“Yes. I want to be part of the whole experience. I’m ready to be a father. A great father.” Understatement of the millennium. “I will not let you down.”

Luc hesitated before saying more. Would his enthusiasm lure her in? Or make her run in the other direction? A calculated risk. She was afraid, and he had to be careful.

“Okay.” She nodded, looking slightly shocked. “Thanks. That would be . . . helpful.”

He planned to be far more than helpful.

“You know, there are advantages to being married,” he pointed out. “Financial, of course. But children are a lot of work. Having another set of hands would lighten your load, especially when they’re sick or up all night, or you need to work late. And what about safety? It’s been a concern for you lately. Having a husband around would add protection for you and the baby. You’d rest easier. The baby would have the stability of a two-parent family, a last name. The love of both a mom and a dad.”

Alyssa froze. “You want me to marry Tyler?”

Damn it! Time to stop this verbal poker game and throw his cards on the table.

Luc stood and leaned toward her, risking all and taking her face in his hands. Her gaze bounced up to his, and he felt the zing of that poignant blue all the way to his toes.

When she’d walked back into his life, he’d never imagined it would be to lie to him. Even so, he still wanted her so badly.

“No. I want you to marry me.”

“. . . SO that’s what’s up with me.”

It was nearly four in the morning at Sexy Sirens. The club was closed now, and Alyssa faced Sadie and Tyler, nerves jittery in her stomach.

“The fucker got you pregnant and left?” Tyler screamed, his tense body leaving no question that he was ready to hit something—preferably Luc’s face. “Where is he? I wanna know right now.”

Alyssa sighed. “He didn’t ‘leave me.’ He says he wants to marry me. I don’t really know why. The baby, I guess.”

Tyler snorted. “You’re gorgeous, smart, kind—and you’re going to have his kid. Why the fuck wouldn’t he want to marry you?”

“He also thinks I’m a whore and may even believe this baby is yours.”

“I wish,” Tyler muttered under his breath.

Still, Alyssa heard. Could she feel any worse? “His proposal shocked me.”

“You’re thinking of accepting, even though you threw him out on his ass last time he was here? After the shitty way he treated you?”

Alyssa bit her lip. She’d been thinking through that. Being Luc’s wife and having his name on the birth certificate would have benefits. Stability. Money, if anything ever happened to her. Though it might be old-fashioned of her, she’d prefer to raise a child with two parents.

Tyler raised a good point, though. All the volatility and mind games she and Luc had played last time couldn’t happen again. If she accepted his proposal, they must be on the same page about that.

But at the end of the day, though it might make her twenty kinds of stupid, she loved Luc too much to say no.

“I’ll handle it.”

“How?” Tyler snarled. “He practically ran your heart over and left your for dead last time.”

“I said I’ll handle it.”

The possibility of losing Luc to his picture-perfect suburban girlfriend . . . Cold chills didn’t begin to describe the feeling. Utter fear. Panic. Jagged, aching sadness.

“This is shit,” Tyler yelled. “Given how badly he treated you, what kind of father would he be?”

“I think he’ll be a great one,” Alyssa answered, going with her gut. “Once he got over the shock of the pregnancy, he seemed really enthusiastic about the baby. Claimed he wants to be very involved.”

“Maybe that would be enough for him,” Tyler argued. “Without marriage.”

“And maybe not,” Sadie put in. “I learned that the hard way when the courts let my ex, Kenneth, take little Ben from me because of my past.”

“You can’t marry Luc because you’re afraid of what he might do. Hell, I’ll marry you. I’d love to.”

Alyssa closed her eyes. She’d suspected those words were coming, and she should rejoice. Having Tyler at her side as the other half of a parenting unit would look good to the courts, if it came to that.

But she couldn’t deny that even though Luc’s proposal had been practical, it had filled her heart with a hope she wished she could deny. Tyler’s only filled her with regret.

True, she could wait and see if Luc was vindictive or possessive of this baby. If he was, then she could always take him or Tyler up on his offer. But if she was honest with herself, she’d ached for Luc in the last six weeks, as if someone had ripped away a part of her soul. There was a reckless part of her that wanted to see if she could still have that picket-fence dream she’d been clutching to her heart since her world had shattered at fifteen. And have those dreams with the man she loved. The only thing that could make it better was if he fell in love with her in return.

If they had their whole lives ahead of them, rather than just a week, maybe someday . . . If not, they had a child to raise, and that had to be her first focus.

“I appreciate that, Tyler. But I don’t want you to sacrifice your life for me.”

“It wouldn’t be a sacrifice,” he said solemnly. “It would be an honor.”

“You should find someone who loves you and wants to have your children,” she said gently but firmly. Tyler had to understand that she was a dead end for him, especially now.

She tossed back the rest of her water, then stood.

“Where are you going?” Sadie asked.

Alyssa’s gaze fell on Tyler, who was clenching his jaw and judiciously not looking at her. She’d hurt him, and guilt hammered her to the core. Why couldn’t she love him? He was always there, always kind, funny, interesting . . . A buddy, but not a lover. Luc was sophisticated, complicated—every other sort of -ated she could think of. They shouldn’t have anything in common.

Except . . . it was his focus. Alyssa felt special with him. To him. They’d had their share of arguments, but when he took her in his arms or turned on his tender side, something inside her told her it was right.

She caressed Tyler’s hard shoulder, a silent apology.

“I’m going to call Luc.”

“At this time of night?” Sadie looked at her as if she needed her head examined.

Alyssa shrugged, trying to tamp down her ridiculous giddiness. She may come to regret this decision, but at the moment, she refused. Not only did she have a baby to think about, but this was her last chance at the fairy tale, and she was seizing it. “He said to call anytime. I’m thinking if we’re going to get married, I should tell him.”

Chapter Twelve

LUC straightened his tie and waited near the wall of Bonheur’s windows as the sun streamed in golden and bright on this November noon. The smell of roses and stargazer lilies filled the air, slightly cloying. At the other end of the restaurant, Alyssa emerged from the shadowed hallway in white, looking ethereal, elegant—and very nervous.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Deke whispered in his ear.

On the other side of Luc, Sadie, dressed in ice blue, shushed him.

Yes and no. He was still thrilled about the baby, but standing beside the justice of the peace as Alyssa walked to him through the hush, it hit him that, as husband and wife, they weren’t going to have to merely treat each other with civility, as she’d demanded. They must also get along day in and day out. Balance lives. Find common ground. Get accustomed to sharing space and priorities and feelings. Become good spouses and parents. To make this work, they would have to build trust.

Could they do that with a marriage based on a big lie? He swallowed.

On the groom’s side of the room, in the front row, his parents sat, still holding hands after nearly forty years together, looking uncertain. They’d both talked to him about commitment, compromise, honesty, and communication. He and Alyssa might be committing, but so far, they sucked at the other three virtues.

When he’d called to tell his parents that he was getting married in six days, he’d leveled with them about his reasons. Since yesterday, his mother had tried to talk him out of this—twice. He hadn’t budged. Now, somehow, he had to make this work.

“I’m good,” he whispered back to Deke.

Behind Luc’s parents sat his sisters and their families, a handful of aunts, uncles, and cousins, Deke’s wife, Kimber, along with her brothers, Logan and Hunter, a few of Luc’s close friends and colleagues. His side of the room was full to bursting, and he could have invited more. Alyssa’s side was virtually empty.

Tyler sat in the second row, scowling as if he’d like to kill someone. Why the man hadn’t tried to stop this wedding, demanded parental rights, or even a paternity test, puzzled Luc. Maybe Alyssa had asked him to step aside, and Tyler’s pride kept him from fighting for her. Even so, Luc wasn’t sure how the guy was restraining himself. He wouldn’t. Then again, maybe Tyler hadn’t wanted to shoulder the responsibility for his baby.

Jack and Morgan Cole sat behind the bouncer. Some of the other dancers and restaurant staff were scattered in various rows, dressed in their Sunday best. The first row, usually reserved for family, sat empty.

Until now, he hadn’t thought to wonder if her family would be coming. The fact none had made him hurt for her. At the hospital after Alyssa’s attack, Tyler had claimed she had no family. Seriously? Not one single blood relation who cared enough to see her on her wedding day?

Luc rolled his shoulders and stared at his bride. God, that sounded odd. But she actually looked bridal, hair upswept, pearls dangling at her ears, sheer tulle trimmed in sparkling beads falling softly down her back, to her hips. Her dress was simple. Cap sleeves clung to her shoulders. A V-neck hinted at cleavage, and the ruched silk cupped her generous breasts. Sparse beading encircled her small waist. The rest of the gown cascaded down to her feet in a gentle fall, a very short train behind her. In trembling hands, she carried a small bouquet of baby red roses that matched her lipstick.

Besides beautiful, Alyssa looked pale and scared. Luc clenched his jaw, resolving to do his best to put the lies behind them and be good to her. She had given him a gift he’d never expected. Despite the enormity of her deception—and his—a part of him still loved her.

As Alyssa neared, he held out his hand to her. She stared, her blue eyes pale, red-rimmed, and swollen. She hadn’t slept and she’d been crying. Clearly, second thoughts tortured her. Or was that guilt? Everything inside him tensed.

Luc forced himself to smile. She took a breath, finally putting her cold hand in his. Her gaze asked what her lips couldn’t in front of all these people: Why did he want to marry her?

Answering was pointless. The truth would serve no purpose except to expose his humiliation, tear them apart, and send her to back to Tyler’s arms. He’d bear the secret. And if the child emerged looking like her bouncer . . . Luc clenched his fist. Nothing to do but cross that bridge then. The best strategy now was to calm his bride and be good to her for the rest of their lives.

Beautiful, he mouthed to her. A smile wobbled across her face.

Then the justice of the peace began the ceremony. The words were short, a blur. He responded when prompted. Alyssa did the same, her voice thin and high and shaking.

Then came time for the rings.

He held out his hand toward Deke, who leaned in and whispered, “You really sure, man?”

Luc merely wiggled his fingers impatiently. With a sigh, his cousin set the ring in the middle of his palm. Then he turned to Alyssa and began to slide it on her finger as he recited his vows.

Love. Honor. Cherish. Until death. Could they make it work?

As she looked down at the ring, she gasped. And he smiled.

Earlier in the week, she’d asked him if he wanted one. He’d said a band would be fine. Apparently, she’d assumed he’d get her the same. But when he’d gone to return Emily’s ring and find something else, this had caught his eye. Three stones meant to represent their past, present, and future. He’d seen it as their new family. The middle gem was nearly two carats, the stones on either side a carat on their own. Set in platinum. No baguettes, no channel setting, no filigree. Simple sparkling splendor. So Alyssa.

“Do you like it?” he whispered.

Eyes wide, she nodded. A stupidly pleased feeling slid through his gut. This marriage might be a train wreck down the road, but this made her feel special. For now it was enough.

Then the justice of the peace prompted Alyssa. Still shaking, she slipped a ring on his finger, a brushed platinum band. Stylish but not fussy—exactly what he would have chosen for himself.

“With this ring”—she swallowed—“I thee wed. To love, honor, and cherish from this day forward, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, forsaking all others until death parts us.”