Cover to Covers (34 page)

“What is it?” Giselle
implored beside him.

Tyler waited as the woman turned. When she faced him, his eyes traveled over her pale white skin, pink lips, and deep gray eyes.

Giselle seized his arm. “Tyler?”

Monique
observed Tyler from across the room but her countenance remained cool and impassive. A man’s hand protectively rested on Monique’s arm, and when Chris Donovan appeared from behind a heavyset woman next to Monique, Tyler’s wrath took over.

He choked down every
impulse he had to run to her side. He tried to soothe his ire by reasoning that she had made her choice, but something in him could not accept that Chris Donovan was the man she really wanted. 

“Isn’t that the writer, Monique Delome?” Giselle girlishly
giggled and pointed at Monique. “I just love her books.”

Unable to stand it any longer, Tyler turned to Giselle. “Stay here,” he ordered
, and then shot across the room.

When Monique saw him coming, she scrambled for the closest exit.
But Tyler was faster and more agile on his feet, and before she could get to a glass sliding door that led to the pool area outside, Tyler grasped her arm.

“Let me go,” she all but shouted.

“I want to talk to you.”

“Tyler, leave her alone,” Chris barked, rushing up to her.

Voices could be heard going quiet around them and Monique took in the curious looks from a few of the other guests. She shook off Tyler’s grip and whispered, “Not here.”

Chris stepped in front of her. “You don’t have to speak to him.”

She placed her hand on the sleeve of Chris’s black tuxedo jacket. “Just give me five minutes. We have…things to discuss.”

Chris did not budge. “You don’t have to tell him anything, you know that.”

“Yes, I do, Chris. You know I do.”

Tyler took in the entire conversation with a heady dose of discomfort. He did not like Chris
Donovan hovering over her like she was some helpless woman. Monique was stronger than that, but the way she was acting was unnerving for Tyler. It was almost as if the fire he had once cherished in her had dimmed.

Chris
shifted his blue eyes to Tyler. “Don’t upset her.”

“Chris, please
.” Monique pushed him out of the way of the glass door.

“All right
, Monique.” Chris opened the sliding door for her. “Five minutes, and then I am taking you back to the hotel.”

Monique shook her head
, seeming not to care. “Fine, whatever you want to do.”

Once they were alone outside, Tyler stood
curiously watching her adjust the folds along the front of her deep burgundy dress. The blue lights from the kidney-shaped pool gave an eerie glow to the tile-inlaid patio. About the eaves of the house, twinkling white lights were strewn, while tea lights floated in the water.

“I didn’t know you would be here
.” She stood off to the side, wringing her hands. “If I would have known, I wouldn’t have come. Chris insisted we make an appearance. Donovan Books contributes to the organization they are raising funds for.”

Tyler
ran his fingers back and forth over his forehead, fighting to remain calm. “Why do you let him treat you like that? Are you honestly going to stand there and tell me you want to marry that man?”

She
was silent for the longest time, and he could detect the slightest hint of regret in her voice when she finally spoke. “How did you find out we were getting married?”

“
My mother found out through some friends who read about it on the Internet,” he replied, sounding irritated.

“I’m sure Barbara enjoyed dropping that little bombshell, didn’t she?”

He waved his hand at her. “I just can’t believe you brushed me aside so easily, Moe.”

“You walked away,
Ty, not me.”

“But with Chris!
” He pointed to the glass door. “You told me you never—”

“I said a lot of things, Ty. So did you. But Chris was there for me when
you left.”

He
shoved his hands in the pockets of his tuxedo pants. “Come on, Moe. Is he really the one you want?”

She
unleashed a cruel-sounding snicker that took Tyler by surprise. “Wow, you are really full of yourself. Just because he is not you, you think I don’t want him, is that it, Ty?”

“That’s not want I meant.
I want to know if he makes you happy.” Tyler’s eyes then curiously hovered over the front of her dress.

She saw him staring at her body and
fidgeted on her feet. “My happiness is no longer your concern. You made that clear when you left last July.”

“Moe, don’t do this. You don’t love him.”

“Yeah, well, I tried with you, and look where it got me.” She rested her hand over the front folds of her dress, accentuating the slight curve of her lower belly.

Tyler could not put his finger on it, but here was something different about Monique. When hi
s eyes followed the outline of her slightly swollen abdomen beneath the fabric of her dress, an inkling of doubt rose up from his heart.

“Moe
? Are you all right? You seem—”

“I’m pregnant, Ty
,” she blurted out. Removing her hand from her stomach, she held her head up high. “I’m due in April.”

Tyler’s gut felt as if it had been kicked by some invisible force.
“That’s why you want to marry him, because you’re pregnant?” He recalled the smug grin on Chris’s face when he had returned to New Orleans and found the man staying with Monique. “Christ, Moe. Just because Chris got you pregnant, doesn’t mean you have to spend the rest of your life with him.”

“I
never slept with Chris. You just assumed when you saw him at my house that we….” She waved her hand at him. “You’re the father, Ty. There hasn’t been anyone else.”

Shock, that’s
all he felt. Never before had Tyler been confronted with the possibility of fatherhood; it was something he had always taken precautions against…except with Monique.

“But you said…the doctors told you…it was impossible for you to get pregnant,” he stammered.

“Difficult, but obviously not impossible.” She smirked at his panicked reaction. “I was just as shocked as you are now.”

As the
surprise wore off, an unusual sense of calm enveloped him. “Why didn’t you call me?”

She took a step back from him. “
When you thought I had slept with Chris after what we had shared…I was so angry. Then, I found out I was pregnant, and I knew I couldn’t call you. Like you told me before, you’ve had enough women wanting you for your money. I couldn’t have you thinking I was like all the rest.”

“Jesus, I would never have thought that. I would have—”

“What? Taken care of me? Is that what you were going to say?” She went around him. “No thanks, Ty. I don’t need your money or your pity.”

He
clasped his hand about her wrist. “That’s not what I was going to say.” He held on to her as she fought against him. “I was going to say I would have married you.”

She finally pulled away. “You son of a bitch! You think marrying me just because I am pregnant is what I want?”

“No. But it’s what I want.” She was heading for the glass door when he professed, “I would have married you even if you weren’t pregnant, Moe, but I was too damned scared.”

She stopped
and turned to him. “Scared? Of what…me?”

“
You told me before I was afraid, and you were right. I was terrified of letting you in.” He slowly came up to her side. “The last person I cared for walked out on me, and I was convinced that you were going to do the exact same thing.”

“What are you talking about?
Who walked out on you?”

“Peter,” he confessed. “All this time I thought the real reason he left was because of my mother and her incessant nagging for him to straighten
out his life. Seems there was a stronger lure. I recently learned he was convicted of drug dealing and was serving a thirty year sentence when he was killed in prison.” He took in a deep breath and suddenly a weight lifted from his shoulders, as if all his burdens were falling to the wayside. “I guess I finally got the answers I needed.”

Her eyes softened. “I’m sorry
, Ty. I know what he meant to you.”

“That’s just it, Moe. I thought he meant something to me, because I meant something to him, but
you don’t walk out on the people you love. He was wrong to leave me, just like I was wrong to leave you. I should have packed up you and Ugly and taken you to Oklahoma with me.” He slowly grinned. “How is Ugly?”

Finally, a slight smile spread across her delicate pink lips. “Snoring worse than ever.”

He marveled at how the glowing blue lights from the pool reflected in her eyes. “Do you think we could start again? It will be different this time, I will be different this time, I promise. I want to be with you, Moe; with you and my baby.”

Her shoulders s
louched and the fight seemed to drain from her body. “It’s too late for us, Ty. We had our second chance and we blew it.” Her hand clutched the door handle. “I can’t afford to take any more chances. Chris has always been there for me, and he will be there for my baby.” She pulled the sliding glass door open. “You have your life, and I have mine. Let’s keep it that way.”

She walked in
to the house, leaving Tyler alone on the patio. He closed his eyes as the bitter taste of regret rose up from his stomach. He had missed his opportunity to be with the one woman he could never forget. The crushing disappointment tearing at his heart was more than he could stand. It felt as if he were fourteen again, standing on the porch of his old rundown childhood home, and watching Peter drive away.

“Hey, baby, you okay?” Giselle asked as she came outside.

“Yeah, fine.” He took her hand and pulled her toward the glass door. “Let’s get the hell out of here. I’m not in a party mood anymore.”

Chapter 2
7

The festivities of the New Year were over, but many employees were still out on vacation, leaving Tyler to pick up the slack in several departments. He could not begrudge his employees their time off. If he had someone to be with, he was sure he would have been spending a lot more time at home, as well.

As he sat at his
Napoleon desk, reading over a progress report from his newly formed alternative energy division, his mind wandered back to Monique. Tyler had revisited the image of her bulging tummy beneath her deep burgundy dress many times since leaving the party over a month ago. After contacting Fred Bishop about his legal rights, he had learned that there were many ways he could sue for custody, or demand visitation with his child, but there was no legal way to force Monique to allow him back in her life. He did not want to make things harder for both of them by filing a lawsuit, but he did not know what else he could do. Several phone calls, e-mails, and texts to Monique had gone unanswered, and a dozen letters had been returned.

Tyler
put the report in his hands down on his desk, sat back in his chair, and stretched out his back. He was getting tired, very tired of his life. The day in and day out grind of the office, the empty relationships, and the nights spent worrying about Monique and the baby were wearing him down.

“I’m going out for lunch, you want anything?” Lynn
inquired when she popped her head into his office. 

Tyler
glanced up from the report he had still not comprehended. “No, ah, thanks, Lynn. I might just step out for a quick bite. Stretch my legs.”

“It’s raining out.
You might not be able to walk anywhere.”

“Well, then I’ll drive.” He stood from his desk. “I need to get out of here for a while.”

She leaned against the doorway. “Good idea. You look like you’re somewhere else.”

He
picked up his suit jacket from a nearby chair. “Do I?”

“Uh huh. In fact, you’ve been like that for a while.”

He shrugged the dark blue jacket over his wide shoulders. “I have a lot on my mind.”

“Does any of it have to do with Monique Delome?”

He scowled at her. “No.”

“You can’t lie to your secretary, Mr. Moore. We know all.”

“You don’t know anything about my relationship with Monique.”

“No, I don’t, but I know how you’ve been acting ever since you came back from New Orleans
, and you’re not the man I have known for the past ten years.” She took a step into his office. “I’m going to offer you a bit of advice. I figured someone around here should tell you what an ass you’re being.”

He raised his eyebrows. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you talk like that.”

“I’m not an idiot, Mr. Moore. I sit out at my desk and hear all kinds of things. Most of which I forget as soon as I hear it, but lately I have been hearing her name come up quite a bit. And then when Fred Bishop started calling, I figured there was more going on with the two of you than just a lovers’ tiff.”