More Than a Mistress (14 page)

Her expression was so sad, his confidence went straight down the tubes. “Because it won't be just me and you,” she explained. “There'll be somebody else. And I'll get big and fat and grouchy. And when the baby cries all day, you'll be grouchy because I'll be too tired to try to be sexy.”

“I can't imagine you not sexy. It's not possible.”

Sara rolled her eyes. “It's possible. And you haven't said anything about the baby.”

“I'm not going to,” he said, taking her by surprise. “You dropped a bomb on me last night, then hightailed it out before I could come to grips with it. You've had two weeks and—” he pointed to the papers on the kitchen table “—a tablet of paper to work through the idea that you're pregnant. The least you can give me is a few days. I'll tell you now, though, Sara—nothing you've ever told me could change the way I feel about you. Nothing in your past. Nothing in your present. And nothing in
our
future. It didn't take me long to figure out that you'd put the worst possible slant on your relationship with that senator. You want to deny it?”

Stunned, she could only shake her head. How could she deny the truth? How, she wondered, had he come to know her so well?

“Let's get this settled once and for all. I
hate
the idea of you being with another man. Do you hear me? I
hate
it. And maybe you hate the idea of me being with another woman.”

“Yes,” she said tensely.

His gaze softened. “As far as I'm concerned, Sara, there's no other woman for me than you. And that means past, present and future.”

Sara took a deep breath, and the words from her heart spilled out. “There's no one else I want to be with, either, Daniel. No one.”

Daniel closed his eyes for a long while. Then he opened them and lifted an unsteady hand to her cheek. “It feels so good to hear you say that out loud, but, Sara, you don't have to say a damn thing. It's written on your face. It's in your every touch, every smile.”

She felt the sting of tears in her eyes. She was completely overwhelmed. “I thought my little bombshell had done the job,” she said in a husky voice.

“You thought wrong.”

Sara shook her head at the implacability in his words. His full acceptance of her tarnished past amazed her. “You are an incredibly exceptional man.”

“Then I deserve an incredibly exceptional woman.” He leaned down and gently kissed her nose. “You.”

She wanted to say he deserved better, but something inside her had begun to shift. His belief in her had nudged a hopeful belief in herself. Maybe, just maybe, she was the kind of woman he needed. Sara held her breath and clung to the seed of hope.

“I'm waiting for my answer.”

Sara bit her lip. She wasn't ready to say yes. She needed time to absorb all this, time to accept, if she could, that she could have what she'd always dreamed. “This is too fast.”

“Not for me. Give me your answer.”

Lord, but this man was demanding when he made up his mind. Sara made her own demand. “Give me some time to catch my breath.”

“Alone?” Daniel frowned. “You just had a whole week.”

Sara smiled, feeling heat rise to her cheeks. “No. I'd rather not be alone.”

Daniel's gaze darkened with a suggestion of seduction. He rubbed his thumb over her mouth. “You know, when it's all said and done, I can't resist you. My only saving grace is that you can't seem to resist me either,” he murmured in a deep voice that made her think of all the intimacies they'd shared.

Sara nodded.

“And you know I'll wear you down.”

Sara felt the beginning of a smile. It started deep inside, where she kept her most secret dreams, and worked its way out.

He gave a heavy sigh. “Okay, Sara, I'm giving you fair warning. I'll do whatever it takes to get a yes from those lips. Do you understand me?”

Sara nodded, and Daniel took that mouth of hers in a mind-melding, heart-binding kiss. And later that afternoon he confessed a few secrets of his own, one of which was his fantasy about Sara in a red silk slip.

 

Late one night Sara awoke to find Daniel watching her from across the room. Earlier he'd called to tell her that he would be late, and she'd fallen asleep waiting for him. Sara couldn't imagine anyone she'd rather see when she woke up. He was leaning against the doorjamb to her bedroom and he'd stripped off his shirt. Nestled in his hand were a few violets. Sara's heart turned over. He was so beautiful to her that sometimes it hurt to look at him.

In the light from the hall his gaze latched on to hers. “You're pretty when you sleep.”

“You're beautiful when you breathe,” she returned, and watched him caught between delight and self-consciousness.

He walked to the bed and sat next to her. Then he slowly lifted his hand and placed it on her stomach. “Think it'll be a little girl?”

Her chest tightened at the intimate gesture. It was the first time Daniel had brought up the baby since she'd told him a week ago. “I wondered if it would be a stubborn little boy with violet eyes.”

“Stubborn?” he repeated with a quirk of his eyebrow. “Who would he get that from?”

“The same person he'd get the violet eyes from,” she replied dryly. “It's a Pendleton trait.”

He gave her hair a quick tug and handed her the violets. “I've been thinking about our baby.”

Scared, Sara tried to keep her voice calm. “You have?”

He nodded. “You know, I told you how being with you changes the way I look at things. And I gotta tell you, with anyone else, having a baby would be a drag. But with you—”

Sara gave up on calm. “With me what?”

Daniel looked sheepish. “It sounds corny as hell. But with you it feels like an adventure. Do you realize that I like my brothers more now that you're a part of my life? It's like you've come in and changed everything around.” His gaze met hers in wonder. “But all you did was love me.”

Sara was so moved, her heart felt as if it were flying. “Oh, Daniel.” She lifted his hand to her mouth. “I was so worried. Worried that you would resent me, that you wouldn't want a child, and—” She bit her lip.

Daniel sensed her deep vulnerability, her battle against fear and anguish. “Tell me,” he coaxed. “Tell me.”

“I wonder if I'm going to be able to cut it as a mother.” Her voice wobbled as she unleashed the hidden fear. “You know what they say about the apple not falling far from the tree.”

He leaned closer to her. “Hon, that apple's already fallen far, far from that tree.” He looked into her doubt-filled gaze and tried to will his belief into her. “Look at the difference you've made in my life and Carly's. And now we're going to have a baby, and you're gonna love him or her. And I'm gonna love that baby too.” He squinted his eyes against a burning sensation. “Don't be scared, Sara. We're going to have an adventure, and I'll be right by your side the whole time.”

A change came over her face. Suddenly she radiated hope and love. He thought of how her spirit was a pearl that had formed out of years of resistance and pain. Damn if he wasn't getting poetic about her. But perhaps because he knew that Sara had needed to fight against tremendous odds for that hope and love, it affected him all the more. “There's so much good in you that you don't realize it. I swear, Sara, if it's the last thing I do, I'm gonna make you see it.”

“You've already made me see it,” she whispered brokenly. She put her hands on either side of his jaw, cradling his face as if it were the most precious thing in the world to her. “Daniel, I think it's time for me to say yes.”

Daniel's heart twisted so hard, he said to hell with fighting tears and let them slide down his cheeks.

Sara gently tugged his head down and kissed his tears away.

The wedding went off without a hitch. Daniel was grateful for how his brothers had acted toward Sara. He knew she'd been a little nervous, but when each of them had kissed her and welcomed her into the family, it had been one more joy in a day that couldn't seem to hold all the happiness that had passed between them.

His brother Brick had seemed a little preoccupied, but Daniel suspected that Brick was hiding a little romance of his own. Grinning at the thought, Daniel pulled his tuxedo tie loose and undid his shirt buttons. He'd like to see a woman turn Brick on his ear. Yes, that would be an entertaining experience. Though not nearly so entertaining, he thought, as being with Sara tonight.

The champagne was in the ice bucket, the chocolates on the pillows, and his bride was in the bathroom. Despite all they'd shared, he still felt a slice of anticipation. He would hold her soon and make love to her. This time they would share more than a bed, they would seal their vows. His body grew taut as he visualized what she would look like on that big bed.

Restless, he prowled around the suite, unnecessarily adjusting the thermostat and dimming the lights. Impatience made his nerve endings stand on end. He started to call her name, but the bathroom door opened, and his bride's sweet, sexy gaze wrapped around his heart and squeezed as she walked toward him. He didn't even try to fight the grin he felt lifting the corners of his mouth.

In her left hand she held a long, fluffy, soft-looking feather.

Daniel began to sweat. Just imagining what she planned to do with that bit of fluff made him wonder if he would survive the night.

Sara flicked the feather back and forth between her breasts in a taunting motion. “Hope I'm worth the wait.” Then she shimmied the wispy tuft down the garment that rendered Daniel speechless. He was sure he'd died and gone to heaven.

She wore a red silk slip.

Discover more classic romances by Leanne Banks now available in ebook for the first time!

His Royal Pleasure

Guardian Angel

The Fairest of Them All

Playing with Dynamite

For the Love of Sin

…plus many more titles by Leanne Banks available in ebook format!

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