Secret Baby Scandal(24)

"Very." She laid her palm against his for a moment before interlacing their fingers, locking them together.

"I'll introduce you to my cousin Kimberly, then I'll see about getting you and César both settled for the night."

She wanted to press herself into him and kiss him, then and there.  Remind him that she didn't want to be settled. That what she wanted was  to have his arms around her, sifting through her hair and parting the  zipper on her dress. She wanted to take chances and throw caution to the  humid Texas wind.                       
       
           



       

"That sounds good." Realistically, she knew she didn't have to wait  much longer to touch him. But she didn't know how she'd make it through  much more social chitchat. To distract herself from the kiss she wanted,  she asked him about his relatives. "Tell me about the Texas Reynauds.  How come I never met any of your cousins when I visited your family at  the big ranch?"

Memories of the endless spread of hill country returned. There had been  long afternoons of hiking trails or horseback riding, nighttime picnics  under the stars, and the heady pleasure of being the only girl with  four handsome older boys to keep her entertained. Before they'd grown  older and started to pursue their own interests, leaving her to  Jean-Pierre's care, her ten-year-old self had been a little in love with  them all.

"My grandfather, Leon, did a great job stepping in to raise my brothers  and me after our parents divorced. But the reason Leon worked hard to  get it right with us is because he screwed up his own sons so  thoroughly. His words, not mine, by the way." Jean-Pierre's gaze  followed Lucinda, his sharp eyes missing nothing as she stepped into a  waiting golf cart with César and they sped off toward the looming ranch  house in the distance.

Gervais commandeered a small luxury bus for the rest of them while  giving instructions for the luggage. Tatiana admired that no matter how  wealthy and powerful the man was, he still oversaw details himself,  taking no chances with his pregnant wife or his family.

"Leon blames himself for his sons' shortcomings? Keep in mind, I don't  know anything about your uncles and I've only met your father a few  times." She'd only spoken to Theo Reynaud once, at a long-ago birthday  party for one of the boys. The man had touched down by helicopter,  stayed long enough to have a few drinks and departed with his latest  girlfriend within the hour.

Tatiana had been decidedly unimpressed.

Following Jean-Pierre toward the waiting vehicle, she noticed Adelaide  tucked under Dempsey's arm as they sat on a bench on the dock, her eyes  closed as she tipped her head against his chest. Fiona and Henri were  quiet, too, talking softly in the back of the bus when Tatiana entered  with Jean-Pierre. So it didn't feel rude to continue their own  conversation while the family boarded.

"Leon thought it would make his sons tougher to pit them against each  other." Jean-Pierre slid into a leather captain's chair midway up one  aisle of the bus. He reached up to turn off the reading lamp above the  seat, plunging them into darkness before he tugged her closer, wrapping  an arm around her waist. "He started rivalries when they were young,  pushing them to outdo one another on the football field and on the ranch  since he was based in Texas back then. Once, a bull-riding contest  between them nearly killed my Uncle Michael."

"That's awful." She relaxed against him, her cheek pressed to the hard muscle of his chest, his body warming her.

She felt the slow thud of his heartbeat beneath her ear and she  couldn't resist laying her hand on him, feeling the hard ridges of  muscles in his abdomen beneath the thin cotton of his shirt.

He responded by stroking her hair away from her face. A gentle gesture  that might appear sweet to a casual observer, but the sensual heat it  roused was enough to set her on fire.

"Eventually, Christophe, Michael and my father cut all personal ties  and moved to different states. But since the shipping empire is still a  family business, they are bound together professionally." He nodded to  Gervais as his brother boarded with his fiancée. The couple took the  front seat behind the driver and signaled him to begin the short trip to  the main house while Jean-Pierre wound up his family primer for her.  "Kimberly, who we'll meet when we get to the house, is one of  Christophe's daughters. She doesn't get along with her father, either,  but she deals with him well enough that he lets her run this place. The  island ranch is a self-sustaining subsidiary of the main ranching  operation and also a stop on many of our cruise ships' Gulf of Mexico  itineraries."

Tatiana lifted her head from her comfortable position to peer up at  him. "You're such a successful athlete, I forget that you have a whole  other side to you as an heir to the family's business."                       
       
           



       

"It's a lot to keep up with since the company interests are so diverse,  but considering the short career of an NFL athlete, I know that the  business will keep me employed long after football is done with me."

The luxury bus hit a pothole and pitched enough to one side that she  fell against him again. Not that she minded. And from the way his eyes  glittered in the dim lights outlining the walkway on the floor, she'd  guess he didn't mind, either.

"You're only a year older than me," she teased, smoothing a hand along  his shoulder and upper arm to grip his biceps. "I think you've got a few  years left in your arm."

"If I'm lucky," he said, in all seriousness. "Injuries can happen at  any time in the game. I don't count on a paycheck from the Gladiators or  any other team, but no matter what my future is in football, rest  assured our son will be well provided for. Always."

"I don't want to think about you being hurt." She closed her eyes  tight, knowing he spoke the truth. She'd been around football long  enough to understand the dangers, to see young, vital men halted in  their athletic careers because of irreversible damage that decreased  their speed or mobility.

"I'm a realist. I account for as many possibilities as I can foresee,  and that's a skill that has served me well." His hand slid beneath the  collar of her cashmere sweater to massage the bare skin of her shoulder.  "But I can honestly say César was an outcome I never accounted for and I  should have. I'm sorry about that, Tatiana."

The soft words, spoken into her hair as the bus slowed to a stop,  caught her off guard. She hadn't expected him to apologize for not  checking in with her after that explosive encounter ten and a half  months ago, but she appreciated the thought nevertheless.

"We were careful at the time. You had no reason to suspect-"

"It's always a possibility." The brusque statement left no room for  argument. "I should have called afterward, when I'd cooled down..." She  sensed a hesitation. As if he didn't want to confide whatever he was  thinking.

And he didn't.

Instead, he straightened, bringing her with him. As they followed his  brothers and their significant others from the vehicle, Tatiana shoved  aside her troubled thoughts so she could meet their hostess.

The Tides Ranch was a massive complex with a central hacienda-style  adobe main house that glowed a bronze shade of pink in the landscape  lights. Native plantings on terraced beds hinted at the ranch's  self-sustaining practices, as did the solar panels on the roofs, evident  even in the dark from the way they glinted in the moonlight. Although  Tatiana had read that the ranch housed some of the owner's family  year-round, the front entrance had the feel of a hotel, complete with a  staffed front desk, since the island received a high number of annual  visitors thanks to being a stop for cruise ships.

Warm mesquite wood furnishings and Saltillo tile floors enhanced the  Southwest appeal of the house. Exposed beam ceilings and bright woven  rugs drew her eye toward a large entertaining space, a family room that  looked as though it would hold sixty people easily.

"Welcome to the Tides." A willowy blonde with cool gray eyes appeared  in the reception area as they entered, opening her arms to Gervais and  each of the Reynaud brothers in turn, then greeting the women briefly.  "I can't tell you how thrilled I am to host a wedding this weekend  instead of our usual tourists," she said, squeezing Erika's hand warmly.  "Not that we don't appreciate all our visitors, of course. But it will  be fun to take our level of entertaining up a notch. As a foreign  princess, your options for wedding sites must have been limitless."