gaze searching hers. “What if your last name became De Luca, too?”
More confused than ever, she shook her head. “How could that happen?”
“If you named me the father of—” he paused “—your child. And married me.”
She gaped at him, feeling as if someone had turned the whole world upside down. “Married you? But you don’t love me.”
“Starting out in love isn’t the best predictor of success in marriage.”
Her head was whirling. “I don’t understand. You don’t want to get married. You’re pretty cynical about marriage.”
“I want to provide a good life for the baby. I feel responsible for him. For you,” he said as if he didn’t totally understand his own feelings.
“I don’t think that’s a good basis for a marriage.”
“There’s a lot worse,” he said.
Her chest tightened. “I don’t want to feel like a responsibility. Like a burden. And I don’t want the baby to ever feel that way.”
“It wouldn’t be that way. I think you and I could make this work.” He slid his hand under her jaw. “And there’s the fact that I want you. And you want me,” he said, his tone intimate.
“I wondered if maybe that had changed.”
He slowly shook his head.
Her heart skipped over itself. “What about when that does change?”
“How do you know it will?” he asked, his dark eyes holding hers.
Lilli felt herself sinking into a delicious, forbidden pool of hope. “I don’t know.”
He caressed her jaw. “I think you know that you and I would be good together. In a lot of ways.”
True. But that didn’t mean they should get married. Lilli tore away her gaze to clear her head. If she put the baby’s needs in front of hers, what would she do? She felt an immediate smack from her conscience. Who was she fooling? It wasn’t as if being with Max De Luca would present a hardship for her. But this was a huge decision. Huge enough that she wanted to make it with a clear head.
“Could you give me some time to think this over?”
He met her gaze and nodded. “Sure.” He paused a half beat. “Think about it. You’ll realize it’s best for everyone.”
She felt a sliver of relief. She’d bought herself a little time.
“Do you have any questions you’d like to ask me?” he said, as if he sensed what was going on inside her.
She closed her eyes so she wouldn’t be affected by his presence, but she still sensed him, still smelled the faintest scent of his sexy cologne. “If you raised the baby, would you blow bubbles with him?”
He didn’t even pause. “Yes.”
“Will you read him books at night? You can let the nanny do it every now and then, but you need to do it most nights.”
“Yes,” he said.
“Will you tell him he’s wonderful?”
“Yes.”
“Will you hold him when he cries?”
“Yes. And I’ll hold you, too, Lilli, whether you’re crying or not.”
And Lilli felt her heart tumble a little farther away from good sense and sanity.
Nine
“I like it,” Max said to Alex during a one-on-one meeting in his office. “At first glance, when you say West Virginia, I would think the local economy wouldn’t be able to support this kind of luxury resort.”
Alex tapped his pen on his outline. “Because it’s close to Washington, D.C., there’s great transportation access. D.C. residents will be rushing there every weekend.”
“The sticking point with the board will be the midweek challenge,” Max said. “Who wants to go to West Virginia in the middle of the week?”
“We can hold meetings and conferences. Plus, if we do it right, this place will have a spa, golf course, special events and all kinds of luxury amenities that will draw people year-round.”
“Like I said, I like it. You’ve got my—” His intercom beeped, interrupting him. Surprised because he’d told his assistant no interruptions during his meeting, he picked up his phone. “Yes.”
“I’m terribly sorry to interrupt you, Mr. De Luca, but security downstairs has called and they said a very pregnant woman insists on seeing you.”
There was only one very pregnant woman in his life. Immediately concerned, he frowned. “Lilli,” he said. “Is she okay?”
His assistant, Grace, made a sound between a cough and swallowed laughter. “She sounds quite healthy, sir. Just very determined to see you. Security was unsure what to do with her.”
He nodded, feeling a twinge of amusement at the notion of the beefy guys downstairs trying to handle a demanding pregnant woman. “Send her up immediately.”
Alex stood, lifting his eyebrow. “Does this mean our meeting is over?”
“For now,” Max said. “Let’s set up a time to discuss a strategy for approaching the board about this.”
Alex extended his hand. “Sounds great.” He gathered his report and headed for the office door. Just as he reached for it, the door flung open and Lilli burst inside. Her cheeks bright red, she carried a large rectangular plastic food container.
“Good grief,” she said. “Do you train your security to suspect that every pregnant woman is a nut or did I just get lucky today?”
Max chuckled under his breath and moved toward her to take the container. “It won’t happen again. Here, let me help—”
“No,” Alex said and grabbed the container before Max could. “Allow me and let me say you look gorgeous as ever.”
Flirting again, Max thought with more than a pinch of irritation. Did the man ever stop?
“I look like a blond beach ball,” she told Alex. “But thanks for the effort. Would you do me a favor and call a few of the assistants into the office?”
Max frowned. “What—”
“Sure,” Alex said and set the container down on a table.
Lilli smiled nervously as she met Max’s gaze. “This won’t take but a few minutes. Then you can get back to whatever you were doing.”
Max shook his head. “But what is this?”
She gnawed her lip. “Just a little something.”
Her expression made him uneasy. What the…
Alex reappeared in the doorway with several members of the staff, their faces filled with curiosity. “Ready for service,” Alex said.
“Thank you,” Lilli said and went to the table where the plastic container sat. “I just need to borrow your voices for two minutes. Today is Max’s birthday, so I was hoping you would join with me in singing ‘Happy Birthday.’” She whipped off the top of the container to reveal a collection of frosted cupcakes decorated with sprinkles. “Sorry you can’t blow out the candles,” she said with a moue. “Security took my matches. Okay, let’s go.”
Max stood in stunned disbelief as she led the small group in song. Alex laughed the entire way through the tune.
When they finished, Lilli shot him a wary glance and a tentative smile. “Happy Birthday, Max.”
Max met her gaze and felt his