Secret Baby Scandal(22)

Jean-Pierre dragged over a few pots of watercolors for her while the  rest of the family went back to painting and talking, or singing along  to the music that someone had turned back up. Adelaide rose from her  seat on the other side of Tatiana to grab a bottle of water from a  cooler, leaving Jean-Pierre and Tatiana in a bubble of privacy.

"I'm sorry about last night." He sketched his label letters in pencil,  using a ruler to be sure of the spacing. "I wish I'd had the presence of  mind to talk things through with you then, but I hope we can correct  that later today."                       
       
           



       

Surprised, she picked up her first blank label and thought about what  she would create. What would her patterns and colors say about her? She  knew one thing. She was done coloring in the lines and making safe  choices to please the people around her. Now that she was a mother, she  understood that she didn't want her child to have a role model who  played it safe all the time. She dipped a brush into a pot of bright  orange paint.

"A discussion would probably be wise." She knew without question that  he wanted what was best for César. Jean-Pierre's love for his child had  been evident almost immediately in the tender way he held him. After  seeing the way he behaved with his son, she wondered how she could have  doubted him during her pregnancy. But she'd had her reasons at the time.  She could only move forward now. "My father called this morning to  alert me to the media's renewed interest in the Caruthers case. I didn't  realize it had come back to life, but I do want to think about how to  deflect interest away from that if at all possible."

"Good." Setting aside his pencil, he watched her for a long moment as  she painted a starburst border on her first label. "I want to do  whatever it takes to find some common ground this week. I am fully  committed."

Something in his tone made her pause. She moved the brush away from the label so as not to spoil her work.

One look into Jean-Pierre's dark eyes told her he meant it. There was a  depth of sincerity there that she would guess he didn't let many people  see. She herself hadn't seen it in years. But she remembered that  expression from long, long ago.

And it had much the same effect on her now that it'd had then. Her heart fluttered. Sped up. Made her breathless.

"That sounds..." Her voice hitched and she cleared her throat, trying  to banish runaway thoughts of what it might be like to have this man  fully committed to her. Even just for the rest of the week. Even for  just one more night. "That is, I agree."

She licked her lips and went back to the label, blinking away the chemistry that had always hit her so hard with him.

"Need some cold water?" Adelaide asked her, suddenly appearing beside her with an extra bottle from the cooler.

You have no idea, she thought.

"Thank you." She took it gratefully, hoping that she could turn down  the temperature of her heated skin with a drink. But no such luck.

His low chuckle suggested he hadn't missed her reaction.

Having Jean-Pierre working silently beside her called to her senses,  making her wish she could climb into his lap the way Fiona did with  Henri. Or that he would steal a kiss when he thought no one was looking,  the way she'd seen Dempsey do with Adelaide.

But the most she could hope for-and all that Jean-Pierre really  wanted-was to find some kind of mental common ground where they could  agree on how to raise César together in a way that would help their son  to thrive.

She wanted that, too. And yet...how nice it would have been to have  something more. Some sense that he would throw logic and caution to the  wind and take a chance on a deeper connection than carefully agreed on  terms for parenting.

"Before I forget," Gervais said suddenly, turning down the music again.  "I've chartered two flights on Saturday for wedding guests who arrive  here thinking the wedding is still taking place in Louisiana. But the  family will relocate to the island early to settle in before the  ceremony. Leon and his nurse will leave in the morning, so he'll meet us  there. Can everyone else be ready to depart tomorrow evening?"

While the group fine-tuned travel arrangements, Jean-Pierre's gaze  connected with hers. Perhaps he sensed her apprehension at seeing Leon  again. The Reynaud family patriarch had been the one to fire her father  and turn her life upside down, effectively ending the young romance  she'd apparently never gotten over.

"Will your grandfather keep César a secret from the press?" she  ventured aloud to Jean-Pierre, unsure how much longer they would be able  to keep their son out of the media storm swirling around the Reynauds  lately.

"We should probably talk about that." He slid a hand onto her knee  beneath the pillow on her lap. But his expression was serious. He seemed  to be touching her to steady her more than anything. "Leon has  Alzheimer's and can't keep a secret of any kind. He's been blurting out  information from the past and nothing's sacred with him because he can't  remember what to keep quiet about."                       
       
           



       

"I'm sorry to hear that," she said quickly, genuinely saddened to learn  of his health problems. She couldn't stop herself from touching  Jean-Pierre's hand lightly. "I know this must hurt you. I wish César  could have the chance to know him better before...well. It's just such a  tragic disease. I'm not sure what to say or how to handle things. It  could complicate the announcement about César."

"I know." Jean-Pierre's thumb shifted on the inside of her knee, a tiny  movement that sent a bolt of awareness through her whole body. "All the  more reason we need a plan for how to reveal him to the press so we  control the story."

"Right." She agreed wholeheartedly.

The problem was, neither of them seemed to have any idea what that  story might be. Because the only thing she understood for certain about  her relationship with Jean-Pierre right now was that she couldn't go on  denying the chemistry that all but set her on fire every time he was  near.

Besides, she'd been to see a local doctor this morning and obtained her  official six-week clearance for intimacy. Just thinking about it made  her stomach flutter with nerves-and excitement. She couldn't deny she  still wanted Jean-Pierre.

Even thinking about his grandfather's illness made her realize what a  short window of time she had here to make some life-altering decisions.  This could well be her last chance to indulge in this tenacious  attraction.

Maybe, in this frustrating search for common ground, they needed to  revisit the one place they'd always found it-in each other's arms.





Nine

Jean-Pierre checked his watch at seven o'clock the next evening as the  limo dropped him and Tatiana, as well as César and his nanny, off at the  private airport close to the family compound. The party of four had  arrived early to give Tatiana a little extra time to settle the baby.  She had delayed the morning feeding so he could nurse during takeoff.  She hoped to ease César's transition into the air since small children  often felt the effects of the change in air pressure as pain in the  ears. Apparently, the act of suckling relieved that pressure. That she'd  researched this before the flight impressed Jean-Pierre, giving him yet  another reason to admire her parenting.

He'd begun to think that the best way to convince her to say yes to his  marriage proposal was to demonstrate his value to her as a father. But  beyond naming the child heir to a fortune, he was still looking for ways  to make his potential contributions more apparent.

Now, he passed a fussing César into Lucinda's arms while he helped  Tatiana from the vehicle. Their driver had already taken charge of the  luggage, so they were able to board after an exchange of pleasantries  with the pilot, a man who'd flown Jean-Pierre back and forth to New York  on numerous occasions.

He hoped the man proved as trustworthy as he'd always thought him to be  because allowing him to observe Tatiana and César in Jean-Pierre's  company amounted to giving him one hell of a valuable headline. But  after considerable discussion the day before, he and Tatiana had agreed  it would be best to bring César to Texas with them. She was  breast-feeding almost exclusively, for one thing. And for another,  Jean-Pierre found he didn't want to lose any time with his son after  missing those early weeks of the child's life. Besides, if he was going  to prove his value to Tatiana as a father, it would help to keep his son  close at hand and learn more about this little life they'd made  together.