Otherwise Engaged (21 page)
Authors: Suzanne Brockmann
“There’s more. I want to have a whole pack of kids,” he told her, “and be their little-league coach and teach them to dive and fish and sail and read, and to be there for them for the rest of their lives.”
His dream was to have children. Who would’ve thought …?
“I hadn’t thought about it in a while,” Pres admitted, “but these past few weeks, hanging out with Zander … It felt good, Molly. It reminded me of what I’ve always wanted.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” She took his hands. “That night … you should have told me the truth. …”
“I couldn’t,” he said simply. “How could I talk about having kids with you? Number one, I was
afraid of scaring you off. Number two, I was afraid I’d suddenly blurt out a marriage proposal. I was afraid if I started talking I might tell you that while we were making love I was wishing we could have been making a baby. I thought that talking about babies might’ve been a rather strong hint that I’d already started thinking in terms of forever.”
Forever.
“Say something,” he said. He was oddly, sweetly nervous.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Say you’ll marry me. Say that you and Zander and I, we can become a family. Say you love me, too, even though I’m not perfect. …”
There was a knock on the door. “Everything okay in there?” Dominic’s voice called out.
Pres looked at Molly. “Is everything okay in here?”
She felt off balance and giddy, light-headed and dizzy. But everything was more okay than it had been in a long, long,
long
time. “Yes,” she called out. “Everything’s okay. And yes, I’ll marry you,” she added much more softly.
Pres kissed her, a slow, deep kiss that promised her that forever.
“Hey,” Dominic said, slipping in through the door. “You’re not supposed to do that until after the pastor says you can.”
The wedding. They were supposed to be up in that church right now, exchanging make-believe wedding vows.
“Sorry to interrupt, Pres,” Dom continued, “but Ben Sullivan’s here and he’s insisting that he gets a chance to talk to you before the ceremony starts.”
The door opened and a sandy-haired man in a cowboy hat poked his head into the room.
“What’s up, Ben?” Pres asked. “Come on in and meet Molly Cassidy. Molly, Ben’s my attorney.”
“Thank heavens I got here in time.” Ben closed the door behind him, taking off his hat as he came into the room. “Prenups,” he said. “I know this is all a sham, but the fact that this is a church, and the pastor is a real man of God, gives me the heebie-jeebies. I can’t let you do this without signing a prenuptial agreement.” He opened his briefcase and took several documents out.
But Pres was already shaking his head. “The only agreement I need drawn up is a document stating the Kirk Estate is going to remain in Molly’s name only. Ben, can you do that for me right away?”
Ben Sullivan blinked. “But …”
Pres turned to Dominic. “I need the jet ready to go. Please, do me a favor and tell the pilot to file a flight plan to Las Vegas? Molly and I are getting married.”
“Today?” Molly laughed in disbelief.
He kissed her again. “We’ll go upstairs and have a practice run, then go do the real thing. We have to go to Vegas, or wait for the marriage license. I say Vegas and I say today. What do you say?”
Yes. She wanted to say yes. “I need to talk to Zander first. …”
Dominic headed for the door. “I’ll get the kid.”
“He’s going to be all for this,” Pres told her. “He’s wanted you and me to get together right from the start.”
“I’ll get right to work on that document,” Ben said, opening the door. “Have Dominic call me
with your flight plans, and I’ll bring it over to the airport—you can sign it there. Although as your attorney, I have to advise you to negotiate a prenuptial agreement with—”
“Thank you, Ben, you’ve done your job,” Pres interrupted. “I’ll consider myself advised and—”
“I want to sign a prenup,” Molly interjected. She gazed at Pres. “I don’t want your money. Lord, this is all happening so fast. …”
“The money is part of who I am,” he said quietly. “It’s kind of a package deal.”
“I don’t want there to be any confusion,” she said just as quietly. “Or outside speculation. There are lots of people watching us right now, Pres. I want them to know that I’m marrying you because I love you.”
Pres nodded, turning abruptly to Ben. “Bring both agreements.”
Ben went out the door just as Zander barreled inside. “Mom! Dom told me you and Pres were
really
gonna get married! That is
so cool!”
Pres looked at Molly and smiled. “I think that’s a stamp of approval.”
She hugged Zander as she smiled back at Pres.
“Let’s do it,” he said. “One time for the cameras, and one time for ourselves.”
“Both times for ourselves,” Molly corrected him. “Just think of all the great wedding photos we’re going to have.”
Pres laughed. And kissed the bride.
M
OLLY PUSHED
the dinghy away from the side of the yacht, setting the oars in the oarlocks. She started to row with smooth, sure movements.
“Don’t stand up,” she gently warned Jeremiah, who sat facing her in the stern of the boat.
Her two-year-old son wore a bright yellow life vest—but only because he wasn’t allowed to be on the boat without one. Like his father, he loved the water. And like his father, he was fearless.
Jeremiah’s reddish-gold hair reflected the rays of the warm Caribbean sun as he searched the surface of the azure water for the telltale bubbles that
would mark Preston and Zander’s location. When he spotted them, he stood up excitedly.
“There Zander!” he cried, nearly leaping over the side of the little boat. “There Daddy! Ina water! Ina water!”
Molly grabbed hold of Jeremiah’s sturdy little body, and he gave her a quick, excited hug. “There Zander!” he said again. “Cooba divin’ ’n a mask ’n fwippers!”
Jeremiah pulled away from Molly and sat with a thud on the bottom of the boat to pull on his own flippers.
Sure enough, Zander broke the surface some distance away. He saw the dinghy almost immediately, and touched the top of his head twice—the scuba diver’s signal that everything was okay. Pres was right behind him.
Jeremiah pulled himself up and immediately began signing furiously to Zander. “Wanna swim to Zander!” His words echoed the movements of his hands. “Wanna swim ina water like Zander!”
Zander lifted his hands and signed back to his little brother, telling him to swim to the yacht. He knew he had to get his tank and diving gear off before he could play with the toddler.
“Mommy, Mommy,” Jeremiah singsonged. “Wanna swim ina water! Hi, Daddy! Hi, Daddy!”
“Hey, fish-kid.” Pres held on to the side of the dinghy as he slipped off his mask and smiled up at Molly and their son.
“What’s the magic word?” Molly asked Jeremiah.
“Pwease! Pwease!”
“No climbing on Zander until he gets his gear off,” Molly reminded the little boy.
With a splash, Jeremiah was over the side and swimming like a fish back toward the yacht.
“Morning, sleepyhead.” Pres lifted himself up and Molly leaned down for a kiss.
His lips were cool and soft. She kissed him again, lingering this time.
“Hmmm,” Pres said, his eyes a familiar shade of heated green. “Maybe I should’ve stayed in bed with you this morning.”
“You promised Z you’d dive with him at the crack of dawn.”
“I did. I thought you did too.”
Molly smiled. “I only said maybe. The crack of dawn and I aren’t getting along too well these days.”
Back at the yacht, Randy and Dave, two of Pres’s crew, had helped Zander out of his diving gear. With a splash, Zander went back into the water where Jeremiah was still paddling around.
“We didn’t stay down for long, thinking you might want to dive with me this afternoon.” Pres grinned at the sound of his small son’s excited squealing. “Zander even volunteered to babysit.”
But Molly shook her head. “I’m not going to do any diving this trip,” she told her husband. “In fact, I think it’s going to be at
least
another eight months before I dive again.”
She watched the realization spread across Pres’s face.
“Really?” he breathed.
“I did a home pregnancy test this morning. We’re going to have another baby.” She couldn’t help but laugh at the look on his face.
But the wonder and awe in his eyes was instantly replaced by concern. “But you said you wanted to wait until after you finished the revisions on your book and—”
Molly kissed Pres again. “I’ll get the work done
somehow.” She smiled at him. “You can take Jeremiah into work with you more often.”
“I will. Zander too.” Pres touched the side of her face. “God, I love you, Mol.”
“Sometimes the best things in life arrive unexpectedly,” Molly said softly, looking down into the warm green eyes of one of the best things that had ever arrived unexpectedly into her life.
“Is it too soon to tell the kids?” Pres asked, his face alight with excitement.
Molly shook her head no.
Pres swam for the yacht, pulling the dinghy along behind him. “Hey, guys! Hey, Zander! Yo, Jerry! The word for the day is
baby!”
Since her explosion onto the publishing scene more than ten years ago, SUZANNE BROCKMANN has written over forty books and is now widely recognized as one of the leading voices in romantic suspense. Her work has earned her repeated appearances on the
USA Today
and
New York Times
bestseller lists, as well as numerous awards, including the Romance Writers of America’s #1 Favorite Book for the Year three years running—in 2000, 2001, and 2002—two RITA awards, and many
Romantic Times
Reviewer’s Choice Awards. Suzanne lives west of Boston with her husband, Dell author Ed Gaffney. Visit her website at
www.SuzanneBrockmann.com
.
Otherwise Engaged
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 1997 by Suzanne Brockmann
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Bantam Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
B
ANTAM
B
OOKS
and the rooster colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Originally published in mass market in the United States by Bantam Books, a division of Random House, Inc., in 1997.
eISBN: 978-0-553-90662-2
v3.0