The Tycoon's Proposition

“Honey?”

“Mom!” She let go of Ben’s father to embrace her mother.

“You look like an angel.”

“You always say that,” Terri scoffed.

“Your husband thinks so, too. He hasn’t taken his eyes off you since you walked into the chapel on Tom’s arm.”

All is not as it seems, Mom.

Beth clamored for her space. She threw her arms around Terri. “Richard could never measure up. Thank heaven Ben came into your life. If you want my opinion, it was all meant to be.”

Terri had thought so too. Until that kiss…

“Name the first one after me,” Beth whispered before the rest of the Herrick clan descended.

Creighton was every bit as charming as his brothers. Parker came at the tail end.

He stared at her for a long moment. “I never stood a chance, did I.”

Her heart swelled with tenderness for him. “Parker—after my divorce I didn’t think I’d get a second chance. I wasn’t even sure I was entitled to one. What happened between your brother and me is something I really can’t explain.”

“You don’t have to,” he said. “It’s called love. You two found the genuine article. Give me some time to get over the pain and I’ll be happy for you.”

Terri didn’t know if she could take much more of this.

“You’ll find true love too, Parker. I know you will.”

His lips broke into that captivating smile. “How about a kiss to hold me until then?”

She thought it would be a simple buss on the cheek. To her surprise, he found her mouth and kissed her warmly.

“That was for Ben,” he teased after letting her go. “Just to remind him he’d better be good to you, or there’ll be hell to pay.”

Suddenly she caught sight of her new husband who must have seen their embrace. His eyes had narrowed. Parker may have done it in fun, but Terri had the unsettling sensation that she was going to hear about it later.

“Mrs. Herrick?”

She swung around to discover Captain Ortiz.

“I’m so glad you could come to the wedding.”

“I was honored to be invited. It is a pleasure for me to see happiness rise out of tragedy. Congratulations.”

“Thank you, Captain. My heart goes out to the families of those two young men who died with Richard. Ben and I sent flowers.”

“As I told you before, you have a generous nature. Perhaps too generous.”

“What do you mean?”

“Juanita Rosario has phoned my office at least four times asking how she can get in touch with you. It’s a good thing you’ll be sailing soon. Enjoy your honeymoon.”

There wasn’t going to be one, but Captain Ortiz didn’t know that. In fact he had no idea how precarious things were with Ben right now, or how worried she was about Juanita.

Terri had told the other woman to reach her through the captain if there was an emergency. Unfortunately he’d made it clear he didn’t approve of her giving Juanita money.

“Thank you, captain. Please stay and eat with us.”