was to catch her before she went into work. She wasn’t expecting him. He hadn’t called before flying in because he wasn’t about to give her warning, time to run, a chance to avoid him and the secret she’d already hidden for four months.

  If not for Jordana’s cousin, Victoria, who’d told him to call Jordana because she desperately needed to talk to him, he would still be blissfully unaware that the woman who’d blown him off after their one night was pregnant with his child.

  The opening door drew him out of his inward brooding. There stood Jordana, looking shocked and so damned beautiful with her blond hair wet from her morning shower. Seeing her standing there in her bathrobe, with her face fresh and makeup-free, he didn’t know whether he wanted to kiss her or put his fist through a wall.

  “Tanner? What are you doing here?” She tugged at the sash of the robe, then crossed her arms over her ribs. The protective gesture pulled his gaze to her belly, which showed no signs of the child growing within. Of course, that big white terry robe wasn’t exactly formfitting. It even swallowed up the prepregnancy curves that had been etched in his memory since that night…when they’d taken refuge from the storm. His eyes slowly made their way back to hers.

  For one weak moment, seeing her again reminded him just how out of his league Jordana Fortune was. Not because her family had more money than European royalty, but her sheer presence—that mixture of grace and rock-solid strength—left him a little speechless.

  Yeah, come to think of it, he’d been a little speechless after she’d left him with a handshake and a no-nonsense “thanks for everything” the morning after they’d made love for the first and only time. That was the night the tornado had destroyed Red Rock and parts of San Antonio.

  Nothing had been the same since. And given that he would be a father before the year was over, it was beginning to sink in that nothing would ever be the same again. It scared him to death because his own father hadn’t been strong enough to be a family man. Tanner pushed the thought back into the dark recesses of his mind—the place where he stored his faded memories of the man who had once been his father and redoubled his vow that he would stand by his family no matter what.

  “Seriously? You’re asking me why I’m here?” His voice was a hoarse and throaty rasp. “You’re pregnant with my child, Jordana. I wanted to see your face when you told me how long you thought you could keep that news from me.”

  Jordana sighed heavily and glanced around. He couldn’t tell if her reaction was resignation or fear…fear of what? The neighbors finding out her little secret?

  “Come in.” She stepped back and motioned him through. He stepped onto the hardwood of the entryway and glanced around at the expensive-looking decor. High ceilings and vibrantly colored walls with paintings. The place was like a snapshot out of one of those architectural magazines. The day’s first light was beginning to stream in through oversize windows that surrounded a large fireplace along the condo’s back wall. Inviting and elegant. Just like Jordana. He would’ve expected nothing less of the crown princess of the Fortune South Enterprises dynasty.

  “Look, I’m sorry, Tanner. You must’ve misunderstood our conversation yesterday. You didn’t have to come.” She closed the door, but kept her hand on the doorknob, as if she didn’t expect him to stay very long. “You’re under absolutely no obligation with this child. I don’t need or want your help. I thought we had established that when we spoke.”

  Her cool words were a hot slap in his face. “I’m not here for you,” he bit back. “I’m here for my child. And I intend to be involved in his life every step of the way.”

  She blanched. “His life?” Her right hand slid to her belly. “How do you know the baby is a boy?”

  “I don’t, but I intend to be there when we find out and for every other milestone in our kid’s life. So, you might as well get used to that right now.”

  Tanner had been raised by a single mother who sometimes worked two jobs to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. She’d done a damn good job. His loser of a father had never paid a penny of ch
ild support. It was obvious Jordana didn’t need his financial help in raising their child. But the thought that she’d considered cutting him out of his baby’s life cut him to the core. His own father had been so absent from Tanner’s and his siblings’ lives that Tanner referred to him as “The Sperm Donor” rather than a father. As far as he was concerned, the name father or dad was a title earned by men who took their roles and responsibilities seriously. Tanner had always vowed he would be there for his kids…when the time came to have kids.

  He just hadn’t expected that time to be right now. Since leaving the Air Force seven years ago, he’d been married to his company, Redmond Flight School. Although he wanted kids someday—in the very distant future—a family of his own hadn’t been on his radar. Well, that’s what he got for having impulsive, unprotected sex with Jordana. He had been taking her to the airport so that she could meet her family and fly back to Atlanta with them. The Fortunes had chartered a flight to take them home after they’d all gathered in Red Rock for the wedding of Jordana’s sister Wendy Fortune to Marcos Mendoza. When Jordana had heard reports of a storm bearing down on Red Rock, she’d refused to fly out with her family. Then she’d changed her mind. Tanner had offered her a ride to the airport. They’d both been a little unnerved about being stranded out on the road when the tornado struck. And they’d both sought warmth and comfort in the other’s arms. One thing led to another and… Well, you play, you pay.

  “I know this is a hell of a time to ask, but were you not on birth control when we…?”

  Stupid question. He realized it the minute the words passed his lips. The fact was further confirmed when sadness, or something just short of defeat, colored her golden-brown eyes. She shrugged and gestured toward the living room. “Sit down, Tanner. I need a cup of tea before I can deal with you at this hour. Do you prefer tea or coffee?”

  He glared at her. Deal with me? “Coffee. But I don’t want any.”