The Night before Baby

by Smith, Karen Rose

  “How hungry are you?” he asked. “I can make an omelet. Supper was a long time ago.”

  She wondered where he’d eaten and who he’d eaten with. “Sounds good,” she murmured.

  In a matter of minutes, Lucas had pulled a frying pan from a lower cabinet and set margarine melting in it. As he cracked an egg with one hand, he nodded to the cupboards along the side of the kitchen. “There’s a box of crackers up there if you’re interested.”

  The way her stomach was rumbling, she was definitely interested. She had to stretch on tiptoe to reach the top shelf. As she did, she felt Lucas’s gaze on her. Her nightgown and robe had hiked up her thigh. Quickly she grabbed the box, and he looked away.

  By the time Olivia had poured juice into two glasses and set their places, Lucas put two dishes on the counter. The eggs were done just right with cheese oozing from between the layers.

  “I’ll let you make me breakfast anytime,” she teased, trying to establish a friendly rapport rather than a tingling one between them.

  “I like to cook. I just don’t do it very often.” As he sat beside her, his leg grazed hers, his body heat tangible and tempting.

  “Where did you learn?” she asked.

  “Here and there.”

  She took a bite of the omelet, then set down her fork and studied him.

  “What?” he asked.

  “You’re a lawyer through and through, aren’t you?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “When I ask you a question, you don’t really give me an answer. Is that design or habit?”

  His blue eyes sparked with silver for a moment, and his silence told her he didn’t like her observation. “Habit.”

  “Why?”

  “Do you always ask so many questions?” he growled.

  “I’m a lawyer, too.”

  “Not quite yet.”

  “You’re changing the subject,” she scolded.

  After a quick glance at her, he replied, “I don’t like talking about myself.”

  Olivia absorbed that as he quickly finished his omelet. With a few swallows he downed his juice and took his plate and glass to the sink.

  Then he faced her again. “I’ll be leaving early tomorrow morning. I have an appointment in Santa Fe.” Opening a drawer, he took out a key and placed it on the counter. “You’ll need that.”

  She nodded, thought about keeping silent and decided against it “Lucas, I moved in here to get to know you better.”

  “And?” he prompted her.

  “I can’t do that if you won’t let me.”

  He frowned. “I don’t let people close easily, Olivia ”

  “And if I ask why, you won’t tell me, will you?”

  His brow creased and his eyes became a deeper blue. “How would you feel if I asked you for your life history in a nutshell?”

  Another lawyer’s tactic—answer a question with a question. “I might try and give it to you.”

  Her answer seemed to surprise him, but he responded, “What matters is who and what we are now.”

  “I don’t know who you are.”

  Crossing to her, he stood very close. “I think you do or you wouldn’t have moved in with me.” The nerve in his jaw worked, and she knew if she tipped up her chin, he might kiss her. But she sat perfectly still.

  He let out a breath. “It’s late, Olivia. Finish up and get to bed. You need your sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Yes, she needed sleep. But she needed to get to know Lucas more. As he left the kitchen, she realized he was skilled at controlling a situation. She’d bide her time, then she’d show him he couldn’t evade her questions so easily—not if he wanted to be a father to their child.

  After Olivia bid Stanley and June good-night Monday evening, she walked down the hall to see if Lucas had returned yet from Santa Fe. His office door was locked. Disappointed, she crossed to the elevator, wondering if he might stay out of town overnight. Maybe there’d be a message waiting for her at the town house.

  When the elevator dinged and the doors opened, five women exited and gathered around her with greetings and, “We’re glad we caught you.” She gave them all a wide smile. Molly, Sophia, Cindy and Rachel had invited her to lunch with them on her first day at Barrington. When she’d walked into the cafeteria not knowing anyone, ready to sit alone, they’d motioned her to their table.

  She liked them all so much—Molly, whose hazel eyes were serious much of the time and who had become a trusted friend; Sophia, with her quick quips and easy laughter; Rachel, who’d had had a difficult time recovering from her last relationship, and Cindy, who had recently gotten engaged to Kyle Prentice, her boss. The fifth woman, Patricia, was Olivia’s most recent friend at Barrington. All of them had gotten to know the pretty assistant personnel director better over the past month.

  Sophia’s curly blond hair bobbed as she hooked her arm through Olivia’s. “Are you mad at us?”

  “Mad? No, why?”

  Patricia tilted her head and gazed at her with sparkling light green eyes. “Because you’ve been keeping to yourself lately. We never see you in the break room anymore.”

  “And rarely at lunch,” Rachel added.

  “Or are you having lunches with Stanley?” Cindy asked with a sly smile.

  Molly kept silent.

  “I’ve just been busy,” Olivia answered, wanting to be honest but not quite yet ready to explain what was happening in her life.

  “All the more reason to come out with us for supper. We haven’t dished for ages,” Cindy added.

  Olivia had missed them all.

  “For instance, did you know that Rex Barrington the Third fired his assistant?” Patricia asked. “She never even saw the man. And that was the problem. I made a mistake when I recommended her. I thought she’d be a self-starter and not need supervision. But I was wrong. Now I have to choose a replacement from the secretarial pool and hope I don’t make another mistake.”

  Rex Michael Barrington II would be retiring soon. Everyone expected his son, Rex III, to fill his shoes. But no one had ever seen Rex III. He was an elusive presence on the phone, giving orders, slowly taking over the reins of Barrington, yet never physically present. Rumors were that he was living in Europe and would only return after his father actually retired.

  Sophia nudged Patricia. “I’m in the running, aren’t I? I’ve dreamed about being his new assistant.”

  “You’re definitely in the running,” Patricia revealed with a smile.

  “I’d like to come with you....” Olivia began.

  “Then do, Olivia. It will be good for you,” Molly advised.

  She couldn’t tell them she had to make a phone call to leave a message because they’d have a million questions. They knew she didn’t report to anyone. Maybe she could slip away and call from the restaurant in case Lucas returned to the town house before she did.

  “All right. I’ll come,” she decided. “And you can all catch me up on what you’ve been doing.”

  “We all can imagine what Cindy’s been doing,” Sophia teased, as she pressed the button to open the elevator’s doors.

  Cindy just laughed.

  Olivia stepped into the elevator with them, enjoying the conversation that buzzed around her, but also hoping she’d see Lucas later tonight.

  Three hours later, Olivia parked behind Lucas’s town house, hurried through the courtyard and up the steps. Time had flown, and it had been impossible for her to slip away to make a call. Even when she went to the ladies’ room, one of her friends had joined her. Midway through dinner, relaxing as she hadn’t for a while, and enjoying herself, she’d decided to stop worrying about calling. Lucas might even still be in Santa Fe.

  Taking out the key he’d given her, tired from the long day, she found the door unlocked. As soon as she stepped into the ceramic entryway, Lucas came into the living room, white shirtsleeves rolled to the elbows, tie askew, his hair disheveled.

  “Where in the blue blazes have you be
en?” he erupted.

  She set her purse on the end table and unbuttoned her suit jacket. “Some friends and I went out.”

  “Drinking?” he asked with a restrained edge to his tone that told her he was angry.

  “No! For supper.”

  “And you couldn’t call and leave a message?”

  “They caught me on my way out and I couldn’t call without everyone asking questions. Why are you so upset?”

  “I’m not upset.”

  Crossing to him, she said, “You look upset.”

  Ignoring that, he snapped, “If we’re going to live together, Olivia, I expect the courtesy of a call if you’re going to be late.”

  “Do the same rules apply to you?” She was getting annoyed that he had expectations she knew nothing about.

  “I’m not pregnant.”

  His words hung in the air until the emotions inside her spurted out. “Well, it’s a good thing, isn’t it? Because then maybe you couldn’t fly off to one city after another, or work twenty hours a day or eat for the pleasure of it.” She shook her head. “I don’t know what the rules are here, Lucas. You seem to have set some but didn’t tell me.”

  “There are no rules,” he growled. “If you’d just use your common sense—”

  “My common sense told me I didn’t want to make explanations to my friends about a situation that’s... unsettled. My common sense told me you might stay in Santa Fe overnight. And my common sense is telling me, if you have expectations, I need to know what they are. But right now I’m beat and I’m going to bed.”

  When she headed for the steps, he didn’t move and he didn’t speak. Halfway up, her conscience nudged her and she turned to face him. “Lucas, I’m sorry if I worried you. I’ll try not to let it happen again.”

  She waited a moment, but he remained silent. The fatigue she’d been fighting throughout the evening engulfed her all at once. Turning, she climbed the rest of the stairs, wondering if Lucas always denied his feelings—and if he did, why?

  Chapter Three

  When Lucas hung up the phone in his office after a call from Rex Barrington’s secretary, he checked his watch. Mildred Van Hess had confirmed his appointment with her boss for four o’clock. Chances were he’d be tied up until six. All day he’d had trouble concentrating, thinking about Olivia. He’d flown back from Santa Fe yesterday, expecting to have dinner with her—take her out someplace nice to make sure she ate. But he’d come home to an empty house, and as the minutes had passed, he’d called her office and then her apartment—with no luck.

  He’d been worried about her, so much so that when she’d come home, he’d exploded! A strange reaction for a man who was always in control. But he’d never lived with a woman before. Asking Olivia to move in had been gut instinct, and he’d never expected it to be so difficult to stay away from her, not to push her, to deny the desire for her that was constantly with him. He’d left for work early this morning, before she was up, so he didn’t have to deal with it. But now he realized that avoiding her was not a solution, and not what he wanted at all.

  Picking up the phone, he dialed Olivia’s extension. She picked up immediately.

  “Olivia, it’s Lucas.”

  There was only a brief pause. “Hello, Lucas.”

  As always, her soft tone made his heart beat faster. “I have a meeting with Rex that will probably keep me tied up until six or later. We could go out to eat after I get home.”

  “I was going to stop for groceries and make something.” Her voice had lowered, probably so June couldn’t hear at her desk across the office.

  “I don’t want you lifting lots of heavy bags,” he decided.

  “Just a few things for supper. Or would you really rather go out?”

  He was surprised there was no rancor or bite to her voice as a residue from last night. Anytime he and Celeste had a skirmish, she’d pout for a week afterward. “Staying in tonight would be great. But I don’t want you to go to a lot of trouble.”

  “No trouble, Lucas. I have to eat, too.”

  Clearly he owed her an apology, but he couldn’t give it to her over the phone. “I’ll see you tonight.”

  “Tonight,” she repeated.

  After Lucas hung up, he realized she hadn’t given up on their compatibility test. Maybe tonight they could find common ground and build on it.

  Lucas’s entertainment center was high-tech, but Olivia finally figured out how to play one of her favorite CD’s on it. By the time she’d browned chicken and set it simmering, she’d learned her way around the kitchen. When the phone rang, she picked it up without thinking and said hello.

  “Oh! I must have dialed the wrong number,” the woman at the end of the line said.

  “Who are you trying to reach?”

  “Lucas Hunter.”

  “He’s not here right now, but I can give him a message.”

  After a brief silence the woman replied, “Just tell him to call the ranch.”

  “I’ll do that.” When Olivia hung up, she wished she had gotten a name. But the caller didn’t seem to think it was necessary.

  Supper began to disintegrate as seven came and went. Olivia ate alone at the dining room table, then made up a plate for Lucas and refrigerated it. When the door opened at eight-thirty and he walked in, his suit coat tossed over the crook of his arm, she woke. She’d dozed off on the sofa, a folder of contracts in her lap.

  He dropped his briefcase on the chair with his jacket. “The discussion got complicated. I didn’t mean to stand you up. I hope you ate.”

  “I did. And I made you a plate. But you probably sent out—”

  “No, we didn’t take the time. I would have called again if we’d taken a break.”

  She slid her feet to the floor. “Mr. Barrington has the reputation for always providing dinner when he takes a meeting late.”

  “He invited us out afterward.”

  “You turned down Rex Michael Barrington Il’s invitation to dinner?” she asked, knowing it was an honor the head of Barrington didn’t extend to just any employee.

  “I wanted to get home.” Lucas came over and lowered himself beside her. “Olivia, I’m sorry about last night. I overreacted.”

  After thinking about it, she’d decided she was as much to blame as he was. “I should have called.”

  “I understand why you didn’t. We don’t have any ground rules. And the truth is—I’ve never lived with a woman before, and I’m not sure how to go about it.”

  For some reason that news filled her with satisfaction and a bit of wonder. “You haven’t?”

  He shook his head and reached out, stroking her cheek. “I can’t stop thinking about Christmas Eve, Olivia, and considering the result, I’m feeling a little... off base.”

  The touch of his fingers against her skin made her tremble, but she managed to say, “You’re not quite so intimidating when you’re not so self-assured.”

  “You find me intimidating?” he asked with a smile.

  “You have a reputation for being powerful and skillful and an expert at everything you do.”

  “Everything?” he repeated with glimmers of desire in his eyes hypnotizing her.

  “Everything,” she murmured on a breathless whisper as his head bent and his lips hovered close to hers.

  “I don’t want to intimidate you, Olivia,” he said in a husky rasp. “I want to kiss you.”

  Excitement and anticipation made speaking impossible. She tilted her chin up until her lips met his, and he knew she wanted the kiss, too.

  His arm enveloped her, his hand burrowing under her hair. When his lips invited her to a deeper knowing, when his tongue coaxed the seam of her lips apart, she knew exploring could lead her into deep, deep trouble. But Lucas didn’t give her a chance to analyze, let alone think. His erotic assault whirled her senses like sand in the wind. As on Christmas Eve, she felt his need urge her to respond with hers.

  As his musky scent, his forbidden taste, the wonderful strength of
him swept her away, her hand slid up his arm to his shoulder and felt the heat of his skin through his shirt. When he thrust into her mouth again in response, she shivered with the arousal and pleasure she’d only known since Lucas. Tonight, as on Christmas Eve, his desire asked rather than took, and intrigued her into wanting more. The intensity of each stroke of his tongue, each press of his lips, encouraged her to know him this way, if no other.

  Know him.

  But she didn’t know him. Not yet. And if she didn’t pull back...

  Her hand slipped from his shoulder to his chest, and she braced herself as she broke away.

  “I said we’d keep this platonic, didn’t I?” he asked in a voice as sexy as the desire still sparkling in his eyes.

  “We have to.” She slid away from him and stood.

  “What if we can’t?”

  Never before had she felt such an extraordinary pull toward a man. She remembered dates in college that had gotten too hot, men who’d expected more than a kiss from her after they’d paid for dinner. She’d stopped then and she was stopping now before she stumbled into another situation like Christmas Eve.

  “I won’t let desire run my life, Lucas. I have too much at stake.”

  “And you think I don’t?”

  “I haven’t met a man yet except for Stanley who didn’t want—” When Lucas scowled, she stopped.

  “If you want me to stay away from you, I’ll stay away,” he said angrily as he stood.

  “Lucas...”

  But he’d already headed for the kitchen.

  With a sigh, she told herself she should have been more tactful. She told herself she never should have succumbed to his touch or his kiss. But it was too late for regrets.

  This time Olivia felt retreat was much more advisable than discussion. Apparently Lucas was frustrated with her, but she had to be honest with him and herself. If she made love with him again, it wouldn’t be in haste, without thought, with no regard for the consequences. She’d have to be sure.

  After a long shower where the remembrance of his kiss hung around her as tangibly as the steam from the hot water, she settled in her bedroom chair with the folder of contracts. But she heard Lucas climb the stairs and go into his room. His door closed with a click. She had difficulty concentrating, and when her mind wandered to their conversation downstairs and his admission that he’d never lived with a woman, she suddenly remembered the phone call he’d received.