One Special Moment - Brenda Jackson [55]
“I don’t think you should return to work.”
Colby looked away from the intensity of Sterling’s gaze and returned to eating her food. “I’m going back to work.” She looked back up at him. “The school is secured so there shouldn’t be any problem.”
“And I’m going to make sure of it. Mac will be here first thing in the morning.”
She lifted a brow. “Who’s Mac?”
“The man who handles my security.”
Colby released a deep sigh. She thought James and Sterling were getting worked up for nothing.
Cynthia, forever a diplomat, smoothly shifted the conversation when she said, “Sterling, Colby mentioned you wanted a small wedding.”
Sterling took a sip of his iced tea. If it was left up to him they would fly to Las Vegas, but Colby had insisted on having a wedding. So he had agreed to a small, simple one. “Yes, I want it small, simple and private, exactly three weeks from tomorrow.”
After dinner, Sterling urged Colby to call her landlord to make sure there was not any activity at her apartment.
“Reporters are all over the place,” Mrs. Foster informed her in an agitated voice. “And it’s annoying the other tenants. I think it would be a good idea if you were to stay someplace else for a few days until this blows over. I’m sorry.”
Colby hung up the phone feeling sorry, too. She hadn’t actually expected this degree of media mania.
“I still can’t stay here,” she said after telling the group of her conversation with Mrs. Foster. “You and Cynthia need your privacy. I’ll check into a hotel for tonight. Hopefully, tomorrow things will be better.”
Sterling shook his head, knowing they wouldn’t. “You can stay with me tonight,” he said.
“No, she can’t,” James said with righteous indignation. “It wouldn’t be proper.”
Sterling frowned. He was beginning not to like that one particular word. “Look, Wingate, Colby and I have practically spent the last four days together anyway, so what’s one more day? I’m only going to be there tonight. I’ll be leaving tomorrow and won’t return until a couple of days before the wedding. The condo my attorney was able to find for me here is completely secured, and with Mac overseeing everything, Colby will be safe.”
“Fine. She can stay there beginning tomorrow—after you leave—but she’ll not stay there with you tonight,” James said.
Colby rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming on. “All right, all right. I’ll stay here tonight and then tomorrow I’ll move into Sterling’s condo temporarily while he’s gone, until things get back to normal.”
Both men looked pleased with her decision.
Later, Colby walked Sterling out to the car when he was ready to leave. “Will you be returning to California?”
“Yes. I have some business I need to take care of there. Then I plan on spending a few days in Texas visiting my friend, Jake Madaris. When I leave Texas, I’ll be returning here.”
Colby nodded. “Call and let me know in advance when you’re coming back so I can move out of your condo.”
Sterling nodded. “It seems so far everyone is buying our story and that’s good.”
At the moment Colby didn’t want to think about the real reason they were getting married. She loved him and no matter what he thought, she had no plans to ever leave his life. After their marriage she intended on proving to him that he did need a wife and that their child did need a mother.
“Will you miss me?” she impulsively asked.
Sterling was mildly surprised by her question. He thought about it for a moment and knew that although he didn’t want to miss her, he would. He would miss her feistiness, her perky personality and her straightforward approach to things. But most of all, he would miss her scent, her taste and the feel of her in his arms. In the four days they had spent together, he had gotten used to having her around. “Yes, Colby, I’m going to miss you. Will you miss me?”
She looked up at him. A grin tugged