Lawful Wife (Eternal Bachelors Club) (17 page)

In the meantime, Daniel had called Harvey, the doorman of his condo building and found out that Sabrina had indeed returned to New York. He’d asked him to let him know if he thought she was leaving. Under a pretext, Harvey had gone up to the apartment and noticed that Sabrina was packing boxes. But even Daniel knew that she wouldn’t be able to hire movers in a day or two.

Nevertheless, he was antsy by the time the second evening without Sabrina rolled around. He was pacing on the back porch, staring at the tent that was ready for the wedding, when his cell phone rang.

“Yes?”

“Mr. Sinclair, this is Claire Heart.”

He silently pumped his fist in the air, but kept the excitement out of his voice. He couldn’t let the reporter know that he knew what had been happening in her office today.

“Yes, Miss Heart? What other untruths are you planning on publishing about me and my fiancée next?”

“Uhm, Mr. Sinclair. I’m . . . I’m really sorry. I was trying to reach you earlier, but couldn’t get through. There have been some developments. I’m not going to bore you with the details. But we’ve established that there’s been a case of mistaken identity. We are very sorry for the grief we’ve caused you and your fiancée. In tomorrow’s print edition you’ll find a retraction of the article and an apology by the paper and myself, of course. And the online edition will go live with the story just after midnight.”

“Well . . . ”

“It has all been a terrible mistake. But as you can probably appreciate, sometimes the evidence that is presented to us looks very convincing.”

“I understand, Miss Heart. Thank you for calling.”

He disconnected the call and jumped into the air. “Yes!”

It had worked. Claire Heart and her editor and legal department had swallowed the story he and Holly had fabricated hook, line, and sinker.

Tomorrow, all of New York and the Hamptons would find out that Sabrina wasn’t a call girl. Everything would go back to normal. But he couldn’t wait till tomorrow. Hadn’t the reporter said that the online edition would post the story shortly past midnight?

So what was he still doing here in Montauk? He should be on his way to his condo in Manhattan. Daniel glanced at his watch. If he left now, he’d arrive there just after midnight.

Minutes later, he was sitting in his father’s car, speeding into the night, heading for New York.

***

Even though she was tired from packing, Sabrina couldn’t sleep, so she didn’t even try. Instead, she sat in the living room. Only a small lamp burned in one corner. Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, Manhattan sparkled like a thousand raindrops cascading over a mirror. It wasn’t raining though; it was Sabrina’s tears causing the skyline of Manhattan to appear blurred.

“It’s for the best,” she murmured to herself. “It’s for you.” She laid her hand over her stomach. She had to remain strong for her child. She didn’t want it to be born into a community that shunned her parents. She’d rather disappear to somewhere where nobody knew her and raise the child on her own.

A sob tore from her chest. If only she were stronger and wouldn’t miss Daniel so much. Another sob followed. More of them ripped from her chest and just wouldn’t stop. She reached for a tissue and blew her nose.

“Don’t cry.”

Sabrina shrieked and whirled around, jumping up instantly. She hadn’t heard the apartment door over her sobs.

Even in the relative dark of the room, she recognized him immediately. “Daniel,” she managed to say.

Then he reached her and pulled her against his chest. She wanted to protest, but she was too weak.

“I’m here now,” he murmured into her hair.

“It won’t change anything.” She pushed against him and eased away. He let it happen, and she was disappointed that he did.

His hands moved and suddenly another light source illuminated his face as he stared down at an iPad. He handed it to her. “Read this.”

“What is this?”

“Just read it,” he demanded. “Please.”

Compelled by the tenderness in his eyes, she looked down at the screen. The first thing she saw was a photo of herself, though on closer inspection she knew it couldn’t be she: the hair style was completely wrong, and the top the woman wore didn’t belong to Sabrina either.

Her eyes dropped to the line below the picture.
Ms. Sharon Helmer
it said.

Then she read the headline:
Correction.

Below it only a few lines were written.

On the 18th of this month, this paper published a story about Mr. Daniel Sinclair and Miss Sabrina Palmer. The information presented to the Times as the basis of this story has proven to be false. In fact, a Miss Sharon Helmer, pictured, has been mistaken for Miss Palmer. Miss Palmer is in no way connected to any escort service and there is no evidence that Mr. Sinclair, her fiancé, has ever used the services of an escort agency. We would like to extend our deepest apologies and sincerest regrets to Mr. Daniel Sinclair and Miss Sabrina Palmer and their families.

Sabrina lifted her head.

“You did it,” she whispered. “You got them to retract the story. How?”

“I had some help,” he said with a smile.

“But . . . this other woman. Who is she?”

“A model and escort. Holly found her and—”

Sabrina threw herself into his arms, cutting off his next words. “Thank you!”

She felt his warm lips on hers, lips she’d missed and craved for the last two days. His arms wrapped around her, holding her so tightly to him that she felt physically how much he’d missed her too.

His mouth devoured hers, his tongue stroking forcefully against hers, delving deep, reacquainting himself with her, while she was doing the same. It had been too long to be away from him. Right at that moment she realized that she would have never been able to leave him for good.

“God, I missed you!” he murmured when he severed the kiss. “Please don’t ever leave me again.”

“Never again, I promise.”

“I’ll hold you to your promise.”

She reached for him, pulling his face back to her. “I want you.”

“You’ve got me, baby, body and soul.”

He tugged on her T-shirt and pulled it over her head, making her shiver despite the warmth in the apartment. His hands swept over her naked breasts, caressing them tenderly. She felt his touch more intensely now. The pregnancy had made her breasts more sensitive.

The pregnancy. Her heart stopped. She hadn’t told him about it yet, but she didn’t think she could keep it a secret until their wedding night. He needed to know, and she needed to tell him.

“Daniel,” she whispered just as he dipped his head to one breast and sucked her hardened nipple into his mouth, pulling on it gently, while licking over it with the full breadth of his tongue. The texture of it rubbing over her receptive flesh made her shudder with pleasure.

“Yes?” he murmured against her flesh.

“There’s something you need to . . . ”

“ . . . do?” he asked. “Anything you want, baby. You just tell me what you need.”

“No, something you need to know,” she tried again and took his head between both hands, lifting it off her breast and forcing him to look at her.

The passion that clouded his eyes made her womb clench in anticipation.

“I’m pregnant.” She let out a breath. “I’m having your baby.”

Warmth and adoration now radiated from his eyes. “I know, baby.”

Surprised, her mouth dropped open. “You know?”

He nodded, his hand now sliding gently down her torso until it came to rest on her belly. He stroked over it in slow movements. “I should have noticed earlier. When I touch you now, I can feel the changes in your body. Your breasts are fuller and so much more responsive when I touch them. And when I look into your face, I can see the glow. You’re radiant, Sabrina. I should have seen it. I should have known. It’s no surprise that you took everything so hard. You had such a burden to carry, so much stress to deal with. I should have realized earlier that your hormones were making everything more difficult for you. Had I known . . . ”

She put a finger over his lips, stopping him. “I wanted to find the perfect moment to tell you, but when everything took a turn for the worse, I couldn’t. I didn’t want you to feel obligated and marry me just because of the baby. Because I know you would have never let me go had you known.”

Daniel shook his head and laughed softly. “Sabrina, let’s be clear about one thing: I’ll never let you go, pregnant or not. We belong together. Without you, I’m only half a man.”

She pushed back the tear that threatened to run down her cheek at his loving words. “How did you find out? Holly?”

“After Jay let it slip that he saw you and Holly at the OBGYN office, I confronted her. She really had no choice but to tell me at that point. So don’t be mad at her.”

“I’m not.” She kissed him softly.

“Good,” he agreed. “Now, where were we?” He ran his eyes over her naked torso. “Oh, yes, I believe I was about to undress you completely and make love to you.”

She reached for the top button of his polo shirt and opened it. “Then what are you doing standing there fully dressed?”

He stepped out of her arms and pulled his shirt over his head, tossing it to the ground. His shoes, pants, and boxer briefs followed.

Then he tugged on the string that tied her sweatpants at her waist and loosened the knot. The material dropped to the floor with a soft whoosh, leaving her standing in only a G-string.

Daniel hooked his thumbs under the fabric and pushed it down, helping her out of the flimsy garment. A moment later, he swept her up in his arms and brought her down to lie on the sofa, his body braced over hers.

“Baby, if anything hurts, you’ll let me know, won’t you?”

Her forehead furrowed. “Why would anything hurt?”

He slid his palm over her stomach. “I don’t want to hurt the baby.”

She chuckled and pulled him down to her. “I’ve read that a pregnant woman can have sex well into the final weeks of her pregnancy without hurting the baby in the slightest.” Then her hand reached for his cock and wrapped around it. He was as hard as an iron rod, and it was exactly what she needed from him right now. She needed to feel him inside her, showing her how much he desired her. How much he loved her. “Take me.”

“If you put it that way,” he murmured and gripped her left thigh, urging her to open up to him.

Without breaking eye contact, Sabrina guided his cock to her sex, then released her grip on him. An instant later, he thrust forward and sliced into her in one continuous stroke until he was seated balls-deep.

She pressed her head into the pillow, her back arching off the sofa cushions as she received him. “Oh God!”

“Too hard?” he asked immediately and pulled back.

But before he could withdraw completely, she’d already slung her legs around him and crossed her ankles below his butt, imprisoning him. “You’re not going anywhere.”

Daniel shook his head, his eyes devouring her. “I don’t deserve you.” Despite his words, he plunged back into her. “But I’m not giving you up.”

“You’d better not.” She pulled his head to her and pressed her lips onto his mouth, kissing him with all the pent-up passion and love she felt for him. At the same time she poured all her hopes for a happy future into the kiss.

As they lay on the couch making love, the lights from the city reflected on their glistening bodies, moving as their bodies moved. In the semi-darkness of their living room, Sabrina felt renewed by the knowledge that Daniel would always come back for her, would never give up on her. And with his body he showed her that he desired only her, that his heart beat only for her. She felt it. With every thrust of his cock, she felt his heartbeat reverberate in her womb. With every kiss, she felt warmth spread in her heart.

“I love you,” she whispered between panted breaths and strangled moans.

They were mere echoes of Daniel’s sounds of pleasure as he took her more passionately and yet more tenderly than ever before. There was something reverent about the way he loved her tonight. As if he worshipped her.

Her entire body began to hum and vibrate under his ministrations, and she knew she couldn’t hold her climax back any longer.

“Now,” she urged. “Now, Daniel!”

He gazed into her eyes, and she could see it so clearly there: the love that needed no words. Then his eyes shut and he threw his head back. His jaw clenched and the cords in his neck tightened when he drew back and delivered another thrust.

With a moan, she let herself go and felt the waves of her orgasm wash over her at the same time as she felt the warmth of his semen flood her. His thrusts slowed as they rode out their climax together.

When Daniel finally stilled, he kissed her softly, then pushed a strand of her damp hair away from her cheek. He looked down at her as if he wanted to say something, but there was nothing that needed to be said. She could see it in his eyes.

He was happy to have her back. As was she.

25

Daniel held her hand as they walked to the back of the house where the tent was ready. Flowers were being brought in, and everything looked like a dream. But Sabrina knew it wasn’t a dream. It was reality. A reality that nearly hadn’t happened.

She squeezed Daniel’s hand, causing him to look away from the goings-on in his parents’ garden and gazing at her instead. His eyes shone with love when he murmured, “What?”

“Thank you for not giving up.”

He reached up to her face and brushed his knuckles over her cheek. “I would never give up on you or on us. We belong together. And we’ve created something together. Something beautiful.” He dropped his gaze to her stomach as if he could already see a bump forming there, though Sabrina knew she wouldn’t show for another two months at least. “No matter what happens in the future, I’ll never give up as long as there’s any love left between us. It’s worth fighting for it.”

“You’re not concerned that we’re having a baby so early in our lives together?”

“No, though it’s going to be hard to share you with somebody else who wants your love.” Then he chuckled. “Good thing is that we’ll have a very dedicated babysitter.” He motioned toward the tent where his mother was giving the florist and her helpers instructions on where to place the flower arrangements.