a more tactful way to phrase the question.
She acknowledged the effort with a slight smile. “None.”
Alessandro frowned as another thought occurred to him. “You said we’d met. When was that?”
“My sister and I were together that first day. You and Meg hit it off from the start.”
“Where was this?”
“At a small restaurant tucked in the foothills outside of Asheville. A place called LuLu’s.”
He shook his head in frustration. “I’m sorry. I don’t remember. Do you have any way at all of substantiating your claim?”
She paused again and he knew without a doubt that she was keeping something from him. She’d hesitated like that once before, but he couldn’t remember what question he’d asked at the time. He’d make damned sure he paid attention from here on out.
“The blood test will substantiate my claim. You don’t need more than that.”
Need or deserve? Alessandro couldn’t help but wonder. He thrust a hand through his hair and paced toward the hearth. The fire licked hungrily at the logs he’d added. The ruby embers beneath the grate hissed, relieved by an occasional pop and the accompanying shower of sparks. Lauren acted so certain, he had the nasty suspicion she might be telling the truth—at least, the truth as she knew it. He glanced uneasily at the boy who was sitting on the floor by the carton of toys, examining each and every one of them with an intentness surprising in one so young. Could Nick actually be his? Could he have a son?
He dismissed the possibility with a quick shake of his head. No. No way. For one thing, he didn’t go in for one-night stands—or even two-week stands. And for another, Lauren was right. He didn’t take foolish chances or trust his partner to handle something as vital as birth control. If he’d been with this Meg, he’d have taken precautions. Children weren’t in the foreseeable future—at least, not in his foreseeable future.
He swung around to face Lauren. “So what now?”
“I’m hopin’ you’ll want to get to know your son.” She smiled at the boy with a tenderness that transfigured her. With that simple curve of her lips she went from elf to angel. “A boy should be close to his father.”
“And if the test proves I’m not Nick’s father?”
She didn’t appear concerned by the possibility. “That’s not going to happen. Even if you don’t believe me, look at him. He’s the image of you.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “He looks like a typical baby. In case you haven’t noticed, I don’t bear any resemblance to a baby whatsoever.”
The corners of her mouth trembled into another smile and a soft, silvery laugh escaped. “No, you don’t. I was referring to the shape of his face and color of his hair and eyes. They’re the same pitch-black as yours.”
“I’m not the only man in the world with dark eyes.”
She sighed. “True. That’s why I’m suggesting a paternity test. That way you’ll know for certain.”
“I’ll need to make some calls to find out where we can have the procedure done.”
“If it’s too far away, it’ll have to wait,” she informed him. “I still need to have someone fix my car. And to be honest, I’m exhausted.”
She looked it, too. Not that he’d allow sympathy to interfere with his handling of the situation. Something didn’t add up and until he found out what, he refused to trust anything she said. “I gather that means your car really did break down? It wasn’t just an excuse?”
“It pulled into your driveway on a hope and a prayer. It won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.”
“Convenient.”
He’d succeeded in angering her. Just as well. Having her angry would make it easier for him to maintain an emotional distance. After all, he’d had years of experience being the calm in the midst of unending storms of passion. If there were two qualities Salvatores were renowned for, it was passion and charm, qualities that had both managed to pass him by. He’d found that the more worked up those around him became, the calmer his own reactions. If Lauren chose to respond like a Salvatore, it would make his job all the easier.
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s not the least bit convenient,” she retorted. “I can’t even drive myself to the store for food or diapers.”
“In that case, I hope you have enough to last the next couple of days.”
“Why?”
“Because neither of us are leaving here anytime soon.”
She darted to the window and stared out, her dismay obvious. “I can’t even see my car.”
“If I were a suspicious man, I’d say your timing was opportune.”
“You are a suspicious man and my timing was lousy,” she informed him absently.
She knew he was a suspicious man? An ungovernable annoyance flashed through him and he released his breath in a silent sigh. So much for being the dispassionate Salvatore. “If you intend to keep up the pretense that we’ve met before, it’s going to be a long couple of days.”
“Pretense?” Lauren turned to face him. She was framed by the window and backlit by a tempest of snow swirling on savage eddies of wind. He had trouble reading her expression, but not the indignation of her tone. “It’s not a pretense.”
“So you’ve said. Time will tell.” He inclined his head in the direction of the kitchen. “Come on. I missed out on a cup of coffee earlier. I suspect we could both use a cup now.”
“First I’d like to unload the car. It’s been a while since I last changed Nick.” At the sound of his name, the boy glanced up from the toys spread around him and beamed. She returned his grin with one of her own. Alessandro couldn’t help but notice the unmistakable resemblance between them. They both shared the same wide, generous mouth that slid into a smile with a natural ease he envied. “He’s also going to be hungry for a snack soon.”
“Any snacks you left in the car will be frozen by now. You’ll have to see if I have anything that will do.”
“In that case, let’s hope you have yogurt with fruit in it. Nick likes it mixed in with just about everything he eats.”
“Everything? You’re kidding.”
“’Fraid not.” She ticked off on her fingers. “He eats peach yogurt with his applesauce. Raspberry yogurt with peas. Strawberry-banana yogurt with chicken. As long as there’s yogurt mixed in with his meal, down it goes, slick as pig grease.”
“Yogurt and chicken? That’s disgusting.”
“Not according to your son.”
Damn. It only took a brief two-minute conversation for her to slip beneath his defenses and bewitch him into relaxing his guard. How the hell had she pulled that off? No one had ever managed it in such a short time. Not
