The Billionaire And The Baby

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 her on her cheeks and chin. Elizabeth laughed out loud.

Hannah could see her advice had been wasted on the baby. They were both in deep water as far as this man was concerned.

Thinking of his immaculate suit, Hannah lifted a clean cloth to Dominic’s shoulder in case the baby spit up. She had to rise on tiptoe and it brought her head close to his. Inadvertently her fingers grazed his strong jawline,

“Here, you better have this, Mr. Giraud,” she said nervously.

This time his eyes, dark and unexpectedly fierce, trapped hers. “Why do you find it so impossible to call me Dominic?”

Shaken by his intensity, she backed away from him with a jerky movement. “Probably because I was raised to be formal around people just passing through.”

His brows knit together in a frown. “I’m afraid I did a lot more than simply pass through. I trespassed on your property, forcing you to leave Elizabeth alone to rescue me from a precarious situation. You had no idea who or what you’d find when you got out there.

“The Jeep could have exploded into flames, but that didn’t deter you. Most people wouldn’t have known how to handle the situation, let alone been ingenious enough to put me on a horse and get me to safety. You held me so I wouldn’t fall,” he added in husky tone. “That night we became more than strangers, Hannah.”

There was a trace of accent when he said her name. She loved the way it sounded on his lips.

Breaking free of his piercing glance, Hannah went to get the stroller.

“From the way Elizabeth is behaving, it appears she agrees with you,” she observed in a wry tone to cover her chaotic emotions.

Without waiting for his response, she began walking toward the restaurant entrance of the inn and pushed the stroller in front of her. He adjusted his stride to keep pace, his limp barely noticeable. As they entered the foyer, a couple of girls around nine or ten standing with their parents at the checkout counter caught a glimpse of Elizabeth and skipped over to Dominic. The one in glasses looked straight up at him. “Your baby girl is so cute!”

“I think she is, too,” he said with all the tenderness of a proud, new father.

His answer, especially the way he said it, caught Hannah unaware. She found herself swallowing hard.

“Will you let us look at her?” the other one piped up.

He flashed them a smile that took Hannah’s breath. “Elizabeth is a little shy around strangers, so don’t feel bad if she starts to cry.”

In a deft move he turned the baby and lowered her to their eye level. On cue, her lower lip quivered. Within seconds her face screwed up and she burst into tears.

“You just want your daddy, huh.” While one tickled her chin, the other tried to grasp her tiny fingers.

Hannah fought the instinct to reach for the baby. If anyone tried to take her from Dominic right now, Elizabeth wouldn’t stand for it. As it was, she was already creating a fuss. Heads turned in their direction.

By the glint in his eye, Dominic found it all very amusing as he put the baby back in her favorite place against his heart. Content once more, she quieted down.

The girls thanked him and ran over to their parents.

He darted Hannah an amused glance. “Shall we go in?”

She took a deep breath. “I’m not sure if Elizabeth will hold out through a long meal. Perhaps it would be better if we put her back in the car and went to a drive-in. LaRue’s at the other end of town makes good homemade hamburgers.” Hannah was suddenly sure that sharing an expensive meal with this compelling man wasn’t a good idea.

“That’s hardly what I had in mind for tonight.”

“I realize that, but a baby has a way of changing the best-laid plans.” After a hesitation, “I’ll remember the thought, Dominic,” she added quietly.

“Will you?” he murmured, his gaze suddenly inscrutable. All mirth had vanished, making her the slightest bit uneasy.

She hoped he couldn’t tell her hands were trembling as she opened her purse. “Here are my keys if you’d like to drive. Oh, and here’s that five-hundred-dollar bill. You forgot to take it with you.”

As Dominic pulled to a stop at the drive-in, he decided the change in plans suited his purposes much better. Eating together in the small confines of her car kept things more intimate. Best of all, the baby seemed content in her infant seat. As long as she was being good, her mother couldn’t use her as a shield to avoid concentrating on him.

He’d never had Hannah Carr’s undivided attention except at the accident scene when he’d only been semiconscious. Things were about to change.

A middle-aged woman walked up to them and put a card under the windshield wiper. “Hi! What can I get for you?”