The Things I Do for You (The Alexanders) (14 page)

“It’s okay. I’m just not used to all… this.” She gestured around the table. “I can’t even imagine belonging to a big family.”
 

Bennett smiled at her. “Well, you’re Nick’s wife, so you belong to one now.”

That, it seemed, was all it took to be accepted.
 

*
 
*
 
*
 
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*

A MONTH LATER, Raina stood at the window looking out into the backyard of Jackson’s house. Jackson’s sons, Chris and Jase, romped outside, chasing each other through the sprinklers. Every few minutes they would fall to the ground, rolling around in the wet grass. Her sister was going to have a disgusting pile of clothes to launder later, but they were having a great time. Happy shrieks and giggles filled the air.
 

“Raina, are you okay?”

Ridley stood behind her, putting the finishing touches on the spicy spaghetti casserole dish she was making for that night’s dinner.
 

She’d started to feel guilty that Nick handled most of their meals on the nights they didn’t order takeout. He was a great cook and didn’t seem to mind, but she’d asked Ridley to teach her to make a simple dish. Once it became clear that Raina was hopeless though, Ridley had abandoned the lesson.

She put a hand against her lower abdomen and turned to face her sister. “I’m okay. I’m just not pregnant.”

It had been a chaotic month, filled with the awkward dance of two individuals set in their ways trying to learn to compromise.
 

Nick liked the left side of the bed but so did she. He had given in on that one
,
but since he slept cuddled up to her back, it didn’t really matter anyway. He was kind of a slob and Raina liked things neat. She’d been the one to make concessions there. A stray shoe in the middle of the floor or a shirt hanging over a chair in the bedroom wasn’t the end of the world.

She’d been disappointed upon discovering that their time in Vegas hadn’t yielded the desired results, but not that surprised. Nick had been more than anxious to try again a few weeks later. She blushed remembering just how excited he’d been.
 

“Oh, Ray. I thought you looked sad.”

Ridley dropped the bag of shredded cheese she held and came from around the kitchen island. “I’m really sorry. I know how much you wanted to be.”

Raina took a deep breath. “Yeah, I did. I’m trying not to hear the doctor’s voice of doom and gloom in my head. But the fact is that every month that goes by where I’m not pregnant means it’ll be that much harder for me to get there
.
”

“It’ll happen. This was just your second month trying, right?”

“I know. I’m determined to stay positive. Plus everything was kind of chaotic with the whole running off to Vegas thing. Then there was the stress of trying to adjust to living together. This time, I’m ready.”

“I just hope
Nick
is ready. You have to let the poor guy out of bed at some point.”

“You have an incredibly dirty mind since hooking up with Jackson, you know that? I was referring to the fact that I’m calmer this time. Too much excitement can throw off your ovulation. I should be able to pinpoint my ovulation date with more accuracy this time.”

Ridley wrinkled her nose. “Oh, that doesn’t sound like fun. All that charting and temperature taking and whatever. I like my way better. Just chain my handsome brother-in-law to the bed and have your way with him until the deed is done.”

“Is this what you two talk about when we’re not around?”

They both jumped at the sound of Jackson’s voice. He stood in the doorway that connected the kitchen to the family room. He raised his eyebrows at Ridley’s shocked expression.

“Um, hey baby. How long have you been standing there?”

Jackson came behind her and wrapped her in his arms. “Long enough to know that your version of ‘girl talk’ differs vastly from mine.”

Raina laughed. “She used to blush when I even mentioned sex. Apparently you’ve corrupted my sister
,
because she never talked like this before. “

Jackson nuzzled Ridley’s neck and held there, like he was just breathing her in. “I certainly hope so,” he whispered against her neck.
 

It was easier to be around them lately, even when they were being so openly affectionate. Nick had stuck to their agreement. He didn’t hide his feelings but he didn’t pressure her to return them. Over the past few weeks, they’d settled into a comfortable rhythm. He didn’t seem bored or confined by married life, either.
 

Not yet, anyway.
 

She knew it was dangerous to get attached to the way Nick treated her, but it was hard not to enjoy it. Even couples who’d been deeply in love for years admitted the feelings you had in the beginning didn’t last. Their honeymoon phase would wear off just like anyone else’s, but in the meantime she was just going to soak up the attention. She’d have to be a total ice queen not to enjoy having a handsome man at her beck and call.
 

She hugged herself and remembered how Nick had kissed her until her eyes almost rolled into the back of her head before leaving for work that morning. The whole lovey-dovey thing was a lot easier to understand from the inside looking out. Feelings this strong had to have an outlet. When she was around Nick it took active thought on her part
not
to touch him or look at him or grin like a fool.
 

How ironic was it that all the things she used to scoff at were the things she most looked forward to now?

Ridley pursed her lips. “It just took the right man. And a couple of the erotic novels that I ordered online.”

Jackson popped her on the bottom playfully. “Let’s hope I had more influence than a book!”

“I would say yes but I think you are greatly underestimating the power of a hot book.”
 

“Did you tell her the good news?” Jackson motioned toward Raina.

Ridley shook her head. “I didn’t get a chance yet.” She turned to Raina and grinned. “We’ve decided to move up the date of the wedding. To Labor Day.”

Raina did a quick mental calculation. “Labor Day as in two weeks from now?”

Ridley nodded. “I know it’s crazy but Julia said the pastor was performing a wedding out of town that weekend but they just found out that wedding was canceled. We’d mentioned to her before that we kind of wished we’d just run off and gotten married like you and Nick did. So when she heard about that cancellation, she immediately asked Pastor Robbins if he would consider marrying us that weekend instead.”

“Wow. That’s amazing. But what about all your plans? Your dress and the flowers and everything.”

Ridley closed her eyes and leaned back against Jackson. “We decided we didn’t care about all that. We’re going to have it at the farm and I don’t care if I’m holding wildflowers when I get married. As long as I’m Mrs. Jackson Alexander at the end of it.”

Ridley looked behind Jackson to the empty doorway. “Anyway, where is everyone? I thought the guys were coming over tonight.”

“They are. Everyone’s just running a bit late.” Jackson reached around her and snagged a stray piece of pepperoni, popping it in his mouth before Ridley smacked his hand.
 

“Not until everyone else gets here,” she chided.

Raina pushed away from the window and walked over to the chair where she’d left her bag, trying to hide her disappointment. “I forgot it was poker night. I’ll get out of your way so you can get ready.”

She pulled her phone out of her bag and then rolled her eyes when she saw that Steven had called. He’d been calling lately and even though she’d been ignoring him so far, she had to wonder if it wouldn’t be easier to just answer and get it over with.
 

“Is everything all right, Raina?” Jackson pinned her with a stare. “Do you want me to call Nick?”

“No!” Raina pasted on a smile when he didn’t look convinced. “I’ll just see him at home later.”
 

She was getting way too used to leaning on Nick. It would be that much harder to deal with things on her own once they went their separate ways. Enjoying the attention he gave her was one thing,
needing
him for comfort was another.

It was time for her to get used to comforting herself again.

*
 
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“MR. ALEXANDER? YOU have a call waiting on line one.” Kaylee’s voice came over the speaker, jolting him out of his daydream.
 

“I’m not taking calls now, Kay. Take a message.”

He still hadn’t had any luck finding a present for Raina. They’d gotten pretty close over the past few weeks. He wanted to get her something that was special, but everything he found seemed trite and impersonal.
 

She seemed to be opening up to him, sharing her hopes for the future. He’d even been able to see a few episodes of her show before they went to postproduction. Raina had asked his advice on which scenes to cut and seemed to really value his opinion. It was exactly what he’d hoped for. The only thing that she wouldn’t do was talk about their future child.
 

“I tried to, sir, but he keeps calling back.” Kay sounded flustered. Her confidence level had increased dramatically over the past few weeks as she adjusted to her position. She’d gotten used to handling his clients with aplomb.
 

“Don’t worry about it, Kay. I’ll take care of it.” Nick picked up the phone. “This is Nick.”

“So, it seems you’re still just as sleazy as ever, Nick.” The voice on the other end of the line was only slightly familiar.

“Who is this?” Nick demanded.

“You must have a lot of enemies if you can’t even identify them. This is the one that’s calling to find out what your game is in marrying Raina.”

Nick gritted his teeth. “What the hell do you want, Silvestre?” He practically hissed the name. “I saw your picture in the paper. I hope you’re not calling to invite me to the wedding.”

“No, I’m definitely not inviting the bastard I had to chase out of my wife’s bed to anything.”

“I told you then that I had no idea Marisol was a married woman. I don’t do that.”

“Funny how whenever I have woman trouble, it seems to circle around to you. First you sleep with my wife, now, according to my sources, you married my fiancée less than twenty-four hours after I last spoke with her.”

“She’s not your fiancée,” Nick managed to say from between clenched teeth. “She’s not your
anything
.
”

Silvestre sniffed. “When I heard the initial reports I was sure it was a hoax. Raina’s way of getting back at me for embarrassing her in the press. Then I figured it must have been one of those drunken mistakes that would be annulled just as quickly.”

“Oh, there won’t be any annulment. Our marriage has been thoroughly consummated.”

“Always so crude. How Raina could have made a mistake of this magnitude I can only imagine. I knew she was desperate to get married, but this is just absurd.”

“Raina ceased to be any of your concern when you decided to play tonsil hockey with your ex-wife in broad daylight.”

“You don’t know anything about what happened with us. Raina and I would have worked things out. I regret hurting her, but I was going to honor the engagement. This
thing
with Marisol was a misunderstanding.”

Nick shook his head in disbelief. Silvestre seemed to think he’d committed a minor transgression like forgetting to send flowers on Valentine’s Day. It was absolutely amazing that this was the same man who’d lectured him about sleeping with his wife when Nick hadn’t known she was married.
 

Apparently Marisol hadn’t felt her marriage was worth mentioning.
 

“Look, Silvestre. It doesn’t matter whether you like me or whether you believe me. This conversation is a waste of both of our time. Raina and I’ve been married six weeks already so the fact that you waited this long makes me wonder. Did Marisol leave you again already? Starting to wonder if you made a mistake, huh?”

“You think you’re so smart. You always know what to say, don’t you? But I’m guessing even you won’t be able to smooth talk your way out of it once I tell Raina what you’re really like. She may have been desperate enough to marry you, but I know she wants a good role model for her future children. Character is important to her.”

Nick seethed with rage. “Listen up. Because I’m done playing nice. You’re not the only one who can carry a tale to the right ears. Your new nightclubs are opening soon and you’re negotiating another deal to acquire even more, right? This is probably not the best time for bad publicity.”

“You can’t touch me. You’re a tiny fish in
my
pond, Alexander. I could buy and sell your operation with my pocket change.”

“That wasn’t enough to make Raina choose you, was it?” Nick chuckled at the harsh breathing on the other end of the line. “Raina covered for you, but I have no problem telling anyone who’ll listen the truth. I’m sure your Japanese investors will love the story of a man who cheats on his fiancée with his ex-wife. Especially considering the importance they place on honor and the value of a man’s word.”

There was a long pause, then Silvestre said, “Do what you want, Alexander. But for Raina’s sake, I wonder if you’ll have any more respect for your own marriage than you did for mine.”

RAINA TIPPED THE watering can she held, dousing her flower bed with a spray of droplets. Before she’d left Ridley’s, her sister had asked when she’d last watered her plants. The blank look on her face had probably been all the answer her sister needed. Ridley knew her too well.
 

“What are you doing out here?”