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“They are.” Zack sent up a silent thanks to Teddy Fortune in Australia. “I asked her to marry me.”
“Asked?”
Zack paused, a forkful of eggs on the way to his mouth. “More or less,” he affirmed with a quick nod. “She won’t have it.”
Nash leaned back, his expression fond. “Skylar is a complicated girl,” he said slowly. “It’s hard to know what she’s thinking. Her mother—well, she wasn’t the mothering type.”
Zack knew a little of the history. Skylar and Blake’s real mother, Trina, was run off the Fortune Estate, sans children, when Nash discovered her cheating on him. By all accounts, Patricia, Nash’s third wife, was more of a mother to them than their own.
“I don’t know Skylar as well as I should.” Nash lifted his coffee cup. “She bottles things up. She’s close to her brother, and Patricia and Maya, but doesn’t seem to need the rest of us much.” He gave a sad little smile. “We all think the world of her, but it’s true, we’re a family that doesn’t talk easily about feelings.”
“I’ll take good care of her, sir. I know it’ll be strange at first, a new country, being away from her family. But I’m in a position to give her anything she wants.”
“What she wants? I think what she wants is her independence. And her horses. Girl always loved her darn horses.”
“I have more than enough horses to keep her happy.” Zack pushed his plate away and leaned his arms on the table. “It’ll be a good life, Nash, and I’ll bring her and the baby back whenever she wants.”
“It’s not me you have to convince.” The older man sighed heavily. “There’s too much goin’ around in my old brain at the moment. Thing is, I don’t think Skylar knows a lot about the ways of men. She’s an innocent.”
Not that much of an innocent, Zack thought grimly.
A flash of blue through the window caught his eye. Their subject mounted the steps outside. “Do I have your blessing, sir?” he asked quickly.
“My blessing?” Nash stuck his thumb in his belt, his tired blue eyes peering out under thick graying brows. “If you can get the girl to agree then…” He nodded slowly, then raised his head.
Skylar entered the room, looking mutinous. They both watched her approach and Nash inhaled sharply. “How the heck did we all miss it?” he murmured. “It’s as obvious as a poke in the eye she’s expecting.”
Both men stared at her candidly, though doubtless Zack’s reaction was vastly different than her father’s. To an outsider, she was dressed as normal: jeans, a longish flannel shirt with a shapeless navy jacket over the top. Her light brown hair shone in braids, what he could see of it, with her signature baseball cap jammed on top.
The moment she’d opened the door last night, the knowledge that she was pregnant hit him like a sledgehammer between the eyes. Wham! She’s pregnant. Wham! It’s mine.
Wham! Not again…
He’d always considered her pretty. Her wide mouth turned up at the corners with a sweetly pronounced bow in the middle. Arched brows dipped low in the middle of her forehead in that interesting way some women had that looked like they were on the verge of frowning. The old adage about pregnant women glowing was true, the proof of it standing in front of him now. A luster to her creamy skin, freckles seemed more pronounced, her eyes more blue. In his mind, the shy and scruffy tomboy who never looked him right in the eye, had been replaced by one hellishly attractive woman.
One very ticked off woman. As if she could read his thoughts, she glared at him, her chin tilted up defiantly. “What are you doing here, upsetting my father?”
Nash raised his hand. “Now, now. He’s not upsetting me. We’re just having a chat.”
She kept her eyes on Zack. “About me, naturally.”
Zack folded his arms, torn between a worrying stab of desire and annoyance.
“Get yourself some breakfast, girl,” her father ordered. “Let’s talk this thing out.”
Skylar narrowed her eyes even more for good measure then stalked to the buffet and poured some juice into a glass. She returned to the table and sat.
Zack looked pointedly at the glass. “Shouldn’t you eat something?”
“Don’t start,” she retorted.
Both guns blazing, he thought with wonder. Where had this spitfire been hiding?
Nash looked at her daughter. “Zack has asked me for your hand.”
She scowled. “How quaint. Is that a New Zealand custom?”
“Skylar,” Nash hushed her. “Do you like him at all?”
She exhaled and looked away with a shrug.
“Well, I assume you liked him well enough to make a baby with him,” Nash rumbled.
Skylar’s eyes shot around the room, resting on Peggy clearing a table over by the window. “Dad!” Her freckles almost disappeared in the crimson glow. “I’ve told him I’ll take care of everything,” she said in a low voice. “He can see the baby whenever he wants. If he wants.”
Zack swallowed his scathing reply. He would deal with that when they were alone.
Nash cleared his throat. “See, I think Zack might be a little like me. When I asked your mother to leave, it was on the proviso that she leave you kids here. I couldn’t bear to be parted from you, any of you.”
“Lots of people are single parents,” she began. “Statistics say…”
Nash cut her off. “Not in this family, girl. You’re a Fortune. I would ask you to consider the implications of that in all you do.”
Skylar’s eyes widened.
Nash continued in a softer tone. “Just because it’s the modern way doesn’t mean it’s right for everyone.”
She glanced meaningfully at Zack. “If you want to be more involved, then you’re just going to have to spend more time in the States.”
He frowned at her. She seemed to have left the stammer behind, as well.
Then she did something that rocked him to the core. She leaned right back in that age-old pose of pregnant women everywhere, one hand cradling the bottom of her belly and the other moving slowly, lovingly, just under her breasts.
Something slammed in his chest. Man, he’d never wanted to touch something so much.
“Zack?”
Nash’s voice cut through his longing. Zack cleared his throat for the second wave of attack. “We can come over two or three times a year. I know you’ll want the baby to grow up knowing family.”
Skylar’s sweet mouth compressed and she huffed out a sigh. He frowned at her, annoyed with himself for being distracted, even charmed by her. “Skylar, I’m offering you marriage. Security. A good life for that baby of ours. There will be no stigma about single parents, or why Daddy doesn’t live with you. You and I aren’t romantics. We are sensible, well-grounded people. We’ll damn well make this work for the sake of the child.”
Her mouth still a straight line, she put her nose in the air and looked away.
Nash rested his elbow on the table, his fingers moving through his graying hair. “I wish Patricia were here. She’d know what to say.”
Skylar looked at him, concern softening her lips.
“After we talked last night, Sky, I made a couple of calls, to Teddy and another business contact I have in those parts,” Nash commented, eliciting startled glances from both of them. “Zack is wealthy, successful at what he does, and if there are any skeletons in his closet, they’re so far back, it doesn’t matter a damn. He is well liked and respected. He has never been married, has no children. Teddy and Max are behind him one hundred percent. You could do a lot worse, you know.”
Skylar looked at him, smudges of betrayal darkening her eyes. “You’re talking about the rest of my life here.”
Nash’s head rolled back, his broad chest rising on a deep inhalation. “Where does it say marriage is forever? Ask me.”
Her eyes shone with sympathy. “Oh, Dad. She’ll come back. I know she will.”
“She will or she won’t.” Nash sighed and his stern gaze moved to each of them in turn. “But I have bigger things to worry about than two young people who are very well suited, even if they don’t know it yet.” He leaned forward and put his hand on his daughter’s shoulder. “Love grew for me and Patricia. It didn’t happen overnight. Now you have a baby to think of and a family name that has been besmirched once too often for my liking. And I’d like to tell you differently, girl, but there are no guarantees in this life.”
Zack watched Skylar’s face fall. He actually felt a pang of sympathy for her, even though her father was on his side. But he kept silent. This salvo was between her and Nash.
“Just tell me you’ll think about it. Don’t set your mind against it on some girlish notion.” He put both hands on the table and pushed himself up, sadness evident in his stooped shoulders. “Give me something good to tell Patricia if she calls. She’s got a real soft spot for you. She’d love to see you expecting. A marriage in the family is just what’s needed to bring us all together again.”
“That’s blackmail,” Skylar whispered.
“Whatever works for you,” Nash said comfortably. “Just promise you’ll consider it, Skylar. It’s not a bad proposition.” He turned to Zack, putting out his hand. “Shall I tell Peggy to air out the empty apartment upstairs? No sense wasting time and money on a hotel.”
Zack shook his hand. “Maybe in a few days. I’d appreciate it.”
The silence lasted minutes after Nash walked heavily from the room. Zack was torn, wanting to comfort her, guessing she felt let down. The temptation was there to go in for the kill while she was vulnerable, the words of her father fresh in her mind. But sometimes, as in business, it was best to let the opposing party lead and hang themselves.
“You can stop looking so smug,” she muttered, suddenly, drawing herself up in a tense line.
Her eyes flashed, warming his blood. How could he have forgotten the fire in her? He recalled having the skin of his back raked when he’d realized she was a virgin and momentarily pulled back. That straightened his spine and made him grin. No way would spitfire Skylar allow that!
Catching her eye, he arranged a more sober expression on his face and put his hands behind his head.
“What are you looking at?”
“It occurs to me I’ve been a bit insensitive.”
“Really?” Her mouth curved in what she probably meant to be a sneer, but Skylar’s mouth didn’t do sneer. It was still a sweet smile.
“So I’m asking. Skylar Fortune, will you marry me?”
The indignation drained out of her. Her eyes were troubled, her mouth turned down. “Oh, Zack.”
He leaned toward her, taking one of her hands before she could pull back. “It’s not the perfect start, I give you that. But a child should have two parents. We are responsible, independently wealthy, sexually compatible…” He smiled at the blush scooting up her throat and face. “And we like each other. We always did.”
Skylar bit her lip briefly, drawing his eye. In lieu of kissing her there, where she was so troubled, he raised her hand, laced their fingers together and kissed the tips of hers.
“It’s not enough,” she mumbled.
He nodded reassuringly. “It’s enough.”
She squeezed his hand. “Zack, I never ever expected to get pregnant. And I never expected to fall in love and get married and walk off into the sunset, either. But why should you settle for second best?”
“I don’t consider you second best,” he admonished. “Far from it.”
Skylar pulled back from him suddenly, wrapping her arms about her torso. This was all moving too fast. He was too easy, calm, while she felt like screaming and gnashing her teeth. She knew a hustle when she saw one. Her father and Zack were bonding together…and she had a fair idea of what her brothers would think about all of this. Case and Creed, her half brothers, were carbon copies of their father. The scandal this pregnancy would cause would be their main concern. She imagined lots of male posturing and talk of dragging Zack down the aisle.
Gulping air, she rocked back and forth, trying to quell a rising panic. “Oh, I don’t know what to say…” she wailed, not caring that Peggy was still in the room.
“Say yes, Skylar.” Zack’s voice remained calm and constant. “I won’t let you down.”
Why should she believe him? She’d always felt so apart from everyone, like an afterthought. Did no one else see how impossible this was?
It had hurt to hear her father’s glib words, passing her fears off like she didn’t know her own mind. No guarantees, do what’s right, don’t surrender to girlish notions…such as love?
A tear welled up. A tear! Skylar Fortune didn’t cry. She swiped at her eyes, succeeding only in dislodging it and starting its journey. “He can’t force me,” she said through clenched teeth. “You can’t force me. I need the time to make my own decision.”
His easy smile and dimples faded. She saw disappointment in his face where, a second ago, victory had lurked. He thought she’d just go along, do as she was told. Skylar didn’t make waves, hell, not even a ripple. Everyone would no doubt think she’d be lucky to snare him.
“Don’t you think we’ve wasted enough time?”
She met his accusatory glare and upped it. He wasn’t easy now, but he’d backed her into a corner and, like one of her stallions, she was apt to kick.
“If you’d informed me a couple of months ago,” Zack said tightly, “we’d have had all the time in the world to get to know each other.”
“What difference does it make?” Skylar demanded. “Two months, five months, nine…why do we have to decide about marriage right now?”
Something in his gray eyes shifted. “My baby will not be born illegitimate.”
The quiet intensity of his words, each carefully enunciated, the warning in his eyes, made the air throb between them. Skylar inhaled, almost afraid to speak. This wasn’t the Zack she knew.
Then he blinked and she couldn’t be sure she had seen anything. He was still grim, but he was Zack. New Zealander. Razor-sharp businessman. Vintner and new studmaster.
Sexy. Charming. Considerate.
Father of her baby.
Skylar sighed. She wanted him, she had from the first. But not this way. Not shackled to him because of a broken condom. “I can’t give you an answer right…”
“When?” he demanded, cutting her off.
Her jacket rustled with the rise of her shoulders. It was hard not to be disappointed when the intensity he had just displayed suggested it was more the baby he was concerned with, not her. She raised her chin and put some steel into her spine.
Zack inhaled. “I’ll have to go home for a few days to sort out some things.” He frowned down at the table. “Make arrangements for a longer absence. We need to spend time together, Skylar.”
Or then again…Skylar nodded hopefully, her breath hitching when he reached for her hand.
“This is my first baby, too,” he told her, his tone softer now. “I want to be there for it. The whole thing.”
Or maybe not. Her shoulders dropped, but at least she would have some peace, some thinking time. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Zack suddenly pulled her toward him, squeezing her fingers firmly. “I want you to swear, on the baby’s life, that you’ll not do anything stupid while I’m gone.”
Her heart lurched. “Wh-what?”
“Like run,” Zack grated, “hide. Let your family talk you into getting rid of the baby.”
