One Night, Two Babies / Valente's Baby

“And before you ask, yes, I’m pregnant with your baby,” she stated, confirming his suspicions.

His stomach twisted into a painful knot as he recalled another time a woman was carrying his child. “We used protection.”

“Yes, but one of the condoms broke,” she reminded him.

He’d figured the chances of making her pregnant from that one time had to be fairly remote. Apparently he’d been wrong.

Nodding, he rubbed the tension building at the back of his neck. “I remember. But why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Her desire to be left alone to deal with the flooded-out car and her refusal to take off her bulky raincoat suddenly made perfect sense. She’d been trying to hide the pregnancy from him. With his jaw clenched so tight it felt welded shut, he asked, “Didn’t you think I had the right to know?”

He watched her expression turn from defiant to righteously indignant. “Oh, no you don’t, buster.” She stood to face him. “I’m not letting you get away with playing the victim here. You lied to me about who you were. And up until this morning, when you barged into my office and told me your real name, I thought I was having Tom Zacharias’s baby.” She started to walk away, then, turning back, added, “And just for the record, I searched desperately to find a man who didn’t even exist because I thought he needed to know that he was going to be a father.” She swiped away the tears suddenly spilling from her eyes. “When all of my efforts proved useless…you can’t even begin to imagine…how much of a fool I felt or…the emotional pain I went through. So don’t…even go there.”

Zach stood in the middle of the kitchen long after he watched Arielle rush down the hall toward the guest room. Stunned, he had a hard time believing how rapidly his life had changed in the past twelve hours. When he’d gone to the school this morning, he’d had nothing more on his mind than sweettalking Helen Montrose into going easy on his mischievous nephew, then heading to the office to go over the contracts and blueprints for his newest resort. But along with his discovery that the old gal was no longer in charge at Premier Academy, the only woman he’d been tempted to have a relationship with since his ill-fated engagement had reappeared in his life and was pregnant with his baby.

Just the thought that he was going to be a father caused a myriad of feelings to course through him. Had it not been for his ex-fiancé, he might have felt pride and excitement about the baby Arielle carried. But thanks to Gretchen Hay den and her duplicity, he was filled with a deep sense of apprehension that he just couldn’t shake.

Five years ago, he’d thought he had it all—a thriving business, a devoted bride-to-be and a baby on the way. But all that had changed when Gretchen decided that motherhood would be detrimental to her figure and seriously limit her options should something better than being the wife of a hotel entrepreneur come along.

He took a deep breath in an effort to chase away the ugly memory of the day he’d discovered the woman he’d thought he loved had deliberately ended the life of their unborn child. All of his focus now needed to be on Arielle and protecting the baby they’d created together. And this time the outcome was going to be different than it had been five years ago. This time, he wasn’t going to take it on faith that Arielle truly wanted his baby. He was going to make certain his child was protected.

Most of his anger dissipated as he thought about her trying to tell him about the baby and how hurt she’d been when she couldn’t. But not all of it.

He understood her inability to find him after they parted in Aspen. In order to be completely anonymous, he always registered under an assumed name when he checked into one of his hotels. It was the only way to get an accurate idea of the quality of guest services and the efficiency and courtesy of the resort management. Besides, it was standard practice that guest information was kept in the strictest of confidence. If Arielle had inquired about him, and he had every reason to believe that she had, the management at the resort wouldn’t have given her anything. And even if they had broken protocol and given her the name and address he’d registered under, the information would have proven completely worthless.

But that didn’t explain why she hadn’t told him about the pregnancy when they were in her office this morning. And she’d had ample opportunity to tell him this afternoon when he’d discovered her sitting in her car in the school’s parking lot. And why hadn’t she told him the real reason that she had become sick on the drive to the ranch?

His appetite deserting him, Zach removed their plates from the table, scraped the food into the garbage disposal and put the dishes in the dishwasher. He’d give her time to calm down, then he wanted answers. And he wasn’t going to bed without them.

With her emotions once again under control, Arielle wiped away the last traces of her tears and sat up on the side of the bed to look around the guest room. It was decorated in shades of peach and antique white and at any other time, she would have loved staying in such a beautiful room. But at the moment, it felt like a prison cell, albeit a very pretty one.

She was stranded on a remote ranch with the man who had lied to her about his identity, abandoned her without a word, broken her heart and made her pregnant. And if all that wasn’t enough, he was blaming her for not telling him about the pregnancy.

“Unreal,” she said aloud.

But even more incredible was that her life was paralleling her mother’s. Francesca Garnier had fallen in love with a man who had impregnated her with a set of twin boys and simply walked away. Then, ten years later, the man had shown up long enough to rekindle their romance, which led to the birth of Arielle, and once again disappeared. And when Arielle and her brothers first met their paternal grandmother a few months ago, they’d learned their father had used an assumed name.

Instead of Neil Owens, the starving artist their mother knew, their father was the infamous playboy Owen Larson, the only offspring of Emerald Larson, one of the richest, most successful businesswomen in the modern corporate world. During the ten years away from their mother, Owen Larson had fathered three other children—all boys and all with different women.

It was so bizarre, she even had a hard time believing it. But when Emerald Larson had contacted them Arielle had gained three more brothers. And Emerald had embraced the Garnier siblings as part of her family, giving each a multimillion-dollar trust fund and one of the many companies within the Emerald, Inc. empire. Arielle became the new owner of Premier Academy and moved to Dallas.

But that was immaterial. What was extremely disconcerting was, as her mother had done with her father, Arielle had fallen for a man she’d thought to be as honest and forthright as she’d been with him. But just like her father had done to her mother, Zach had deliberately lied to her to keep her from finding him.

She shook her head to chase away her disturbing thoughts and concentrated on forgetting what she couldn’t change and focusing on her present dilemma. In spite of the stress and tension she had experienced or because she hadn’t finished her dinner, her hunger had returned full force.

Unfortunately, if she went to find something for herself in the kitchen, she’d likely run into Zach. Though they had several things to discuss and decisions to make, she wasn’t ready for that just yet. She’d already had an extremely upsetting day.

But the decision was taken out of her hands when her stomach rumbled. If she waited much longer she’d become sick again and since they were flooded in, she didn’t have much choice.

Sighing, she rose from the bed, opened the door and walked right into Zach’s broad chest. “Oh, I…um, didn’t know you were there. Excuse me.”

He 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 support are concerned, there is no need to work out any agreement.”

“What do you mean?” Surely he didn’t expect her to hand over full custody of her baby. If he did, he was in for the biggest, nastiest fight of his life. “I love this baby and I’m not giving it up to you or anyone else.”

Closing the distance between them, he stood over her much like her older brothers used to when she’d been called on the carpet for doing something they had disapproved of. “I’m not telling you I want full custody, darlin’. But spending time with my baby and supporting him won’t be an issue because once we get back to Dallas, you and I are getting married.”

Chapter Three

Zach watched Arielle open and close her mouth several times before she finally said, “You can’t possibly be serious.”

If ever a woman had the deer-in-the-headlights look about her, it was Arielle. Good. Now that he had her attention, maybe she’d start listening to him.

“Rest assured, I’m very serious.” He folded his arms across his chest as he gazed down at the woman he had every intention of making his wife. “I don’t joke about something as important as taking a trip down the aisle, darlin’. If you’ll remember, I told you this morning that I wouldn’t have a child out of wedlock. And I meant every word of it.”

Anger sparkled in the depths of her hazel eyes. “And as I told you this morning, you don’t have to be married to have a baby.”

“That might work for some people, but not for me. I’m of the opinion that when a man makes a woman pregnant, he stands by her and does the right thing. We will be married as soon as possible.”

“Oh, no, we won’t.” She rose to her feet, then poked the middle of his chest with her index finger. “Let me tell you something, Mr. High-and-Mighty. You’re going to have to get used to the idea of being a single father because I would never marry you even if you got down on your knees and begged me.”

Zach wasn’t used to having anyone openly defy him—not in the business world, not in his personal life. And if anyone did have the courage to cross him, they found themselves embroiled in a battle of wits they were most assuredly going to lose. But for reasons he couldn’t quite put his finger on, he found Arielle’s defiance mildly amusing, if not downright cute.

Maybe it was because of their considerable height difference. At six feet four inches, he towered over her. But that didn’t seem to intimidate her one damned bit. Or it could have been the fact that he’d never had a pregnant woman get in his face and poke him in the chest to make her point the way Arielle had just done. Either way, he barely resisted the urge to smile. Their marriage was going to be anything but dull.

“Never say ‘never,’ darlin’.”

“I’m telling you right now, it’s not going to happen,” she declared, shaking her head. “Being married isn’t a requirement to have a baby. Other arrangements can be made for you to play an equal role in the baby’s life, so you might as well start thinking along those lines and stop insisting on a marriage that is never going to happen.”

Without giving it a second thought, he reached out and took her into his arms. “First and foremost, calm down. Getting upset is not good for you or the baby.” Pulling her against him, he finally smiled. “And second, it is going to happen. So I would suggest that you get used to the idea pretty quick and start thinking about what you’re going to wear and whether or not you want your brothers to give you away during the ceremony. I’m willing to wait until next weekend if you want them in attendance, but no longer than that.”

Before she could protest further, Zach lowered his head to silence her with a kiss. As he covered her mouth with his, the memories of what they’d shared in Aspen came rushing back full force. From the moment he’d seen her that morning, he’d wondered if her perfect lips were still as soft and if her response to him would be as passionate and unbridled as his memories.

At first she remained motionless in his arms. But as he reacquainted himself with her sweetness, Zach felt some of her tension drain away and he seized the opportunity to deepen the kiss. To his immense satisfaction she finally parted her lips on a soft sigh and allowed him entry to her tender inner recesses. At the same time she wrapped her arms around his waist.

The signs of her acceptance encouraged him to explore her with a thoroughness that immediately had his body reminding him that several long months had passed since he’d held her, kissed her, made love to her. Stroking her tongue with his, his lower body tightened and his heart took off at a gallop. His faulty memory forgot how intoxicating her kisses were and how perfect she felt in his arms.

Unable to resist, he moved his hands to her sides and slowly slid them beneath the bottom of her sweatshirt, up along her ribs to the swell of her breasts. He realized she wasn’t wearing a bra and without a moment’s hesitation, he cupped the weight of her with his palms. The soft mounds were larger, most likely due to her pregnancy, and when he lightly brushed the pebbled tips with his thumbs, her tiny moan of pleasure indicated they were highly sensitive, as well.

But as he continued to reacquaint himself with her body, Zach pressed himself closer and the slight bulge of her stomach reminded him of their current situation and the raw feelings still churning inside him. Arielle said she loved and wanted his baby, but he’d heard that from another woman just before she deliberately caused herself to miscarry.

Suddenly needing to put distance between them, he broke the kiss and, removing his hands from her breasts, pulled the sweatshirt down and took a step back. Gratified by the dazed expression on her face, he could tell that Arielle had been as shaken by the kiss as he had. But if past experience had taught him anything, he would not allow his judgment to be clouded by the haze of desire. Besides, they had more than enough to deal with at the moment without adding another complication to the mix.

“Why did you do that?” she asked, sounding delightfully breathless.

Her cheeks had turned a rosy pink and he wasn’t certain whether the heightened color was due to rising passion or embarrassment at her eager response. It was probably a combination of both, he decided as they stood staring at each other.

“Kissing you was the only way I knew to stop you from arguing with me.”

She swiped at her mouth with the back of her hand as if trying to wipe away his kiss. “Well, don’t do it again.”

“You used to like it when I kissed you,” he reminisced, stuffing his hands into the front pockets of his jeans to keep from reaching for her again.

“That was before I discovered how deceptive you are.” If looks could kill, hers was sure to finish him off in about two seconds flat.

“What time is your appointment for the ultrasound?”

“Monday afternoon at three.” She gave him a confused look. “Why?”

“I’ll arrange for my pilot to pick us up before noon on Monday,” he said, quickly calculating how long the helicopter flight would take to get back to the city. “I have clothes here, but that should give us more than enough time to go by your place so that you can get ready and still make the appointment.”

She shook her head. “I’m sure you have another resort to build or some corporate thing that needs your full attention. You don’t have to go with me. I’ll be fine without you.”

Yes, he did have to accompany her. But he wasn’t about to tell her that he felt an obligation to protect his unborn child, even though she’d given him no good reason for concern.

“Clearing my calendar for the day won’t be a big deal.” He shrugged. “I’d already counted on spending a few extra days here because of the flooding. Besides, that’s the beauty of being the sole owner. You can do what you want, when you want and nobody says a word unless they don’t care about being fired.”

“Let me put it this way, Zach.” He watched as she clenched both fists at her sides and he could tell her frustration level was close to the boiling point. “I don’t want you to go to the doctor with me.”

“Why? You said you spent several weeks trying to find me. Now you’re telling me you don’t want me around?”

“I searched for you because I thought you might want to know that you’d fathered a child,” she said tightly. “Not because I wanted you to go with me to doctor appointments or ‘do the right thing.’”