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A surge of something dark twisted through her and when she realized what it was, she felt more stupid than ever. She was jealous. Maybe it was hormones. Oh Lord, she hoped so. Because if it were hormones then at some point, when her hormones straightened out again, the crazy longing would go away.
Restless after reading the article, she took a long bath and listened to soothing music. She sipped herbal tea to calm herself and tried not to think about that photo of Max with Kiki.
She slept horribly, unable to get comfortable. Giving up on sleep, she rose earlier than usual. When she got out of bed, she felt exhausted and noticed her abdomen tightening. As she prepared for work, the sensation didn’t go away. Were these contractions?
Although she had a few weeks left before her due date she called her doctor’s office. The doctor on call asked a few questions then, erring on the cautious side, instructed her to go to the hospital.
Lilli grabbed her purse and went downstairs. Max stood poised to leave. He met her gaze. “Good morning. How are you?”
Lilli burst into tears.
Alarmed by her response, Max dropped his briefcase and immediately took her in her arms. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
She choked back a sob. “I may be in labor. My doctor told me to go to the hospital. Max, this is happening too fast.” Her blue eyes filled with tears of desperation. “I’m not ready.”
“Of course you are,” he said firmly even though his own gut was clenching in apprehension. “I’ll drive you to the hospital and—”
“Are you sure that’s what you want—?”
“Of course I’m sure,” he said, appalled that she would expect anything less of him. “We’ll take the town car.” He ushered her to the garage. “I’ll drive. You can sit in the backseat and stretch out.”
His own heart hammering in his chest, Max helped her into the car and sped to the hospital. He shot a glance at Lilli in the rearview mirror and the expression of fear on her face tore at him. “You’re going to be okay. The baby is going to be okay.”
“Do you really believe that?”
He nodded. “Yes, I do.” He had to believe it.
Pulling the car to a stop outside the emergency room door, he helped Lilli inside. An admission clerk took her information and Lilli was whisked away. Just before she disappeared behind the double doors, she looked back at Max. “Are you leaving?”
He shook his head. “I’ll be right back after I park the car.” Returning to the hospital, he was consumed with concern for Lilli and the baby. He would get the finest doctors in Las Vegas to care for her. He would do whatever it took to keep Lilli and the baby safe and healthy.
He strode toward the emergency room double doors, making a mental list. A woman stepped in front of him. “Excuse me, sir. You’re not allowed inside unless you’re a member of a patient’s family.”
Frustration ripped through him. He needed to take care of Lilli, but it wasn’t his official duty or his official right. At that moment, he made a life-altering decision. He knew there would be no going back. But never again would he worry about being barred from taking care of Lilli or the baby. He would make her his wife. That way, taking care of her and the baby would always be his right. “I’m the baby’s father,” he told the woman, and she allowed him to pass.
Two and a half hours later, a mortified Lilli left the hospital with Max. “I’m so sorry,” she said, shooting a wincing glance at him. His hair was ruffled from plowing his fingers through it and his tie hung loose from his collar. He was more gorgeous than ever and she felt like a lunatic. “I should have realized it was false labor.”
“Like the doctor said, it’s an easy mistake to make. This is your first pregnancy.”
“Maybe,” she said. “But now you’ve lost half a day of work because of my mistake.”
“A half day of work is nothing to make sure you and the baby are safe,” he said, his words barely softening the harsh sound of his voice as he drove them home. “Stop apologizing.”
She bit her lip and looked out the window then back at him. “Are you sure you’re not angry?”
“I’m not angry, but I am concerned. This underscores the need for you to provide for the baby if something, God forbid, should happen to you,” he said and swore under his breath.
“I know,” she said glumly. She knew she couldn’t dodge it any longer. “I’m going to change my will today so that you’ll be the baby’s guardian.”
He narrowed his eyes at her words. “That’s a good start, but we may need to take that further.”
Her chest tightened. He was talking about the agreement he wanted her to sign. Even though she understood the money in the agreement was designated for support, she still found it distasteful. “I don’t want your money and I don’t want to sign the agreement. It just feels totally wrong to me.”
“I’m not talking about that agreement,” he said, pulling the car into a bank parking lot and cutting the engine.
Lilli looked at him in surprise. “Then what?”
“I’ve been thinking. How do you feel about the baby’s last name being De Luca?”
She frowned in confusion. “I thought I was going to try not to draw attention to the fact that Tony was his father. For safety’s sake. That’s the reason I’ll be moving away.”
“What if you didn’t move away?” he asked, his gaze searching hers. “What if your last name became De Luca, too?”
More confused than ever, she shook her head. “How could that happen?”
“If you named me the father of—” he paused “—your child. And married me.”
She gaped at him, feeling as if someone had turned the whole world upside down. “Married you? But you don’t love me.”
“Starting out in love isn’t the best predictor of success in marriage.”
Her head was whirling. “I don’t understand. You don’t want to get married. You’re pretty cynical about marriage.”
“I want to provide a good life for the baby. I feel responsible for him. For you,” he said as if he didn’t totally understand his own feelings.
“I don’t think that’s a good basis for a marriage.”
“There’s a lot worse,” he said.
Her chest tightened. “I don’t want to feel like a responsibility. Like a burden. And I don’t want the baby to ever feel that way.”
“It wouldn’t be that way. I think you and I could make this work.” He slid his hand under her jaw. “And there’s the fact that I want you. And you want me,” he said, his tone intimate.
“I wondered if maybe that had changed.”
He slowly shook his head.
Her heart skipped over itself. “What about when that does change?”
“How do you know it will?” he asked, his dark eyes holding hers.
Lilli felt herself sinking into a delicious, forbidden pool of hope. “I don’t know.”
He caressed her jaw. “I think you know that you and I would be good together. In a lot of ways.”
True. But that didn’t mean they should get married. Lilli tore away her gaze to clear her head. If she put the baby’s needs in front of hers, what would she do? She felt an immediate smack from her conscience. Who was she fooling? It wasn’t as if being with Max De Luca would present a hardship for her. But this was a huge decision. Huge enough that she wanted to make it with a clear head.
“Could you give me some time to think this over?”
He met her gaze and nodded. “Sure.” He paused a half beat. “Think about it. You’ll realize it’s best for everyone.”
She felt a sliver of relief. She’d bought herself a little time.
“Do you have any questions you’d like to ask me?” he said, as if he sensed what was going on inside her.
She closed her eyes so she wouldn’t be affected by his presence, but she still sensed him, still smelled the faintest scent of his sexy cologne. “If you raised the baby, would you blow bubbles with him?”
He didn’t even pause. “Yes.”
“Will you read him books at night? You can let the nanny do it every now and then, but you need to do it most nights.”
“Yes,” he said.
“Will you tell him he’s wonderful?”
“Yes.”
“Will you hold him when he cries?”
“Yes. And I’ll hold you, too, Lilli, whether you’re crying or not.”
And Lilli felt her heart tumble a little farther away from good sense and sanity.
Chapter 9
“I like it,” Max said to Alex during a one-on-one meeting in his office. “At first glance, when you say West Virginia, I would think the local economy wouldn’t be able to support this kind of luxury resort.”
Alex tapped his pen on his outline. “Because it’s close to Washington, D.C., there’s great transportation access. D.C. residents will be rushing there every weekend.”
“The sticking point with the board will be the midweek challenge,” Max said. “Who wants to go to West Virginia in the middle of the week?”
“We can hold meetings and conferences. Plus, if we do it right, this place will have a spa, golf course, special events and all kinds of luxury amenities that will draw people year-round.”
“Like I said, I like it. You’ve got my—” His intercom beeped, interrupting him. Surprised because he’d told his assistant no interruptions during his meeting, he picked up his phone. “Yes.”
“I’m terribly sorry to interrupt you, Mr. De Luca, but security downstairs has called and they said a very pregnant woman insists on seeing you.”
There was only one very pregnant woman in his life. Immediately concerned, he frowned. “Lilli,” he said. “Is she okay?”
