California Secrets. Jules Bennett
sister was all she’d truly had in life, and now that she was gone, Harper craved any semblance of family. Her free-spirited mother gallivanting around the globe didn’t count.
Harper wasn’t sure what all her father did for a living, but she knew he was in real estate. And he’d been willing to give her a chance with one of his most prestigious properties. Having Mirage in her portfolio would seriously help boost her business.
And she would carry out her duties to prove to her father, to herself and to her sister that she was capable...despite starting a family much sooner than she’d ever planned.
“What’s going through your mind?”
Ethan’s sincere question filled the room, and she turned to face him. She couldn’t help but laugh as she fiddled with the gold bracelet at her wrist.
“I have no idea,” she told him. “I have so many thoughts, but I do want you to know that I don’t expect anything from you. I won’t make you do anything you’re not ready for. I’m a big girl—I can handle anything thrown at me.”
Wow. Her little speech sounded strong, though she felt anything but. Yet, despite her anxiety, she couldn’t let the fear win, because that’s not what Carmen would’ve wanted. One tragic event after another had made her steely when it came to pain and reactions, but she wasn’t about to let Ethan into her past, into her mind and all the reasons why she wasn’t flipping out right now.
“Listen,” she began, shoving her wayward curls over her shoulders. “This is a lot to think about. We’ll just take some time to process and then talk later. I know we haven’t gotten too personal with our information, but I will be here for at least another month, probably longer. And even then, I’ll be coming and going quite a bit.”
She’d never told him her reason for being here. Their physical relationship left no room for small talk or the get-to-know-you phase. Everything would change now. They’d have to dig into each other’s lives, because now they were bonded forever.
When Ethan continued to stare at her across the room, Harper figured she should go and leave him alone with his thoughts. She wasn’t sure what to say right now. Her purpose for coming to his room had been to tell him the truth, but she hadn’t thought much beyond that.
Harper pulled in a shaky breath and started across the penthouse. The moment she stepped by him, Ethan’s arm snaked out and caught her around the waist, his hand curling around her arm. Sliding his thumb over the inside of her elbow, he stopped her with that one simple, arousing gesture.
Her body responded, just as it always did to his tantalizing touch and heavy-lidded stare. Ethan Michaels was a potent man, and now she had to figure out how to shift from looking at him as a fling to seeing him as the father of her child...which wasn’t going to be easy, considering she didn’t know basic things like his middle name or even where he was from.
“You’re not leaving,” he told her. “We may not figure out all the answers now, but I know one thing for certain.”
Why did his tone sound like a promising threat?
Ethan’s eyes held her as breath caught in her throat. “You’re not doing this alone. I will be part of this baby’s life...and yours.”
Ethan might not know how to handle this situation, but he sure as hell knew he wasn’t about to walk away from responsibility. This was a child...his child. His family life may be uncertain and in shreds, but deep down, at the end of the day, family mattered more to him than anything in this world.
Wasn’t that why he was here to begin with? Every action he’d taken over the past twenty years had led him to this moment, all for the sake of his late mother and her wishes.
No matter what might come of him and Harper, that child was his future, and he would provide and be part of his or her life.
“I don’t want a relationship just because I’m pregnant,” she stated with a defiant tilt of her chin.
Ethan released her arm but didn’t back away. She was quite adamant about this whole casual, uncommitted relationship status, which was perfectly fine with him, but each time it had been mentioned or hinted at, Harper had a flash of hurt in her eyes.
Who had hurt her? What had she gone through to bring her to this point? More importantly, why did he care to make it his business? He’d known about this baby for all of five minutes, and already his mind was playing with him. He had his own past hurts to focus on. Not that he wanted Harper to be in pain—he’d never want that—but he couldn’t afford to get swept into her world and risk losing sight of his goals.
“I never said anything about a relationship,” he countered. “But we’re bonded together whether we like it or not.”
Beneath that steely look in her dark eyes there was a hint of vulnerability and fear. She wasn’t quite as calm as she led him to believe, but he’d be more worried if she wasn’t scared. Hell, he was terrified, but there was nothing that would pull him away from his child or the woman carrying it.
His mother had been a hardworking, single mom. Ethan couldn’t ignore the parallels here.
He would have Robert Anderson out of the picture and this resort back in his possession before his baby was born. Timing and persistence were everything right now.
“How long are you staying?” she asked. “We probably should dig a little deeper into each other since, well...”
She was more than welcome to go ahead and dig, but he would only feed her enough information to pacify her curiosities until he had his personal life all straightened out. No need to involve her in his family affair, which he was quite certain would get messy.
“I have no set plans.” Partial truth, but all he was willing to give. “I’m here for as long as I want to be.”
Harper’s brows drew in. “You’re so vague. Please tell me you’re not married or running from the law.”
Ethan laughed. “I’m not running from the law, and isn’t it a little late to ask about a wife?”
“I assumed you didn’t have one before we hooked up, but now I feel I should know the truth.”
Ethan shook his head. “No wife, no girlfriend. I have a twin brother in Montana, and that’s all the family I have. Well, he’s getting married soon, so I guess I’ll have a sister.”
Harper’s gaze darted down to her clasped hands, and he thought he saw that flash of hurt again, but maybe not. Maybe he just couldn’t read her well enough quite yet. He knew exactly how to read her in the bedroom, but now, well...this was completely new territory. Trying to get a bead on women emotionally had always been foreign to him.
“What about you?” he asked.
Harper shifted her attention back to him. “I have a father that I met when I was twenty. My mother is a little eccentric and floats from one spot on the globe to the next. I’m not sure what hemisphere she’s in half the time. I had a sister, but she passed away six months ago. She was...everything to me. I’m still trying to figure out how to do life without her.”
Well, damn. Not what he thought she’d say. He’d pegged her for someone with several siblings, doting parents that all gathered around a big table for each holiday. He figured she was here as a loner to get away and have some time for herself.
But instead, she was alone. Like him.
Oh, he had Dane, but since their mother’s death, nothing had been the same. For nearly twenty years, an invisible wedge had separated them, and Ethan was hoping that by getting their mother’s resorts back, maybe they’d find closure and get back that relationship they’d once had.
So, his twin was getting a wife and Ethan was getting a child. Not at