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Framing her face in his hands, Liam lifted his lips from hers and stared into her eyes. “Thank you for being my date tonight.” It wasn’t what he’d intended to say, but nevertheless his words pleased her.
“Thank you for asking. I had a lovely time.”
“Lovely?” He grinned. “Let’s see if we can’t upgrade that to fantastic.”
Her eyebrows lifted, daring him to try, while her fingers stroked down his sides. “We’re off to a wonderful start.”
Liam nuzzled his face into her throat and began to move inside her. “We certainly are.”
Ten
The night after the party at the hospital, Hadley was back on the neonatal floor she and Liam had toured. After receiving Maggie’s blood work back, Dr. Stringer had determined she should undergo phototherapy treatments for her jaundice. Despite being overwhelmed with ranch business, Liam had accompanied them, wearing his concern openly, but once he discerned how straightforward the process was, he’d relaxed.
Maggie had been stripped down to her diaper and placed in an incubator equipped with a light box that directed blue fluorescent light onto her skin. The light was meant to change the bilirubin into a form that Maggie could more easily expel through her urine. While the procedure was simple, it also took time to work. Maggie would be in the hospital for a couple days while undergoing the treatment. Hadley had agreed to stay with her to let Liam focus on the ranch.
Hadley caught herself humming as she fed Maggie her late-afternoon bottle. After the party at the hospital and the night spent in Liam’s arms, she’d stopped resisting what her heart wanted and let herself enjoy every moment of her time with Liam. Why fight against the inevitable? She’d fallen deeply in love with the man.
While a part of her couldn’t help but compare what was between her and Liam to what she’d had with Noah, deep down, Hadley recognized the vast difference between the two relationships. With Noah she’d never enjoyed any sort of emotional security. As much as he’d gone on and on about how much he wanted her, how his kids adored her, she always got the sense that he was looking over her shoulder for someone else. It turned out that someone else had been his ex-wife.
Liam never once let her think she was second best. His focus was always completely on her, and Hadley found that both comforting and wildly exciting. For the first time in a long time, she’d stopped focusing on the future and lived quite happily in the moment. School would start when it started. Her time with Maggie would grow shorter. Already arrangements had been made for the new nanny to start at the end of the month. This freed Hadley from her professional responsibilities, and she was eager to see where her relationship with Liam led.
Maggie’s eyelids started to droop before the bottle was finished. Hadley set it aside, lifted the infant onto her shoulder and patted her back to encourage a burp. A nurse stood by to test Maggie’s bilirubin levels. The staff members were monitoring her every hour or so. Hadley was calling Liam with the results.
His concern for Maggie’s welfare had warmed her when she thought the baby was his daughter. Now that she knew Maggie was his brother’s child, Liam’s commitment was just another reason Hadley found him so attractive.
She was tired of restraining her emotions. Liam made her happy, and she thought he felt the same way about her. When Maggie left the hospital, Hadley promised herself she would stop holding back.
* * *
Several days after the hospital party, Liam had an appointment with former Samson Oil lawyer Nolan Dane, who’d joined his father’s family law practice. Recently, Nolan had been accepted for membership in the Texas Cattleman’s Club, and the more Liam got to know the man, the more he liked him. The idea that had begun percolating in his mind took on a whole new urgency on the trip back from Colorado. With Maggie in the hospital and Hadley staying with her, the notion had solidified into a plan that required a savvy lawyer.
Liam stepped into Nolan’s office. “Looks like you’re all settled in.”
Nolan grinned. “It’s taken longer than I figured on. I didn’t expect to be so busy this early in my start-up.”
“That must mean you’re good. Looks like I’ve come to the right place.”
“Can I offer you coffee or water before we get started?” Nolan gestured Liam into a chair at the round conference table.
“Thanks, but I’m good.” While Nolan took a seat, Liam pulled out the paternity test as well as Maggie’s birth certificate and her mother’s death certificate that Diane Garner had sent at his request.
