Page 2 of Beau

“This has to stop.” His deep voice had a steely inflection she recognized.

“I don’t know what you mean." She did not look at him, but kept her eyes closed.

“Is this what I have to look forward to every single day?”

She turned her head then and opened her eyes. She ached with love for him. Ever since she met him, he brought out feelings inside her that she never thought existed.

She had fought the attraction, even to the point of leaving the country for a month. But he had found her.

She loved him so much that she could not breathe. It was a year since their nuptials, and it felt as if she had just met him. “You know how I feel," she murmured huskily.

“And you know my stance on the matter.” His square jaw was tight with disapproval. “We are here.”

Georgie wished he would turn the vehicle around and let them go back home, but they had their obligations. She felt weepy and melancholic. Her middle sister had called to tell her that she was pregnant.

“We never thought it would happen.” Sandra said enthusiastically, never realizing that every word was like a dagger in her heart. “Not after Christian," she added, mentioning her five-year-old son.

She loved her sisters, and being the baby of the family meant that they thought the world of her. And she loved them too. All three of them were parents, and she was happy for them. It just hurt like hell to know that she was not carrying her husband’s child.

Beau was breathtaking. Her sisters were constantly dazzled by him. Women flocked around him like bees to a honeycomb. She knew he was committed to her and had changed from the randy playboy he had been before. But deep in her heart, there was always this nagging doubt that he would revert to his former ways.

Shaking herself from her painful reverie, she forced a smile when the valet opened the door for her.

“Thanks.”

Taking her hand, Beau glanced around the crowded parking lot of the hotel his family owned. It was a celebration gala.

The pharmaceutical company, which was just part of their vast holdings, had acquired a subsidiary R&D department, and the coup had been accomplished by Beau himself. It was a very proud moment for him and his family, considering that a year before, he had been content to waste his life by cramming in as many parties as possible.

“I am proud of you,” Georgie told him sincerely.

Discerning green eyes searched her face, and she felt the familiar yearning deep inside her.

“And when we get home, I will show you how much.”

That helped to alleviate his concern.

Turning her to face him, he undid the cape from her shoulders and, barely glancing at the coat check person, he tilted her chin up, his fingers gentle. “I am going to hold you to that.”

He kissed her then and there, not caring that they were being viewed by the several hundred guests gathered in the huge ballroom.

“I adore you, darling," he whispered against her lips.

Georgie clung to him for several seconds and wished fervently that this could be enough. That their love could be enough.

“Ditto.” Lifting a hand, she touched his jaw lightly. “Now, let’s get in there before Blake sends someone to get us," she added, referring to his father.

*****

Sipping from the champagne glass, he watched his wife as she entertained the group gathered around her. Georgie was always the life of the party, and it was her effervescent personality and her beauty that had drawn him to her the very first time.

Her orange dress stood out in the crowd, and he was happy to see that she was having fun.

“Your wife lights up the room.”

Beau had been so intent on staring at her that he failed to realize his father had come alongside him.

“Dad.” He acknowledged the older man with a nod, reluctantly tearing his eyes away from his wife. Blake Anderson had disapproved of the hasty courtship and had tried to talk his son out of marrying Georgiana. He would have sincerely regretted it, if the boy had listened to him.

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