Whatever the Price Read online

  Baby makes three?

  As Hollywood’s hottest director, Anthony Price is used to getting what he wants. But life hands him a brand-new script when he gains custody of his orphaned niece. Now he needs his wife more than ever—only, Charlotte moved out three months ago. To win her back, he just has to prove he’s ready to put family before his career.

  Charlotte doesn’t know if sudden fatherhood will change Anthony’s priorities, but she can’t turn her back on an innocent baby—or the husband she still desires. Is a happy ending too much to hope for?

  “What If I’ve Become

  The Man You Want?

  The Man You Deserve?”

  Charlotte sat up in the chaise, swung her feet to the warm concrete and looked at her husband, all deliciously spread out on the other chair. “If that happens, I’ll be the first to fight to secure this marriage. But you’re putting a lot on yourself to fix years of problems in a few months. I don’t want you to think I wouldn’t help out with Lily. Is that what you’re afraid of?”

  In a flash, he was on his feet, wrapping his strong hands around her arms and pulling her up and against him. “You think I’m worried about making sure I get my weekends and holidays with Lily? I want my wife. My. Wife. I wanted you before Lily came onto the scene. And damn if I’m not taking back what I want.”

  Dear Reader,

  Is there anything sexier than a big, powerful man cuddling with a baby?

  Whatever the Price is about the broken marriage of Anthony Price and the love of his life, Charlotte. As a hotshot director in Hollywood, Anthony is oblivious to the fact that he’s pushed his wife behind his career… that is, until she walks out on him.

  And that’s when things get really interesting. I knew it would take a lot to bring a man like Anthony to his knees, so I decided to be kind and give him not one, but two babies. He does like a challenge, after all. :)

  You met Anthony in Caught in the Spotlight, and I couldn’t wait to get to his story. I knew this man was going to fight for his marriage and the woman who made his heart whole. I envisioned him showing his wife all the reasons they fell in love to begin with. And with his type A personality, he would give up all his fame and career goals in order to keep her.

  So get cozy as you travel down this rocky path with Anthony, because he is out to win over his wife’s heart once again…Whatever the Price.

  Happy reading,

  Jules

  Jules Bennett

  Whatever

  the Price

  Books by Jules Bennett

  Harlequin Desire

  Her Innocence, His Conquest #2081

  Caught in the Spotlight #2148

  Whatever the Price #2181

  Silhouette Desire

  Seducing the Enemy’s Daughter #2004

  For Business…or Marriage? #2010

  From Boardroom to Wedding Bed? #2046

  Other titles by this author available in ebook format.

  JULES BENNETT

  National bestselling author Jules Bennett’s love of storytelling started when she would get in trouble as a child and would tell her parents her imaginary friends were to blame. Since then, her vivid imagination has taken her down a path she’d only dreamed of. And after twelve years of owning and working in salons, she hung up her shears to write full-time.

  Jules doesn’t just write Happily Ever After, she lives it. Married to her high school sweetheart, Jules and her hubby have two little girls who keep them smiling. She loves to hear from readers! Contact her at [email protected], visit her website, www.julesbennett.com where you can sign up for her newsletter, or send her a letter at P.O. Box 396, Minford, OH 45653. You can also follow her on Twitter and join her Facebook Fan Page.

  To the people who sacrificed

  to always make my life better, my mom and dad.

  Love you both more than words could ever say.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Epilogue

  Excerpt

  One

  Her eyes darted from her soon-to-be ex-husband down to the sleeping baby in his arms.

  “Anthony?”

  Charlotte Price stared at her estranged husband—the one man she loved with every fiber of her being, the one man she was now looking to divorce. But what he held in his arms pulled her attention even more.

  Not a what…a who.

  A hotshot Hollywood director, Anthony Price didn’t look too comfortable with the bundle wrapped in a pink, silky blanket, a swirl of black hair dotting the top of her head.

  And speaking of hair, Anthony’s stood on end. The top three buttons of his royal-blue dress shirt were undone, and was that…oh, yeah, that was spit-up. The milky-white substance spread across the top of one broad shoulder, and she’d bet it had traveled down his back, as well. If she weren’t so shocked she’d laugh at the irony of this entire situation.

  Her husband holding a child. She’d always wanted to have a child with him…but he’d never been ready.

  “Rachel’s daughter,” he said in a gravelly voice.

  Rachel. Anthony’s sister who had suddenly died in a car crash less than a week ago, leaving behind an eight-month-old little girl.

  An ache spread through her as she eyed the precious child, and Charlotte opened the door to her best friend’s apartment just a bit wider. “Bring her in and lay her down.”

  Charlotte showed him through the apartment she’d been staying in while her friend was off traveling, taking her dream vacation. Charlotte had packed only her most favorite clothes and other essentials, unsure of when she’d have a place of her own. She was getting the alone time she needed to think things through. But she kept coming to the same conclusion as far as her marriage was concerned.

  Their life together was over. No matter how hard she tried, no matter how much she wanted Anthony to love her the way she deserved, it just wasn’t meant to be.

  And now that he was here, she couldn’t help but wonder why he’d come to her. Did she dare hope he wanted to work things out now? Was he willing to try the therapist she’d suggested?

  She’d moved out in June, and now nearly three months of awkward calls, not to mention the one time a month ago he’d come for a visit to talk and they’d foolishly ended up in bed, was about to come to an abrupt halt. Communication had always been a major issue in the nine years of their marriage. The sex, however, had never been a problem because most of the times they were alone, they were naked.

  But talking was inevitable—over more than just his surprise bundle. She had an appointment on Friday to file for divorce.

  “I’m afraid to lay her down. She cried all the way here,” Anthony told her, panic lacing his voice. “I gave her a bottle and she threw up all over me, then cried some more. A three-hour car ride and she didn’t fall asleep until about ten minutes ago.”

  More than comfortable with babies
of all ages, Charlotte gently slid her hands between her husband’s hard body and the soft bundle. With care she laid the baby down in an oversized armchair, tucking her back against the cushion so she couldn’t move too much. Then Charlotte grabbed a velvety throw pillow and laid it beside the baby so she wouldn’t roll off.

  With questions mounting in her mind, Charlotte motioned for Anthony to step into the kitchen, where she could still keep an eye on the child over the wide granite bar that separated the two rooms.

  “What is going on, Anthony?” she demanded in a harsh whisper as soon as he came to stand beside her.

  “You have to help with Lily.”

  Help with Lily?

  “Oh, Anthony. Oh, God.” A sense of what he meant enveloped her and left her just a bit more crushed. He wasn’t here because he loved her and wanted her back—he wasn’t even here for sex. He was here because he couldn’t take care of the baby alone. Ironic that he wanted her to play family now, when for so long he had used his career as a crutch not to have children.

  She knew she needed to keep her distance. For so long she’d let him pull her back into a troubled marriage with suave words and material things in hopes that his attention would soon follow—only to be left heartbroken again. Obviously, their ideas of love landed on two opposite ends of the spectrum. The saddest part, though, is that she knew he loved her in his own way. He just loved making the next big blockbuster more.

  But Anthony had come to her, seeking her help, and that said a lot. The man had never been vulnerable, never needed anything or anyone, and he’d never opened up or talked with her about his feelings. If he wasn’t in work mode, they were naked. And she didn’t know why it had taken her this long to realize that even though she loved him, she deserved better.

  “I’m the next of kin,” he told her, throat thick with emotion. “We’re the only family she has left, Charlie.”

  The nickname he’d given her when they were dating in college had lost the charm it once held. She peeked into the living room at the baby just before his words registered. “Wait. What do you mean we are the only family?”

  “We were named in the will as the guardians in case of Rachel’s…death. Because she was artificially inseminated, there’s no father to contest this.”

  Charlotte leaned against the island in the small kitchen. A baby, a husband, had always been her dream, but that was before she’d decided to end her marriage, before the maleficent tabloids and her husband destroyed her dreams and crushed her spirits. Before she’d become pregnant last year when he was away on location, filming, then miscarried that child and suffered the heartache alone. A child she’d never even told him about.

  “We can’t raise that baby, Anthony.” She leveled her gaze at him, praying she could remain strong when all her dreams were finally within her reach. “We’re separated.”

  “So you keep reminding me every time I call,” he muttered. “Look, I’m just as scared, but we have no choice. Rachel was the only sister I knew growing up. Surely you understand.”

  Oh, no. She would not be swayed by him reminding her of the heartache she’d suffered when she’d lost her twin sister at the tender age of ten.

  “It’s not that I don’t understand. You know I do.” She steeled herself. “But some things just aren’t possible, Anthony.”

  Questions whirled around in her mind. She didn’t know where to start, what to do next. This couldn’t be happening. Forget that she needed distance if she wanted to make any attempt at a normal life without the hurt of seeing Anthony every day. Forget that she still loved this man but couldn’t live knowing she didn’t rank above the next major motion picture. How could she move on if she was forced into being an instant parent?

  The one thing she’d wished for their entire marriage was a baby. Be careful what you wish for.

  Charlotte ran a hand through her hair, nerves getting the best of her. “Did you know we were listed as guardians? Didn’t she ask you? You never mentioned anything like this to me.”

  Anthony shook his head. “I didn’t know. We discussed years ago if either of us ever had children, we’d put the other down as guardian in the will, but I never heard a word about it since Lily was born. Children’s Services can contest the will, but they don’t really have a leg to stand on, considering I’m family. My background check was clean and they’re overwhelmed with so many other cases. Basically, she’s ours now. Or she will be after the court hearing in ninety days.”

  The ache in Charlotte’s heart deepened with the way he mentioned Lily as his own. She would’ve given him that gift at any time, but his dreams and career had always taken precedence.

  “What do you want me to do, Anthony?” She tilted her chin, hands on her hips, shoving the hurt and loss aside. “You can’t expect me to take up playing house with you again. It won’t work.”

  “We have no choice,” he told her, glancing over to see Lily. He dropped his voice when she stirred. “The will stipulates that we are the guardians and we are listed as a married couple. The court will finalize this guardianship in ninety days. Give me ninety days. That’s all I’m asking. Don’t give them a reason to take her from me. Then we can decide what’s best. Who knows, we may be able to work this out between us.”

  Charlotte didn’t like being manipulated, and she certainly didn’t like being forced to stick close to the man who had shattered their marriage yet still turned her on with just a glance from those sultry gray eyes.

  How could she live like that? And three months? Might as well be three years. The heartache in the end would be the same.

  Actually, what she hated the most was how he so willingly dropped everything for this new family when he’d never done so for her. And it wasn’t just Lily. He’d been spending more and more time lately with his biological mother.

  A Hollywood actress, Olivia Dane had given Anthony up nearly forty years ago in a secret adoption. Olivia had gone on to birth two more children, one of them being Anthony’s nemesis, Bronson Dane.

  Charlotte had barely caught her breath from being shunted aside for his new family and now he was adding another layer to her hurt. Dangling this promise of a family in front of her as if they would all live happily ever after. Considering her upbringing and the tragic death of her sister, she knew better.

  “This won’t work, Anthony,” she repeated, fear gripping her heart. “I can’t live with you again, not for any amount of time. I’m trying to move forward and I can’t do that if I’m getting pulled back into the life that left me shattered.”

  She hadn’t meant to voice her thoughts out loud, but now she had, she wasn’t sorry. He needed to know what he’d done to her, how his actions and selfishness had chiseled away their marriage slowly, but most definitely surely. A bit of relief swept over her now at finally telling him how she felt. Not that her declaration would change anything. No matter her physical attraction, she had to guard her heart.

  “I know you’re hurt, and I’m not trying to make this harder on you, but Lily needs a woman in her life,” he pleaded. “I need my wife. I’ve called the designer and she turned one of the spare rooms into a nursery when I went up to San Jose to get Lily yesterday. She should be finishing up today. She put three people on the project and since the room only needed furniture changed and some paint, we should be good to go once we get home.”

  Charlotte sighed and glanced at the precious bundle who had no idea of the turmoil her life was in. Charlotte’s heart was not ready for another beating, but she knew what she needed to do for the welfare of this innocent child. Security for Lily had to take precedence over anything else. Especially over her jumbled feelings for her husband.

  “Fine. You have ninety days.” Charlotte looked her husband dead in the eye—those same eyes that she’d fallen in love with. She’d hold off on speaking with her attorney until the guardianship was legal. “L
ily’s needs must come first. But I’m not moving back into our bedroom. I’ll take the spare room on the other side of her.”

  Anthony clenched his jaw. “You’re not going to even try with me during this time? Why not share our room? Let me show you I can be the husband you want me to be.”

  “You had nine years of marriage, Anthony. You can’t decide to try now just because I’m convenient.” Charlotte lifted her chin and crossed her arms over her chest to prevent hurt from seeping back in. “And you can’t expect me to jump back into your bed. I’m moving back in for Lily and only Lily.”

  Anthony studied Charlotte and her defensive, defiant stance. She was going to make this hard, but that’s nothing less than he deserved. After all the years she’d stood by him, even when he’d pushed her needs aside, he deserved all the anger and hatred she threw at him. That didn’t stop him from wanting her, though.

  But she was moving back in, so he’d take that small victory and work with it. Soon, he vowed, she’d be back in their master bedroom, where she belonged. No matter the distance or hurt between them, Anthony couldn’t deny the way his wife turned him on with just a glance or a smile.

  Too bad sex couldn’t fix all the problems in a marriage. They’d been hot for each other from day one when they’d met at a college party. Even though they hadn’t married until many years later, the passion never fizzled. Obviously, considering he’d come to talk to her a month ago and they never got around to having a conversation.

  Anthony swallowed the lump of guilt for being the driving wedge in their separation. There was no denying that, but having his wife walk out was one hell of a wake-up call. He had a feeling she’d contacted her lawyer, but he didn’t know for sure. All he could hope for was to show her he was ready to be the man he needed to be in order to keep her where she belonged. By his side.

  “I understand,” he told her. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t stop fighting for you and this family we’ve been given.”