arranged for someone to pack your belongings and bring them here. Duplications like most of your furniture, dishes and linens will be put in storage. All the baby items will be moved into the nursery.”
Trying to catch up with him, she shook her head in confusion. “Where is the nursery?”
“Across the hall from your bedroom,” he said. “A decorator will be calling you later today so you can tell her what you would like done to it.”
She shook her head again. “Did I ever actually say that I was going to stay here?”
He lifted a dark eyebrow. “There was another choice?”
She sighed, hating him for being right. “Well, you could have given me a little time to adjust to the idea. There’s no reason I couldn’t pack my own stuff and—”
His eyes widened in horror. “Moving in your condition?”
She sighed. “I’m very healthy. Women have been getting pregnant and delivering babies for years. In ancient times, it wasn’t unusual for a woman to be working in the fields one minute, having her baby the next, then back at work immediately.”
“I won’t have you in the fields, period,” he said in a dry tone. “In terms of the speed of the movers, there was no need to wait. We both agree, even if you don’t want to admit it, that you belong here until we figure out a safe place for you and the baby. And that will be months from now.”
She made a face at his imperious tone. Lord help her, he sounded like an emperor.
“In the meantime, I’ve asked my personal attorney to draw up some documents regarding custody of the child in case something should happen to you.”
Lilli felt a chill. “I already told you I’m not signing those papers. If signing those papers is part of the bargain for me staying here, then I’m leaving.”
“I never said that.”
“No, but even you admitted that you could be ruthless. I’m not signing my child over to Ruthless Mr. Steel,” she said, mentally drawing a line and daring him to cross over it.
“Yet,” he said.
“I won’t be manipulated over this,” she warned him.
“Manipulation is for sissies,” he said with a scoff.
“Then what do you call what you do?” she asked. “Bullying?”
“Reason and logic prevail among rational human beings.”
Lilli knew she wasn’t totally rational about this subject. It was too close to her heart. She took a shallow breath and met his gaze. “I don’t want you to intimidate me about this,” she said in a quiet voice.
He studied her for a moment, his gaze more curious than threatening. “Okay. Are you open to gentle persuasion?”
“Not if it involves any power plays,” she said.
He nodded, stepping closer. “Deal. By the way, I’m hosting a casual business gathering Friday night. It’s just a barbecue. Feel free to drop in and fill up a plate.”
His closeness made her feel as if he’d set off a dozen mini electrical charges inside her. He lifted his hand to a stray strand of her hair. “Your hair reminds me of your personality.”
He looped the strand around one of his fingers and she felt her heart accelerate. “How is that?”
His mouth stretched into a sexy grin. “It’s the color of an angel’s hair, but the curl shows it’s rebellious.”
Looking into his eyes, she felt as if she were sinking into a place where she was aware of only him. He was the most dynamic man she’d ever met in her life. She felt totally fascinated and totally out of her league.
Grasping on to that thought, she took a shallow breath and stepped back. It was a move totally motivated by survival. Max De Luca was a powerful force, too powerful for her.
The strand of her hair stretched taut between them. Max hadn’t released her. She lifted her hand to unravel her hair from his finger, brushing his skin. “I should go. I don’t want to be late,” she said and fled out the door, feeling as if she’d been burned.
Max arrived home after going several rounds with Alex Megalos, Director of Domestic Operation and Expansion for Megalos-De Luca Enterprises. Alex had been Max’s rival for his current position as Director of Worldwide Operation and Expansion.
Talented and aggressive, Alex was always trying to focus resources and energy in his area. Max, however, was forced to continually remind Alex that he had to consider the big picture.
Alex provided a lot of energy, but he also caused more than his share of heartburn. Suffering from a burning sensation in his gut even now, Max just wanted a quiet peaceful evening and an opportunity to wind down. He headed for the bar downstairs and poured himself a glass of red wine.
Sitting in the darkness of the den, he took a sip and savored the stillness of the moment.
A crashing sound followed by a scream shattered the quiet. Alarm shot through him. Immediately jumping to his feet, he raced upstairs. That had been Lilli’s scream. What had happened?
Rounding the corner, he found her on the floor of the nursery surrounded by scattered pieces of a crib and tools.
“What in hell are you doing?”
Dressed in shorts that revealed her long legs, her hair straying from the ponytail in back, she glanced up at him with a scowl. “Trying to put this crib back together. Your moving guys took it apart.”
He frowned, entering the room. “They should have put it back together.” He reached into his pocket for his cell phone. “I’ll get my driver up here immediately. He’s excellent, extremely mechanical. He’ll put it together in no time.”
Scrambling to her feet, she put her hands over his to prevent him from dialing. “No. No.”
“Why not?”
“Besides the fact that it’s not his job to put together cribs and it’s almost ten o’clock,” she said, “I want to do it myself.”
He stared at her for a long moment. “Why?”
“Because I just do. I put this crib together after I bought it. I should be able to do it now.”
“Why is it so important that you be the one to assemble it? The baby isn’t going to know.”
She lifted her chin. “Someday he will. Someday he will know that his mother loved him so much and was so excited that he was coming that she put her time and energy and money into making a nice place for him.”
Her heartfelt determination tugged at something inside him. “That never would have occurred to me. I’m certain my mother didn’t assemble my crib. I had a string of nannies and was shipped off to boarding school before my parents divorced.”
“My mother
