* * *
CHRIS HUNG UP his towel and turned off the light in the bathroom. The hot shower had felt good, and so did the clean jeans and T-shirt. He’d tried to be quick, knowing that Lizzie was still waiting, but he’d seen women “freshen up” before. He was probably done before she was.
Which made him quite surprised to find her sound asleep on his sofa, a soft curl of hair draped over her cheek and her lips slightly open.
God, she was beautiful. It was no wonder he’d temporarily lost his sanity that night.
He was glad he projected an image of calm about the situation. He’d gotten pretty good at that over the years, but on the inside he was still confused as hell. On one hand, he truly believed in having to play the hand he was dealt, just as he’d said. On the other, he was chafing at the bit. This year was his one chance to do something for himself. Now he was going to have to cut that short for yet another obligation.
And then of course he felt guilty for feeling resentful, like he was being completely selfish.
The truth was, he didn’t really want to be an engineer any longer and it was time he faced it head-on. It wasn’t that it was even a bad job. He had great coworkers, good benefits, steady employment and a really good paycheck. But it also didn’t make him happy. His father had pushed for him to get an education, and he understood why. But to his mind, his father had had just about the best job ever in the world.
This year had been about more than goofing off, more than competing in rodeo. It had been a chance to see what life was like away from AB Windpower, to spend some time figuring out what he really wanted to do. Now, if he were to live up to his obligations, that chance was over. And yet not living up to his obligations was unthinkable.
While Lizzie slept, he grabbed the cordless phone, disappeared into the quiet kitchen and ordered pizza. Then he emailed AB’s VP of Operations, Nicole Bennett, asking her to call him on Monday morning.
The buzzer at the lobby echoed through the quiet space and he jumped up, hurrying to answer it. He went down to pay for the foo
d and when he came back up, Lizzie was stretching, her eyes still half closed from her nap.
The stretch had the same effect on him this time as it had before. Her shirt lifted, revealing a narrow band of skin and also accentuated the rounded curve of her breasts. Attraction? Hell yeah. That first night it had been purely physical, though they’d hit it off, too. Now there was more, and it didn’t even have anything to do with the baby. He liked what he saw and who he saw. She was a good person. A bit driven, but smart and loyal and caring.
It only made her more attractive.
“I didn’t mean to fall asleep.” She bit down on her lip and it only served to draw his attention to her full, pink mouth.
He swallowed thickly. “You’ve had a crazy few days, not to mention the physical changes you must be experiencing. I ordered us in some pizza. I’m hungry.” He smiled. “I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I got one plain pepperoni and the other one loaded.”
He put the boxes down on the dining table and she pushed herself up off the sofa, straightening her clothes. “Oh, my gosh, that smells good.”
“You only had toast this morning and then a yogurt at the hospital. You must be starving.”
“I could eat,” she admitted, her cheeks pinking.
He got two plates while she opened the boxes. “There are black olives on this one. I think I love you.”
He chuckled. “Loaded it is, then.”
She slid the first piece onto her plate. “They’re salty. For some reason they just taste so good right now.”
“The spicy doesn’t bother you?”
She shook her head. “Not so far. It’s kind of weird what does and doesn’t make me feel gross. Things I’ve always liked, I don’t anymore. Other things I never ate are suddenly really appealing.”
He put three large slices on his plate and sat down across from her. “Okay, so what sort of things do you like now that you didn’t before?”
She ticked her fingers. “Hummus, asparagus, sweet potatoes.”
“Hmm,” he mused. “I like all of those. In fact I like pretty much everything. Of course, when I was growing up, I ate whatever was on the table. We couldn’t afford for me to be picky.”
“Black-eyed peas,” Lizzie lamented, screwing up her face. “Our housekeeper, Anna, made black-eyed peas and I hated them. And it didn’t matter if we could afford it or not—we had to eat whatever was made for dinner.” She smiled sadly. “It was like that when Mom was around, but she always found a way to make sure we had our favorites. After she left, things weren’t so strict. Just having the family together for meals was enough, and Anna stepped in and looked after us. And then when Dad married Peggy, it was really good again.”
“Your mother left you?”
“Yeah, when Jet was little.”
Chris tried to imagine that. How could a mother just walk away from her four kids?