she thought, it might have been better, at least for her, if he’d told the truth. Then maybe she wouldn’t have felt like such a fool when it ended the way it had.
“I appreciate your honesty,” she said slowly. “And yes, I do find you attractive. Very much so.”
He crossed his arms, watching her, waiting. She recognized the look she saw on his face. He was expecting to be hurt, wounded, as he’d been for the last fifteen years. He really didn’t believe she’d sleep with him, and any explanation she’d give him would reinforce his apparently deep-seated belief that he deserved to be treated poorly.
Any explanation that is, but the truth.
“Damien, I’m pregnant.”
This he hadn’t expected. “You’re…what?”
“This summer I went to Italy. I took the trip by myself, to celebrate the last year of my thirties. When I was there, I met a man. We had the kind of thing you just proposed, only I didn’t know it at the time.” To her chagrin, her throat closed up.
“You’re pregnant,” he repeated.
“I’m pregnant.”
“Does the father know?”
Now she hung her head. “This is the hardest part of my story. He disappeared. I looked for ten days, but I couldn’t find him.”
“You didn’t know his name.”
“He called himself Massimo. One word. Silly, but I thought it romantic.”
Damien let that one go, bless him. “Are you keeping the baby?”
“Oh, yes.” Cradling her stomach protectively, she nodded. “I want this baby very much. And you’re the only one who knows.”
Again she’d surprised him, judging from the look on his face. “You haven’t told your family?”
“No. I’m waiting as long as I can.” Oddly enough, telling him made her feel as though a heavy weight had been lifted from her shoulders. “You know how this town can be. My mom will be thrilled—she’s been wanting a grandbaby for forever. But I feel sort of foolish, goofing up so badly at thirty-nine years old.”
The truck heater started blasting, making them both laugh.
“I’d better get you home,” he said, putting the truck back into gear.
He drove slowly, the heavy vehicle making sure progress over the snowy roads. When they reached her house, he left the engine running as he walked her to the door.
“If you ever need someone to talk to,” he began, making her smile.
“Thank you. Ditto for you.” Then, unable to help herself, she reached up and kissed him on the cheek.
Unmoving, he watched until she opened the door and went inside, locking it behind her.
A moment later she heard his truck drive away outside. Eyes stinging with completely unreasonable tears, she listened as the sound faded, until all she could hear was the mournful howling of the wind as it heralded the approaching storm.
Arriving back at the ranch, Damien breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that most of the cars were gone, which meant most of the huge mess of family had gone home. Except for the resident ones.
Parking his truck, he puzzled over Eve Kelley. Of all the girls he’d grown up with, he would have expected her to be married with a bunch of kids by now. Large families were common around these parts—look at his own family. She’d been pretty, popular and fun. The guys had practically fought over the chance to date her back in the day, and now she was nearly forty, unmarried and pregnant.
Talk about the randomness of fate.
None of it, not circumstances or her pregnancy, did anything to dilute his desire. He still wanted her. He’d take her up on her offer to be friends, knowing if she’d give him a chance, he’d prove to her that they could be more. Friends with benefits. He grinned savagely, liking the sound of that.
The house felt settled as he walked in, shedding his coat and hanging it in the hall closet and placing his cowboy hat on the hat rack alongside all the others. Lights from the immense Christmas tree illuminated the great room. All of the earlier boxes and mess had been cleaned away and the decorated mantel combined with the tree to look festive and, oddly enough, holy. Damien couldn’t help but remember the way he’d felt as a small boy, awestruck and overwhelmed at the beautiful tree. He’d used to lie on his back underneath the branches and peer up through them, marveling.
To his surprise, a spark of that little boy still remained.
He wandered over and stood in front of the tree, still thinking of Eve, then eyed the hallway that led to his father’s office. Might as well do some poking around while the entire house slept. Darius never locked the door, believing his inviolable authority made him invulnerable.
Maybe so, but Damien had been screwed over enough.
Moving quietly, he slipped down the hallway and opened the door. Conveniently, Darius had left the desk lamp on.
Damien took a seat in the massive leather chair and started with the obvious—the desk drawers. A quick search turned up exactly nothing.
But, then, what had he expected? Darius was too shrewd to leave incriminating documents anywhere they could be easily read.
Which meant there had to be a safe.
He turned to begin searching for one when a movement from a shadowy corner made him spin around.
Duke stood watching him, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.
“What are you doing?” Duke asked, “You know the old man’s going to be pissed when he finds out you went through his papers.”
“Maybe,” Damien allowed. “If he finds out. I’m not planning on telling him. I’m trying to figure out what happened to our inheritance.”
“What do you mean?”
Since Duke didn’t sound too perturbed, Damien figured his brother hadn’t been given the same unlikely story as he’d heard today. “I asked Darius about it earlier today. You know how I’ve been wanting to buy my own ranch, maybe in Nevada or Idaho?”
“Yeah.” Duke uncrossed his arms and came closer. “Don’t tell me he refused to give you your money. He might be conservator, but you’re well over the age of twenty-one. And you were in prison at the time you turned twenty-one.”
“No.” Damien watched his brother closely. “He didn’t refuse to give it to me. He said it was all gone.”
“What?” Duke’s casual air vanished. Shock filled his brown eyes, so like Damien’s. “How can three million be gone, just like that?”
“Exactly. Tell me, bro. Did you get your inheritance when you turned twenty-one like you were supposed to?”
“Hell, no. He offered to let me use it to buy a share in the ranch and
