Some of Hannah’s male neighbors and friends had been around Elizabeth enough times for her to recognize them and respond. But she always shied away from any attention they tried to give her.
“If you’re still insistent about not taking my money, will you at least allow me to buy you dinner tomorrow night to show my gratitude? That invitation includes your husband and Elizabeth, of course.”
She sucked in her breath. “There’s no husband. It’s just the baby and me.” Until Lisa comes back on her own, or is found. Please, God, let her be safe. Let her return home soon.
Upon that admission, his dark gaze collided with hers. “I’m staying at the Executive Inn in Laramie. If you’ll tell me where you live,” he said in a silken voice, “I’ll pick you up at seven.”
“It really isn’t necessary, Mr. Giraud.”
“The name is Dominic,” he affirmed forcefully, “and I beg to differ with you. Without your help the other night, I might have stumbled into the river and lost consciousness.”
As she shuddered at the very idea of such a ghastly scenario, she felt him watching her.
“Do we have a date?” he prodded. Hannah had the impression this man wouldn’t give up until she’d accepted his invitation. “I’ll let you decide where we eat. Over our meal I’ll tell you the reason why I was driving behind the museum in the first place.”
Her pulse raced.
The idea of going anywhere with him, let alone to dinner, filled her with too much excitement. She had to remember that he could be a married man, and that he wasn’t asking her out for romantic reasons.
Because she wouldn’t take his money, this was the only other way he could think of to pay her back for getting him to a hospital. To read anything else into his invitation was ridiculous, especially when he’d suggested that her husband join them.
What she needed to do was treat this like she would any business dinner. Moistening her lips nervously she said, “The Executive Inn has a good restaurant. Why don’t I meet you there at seven-thirty? If Elizabeth cooperates, we should be on time.”
His veiled eyes played over her face. “I’ll wait as long as it takes.”
For no good reason her heart took up its crazy pounding again.
“I believe you’ve got customers.”
Hannah jerked her head toward the door, hoping to hide the blush that started at her toes and quickly enveloped her entire body, including her face. She should have been the one to notice what was going on at her own establishment!
“Before I leave, why don’t I put Elizabeth in her playpen and make certain she stays asleep before I go. How does that sound?”
It sounded heavenly, too heavenly.
She darted him a quick glance once more. “Much as I appreciate your offer, surely you have other pressing business.”
One dark brow dipped ominously as a string of tourists filed into the museum. “I thought by now you understood that you’re my pressing business,” he muttered, staring hard at her before he moved behind the counter with the baby.
While Hannah waited on customers, she glanced repeatedly in his direction, unable to resist watching the gentle way he treated Elizabeth. Something told Hannah that if she wasn’t careful, Dominic Giraud had the power to infiltrate her mind and heart until she didn’t know herself anymore.
Long after he’d left the museum, she was still haunted by the private message his eyes had conveyed before he’d walked out the door.
Maybe it was a trick of light in the museum, but for a brief moment his regard had seemed intimate. She gasped softly just remembering it, then regretted her foolish behavior when the customer she was waiting on asked her if she was all right.
Embarrassed, Hannah assured the woman she was fine. But of course she wasn’t fine at all. She was a jumbled mass of nerves and anticipation all rolled together. There’d be no sleep for her tonight!
In a testy mood, which was rare for him, Dominic limped out to his rental car and headed for town, missing his Jeep that was still being repaired and wouldn’t be ready for pick up until tomorrow.
To his recollection no female of his acquaintance had ever refused a gift from him before, monetary or otherwise. If he were really being honest with himself, no woman had ever been as resistant to his attention.
On the contrary, of the limited number of relationships he’d had since his twenties, he’d always been the one to walk away first, unable to commit.
What surprised him was how much it rankled to have to talk Ms. Carr into joining him for dinner. He wondered if she was still emotionally involved with the baby’s father. The possibility that she might have a new lover and intended to spend the night in his bed sounded equally distasteful to Dominic.
However, a lover he could deal with. A husband was something else. He gritted his teeth, unconsciously gunning the accelerator at the same time as he drove away.
Though his father held to no such code of ethics, married women had always been off limits to Dominic. Furthermore, unlike his womanizing parent whose infidelity had caused incalculable grief to Dominic’s mother, marriage had never figured in Dominic’s plans.
Just remembering the past caused a blackness to envelop him. Not wanting to go down that treacherous path tonight, he reached for his cell phone to call Zane.
“Salut—” he said as soon as his friend answered.
“Dom! How are things progressing?”
“I’m not sure,” he muttered before he realized how revealing the comment sounded.
“What’s that supposed to mean? You’ve run into snags before, but they’ve never bothered you.”
Dominic rubbed the side of his jaw absently. He wouldn’t exactly describe Hannah Carr as a snag.
After a pause, “What’s going on?”
He sucked in his breath. “I wish I knew.”
“You’re being cryptic, buddy, and that’s making me edgy.”
“You’ve hit on the right word.”
“So, how long are you going to keep me in the dark?”
“I’m pulling into my hotel now. Give me a minute to get up to my room and then I’ll call you back and tell you about my accident.”
Another silence. “Were you hurt?”
He shut off the motor. “It could have been worse if this angel hadn’t saved me.”
“Angel? What on earth are you talking about? Dom?”
Elizabeth woke up hungry from her afternoon nap. Since there was a lull between customers, Hannah decided to call it a day and close up shop early. She could no longer function with any coherence.
