taken my father into surgery.” She frowned. “I know Julieta didn’t say it, but he’s not a spring chicken anymore. I’m worried about how hard this is going to be on his body.”
“From everything I’ve heard, he’s in great shape. I’m sure he’ll be fine.” Chris smiled encouragingly.
“I hope you’re right,” she said, sighing and leaning her head against the window.
He reached over and patted her leg, once, twice, and then put his hand back on the wheel.
But the gesture had given her more comfort than she’d expected, and when she closed her eyes she could see him standing before her in his apartment, claiming that he was going to take responsibility for their child. And as her breathing deepened, she pictured him as he’d been not even two months ago, his dark gaze boring into hers as they made love in the lamplight of the motel. The night her baby had been conceived...
* * *
CHRIS LOOKED OVER at Lizzie and frowned. She looked so peaceful now that she was sleeping, the lines of stress gone from her eyes and her lips slightly open as she took slow breaths.
Pregnant. Once he’d heard the word and absorbed the initial shock of the news, he’d done a pretty good job of holding it together. Of saying the right things. But that was nothing more than reaction in the very simplest terms. It was done and couldn’t be changed. And it went without saying that he’d step up and do what was right. It was how he’d been raised.
But now that the reality was sinking in, he was freaking out a bit. A father! Sure, he’d have several months to get used to the idea, but it didn’t alter the fact that his life was going to change. He was going to be tied to Lizzie Baron...forever.
A delicate snore came from the passenger seat and he looked over, unable to stop the wave of tenderness that washed over him. Maybe he was freaking out but he wasn’t oblivious to the fact that she was facing the greatest changes right now. Heck, she’d turned a strange shade of whitish-green earlier and had needed to eat, and now she was sound asleep in the middle of the afternoon. He’d been right to drive her back to Dallas.
One night. One single night he hadn’t been able to resist the temptation of her. One night when careful hadn’t been careful enough...and now he could see his one year of freedom slipping further and further away.
She was beautiful. She’d been fair with him today and she was going to be the mother of his child. What a thing to have to wrap his head around.
But as he thought about his plans and how they’d suddenly been rendered irrelevant, he couldn’t help but resent her just a little bit.
Chapter Three
Lizzie opened her eyes, instinctively putting her hand to the muscles in her neck that had tightened from the awkward angle in which she’d slept. A quick check showed they were nearly at the city limits. It wouldn’t be long now and they’d be at the hospital. Good heavens, how long had she slept?
“Feel better?”
Chris’s voice came from beside her and she turned her attention away from the view out the window. “I do. I didn’t realize how tired I was.”
“You probably work pretty long hours.”
She snorted a little. Pretty long? Twelve-hour days were the norm. Her heart caught a little. What would happen now if her dad couldn’t resume his place at Baron? There’s no way she wanted Mark Baker at the helm. He was younger and a real go-getter, but he was also a part of that boys’ club that made her feel as if she was going to get a pat on the head rather than the respect she’d earned. Especially since he seemed to hold a bit of a grudge where she was concerned.
Baron Energies should have a Baron at the head of the table. And the only Baron on the board right now was her.
And she was pregnant.
What a mess.
“My hours are probably about to get longer, with Dad away from the office for a while. Hopefully it’ll just be a few weeks.”
Hopefully.
“So when are you planning on telling them?”
Right, there was that, too. “I want my dad to let me run Baron while he’s out of the office. If I tell him I’m pregnant...there’s no way he’ll agree.” She sighed, looked over at Chris and wondered if they were becoming friends now, what with all this confiding. It seemed ludicrous. “This will be the first grandchild. I’m the oldest. He’s a bit old school. I’ll be fighting him tooth and nail even if I stay in my current position.”
“So not for a while, then.”
“Are you kidding? Add to that the fact that I’m single, and it’s going to be one stressful conversation.”
Single. Because they had had a one-night stand, not a relationship.
Could things be in a bigger mess?
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
She laughed a little. “Rewind eight weeks and not walk into the bar?”
And then she felt instantly sorry she’d said it. That wasn’t fair. She’d been as willing a participant as he had. “Sorry,” she murmured, looking away. “You’re not to blame.”
“Clearly I’m half to blame,” he returned, slowing down to take an exit, but she could sense he was annoyed.
“You said you’re going to take a bus back to San Antonio?”
“It makes the most sense.”
“Maybe one of the boys can run you to the station.”
“Wouldn’t that require an explanation?”
Damn it. And yet asking him to walk or take public transit seemed cold. Like she was...ashamed. Determined to keep him out of sight, and that didn’t sit well with her. She wasn’t brought up to sneak around. Besides, he’d given up hours of his day to drive her here when he didn’t have to.
Traffic slowed as they neared the city center and Lizzie tapped her fingers on her knee. At some point her family would meet Chris. Heck, Jacob and Jet already knew him, at least a little. What if he came inside rather than being pushed aside, invisible? She had a sudden flash of inspiration. What if Lizzie could bring the family around to this gradually, so it wasn’t such a shock?
“I was thinking...rather than disappear to the station, maybe you’d like to come in? Just because we show up together doesn’t mean we have to tell my family everything, does it?”
He stopped at a traffic light and looked over at her, his dark eyes piercing. “You’re scheming, aren’t you?”
She tried a small smile. “Not scheming, planning. Planning is what I do best. I get fewer surprises that way.”
Lizzie wasn’t a fan of surprises. Several had come her way over the years that she couldn’t control, but she tried to keep them to a minimum in her own life. Now
