Marrying a Delacourt (16 page)

“Dammit, somebody in this family has to be responsible,” Michael said.

“And it always has to be you.”

“In this instance, yes.”

“How does Grace feel about that?”

Michael winced as he thought of the expression on her face when she’d run out earlier.

“Not jazzed about it, is she?” Tyler asked.

“We haven’t discussed it.”

“But she knows what you intend to do?”

“Yes.”

Tyler shook his head. “Look, I know I’m the jokester, the playboy, whatever, but listen to me just this once. Haven’t you learned anything from what happened today? Life is short. You’ve got a woman who’s crazy about you, a couple of kids who desperately need a dad. Weigh that against one more merger, one more high-powered negotiation. I know which one Mother would tell you to choose.”

Michael knew, too. Her vehement comments earlier had pretty much destroyed any illusion that she’d
been content with the way his father had neglected their marriage in favor of the business.

“You know something else?” Tyler said. “I’ll bet if you ask Dad the same question right now, he might surprise you with his answer.”

Michael wasn’t so sure about that. Bryce Delacourt was stubborn, but Michael hoped not to be known for quite the same level of muleheadedness. He stood up.

“Where are you going?” Tyler asked, a faint grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Or need I ask?”

“I just hope she’ll let me in.”

“She might not,” Tyler agreed. “But if she does, I hope you’ll have sense enough to go in there, barricade the door and keep asking her to marry you until she says yes.”

Michael laughed. “I might have to do just that.”

In the end, getting in was even harder than he’d expected. Josh answered the phone when Michael called from the lobby.

“What are you doing up?” he asked.

“Grace is crying,” Josh announced. “And it’s your fault.”

Grace crying? “I’m coming up,” he said. “Can you hit the button to buzz me in?”

“I don’t know how.”

“Get Jamie.”

“He’s real mad at you.”

“Get him anyway.”

The phone clattered on the table as Josh went looking for his brother. A minute later, Jamie answered sleepily.

“What do you want?”

“I want to come up and talk to Grace.”

“Well, she don’t want to see you. None of us do.”

“I do,” Josh protested.

“Look, Jamie, it’s the middle of the night. Just buzz me in.”

“Why do you want to see Grace?”

He was explaining himself to a thirteen-year-old, Michael thought wearily. It was worse than going to a disapproving father to ask for a daughter’s hand in marriage.

“I need to explain some things to her.”

“What things?”

Michael thought he detected a faint click on the line. He suspected Grace had picked up an extension to see what was going on in the middle of the night.

“That I love her, for starters,” he said, praying that he was right about her being on the line. “That I want to marry her and be a father to you guys. And that I am not going to wind up following in my father’s footsteps, not into a hospital room, anyway.”

There was a buzz on the line. Michael grabbed the door to the lobby and yanked it open. The elevator seemed to take forever, but when it opened upstairs, Grace was standing in the hallway, clutching her robe around her.

“You have a lot of nerve,” she said as he came toward her. “It’s the middle of the night, for one thing. For another, you woke up the boys. For another, you told them things you’ve never said to me.”

He chuckled. “How do you know that unless you were listening?”

“You knew I was on the line?”

“Of course.”

“So you said all of that for my benefit?”

“Yes.”

She searched his face. “I want to believe you.”

“You can, darlin’. I’ve learned a lot of lessons today. At the top of the list is the fact that I don’t want to go through life without you and I want our life together to be a very long one.”

“The company’s going to need someone to run it the next few months.”

“The company has a very good executive team. It’s about time we gave them more to do.”

“Do you honestly mean that?”

He brushed a wisp of hair away from her cheek. “I honestly do.” He rubbed the pad of his thumb across her lower lip and felt her tremble. “So, Grace Foster, are you going to marry me and keep me from turning into a workaholic like my father?”

“You’re the only one who can do that, buster,” she said forcefully, then grinned. “But I guess I’ll have to marry you just to make sure you have a really good incentive.”

He lowered his head and claimed her mouth. When he finally lifted his head again, he murmured, “That’s the best incentive I can think of. I’m still going to want your kisses on my hundredth birthday.”

“You’d better.”

Michael glanced toward Grace’s apartment and spotted two towheaded kids trying not to be seen as they blatantly eavesdropped. He gave a nod in their
direction for Grace’s benefit, then said, “Think we should have kids right away?”

“As far as I’m concerned, we already do,” she said.

“You mean Josh and Jamie?” he inquired innocently.

“Those are the ones. We’re a package deal, Delacourt.”

“You drive a tough bargain, Ms. Foster. But then you always did.”

“Is he saying yes?” Josh whispered.

“Not in plain English,” Jamie grumbled.

“Yes,” Michael said loudly.

“Oh, wow,” Josh breathed, racing into the hall and catching him around the legs in a hug.

Jamie sauntered out more slowly.

“Does this sound okay to you?” Michael asked. “All of us together, a real family?”

“Are you gonna, like, adopt us?”

Michael met Grace’s gaze, then nodded. “If we can and only if you both agree.”

“Say yes,” Josh pleaded. “Come on, Jamie. We’ll be together forever and ever. All of us.”

Jamie finally released a pent-up sigh and a smile slowly spread from ear to ear. “Yes.”

“I guess that makes it official,” Michael said, just before he snatched the chance to steal one more long, satisfying kiss.

“Oh, yuck, more mushy stuff,” Josh and Jamie declared in unison.

“The mushy stuff is the only thing in life that really counts,” Michael told them. “You’ll see.”

“Hopefully,” Grace said. “It certainly took you long enough to catch on.”

“But I was worth waiting for, wasn’t I?”

She winked at him. “That remains to be seen.”

“I
ain’t never been on a honeymoon before,” Josh said as Michael and Grace studied the travel brochures spread out on the dining room table at Michael’s house.

“And you’re not going on this one,” Michael said.

“How come?”

“’Cause it’s all about mushy stuff,” Jamie said wisely. “They don’t want little kids around.”

“Where are we gonna stay?”

“With Grandpa Bryce,” Michael said.

Grace regarded him worriedly. “I’m not so sure that’s such a good idea. He’s still recuperating.”

“If mother has her way, he’ll be recuperating for another year at least, but even she admits he’s going stir-crazy. These two ought to keep him occupied and
safely at home where she can keep an eye on all of them.”

“I like staying with Grandpa Bryce,” Josh said. “He lets us play with his computer.”

Michael looked stunned. “He does?”

“Uh-huh. Last time, he taught us how to figure out profit and loss figures for the year.”

Grace groaned. “The man never gives up. He’s already working on the next generation and these two aren’t even related to him.”

“Not yet,” Michael said. “But they’re going to be. The court date is next month.” He glanced around. “Any second thoughts? Last chance to back out of this adoption business.”

“Not me,” Josh said fervently.

“Me, either,” Grace said.

Michael turned his gaze to the silent thirteen-year-old. “Jamie?”

“Nah. I think it might be pretty cool to finally have a mom who’s really around and a dad.”

“Not half as cool as I think it’s going to be to have two sons to follow in my footsteps,” Michael said.

Grace frowned at the comment. “I can still call this wedding off,” she said. “It doesn’t have to happen.”

Three male voices protested in unison.

“Okay, then, no more talk about anybody following in anybody’s footsteps. Understood?”

“Yes ma’am,” they all said dutifully, Michael included.

Grace grinned. It was very rewarding that only a few days away from her wedding, they finally knew
who was in charge. She wasn’t about to delude herself, though. It was three-against-one, if push ever came to shove.

Which was why when she and Michael were finally in the honeymoon suite overlooking the ocean in Hawaii, she slipped out of her negligee and lured him straight into bed, ignoring the food and champagne he’d ordered.

“You seem to be in some sort of a hurry, Mrs. Delacourt. Why is that?”

“I want to make love with you. Surely you knew that was what we’d be doing on our honeymoon. You know, the mushy stuff.”

“Oh, really? I’d hoped to squeeze in a couple of business meetings.”

She barely resisted the urge to smack him. “Not in this lifetime,” she assured him as she began working on the buttons of his shirt.

“I detect the fact that you have an agenda here. Care to fill me in?”

“I want a baby, Michael.”

“We’re just about to adopt two hellions. Isn’t that enough family for now?”

Grace shook her head. “Nope. I think we need a couple of little girls. Did I ever mention that twins run in my family? On my mother’s side. Her mother was a twin. So was my great-great-great-grandmother. It seems to skip every generation or two. I figure we’re about due.”

His head snapped up at that. “Twins?”

“Just think about it,” she murmured, tugging his belt loose. “Won’t it be wonderful?”

Michael looked dazed. “Wonderful,” he said finally.

Grace shimmied his pants down his legs, then gave him a gentle nudge that had him tumbling backwards onto the bed. She climbed on top of him.

“Have I mentioned that you’re going to be a terrific family man, Mr. Delacourt?”

He gave her a wicked grin, then flipped her onto her back. “But first I have to prove what an outstanding husband I can be,” he said softly, his mouth moving over her.

Grace felt the familiar rise of heat, the familiar buildup of tension as his wildly clever fingers teased and taunted until her body trembled.

“Michael, please,” she murmured when it seemed she was about to be swept away on a tide of delicious sensations.

“Please what?”

“Please show me what an outstanding husband you’re going to be,” she murmured, reaching for him, sliding her hand over the length of his arousal.

He moaned at her touch, then hesitated above her before slowly sliding deep inside, filling her up, making her whole. The rhythm he set was sweet torment, slow, then fast, then slow again until every nerve ending was on fire, every muscle tense as she strained toward an elusive peak.

And, then, when she was almost there, he stole another one of those devastating kisses, the ones that melted her inside. This time it was just what she needed to hurtle over the edge into spasms of pure ecstasy.

Exhausted, she curled against him. “That was—”

“Outstanding,” he suggested, his hand on her breast, already starting something again.

“Better than outstanding,” she said and placed one hand on her tummy. “We’ve made babies, Michael. I just know we have.”

He regarded her with tolerant amusement. “Darlin’, if we haven’t, it will certainly be my pleasure to go on trying.”

“I love you, Mr. Delacourt.”

“I love you,” he whispered solemnly, then added, “More than anything.”

Hearing the words meant a lot, but deep in her heart, Grace had already known it was true. She intended to spend the rest of her life making sure that never changed.