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As frantic and aggressive as they’d been together, something had passed between them...something silent, yet significant. He’d seen so much in her eyes and he worried what she’d seen in his.
Lying in silence for several minutes, Nash knew Lily wasn’t going to sleep anytime soon.
“I’m sure you see the parallel in my mother’s pregnancy and yours,” he told her, breaking the silence. He glided his fingertips along her bare arm across his body. “You’re not here because of that. You’re here because I want you here.”
Lily’s body softened against his. “I know. I know we started off as just a private affair and suddenly we’re both thrust into a world we have no clue how to face. One day at a time is all we can do right now.”
Relieved that she knew that much, Nash wished he could tell her the rest. Wished he could fully disclose his identity. But telling her now would certainly murder any chance he had of being with her. He needed more time.
“But, I do need to make some decisions soon,” she said after a minute of silence. “I can’t stay in Virginia forever and avoid my responsibilities.”
Forever. Was he ready to use such a word when thinking of them in terms of a couple? He’d never considered forever with one woman before, but something about Lily made him reconsider his list of priorities. She made him want to be a better man, not always putting business first and really focusing on life. But he’d already dived headfirst into this plan before he met her and, unfortunately, there was no turning back now.
Damn it. He’d had every intention of coming out of this charade unchanged and besting his rival.
“Have you told your mom about the baby?” he asked.
Her warm breath tickled his side as she blew out a sigh. “Not yet. This isn’t something I want to just tell her over the phone. Besides, I’d like to go visit her, anyway. I try to get there between films.”
Moonlight filtered through the crack in the curtains, slanting a soft glow across the bed. So many things raced through his mind, from the buying of Damon’s horses to the baby, but one thing was certain. He couldn’t let Lily go. He kept having images of her in his home, his real home, on his grounds and in his stables. She would fit in perfectly and his staff would be just as charmed by her as he was.
“What do you say we go on a picnic or horseback riding tomorrow...well, today.” He stopped, wondering if that was even a possibility. “Are you even allowed to ride horses pregnant?”
She turned, fisted her hand and rested her chin on it. “I’m not sure, really. Are you asking me on a date?” she asked with a smile.
Smoothing her hair away from her face and shoving it behind her shoulders, he trailed a fingertip down her cheek. “Yeah. Kind of working backward, but what do you say?”
“I’d love to go on a date with you. Let’s just stick with the picnic for now, okay?”
Why her bright smile and upbeat tone sent his heart into overdrive was beyond him. They were having a baby, they’d been intimate and she went with him to offer support with Damon. Now he decided to ask her on a date?
“If we have a big date planned, I better get some sleep,” she told him around a yawn.
“Need more ice cream and milk?” he chuckled.
“Oh, no.” Her delicate laugh filled his room, his heart. “Your way worked so much better to cure my insomnia. You wore me out.”
Nash couldn’t help but smile as he kissed the top of her head. “That’s the idea. Now rest.”
He pulled the thin comforter up around her shoulders and held her tight until her breathing slowed and her hand beneath his went lax.
Nash couldn’t wait for the sun to rise, to get in some time at Stony Ridge, then go on a date with Lily. He needed her to see who he truly was before she found out about the other side to him. He needed her to see that there was so much more to him than his millionaire businessman and millionaire persona. He was still the man who tended to horses and enjoyed the simple ways of life.
But first, he needed to find out where Damon stood on selling those thoroughbreds. Little did Damon know, his newfound son was also his most hated rival in the racing industry.
* * *
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Lily cupped her hand and scooped up the cool, refreshing water, playfully sending it in Nash’s direction.
“Come on,” she teased. “You’re a country boy. Don’t let a little creek water scare you.”
After a filling picnic consisting of sandwiches, fresh fruit, lemonade and chocolate chip cookies, Lily had toed off her sandals and stepped into the brisk creek to splash and play around. Nash still lay propped on one elbow on their blanket, watching her with a huge, devastating grin.
