One Special Moment

Chapter 3

Colby's jaw dropped. Just who does he think he is? she asked herself as she quickly got out of the tub. Hurriedly she began toweling herself off with one of the huge, thick velour towels.

Slipping into her robe, she swiftly walked over to the closet looking for something to put on. She finally settled on a light blue skirt set.

She could care less that he was footing the bill for her to stay in this place. No one asked him to. It was their screwup not hers. She shook her head when she thought about the fact that Sterling Hamilton, of all people, was actually sitting in the other room waiting for her to appear.

Colby's eyes brimmed with amusement in knowing that Cynthia would give anything to be in her shoes right now. Correction, she thought, looking down. Cynthia would give anything to be in her bare feet. Her sister-in-law would die at the thought of coming within ten feet of Sterling Hamilton. She saw all of his movies, some more than twice, and purchased any magazine if his face appeared on the cover.

In fact, Colby thought, as she rubbed some Colby bath oil onto her skin before slipping into her outfit, it had been Cynthia's constant chattering about Sterling Hamilton's sex appeal that had given her the notion to approach him with the idea of an endorsement.

A few minutes later, Colby entered the sitting room of the suite where Sterling sat lazily reclining on the sofa scanning a magazine.

Sterling looked up. His gaze swept over Colby's appearance. Somehow she seemed to have gotten prettier since their meeting earlier that day. He noted she was no more than five feet four inches tall and had what he considered one helluva voluptuous figure. It was an enticing contrast to the figures of the women he usually dated. Most of them thought too much meat on their bones was a crime. They were totally obsessed with their thinner, willowy frames.

He thought there was something blatantly sexy about Colby Wingate's small waist, curvy childbearing hips and her nicely rounded behind. And with her full breasts and shapely legs, all her feminine attributes were enough to make any man take a second look.

So he obliged himself and took a second look before getting to his feet.

“You made excellent time, Colby. But I only asked you to get out of the tub. You didn't have to get dressed on my account.”

Colby glared at him. For some reason he appeared even taller than he had in Edward Stewart's office. She suddenly felt rather small in the room with his six feet three inches of towering height. If he thought he would use his height to intimidate her, then he had another thought coming. James was just as tall, so tall men didn't bother her one bit. But, she thought as she continued to glare at him, although his height didn't bother her, his penetrating stare did. She had been fully aware of his close scrutiny of her when she had entered the room. She had seen his gaze make a slow journey down the full length of her body and had wondered just what he thought he was looking at. She knew most men preferred pencil-thin, size-five women. Pencil-thin she was not, but she felt completely comfortable and satisfied with her size-ten figure.

Placing her hands on her hips, she asked. “What do you want, Mr. Hamilton?”

Sterling's gaze again roamed over her figure before he brought his eyes back to hers, with mesmerizing intensity. His perusal caused an unexpected quickening of Colby's pulse and made her feel momentarily light-headed. She struggled to control her body's reaction to him.

“I asked what you wanted, Mr. Hamilton,” she repeated nervously and with a little less force.

Sterling walked over to her slowly, with the ease of a predator stalking his prey. His dark eyes were sharpened and held Colby transfixed in place. She couldn't have moved if she wanted to.

He reached out and tipped her chin so he could see even deeper into her eyes. “I'm glad you asked because I have every intention of telling you exactly what I want, Colby Wingate. I want you to have my baby.”

“No,” Colby murmured in a choked whisper. Her head began spinning at his words. And to make matters worse, her body began aching in a very private place. What was wrong with her? She took a step back and out of his grasp. Finding her voice, she replied, “We've gone over this before and my answer is still the same. We can't always get what we want.”

Sterling chuckled. “But I usually do.”

She tilted her chin. “Usually isn't the same as always.”

“That's true. Then maybe I should rephrase my statement so there won't be any misunderstanding. I always get what I want. Eventually.”

Colby swallowed again. “Not this time.”

Sterling's gaze penetrated hers. He noticed the color of her eyes had darkened even more. There were traces of fire in them as her gaze challenged his. He gave her just as good a glare as she was giving him, and wondered when the last time was that a woman, any woman, had gotten under his skin like she was doing.

He moved in closer and lowered his face over hers until their lips were less than mere inches apart. His hand cupped the center of her back. “On the contrary, Colby. Especially this time,” he whispered hoarsely. “I'll get everything I want…and more.”

Colby saw his intent and quickly twisted away from him. She walked swiftly to the door and opened it. “Please leave.”

“I will if you really want me to, but if you really love your brother and care about what happens to him and his company, you'll let me stay.”

Colby drew in a deep breath. Her throat became congested with fear and uncertainty. “What do you mean by that?”

“If you'll allow me a few minutes of your time, I will tell you,” he said, returning to the sofa to sit down.

Colby eyed him narrowly. If there was something concerning James and Wingate Cosmetics, she wanted to hear it. “All right,” she said, closing the door. “You got five minutes. No more and possibly less.” She took a chair opposite the sofa. “I'm listening.”

A soft chuckle escaped Sterling's throat. Although he didn't want to, he actually liked her. She was an amusing change from most of the women he came in contact with. He couldn't remember the last time a woman had acted as if he'd crawled out from under a rock.

“We could have shared the sofa. I don't bite.”

“Your bite is the least of my worries, and you're down to four minutes, Mr. Hamilton. My patience is wearing thin.”

Sterling laughed. “So is mine. And I prefer you call me Sterling, or anything else you may find endearing.”

Colby gave him a withering glance. “There's nothing about you I find endearing.” She knew to him this was just a game. A game she wasn't interested in playing. Women threw themselves at him constantly, and she had no intention of being one of them. He was way out of her league.

Sterling reached for a briefcase on a nearby table that Colby noticed for the first time. He leaned back against the sofa and proceeded to review a stack of papers he took out of it. He didn't bother to look up as he began speaking.

“After you left Edward's office I made a few calls and found out some rather interesting information regarding your brother's company.”

Colby cocked an arched eyebrow. “Such as?” she asked blithely.

He looked up and wished he hadn't. Heat surged through his body just from looking at her. He quickly looked back down at the papers he held in his hand. What was wrong with him? You would think Colby Wingate was the first woman he'd been around in a long time, but that wasn't the case. He'd just flown in from Paris, where he'd been surrounded by numerous beautiful women on the set of his latest movie. What was there about her that drew his gaze to her tempting mouth time and time again? He shook his head and took an exasperated breath.

“I'm waiting for an answer, Mr. Hamilton.”

He looked up again and met her gaze, grateful he was a little better in control. “Such as the fact that Wingate Cosmetics is about to be faced with a hostile takeover attempt by Morton Industries.”

Colby sat up straight and stared at him with openmouthed shock. “What? Are you sure?” she asked in a whisper.

“I'm positive. A very good friend of mine named Jacob Madaris is a top-notch player on the New York Stock Exchange. He handles most of my investments and is known to have inside information about a lot of things.”

Shakily, Colby reached out to steady herself by grasping the arms of the huge chair she was sitting in. “But why? How?”

Sterling watched her reaction to the information. “Correct me if I'm wrong but according to my sources, Morton Industries released your brother from their employment several years ago when he failed to divulge the ingredients of a certain perfume he had created. I gather they liked the fragrance and wanted him to sign over the rights to them.”

Colby sighed. “Yes,” she replied softly. “He created it as a present for my eighteenth birthday and named it after me. It's called Colby. I'm the only woman who wears it.”

He nodded and inhaled the tantalizing aroma of her. It was a subtle but extremely potent scent. There was something about it that was totally alluring. He was familiar with various feminine fragrances, but somehow the one Colby wore seemed unique and exclusively hers. He couldn't imagine the scent on any other woman.

“What your brother may not have known is that he did exactly what they expected him to do by going into business for himself. They sat back and waited patiently for him to make it into a lucrative company. Now they're ready to take things over.”

Colby gasped. “You can't mean that.”

“Yes, I do. I doubt your brother is aware of it, but Morton's about ready to file with the SEC. It's only a matter of time before their intentions are made public. Then it will be virtually impossible for him to do anything about it. If they're successful, they will gain complete control of Wingate Cosmetics. If the perfume Colby is registered with the company, regardless of the fact it is not being publicly marketed for sale, it will become the property of Morton Industries. And I have a feeling nothing will please them more than to put it on the market. Also, this new creation of your brother's, the one you called Awesome, will fall into their hands.”

“I can't let that happen.”

Sterling met her gaze. “You can't stop them.”

Colby stood quickly to face him. “But you don't understand. I have to do something. Everything James's ever owned is tied to that company, his life savings, his heart and his soul. He's worked so hard to make it a success. He and his wife are expecting their first child and the pregnancy is a risky one. It's not fair that Morton Industries can just come in and reap the benefits of his hard work.”

Sterling witnessed her outburst. The anger she was feeling was openly expressed in her features.

“It's not fair,” she said. “It's just not fair, and I won't let them do it.”

“And just how do you plan to stop them?”

Colby slumped back down in her seat knowing she didn't have a clue. “I don't know, but I'm going to call James immediately. He'll think of something.”

“It's too late. The wheels are already in motion. There's nothing he can do.”

Colby frowned. “How can you say that? It's his company.”

“Not for long. Anytime a company goes public with stock options something like this can happen. Especially if the company is doing well financially. And according to this,” Sterling said, spreading out a financial report on the table in front of them, “Wingate Cosmetics is doing rather well. Your brother should be proud of what he's accomplished.”

Colby appreciated his compliment of her brother's hard work. “It wasn't easy for him. He works hard and long hours,” she said softly, thinking back to how his marriage had nearly suffered because of it.

Then she looked at Sterling for a long, taut moment before speaking again. “I would like to know how you got this?” she asked, indicating the financial statement spread out on the table.

“The financial position of any company is a matter of public record.”

“Are you saying James should have anticipated this takeover attempt by Morton Industries?”

“No,” he said calmly. “It appears Morton Industries' planned acquisition of Wingate Cosmetics was a calculated move on their part. I believe their reasons for wanting it are both business and personal. Your brother didn't leave on the best of terms. He was their top chemist and had created quite a number of successful products for them. Homer Morton took it as an act of betrayal when he left to form his own company.”

Colby lifted a brow as she sat curled up in the chair. “And just how do you know all of that?”

A tiny corner of his mouth lifted in a smile. “I have ways of finding out anything I want to know.”

She stood and began pacing the room. After a while, she turned toward Sterling. “And you're absolutely sure about all of this?”

Sterling eased out of his seat and came to stand before her. “It's all there in the report. I suggest you read it for yourself. So far, Morton Industries has acquired the minimum amount of outstanding stock they need before filing with the SEC. Since it appears they'll be doing a filing relatively soon, I can only assume their plan is to start going after a vast quantity of shares of Wingate's stock available on the open market. All Morton needs is enough stock to give them control of your brother's company.”

Colby turned and walked to the window. She stood there stunned for several minutes and felt moisture gathering in her eyes. This couldn't be happening, she thought. She closed her eyes briefly, hoping that when she reopened them, the events of today would have been a dream. She wanted to open her eyes and find herself back in Virginia, in her classroom taking care of her rowdy third-grade bunch. But when she reopened her eyes, that was not the case.

Sterling sat down and watched Colby. He knew she was upset. The anger and hurt had been obvious in her expression before she had walked over to the window. And he was perceptive enough to know she was crying. For some reason that bothered him, and he was surprised by the protective feelings she'd awakened in him. They were feelings he wasn't used to. He wanted to go to her and comfort her.

In one swift movement he stood and walked over to where she was standing. Turning her to face him, he gathered her into his arms, enfolding her in the firmness of his form to absorb her trembling body.

“Your brother means a lot to you, doesn't he?” he asked her softly.

She nodded, then tearfully told him why James meant so much to her and the sacrifices he had made throughout his life for her.

“Shhh, Colby,” Sterling whispered in her ear. “Maybe there is a way you can help your brother.”

Colby's body was stiff and unyielding for a moment, before she drew in a deep, unsteady breath. She raised tear-stained eyes to him. “How?” she asked brokenly.

“Come sit down with me and we'll talk about it.”

Colby allowed him to lead her to the sofa and sit her down close to him.

“If you'll agree to have my baby, I'll provide your brother with whatever financial backing he needs to keep his company. And I'll do whatever endorsements are needed to ensure the success of his newest creation.”

Colby stiffened and pulled herself out of the comfort of his arms. She glanced up at him. “You just don't get it, do you? There's no way I could carry a baby inside of me for nine months and then turn it over to you, relinquishing my ties to it. I'm an elementary school teacher, Sterling. That means I love kids. I couldn't just give away my child.”

Sterling's features hardened. “Not even to help your brother?”

Colby swallowed. “James wouldn't want me to give away my child to help him.”

“No, I'm sure he wouldn't,” Sterling said. His voice was like a soft caress as he continued. “A few minutes ago, you mentioned all the sacrifices he's made over the years for you, Colby. What real sacrifices have you made for him?”

Colby rose from the sofa to face him, her expression pleading for understanding. “But you're asking me to give up a baby, something that will be a part of me, my own flesh and blood.”

Sterling stood. “Yes. That's exactly what I'm asking you.”

“But a baby needs its mother.”

His jaw hardened. “You can't convince me of that. I didn't need mine.”

Colby lifted a brow. From his remark she could only assume his mother was not around while he was growing up, and for whatever reason, it had left him bitter. “You may not have had a mother around, Sterling, but you can't convince me you didn't need one.”

She watched him move to the window and gaze out. After a few brief minutes he slowly turned back to her, giving her a long, hard look. “It's important you understand that if you decide to go along with me on this, once I get custody of my child, you'll never be a part of its life again. I will be its only parent.”

“But you constantly travel all over the world. You'll never get an award for being a stay-at-home family man. What kind of life can you offer a child? When will you have the time to spend with it?”

“My child will be the most important thing in my life, and it's the quality of time and not the quantity of time that makes a difference. I will be both father and mother to my child.”

Colby swallowed. What could she say? He was convinced a mother's love wasn't necessary. “What if the woman decides after the baby is born that she wants to keep it?”

“I'll have the contract to back me up,” Sterling answered. “I've taken extra precautions to make sure it's not contestable.”

Colby then asked the question that had nagged her since leaving Edward Stewart's office. Sterling Hamilton was known to be a man whose name was constantly linked to some of the most beautiful women in the world. He was the man both People and Entertainment magazines referred to as one of the country's most eligible bachelors, as well as an extraordinarily gifted actor. The media thoroughly enjoyed keeping the public informed of his bad-boy lifestyle. It was often rumored nothing in a skirt was safe from him, especially if that skirt-wearing female caught his eye. From everything she'd read about him, he preferred a certain type of woman—tall women with long legs and pencil-thin bodies. She had none of those faculties.

“Why me, Sterling? Why was I the one chosen?”

He stared at her a few minutes before speaking. “I found the information on you very interesting. Foremost were the facts that according to the medical information I obtained, I don't have to worry about you giving me anything other than a baby, and you don't have any gynecological problems, so there shouldn't be any difficulty with you getting pregnant.”

“And what about you?” Colby snapped, angry that he had invaded her privacy by obtaining information about her. “Maybe you should be concerned about just what you might give me. You're the one with the widely acclaimed global sex life. And what if there's a problem with you?” Colby asked, lifting her chin belligerently. “What makes you so sure you can get someone pregnant?”

An amused look glinted in Sterling's eyes. “The tabloids like to sell those sleazy papers, and the media likes to keep America's ears buzzing. You're too intelligent for me to stand here and deny every intimate detail you've heard about me, so I won't. But I will say most of what you've read is not true. Although I do date a number of women, I don't believe in taking unnecessary risks. I love life too much not to be selective and cautious. It's plain suicidal these days not to. And at the risk of sounding boastful, getting you pregnant won't be a problem. However, to address your concerns, according to a recent physical I had, my sperm count was more than adequate to accomplish what I need to do.”

Colby blushed furiously. Then she asked her next question. “What about you and Diamond Swain? At one time the two of you acted like you were joined at the hip. Why can't she give birth to your child?”

He was silent for so long that for a while Colby didn't think he would answer her question. When he finally did, his tone was serious, and the look in his eyes held no signs of humor. “Diamond Swain is very special to me but not in the way the media has claimed. She and I are very good friends and that's all you need to know.”

“That's not all I need to know. If you plan on sleeping with the both of us then—”

“I wouldn't do that, and I refuse to discuss Diamond any further.”

Colby's anger increased. She wondered just what his relationship was with the woman who was the leading lady in most of his movies. According to Cynthia, at one time rumors had circulated that the two of them were even married.

She looked at him and his gaze held hers. His expression was unreadable. She knew he was waiting for her to make some kind of flippant comment about what he'd just said. But she had no intention of making his day. Her eyes narrowed at him but she said nothing.

“What's the matter, Colby? Suddenly at a loss for words?”

When she didn't reply, he shrugged indifferently. “Now where were we? Ah, yes, I was explaining how you were chosen. Another thing that impressed me about you was that you're an extraordinarily bright young woman. You graduated from high school at the age of sixteen.”

“There was nothing bright about that,” she said quietly. “James was taking classes at night at the college and didn't want to leave me home alone so he took me with him. I discovered I could get credit for a lot of my required high school classes if I took similar classes at the continuing education center located on campus, so I did. In the end, I had taken enough hours to waive my senior year of high school. I was able to graduate a year early.”

Sterling nodded as he listened carefully to her explanation. “You also completed four years of college in three years and still managed to graduate valedictorian of your class. You also got your master's degree in half the usual time.”