The Texan's Baby (Texas Rodeo Barons)

She laughed. “Couldn’t wait?”

“I seem to have worked up an appetite,” he answered. “Lizzie, about last night...”

Her body tingled with simple awareness. “One day at a time, remember?”

His gaze warmed and he nodded slowly. “Yeah. I know we’re supposed to just take things as they come and see how it goes. I just...” She clutched the top of the bag tightly, hanging on his words. He came close, so that their bodies were only a few inches apart and her breath was coming faster. “I just wanted you to know that it was good.”

There was a hesitancy in his voice that she liked. He wasn’t quite sure of himself. Wasn’t quite sure of them. And he definitely wasn’t taking anything about them for granted.

For the first time, she felt like someone actually saw her for her. Not because of her last name or who the members of her family were or the letters after her name. But her. Liz. The person underneath all the other details that somehow formed an image that bore little resemblance to the person inside.

And that was why she’d gone with him that first night. That was why she’d walked into a bar in jeans and boots and a devil-may-care attitude.

“It was good for me, too,” she murmured.

“It’s a good start,” he decreed. “Listen, I hate to do this, but I’ve got to go.”

“Thanks for the flowers and the muffins. It was so thoughtful.” They were barely an inch apart now.

She tilted her chin just a little, inviting him that much closer. He touched her lips with his, a gentle contact that rocked her right to the bottom of her sensible pumps. He took his time, keeping it light and yet devastatingly intimate as his hands lightly gripped her arms. When the kiss broke off, he ran his tongue over his lips once and murmured, “Mmm.”

“I need to get to work, Mr. Miller, and you’re proving to be a big distraction.”

“Can I see you again tonight?”

So soon. It scared her and exhilarated her at the same time. “I should be home around seven. I’ll make dinner.”

“That sounds perfect. I’ll see you then.” He kissed her forehead just as Emory stuck her head in the nearly closed door once more. “Lizzie, you’ve got a call from legal. Can I put them through?”

Lizzie’s cheeks heated as she looked over Chris’s shoulder at her assistant, whose face was completely deadpan. “That’d be fine, Em. Chris was just on his way out.”

“See you tonight,” he said, backing away from her and turning toward the door.

She watched him leave, her heart pounding in her chest. Who knew he’d end up being so romantic? So spontaneous?

The phone buzzed as Emory put through the call and Lizzie snapped back to reality. She had a job to do and she’d better start doing it, rather than mooning over Christopher all day.

Chapter Twelve

The next few weeks passed in a blur. Lizzie spent long hours at the office and updated Brock as needed, but kept those conversations to a minimum. She never really had time to bring up the stock issue once they were done dealing with other topics, and Brock was particularly grouchy these days since he’d caught his crutch on a rug and taken a fall. Between the pain and the physio, she tried to bother him as little as possible.

Mark hadn’t brought it up again either, so she focused on crisis management for the time being and went home exhausted every night.

The good part of that was the way Chris had become a part of her life. He never pushed about the future, but she knew deep down he was becoming deeply entrenched into her day-to-day existence. After the first few nights at her place, he left a toothbrush in her bathroom and she picked up bottles of his scent of body wash and shampoo at the drugstore to keep in her shower. By the weekend he’d brought over some clothes, and by that Sunday night she’d pretty much told him it was foolish for him to be paying for a motel room when he was never there and gave him a key to her condo. He could stay with her until he found a place to live.

So far he’d found himself a Realtor and had turned down a few properties south of the city due to their price. He was just getting started, though, and in the evenings they often spent a half hour or so looking at properties online. One in particular they both loved, and it was only minutes away from Roughneck. The ranch was small but well-kept, the house a two-story colonial with regal white columns out front. It was also about twice his budget, but each night they brought it up and looked at it just for fun. At times she fantasized about what it would be like to live in such a place together, but then she pushed the thoughts away. They were taking things one day at a time. Nothing serious. No commitments or big decisions.

While she was cautious about their relationship, she was much less so about motherhood. Lizzie started looking for things for the baby. One lunch hour she popped into a shop, found herself misty-eyed staring at plush teddy bears and bought two. She bought magazines to inspire the decoration of the nursery and ordered a padded rocking chair.

The chair was delivered to the condo on Thursday night and the delivery men left it in the living room until Lizzie could decide where she wanted it put. Chris came home and discovered her sitting in it, her hands on the curved arms, sinking into the soft cushions and rocking back and forth.

“New furniture?” He raised an eyebrow and smiled at her, closing the door.

“I couldn’t resist. I was passing by and saw it and it was a total impulse buy.”

“What? Ms. Total Planner? But what if the stain color doesn’t match the crib you want?”

She laughed. “Oddly enough, I’m worrying less about stuff like that lately.”