The Billionaire's Captive Bride(3)

The same question Erin had asked.

Peter knew he had to answer this time. It would give instant credence to  what he'd promised. He pulled his wallet out of the back pocket of his  trousers, opened it and showed Harper his driver's licence for  identification.

"Peter Ramsey," the man read. The shock of the well-known  billionaire-tag name hit him almost instantaneously. His eyes widened as  he stared at the face that had been regularly displayed in the media  for years-the squarish jawline, dark blond hair, blue eyes, strong  arrowed nose, prominent cheekbones, a sprinkle of freckles from boyhood  years in the sun-recognition sinking in. "What are you doing here?"  spilled off his tongue.         

     



 

Alone in a common park without the entourage that usually accompanied  his public appearances … Peter shrugged it off. "Just taking a bit of time  out of my life."

"Like a chance in a million," Harper muttered dazedly.

Which raised an ironic little smile. "Guess your luck was in for once."

"You really mean it? You'll help me like you said?"

"Yes, I will. You can come with me and we'll get things moving in a  positive direction for you right after Thomas has to go back to the  kindergarten. In the meantime, why don't you have a chat with your son,  find out how life has been going for him since you've been separated?"

Harper thrust out his hand. "This is mighty generous of you, Mr Ramsey."

"No problem," Peter assured him, shaking his hand.

"I'm Dave. Dave Harper."

"Good to know you, Dave."

It was good-listening to the man reassuring the little boy that Daddy  was okay now and they would get to see each other again soon.

Erin was weaving her magic with the kindergarten children, telling them  another fairy tale in rhyming verses. Not one of them looked away from  her to check on how Thomas was doing with his father. Disturbance over,  Peter thought.

Nevertheless, the older woman, Sarah, would undoubtedly feel obliged to  report this incident to Thomas's mother when she came to pick him up  later this afternoon. Which could cause Dave more grief. Although the  kidnapping had been averted, the threat of it could be used against him.  Better to fix that possible problem before it got rolling.

Besides, the fixing would give him the chance to meet Erin properly.

He would have to use the power of his name to get past Sarah's  objections to his interference, but he couldn't remain incognito with  Erin indefinitely anyway. He grimaced over the necessity for his  identity to be revealed, knowing it would inevitably be a factor in how  much she would want to know him.

It was always a factor.

But right now he didn't care.

The desire to have her was far too strong to care about any other factors.





CHAPTER TWO




WHAT a man!

Part of Erin's mind kept buzzing over him even as she carried through  his suggestion of concentrating the children's attention on another  story.

A big man in every sense, she decided-strength, compassion, authority,  as well as having a fabulous physique emitting so much male power, her  female hormones were leaping around in a frenzy of interest. Definitely a  prince of a man, and I'd just love to be his princess, she thought  dizzily.

She'd caught a glimpse of him strolling through the park earlier and  instantly liked what she saw-very impressive. When he'd settled on the  bench seat in easy earshot of her story-telling, it had been impossible  to resist the impulse to show off to him, pouring much more vitality  into her performance than she usually did. Which was really silly  because he was an absolute stranger with no chance of their meeting,  given that she was caught up with a group of children.

Then had come his amazing intrusion when Thomas's father had been about  to make a terrible mistake. Generally people did not involve themselves  in problems that were none of their business. Yet this man had, taking  firm control of a very scary situation and producing alternative courses  of action right off the top of his head, which demonstrated a mind used  to cutting through to the heart of the matter in no time flat.

He'd even flummoxed Sarah with his air of commanding authority and Erin  had never known Sarah to surrender her own authority to anyone else. It  was good that she had on this occasion, though. Thomas's father  obviously needed help, not a stint in jail, which would defeat any hope  of getting visiting rights with his son. Erin felt sorry for him. Having  his wife desert him for a richer man and taking their son with her … he  was in a bad place right now.

Apparently Sarah had decided they were in a bad place, too. As soon as  the story ended, she was urging the children to pick up their  lunch-boxes and form a crocodile line, ready for their return to the  kindergarten. She picked up the traffic Stop sign herself, and directed  Erin to collect Thomas. "And don't be put off by the guy who took them  over," she instructed emphatically. "The boy's mother could sue us for  negligence."

"I'm sure he'll see that the agreement is kept," Erin replied confidently.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you not to trust a stranger?" Sarah grumbled.

By their actions you shall know them, Erin recited to herself as she set  off to approach the big man and the father and son he had taken under  his protection. This guy was good. In fact, with his tall, muscular  build and thick mass of blond hair, he was the perfect image for a  splendid Viking warrior, wielding his powerful sword to fix wrongs. She  could already see him being the hero in her next story.         

     



 

He stood up when he saw her coming. Mr Harper remained seated on the  park bench, speaking anxiously to Thomas who was on his lap, soaking up  being cuddled by his father.

Erin was conscious of her pulse leaping into a gallop as she met the  steady gaze of the self-appointed intermediary. There was a riveting  quality about his blue eyes, giving her the weird sensation of a  laser-probe straight to her heart.

Her skin tingled as though hit by an electric charge. She'd met a lot of  different men in her globe-trotting, literary career. Not one of them  had made this kind of impact on her. She wanted to say, "Don't walk out  of my life," but such a plea seemed too embarrassingly presumptuous.

"Time to go," she said, feeling a sickening irony in having to act on those words instead.

"It's okay," he assured her. "Your name is Erin, right?"

"Yes." She hesitated, wondering if he would recognise her much published  author name and all it now stood for, whether it would mean something  positive to him, enough to spark an interest in knowing her. In a  self-conscious burst, she added, "Erin Lavelle."

"Lavelle," he repeated, rolling it off his tongue as though tasting it.

But she could see it hadn't made any impact on him. He didn't know of  her. He was probably more a man of action than a book person. They were  simply passersby, not occupying the same world, only this bit of park on  a summer day.

He smiled, the flash of perfect white teeth reminding her of the smile  of the BMW driver, but this couldn't be the same man, could it?

"Sarah is the one in charge of the kindergarten?" he asked.

"Yes. Sarah Deering. She's my aunt."

Why she'd given this information, she didn't know. It was irrelevant.

"I don't suppose Ms Deering will let this go-not report it to Thomas's mother," he probed.

Erin shook her head. "I think Sarah will feel the need to cover herself in case of a repeat occurrence."

He nodded and handed her a business card. "Tell your aunt I will  personally ensure that the right avenues for custody will be pursued."  The blue eyes hardened with intimidating purpose as he added, "She might  like to pass that on to Mrs Harper."

For some reason he was assuming he spoke from a position of power. In  fact, power radiated so strongly from him, a little shiver of  trepidation ran down Erin's spine as she glanced at the name on the  card.

Peter Ramsey.

It meant nothing to her.

She looked up, frowning her puzzlement. "Who are you? Why do you think this carries some weight?"

Surprise at her ignorance was swiftly followed by twinkles of amusement.  "Just show the card to your aunt, Erin. It tends to influence people,  believe me."

She heaved a rueful sigh. "Guess I'm out of the general loop."

He grinned. "Charmingly so. May I ask a favour of you?"

"Ask away," she invited, dazzled into ready compliance by the grin that seemed to say he found her attractive, too.

"My cell phone number is on that card. Call me after Mrs Harper has been and gone this afternoon."

Excitement zinged through her. This might not be the end for them. "You want to know how it pans out?"

"I'd like to hear your impressions of the mother's reaction to what  happened here." He grimaced. "Truth tends to get lost when it comes to  divorce and the best interests of a child are not always served."