Stormy Vows - Iris Johansen [82]
“Our baby?” Brenna asked blankly.
Donovan gazed at her bewildered face, and his brows arched in surprise. He gave a low whistle. “Well, I'll be damned. You didn't know.” He chuckled. “Didn't they teach you where babies come from in that orphanage?”
Brenna sat bolt upright, as her mind scrambled to assimilate and correlate the evidence that substantiated Donovan's astounding statement.
“I'm going to have a baby!” she announced incredulously. “But how did you guess?”
“Hardly a guess,” he said dryly, his blue eyes dancing. “If you'll recall I've had an intimate and pleasurable knowledge of that lovely body of yours for the past three months.” He grinned teasingly. “Unlike you, I was anticipating just such an occurrence. In fact, I was planning on it. It was going to be one of the ties that bound you to me.”
“A baby!” she hugged him ecstatically. “When?” and she started counting back mentally.
His arms went around her. “I figure about a month before the Academy Awards,” he drawled. “That'll give you time to get back that sylphlike slimness, before you collect your Oscar for best supporting actress.”
She ignored his gentle teasing, as she buried her face in his shoulder. “I may decide to give up acting,” she said dreamily. “I may not have the time once the baby is born.”
His amusement was abruptly stilled, as he pushed her away from him with a stern hand. His face was serious as he said, “Listen, Brenna, I might be a bit of a chauvinist, but I didn't get you pregnant to turn you into just another house frau. I admit my instincts are to lock you up in a harem and throw away the key, but I'm a realist. I want you to be so damn happy that you'll never want to leave me. You're an intelligent and gifted actress, and I want that part of you to be just as fulfilled as the wife and mother. So when the baby's born, you go back to work.” He kissed her lightly. “We'll arrange things so that you can do both.”
“Monty warned me that you were a slave driver,” she said, smiling mistily. “He also said that it was worth it.”
His hand tilted her head back. “It will be, my love. I promise you. It will be.” And his lips closed on hers.
Tempest
at Sea
one
IT WAS SHORTLY BEFORE MIDNIGHT WHEN the yellow Volkswagen drew to a surreptitious halt on the deserted dock. A sudden gust of wind swirled the light fog in gossamer wisps around the small car, and caused the three artificial daisies fastened to the antenna to bob with jaunty cheerfulness. The headlights flicked out and the two women occupants peered cautiously out the windshield at the dimly lit pier that was their destination.
“I told you it would be all right,” Jane Smith said cheerfully, grinning at the older girl, in the driver's seat. “Les said there wouldn't be anyone around at this time of night. There's only one night watchman, and he doesn't make his rounds for another two hours.”
Penny Lassiter shook her head in exasperation. “Good Lord, Jane, this is a private marina. We could be arrested for trespassing. As for what else you're planning, they'd probably lock you up and throw away the key.” She ran her fingers worriedly through her glossy brown hair, as she made one last attempt to dissuade her friend from the reckless course she had chosen.
“Nonsense,” Jane said sturdily. “It may be technically illegal, but it's not as if I'm going to do anything really criminal. I'm doing this only to make a statement and gain enough publicity so that our petition will gain momentum. Besides, Les says that if I'm caught, the court will probably let me off with just a warning. They're always lenient with student demonstrators.”
Penny Lassiter arched her eyebrow skeptically. “If it's so safe, why doesn't Les Billings do the job himself instead of letting you take all the risks?”
Jane smothered a little sigh as she gazed at her friend's worried face. She knew that Penny had neither liked nor trusted Les Billings since