Nothing But Trouble (14 page)

“What’s wrong?” she said, her hands going directly to her tummy.

He blinked and tried to get his emotions in check. Why he desperately hated the thought of her pregnant, he couldn’t say. If she wanted to have children, more power to her. He figured she’d probably make a great mother. But he couldn’t stand the thought of someone else being the father.

“Okay,” he said. “I’ll donate the sperm.”

* * *

“I WAS KIDDING,” Laura said, for about the fifth time since they’d returned to the boat.

“Wel , I’m not,” he said stubbornly, with the same scowl on his face she’d first witnessed at the restaurant. She hadn’t known him long, but she knew that Brandon Prince rarely scowled, and she felt kind of bad that something she’d said or done had caused him to.

“Besides,” she argued, “I don’t know a thing about you, other than you’re good-looking, you have great teeth, and you’re a Yale graduate. Who knows what kind of genetic defects you might have in your family?”

“My genes are just fine, thank you very much.”

“Why are you so all-fired determined to do this? Not an hour ago you said not a chance.”

“I changed my mind.”

“Why?”

Now how did he answer that? Saying something like
because
there’s no way in hel I’m let ing you sleep with another man
would probably have her questioning his sanity. Although, by the look on her face, he had the feeling she was already wel past that point. “I just think you and I could produce some awesome kids.”

“Now there’s the problem. I have the feeling you’d start getting possessive. And I really don’t want interference in raising my children.”

“They’d be mine, too.”

“My point exactly. My children wil be mine and only mine.” She waved. “Anyway, this conversation is ridiculous. I’m not nearly ready to become a mother anytime soon. I want to be prepared financially and emotionally. We’re talking years from now. You probably wil have forgotten who I am by then.”

“I’l never forget you, Laura,” he said quietly but fervently.

And he meant it. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that he’d remember her until the day he died.

She smiled. “Wel , I have a feeling I won’t be forgetting you anytime soon, either.” She stepped closer to him and put a hand on his chest. “But I have an idea.”

“What’s that?” he asked, inhaling the scent of her perfume and staring at her hand.

“How about we go for a couple of practice runs?”

Brandon stared at her for a moment, then shoved off from the railing and strolled to the intercom. “Juice?”

“Yeah, Bran?”

“Do not disturb.”

THEY DOCKED at Montauk by dusk. Laura had to scramble out of bed fifteen minutes earlier when Juice had buzzed them that they were close to shore. She’d showered quickly, marveling at al the places on her body that were pleasantly sore after a night and then an afternoon of passionate lovemaking.

Then she’d gone through her belongings, trying to find an outfit suitable for the special restaurant Brandon had told her he was taking her to for supper.

She finally chose the most conservative dress Hannah had packed, which wasn’t saying much. It was a black sheath Ali had given her for Christmas two years ago, and she’d never had occasion to wear it. Staring in the mirror she kept tugging it down, trying to get it to cover at least some of her thighs.

Brandon emerged from the shower with a towel wrapped around his hips, and it was al she could do not to ogle him. He was so gorgeous and masculine, and she’d just spent an entire afternoon ravishing him like the wanton woman she’d so recently realized she could be.

She’d never realized before that there were men in the world who were content to lay back and let a woman direct their lovemaking once in a while. But Brandon had no problem handing her the reins, so to speak. She loved that about him.

Laura swallowed. Just because there were things about the man she really liked didn’t mean she was falling in love with him.

Did it?

“Lady, you look fantastic,” he said, unwrapping the towel from his hips, then running it over his head unselfconsciously.

She quickly glanced away. Although she had been intimately involved with his body for hours now, she stil felt a little odd at being able to view him in al his naked glory now. 

She’d never been quite comfortable with nudity. At least not until last night, when Brandon had made her feel like the most perfectly formed woman alive. And she didn’t think he’d been faking or exaggerating it, either. Not if his ardor and stamina were any indication. Or his delight in exploring every inch of her.

“You don’t think this dress is too . . . short?”

“With your legs? Not a chance. I’m going to be fighting them off.”

“Fighting who?”

“Men.”

Okay, so that comment gave her more pleasure than it should. But no one had ever professed to want to fight for her before. She looked over at him. “You’d real y fight for me?”

He wasn’t looking at her, but slipping into yet another pair of sexy boxers. “Honey, I’m fighting to keep you from making love with any other men as we speak.”

Laura went stil . “That’s what your sudden change of heart was about today? You didn’t like the idea of me making love to conceive a baby?”

“Damn straight,” he said, pulling on a pair of navy Dockers.

“Don’t you think that’s kind of . . . dumb?” she asked, sort of sorry she hadn’t taken advantage of the view while she had the chance. “I mean, we’re talking years down the road.”

He pulled a slate gray shirt from the smal closet. “Dumb or not, I can’t help it. I don’t want you making love to any other guy.” “Why not?”

“Because you’re mine.”

* * *

LAURA WAS STILL reeling by the time they’d arrived at a restaurant called Last Chance. She’d barely registered their docking, or that there’d been a car waiting for them upon their arrival. She’d hardly taken in the beauty of the area, or the easy smal talk between Brandon and the driver, whom he seemed to know.

All she could think about was his declaration back on the
Cloud Nine.
Of course it was quickly fol owed by a “Ready?” and him ushering her up to the deck without a single follow-up to that amazing statement.

She tried to remember how she would normal y react to a remark like that. She was pretty sure she ought to be offended somehow. But at the moment, she was having a tough time drumming up indignation.

Which was rather worrisome in and of itself. Laura Tanner belonged to no one but herself. She’d worked long and hard to gain her independence, and she wasn’t giving it up for anyone.

Yet for some ridiculous reason, she’d gone warm and gooey over his careless comment. And she was mad at herself for that.

She should have laughed in his face. She should have scoffed at him in utter disdain. Instead, she’d stared at him as if he’d just beamed down from Pluto.

“Welcome back, Mr. Prince!” the young doorman at the restaurant said.

“Hi, Eddy. And just for the thousandth time or so, it’s Brandon.”

“Yes, sir, it is. Merry’s real y excited about you dropping in.

She hasn’t stopped talking about it al day.”

Merry?
Brandon was on first-name terms with the owner of the restaurant? Why didn’t Laura like that?

They entered the restaurant, and delicious smel s wafted right to Laura. Seafood and freshly gril ed meat. Lots of garlic.

And the rustic place had a lot of atmosphere, even though it wasn’t very big. Although the booths were old and the wood tables scratched, there was a coziness to the small seaside restaurant that made her instantly comfortable.

The restaurant was packed with a variety of folks that ran the gamut from grizzled fishermen to bejeweled women.

Tugging again on her dress, Laura realized that anything went here. She wasn’t out of place, and neither was the man in a flannel shirt and worn jeans.

One of the waiters watched them enter, then immediately gave a high-pitched whistle which seemed to bother no one. 

Suddenly a door at the back of the room swung open, and a beautiful woman came racing toward them, her dark hair touseled, her apron less than pristine. Her smile could have lit up al of Manhattan.

Laura glanced at Brandon and witnessed an equal y excited smile on his face. She mental y stomped on the green monster of jealousy that was attempting to rear up inside her.

The woman reached them and grabbed Brandon in a too-happy hug. “Oh, Bran! I was so excited to get your call!” She released him abruptly and turned to Laura with a warm smile and a curious look. “You must be
her.
”

Laura gazed into eyes that, if possible, were greener than Brandon’s. And then she took in the dimples, and there was no doubt in her mind that this young woman was related to the lug at her side who hadn’t bothered to mention that. “I’m Laura,” she said, shoving out her hand.

The woman ignored it and hugged her instead. “It’s so good to meet you!”

“Laura, this is Meredith,” Brandon said. “She’s my incorrigible second youngest sister.”

“I’m the rebel in the family,” Meredith agreed with a nod.

“Right behind District Attorney Prince, here.”

“Rebel?” Laura said, not a little overwhelmed.

“No self-respecting Prince would go into food service,”

Brandon and Meredith said at the same time, in haughty voices that were obvious imitations of someone they knew wel . They looked at each other with affection and laughed.

“Or public service for that matter,” Merry added, dragging Laura forward. “Come on. We saved the best table in the house for my future sister-in-law. By the way, I love that dress.”

Laura glanced back at Brandon in time to see him making a wild cutting motion across his throat with his finger. He stopped short when he saw her catching him in the act. He shrugged at her. “Merry gets overzealous sometimes.”

“She doesn’t read juice pulp by any chance, does she?”

Laura tossed over her shoulder.

“I read cooking timers,” Merry answered. “And Bran’s voice.”

They were seated at a table at a window that overlooked the sea. Two small candles lit up their space. The table was covered with a peach tablecloth, and each place setting included three forks. Silver forks . . . and spoons and knives. As homey as this place was, it definitely was no diner.

Before they’d even settled in, real crystal goblets were set down, and the waiter opened red wine and poured. Laura’s first return to reality was to notice they hadn’t been offered menus.

She glanced around at the other diners, who were happily digging into lobsters, crabs, and a variety of steak and chicken dishes. “Are we at the mercy of your sister?” she asked.

“Yes. She asked two questions. What you might be allergic to, and whether you were a vegetarian. She’l take it from there.”

“She thinks we’re getting married,” Laura said.

“She hopes.” Brandon picked up his wineglass. “Here’s to hope.”

Laura couldn’t bring herself to toast. “She doesn’t even know me.”

“She knows al about you. I talked to her for an hour while you slept this morning.”

Two glasses of wine and five amazing courses later, Laura set down her fork. “That was wonderful.”

“Yeah, Merry’s not bad, is she?” Brandon said with a proud smile. He took a final bite of his chicken Monterey.

“She’s a culinary genius,” Laura said, and meant it. She didn’t think she’d ever had a better meal in her life.

“I wish we could convince my mother of that,” Brandon said quietly.

Laura leaned forward. “Brandon, I don’t think I want to meet your parents. If they don’t respect this,” she said, waving around the room, “what are they going to think of a woman who runs a bar for a living?”

“They’re going to think that I have great taste, falling for a woman who’s so self-reliant.”

“Would you please quit saying stuff like that to me?”

“Like what?”

“That falling for me stuff. It’s ridiculous, you know. We have no future.”

“How can you be so sure?”

Her mouth dropped open. “You have to be kidding me.”

“No,” he said, leaning forward and covering her hand with his. “Can you honestly say that after all we’ve shared, you can just pick up and walk away and never look back?”

“We don’t have much choice.”

“We have plenty of choices.”

“Such as?”

He opened his mouth, but just then Merry appeared at their table. “Ready for dessert?”

“No way,” Laura said, laughing. “I’m ready to burst as it is.”

Merry grinned and grabbed a chair, dragging it over to them. “You two mind if I sit for a moment?”

“Not at all,” Laura said, strangely glad to be interrupted. She didn’t want to talk about choices with Brandon. She didn’t want to get her hopes up that somehow they’d find a way to continue the relationship after they both returned to their normal lives.

She’d lived long enough to know that once hope entered the picture, she was destined to be disappointed. And with Brandon, it would be worse than mere disappointment. It would be devastating.

“How’s Hilary?” Brandon asked his sister.

“Getting into trouble, as usual,” Merry said, grinning.

“Who’s Hilary?” Laura asked.

“Merry’s pet raccoon,” Brandon informed her.

“Real y?” Laura said. “How adorable! How’d you come to own a raccoon?”

“Actual y, it’s the other way around. She just showed up on my back porch one morning and immediately decided to own me.” “Oh, I’d love to see her!”

Merry grinned and immediately began to untie her apron.

“Perfect. My house is right next door. Let’s you and I take a walk.”

Brandon began to rise, but Merry shoved him right back into his chair. “No one invited you.”

Uh-oh.

Laura shot Brandon a pleading look, but he just shrugged.

“I learned a long time ago not to argue with Prince women.”

“Smart boy,” Merry said, patting his shoulder.

* * *

“HOW DID YOU and Brandon meet?” Merry asked as they strol ed down the sidewalk. The night was balmy, the air heavy with the scent of the sea. Stars fil ed the sky overhead.