placed his hands on her shoulders in a steadying gesture and she noticed his gaze immediately settled on her stomach. “Are you all right?”
Even though his touch through the thick fleece sweatshirt and the low timbre of his voice sent shivers straight up her spine, she forced herself to remain motionless. “I need something else to eat,” she said, nodding.
“Yeah, that probably wouldn’t be a bad idea.” He released her, running a hand through his thick hair. She could tell by the action that he wasn’t comfortable with the situation, either. “Neither of us finished dinner.”
They stared at each other as if thinking of something to say when her stomach rumbled again. “I’d better find something in the fridge or I’m going to be sorry.”
“Oh, yeah, sure,” he agreed, standing back for her to precede him down the hall.
When they entered the kitchen, Zach walked to the refrigerator and opened the door. “Do you want a sandwich or would you prefer something else?”
“A sandwich and a glass of milk would be nice,” she answered, trying not to think about how handsome he was.
He’d changed into a pair of worn jeans and a black T-shirt that emphasized every well-defined muscle of his upper body. Dear Lord, he was without a doubt the best-looking man she’d ever seen. She’d thought so in Aspen and she thought so now. But thinking along those lines was what had landed her in his bed and ultimately led to her current predicament. She’d do well to remember that and concentrate on their upcoming conversation about the baby and what role, if any, he intended to take as the baby’s father.
“If you’ll tell me which cabinet the glasses are in, I’ll pour the milk,” she offered, forcing herself to look away from the play of his biceps as he lifted a gallon jug from inside the refrigerator door.
“I’ll take care of that.” He motioned toward the pantry. “Why don’t you get a loaf of bread and see if you can find a bag of chips.”
As he poured two glasses of milk, she retrieved the bread and a bag of pretzels and by the time everything was on the table, her nerves were stretched to the breaking point. They were both being overly congenial and polite, but there was an underlying current of tension that was so strong, it could have been cut with a knife.
“We have to stop this, Zach,” she declared, seating herself at the table.
To his credit, he didn’t feign ignorance and act unaware of what she was referring to. “I don’t want to upset you any more than I already have,” he began, setting a couple of plates on the table. “But I’d bet my next resort project that our discussions are going to be tense at best.”
“I’m sure they will be,” she concurred, reaching for a package of sliced turkey. If she’d thought their talk was going to be unpleasant, the strained atmosphere now was far worse and she’d just as soon get it over with. “But putting it off isn’t going to make it any easier.” She nibbled on a pretzel. “Where would you like to start?”
He held up his hand. “We’ll go into my study after we finish eating. I don’t think it would be a good idea for you to have another meal interrupted, do you?”
“Probably not,” she agreed, taking a bite of her sandwich.
They both fell silent as they ate and by the time they’d cleared the table, Arielle found herself actually looking forward to the confrontation she knew would follow. It would be a relief to get it over with so they could move forward. Zach was a highly successful businessman, much like her brothers, and she had no doubt he’d start by making demands and telling her what he expected her to do. But thanks to dealing with her brothers, years ago she’d learned to stand up for herself and she knew exactly how much she was willing to give and what she intended to get in return. And the sooner Zach came to that realization, the better.
Several minutes later, he showed her into his study. Arielle glanced around, then seated herself in one of the plush chairs in front of the stone fireplace. She wasn’t about to sit in the chair in front of his desk. He would have no doubt sat behind the desk, giving him a huge psychological advantage, much like a boss talking to his employee. And she wasn’t allowing him any kind of edge.
“How has the pregnancy gone so far?” Zach asked, walking over to stand by the fireplace. Once again his gaze came to rest on her belly. “Have you experienced any problems other than having to eat frequently?”
“Not really.” She shrugged. “Aside from a couple of weeks of intense morning sickness, everything has gone quite well.”
“As long as you eat frequently?”
“Correct.”
When she’d first discovered she was pregnant, she’d hoped that once she found him, the man who had made love to her with such tender care would be, if not happy, at least interested in their child. It appeared that Zach was very interested. But she couldn’t ignore how he’d lied to her. Trusting him now would be foolish.
“When do you learn the sex of the baby?” he inquired, finally raising his eyes to meet hers.
“I’m not sure. On Monday, my obstetrician planned an ultrasound to make sure everything is going well, but I don’t know if the sex can be determined this early. But now I’ll have to reschedule the appointment,” she decided, it being pointless to remind him why.
To her surprise, he shook his head. “You won’t have to reschedule. I’ll call my pilot to bring the helicopter up from Dallas.”
“But I thought you said we were stranded here until the water went down.”
He again shook his head. “I told you I couldn’t drive you back to the city, but I never said we were completely stranded. Besides, that was before I knew about the baby and the ultrasound.” He gave her a determined smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that we keep this appointment and every other one until you give birth.”
“We?”
“You didn’t think I wouldn’t be involved once I knew I had a baby on the way, did you?” There was an underlying edge of challenge in his tone and they were quickly approaching the more stressful phase of their discussion.
“To be perfectly honest, I didn’t know if you would care one way or the other.” She met his accusing gaze head-on. “If you’ll remember, the man I thought I knew doesn’t even exist.”
The intense light in his dark green eyes stole her breath. “Darlin’, the only difference between me and the man who made love to you in Aspen is the name.”
“Really?” she dared, ignoring the swirl of heat the memory created and concentrating on the hurt and disillusionment of discovering she’d been abandoned. “So when you’re not using an alias, you habitually use women, leaving them behind, without waking them to say goodbye?”
“No, and that’s not what happened,” he retorted, shaking his head. “That morning, I had to get back to Dallas—”
“To tell the truth, it doesn’t really matter, Zach.”
She could see that he was angry she’d cut him off, but that was his problem, not hers. She had her pride and didn’t particularly care to hear that he’d left because he’d grown tired of her or that things between them had moved way too fast and he’d wanted to avoid an uncomfortable scene.
“The only thing we need to talk over now is where we go from here,” she stated determinedly. “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of the baby’s needs, so I don’t want, nor do I need, monetary help from you. What I want to know is how involved you want to be in the baby’s life. And will you want visitation rights every other weekend, once a month or not at all?”
His eyes narrowed as he took a step toward her. “Oh, I intend to be completely involved in every aspect of my child’s life, Arielle. And as far as shared custody, visitation rights and child