The Texan's Surprise Baby Read Free Page A

softened in response to her helpless tone. “I can understand that.”
    She clasped her hands in front of her and looked down at them, unable to meet Andrew’s eyes just then.
    His hands were gentle when they fell on her shoulders, but still her pulse raced in response to his touch. “Are you okay? You haven’t had any problems?”
    She shook her head. “I’m in perfect health. And so is the baby.”
    His gaze lowered then, focusing on her middle. He cleared his throat. “Is it—do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?”
    “I’ll find out Friday.”
    His eyes rose and she saw the emotions he’d concealed to this point. She had learned during their one night together that the rather stoic control Andrew usually displayed masked an intense, passionate nature. Memories of that passion made her catch her breath, her heart thudding hard against her chest. A muscle flexed in Andrew’s jaw and the slightest tremor moved his fingers against her shoulders, making her suspect the same images were flashing through his mind. She felt her cheeks warm in a way that had nothing to do with the hot afternoon temperature.
    Andrew dropped his hands a little too abruptly, shoving them into his pockets. By unspoken agreement, they both shifted to put another couple of inches between them.
    “Have you told your family? About me?” he clarified.
    She shook her head. “They have no idea. I never even told them I saw you in Dallas in December.”
    “I see.”
    So much of that fateful evening had hinged on impulse. She’d been in Dallas for an annual holiday gathering with some college friends, and had dropped by Andrew’s office with the excuse of giving him an update about her ex-husband’s sentencing—which he’d already known, having kept up with the case. He’d politely asked her to dinner and they’d had drinks at her hotel afterward. One thing had led to another, and then...
    Automatically, she rested a hand on her stomach.
    “I guess Aaron told you I was pregnant.” She’d known that was inevitable from the moment she’d seen Aaron with Shelby.
    Andrew nodded. “It slipped into our conversation earlier today. Needless to say, it threw me for a loop. I—well, I guess the precautions we took that night weren’t enough. I know there’s always a chance, but still...”
    The awkwardness was unlike him, merely another sign of how shaken he’d been. “You didn’t say anything to Aaron about—”
    He quickly shook his head. “I just threw some things in a bag and headed this way.”
    Normally it was a four-hour drive from Dallas to the resort. Hannah suspected Andrew had made it in less today.
    She twisted her fingers more tightly together. “You’re coming to the resort?”
    “Yes.”
    “Would you—could we not say anything to the family just yet? About your being the father, I mean. We’ll tell them,” she added quickly, when he started to frown, “just not until we’ve had more time to talk privately about...things.”
    To her relief, he nodded to concede that she had a valid point. “We will need to talk.”
    “Yes.” And she dreaded it. Everything was so complicated. “But it’s going to take a while. And I can’t do it now, the family will be wondering where I am. The way I rushed off without an explanation, they’ll be worried if I don’t go back soon.”
    He didn’t look particularly pleased with the delay, but he didn’t try to argue. “So how are we playing this?”
    “We’ll show up at the resort at different times so they won’t know we’ve already seen each other. You can go ahead, I need to stop by the store anyway.”
    “And I suppose you’ll be completely surprised to find me at the resort when you get back.”
    She shrugged, intending to play it exactly that way.
    Andrew sighed and ran a hand over his hair. “Fine. We’ll do it your way. I’ll keep your secret. For now. But somehow or another we’ll have to find opportunities to talk, and soon.”
    She nodded grimly,