apprehension. He should tell her about Anne now, before this went any further.
“You see, my friends don’t really understand. They want to set me up, send me on blind dates, introduce me to friends of their friends’ friends—that was how I ended up with James in the first place. I know they mean well, but I’m getting so tired of their interference, well-meaning though it is.”
Damn it. He couldn’t tell her, not without Anne’s permission. Anne had said Lea would be furious to find out she’d been chaperoned. He could damage the friendship between the two women—and he had a feeling that would mean his head on a stake in Anne’s front yard.
Yep, he had a problem.
Oblivious to his inner tug of war, Lea continued. “They’d probably think I was nuts for suggesting this—but I don’t see another way.”
Whoa. Earth to Thomas. Just what was he about to be drafted into here? She had paused and was looking at him as if waiting for something. He nodded. “I’m listening.”
Lea took a deep breath and held it for the longest time. “Do you promise not to breathe a word of this to anyone?”
Thomas nodded. “I promise.” Her gaze searched his face, anxious, worried. It made him even more curious.
“Maybe this wasn’t a good idea,” she said after a while. There was hopelessness in her voice that all of a sudden made it imperative for him to let her know she could trust him. Why, he didn’t know. She was a stranger.
A stranger who all of a sudden was pillaging her purse, for a tissue to hide her tears in. She was crying?
Cripes. What was a gentleman to do?
“Lea…” For just a second, he put his hand on hers as she nervously fiddled with the candle at the center of the table while blotting tears from her eyes with her other hand. “I know you don’t know me, but if it’s worth anything to you, I’m good at keeping secrets. Are you in some sort of trouble?”
“I’m sorry,” she said after a while, having gained control of herself. She stuffed the tissue pack back into her purse and her smile was wavering, but brave. Her eyes were very dark now. “This is absurd. I’m a bit emotional these days. It’s probably hormonal.”
Emotional. Hormonal.
“I see,” he said, leaning back in sudden shock. Of course. She was pregnant. Why hadn’t Anne mentioned that little detail? Perhaps she didn’t know. Maybe that was the big secret. He glance around the room, trying to temper his disappointment with philosophy. He’d just met the woman, for heaven’s sake. Plenty more fish in the sea. But she’d been on a first date, so obviously she wasn’t with the father of her child. Maybe this job Lea wanted him to do had something to do with getting the father of her baby back.
Lea’s laugh was low and embarrassed. “This isn’t like me. I probably shouldn’t have gulped down all that wine with the appetizer. I’m afraid I’ve almost crossed the line between tipsy and drunk.”
Wine? No, she shouldn’t have. Thomas took her wine glass and moved it to the side. “You’re right. You shouldn’t be drinking at all. What would you like? Mineral water? Soda?”
She was looking at him strangely. “I’m not that drunk,” she protested. “I just meant that I might be a bit more than just tipsy, or I wouldn’t have been quite so…forward.” She reached for her glass, but he was faster and moved it out of her reach.
“No more. Alcohol isn’t good for your baby,” he said firmly.
“My baby?”
“Even in small doses, it can be risky. No need to tempt fate. It’s only for nine months, not a great sacrifice when everything’s taken into account.”
Green eyes turned darker. Dangerously darker. “What are you talking about, Thomas?”
“Your baby…” He hesitated, and wondered if he should be sliding under the table in utter embarrassment. One of her eyebrows rose, and his suspicions were confirmed. “Oh.”
“Oh, indeed.”
“You’re not pregnant at all, are you?”
Lea glanced down at herself and put her hand against her stomach. “I knew I’d gained weight. I haven’t had time to go to the gym lately. But I didn’t realize it was that bad.”
“No! You’re not…I’m sorry. When you said you were hormonal…” Thomas groaned. “I’m sorry. But you said you were emotional and it was probably hormonal, so I assumed you had to be pregnant.”
“I’m not. I’m just hormonal. Women are. All the time. Always. As a player, you should know that.”
“Okay.” He pushed the wine glass her way. “Sorry. If we hadn’t already attracted our share of attention for today, I’d go down on my knees and grovel. But have a drink.” He pushed his own glass over to her side of the table. “In fact, have mine too. I’ll just go straight to the strong stuff.”
She grinned at last, her eyes brightening. He had the feeling his own mortification was what had cheered her up. “Don’t worry, Thomas. I suppose it was a natural assumption from what I said.” She shook her head. “But this isn’t like me at all. Not crying in public, and not attacking strange men with weird propositions.”
Finally they were back to the weird proposition. About time—and a chance to get the conversation away from his blunder. “You were going to ask me something,” he said. “We’ve come this far—why don’t you go ahead?”
“You’ve got a point,” she said with a sigh. “I’ve already made a fool of myself.” She sent him another slow grin. “And so have you. I suppose we might as well go all the way.”
Thomas waited for her to continue. Her gaze searched his face for the longest time, as if trying to determine how trustworthy he was.
“I don’t know you, do I?” she said at last, in a low voice. “The idea of putting my entire future in your hands is a bit…risky. I don’t think this was a good idea.”
“Your entire future?” What on earth could she have in mind? Thomas leaned toward her again, intrigued—and a bit nervous. “I’m becoming really curious here. What are you talking about?”
“Promise not to laugh?”
The request was childish enough to pull a smile out of him. “Yeah, I promise.”
“I want a baby,” she stated, and he nearly fell off his chair in shock. She didn’t elaborate, just looked at him steadily.
Maybe he hadn’t heard right. “You want what?”
She didn’t answer, just stared at him with the look that reminded him of the big bad wolf.
He’d heard right the first time, hadn’t he?
“You want a baby,” he said, fighting back an impulse to check if the path to the exit was clear. This couldn’t be what he thought it was. She couldn’t be approaching a stranger, asking him to father her child. Women didn’t do that, even after
