The Tycoon's Paternity Agenda (15 page)

It wasn't as if he hadn't been up close and personal with
every conceivable inch of her body anyway, but the doctor was still very discreet.

“Everything seems to be progressing well,” he said when he was finished. “Why don't you get dressed and meet me in my office.”

After he stepped out of the room, Adam said, “Thanks for letting me stay.”

“I'll bet seeing that makes you pretty happy to be a guy,” she joked.

“Men have their own indignities to endure,” he said, but spared her the gory details. “I'll wait in the hall for you.”

Katy emerged a few minutes later and they walked down the hall to Dr. Meyer's office.

“Do you have any questions for me?” he asked when they were seated.

“We've been reading up on DNA testing,” Adam told him, and asked about different options. His opinion was that if they wanted to do the test as soon as possible, the safest way would be through amnio.

“I have a question, too,” Katie said. “My mom was telling me how fast her labors were, and since I'm two hours away, I'm wondering what that could mean for me. So far my pregnancy has been just like hers were. I'm afraid that if I go into labor and have to drive all the way to El Paso, I might give birth in the truck.”

“I didn't realize you lived so far from here,” the doctor said, looking concerned. “Do you have a regular ob-gyn closer to home you could see?”

“I've been seeing Dr. Hogue since I was twelve, and he delivered both me and my sister.”

“I know Dr. Hogue. He's a very competent physician.”

Adam wasn't sure he liked that. “Shouldn't she be seeing you?”

“Honestly, as long as her pregnancy remains uneventful—
and I have no reason to believe it won't—I see no reason why Katy shouldn't see her regular physician. I'm sure he'll have no problem keeping me apprised of her progress.”

Meaning Adam would be driving to Peckins for her appointments instead of Katy coming here.

“Are you upset?” Katy asked him when they left the office and walked down the hall to the elevator.

“Not upset. I wish you would have discussed this with me first.”

“I know, and I would have, but it was something my mom brought up this morning before I left. And while I like Dr. Meyer, I think I'll be more comfortable seeing Doc Hogue. He knows me.”

Adam could object, and insist she see Meyer, but why? What was his justification?

It would be an inconvenience for him. Though no more than it was for her. And since she was the pregnant one, wasn't it safer if he did the traveling? And she had a valid point about getting to the hospital. “If that's what you want, then of course.”

She took his hand and squeezed it, smiling up at him. “Thank you, Adam.”

Their eyes met, then locked, and he felt it like a fist to his gut. His palm buzzed, then went hot where it touched hers. He wanted to kiss her. No, he
needed
to. And he was 99 percent sure she was thinking the same thing.

As if caught in a magnetic pull their bodies began to move in closer, her chin tipped upward, and his head dipped….

Then the damned elevator door slid open and people stepped out. Katy jerked back, breaking the spell.

He cursed silently as he followed her on and they rode it down to the first floor. They walked though the lobby and out the door. It was overcast, and thunder rumbled in the distance. The weathermen had been predicting rain.

“Sounds like there's a storm headed this way,” he said.

“I better get going,” Katy said. “So I beat it home.”

“But you just got here. I thought we could spend some time together.”

“I really have to go.”

Reece pulled up to the curb to meet him, but Adam gestured for him to wait, and followed Katy to where her truck was parked.

“You could at least let me take you to lunch.”

“I don't think so.” She seemed in an awful hurry to leave, and she wouldn't look at him.

He took her by the arm and turned her to face him. “Katy, what's wrong?”

“I just really need to go.”

“Why?”

She glanced around, like she worried someone might be listening. “Because you almost just kissed me, and if I stay, you
will
kiss me.”

“Would that be so terrible?”

“Yes, because after you kiss me you'll make up some stupid excuse why I should come to your house, and I will, because at this point my brain will have completely shorted out. And we won't be there thirty seconds before we're naked and…well, you know the rest.”

“Would
that
really be so terrible?”

“I'm not a yo-yo. You can't say one minute that it would com plicate things, then try to jump me the next. It's not fair.”

She was right. He was sending mixed signals like crazy. He cared for her. More than any other woman he'd been involved with, maybe even Becca, but this relationship had no future. Not a romantic one anyway. To let himself love her, to care that much, would make it that much more unbearable if he ever lost her.

Though he wished it were possible, he couldn't give her what she wanted. What she deserved. A man who would love her, and marry her.

“You're right. I'm sorry.”

A bolt of lightning arced across the sky to the south.

“I really have to go,” she said.

“You'll call me and let me know when you make your appointment.”

“Of course.”

“And let me know that you got home safely.”

“I will.” She hesitated, then rose up to press a kiss to his cheek, lingering a second before she turned and climbed in the truck, and as he watched her back out and drive away, he could swear he saw tears in her eyes.

A
s soon as Katy got home from El Paso she called and made an appointment with Doc Hogue, then she texted Adam with the date and time, because frankly she was feeling too emotional to talk to him. It took everything in her not to sob all the way home. The way he looked at her…for a minute she let herself believe that he wanted her. As close as they had become lately, she thought he was going to tell her that he'd made a mistake, that he loved her.

Why did she keep doing this to herself? Even if he did love her, there was no rational way to make it work. They could try a long-distance relationship, but that would only last so long before they grew apart. She'd seen it happen before to friends who had boyfriends in the rodeo and the military.

When she chose to be with a man, she wanted be
with
him. Not one hundred and fifty miles away. Not that she could be with a man who didn't want to be with her. But she was happy that she and the father of her child—if it
was
her
child—would be good friends. Still, she was almost relieved when he called her a week before the doctor appointment to say that he had to fly out of the country and wouldn't make it back till two days after her appointment.

“It's imperative that I go,” he told her.

“It's okay,” she assured him. “Things happen. Besides, it's only my third month. I seriously doubt anything exciting will happen.”

“I wanted to meet the doctor.”

“So you'll meet him next month.”

But next month didn't happen, either. Two days before her appointment Adam caught a nasty flu virus.

“You sound terrible,” she said when he called to tell her, dousing her disappointment.

“I feel terrible,” he croaked, his throat so raw and scratchy he could only speak in a coarse whisper.

“Do you have a fever?”

“One hundred and one. Celia won't let me out of bed and she's been force-feeding me chicken soup.”

“Good. It sounds like what you need is rest.”

“I'm sorry, Katy,” he rasped. “For what?”

“I feel terrible for missing another appointment. Not to mention the amnio. I wanted to be there with you.”

And she had wanted him there. She didn't like feeling that she was in this alone. But he couldn't help that she was sick.

“I've heard it's really not that big of a deal. They'll numb me so I won't feel a thing. And, no offense, but I wouldn't want to go anywhere near you right now. The last thing I need is the flu. Just take care of yourself and you'll be better in time for the next appointment.”

Her mom went with her to her appointment, and after her checkup, it was off to the hospital for the amnio—which
really wasn't all that bad. Doc Hogue had already warned her that it usually took six to eight weeks to get the results—in some cases even longer, and she knew the waiting would be torture.

When she called Adam to tell him the test went well, he sounded relieved. “Nothing will stop me from making the next appointment. I promise.”

She hoped that was true. And not just because she wanted to see him, but things were progressing faster than she'd anticipated. Her mom had always said that she started showing early in her pregnancies, so Katy shouldn't have been surprised when, in the last week of her fourth month, she woke up one morning and couldn't fasten her jeans.

“Isn't that supposed to happen?” Adam asked when she called him later that night to complain. “And didn't you tell me that you're not worried about the physical repercussions of pregnancy.”

“I don't care about that,” she told him. “But there's nothing more I hate than shopping!”

He laughed and called her “unique.”

Delaying the inevitable, she wore her jeans with the button unfastened, but after a couple more weeks, when she couldn't get the zipper up more than an inch, and the buttons on her shirts were stretched to the limit, her mom dragged her to the maternity shop for a new wardrobe.

With her next appointment only a week away, Katy felt torn in two. On one hand, she was anxious to see Adam, on the other, she was dreading it. They talked on the phone almost daily now, but seeing him face-to-face…she was afraid it would be a stark reminder of everything she couldn't have. Would
never
have. And though she had never come right out and told Adam how she felt, she was pretty sure he already knew. She also knew that if he was going to have a change of heart, he'd have had it by now. Losing his mother, then Becca,
had done something to him. It had cut him so deeply she didn't think he would ever completely heal. He would never come right out and say it—he was too tough for that—but she knew he was afraid of being hurt again.

The Friday before her five-month checkup, Katy had finished up in the office for the day and was taking an afternoon nap when she woke to the sound of her mom's voice. She stood in the bedroom doorway.

“Wake up, honey. We have a visitor.”

She sat up and yawned, rubbing her eyes. “Who?”

“Come down and see for yourself,” she said, wearing a smile that made Katy suspect she was up to something.

Katy rolled out of bed and peeked out the window. There was a sporty little red car parked in front of the house. Who did they know who drove a sports car? She stretched to look out toward the barn and saw her father standing by the fence with a man Katy didn't recognize. Not from the back anyway at this distance. He was tall and broad-shouldered, wearing jeans, cowboy boots, a plaid flannel shirt and a black Stetson.

Puzzled, and anxious to meet the mystery man, she quickly dragged a comb through her sleep-matted hair and brushed her teeth.

She grabbed a sweater and headed downstairs, and as she glanced in the family room on her way out the front door she noticed a duffel bag next to the sofa. Whoever it was, it looked as though they were there for an extended stay. Maybe it was some long-lost cousin or uncle that she didn't know about.

She stepped out onto the porch, checking the car out as she walked past. The plates were Texas, but the car looked totally unfamiliar. And very expensive.

So it was a
rich
long-lost relative.

She crossed the yard to where her father stood with the mystery man, and he must have heard her coming because
he suddenly turned in her direction. “There you are, Katy! Look who came to visit.”

The man beside him turned, his head lowered so that his face was hidden by the brim of his hat. Then he lifted his chin, and when his face came into view, her heart did a somersault with a triple twist.

“Hello, Katy,” Adam said.

Her first instinct was to throw herself into his arms and just hold him, but she restrained herself. Especially with her dad standing there. “What are you doing here? Our appointment isn't until Tuesday.”

“I figured if I came early I would be guaranteed not to miss it this time. And your mom is always telling me I should come and stay for a few days. So here I am.”

“Well,” her dad said, looking from her to Adam. She could tell he was wary of Adam's presence, but he restrained himself from butting in. “I better head in and…see how dinner is coming along.”

They both knew that the only part of dinner he ever participated in was eating it, and he was just making an excuse to leave them alone. But she was grateful.

When he was gone, Adam looked her up and down, eyes wide, and said, “Wow, you look…”

“Pregnant?” she finished for him.

He grinned, and it was so adorable her knees actually went weak. She'd missed seeing him smile. Missed everything about him. “I was going to say fantastic. Pregnancy definitely agrees with you.”

She laid a hand on her rounded belly. “Doc Hogue said he's never had a patient who took to it so well. If it wasn't for my belly getting bigger, and the fact that some days I need an afternoon nap, I wouldn't even know that I was pregnant.”

He nodded to her belly. “Can I feel?”

This was the part she dreaded. Well, one of the parts. He talked a lot about being anxious to touch her belly, and feel the baby move, and she knew darned well what happened when he put his hands on her. But she couldn't tell him no. Not when it meant so much to him.

“Sure,” she said, trying to sound casual, when in reality her heart had begun to pound.

His hand was so big it practically dwarfed her tiny bump, and the warmth of his palm seeped through her shirt to warm her skin. “Have you felt the baby move?”

“Little flutters, but the book says those could just be muscle spasms. No kicks yet. But Doc Hogue said probably soon.”

The feel of his hand on her belly was making her go all soft inside, and the energy building between them was reaching a critical level. She knew if she didn't back away soon she was going to do something really dumb, like throw her arms around his neck and kiss him, but Adam didn't give her a chance. His arms went around her, tentatively, as if he thought she might object to being held, and said, “I missed you, Katy.”

She couldn't have fought it if she wanted to. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed, tucking her head under his chin, breathing him in. “Me, too.”

It was wonderful, and awful, because she managed to fall in love with him all over again. Not that she'd ever really stopped. But being apart for so long made her forget a little.

What if she
never
got over him?

The dinner bell started clanging and her mom called from the house, “Come on, you two. Time to eat!”

Though she didn't want to, Katy let go of Adam, and decided right then that there would be no more hugging and
touching while he was here. It seemed he could turn his feelings on and off like a lightbulb, but for her it wasn't so easy. A few more days of this and her heart might never recover.

 

Something very weird was happening.

In the past, whenever Becca brought Adam over it was always awkward, the conversation stilted. Probably because Becca herself was so uncomfortable, as if being back home would rub off on her somehow and tarnish the new life she'd built with Adam. But now, everyone was happy and relaxed and seemed to genuinely enjoy each other's company.

After supper, while her dad took Adam out to the stables, Katy and her mom sat out on the porch swing.

“As much as I hate admitting I'm wrong,” her mom said, “You were right about Adam. He's a good man. Maybe if your sister had been more comfortable here, he would have been, too.”

“I've given up on trying to figure out why Becca did the things she did. Maybe if she'd lived, she would have eventually come around.”

“Maybe,” her mom said. They were quiet for several minutes, then she said off-handedly, “I noticed Adam couldn't keep his eyes off of you at dinner.”

Katy had noticed that, too. Adam sat across from her, and every time she looked up from her plate he was watching her. And each time their eyes met she would feel this funny zing through her nervous system, and her heart would skip a beat. She'd barely been able to choke her dinner down. “What are you suggesting?”

Her mom shrugged. “Only that a man doesn't look at a woman that way if he doesn't care about her.”

Whether or not Adam cared about her wasn't in question.
“But for me, that just isn't enough. I want the whole package. I deserve that. And, Adam, well, he's not available.”

“Things change.”

“Not this.”

She might have argued further but Adam and her dad walked up, putting the conversation to an abrupt end.

They all sat out on the porch and watched the sunset until ten, when a chill set in the air. It was hard to believe it was fall already. The time seemed to fly by lately.

Her parents settled in front of the television to watch their favorite sitcom and her mom told Katy, “Why don't you get Adam settled in the blue room.” When Katy cut her eyes sharply her way, she added, “It's the nicer of the two.”

It was also right next door to, and shared a bathroom with, her own room. The green room was at least across the hall. Although, if he were staying with the men in the bunk house it would be too close as far as she was concerned.

Her mom wasn't trying to set them up, was she? Did she think proximity would make Adam change his mind? She wanted Katy to be happy, but she was making her miserable instead.

“This way,” she told Adam, leading him up the stairs. He grabbed his duffel and followed her up. The heavy thud of his boots on the steps seemed to vibrate up through the balls of her feet to twang every single one of her nerves.

As soon as she hit the top step Sylvester darted out from his hiding spot behind the artificial palm tree and tried to wrap himself around her legs, so she toed him out of the way.

“The homicidal cat,” Adam said.

“Homicidal?”

“He did that to me the last time I was here. I almost fell down the stairs.”

“He can't help it. He got kicked in the head by a horse a
few years back and he hasn't been right since. He mostly just stays up here and hides.”

“And opens doors,” Adam said with a grin, and she didn't have to ask what he meant. If it hadn't been for Sylvester opening her bedroom door, Adam never would have seen her naked, and maybe this entire mess might have been avoided.

She doubted it, though. With sexual attraction like theirs, sleeping with him had been inevitable.

“Here it is,” she said, stepping into the spare room. “I know it isn't the Ritz, but the linens are fresh and there are clean towels in the bathroom cabinet. But if you flush the toilet and it keeps running just jiggle the handle and that should fix it.”

The door snapped shut behind her and she whirled around to find Adam leaning against it. He had a look in his eyes, as if he was about ten seconds from devouring her.

Oh, Lord, give me strength.