But he still had not touched her. She was feeling so much better now and had started showing just a little bit. She had put some weight back on even though the doctors said she was still too thin. And was well enough to accompany Rodney to several functions. She was also wearing his ring, an exquisite square cut diamond that shone from a mile away according to her best friend.
"Girl, you've hit the jackpot."
"I have you to thank for running interference."
"That's what friends are for." Carrie admired the soft cashmere sweater and elegantly cut tangerine pants her friend was wearing. "And you're eating." She gestured to the bowl of clam chowder that was almost finished. They were having lunch at one of Kelly Takahashi's restaurant and the woman herself had come over to say hi.
"He hasn't touched me." She shrugged slightly, toying with the spoon. "It's been almost two months and nothing. I keep looking at myself in the mirror and wondering if I've lost the appeal."
"Honey, I've seen the way that man looks at you." She had been prepared to continue disliking him, but after observing his behavior towards her best friend and David, she had changed her mind. "He loves you."
Melanie shrugged again, appetite disappearing.
"He's going away for a week and hasn't invited me to travel with him."
"That might be because you're still recovering." Carrie gestured with her spoon. "You said the doctors don't want you travelling long distance right now. You also said he has been putting off his trips because he wants to stick close in case you need him. And where is the old Melanie who would usually take matters into her own hands?"
"Lost." She laughed shakily. "The pregnancy, hormones and the changes in my life is doing something to me. I'm engaged to Rodney Lancashire. I get photographed whenever we go to a restaurant, the theater. He's a very important man and it's overwhelming."
"Several talk show hosts want me to come on their shows to tell 'my story'. I'm a real live Cinderella who rose from poverty, not to mention having a son and is now pregnant with Rodney's baby. Somehow the story of how we originally met has beenleaked. It's a story worth telling. It's too much. I just want the man, not the notoriety. I'm not used to it and it's wearing me down."
"The price you have to pay." Carrie shook her head. "Look, this is happening. The bottom line is what started out as bad has turned into something good. You have stability for yourself and your son and no doubt that worthless piece of garbage has contacted you."
"He has." She admitted with a laugh. "Claims he wants to be part of David's life."
"The nerve!" Carrie hissed. "I hope you tell him to go to the deepest part of hell."
"I did more than that. I told him to get in touch with my lawyer. Or rather, Rodney's lawyers. He has a fleet of them and Derek had given up all rights to David. He doesn't have a leg to stand on."
"Good. Has he been coming around?"
"No. He knows better."
"He has come upon a very formidable opponent. Rodney Lancashire is not a man to trifle with." Leaning over, she touched Melanie's hand briefly. "You know what to do about that man of yours honey. I'm betting you have some of those sexy lingerie he brought you in Paris. Use them."
*****
She planned it carefully. David would be spending the night at Gloria, who had expressed her delight in having him over.
"I want to bond with him, he's officially going to be my grandchild, and we have things to sort out."
Melanie was grateful for the sentiment but would rather hear from Rodney that he wanted to officially adopt David. He treated him like a son; there was no doubt about that.
But time enough for that. She would not worry about it now. All she was concentrating on was seducing the man she loved. And show him that she was well enough to be treated like a normal person instead of a delicate China ware.
She was not a piece of art to be taken out and paraded around, she wanted to be dealt with as a woman. She wanted sex, hotvibrant lovemaking with enough heat to burn the skin off her bones. She was planning on getting an entire night of it.
He had taken his trip and was back. He had called her from the office and said he was running late. That was fine. It would give her enough time to execute the plan. Humming cheerfully, she set about preparing her bath.
*****
Rodney rubbed a hand at the back of his neck, a sign of how tired he was. The trip could have taken longer, but he had crammed in several meetings in order to get home tonight. He had already spent a week away from his family. He paused, stunned at the realization that he had started to think of them as just that.
Not just her, the woman who had the unique ability to drive him crazy one minute and weak with longing the next. But her son as well. He loved the boy.
So, he had hurried the meetings, practically bullied his associates to come to a decision, all the while heading for the door and calling his pilot. He had snarled at his assistant for the further delay but acknowledged that she had been right. He had needed to drop in after being away for a week to tie up some important matters. Now he was on his way home and eager to be with them.
In two weeks, he was going to be married. Putting aside his briefcase, he turned his head to stare out the window. Signs of Christmas was in the air. Hell, it was even evident at his own house. A grin touched his face when he recalled David's huge eyes when the towering Daniel spruce had been delivered.
