The Accidental Boyfriend (3 page)

Daniel looked unconvinced. “If you mess with Ivy’s sister and she gets hurt, there will be hell to—”

“Daniel!” Ivy’s voice called out from the hallway.

All three men scrambled to hide the magazine as Ivy approached. Jack wasn’t the only one terrified of her reaction—the baby was due in a matter of weeks and her emotional stability was in something of a free fall.

She came waddling in with Brunelli’s eldest granddaughter, Lucia, following closely behind her. Lucia was shaking her head and giving Daniel a wide-eyed look of warning.

Jack exchanged looks with the other two men. Oh no, she’d seen the picture.

When Ivy came to a stop before them, out of breath from the long walk inside, Jack was ready to confess.

“I swear, Ivy, I didn’t know—”

“Daniel, we have to go to Paris,” Ivy said at the same time.

Jack stopped midsentence and turned to Daniel, whose jaw had dropped open in surprise. Daniel got to his feet and gently ushered her into a chair at the table. “Sweetheart, what are you so worked up about?”

“I need to get to Paris,” she said as Daniel propped up her feet and poured her a glass of lemonade. Watching Daniel, the coldhearted, ruthless tycoon, become a doting nursemaid over the past few weeks had been a constant source of amusement for Jack and Brunelli.

“Honey, you know you can’t fly in your condition,” Daniel said.

“Then you need to go to Paris,” she told him.

Daniel sat back in his chair and, in a calm voice of reason, said, “I was rather hoping to be present at the birth of my first child.”

Ivy let out a sigh but she nodded her agreement.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Maybe we can come up with a solution that doesn’t involve either of us flying to Paris today.”

“It’s Holly,” Ivy started.

Brunelli’s eyes shot to Jack, who subtly shifted in his seat so he could run away, if necessary. No one in this room knew his tendency to love ‘em and leave ‘em as well as Ivy did and if she thought for one second that her sweet, innocent sister was another notch on his bedpost, well she’d be a very pregnant, but very frightening, force to be reckoned with.

“What about Holly?” Brunelli asked, his gaze still locked on Jack.

Ivy blew an errant auburn curl out of her face. “She’s on a wild goose chase in Paris.”

“Holly’s in Paris?” Daniel said.

“Paris,
France
,” Ivy clarified, as though there was some doubt as to where Paris was located.

“I thought Holly was coming back to Italy to meet the baby next month,” Jack said. Not that he’d given it much thought or anything. He’d just rehearsed what he would say to her about six thousand times. Every time, it started with an apology. He was still ashamed of the way he’d ended things that night.

“She’s still coming here, but she decided to go to Paris first so she could chase after some guy.”

Jack’s brain went black. Before he could come up with a nonchalant way of asking why the hell Holly would be chasing after anyone—the woman was a goddess—Ivy was off on a tangent.

“This is just like her. Act first, think later. No, more like act first, think never. And now I have to tell my mom and dad that Holly ran away. I mean, she’s a grown woman, sure, but they still worry and it’s not like—”

Daniel put a hand over hers and it seemed to bring Ivy back to the present. She got a dreamy look on her face as she gazed adoringly at her new husband for a moment. Then she was right back to her old self.

“I’m worried about her,” she said. Her lips pressed together in a thin line as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Jack couldn’t take it anymore. “Who’s the guy?”

All eyes turned to him and he cleared his throat a bit. Perhaps that had come out a tad more…
intense
than he’d intended.

He tried again. “I mean, why is she chasing after this guy?” Leaning back in his chair he tried to project calm indifference but he didn’t miss the odd looks he got from the others at the table.

“Benjamin,” Ivy said his name on an exasperated sigh.

“Who’s Benjamin?” Now it was Daniel’s turn to sound a touch too angry, but it didn’t seem to strike anyone as odd coming from the overprotective brother-in-law.

“Is she in trouble?” Brunelli asked. The old man’s wrinkled brow was creased more than usual in concern.

“No, not really,” Ivy said.

Jack let out a pent up breath.

“She just wants to marry him.”

Jack froze. “What?” Luckily his not-so-manly screech was drowned out by similar outburst from everyone at the table. “So are you telling us that Holly has a
boyfriend
?” His voice sounded strange to his own ears. Oh God, he sounded like a jealous lover.

Daniel and Brunelli both turned to him with a glare and Brunelli gave a short nod toward the magazine, which was currently jutting out from beneath Jack’s behind.

Lucia answered this one, a hint of a smile hovering on her lips. “
Had
a boyfriend. He’s the one that got away.” She reached over to grab a grape from the fruit bowl in the middle of the table. “I think it’s romantic that she’s going after him.”

Ivy rolled her eyes. “Benjamin is sweet and all, but….”

But?
Jack waited for her to continue but she just shook her head and sighed.
But what?
Was he a bad influence on her? Was he a player? Would he break her heart?

“It doesn’t matter why she followed him, the problem is, Holly followed him to the wrong Paris.”

Daniel frowned at her in concern. “Have you gotten too much sun today, sweetheart?” He reached over to place a hand on her forehead to check for a fever but she swatted him away.

“Holly is in Paris,
France
,” she stressed again, “and Benjamin is in Paris,
Texas
.”

There was a quiet beat as everyone digested the fact that Texas had a Paris of its own.

Lucia’s eyes widened in horror. “So Holly is alone in France and Benjamin is—”

“At an IT convention in the lone star state,” Ivy finished. “Yeah, that sums it up.”

“Can’t we call her?” Daniel asked.

Ivy shook her head. “Her phone is off since she’s out of country. She won’t check in again for days, maybe a week. And she’s terrible at checking email.”

“Do you know where she’s staying?” Brunelli asked.

“No, she didn’t say. But calling would do no good. She always uses different names when she travels.”

Jack and the others looked at one another in confusion and Ivy added, “You know, like celebrities use?” At their silence she mumbled, “You guys don’t know Holly very well, do you?”

Jack opened his mouth to protest but stopped himself. Of course he didn’t know her well, they’d only spent one night together. One incredible night—but still.

Daniel reached over to grab his wife’s hand. “Don’t worry, honey, I’ll go to Paris and make sure your sister is safe.” Ivy gave him a grateful smile.

Jack’s heart was pounding faster than usual and he was suddenly sweltering despite the air conditioning. Holly was close. Well, closer than the States, at least. She was on the continent, just a short plane ride away. The words were out of his mouth before he could think it through. “No, I’ll go.”

* * * *

Everyone turned to Jack in surprise and he shifted uncomfortably under their stares. “What? We all know Ivy could go into labor at any moment and nobody wants her or Danny stressing out about him not making it back in time.”

Ivy and Daniel shared a look that said he was right.

“Are you sure?” Ivy asked.

“Of course. I’ve been meaning to take a trip to Paris to visit my brother and his wife.” That was an outright lie but it sounded good and made his sudden eagerness to head to France slightly less bizarre.

So he was excited to see her. He could admit it to himself. He liked her. There. He admitted it. They didn’t have a future together, obviously, and there was a good possibility that she hated him right now but still, he liked her. He wanted them to be friends.

They would be in one another’s lives forever thanks to Ivy and Daniel and the new little baby on the way. He might as well get this apology over with and start making amends.

Ivy seemed happy with this new solution but Daniel was eyeing him. Jack could practically see the gears turning. When Ivy and Lucia left, happy in the knowledge that Holly would be found and not be left wandering the streets of Paris, France, for eternity, he was left alone once again with Daniel and Brunelli.

“What’s this all about?” Brunelli asked.

“Don’t tell me you suddenly developed an urge to eat croissants,” Daniel said.

“I told you, my brother moved there with his wife and—”

“Since when are you and your brother on speaking terms?” Daniel asked.

Jack grabbed some fruit and ignored the comment, focusing instead on juggling the apples and orange he held in his hands. “What’s your solution?” he asked. “You don’t want to leave Ivy. Are you really going to ask Grandpa here to go on this wild goose chase? No offense, Brunelli.”

The old man shrugged off his apology, “It’s true, I’m old.”

Daniel was still watching him with narrowed eyes. “Does your sudden desire to go to France have anything to do with this?” He pulled the magazine out from underneath Jack and held it up accusingly.

“I told you, nothing happened.” Jack snatched the magazine out of his hand. “Nothing of significance, anyway.” Unless you found amazingly perfect moments significant. In which case, maybe he’d lied.

“Look, I don’t know how she feels about me right now or about the picture, but I do know that I owe her an apology—” He held up a hand to stop the question that was coming. “I want to make things right. For Ivy’s sake and for Holly’s. I don’t want things to be weird between us.”

Daniel leaned back in his chair, apparently accepting Jack’s explanation.

Ivy came back into the room and handed Jack a sheet of paper. “I don’t know if this will help but here are the names of some hostels where she might be staying. I know she likes this neighborhood.”

“Hostels?” Brunelli spit out the word with distaste. “Holly can’t stay at a place like that, I refuse to allow it. Jack, you will bring her to my pied-a-terre. No friend of mine will stay with…backpackers.” The word backpackers sounded like a curse word coming from Brunelli.

“Sure thing, boss,” Jack said, as Brunelli continued to grumble about filthy backpackers. He looked over the list of hostels. They were all in Montmartre, a well-known tourist destination.

“So Holly has been to Paris before,” Jack said, taking the paper from her. “That’s good.” Ivy gave him a funny look and he added, “At least she won’t be intimidated by the big city.”

That made Ivy laugh. “Trust me, Jack, there’s not much in this world that intimidates Holly.”

* * * *

Maybe it was time to phone a friend.

Holly was slumped over in her stool at the bar in the lobby of a hotel. The fifth hotel she’d been to that day, to be exact. Jet lagged and exhausted from trekking all over the city, she was ready to call it quits.

Maybe tomorrow she’d call her mom and ask her to find out where Benjamin and his IT buddies were hiding out. The thought of explaining herself to her mother was not at all appealing. Maybe she would call around to some other hotels tonight. Her sluggish brain refused to even contemplate next steps without a glass of wine in her hand.

Flagging down the bartender at the other end of the bar, she opted for choice number three—declare temporary defeat and enjoy the best city in the world while she could. After all, once she and Benjamin started a family she couldn’t traipse off across the world on a whim anymore.

Pushing aside a sudden tightness in her chest, Holly reminded herself that having a family would be worth the sacrifice.

She longed for a husband and a family and the white picket fence. She just hadn’t realized it until a year ago—until the miscarriage. It took having a family and losing it to make her see what was important in life.

The father had been another casual fling—one in a long line of infatuations and exciting, passionate romances that ultimately led nowhere. Before she could say “baby” he was out the door and out of her life with no more than a “ciao, babe.”

The miscarriage had hit her hard. Harder than she would have expected. She’d freaked when the strip turned blue but there had been excitement there alongside fear. She hadn’t realized how attached she’d gotten until it was gone.

She’d cried for weeks.

And then she’d booked a flight home. Back to her family, her hometown, and her first love—Benjamin. He was the obvious choice. If she was going to settle down, why not be with her best friend—a man who was stable and reliable and responsible and…basically, everything she was not. He would make an amazing father someday. The now-familiar mental image of Benjamin standing at her side as they gazed in adoration at their little bundle of joy was enough to make her heart squeeze painfully.

Yes, it would all be worth it once she had her family.

The waiter poured her a glass of red and she swirled it for a moment before raising it in salute. “Goodbye adventures, I’ll miss you most of all.”

Surrounded by happy couples and loudly chatting friends, Holly scrounged in her bag for something to read. She was sure her e-reader was hiding somewhere in the depths of her oversized purse—her Mary Poppins bag, as Benjamin liked to call it. Her fingers curled around a magazine and she pulled it out with a sigh.

It was that damn magazine with her stupid picture in it. She’d picked up a copy at the airport, despite her best intentions to ignore it on the stands. She couldn’t help taking one more look. And then another once she was on the plane. And now it was there in her hands and she found her traitorous fingers flipping it open to page thirteen.

It wasn’t because she wanted another glimpse of Jack, she told herself. Of course not. She just wanted to see it one more time with an objective eye; maybe it would help her figure out what to say to Benjamin once he saw it. Holly sighed; she had resigned herself to the fact that it was only a matter of time before he did.

If she found him quickly enough she planned on being the one to tell him so she could make sure he didn’t read anything into it.