The Tycoon's Charm: The Tycoon's Paternity Agenda / Honor-Bound Groom. Michelle Celmer
said. “I know it’s eased my mind.”
Adam looked at his watch. “But I should be going. I need to get back to El Paso.”
“But you just got here,” Katy said, surprised that after such a long drive he would want to get back on the road so soon. Was he really so uncomfortable there that he couldn’t stick around for a couple of hours? What would he do when the baby was born? Would they always be coming to him?
“The least we can do is feed you supper,” her mother said.
“I appreciate the offer, but I have an important meeting Monday that I need to prepare for. Maybe some other time.”
They all knew those were just polite words. There wouldn’t be another time. He wouldn’t be coming back if he could possibly avoid it.
Katy rose to her feet. “I’ll walk you out.”
He said a somewhat stiff goodbye to her parents, then followed Katy out the front door. The moist heat was almost suffocating as they stepped out onto the porch. Adam’s driver had taken refuge in the limo and was reading a newspaper, but when he saw them emerge he swiftly opened his door and got out. Katy turned to Adam, thinking that he had to be roasting in his suit and anxious to get back into the cool car.
“Thanks again for coming all the way out here. And thanks for being so patient with my father.” It had to be doubly weird for him, trying to convince her parents she would be a good surrogate, when he himself still had doubts.
“It wasn’t quite as bad as I thought it would be. Knowing your father holds me responsible for Becca’s death, I realize it can’t be easy for him to entrust me with the care of his only living child.”
“Why would you think that?” she asked, although for the life of her she didn’t know why she gave a damn what he believed.
He gave her a “spare me” look. “Not that I blame him. I should have been able to save her.”
“Sounds like maybe it’s you who holds you responsible.”
If her words bothered him, he didn’t let on. “I’ve made my peace with Becca’s death.”
“Your actions would suggest otherwise, Adam.”
He looked at her for a second, like he might say something else, something snarky, then he seemed to change his mind. He turned and walked down the steps. Reece opened the rear car door, but before he got in, Adam turned back to her.
“By the way, I wanted to apologize again, for what happened upstairs.”
She folded her arms under her breasts. “You mean when you stared at me while I was naked?”
Reece’s eyes widened for an instant, before he caught himself and wiped the surprised look off his face. And if she’d embarrassed Adam—which was the whole point—he didn’t let it show. Was he a robot or something? Devoid of human feelings?
“Yes, that,” he said.
She shrugged. “I’ve been stared at before.”
“Don’t forget we have an appointment with Dr. Meyer on Wednesday at 3:00 p.m.”
She snorted. “Like I could forget that.”
“I’ll see you Wednesday,” he said and she could swear he almost smiled. She found herself wishing he would, so he would seem more…human. Maybe he forgot how.
He may have been an overbearing, arrogant, narcissistic jerk, but that didn’t mean he deserved to be unhappy. Although he hadn’t looked unhappy earlier, when he was standing in her bedroom doorway. He looked like he wanted to throw her down on the bed and have his way with her, which, let’s face it, was never going to happen.
He got in the car, and Reece closed the door. Katy waved as they pulled down the driveway. The windows were tinted so she couldn’t tell if Adam was watching, but she had the feeling he was. When they turned onto the road and disappeared out of sight, she crossed the porch to the side door around the corner…and almost plowed into her mom, who was pulling on her mucking boots.
Katy squeaked in surprise and skidded to a stop, hoping she hadn’t heard that comment about Adam seeing her naked.
“Going out to the barn?” she asked brightly. A little too brightly if her mother’s wry expression was any indication.
“Be careful, Katy,” she said and it was obvious she had heard. “When you fall, it’s hard and fast.”
Fall? For Adam? Ugh. Not in a million years. She had clearly taken what was said completely out of context. “It’s not what you think. He was looking for the bathroom and saw me getting dressed. It was an accident. What I said just now, that was only to embarrass him.”
She didn’t look convinced. “I know you always had a bit of a crush on him.”
“For pity’s sake! When I was a kid. Not only do I not have a crush, but I don’t even like him.”
“He’s not like us, Katy.”
Didn’t she know it. “You’re preaching to the choir, Mom.”
“I just want you to consider this carefully. When you’re pregnant, and your hormones are all out of whack, those emotional lines can get…fuzzy.”
“I’m not going to fall for Adam. It’s not even a remote possibility.”
She didn’t look like she believed Katy, but she let it drop.
The idea of her and Adam in a relationship was beyond ridiculous. Her mother had to know that.
Or was she seeing something that Katy wasn’t?
Five
Adam met Katy at the doctor’s office Wednesday as planned. She got there first, and as he walked into the lobby he was a bit taken aback when he saw her. In fact, until she smiled and waved, he didn’t even realize it was her. Dressed in a white-cotton peasant blouse and a caramel-colored ankle-length skirt, she looked like…a woman. She’d even traded in her usual ponytail for soft, loose ringlets that framed her face and draped across her shoulders. Even he couldn’t deny that the effect was breathtaking.
He had always considered her attractive, but now she looked…well, frankly, she looked hot.
It was only the third time in his life that he’d seen her wear anything but jeans and boots. The first was his wedding, and the second Becca’s funeral, but neither time had he been paying attention to how she looked. Was it possible that she’d always looked this blatantly sexy and he’d just never noticed?
And today, he wasn’t the only one. Heads were turning as she walked past, eyes following her with obvious appreciation. But he knew something they didn’t. He knew that as good as she looked in her clothes, she looked even better out of them.
A fact he’d been trying to forget all week.
Katy on the other hand seemed oblivious to the looks she was getting, as though she didn’t have even the slightest idea how pretty she was. Or more likely, didn’t care either way. He’d never met a woman so casual about her self-image. As evidenced, he realized with a tug of humor, by the fact that under the skirt she was wearing cowboy boots.
He could take the woman out of the country, but not the country out of the woman.
“You’re early,” he said as she approached him.
“I know, I didn’t want to risk being late,” she told him, then added, as if she thought he wouldn’t notice on his own, “I wore my girl clothes.”
“So you did.”
“I’m really nervous.”
“I’m sure everything will be fine.” He looked at his watch and said, “We should probably get upstairs.”
Though