The Billionaire And The Baby. Rebecca Winters

Hannah assured the woman she was fine. But of course she wasn’t fine at all. She was a jumbled mass of nerves and anticipation all rolled together. There’d be no sleep for her tonight!

      In a testy mood, which was rare for him, Dominic limped out to his rental car and headed for town, missing his Jeep that was still being repaired and wouldn’t be ready for pick up until tomorrow.

      To his recollection no female of his acquaintance had ever refused a gift from him before, monetary or otherwise. If he were really being honest with himself, no woman had ever been as resistant to his attention.

      On the contrary, of the limited number of relationships he’d had since his twenties, he’d always been the one to walk away first, unable to commit.

      What surprised him was how much it rankled to have to talk Ms. Carr into joining him for dinner. He wondered if she was still emotionally involved with the baby’s father. The possibility that she might have a new lover and intended to spend the night in his bed sounded equally distasteful to Dominic.

      However, a lover he could deal with. A husband was something else. He gritted his teeth, unconsciously gunning the accelerator at the same time as he drove away.

      Though his father held to no such code of ethics, married women had always been off limits to Dominic. Furthermore, unlike his womanizing parent whose infidelity had caused incalculable grief to Dominic’s mother, marriage had never figured in Dominic’s plans.

      Just remembering the past caused a blackness to envelop him. Not wanting to go down that treacherous path tonight, he reached for his cell phone to call Zane.

      “Salut—” he said as soon as his friend answered.

      “Dom! How are things progressing?”

      “I’m not sure,” he muttered before he realized how revealing the comment sounded.

      “What’s that supposed to mean? You’ve run into snags before, but they’ve never bothered you.”

      Dominic rubbed the side of his jaw absently. He wouldn’t exactly describe Hannah Carr as a snag.

      After a pause, “What’s going on?”

      He sucked in his breath. “I wish I knew.”

      “You’re being cryptic, buddy, and that’s making me edgy.”

      “You’ve hit on the right word.”

      “So, how long are you going to keep me in the dark?”

      “I’m pulling into my hotel now. Give me a minute to get up to my room and then I’ll call you back and tell you about my accident.”

      Another silence. “Were you hurt?”

      He shut off the motor. “It could have been worse if this angel hadn’t saved me.”

      “Angel? What on earth are you talking about? Dom?”

      Elizabeth woke up hungry from her afternoon nap. Since there was a lull between customers, Hannah decided to call it a day and close up shop early. She could no longer function with any coherence.

      After putting Cinnamon in the barn, and making sure the mare had enough water along with her oats, they headed for home. There were a dozen things to be done and little time to accomplish everything before they left for the hotel.

      Once inside the apartment, she fed the baby, gave her a bath, then put her in a playpen in the bedroom. That freed up Hannah’s time so she could shower and wash her own hair.

      It felt good to get clean and put on fresh underwear. The problem was finding something suitable to wear. She had no intention of dressing up for Mr. Giraud, but naturally she wouldn’t wear trousers.

      Hannah possessed several nice winter outfits to wear at university functions. What she needed was a new summer wardrobe, but she couldn’t afford one.

      That meant she would have to settle for her sundress. It was a sleeveless pale yellow cotton with a modest neckline, always in style. She could wear her white sandals and a single strand of pearls.

      After she’d dressed and fixed herself a lemonade, she phoned Bob Arnold, the P.I. working on Lisa’s case. To her chagrin he told her the same thing he’d been telling her for months.

      He still hadn’t found Lisa, but Hannah wasn’t to give up. Often these situations took a long time.

      Hannah told him she understood, but it was hard to wait. Every day Lisa was gone put more emotional distance between mother and daughter. As for the financial side of it, Hannah’s money was running out, but she kept that news to herself. It was vital that Lisa be found no matter how much it cost!

      With a mixture of aching sadness and anxiety over her sister, Hannah checked herself in the mirror one more time. The worry, combined with several sleeplessness nights had put hollows beneath her eyes. They looked more like smudges.

      If she wore thick makeup, she could probably cover them up, but Hannah had never put anything on her skin except lotion.

      After their mother had died giving birth to Lisa, their father turned into a very strict parent. As both girls matured, he forbade them to use anything artificial.

      “You have been given golden hair, green eyes and a peaches-and-cream complexion like your mother’s. You need no other embellishment, so let that be the end of it.”

      Probably because Hannah had been the elder sister by eight years, she’d obeyed him without question. Lisa, on the other hand, fought his unyielding authority every step of the way. Their fights had always upset Hannah.

      She would slip out the back door and ride her horse until she was sure their latest quarrel was over. Then she would go back to the house where inevitably she would find her sister in the bedroom crying.

      The pattern continued until their father died. At that point Hannah tried to keep their little household going and oversee their meager finances, but Lisa loved the freedom and became more defiant than ever.

      Now she was gone, and Hannah began to wonder if she would ever come home. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she dashed to the closet for the baby stroller. After she put it in the car, she hurried back inside the apartment for Elizabeth.

      Unable to resist, she leaned down to kiss her pink cheeks. “Right now it’s just the two of us. Thank heaven for you,” she whispered emotionally, then straightened.

      “Now, are you ready to have dinner with Mr. Giraud? We really shouldn’t, you know. He’s an experienced man of the world. Far too sophisticated and fascinating for us to handle, so don’t get too attached to him, sweetheart. After tonight we may never see him again.”

      It was good advice.

      Too bad Hannah’s heart hadn’t heeded the warning when she’d first seen him lying in the grass.

      Just the anticipation of being with him again made her breathing shallow. To her alarm, by the time they reached the hotel parking lot, her cheeks were flushed even though she’d been running the air conditioner at full strength.

      “Oh!” she cried when her door was opened for her and she saw him standing there in a pearl-gray summer suit and white shirt. He’d been waiting for them.

      His appeal overwhelmed her.

      “Good evening, Hannah. You’re right on time.” Their eyes met before hers looked away in confusion, but she could feel his frank leisurely appraisal. It missed nothing.

      She felt his hand on her bare upper arm assisting her out of the car. His touch sent a river of warmth through her body.

      “I’ll get Elizabeth.”

      Before she could gather her wits, he’d relinquished his hold of her to open the back door and lift the baby from the car seat.

      “Hmm, mignonne. You smell as sweet as you look,” he murmured into her neck, then kissed