The #1 Bestsellers Collection 2011(68)

He was unbelievable!

“I like working. It’s part of who I am.” She saw his eyes narrow and realized she was giving away too much about herself. She didn’t want that.

Nor did she want to be supported by him, she decided, getting back to the point. It would only be for Megan’s sake if she accepted a little help from him.

And come to think of it, this would actually work out well. The one thing she regretted as a single mum was not having as much time to spend with her daughter as she’d like.

“I’ll work a couple days with you and the other days I plan on staying home with Megan. Agreed?”

He paused, then, “Agreed.”

“But after the year’s up, I get my divorce, right?” She couldn’t imagine being connected to this Valente for longer than that. “Promise me, Matt.”

“I can guarantee it.”





Two


“If any person can show just cause why these two people may not be joined together, let him speak now or forever hold their peace.”

Lana’s heart fluttered with anxiety in the ensuing silence, wishing that someone … anyone … would put a stop to this lunacy. If only Megan would cry, she might have the confidence to say no to this marriage.

The registrar continued with the ceremony.

And suddenly it was too late.

“You may now kiss each other.”

Oh Lord.

As if Matt knew that she couldn’t look at him to save her life right now, he put his hand on her arm and turned her toward him, a solemn look in his eyes.

He lowered his head and she repressed a shiver; in the mere few days since he’d come back into her life she could not ignore his compelling presence.

And then his lips touched hers in a precise kiss that said he was cool and in control and in no way did he want a response from her.

She was glad to oblige.

It would be her secret that his touch still made her tingle. She’d take that secret to the grave, she knew, as he moved back, his eyes dark and inscrutable.

The registrar smiled at the small gathering. “I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Valente.”

Her heart dipped, but Matt’s family—their only guests—started congratulating them, giving Lana time to compose herself. She’d told them she had no family to invite, except an aunt and uncle who were off on a jaunt to South Africa. Of course, it was the truth, but she played it low-key. And she hadn’t wanted to invite the few single friends she’d drifted away from since having Megan.

The Valentes were it.

Yet she couldn’t complain about their treatment of her. They were just so delighted to have a new addition in Megan, and they even seemed genuinely pleased she was joining them. She’d thought they might think she’d tried to trap Matt, but Cesare and Isabel had been kindness itself.

She could even set aside her resentment with Cesare for his breach of privacy over the birth certificate, after he’d handed her a gorgeous posy of flowers on arrival today, the bright colors a perfect foil against the soft femininity of her cream suit.

And Isabel had put one of the flowers from the posy in Megan’s dark hair. Both gestures had been a little “family” touch that had overwhelmed Lana and she’d had to blink rapidly to hold back the tears.

“We need a photograph of the bride and groom, and then one of the whole family,” Isabel said, pulling Lana from her thoughts.

“Smile,” Matt murmured, smiling at her. “I want my family to at least think we can be pleasant to each other.”

“That’ll be a stretch.”

He blinked at her words, and gave a low chuckle, and she found herself smiling back genuinely for the first time.

At that moment the camera clicked.

“Hey, that’ll be a great picture,” Nick said, looking at the screen on the digital camera. “Yes, it is. Now let’s try a few more, and then we’ll get someone to take a picture of us all together.”

Lana continued to smile, but she was grateful the camera hadn’t clicked a moment ago, or it might have caught her expression reeling from the effects of Matt’s devastating smile.

Matt Valente could only be described as terminally handsome, with his sophisticated good looks and attitude of self-command making a woman hard-pressed to turn her eyes away.

And he was now her husband.

And Megan’s father, she reminded herself, not allowing herself to forget the reason she was here today.

After the photographs, everyone headed out of the building to go to Cesare and Isabel’s apartment, where a late lunch with the family was to be held in their honor.

Lana had just climbed into the limousine when there was a flash as someone raced up and snapped a picture of them. Thankfully she’d been blocking a view of Megan at the time.