Millionaire in Command(25)

Sebastian smiled, one-sided. "None taken."

"Anyway,  I didn't know what to do and Phoebe's so smart and logical, I  knew she  could take care of everything. I'm not like her. I'm not cut  out to be a  full-time mom, no matter how much I love the little cutie."

Kyle  vaguely registered his wife murmuring something about how glad she  was  to take care of Nina, furthering his sense that Phoebe undoubtedly  had  Bianca's number.

Had Bianca even somehow set this whole thing up,  arranging  circumstances so Phoebe would come to him? Kyle couldn't go  quite that  far, but he could see he had sure sized this up way wrong  from the  minute Bianca had walked into the Landis home.                       
       
           



       

Sebastian  began speaking with Bianca in his best soft and reasonable  lawyer  tones, explaining the ins and outs of what it meant to sign away  her  parental rights. But Kyle was focused on Phoebe, who had somehow  seen a  way through this tangle and found a way to unknot the threads  and  restore order. From her quietly outrageous idea to get married, to   seeing through Bianca's bad-girl exterior to the more complex-albeit   still selfish-person inside.

He hadn't needed to blast forward  with his background search on Bianca  and level the field in a manner  that would set bad blood between them  for the rest of Nina's life. What  more had he missed from Phoebe with  his charge-ahead attitude that  apparently kept him from slowing down  long enough to pick up on  important nuances?


He didn't know yet. But he looked forward  to finding out one day at a  time. Days and weeks and years of building a  life and getting better as  he learned more about her.

Starting  today by telling his wife the most important detail, a detail  his  charge-ahead brain had wrongly plowed right over as insignificant.  Once  he got Phoebe alone, he intended to make sure that she heard,  believed  and never forgot.

He loved her.



Phoebe closed the  door to Nina's nursery, Kyle behind her. She still  couldn't believe  they'd stumbled on Bianca's real agenda and it had  been so easy to  address.

Although now that she thought back, it made total sense.  If Bianca had  been after money, nothing could have stopped her from  getting through  to the Landis family. They should have realized that  from the start.  The talk with Ginger had helped her trust her instincts.

Bianca had seen the pieces differently than Phoebe would have ever guessed.

Phoebe  leaned on the wraparound balcony, tipping her face into the sea  breeze.  Kyle pulled up alongside her, his leg pressed against hers  intimately.

Where  would they go from here? More passionate sex that turned her  inside  out … only to find herself alone afterward? No, damn it, she'd  learned. No  more hiding in her dusty academic world. She would fight  for herself,  for this marriage, as firmly as she'd fought for Nina.  Even if it took  time.

She turned to face him, leaning an elbow on the railing. "Bianca surprised me today. She grew up. I'm relieved for Nina."

The  cool breeze seemed to soothe the hot frustration of the last few  weeks,  easing the ache inside her. She just wished she could share some  of  that peace with Kyle.

"We accomplished what we set out to do."  His voice wrapped around her  with the same warmth it had that first  night at his homecoming party.

Was it her imagination, or was  there a hint of the old Kyle in his  tone? She peered over at his strong  profile as he looked out at the  water.

"We accomplished it with a solution that's outside the box." Just like she hoped he would find for himself.

Like she hoped he might see for their future.

"You fought for us, for both of us, and I love you for that."

"If  we keep thinking outside-" The word stuck on her tongue as her  thoughts  rewound and her heart picked up speed. "What did you say?"

That strong, handsome profile of his turned until he looked full-on into her eyes. "I said I love you."

Her  jaw went slack. She'd been expecting to dig in for a long haul,  work to  build a relationship that would lead to love, the way Ginger  had found  her second chance with her longtime friend. There were still  so many  pieces left to move.

"Kyle, are you sure? Wait, of course you're  sure. You pride yourself on  always being honest." Her head began  spinning as fast as her  heartbeat. "You were right that I was hanging on  to the past. I was  looking to recreate that, which is impossible. That  was a unique love,  just as my love for you is unique. By expecting this  to be like the  past, I almost missed how absolutely awesome the present  could be."

Kyle frowned. His hands landed on her shoulders, steadying her. "Wait. Back up a second. Did you just say you love me, too?"

Oh,  she had. And why hadn't she thought to say that straight away to  him?  "Yes." She looped her arms around his neck, the truth of that  simple  fact shining through. "I am totally and completely in love with  you. I  know it's only been a few weeks. I'm the one who said things  take time."                       
       
           



       

"I  seem to recall you shouted it in the Aston." That gorgeous, lopsided   grin of his returned, making her knees ridiculously weak.

"I did,  didn't I?" Ah, but she would need that stubbornness to go  toe-to-toe  with her hardheaded Landis man. "My point is, I do love you.  It came on  me differently this time, but I know just as surely that  this is real."

"Phoebe? Quiet, my love."

His love? She would never grow tired of hearing that. "Yes?"

"I  should have realized sooner what was happening between us. God  knows,  you've rocked me more in a million ways than anyone has before  from the  first time I saw you, to the first time I kissed you, made  love to you.  Something about the way you handled things with Bianca  finally got  through my thick skull until I could see just how perfect  you are, how  perfect we can be together. I would be a damn fool if I  let you go." His  smile dug a dimple in his cheek. "I may have been slow  on the uptake,  but I'm not an idiot. I love you, Phoebe Landis, and I  want to spend the  rest of my life with you and our daughter and any  other children we  decide to add to our family."

"And I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

He tucked her closer against him, their bodies a perfect fit. "We'll start house-hunting here, for a place of our own."

A  final problem tugged her with worries about long-term happiness. "But   you love your job, the thrill of international dealings."

He tunneled his fingers into her hair. "I love you and Nina and the life we're going to have together more."

"I don't think I'll ever get tired of hearing that."

She  arched up on her toes as he leaned down, his kiss wonderfully  familiar  and even better every time, as they built on the desire she'd  felt the  first time his sexy voice had stroked over her. How much more  would she  have to look forward to in the future?

His hands slid down her  sides to loop low around her waist as he kissed  along her jaw, his  late-day beard a sweet abrasion against her skin.  The scent of his  aftershave mingled with the salty air, swirling inside  her like dreams  of their future unfolding. And just that fast an idea  took shape inside  those possibilities and plans.

Phoebe nestled against his chest, looking out over the ocean. "What if Nina and I traveled with you?"

His  muscled arms tensed against her and he didn't answer at first, the   waves rolling and receding while his heart thudded steadily under her   ear. She stroked the hair at the nape of his neck. "Kyle?"

"I thought you would want the home and hearth here, stability for Nina."

So  had she. At first. But she was learning more and more about thinking   outside the box as she contemplated blending her life with Kyle's.   "We're her security. And as you said before, we have options. We can   hire an entourage of help so we never have to worry about finding   sitters. We can afford to rent an entire house wherever we travel. Think   outside the box for us, the way you do in your career."

"Your  plan is definitely worth discussion." His face creased into a  one-sided  smile, his hands sliding intimately low down her waist. "We  could always  talk about it more on a long drive up the coast, since I  decided to  keep the Aston."