The Texan's Contract Marriage - By Sara Orwig Page 0,7
the sisters were not in agreement about sharing Noah with his paternal relatives.
“It was nice to meet you,” Ashley stated. Stephanie merely nodded perfunctorily, and Marek was certain about her feelings toward him. At the door he couldn’t resist turning to glance back at Noah, who was playing with a rattle, kicking his legs and enjoying himself.
Marek’s glance rested only briefly on Stephanie, who glared at him. Her mouth was set in a hard line. Marek followed Camille into the hall.
“I take it your sister Stephanie doesn’t share your feelings about allowing Noah to know the paternal side of the family. I couldn’t get a reading on what Ashley felt.”
“Don’t worry about Stephanie. Noah is my child, and I want you to know him. I told you, I want him to know the Rangels and ranching. I want you as an influence in his life. Ashley is all right with letting you see Noah.”
“I’m glad,” he said, “because we all want to know him. It’s startling to me to look at him. There’s something about him that really resembles Kern.”
As they walked toward the front, he caught another whiff of the perfume she wore. When they passed the room with the piano, he glanced inside. “Is this where you practice your voice lessons?”
“Yes. It’s an office of sorts, too. Stephanie wanted an office this spring to work on taxes. Noah disturbs her sometimes, so this room is the farthest from the nursery. I study languages every day, trying to improve my grasp of Italian, French and German. Wherever we go, I take my own furniture, so that’s why we have such a minimal amount. I like having my own bed. But I rent the piano. I can’t practice in a hotel.”
“Good idea. I don’t blame you. It sounds like it works out well,” Marek said, thinking she must not have much time in her life for Noah.
In minutes they were in his black limousine, headed toward the airport. He sat facing her. “I feel as if my life is changing and I don’t have control over the changes,” he said. “That’s unusual. I’d like to work out something before you leave Texas. Something that’s permanent as far as seeing him periodically,” he added. He’d like to see more of her. She interested him and seemed different from other women he had known.
“We may have to have those lawyers yet,” she replied.
“Let’s try to work it out between us,” he urged, thinking she had a flair for the dramatic in her manner and her dress. Once again, she stood out with her midnight hair secured with a blue scarf and her deep blue dress that emphasized her lush curves and narrow waist. Her startling pale blue eyes were a vivid contrast to her thick, black lashes.
He had never associated with women in show business, much less in opera. She was an unknown in many ways. His gaze rested on her full, enticing lips. What would it be like to kiss her? His question startled him. He hadn’t noticed any women in a personal way since losing Jillian, but Camille was bringing him back into the world without any effort to do so. She had been forthright, businesslike about Noah. Yet his physical response to her was becoming more personal. “I have a lot of resources. I have a plane available at all times. Most of the time I can come and go as I please. We should be able to adjust schedules,” he said.
“We’ll try. I might be out of the United States some of the time.”
“Let’s take it as it comes,” he suggested, wondering whether they could ever work out an acceptable plan for sharing Noah. “Tell me about your life,” he said, his curiosity about her growing. “I’m sorry I don’t already know about you, but I haven’t been into opera.”
She smiled at him. “Then I believe you are in for a treat, but that’s because I love it. You will either love it or not care for it at all. To me it’s the most beautiful music possible.”
Her enthusiasm made him smile. “So you’ve always dreamed of this career?”
“Yes, actually. I started singing early and began voice lessons when I was young. Now, looking back, it seems like forever.”
He listened while she talked about growing up in Saint Louis and singing, and he wondered about her past. When she paused in her talk, he leaned closer.
“Have you ever been in love?”
“Not really. I thought I was in college,