The Case of the Mesmerizing Boss (18 page)

The accusation made him feel guilty. She didn’t know how he really felt. She looked indifferent, and he wasn’t confident about revealing his emotions right now. He’d told her he didn’t want commitment, sure, but that was when he thought he couldn’t give her a full marriage. Now he could, but she didn’t seem to want him anymore.

He drew back into himself. It was the child he had to be concerned with now. Later, he and Tess could sort themselves out. First things first. “Things have changed,” he said quietly. “You mean you didn’t want me, but the baby is another matter.”

Her expression kindled his temper. “Of course,” he said with a mocking smile, lashing out at her.

She stared at him with a breaking heart, but she didn’t dare let him know how much that flat statement had hurt. “Did you ever plan to tell me?” he persisted. “Yes,” she said. “Eventually.”

“When?” he drawled, his black eyes accusing. “After he started school? Well, you don’t need to tell me now. I know.” He stuck a lean hand in his slacks pocket and stared at her, refusing to let his

The Case of the Mesmerizing Boss 133 emotions show. Her treachery in hiding her condition from him, when she knew he thought he was sterile, was going to take some forgiveness, but that might come in time. “I’ll take you down to the ranch,” he said, thinking out loud. “You’ll have Beryl for company.” “No,” she murmured, averting her eyes. “I-can’t go there.”

He frowned. Then he remembered what he’d told her about Beryl. They weren’t married and she was pregnant.

Inside, he brightened. Now he had a concrete reason for marrying her, one that spared him from revealing his real feelings. Let her think it was only because of the child.

“We’ll work out something.” He flicked his cuff back and looked at his watch, his mind churning. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” “Dane, we have to talk,” she began. “Later.”

He glanced at her again with quiet possessiveness, but he didn’t speak. He left the apartment and Tess lay back, disturbed and sad-dened by the way he was acting. He’d admitted that the child was all he wanted. She’d hoped he might have missed her, wanted her back, but that was daydreaming.

If his appearance in her life had been a shock, what he came back with three hours later was devastating. He dragged a strange man into the room with him, handed her a pen and a sheet of paper and indicated where she was to sign it and how. He didn’t even give her time to read it before he laid it on the table and sat down beside her, taking her hand in his. “Go ahead,” he told the man.

The man produced a small book, smiled, and proceeded to read a wedding service. Tess was so shocked that she was barely able to answer when called upon. Before she knew it, Dane was sliding a plain gold band-two sizes too big-on her finger, and she was married. “Dane…!” she protested.

He got up and shook hands with the man, let him sign the paper, handed him a wad of bills and escorted him to the door with profuse thanks. When he’d let him out, Dane moved back to the bed and looked

Diana Palmer

down at Tess. She was his wife now. She belonged to him-she and the baby. His baby. His chest swelled with raging pride.

She looked at the ring on her finger dazedly, trying to equate it with the odd look on Dane’s face, the glittery darkness of his eyes. “It takes three…three days to get married….” she stammered.

“It takes one if you threaten to shoot a judge,” he said pleasantly. “Don’t worry, it’s perfectly legal.” He frowned thoughtfully. “I don’t know about the kidnapping charge, though.” “What kidnapping?”

“The probate judge who just married us didn’t know he was going to,” he explained. “I appropriated him at the courthouse and brought him with me.”

She laughed. Then she cried. It was so unlike Dane to be impul-sive like that.

He cursed under his breath. “All right, I’m sorry I had to spring it on you without any warning,” he said stiffly. “But we had to present Beryl with a fait accompli when I take you there tonight.”

“It isn’t fair that she has to be responsible for me,” she whispered. “Or you, either, for that matter.”

He lifted his head. “You have my baby inside you,” he said, his eyes darkening as he searched hers. It took all his willpower to keep himself from lifting her into his arms and kissing those tears away. “The baby is all that matters right now. My God, it’s everything!” he breathed huskily.

He certainly did want the child, she thought sadly. She stared at his tie, wondering how he was going to feel if she lost it, if he ended up married to her for no reason. It would be so much worse, because she hadn’t told him the truth. But how could she?

“Stop brooding,” he said. “I’ll take care of you, Miss Meriwether.” He hesitated. “Mrs. Lassiter,” he corrected. The name had a new sound, a different sound from when it had been used for Jane. “Mrs. Teresa Lassiter,” he murmured.

She lifted her sad eyes to his. “You really do want the baby, don’t you?”

His face went hard. “You know that already. Hadn’t you realized how I felt, thinking that I couldn’t father a child? Didn’t it matter to you?”

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She stiffened miserably. “Yes, it mattered….” She choked and shifted. “I didn’t want you to feel trapped, or that you had to marry me,” she said finally, giving him the only reason she felt safe disclosing. “I knew you didn’t want to marry again. You’d said so half a dozen times.”

He only looked at her, his eyes narrow and probing. That had been true, until he’d made such long, sweet love to her. After that, she’d become his world. The baby was a bonus, a big one, but it was her he’d wanted. He hadn’t wanted to marry her and have her grieve for lack of a child. Jane’s obsession to get pregnant had left deep scars on his emotions. They’d influenced his attitude toward less. Now, all he wanted was Tess. He wanted his child, too. But she’d meant to keep her conception a secret, and he didn’t think it was because of the flimsy reason she’d given him. Did she hate him now-was that it? Had his treatment of her killed what she’d once felt for him? Uncertain, he withdrew behind a camouflage of anger.

“Whether or not I wanted to remarry is a moot point now, isn’t it?” he asked, more harshly than he’d intended. “The child has to have a name. We’ll get by, somehow.”

That wasn’t what she wanted to hear. She wanted him to say that he loved her desperately, that he’d want her even if she wasn’t carrying his child, that he’d missed her and needed her. None of that was realistic, though. The truth was that he’d done very well without her. If not for the baby, he’d never have come near her again.

His presence in the restaurant that day was puzzling, though. Why had he been there? Kit had hinted that he’d wanted to see Tess. She didn’t believe it. Dane knew where she lived. He could have seen her anytime. No, Kit was wrong. It had only been a coincidence. She’d looked bad and he’d felt sorry for her. She drooped a little, worn out from the emotional strain of the day.

“I want you to change clothes, if you can manage. Then we’ll get your things together and go down to the ranch. I guess morning sickness can be pretty debilitating.”

“Yes,” she said evasively. “It can. I’d like to have a bath first,” she said weakly. “Are you up to it?”

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She nodded. “The nausea is the worst when I first wake up. I’ll be all right.”

“Tell me what to pack and where to find it. I’ll take care of that If you need me, I’ll be within earshot.”

She did, amazed at how quickly he’d taken over. It was nice to have everything arranged, to be looked after. She was too weak and sick to take care of herself. She wouldn’t think about his motives. If she did, she’d go crazy.

An hour later, bathed and dressed, she let Dane lead her out to the black Mercedes. He’d already talked to the landlord-God knew what he’d said-and her bags were packed and in the car.

She worried all the way to Branntville about what Beryl was going to say. Dane talked to her about work, about Helen and the staff, but she barely heard him. She was too upset to listen.

She needn’t have worried. Beryl came out to the car to meet her, looking motherly.

“You poor child,” she said gently, opening the door for her. “Don’t you worry about a thing,” she said sternly. “It’s going to be all right. When Dane can’t be here, I will. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

It was too much, after all the worry. She broke down, letting Beryl cuddle her while she cried her heart out.

“Here, this won’t do,” Dane said finally. He drew her away from Beryl and lifted her against him. “I’ll carry you inside. You need to rest. It’s been a long day.”

“I’ll warm up some of the nice chicken soup I made,” Beryl promised. “You’ll like it. It will be good for the baby,” she added, her eyes twinkling as she went ahead of them. “You told her?” Tess asked Dane.

“Yes.” He searched her eyes. “Everything’s all right. All you have to do is rest.”

She nodded. But she was thinking that life wasn’t that simple. It seemed suddenly very much harder than it had been, with the man she loved most in the world both so close and so far away, and her baby under constant threat. She wondered if she might go quietly mad.

Chapter Ten Dane had his evening meal in the room with Tess. Beryl had helped her into a pair of clean pajamas and a matching robe, and had tucked her up in the big antique four-poster bed, sympathizing with Tess’s incapacitating nausea. Tess felt guilty letting Beryl and Dane believe it was only that. But she’d have felt worse telling them the truth.

This wasn’t the same bed she’d slept in the last time she’d been at the ranch, and it was in a different part of the sprawling house. She hadn’t asked Beryl why she was in here, or if it was near Dane’s room. She’d been too shy. “Eat,” he told her firmly, watching her toy with her spoon. “Sorry. I was just wondering whose room this was.”

“It’s mine,” he said quietly, watching her start. He nodded grimly. “That’s right. You’re sharing it with me.”

She stared at him wildly. They couldn’t be intimate, but how was she going to tell him that without telling him everything? “Dane…” she began worriedly after she’d lifted a spoonful of hot, delicious chicken soup to her mouth.

“I know that sex can be unpleasant for a pregnant woman,” he said unexpectedly. “I want you with me at night, that’s all. If you need me, I’ll be close by.”

His concern touched her, even as the flat statement about no intimacy reassured her. “Thank you.” He hated her look of relief. It made him feel unwanted, but he

Diana Palmer

disguised his reaction. “Have you thought about names? Do you hope it’s a boy or do you want a little girl?” he asked.

She’d been afraid to hope, but he couldn’t know that. “No. I don’t care if it’s a boy or a girl.”

“Neither do I,” he replied. “As long as the baby’s healthy, that’s all that matters.”

She nodded. “You were an only child, weren’t you?” she said, desperate to change the subject.

“Yes, but my mother didn’t really want me,” he said bitterly, his eyes going dark with remembered pain. “This baby will be wanted,” she said softly.

His eyes lifted. He looked at her, sitting there so vulnerable and pretty in his bed, her blond hair soft and curling, her big gray eyes watching him. “He certainly will.” “Was your father an only child?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “He never talked about his family. He vanished when I was young, and I didn’t hear from him again. My mother had two brothers, but they died in Vietnam, both of them.”

“You and your mother never got along, even when you were a child?” she asked. “No.” He closed up. “Eat your soup.”

She grimaced and went back to the nourishing liquid. He had a knack for closing doors, she thought.

They’d eaten fairly late. Dane took time to check with his ranch foreman before he came back into the bedroom and began stripping off his clothes.

Tess tried not to watch, but she couldn’t help it. He was the most magnificent man she’d ever seen. Her eyes lingered on the deep scars on his back and shoulder before he turned, and then her attention was captured by the powerful lines of his arms and chest. She was so preoccupied that he’d taken off everything he was wearing before she became aware of it-and the fact that she was staring. She went scarlet.

He smiled faintly as he moved to turn off the lights. “You’ll get used to me,” he said, ignoring her scarlet blush. “I wore pajamas for your sake at the apartment, but we’re married now. I’ve slept this way since I was a boy. Old habits are hard to part with.”

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“I don’t mind,” she said as he climbed in under the covers beside her. “It’s your bedroom, after all.”

“Know where the controls are for the electric blanket? It’s spring, but the weather still turns cold sometimes at night.”

“Yes, I found them earlier.” She lay quietly under the soft warmth of the sheet and electric blanket, her eyes on the dark ceil-ing, trying not to move around and disturb him. This was familiar, because she’d slept with him once before. But then it had been new and exciting and she’d slept because of exhaustion. Now, it was difficult to get used to having someone beside her in the darkness. Not only that, she could feel his resentment, his displeasure.

His hand suddenly slid over her stomach and pressed there, mak-ing her jump. “Don’t have hysterics. I want to feel him. Does he move yet?”

She swallowed. The feel of his hand was comforting as much as disturbing. “Little flutters,” she managed. “He’ll start to kick soon.” “Are you going to nurse him, Tess?”

Her heart skipped. She thought about it, about the advantages of it that she’d read about in magazines. “Yes. I want to, very much.”

She held her breath, hoping that he might pull her close and cradle her in his arms while she slept. But he didn’t. He removed his hand and she felt him turn away form her. It was like a harbinger of things to come. It made her nervous.

She didn’t know that he was concealing an explosion of emotions he didn’t want her to sense. He felt like a magician when he thought of her pregnancy. He’d never wanted anything as much as he wanted this child; anything, except Tess herself. That was something he couldn’t quite admit yet. His emotional scars were hurting. He’d thought he could trust Tess because she loved him, but she’d denied him the one miracle of his life-the knowledge of his paternity. If he hadn’t gone looking for her, she wouldn’t have told him. It didn’t bear thinking about. He closed his eyes with a rough sigh and finally slept.