“Yes,” he breathed. “I think I do want to be here. Very much.”
Her pulse leapt. “We’re doing this then? Us?”
His smile, the one she loved, slightly lopsided that popped his dimple, appeared. “Yeah, we’re doing this.”
He kissed her, but this time it was different. It was filled with the potential for both happiness and failure. It was fragile, too, holding both their hearts in the balance as they stepped off into something unknown. And for Lizzie, it was truly the beginning of something she hadn’t felt in a very long time—love. And that love came from trust. Trust that her heart was safe with him.
She took his hand and led him to the bedroom. Silently, with their gazes locked, they undressed. Lizzie sensed they were at a turning point where everything from this moment would be different. They weren’t falling into anything like they had before, or easing into it like they had his moving in. They had made a conscious decision to be together—really together. To meet as equals, face-to-face, heart-to-heart. It was so much bigger than it had ever been before, scary in its awesomeness.
Chris came forward and reached for her, his fingers grazing over the slight bump of her stomach. Their baby. Theirs. Right now it was feeling like a
miracle—a perfect little person growing inside her, half Lizzie and half Chris.
And when they made love the emotion overwhelmed her heart. She was in love with him, she realized, a tear forming at the corner of her eye. With this strong, noble, gentle man who had accidentally fathered her child.
Minutes later, curled up in his embrace under the covers, she closed her eyes and felt a prayer of thanks. She’d never imagined she’d find someone like him, especially when she wasn’t even looking. It was all going to work out just fine, she thought, slipping into the relaxed state just before sleep. It would all be fine with Chris at her side.
* * *
LEAVING FOR WORK the next morning was different than other mornings. Instead of a brief “have a nice day,” she kissed Chris goodbye at his truck and then walked the few blocks to the DART station to catch her train. She’d only made it halfway to the office when she got a text from him saying simply see you tonight, xx. She smiled to herself as she answered back and asked what he wanted to do for dinner.
But once she was at the office she squared her shoulders and got her head in the game. She had a full day planned, including talking to Jacob about safety inspection practices. Despite Brock’s defiance, she fully planned to help Jacob move into a bigger role within the company. Once Brock realized how valuable he was, he’d come around. She was sure of it. Right now it felt as if anything was possible.
She was halfway to her office when Maria fell into step with her. “I need to see you right away,” the older woman said, her expression serious. “Something came by courier this morning that you’re going to want to look at.”
That didn’t sound good. Lizzie frowned. “What?”
“This.” Maria handed over an envelope and Lizzie slid the sheaf of papers out, scanning the top page.
It took her a moment to realize what she was holding and when she did her feet stopped moving and her blood ran cold. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Nicole Bennett from AB Windpower has already phoned and set up a meeting with you for this afternoon.”
“This afternoon?” Lizzie checked her watch. So little time. And then there was the fact that the company involved was the same company Chris worked for. Coincidence? Not likely. But thinking about the possibilities made her body feel numb and she couldn’t afford that right now. She had to deal with one emergency at a time. And she had to prepare. That was the most important thing.
“Do you want me to reschedule?” Maria asked, her eyes worried.
“No, I don’t think so,” Lizzie replied, starting down the hall again with Maria keeping pace beside her. She needed to find out more before she went home tonight. Hearing what this Ms. Bennett woman had to say would be a good place to start. “Can you reschedule my day though so I can get through this and do a little research? I don’t want to be on the back foot going into this meeting.”
They stopped in front of Lizzie’s office and Maria fidgeted, standing by the door instead of going on her way. “What is it, Maria? You look like you want to say something.”
“Maybe you should call your dad. Or have someone from the board sit in with you.”
“And have Ms. Bennett think that I’m not capable of taking a meeting on my own?” Lizzie raised an eyebrow. She really wanted to approach this from a position of power, and how could she do that if she brought in a team of reinforcements as though she was afraid? “I want to take this first meeting solo. And then I’ll bring everyone in, I promise. All this will be is taking the temperature of the situation.” She frowned. “Can you find out a little bit about Nicole Bennett for me?”
“I’ll see what I can dig up. But Lizzie...” Maria put her hand on Lizzie’s arm. “I’ve known your father for a long time. Don’t keep him in the dark, or it’ll blow up in your face. Let him help you.”
“I will. I just want to go to him with a full picture,” she promised, but there was a dark feeling in the pit of her stomach. She should have mentioned something to Brock about the stock activity when Mark first came to her. Good heavens, was AB Windpower behind that, too? Were they coming at Baron from all sides? And what did Chris know about this?
Once she was in her office she shut her door and went to her desk, reading the document as she sat down. She understood how merging the smaller company with the larger one might strengthen AB’s financial position, but it was odd that a company established to market alternative energy solutions wanted to be joined with oil and gas. It was counterintuitive, wasn’t it? It just seemed that in the current trend, AB was taking a step backward by seeking an alliance with Baron.
She tapped her fingers on her desk. Then again, Lizzie had expressed an opinion about diversifying, hadn’t she? She loved Baron Energies but thought there was a huge opportunity to take a “whole energy solution” approach to the future rather than picking sides.
She’d expressed an opinion and on more than one occasion, though not since taking over the presidency. Suddenly her body went cold as she thought back to the conversations she’d had in private with Chris. Had she said as much to him? Because having him so close to her and having this proposal cross her desk only weeks later seemed a little too convenient to be coincidental.
She didn’t want to believe it. Not of him. But suddenly little things started adding up.
He had been on his leave until she told him who she was, and then he’d immediately gone back to work. And he’d garnered himself a promotion in the process. More than once she’d mentioned wanting to move into alternative energy. She’d even mentioned the stock issue and her worries about it.