The Texan's Baby (Texas Rodeo Barons)

“Then I should go. But, Liz?”

She leaned back and looked into his eyes.

“I don’t want to go. You should know that, too. And decide what you want from me.”

He got up, pressed a kiss to her hair, and picked up his jacket on his way to the door.

“Chris?”

&n

bsp; He turned, his hand on the doorknob, and found her standing beside the sofa, her hair mussed, her dress twisted, and looking just about as beautiful as he could stand.

“You need to decide what you want from me, too. Because I’m not really interested in being your baby mama with benefits.”

The words struck him with uncanny accuracy. He opened the door and stepped outside into the hall. He shut it behind him without looking back, more confused than ever.

Chapter Nine

Lizzie didn’t see Chris for the rest of the week. She worked long hours and tried to get as much downtime as possible. She took to calling her dad before she left the office to give him his daily update, went into the office on Saturday to stay on top of things without the usual daily interruptions, and spent Sunday cleaning her condo and doing laundry. By 8:00 p.m. she was exhausted and fell into bed and a long, deep sleep.

The only contact she’d had with Chris was a text message he’d sent, giving her the local AB Windpower office number in case she needed to reach him and he didn’t answer his cell. She missed his previous chatty messages more than she cared to admit.

Maybe he was still thinking. Or maybe he’d decided it wasn’t worth pursuing anything romantic with her. It would probably be easier this way. Definitely less stressful. So why wasn’t she feeling more relieved?

By Wednesday her morning sickness was starting to ease up, with less vomiting and more or less just nausea until she had time for her breakfast to settle. Now she was just hungry all the time, and with the spring weather turning even warmer, she’d started wearing dresses to work that weren’t so fitted in the waist. Still, she was ever aware that the time was coming that she’d have to say something to her family. She’d been running Baron for nearly three weeks now; she was almost done her first trimester. Nothing devastating had happened to the company under her management, even if her father was a stubborn old coot who plagued her for updates what felt like every hour.

The decision about when to share the news was practically made for her when Julieta left the PR department to stop by her office with an invitation.

“Okay, kiddo, you can’t bury yourself in here forever. You haven’t been out to the ranch in ages. We’re having a family dinner this Sunday and you’re coming.”

Lizzie looked up at Julieta, admiring her cream-colored pantsuit and the pink scarf she’d twined around her neck. With her Hispanic complexion, the colors were stunning. It wasn’t much wonder Brock had been taken with her, and little Alex, too.

“What’s the occasion?” She pushed aside her calendar for a moment and gave Julieta her full attention. She didn’t think it was anyone’s birthday this weekend....

“Family dinner is the occasion,” Julieta replied, a little sharply. “Everyone seems to be scattered everywhere these days. We haven’t all been together since your dad came home from the hospital.”

Lizzie smiled a little to herself. “Is he driving you crazy?”

Julieta sank down into a chair. “God, yes.”

“He doesn’t like to be idle.”

“If he could pace while waiting for your call each day, he would. I love the video conference meetings because I know that for at least an hour he won’t be irritating me about something.”

“You could come back to work full-time instead of trying to do it from home. I’m sure nursing staff would look after him just fine. It’s got to be killer trying to do everything and only being in the office two days a week.”

“Have you ever known your dad to take to being ‘looked after’? It’s all I can do to get him to stay off his feet. The physiotherapist has started coming in, thankfully. By the time he finishes with that, he’s ready for a nap. Don’t get me wrong, I love your father and I’m happy to be home and caring for him.” Her face softened a little. “I just needed to vent.”

At times over the past few years Lizzie had wondered about Julieta’s relationship with Brock. The age difference was so great, and even though she liked Julieta she’d wondered why she’d married a man so much her senior. And she’d wondered if at this point Brock had just been after a trophy wife.

But it was clear to her there was real affection between her dad and stepmother. “I know what you mean. He’s not even in the office and he drives me crazy most days. He second-guesses everything I do and then we end up going with it anyway. But he doesn’t make it easy.”

“He wants to be part of the process. He still needs to be needed.”

Lizzie softened a little, too. “I know that. Anyway, I should be able to make it for dinner.”

“What about this Chris guy? You still a thing? He’s welcome to come, too, if he’s in town.”