The blush deepened. “Um...of course not. It’s just that it would complicate things. Haven’t we had this conversation already?”
She regained her composure and got out two glasses, but he noticed her hand shook slightly as she was pouring the milk.
So what the hell did he want from her? It was as though she had two faces. The first face was that of the mother of his kid. He saw that woman and knew that they both had to step up and act like responsible expecting parents. And then there was the other face, which was that of a beautiful, smart woman. A woman he was still attracted to. A woman he couldn’t get out of his mind. Putting the two together made an ungodly mess he couldn’t begin to sort out. If he pursued anything it would only mess up the parenting side of things.
But ignoring the way they looked at each other, the way his pulse seemed to quicken the moment he saw her, the way it was hammering right now...
He took the milk and cake and perched on a stool, trying to keep his thoughts cool. This was not why he’d decided to move to Dallas. It was about his child. About choosing not to be a long-distance father. About putting childish things away and looking after his family.
And that’s when it hit him.
Lizzie was his family now. They would forever be tied—on holidays, over parent-teacher interviews, with dating advice, weddings, the birth of grandchildren. She would always be a part of his life.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked, and he shook his head.
“Nothing. I guess I’m just a little tired.”
She frowned. “Sorry if I kept you from getting back ho...I mean, back to the motel.”
“No, it’s good.” He made a show of taking a bite of the creamy tiramisu followed by a big gulp of icy-cold milk. “It’s just been a bit crazy lately. I’m kind of wondering when I’m going to get off the merry-go-round.”
“Tell me about it,” she grumbled, leaning her elbows on the counter and dipping into her own dessert. “I thought, with being on the board and all, that I knew what I was getting into by stepping into Dad’s shoes. Turns out they’re very big shoes to fill.”
Chris tried to ignore the way the V of her dress gaped just a little as she leaned over, revealing a delicious glimpse of cleavage. “Do you regret taking it on, then?”
She shook her head. “No. I still believe it should be a Baron at the helm. It would help if Dad would even listen to any of my ideas. But boy, he’s set in stone.” She blew out a breath, took a drink of milk and scraped a bit of mascarpone onto her fork.
“What sort of ideas?” This line of conversation was slightly more comfortable, and he dropped his shoulders, trying to relax.
“Diversification, for one. I’d love for Baron to start exploring alternate forms of energy, you know? And I know Jacob agrees. But Dad’s old-school oil all the way. It’s maddening. I tried to get him to see it from the Roughneck point of view.” She pierced the cake with her fork again. “We have the rodeo business and the stock. Then we have the farm part of it, which feeds into Savannah’s store—all moneymakers. And then we have Baron Energies. He kept saying that I’m just acting like the rest of the younger generation, with my idealist head in the clouds. And then I got mad and said that people with their heads in the clouds were innovators and maybe it would do him good to spend some time up there.”
Chris snorted. “And how did that go over?”
She looked up and a reluctant smile tugged at her lips. “He smacked his crutches on the patio floor, glared at me and said just how the hell was he supposed to get up there when he could barely get out of his chair?”
“Ouch.”
“Quite.”
“So what kind of alternate forms of energy were you thinking? Ethanol? Solar?”
“There’s been great success with converting livestock manure to gas. Several ranches I can list right now run their operations independent of the grid. Not to mention new technologies in solar cells and wind power...you’d know something about that.”
“Yes, I would.”
“Maybe you could talk to my dad.”
He polished off his cake and added blandly, “Would that be before or after I tell him I got his eldest daughter knocked up?”
She grinned. “Good point.” As she collected their plates, she kept talking. “Anyway, Dad’s thing is that if we expand into other forms of energy, it’s like saying we don’t have faith in the oil business anymore.”
“And what do you say to that?”
She met his gaze. “I told him that someone needs to start thinking about the future.”
She had balls. He had no doubt about that. And he agreed with her, too. He grabbed a memory of talking to Nicole about the job and how she’d asked about Baron and mentio
ned Lizzie’s views. “Have you been vocal about that before?”