Harlequin Superromance November 2014 - Box Set 2 of 2: Christmas at the Cove\Navy Christmas\Until She Met Daniel (14 page)

Silence.

Carrie looked up. Amanda watched her, her gaze determined. “I bet you and he had a long-distance relationship of some sort and now you’ve turned up at the Cove, he’s dumped you, right?”

“What?”

“That’s why you’re in the hotel, eating alone.”

Carrie laid down her fork, her stomach burning with acidic vengeance. “I could call him right now and he’d be here. It was me who walked away from him this afternoon.”

Amanda’s eyes grew wide with childlike excitement. “Call him now and ask him to come.”

“No.”
This woman is crazy.
Crazy because of what Scott did to her? Carrie held Amanda’s unrelenting gaze. No matter how much Amanda might have shaken her trust in Scott, it was nothing compared to the mammoth distrust she had in Amanda.

“Prove me wrong, Carrie. I’d welcome it.”

Temper snapping, Carrie whipped her clutch from the table and extracted her phone. Cursing the tremor in her fingers, she called Scott’s number and waited. The tone continued to ring as Amanda’s smile spread wider. Voice mail kicked in and Carrie snapped the phone shut. The last thing she needed to hear was Scott’s voice. It would only weaken her defenses.

“No answer.” She shoved the phone back into her bag.

Amanda stood. “You know where to find me if you want to talk.”

Carrie stared. “You’re leaving?”

“I’ve seen and heard enough.” Amanda smiled. “Enjoy the wine. I’ll pay for it on the way out. Night, night.”

Carrie glowered after Amanda until she left the dining room. Once she’d gone, Carrie whipped the bottle of Chablis from the cooler.

Damn her insinuations. Damn her for making me doubt Scott when I so badly want to trust him. Damn her for having had two months with a man I’ve never forgotten. Not for a single day.

* * *

C
ARRIE
MARCHED
TO
her hotel room and used the keycard to open the door. Stepping inside, she flicked on the lights and slipped her stilettos from her feet, welcoming the depth of the carpet as it cocooned her toes. She walked farther into the room, tossed her clutch onto the bed and collapsed face first onto the mattress, not caring that her silk dress would be little more than a crumpled dishrag by morning.

Her meal had probably been delicious but her mouth was coated with distaste after Amanda’s performance. The woman clearly had a screw loose and Carrie had to find a way to delete her insinuations about Scott from her mind. Amanda’s entire diatribe stank to high heaven of jealousy and dented ego. She hardly looked brokenhearted, with her impeccable clothes, hair and makeup. If anything, Amanda looked well and truly insane.

Carrie glanced at her watch. It was barely nine but nothing felt more appealing than getting into her pajamas and making a cup of tea to drink in bed. Maybe the TV would distract her from the myriad of thoughts and worries bouncing around in her head. Pushing from the bed, she slipped her dress from her shoulders, letting it pool on the floor before reaching for the TV remote. She pointed it at the TV and the screen flickered to life.

Nothing like a period drama to ground a girl in reality.

Dressed in her underwear, she grabbed the kettle from a tray on the dresser and walked into the bathroom to fill it. She caught her reflection in the mirror and slowly lowered the kettle to the sink. Her skin looked tired and drawn and she had black circles under her eyes. She tugged at her cheeks. God, the emotional strain of her mission was making her resemble a zombie. The sooner she and Scott got a DNA test done the better.

The ringing of her cell phone in the bedroom snapped her gaze to the door. Scott.

Her stomach executed a loop-the-loop as she hurried from the bathroom. She pulled the cell from her clutch, and a funny sensation skittered across her heart when she saw her intuition about the caller had been right. She pressed the talk button. “Scott?”

“Hi. I’ve got a missed call from you. Everything okay?”

The low rumble of male voices in the background filtered down the line and Carrie pulled back her shoulders. She didn’t want anyone else knowing their business. “Sure. It was nothing. I didn’t mean to disturb your evening.”

“You’re not. Why did you call?”

“I don’t want to talk about it if you have company. Why don’t we meet somewhere tomorrow?”

“Hold on.” The background noises slowly faded and then there was the click of a door closing. “I’m in the bathroom. What’s wrong?”

She dropped onto the bed, her head falling back against the pillows. “You didn’t have to leave your friends.”

“I wanted to. Talk to me.”

Carrie squeezed her eyes shut. The low, masculine and caring tone of his voice seeped into her ear and spread over her body in a soothing and heated mist. Loneliness and confusion rose and enveloped her in silent yearning for him. Just one more night together would be all she needed to sate the erotic thoughts that chased through her mind. Just one night would give her the evidence she needed to accept what they had before could never be resurrected. If he had been in the room with her, Carrie would have put all the distrust and insecurity that lay between them to one side...just for a while.

She snapped her eyes wide open and forced her heart into submission. “I had an unexpected companion at dinner. She challenged me to call you.”

“She?”

“Amanda.”

The silence stretched for a second or two until he took a sharp breath. “Whatever she said, ignore it.”

“Believe me, I am. But you’ve certainly made yourself an enemy in her.”

“I know, but whatever I say to the woman, nothing changes. I didn’t walk out on her the way she tells everyone I did. I tried my best, but it didn’t work out. She didn’t stop criticizing me.”

“About what?”

“About her son, Rhys. That’s part of the reason I’m shot through a loop now I know I could have a child of my own. Amanda got inside my head, Carrie.”

“And made you think you weren’t cut out to be a parent?” Carrie frowned. “You know she’s kind of crazy, right?”

He laughed softly but Carrie sensed his insecurity. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him to come to the hotel. The reasoning shamed her...for it had nothing to do with their daughter and everything to do with the sensations rolling over her body in undulating waves. “Scott—”

“I need to see you.”

She stiffened. “Now?”

“Now. It’s important. I’d rather not wait until the morning. Shall I meet you somewhere?”

Carrie sat up and looked about the room and then down at her state of undress. “What do you want to talk about that can’t wait?”
Please say you can wait so I can rid myself of this stupid, lonesome desire before I see you
. “Has something happened?”

“I’ve...” He exhaled. “I’ve got a friend who’s a doctor. He’s willing to rush through a DNA test.”

Her heart thumped hard and her libido instantly cooled as though his words were ice-cold water he’d poured down the telephone line. “Right.”

“Do you have something of Belle’s with you?”

She looked toward the end of the bed where Belle’s toy dog lay looking lost and forlorn. She picked it up, pressed it to her face and inhaled. “Yes.”

“My friend said we need a single hair of Belle’s, that’s all.”

“Right.” Blinking back tears that Belle’s paternity had come to this, Carrie plucked one of Belle’s black curls from the dog’s fluffy back. “No problem.”

“Can we come to the hotel now?”

She stilled. “Both of you?”

“I’m sorry, but Kevin needs to do this ASAP. If he takes the swabs from us tonight and bags Belle’s hair, he can get it all couriered to the lab first thing in the morning.” He exhaled. “He thinks if he pulls in a favor, we could have the results as soon as tomorrow evening. I need to know, Carrie. The sooner the better.”

She squeezed her eyes shut. “Okay. I’m in room six-forty. I’ll see you soon.”

“Great...and, Carrie, everything’s going to work out. I want this. I want our baby.”

The line went dead and Carrie dropped the phone to the bed as unexpected sadness washed over her.
He might want our baby, but not once has he mentioned wanting me.
She swallowed
. If he only wants a relationship with Belle, then that’s fine. I’d much prefer that to having him want me just because I’m her mother.

Standing on trembling legs, she walked in a dazed state into the bathroom. When she looked at her reflection, her skin was as pale as porcelain, and her heart beat a dreaded tattoo in her ears. She strained to think of a moment when Scott mentioned wanting to see whatever it was between her and him reconciled, for them to give their relationship a chance. Nothing but his mention of doing whatever he could for Belle bounced around in Carrie’s head.

She gripped the sink and prayed that her instinct she was meant to come to Templeton, was meant to find Scott Walker again, was the best course of action rather than a mission created through her own stupidity. She lifted her chin and stared into the mirror. He wouldn’t take her baby and leave her out in the cold. He wouldn’t do that. Would he?

CHAPTER TWELVE

S
COTT
STEPPED
OUT
of the elevator on The Christie’s sixth floor and headed straight for Carrie’s room, leaving Kevin to follow. Tension rippled through every muscle in his body—damn, it was as if he’d discovered muscles he never knew he had. He set his jaw, every nerve in his body screaming with apprehension.

“You ready for this?”

The somber tone of Kevin’s voice brought Scott to an abrupt halt. He turned and blew out a breath. “As I’ll ever be. I have to know for sure one way or another.”

Kevin looked along the corridor. “And if you’re the father, then what?”

“Then it’ll be time for me to meet my daughter.”

“Just like that.”

“No, not just like that.” Scott frowned. “This is insane, but the one thing I know for sure amidst all this crazy is I won’t turn my back on my kid. Ever.” Protectiveness rolled through him as Scott stared along the corridor. “Nor Carrie...if she wants me.”

Kevin raised an eyebrow. “So you’re seeing the kid and her as a package, huh? You want to be with her?”

Scott nodded. “But I’ve no idea if she wants me and her to be a part of this.”

Kevin shook his head. “You need to take this slow and steady. Don’t rush into anything. You’ve not been in a relationship for any amount of time before and I’ve been a doctor long enough to know a child changes everything.”

Scott faced him, passion for Carrie and Belle heating his blood. “I’ve never stopped wondering where Carrie is and who she’s with. If I’m Belle’s dad, it proves it’s meant to be the real deal between us. I’m sure of it.”

For a long moment, Kevin said nothing and Scott resisted the urge to turn away from his friend’s assessing gaze. Finally, Kevin smiled and slapped his hand on Scott’s shoulder. “Fine. Then let’s do this.”

Nerves jumping, Scott led the way to room six-forty. He glanced once more at Kevin before raising his hand and rapping his knuckles against the door. Each second felt like a minute until the door softly clicked open.

Neither Scott nor Carrie moved or spoke. She appraised him from head to toe and he did the same to her. His dick twitched awake. Even dressed in sweat pants and a plain navy-blue T-shirt, with her face devoid of makeup and her hair tied into a knot on top of her head, she looked amazing—and sexy as hell. He languidly slid his gaze over her covered breasts and lower to her bare feet with scarlet-painted toenails. He met her eyes. They were full of caution, but still Scott wondered how the hell a woman could look more beautiful each time you saw her.

She stepped back and waved them inside. “Sorry. Come in.”

Fighting the need to pull her into his arms, strip her naked and feast on every inch of her exquisite body, Scott stepped inside the room and smiled. “Thanks. This is my friend Kevin.”

“Hi.” She smiled before pushing the door closed. “Go on through.”

Scott walked into the small but tidy hotel room. Her things were laid out on the dresser and he ran his gaze over everything as though seeking some small insight into this woman he knew nothing about, but wanted to know everything.

“Can I get you some tea or coffee? Water?” Carrie’s voice filled the room, breaking the silence.

Scott shook his head. “I’m good.”

She looked to Kevin. “Anything?”

Kevin smiled. “I’m fine.” He placed his briefcase on the single bed. “Why don’t we get the hard bit out the way so you two can breathe a little easier. It’s starting to feel like the walls are closing in on us.” He laughed.

Scott looked at Carrie. Her smile wobbled and her eyes were impossibly wide when she looked at him. He winked, hoping to pacify the open guardedness in her gaze but instead she snapped her gaze to Kevin. Unease knotted Scott’s stomach and his smile dissolved. The tension coming from her was palpable.

Clearing his throat, Scott spoke to Kevin’s turned back as he extracted various plastic bags and swabs from his briefcase. “Who do you want first?”

Carrie brushed past him. “Could I go first?”

Kevin straightened. “Sure. I just need to take a swab from the inside of your cheek. It’s quick and painless.”

She nodded and stepped forward. Scott shifted from one foot to the other as Kevin held the swab and Carrie opened her mouth. Kevin was clearly trying to put Carrie at ease by saying the procedure was painless, but there was nothing painless about any of this. The entire thing was as painful as anything Scott could imagine.

“All done.” Kevin smiled at Carrie before turning to Scott. “You’re up.”

Scott stepped forward. As Kevin scraped the wand over the inside of his cheek, Scott was aware of Carrie resolutely studying a hideous watercolor of drab blues and greens above the bed.

His heart kicked. Could she not even bear to look at him? Did she hate him for putting her through this and not taking her word Belle was his? He hoped she understood having it confirmed in black and white was the best way forward for both of them. This way, Belle’s paternity could never be questioned in the future—by anyone. Including his overprotective, nosy sisters or even Belle herself.

“All done.” Kevin pulled the swab from Scott’s mouth and dropped it into a plastic bag. He sealed it and placed it next to Carrie’s.

The tension grew as Kevin took a pen from inside his jacket, labeled the samples and organized them in his briefcase. Scott stared at Carrie until she turned to face him. Their eyes locked and Scott’s heart picked up speed. He longed to hold her, to take away the anxiety in her gaze...

Kevin cleared his throat and Scott snatched his gaze to his friend.

Kevin frowned as he looked at Carrie. “Scott said you have something with your daughter’s hair on it?”

“Yes.” She uncrossed her arms and swept across the room to a chair in the corner. She picked up what looked like a well-loved toy dog and thrust it toward Kevin. “There are quite a few of my daughter’s curls on there.” She laughed, the high-pitched sound revealing her nervousness.

Scott kept his gaze on her profile as Carrie re-crossed her arms and focused on Kevin. He took some tweezers from an open box on the bed and carefully removed three or four of Belle’s stray hairs from the toy and placed them in another plastic bag and sealed it. He handed the toy back to Carrie. “That’s it.” He labeled the bag.

She clutched the dog to her chest and nodded curtly. “Good. So you think you’ll have the results as soon as tomorrow?”

“I certainly don’t want to promise anything, but I’ll do my best.” Kevin glanced at Scott. “He’s calling in a favor from me, and I’ll do the same with a friend at the lab. As soon as they come through, I’ll ring Scott and then you can both come to my office. Okay?”

“Great. Thank you.” She spun away and busied herself propping the toy this way and that on the bed.

Silently cursing his helplessness, Scott turned to Kevin as tension once again permeated the room. “Okay, well, there’s nothing else to do but wait until tomorrow, then.”

Kevin gave him a loaded stare before turning and packing up his briefcase. “If you two want to chat some more, I’ll get out of here and get these results couriered overnight. They’ll be at the lab first thing.”

Half expecting Carrie to protest his staying, Scott hid his surprise when she remained static and quiet, her feet seemingly glued to the carpet.

Kevin lifted his briefcase and smiled at Carrie. “See you tomorrow.”

She smiled as she rolled back and forth on the balls on her feet. “See you tomorrow.”

“I’ll walk you out.” Scott placed his hand on Kevin’s shoulder and steered him toward the door. He opened it and faced his friend. “I’ll wait by the phone for your call.”

Kevin glanced over his shoulder into the room. “She’s a beauty,” he whispered. “But this is complicated. I know what you said about you two being together, but just don’t do anything stupid like falling headfirst in love with her. As much as you think you know her, you don’t. At all.”

Scott clenched his jaw and held Kevin’s gaze.

Kevin shook his head. “Fine. Do what you have to do.”

“See you tomorrow, Kev.” Scott closed the door, his heart pumping.

He and Carrie were finally and completely alone. No risk of interruptions. No risk of someone overhearing them. His body came alive with adrenaline as his mind soared with good and bad opportunities of the sexual kind. He turned back into the room.

Carrie stood exactly where he’d left her, her arms tightly crossed, her chin lifted and her steady gaze trained on him. “So, that’s it, then. Tomorrow you’ll know Belle is yours.”

“Yes.” He nodded, trying to figure out the look in her eyes. She looked anxious, yet determined. Scared, yet poised. Her body was rigid with tension. “What is it, Carrie? What do you want to say?”

“I love her more than life itself, Scott. Promise me you’ll never try to take her from me.”

Disbelief rocketed through his body and pushed the breath out of his lungs. “You think me capable of taking your daughter? Carrie...” He closed the space between them in two long strides and gently eased her arms uncrossed. He gripped her hands, willing her to believe his next words. “I would never do that to you. Ever. You look at me now and believe that. You have to.” He shook his head, his gaze boring into hers. “I will never hurt you.”

Her eyes were wide as her gaze darted over his face to linger at his mouth. After a long moment, she shook her head and glared. “I have no reason to trust you on that.”

Scott stared and slowly narrowed his eyes. “What’s happened, Carrie?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re different. Angry. Distrustful. What have I, or someone else, done to make you wary of me? I thought...I thought things were going pretty well between us.”

She glanced past him before meeting his eyes once more. “If you don’t want me and only Belle, that’s fine. Maybe I shouldn’t have come here to see...” She closed her eyes.

Scott frowned. “Come here to see what?” He touched his finger to her chin and she opened her eyes. “Carrie? You shouldn’t have come here to see what?”

She stared deep into his eyes, her gaze determined. “I shouldn’t have come here to see whether or not there would be anything between us. I should’ve just come for Belle.”

Scott’s heart kicked. “You came here for me, too?”

She lifted her chin from his hand, her gaze dropping to his mouth. “I didn’t say that.”

She wanted him. She wanted him as he wanted her. “Carrie.” Desire for her swept through his body and Scott took her hand, lifting it to his lips. “I thought about you all the time. I wondered...I tormented myself with what you were or weren’t doing. I’m glad you’re here. Really glad.”

Her gaze bored into his as though searching for his sincerity. Scott stared straight back, his spine rigid. To have her reject him now...

She wet her lips. “I need to know you want to see what could happen between us because you like me...not because I’m Belle’s mum.”

He smiled and stepped closer. He smoothed his thumb over her bottom lip. “I wanted you before Belle and I want you now. How can you not know that?”

She briefly closed her eyes, her cheeks reddening.

He might have gone a small way to easing her fears with words, but now all he wanted to do was relax her with the physical. Hold her, touch her, show her how everything was going to be all right as he softly caressed her body and kissed her lips. Exhaling, he glanced toward the mini-bar in the corner of the room. “I’d kill for a drink.”

“What?”

He met her eyes. “I need a drink. Would you join me?”

She stared, indecision storming in her wide, beautifully brown eyes. A few seconds passed and a soft smile curved her lips. “Sounds good to me.” She walked to the mini-bar, opened it and cruelly leaned over, perking her perfect, curvaceous butt right in front of him. “Red wine? Or something stronger?”

“Red wine’s perfect.”

She extracted the mini bottles of wine, and the door softly clunked closed. Throwing him a soft smile, she padded toward the bathroom, reemerging with two plastic tumblers. She held them aloft with the bottles. “Classy, huh?”

He laughed. “I’m game if you are.”

She came closer and turned away to put everything on the dressing table. Scott stared at her turned back at she opened the wine and poured their drinks. The sight of her shapely neck was enough to turn him on, let alone thoughts of what she wore under her clothes. He clenched his jaw, his body humming with desire. He had to touch her, had to kiss her again. The anticipation and need of wanting her was messing with his head and he wanted it gone. If their lovemaking wasn’t as hot and passionately mind-blowing as it was before, then at least he’d know his yearning was one-sided and start learning a way to deal with it.

“Here.” She held out one of the tumblers. “Cheers.”

“Cheers.” Scott clinked his drink to hers and drank deeply.

She took a delicate mouthful, her eyes on his above the rim.

He had no idea who moved first. It could have been him or her, but in the next second, they were kissing. She tasted like the sweetest treat a man could want—dark chocolate mixed with a hint of alcohol, warm and comforting. Her scent teased his nostrils...musky and welcoming, like a cinnamon-filled room when you come in from the cold. His mind and senses filled with her as Carrie’s tongue met his and she softly whimpered into his mouth.

He moved his head to kiss her deeper, to take more of her flavor. His free hand clutched her waist, but he wanted more. Pulling back, he looked at her. Her eyes were hooded with desire; dark and intensely sexy. Her cheeks were flushed and her mouth ajar as if she tasted something soft and delicious. He eased her drink from her hand and placed his and hers on the table by the bed.

“God, Carrie.” He stepped toward her. “I want to make love to you. I have to. Please.”

With her gaze locked on his, she remained sexily silent, the glint in her eyes telling him everything he needed to hear. Slowly, she stepped back and Scott’s heart plummeted when her gaze fell to her left hand. She slowly turned her wedding band, only once glancing at him before focusing her attention back to her finger. Drawing off the ring, she exhaled a shuddering breath and carefully placed it on the dresser.