cold winter. His sandy hair was still short at the back but longer than she remembered at the sides and front. The deep dimples that traced a line from his well-defined cheekbones to his strong chin were not in evidence tonight. Skylar had fallen head over heels for those dimples almost at first glance.
“Does anyone else know?”
She shook her head. Avoiding the family and her monthly nights out with Maya wasn’t difficult when it was the busiest time of the year for the Fortune Stud.
“When were you thinking of telling them? After the birth, or…”
His sarcasm intensified her guilt. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re sorry.” Zack began pacing the room again, as if he was circling his prey.
“I don’t—hold you responsible or anything.”
“What?” The tension in his quiet voice screamed through her nerves.
“I mean, financially…”
There was a long, excruciating silence.
She sighed, still not looking at him. “I mean, this doesn’t have to encroach on…”
Zack sat down suddenly, as if all the air had just gone out of him. “No,” he said dazedly, “I’m only the father.”
He was ashen. Skylar rose, guilt clawing at her throat. “Do you want something? A drink?”
“Are you seeing someone?” He peered up at her in a lightning change of tack.
She ducked her head with a disbelieving smile, as if he’d said something ridiculous. “No.” She twisted her hands together. “Who?”
His suspicious appraisal was unwarranted.
“What are you doing here, anyway? I thought you weren’t coming back till the fall.”
“Blake called,” he muttered. “He was worried about you, said you weren’t yourself.”
“He shouldn’t have done that.”
“Done what?” he asked.
“Gotten you involved.”
Zack bared his teeth mirthlessly. “Since I’m only the father.”
“He doesn’t know anything.”
“Makes two of us!” he barked, and Skylar jumped. There was an indeterminate slide inside that she’d only felt a couple of times before, and her hand instinctively went to her stomach.
“What is it?” Zack leapt to his feet. “What’s wrong?”
She looked up and blinked at the concern in his eyes. “Nothing.”
“Why are you holding your stomach?”
“The baby moved.”
The look on his face shocked her, as did the jerky movements of his big hands as they dragged through his sandy hair.
“I can’t believe this,” he grated, “You’re—what? Four months pregnant, the baby’s moving and I’ve only—I didn’t know a thing.”
That was pain darkening his eyes, she was sure. Pain making his voice sound raw.
“And I’m not to have any part of it?” Zack clipped out. “You want to cut me out of everything?”
Skylar twisted her hands together. “It’s not like that.” She shuffled on her feet, not knowing what to do or say to make things right, or if not right, better.
“I think I will have that drink,” he told her curtly, after long moments had passed.
Why had she offered? The only alcohol Skylar had ever kept in the house was the odd bottle of wine if Maya was coming by. The day her pregnancy was confirmed, she’d thrown out a half-empty bottle in her fridge.
She peered at a dusty bottle of some apricot liqueur that must have been there for three or four years, then closed the cupboard and poured him a glass of water.
As soon as he’d taken it from her, she moved back, turning away from the waves of anger she sensed building in him again. She tottered a few steps, turning from him and heard his hard swallow.
What a mess. The word sorry danced around and around her mind, along with clumsy, clueless, stupid. The silence dragged on and she chewed on her thumbnail. “Where are you staying?”
Zack rapped out the name of Sioux Falls most prominent hotel, the Fortune’s Seven, one of several her brothers owned.
Sleeping with him was the dumbest thing she’d ever done, although at the time, it surpassed all her amassed curiosity and fantasies. She should stick to horses for company. She’d never had a problem talking to horses. They didn’t judge or reduce her to a quivering mass of nerves and resentment at her clumsy social skills.
“I’ll take care of everything,” she blurted, unable to take the silence anymore.
She heard another hard swallow. “That’s great. That’s just great, Skylar.”
She spun around, stung by the bitterness in his voice. His searing eyes told her it was anything but great.
“The baby won’t want for anything,” she told him defensively. He must know that. She made good money doing what she was doing, quite apart from her heritage as one of the Fortune family. The city of Sioux Falls was practically owned by the Fortunes.
“Nothing but a father.”
She sighed. “My father and Patricia will be crazy about a baby. And my brothers, well, they’ll come around. The baby will be knee-deep in male role models.”
“And you don’t think that a biological father has any part in this warped family scene you’ve cooked up?”
“Zack, if you want to see it, have access, that’s—that’s okay.”
“Access?” he snapped, prowling around her in an ever-decreasing circle.
Skylar flinched, blinking. “If you want. What do you want?”
He gave her a withering look. “Thanks for asking. Pick a date. We’ll get the whole family around tomorrow and tell them we’re getting married.”
“What?” It was her turn to be shocked.
“Make it quick, Skylar. I can’t be away from home for long.”
“Married?” she whispered, her head spinning.
He drained his glass and banged it down on the table. “My child is going to have two loving parents, not just one.”
“I’m not marrying you, Zack.” A hiccup escaped her throat. “Not marrying anyone.”
He leaned down, his face inches from hers. “You may have cut me out of this till now, the worrying, the morning sickness, the movements. But that changes as of right now.” She’d never seen his gray eyes glint like steel before. “We are going to be married, so get used to it.”
She made a pitiful attempt at a smile. “That’s just—dumb.”
“What’s dumb?” he demanded. “Pretending it hasn’t happened? Hiding it from everyone? I suppose you could have delivered it in the stables and told everyone the stork left it.”
His flippant remark stirred an unusual lick of anger. “Maybe this is why I didn’t tell you. I was afraid you’d want to take over, have it all your way.”
Her voice rang out, clear and strong, making them both start. Skylar seemed to have lost her stammer. Normally she was hard-pressed to string five words together around Zack Manning.
He recovered first. “You’ve had your way. It isn’t good enough.”
“I’m not marrying you, Zack.”
“No