The Billionaire's Borrowed Baby

Author:Janice Maynard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2011-05-30T16:00:00+00:00

If Hattie slept at all, it was only in bits and snatches. Her eyes were gritty when the alarm went off at eight-thirty. And the fact that she had set an alarm for the first morning of her honeymoon made her want to laugh hysterically. She bit down on the macabre humor, afraid that if she let loose of the tight hold she had on her emotions that she would dissolve into a total mess.

She was dressed, packed and sitting on the bed by nine-fifteen. There was plenty of food in the kitchen, but the prospect of eating made her nauseous. Her stomach was tightly knotted, her mouth dry with despair.

When Luc knocked on her door just before ten, she opened it with pseudo calm. “Good morning.”

He didn’t return her greeting, but merely held out a cup of coffee. It was black and lightly sweet, just the way she liked it. Luc’s expression was shuttered, dark smudges beneath his eyes emphasizing his lack of sleep.

As he picked up two of her bags, he spoke quietly. “I can hear the chopper. The pilot and I will load the luggage. Why don’t you wait on the porch until we’re ready?”

It was all accomplished in minutes. The man flying the helicopter was polite and deferential as he handed Hattie up into the large doorway. Luc followed. They buckled in, the rotors roared to life and moments later they were airborne.

Hattie gazed down at the island and had to blink back tears. It had been a fairy-tale wedding. Too bad she knew that fairy tales were nothing more than pleasant fiction.

The noise in the chopper made conversation impossible. Which was fine by Hattie. She kept her nose glued to the glass and watched the shoreline recede as they cruised across central Georgia. Ignoring Luc at the moment equaled self-preservation.

Landing at Atlanta’s enormous airport was frantic. Chaos reigned in controlled waves. Luc gave her a sardonic look as they made their way into the terminal followed by their luggage. “We’re flying commercial today,” he said, scanning the departure board for their gate. “I know your Puritan soul would have balked if I had chartered a jet for just the two of us.”

The security lines were long and slow. But finally, they were able to board. Hattie had never flown first-class. The width of the seat was generous, but still dangerously close to Luc’s. She closed her eyes and pretended to sleep as the jet gathered speed and took off.

Pretense became reality. She woke up only when they touched down in Miami. Luc must have slept, as well, because his usual sartorial perfection was definitely rumpled.

Their connecting flight to Key West was a small plane with only two seats on either side of a narrow aisle. Now she and Luc were wedged hip to hip. After her long nap, it was hard to fake sleep again. So she pretended an intense interest in watching the commotion outside her window.

When they were airborne for the short flight, Luc pulled out a business magazine and buried his head in it.

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