Maureen Child - Baby Bonanza

Jenna exited onto the Promenade Deck and was instantly swallowed by the crowd of passengers wandering around the shops. The lobby area was done in glass and wood with a skylight installed in the domed ceiling overhead that displayed a blue summer sky studded with white, puffy clouds.

But she wasn’t exactly on a sightseeing mission. She plowed through the crowd to a booth where one of Nick’s employees stood ready to help passengers with answers to their questions. The man in the red shirt and white slacks wearing a name tag that read Jeff gave Jenna a welcoming smile as he asked, “How can I help you?”

She tried not to take her frustration out on him. After all, he was trying to help. “Hi, I’m Jenna Baker, and I’m in cabin 2A on the Riviera deck and-”

“Jenna Baker?” he interrupted her quickly, frowned a little, then checked a clipboard on the desk in front of him.

“Yes,” she said, attempting to draw his attention back to her. “I just came from my cabin and my key card didn’t work, so-”

“Ms. Baker,” he said, his attitude changing from flirtatious and friendly to crisp professionalism. “There’s a notation here asking that you be escorted to the Splendor Deck.”

Where Mary’s new cabin was. So Nick had upgraded Jenna, as well? Unexpected and frankly, a relief. A suite would be much more comfortable than the closet she’d been assigned.

But…“All of my things are still in my cabin, so I really need to get in there to pack and-”

“No, ma’am,” Jeff said quickly, smiling again. “Your cabin was packed up by the staff and your luggage has already been moved. If you’ll just take that elevator-” he paused to point at a bank of elevators opposite them “-to the Splendor Deck, you’ll be met and directed to your new cabin.”

Strange. She didn’t know how she felt about someone else rooting through her things, but if it meant she could get into a shower, change clothes and get ready for her meeting with Nick, then she’d go with it. “Okay then, and, um, thanks.”

“It’s a pleasure, Ms. Baker. I hope you enjoy your stay with Falcon Cruises.”

“Uh-huh.” She waved distractedly and headed for the elevators. Not much chance of her enjoying her cruise when she was here to do battle with the King of Cruise Lines. Nope, the most she could hope for was getting out of the pit and into a nicer cabin courtesy of one Mr. Nick Falco.

When the elevator stopped on the Splendor Deck, Jenna stepped out into a wide, lushly carpeted hallway. The ceiling was tinted glass, open to the skies but dark enough to keep people from frying in direct sunlight. The walls were the color of rich cream and dotted with paintings of tropical islands, ships at sea and even simple ocean scenes with whitecaps that looked real enough to wet your fingers if you reached out to touch them.

The one thing she didn’t see was someone to tell her where to go now that she was here. But almost before that thought formed in her mind, Jenna heard the sound of footsteps hurrying toward her. She turned and buried her surprise when she recognized Teresa Hogan, Nick’s assistant.

“Jenna. It’s good to see you,” the older woman said, striding to her with long, determined steps. Her smile looked real, her sharp green eyes were warm and when she reached out a hand in welcome, Jenna was happy to take it.

“Nice to see you, too, Teresa.” They’d met during that magical week with Nick more than a year ago. Ordinarily, as just an assistant to the cruise director, Jenna never would have come into contact with the big boss’s righthand woman. But as the woman having an affair with Nick, Jenna’d met Teresa almost right away.

Teresa had been friendly enough, until the truth about Jenna being one of Nick’s employees had come out. Then the coolly efficient Teresa had drawn a line in the sand, metaphorically speaking. She chose to defend Nick and make sure Jenna never had the chance to get near him again.

At the time, it had made Jenna furious, now she could understand that loyalty. And even appreciate it in a way.

“How’ve you been?” Jenna smiled as she asked, determined to keep the friendly tone that Teresa had begun.

“Busy.” The older woman shrugged. “You know the boss. He keeps us hopping.”

“Yes,” Jenna mused. “He always did.”

A long, uncomfortable moment passed before Teresa said, “So, you know about the cabins on the Riviera Deck being sealed.”

“That’s why I’m here,” Jenna said, shooting a glance up and down the long, empty hallway. “I saw Mary Curran earlier, she told me she and her husband had been upgraded. And then I went to my cabin and couldn’t get in. Jeff at information sent me here.”

“Good.” Teresa nodded and her short, dark hair didn’t so much as dip with the movement. She pointed behind Jenna to the end of the wide, plush hall. “The Currans’ suite is right along there. And now if you’ll come with me, I’ll take you to your new cabin. We can talk as we go.”

They headed off in the opposite direction of the Currans’. Walking toward the bow of the great ship, Jenna casually glanced at the artwork as she passed it and tried to figure out what was going on. Being escorted by the owner’s assistant seemed unusual. Shouldn’t a steward have been put in charge of seeing her to her new accommodations? But did it really matter? Jenna followed along in Teresa’s wake, hurrying to keep up with the woman who seemed always to be in high gear.

“You can imagine,” Teresa said over her shoulder, “that Nick was appalled to find out the cabins on the lowest deck had been rented.”

“Appalled, huh?” Jenna rolled her eyes. Clearly Teresa was still faithful to the boss. “Then why rent them at all?”

Teresa’s steps hitched a little as she acknowledged, “It was a mistake. The cabins below were supposed to have been sealed before leaving port for this maiden voyage. The person responsible for going against the boss’s orders was reprimanded.”

“Shot at dawn? Or just fired without references?” Jenna asked in a low-pitched voice.

Teresa stopped dead and Jenna almost ran right into her.

“Nick doesn’t fire indiscriminately and you know it.” Teresa lifted her chin pointedly as she moved to protect her boss. “You lied to him. That’s why you were fired, Jenna.”

A flush stole through her. Yes, she’d lied. She hadn’t meant to, but that’s what had happened. And she hadn’t been able to find a way out of the lie once it had begun. Still, he might have listened to her once the bag was open and the cat was out.

“He could have let me explain,” Jenna argued and met that cool green stare steadily.

Just for an instant the harsh planes of Teresa’s expression softened a bit. She shook her head and blew out a breath. “Look, Nick’s not perfect-”

“Quite the admission coming from you.”

Teresa smiled tightly. “True. I do defend him. I do what I can to help him. He’s a good boss. And he’s been good to me. I’m not saying that how he handled the…situation with you was right-”

Jenna stopped her, holding up both hands. “You know what? Never mind. It was more than a year ago. It’s over and done. And whatever Nick and I had has ended, too.”

Teresa cocked her head to one side and looked at her thoughtfully. “You really think so, hmm?”

“Trust me on this,” Jenna said as they started walking again. “Nick is so over me.”

“If you say so.” Teresa stopped in front of a set of double doors. Waving one hand at them as if she were a game show hostess displaying a brand-new refrigerator, she said, “Here we are. Your new quarters. I hope you like them.”

“I’m sure they’ll be great. Way better than the Riviera Deck anyway.”

“Oh,” Teresa said with a smile, “that’s certainly a fair statement. You go on in, your things have been unpacked. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you again.”

“Okay.” Jenna stood in the hall and watched as Teresa strode briskly down the long hallway. There was something going on here, she thought, she just couldn’t quite puzzle it out yet.

Then she glanced at her wristwatch, saw she had less than an hour to get ready for her dinner with Nick and opened the door with the key card Teresa had given her.

She walked inside, took a deep breath and almost genuflected.

The room was incredible-huge, and sprawlingly spacious, with glass walls that displayed a view of the ocean that stretched out into infinity. The wide blue sky was splashed with white clouds and the roiling sea reflected that deep blue back up at it.

Pale wood floors shone with an old gold gleam and the furniture scattered around the room looked designed for comfort. There was a fireplace on one wall, a wet bar in the corner and what looked to be priceless works of art dotting the walls. There were vases filled with glorious arrangements of fresh flowers that scented the air until she felt as if she were walking in a garden.

“This can’t be my cabin,” Jenna whispered, whipping her head from side to side as she tried to take in everything at once. “Okay, sure, upgraded to a suite. But this is the Taj Mahal of suites. There has to be a mistake, that’s all.”

“There’s no mistake,” Nick said as he walked easily into the room and gave her a smile that even from across the room was tempting enough to make her gasp. “This is my suite and it’s where you’ll be staying.”

“You can’t be serious.” Jenna took one instinctive step back, but couldn’t go anywhere unless she turned, opened the door and sprinted down that long hallway.

“Damn serious,” he said, and walked toward her like a man with all the time in the world.

He wore a dark blue, long-sleeved shirt, open at the collar, sleeves rolled back to his elbows. His black slacks had a knife-sharp crease in them, and his black shoes shone. But it was his eyes that held her. That pale blue gaze fixed on her as if he could see straight through her. As if he were looking for all of her secrets and wouldn’t give up the quest until he had them.

“Nick, this is a bad idea,” she said, and silently congratulated herself on keeping her tone even.

“Why’s that?” He spread both hands out and shrugged. “You came to my boat. You tell me I’m the father of your children and insist we have to talk. So now you’re here. We can talk.”

Talk. Yeah.

In a floating palace that looked designed for seduction. Meeting Nick in her tiny cabin hadn’t exactly been easy, but at least down there, there’d been no distractions. No easy opulence. No sensory overload of beauty.

This was a bad idea. Jenna knew it. Felt it. And didn’t have a single clue how to get out of it.

“We shouldn’t be staying together,” she said finally, and winced because even to her she sounded like a prissy librarian or something.

“We’ll be staying in the same cabin. Not together. There’s a difference.” He was so close now all he had to do was reach out and he could touch her.

If he did, she’d be a goner though, and she knew it.

“What’s the matter, Jenna?” he asked. “Don’t trust yourself alone with me?”

“Oh, please.” She choked out a half laugh that she desperately hoped sounded convincing. “Could you get over yourself for a minute here?”

He gave her a slow smile that dug out the dimple in his left cheek and lit wicked lights in his eyes. Jenna’s stomach flip-flopped and her mouth went dry.

“I’m not the one having a problem.”

Did he have to smell so good?

“No problem,” she said, lifting her chin and forcing herself to look him dead in the eye. “Trust me when I say all I want from you is what your kids deserve.”

The smile on Nick’s face faded away as her words slammed home. Was he a father? Were those twin boys his? He had to know. To do that, he needed some time with Jenna. He needed to talk to her, figure out what she was after, make a decision about where to go from here.

Funny, Nick had been waiting all afternoon to enjoy that look of stunned disbelief on Jenna’s face when she first walked into his suite and realized that she’d be staying with him. Payback for how he must have looked when he’d first seen the photo of the babies she claimed were his sons. But he hadn’t enjoyed it as much as he’d thought. Because there were other considerations. Bigger considerations.

His sons. Nick’s insides twisted into knots that were beginning to feel almost familiar. Countless times during the day, he’d looked at the photo of the babies he still carried in his shirt pocket. Countless times he’d asked himself if it was really possible that he was a father.

And though he wasn’t prepared to take Jenna’s word for his paternity, he had to admit that it wasn’t likely she’d have come here to the ship, signing up for a cruise if it wasn’t true. Not that he thought she’d have any qualms about lying-she’d lied to him when she first met him after all-but this lie was too easily found out.