The Illegitimate Heirs: Luke, Zach and Jake. Kathie DeNosky

it was when she’d looked up at him with those trusting turquoise eyes, that a need to protect and take care of her threatened to overwhelm him.

      And if that wasn’t enough to throw him for a loop, the kiss they’d shared at the end of the brief ceremony was. When he’d kissed her the night before, it had been quite promising and more than a little pleasant. But it couldn’t compare to the kiss they’d shared to seal their vows. The feel of her soft, sweet lips beneath his and the need to possess her had been staggering. He’d never in his entire thirty-six years experienced anything even close to that with any other woman.

      That was what sent him rushing off to meet the Laurel people. He’d needed the distance to regain his perspective on the matter.

      Unfortunately, the meeting ran a lot longer than he anticipated, then he’d learned of a labor dispute that threatened to shut down work on several job sites. By the time he’d straightened out the problem so that the jobs could resume the next week, it was well after midnight. And if missing the wedding dinner he’d arranged for them and not being there to make love to Haley on their wedding night didn’t lock up the prize jerk award for him, he didn’t know what would.

      He sighed heavily as he started up the steps to the front door of the lodge. As he keyed in the security code and opened the door, he wondered if she would honor their agreement of having his child. But as he walked through the great room on his way to the master suite, he shook his head. There was no doubt in his mind that Haley would hold up her end of the arrangement. If there was one thing he knew about his executive assistant, it was that her word was as good as any signed contract. And he’d known from the minute she’d outlined her conditions that if he accepted her criteria, she’d go through with it.

      Still, that didn’t change the fact that she probably expected a lot more from him on their wedding day.

      Luke narrowed his eyes at the sight of his big empty bed. The comforter was still in place, indicating no one had been in it. He looked around the room and noted that her overnight case was nowhere in sight.

      Where the hell was she?

      His strides purposeful, he crossed the great room and taking the stairs two at a time, went in search of his wayward assistant. There were seven other bedrooms in the place and Haley had damned well better be in one of them.

      By the time he got to the door at the end of the hall, Luke was already planning to call the housekeeper and put the woman through the third degree about when Haley had left and if she’d indicated where she was going. But when he glanced in the last bedroom, his irritation instantly disappeared at the sight before him.

      The moonlight streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows bathed the room in an ethereal light. Haley looked like a golden-haired angel curled up in the middle of the king-size bed. Walking over to wake her and ask her why the hell she wasn’t in his bed in the master suite, Luke stopped short at the iridescent trace of tears on her flawless cheeks.

      She’d been crying?

      Without warning the protectiveness he’d experienced at the wedding chapel began to spread throughout his chest and he didn’t think twice as he quietly shrugged out of his suit coat and began to loosen his tie and unbutton his shirt. Tossing them on the chair across the room, he removed his shoes and socks, then unzipped his trousers and added them to the growing pile of clothes. Careful not to wake her, Luke pulled back the covers and stretching out on the bed beside her, reached out to take Haley into his arms.

      As he pulled her against him, he thought he heard her murmur his name in her sleep, but he didn’t have time to dwell on what that might mean when she moved to snuggle against him and placed a delicate hand on his bare chest. The feel of her slender body aligned with his and her soft palm against his hair-roughened flesh sent heat streaking at the speed of light down the length of him and he concentrated on drawing in his next breath.

      Suddenly, and completely without warning, the memory of their wedding kiss came rushing back and his body hardened so fast it left him feeling light-headed. The memory of the feel of her perfect lips against his had him wondering what the hell he’d been thinking. Why had he put work ahead of what he knew for certain would have been one of the most exciting nights of his life?

      Luke glanced down at Haley’s head cradled on his shoulder. He’d like nothing more than to wake her and make love until they both collapsed from exhaustion. But all things considered, he doubted she’d be overly receptive to the idea of sharing her body with the man who had abandoned her in favor of work.

      Tightening his arms around her, he forced himself to relax and concentrate on getting some much needed sleep. The first thing in the morning, he’d let her know he regretted the way things had gone the evening before. And once she was in a more congenial mood, they could spend the rest of their stay in the mountains on the pleasurable task of making her pregnant.

      Trying her best to prolong her tantalizing dream, Haley moved closer to the warm, hard masculine body lying next to her. But one by one, as her senses woke up, she became aware of several things at once. The feel of crisp hair beneath her palm, the light woodsy scent of a man’s cologne and the sound of soft snores chased away the last traces of sleep and opening her eyes, she found herself face-to-face with Luke.

      Her sharp intake of breath must have wakened him because the corners of his mouth slowly curved up in a sleepy smile a moment before he opened his eyes. “Good morning, sweetheart.”

      “What are you doing here, Luke?”

      His low chuckle caused a wonderful fluttering sensation deep in the pit of her stomach and made every one of her feminine instincts come to full alert.

      “If you’ll remember, we got married yesterday. This is where I’m supposed to be.”

      “Oh, I remember.” She shook her head and started moving away from him. She wasn’t letting him off the hook that easily. “But I was under the impression that you had forgotten all about that.”

      The smile on his handsome face faded and before she knew what was happening, he reached out and pulled her back to him. “I really regret that I missed having dinner with you last night.” He used his index finger to brush a strand of hair from her cheek. “But during my meeting with the Laurel office staff, I learned about a labor dispute with the work crews which had to be resolved immediately or there would have been a walkout on Monday.”

      Her skin tingled everywhere he touched her, but Haley tried her best not to notice. As far as she was concerned, no matter what the reason for their marriage, there was no excuse for a man to completely ignore a woman on what was supposed to be one of the most important days of her life.

      “There’s always going to be something that needs your attention.” She tried to wiggle out of his grasp, but his arms were like two steel bands holding her firmly against him.

      “That’s true,” he said, confirming her suspicion that she would always come in a distant second to Garnier Construction. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Would you like to know what’s going to claim my attention today and tomorrow?”

      “Not particularly.” She wasn’t interested in hearing about labor problems or another meeting with office managers. All she wanted to do was take a shower, get dressed and pack for their return trip.

      “That’s too bad because I’m going to tell you anyway,” he continued as he ran his hand down the outside of her thigh, then back up, bringing the tail of her nightgown to her waist. “Today and tomorrow, you will have my complete and undivided attention.”

      Haley wasn’t sure if her heart skittered to a stop because of what he’d said or from the feel of his hand slipping beneath her gown to caress her lower back. “B-but I thought…I mean, you said we would be going back to Nashville early this morning.”

      “I’ve decided that we need time to rectify the situation you brought to my attention the other day at the office. We need to get to know each other on a more…personal level,” he said, giving her a smile that warmed her all over and left no doubt about what he had in mind.