Last Chance For Baby

Irritation swamped less-comfortable emotions, and she pushed herself farther upright against the head-board. “You’ll do no such thing. I don’t need to see a doctor, and I don’t need you to take care of me.”

For some reason Raoul’s dark eyes gleamed with satisfaction. “Perhaps.”

“Perhaps nothing. I told you, I’ve been—”

“Yes,” he interrupted smoothly. “You’ve been taking care of yourself since you were seventeen.”

“That’s right.” Keeping a wary eye on him, Julia snatched the telephone and dialed the taxi company. She asked that a cab be sent to her house as quickly as possible. “They’ll be here in twenty minutes,” she said, returning the receiver to the cradle. It was remarkably fast service considering the weather, but twenty minutes still seemed like twenty years.

Raoul sat next to her on the bed, his leg nudging her hip, as though he had all the time in the world. “You don’t have a family, Julia?”

“Just a father and a brother,” she muttered. “My mother died when I was four. I barely remember her.”

“Your father and brother, you are not close to them?”

“Not in this lifetime.” Her mouth twisted in a grimace. “My brother is a gung ho Navy Seal—sudden death in every direction. He’s older than me, and we never had much in common. We only see each other every couple of years.”

“And your father?”

“I haven’t seen him since I was seventeen. I’m a disappointment, you see. A weak female who wouldn’t toughen up and do what he wanted. He washed his hands of me when I left for college instead of enlisting in his army.”

Raoul fought a surge of anger at the bleak expression on Julia’s face. His own family’s gentle tyranny about marriage and children seemed minor by comparison. How could her father fail to recognize the unique strength of the daughter he’d raised?

“He is a fool,” Raoul said flatly.

Faint surprise registered in her eyes. “He’d argue the point with you—he’s very well thought of by the Pentagon. Last I heard, he’d become a three-star general.”

“That is merely a title. It doesn’t make him less of a fool. A blind man could see that you are not weak. You have the heart of a tigress.”

Julia blinked several times. She would have expected a man like Raoul to defend her father, at least in part, but instead he was supporting her without reservation. A traitorous warmth crept through her body.

“Thank you,” she murmured. A yawn caught her by surprise and she sighed. “Sorry.”

Raoul regarded her for a long minute. “You are tired, chère. I will wait for the taxi in the other room.”

He leaned closer. His finger stroked the arch of one eyebrow, then traced the curve of her cheek, and a flood of remembered sensations made her tremble. She couldn’t have spoken if her life depended upon the words.

“I thought you couldn’t possibly be as lovely as I remembered, but I was wrong.”

The dark, gravelly quality of his voice hypnotized Julia to the point that she didn’t object when he brushed her mouth with his. The light kiss deepened and she sensed the suppressed sexual energy in him, yet even that wasn’t enough to make her pull away. Their brief time together had made her far too susceptible to his potent brand of loving.

“Sleep well,” he murmured. “Please think about seeing a doctor if you’re not better soon.”

“I…yes.” Julia tried to be glad Raoul was too much of a gentleman to attempt a seduction when he believed she was ill. She might manage to actually feel glad in an hour or so.

A moment later he’d closed the door behind him and she curled onto her side, a tear trickling down her cheek. These days she was a confused muddle of pregnancy hormones. Everything was blown out of proportion, her emotions seesawing wildly.

But things would be better in the morning.

They had to be.

Chapter Three

“No more foolishness,” Julia mumbled around the toothbrush in her mouth. She spat a foamy mouthful into the sink and rinsed.

She’d escaped her usual bout of morning sickness, even managing to eat a bowl of cereal and drink a glass of milk. After the previous day that was a miracle, since tense emotions usually made the nausea worse.

And nothing about Raoul Oman was calm and soothing.

She’d had a moment of weakness the previous night, but that moment was over. The baby was the most important thing in her life, and she wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize it.

Julia put a hand over her abdomen. Over the past few months she’d worn looser clothing at work, choosing soft, thick sweaters to conceal the rounding of her stomach, rather than her usual silk blouses and suits. Sooner or later it wouldn’t be enough to conceal her secret any longer, and the news would be out. She only prayed it would be good news.

Sometime during the night Julia had realized she would have to tell Raoul, preferably before gossip spread through the company with its usual wildfire speed. He was extremely intelligent. He’d know the baby was his, so the best way of handling the matter was to tell him first and hope for the best. She’d make it clear she didn’t want anything from him, so maybe he wouldn’t care.

“Yeah, right,” she muttered.

The funny thing was, she didn’t have any idea how Raoul would react. Naturally there would be shock in the beginning, but after that?

She shivered, though the house was quite warm. The doorbell interrupted her troubling thoughts, and she stepped into the living room. Peering through a window, she gulped at the sight of Raoul standing on her doorstep.

“Oh, Lord,” she breathed.

It was the perfect opportunity to talk with him privately, but having that particular conversation in her home probably wasn’t smart. Later would be best, at the office, or maybe in a restaurant. In a public location, after she’d had time to think about her announcement—and his possible reactions—for a little longer.

“What are you doing here?” she asked as she opened the door.

Raoul smiled, pleased to see the color in Julia’s cheeks. She was lovely, her dark-blond hair falling around her face in the stylish cut she favored. “Good morning, chère.”

“I asked you to stop calling me that.”

“So you did. There are many beautiful Arabic words of affection. Would it please you more if I chose an endearment from my native language?”

“Not especially,” she growled.

Chuckling, he motioned with the key he had taken from her key ring before leaving the previous evening. “I brought your car back from the office. I did not want you inconvenienced because we took a cab home from the restaurant.”

“Oh. You didn’t have to do that.”

She seemed so surprised that Raoul’s mouth tightened. What kind of men had Julia known that she would be surprised by something so small? He’d gotten a clear idea of her father and brother, an idea that wasn’t flattering. Were there others who had acted just as badly?

“How are you feeling this morning?” he asked, deciding not to upset her with questions she’d already demonstrated she didn’t want to answer.

“Fine.” Her chin lifted. “If you’ll wait while I get my coat and purse, we can go in together.”

“Shouldn’t you be resting?”

“No, I’m all right.” Julia disappeared, then returned, pulling on her coat. She locked the door and turned around. “Ready?”