Baby for the Billionaire - By Maxine Sullivan Page 0,79
on his doorstep with Taye McClintock in tow.
“What the hell …?” Jack greeted his two best friends with a broad grin.
“Fine greeting that is,” Taye griped. “I fly in all the way from Singapore—”
“I thought you were in Paris.”
“That was last month.” Taye paused, and his angel’s face assumed a wicked expression. “Doesn’t really matter, does it? I couldn’t miss your wedding, could I?”
Jack spared Derek a brief glance. “You told him?” he asked.
“About the wedding, yes.”
“About the reason for it, no,” Taye contributed with the comfortable brazenness of an old friend. “But I can make a fairly good guess. And I’m guessing that it has something to do with Isabella and that ongoing fight you’re having with CPS. Am I right?”
Jack started to agree, then for reasons he didn’t dare analyze, he hesitated. “Isabella’s part of the reason,” he grudgingly admitted.
He couldn’t explain his reluctance to go into the finer points, but suspected it had something to do with Annalise. Even though Derek had drawn up the prenup that spelled out every last detail of their forthcoming marriage, he felt a bone-deep urge to protect his bride from his two best friends, which struck him as vaguely ludicrous. Even so, he didn’t want them to think she was marrying him for financial gain, mainly because he knew that wasn’t her true reason. Like him, she was simply putting Isabella first, and that fact had to be protected and celebrated.
Derek’s eyes narrowed. “Well, well. Who’d have thought?”
“Thought what?” Jack asked defensively.
“That the great Jack Mason has been brought to his knees by his nanny.”
“Stuff it, Fletcher. It isn’t like that.”
“Huh.” Taye appeared intrigued. “I think it’s exactly like that. I don’t doubt Isabella is a big part of the reason for the hasty marriage, but I think you have a thing for your bride-to-be.” Before Jack could argue the point, he added, “But, the more interesting question is why the hell would she marry you, Mason?”
Jack felt his anger stir. “If that’s the attitude you two are going to adopt, you can support me on my wedding day by taking off.”
Taye chuckled. “Oh, yeah. I can definitely see the appeal now.”
“You know …” Derek chimed in, “Taye raises an interesting point. I thought she was marrying you for the obvious reasons.” He and Taye exchanged a knowing look and chimed in together, “Money.”
“You don’t think she is?” Taye asked.
“Guys—”
Derek shrugged. “I’m not so sure. When I met with her yesterday, I didn’t read ‘gold digger,’ if you know what I mean.”
Jack lost his patience. “That’s because she isn’t.”
“Which brings us back to Taye’s point.” Derek lifted a sooty eyebrow. “Precisely why is she marrying you, Jack? For Isabella’s sake? Fast work, that. What in the world would prompt a woman to sacrifice two years of her life for a child she barely knows?”
“Unless it was for money.” Taye slipped the suggestion in again with far too much cynicism. But then, he had cause, as Jack knew all too well. A small case of been there/done that. “If it wasn’t for the money …” Taye allowed the comment to trail off.
Jack shrugged uneasily. “She cares about Isabella, just as I do. She plans to get her master’s over the next two years, and this will provide her with the perfect opportunity to set herself up for the future while helping Isabella.”
It sounded weak, even to his ears. As though sensing his concern, his friends exchanged meaningful looks and deliberately changed the subject. Jack listened with half an ear. Now that he stopped to consider the matter, he had to admit that his plan to circumvent CPS had fallen into place with impressive ease. Granted, he’d always had a knack for getting his own way and making things come together to his advantage. This was just one more example of that, right? But he couldn’t stop the question from fomenting in the back of his mind.
Why had Annalise really agreed to marry him? Was it for Isabella’s sake, as she claimed? Or did she have a very different agenda?
The wedding itself took place late that afternoon in the serenity of his backyard, with Taye and Derek at his side. Annalise and Isabella walked together across the lawn toward him, hand in hand, while a string quartet played softly and a photographer worked discreetly in the background. His bride paused halfway to the makeshift altar and stooped to adjust his niece’s hat. Dappled sunlight framed them, capturing them within a golden glow. And