Have Baby, Need Billionaire(28)

His mind raced with too many thoughts to process at once. Something he   wasn't accustomed to at all. His concentration skills were nearly   legendary. But even the inner workings of the Bradley department store   chain couldn't keep him fixated for long anymore. That acknowledgment   shook him to his bones. The Bradley chain had always been his focus. The   one mainstay of his life. Rebuilding what the family had lost. Growing   the company until it was the biggest of its kind in the country.

Those were tangible goals.

His entire life for the last ten years had been dedicated to making   those dreams a reality. But lately, they weren't his only goals.

Tula.

Everything came back to her, he thought and waited impatiently for the   light to change and the Walk symbol to flash green. Around him, a   teenager danced along to whatever music he had plugged into his ears. A   young mother swayed, keeping the baby in her arms happy. Taxis honked,   someone shouted and the world, in general, kept spinning.

For everyone but him.

Simon knew he didn't have to go through with this. Didn't have to walk   into the exclusive restaurant precisely at twelve-thirty and   "accidentally" meet the man he'd waited years to take down. He knew he   still had a chance to turn away from his plan. From the decision he had   made before Tula became so damned important to him.

Tula.

She was there again. Front and center in his thoughts. Her short, soft   hair. Her quick grin. That dimple that continued to devastate him every   time he saw it flash in her cheek. She was there with her stories about   lonely children befriending rabbits. She was there, rocking Nathan in   the middle of the night. She was in the kitchen, dancing to the radio  as  she cooked. He saw her in her tiny house in Crystal Bay. So small,  yet  so full of life. Of love.

Tula had waltzed into his life and turned everything he had ever known upside down.

The light changed and he walked with the crowd, a part of them, yet separate.

For days now, he and Tula and Nathan had been what he had never thought   to have … a family. Laughing with the baby in the evening, holding Tula   all through the night and then waking up with her curled up against him   every morning. It was enough to drive a man out of his mind.

This wasn't how Simon had planned for his life to go.

Never before had he made room in his thoughts for babies and bunnies and   smart-mouthed women who kissed him as if he contained the last breath   on earth. Now he couldn't imagine his life without any of them.

And he didn't damn well know what to do about it.

The wind off the ocean was icy, chilling the blood in his veins until he   felt as cold and grim as his thoughts. Outside the restaurant, Simon   actually paused and considered the situation.

If Mick was right, then going inside to face down Jacob would ruin   whatever he might have with Tula. On the other hand, if he didn't go   inside and nothing came of whatever was happening between him and Tula,   then he had wasted his one opportunity to get back at a man he'd spent   too many years hating.

Scrubbing one hand across the back of his neck, Simon stood in the sea   of constantly moving pedestrians like a boulder in the middle of a   rushing stream. For the first time in his life, he wasn't sure what his   next move should be.

For the first time ever, he wondered if he shouldn't be putting someone else ahead of his own needs.

"Make up your damn mind," he muttered, shifting his gaze to take in the   wide windows and the diners seated in leather booths affording a view  of  downtown.

That's when he saw Jacob Hawthorne.

Everything in Simon went still as ice. The old man was lording it over a   group of businessmen at his table. Seated like a king before   supplicants, the old thief was clearly holding court. And who knew what   he was up to? Who knew which company Jacob was trying to destroy now?

Thoughts of Tula rose up in Simon's mind as if his subconscious was   combating what he was seeing. Reminding him of what he could have. What   he might lose.

Tula. The daughter of his enemy. Simon shouldn't have been able to trust   her. But he did. He shouldn't have cared about her. But he did.

Still, it wasn't enough, he told himself, already reaching for the door handle and tugging it open.

He owed it to his father. Hell, he owed it to himself to give Jacob the   set down the man had practically been begging to receive for years.

And nothing was going to stop him.





Twelve




There were posters of her latest book cover standing on easels at the   front entrance of the bookstore. Management had even put her picture on   the sign announcing the author reading and signing that weekend.   Cringing a little, Tula tried not to look at her own image.                       
       
           



       

"Ms. Barrons!"

She turned to smile as Barbara, the employee responsible for all of this, hurried over. "Hi, nice to see you again."

Barbara shook the hand Tula offered and then waved at the sign. "Do you approve?"

"It's very nice," she said, idly noting that she really needed a new publicity picture taken. "Thank you."

"Oh, it's no bother, believe me," Barbara told her. "We've sold so many   of your books already, you'll be signing for hours this weekend."

"Now that is good news," Tula replied, reaching down to lift Nathan from   his stroller when he started to complain. "It's okay, sweetie, we  won't  be long, then we'll go to the park," she promised.

"You have a beautiful son," Barbara cooed, reaching in to take one of Nathan's tiny hands in hers.

Pleased, Tula didn't correct her. Instead, she felt her own heart swell   with longing, pride and love. She looked at the tiny boy in her arms  and  smiled when he gave her a toothless grin. Kissing him tenderly, she   looked at Barbara and said simply, "Thank you."



Simon walked to Jacob's table, dismissing the hostess who tried to   intercept him. His gaze locked on the old man; he paid no attention to   the other diners or even to the three older men at Jacob's table.

All he could see was the man he'd waited years to get even with. The man   who had destroyed Simon's father and nearly cost him the business his   family had built over generations.

He stopped beside the table and looked down at the man who was his   enemy. Tula had gotten her blue eyes from her father, but the difference   was there was no warmth in Jacob's eyes. No silent sense of humor   winking out at him. She was nothing like her father at all, Simon   thought, wondering how someone as warm as Tula could have sprung from a   man with ice in his veins.

"Bradley," the older man said, glancing at him with a sniff of distaste. "What are you doing here?"

"Thought we could have a chat, Jacob," Simon said, not bothering to acknowledge the other men at the table.

"I'm busy. Another time." Jacob turned to the man on his right.

"Actually, now works best for me," Simon said, keeping his voice low   enough that only those at the table were privy to what he had to say.

The older man sighed dramatically, turned to face him and said, "Fine. What is it?"

For the first time, Simon glanced at the other men. "Maybe we should do this in private."

"I don't see any need for that," Jacob argued. "This is a scheduled business meeting. You're the intruder here."

Right again. It was only thanks to Mick's reluctantly given information   that Simon had known where to find the old goat. Now he didn't argue,  he  merely turned his flat, no-negotiation stare on the other men at the   table. It didn't take them long to excuse themselves and stand up.

"Five minutes," Jacob told them.

"I don't need even that long," Simon assured him as the three men left, heading for the bar.

The steak house was old, moneyed and exclusive. The walls were paneled   in dark oak, the carpet was bloodred and the booths and chairs were   overstuffed black leather. Candles flickered on every table and wall   sconces burned with low-wattage bulbs, making the place seem like a   well-decorated cave.

Simon took a seat opposite the old man and met that hard stare with one   of his own. This was the moment he had waited for and he wanted to  savor  it. Jacob had taken something from him. Had tried to destroy  Simon's  father and almost had. Now Simon had taken something from  Jacob.

Payback, the old man was about to learn, really was a bitch.

"What's this about?" Hawthorne leaned back in the seat and draped one   arm negligently along the back of the booth. "Come to complain about my   getting the property you wanted again? Because if that's it, I'm not   interested. Ancient history."