Buch lesen: «Last Chance For Baby»

Chapter One

Outside Kane’s office…

“Are you available this afternoon?”

“For what?” Twenty-seven-year-old Julia Parker smiled at Maggie Steward, administrative assistant to the company’s president.

“The new Chief Financial Officer is arriving today. His name is Raoul Oman. You met him at that D.C. conference last June, remember? Kane will be tied up in a meeting and he asked if you would show Mr. Oman around.”

Raoul Oman.

Julia stared, the blood draining from her face.

Oh, yes, she’d met Sheik Raoul Oman. The man was permanently engraved in her memory. Instinctively, her hand went to her stomach. The morning sickness she’d suffered from for her entire pregnancy threatened to go out of control, and she took several deep breaths, trying to calm her queasy tummy and racing heart.

Maggie’s eyes were compassionate. “I guess you do remember him.”

“Y-yes.” Julia swallowed and shook her head to clear it. She’d never expected to see Raoul again, and the shock was a bit more than she could absorb—not to mention the embarrassment and a healthy dose of guilt.

“You aren’t having trouble with the…uh…?” Maggie’s gaze flicked to Julia’s rounded stomach, then back to her face. The question didn’t need to be finished. The baby was seriously underweight, and so far she’d been able to camouflage her tummy with heavy sweaters, despite being almost seven months along. Most of her co-workers didn’t even realize she was pregnant, or else they’d just been polite and not said anything.

“I’m fine,” Julia assured quickly.

It was a lie, but she could hardly explain. She gulped again when she saw Kane Haley staring at her from the door of his office. He’d been acting strangely for the past few months, though as president of his Chicago-based company he could act any way he darned well pleased.

“Uh…I’ll be happy to show Mr. Oman around,” she told Maggie, snatching her hand away from her stomach. She fled to her own office on the 16th floor and sat for several shattered minutes, trying to decide what to do.

Her family plans were getting ready to fly apart, and there was nothing she could do to fix them.

The phone on Julia’s desk buzzed, and she gratefully pushed her lunch aside—milk and a package of crackers—and picked up the receiver. “Yes?”

“This is Trudy, in reception. I was told to notify you when Mr. Oman arrived.”

Swell.

“Thank you. I’ll be right down.”

“I’ll tell him, Ms. Parker.” Trudy sounded star-struck, which wasn’t surprising. One look at Sheik Raoul Oman and she must have melted in her chair. The man had sex appeal that could bring the dead back to life.

Julia glanced in a mirror and smoothed her fingers over a stray lock of hair. She didn’t care if she looked attractive, just neat and professional. Then, squaring her shoulders, she went to the elevator and punched the Down button. A minute later she stepped out and saw the back of Raoul’s dark head.

Flutters hit her midsection even harder, and she gulped down another wave of nausea.

“Sheik Oman,” she said, congratulating herself on the cool, even tone of her voice. “Welcome to Kane Haley, Inc.”

Raoul turned with catlike grace, one eyebrow lifting. “As you know, Ms. Parker, I do not use my title in America.”

She knew. She also knew that nothing could make Raoul anything other than what he was—a member of the royal family in his own country of Hasan…and the father of her baby.

It was the father-of-her-baby part driving hordes of butterflies through her system. Or was it the memory of the way he’d made her feel? She hadn’t wanted to lose control during their brief, explosive affair, but he hadn’t allowed anything but her complete surrender in the bedroom.

Julia’s mouth tightened.

The pleasure had been extraordinary, but you couldn’t live on pleasure. If anything, he’d proved that a man, particularly from his exalted family background, had trouble letting a woman be equal. Even in the most private of circumstances.

“Mr. Haley is tied up in a meeting this afternoon. He asked me to show you around,” she said.

Raoul inclined his head and smiled. “Kane has already explained this matter. I requested that you might take his place.”

“Oh.”

Any hope that he’d forgotten some of the more intimate aspects of their relationship vanished at the dark heat in his eyes. He remembered everything. And he seemed to be reminding her that she was the one who’d chosen to say goodbye. That it was her decision not to prolong the time and passion they’d shared.

But didn’t men prefer temporary relationships?

Even men from other countries?

She wasn’t the most experienced woman in the world, but from what she’d seen, commitment was the last thing the male animal usually thought about.

“Kane was not aware that we were…acquainted,” Raoul murmured. “I thought you might have mentioned me.”

From behind his back Julia saw Trudy mouth the words ohmigod, you know him? The receptionist looked more excited and dreamy than ever. But then, Trudy was the queen of high drama and romance. She lived for office gossip, though in a kind way. She never repeated anything cruel.

“Kane is the president of the company. We talk about business-related matters,” Julia explained, more uncomfortable than ever. “Not about people I’ve met…at a business conference.”

“Ah.” The subtle humor lingering in the depths of his brown eyes made her wince, but there wasn’t anything she could say in protest. Raoul could communicate more with his eyes than most people did verbally, and right now he was laughing at her attempts to pretend nothing had happened between them.

“Well,” she said briskly. “Shall we start?”

“That would be excellent.”

She turned on her heel and launched into a description of the three floors of the building leased by the company. She knew Raoul well enough to know he wouldn’t need any description of Kane Haley, Inc. He was the sort of man who would have investigated the accounting company from top to bottom before he ever considered taking the position as its Chief Financial Officer.

It almost made her smile. Kane Haley had probably felt as if he was being interviewed for the job, rather than the other way around. Of course, the whole thing would have just amused Kane, and it certainly hadn’t blinded him to Raoul’s exceptional qualifications for the position.

Darn it.

When they were finished touring the fourteenth floor, they stopped in front of the elevators. Raoul had suggested they simply take the stairs, but Julia couldn’t reveal that her doctor had recommended no climbing until after the baby was born, so she’d said they were mostly for emergencies.

Normally she didn’t babble, but the continuing amused glint in Raoul’s expression and the memory of their past relationship was turning her logical brain into mush.

They stepped inside the empty elevator car, and no sooner had the doors closed than Raoul pressed the Hold button.

“Bien-aimée,” he said softly. “It has been a long while.”

Julia’s heart skipped a few beats. “Not so long. Just two or three months,” she tossed off, as if she didn’t have a clear idea how much time had passed. Fat chance. She had a biological reminder growing in her womb, telling her exactly how long it had been since they’d last seen one another.

“Over six months,” he corrected. “June was a beautiful time in your nation’s capital.”

She kept her gaze glued to the Hold button he was depressing. “We’d better get going, or someone will think the elevator is broken.”

“They will simply think the machine is slow.”

“Raoul—”

“Julia,” he mocked, using her same exasperated tone. “It is good to hear that you remember my first name.”

Unaccustomed heat bloomed in her face. “I remember.”

“As do I.” He lifted his free hand and stroked the curve of her cheek. “I remember many things.”

“Please, Raoul. It was nice, but it was just one of those temporary things.” Guilt nearly made Julia choke on the words, because, while she had intended things to be temporary between them, she’d deliberately done everything possible to ensure he’d give her a child.

It was my last chance to be a mother.

Julia bit on the inside of her mouth, knowing she deserved that small stab of pain. Raoul hadn’t been her last chance for motherhood, but the longer she’d waited, the smaller her chances would have gotten. Endometriosis didn’t always result in infertility, but it was a common result of the condition. She’d gone to the conference still in shock after hearing the bad medical news, and when she’d met Raoul it had seemed like the answer.

“I did not choose for it to be so very temporary. You are the one who made this decision.”

Raoul didn’t look amused now, but angry, and she could well imagine him as an imperious desert ruler of old. She should have known it would irritate him, not getting to be the one who broke things off. Men liked to be in control, which was why she didn’t want her child’s father involved in their lives.

She’d had enough experience with overbearing, dominating men who thought they ruled the universe just because fate had given them a particular set of chromosomes. Her military father was a case in point. Sure, not all men were like that, but she hadn’t had any luck telling who was a control freak and who wasn’t.

“We really have to be going,” she said. She tried pulling his hand from the button, but he held fast. “Raoul, let go.”

“We must talk.” Raoul watched the changing expressions in Julia’s face and wondered why she had been so adamant about ending their affair at the conclusion of the conference. Even now she fascinated him, stirring his body in a way that made it imperative that he wait before leaving the privacy of the elevator car. It would not be prudent to allow anyone at Kane Haley, Inc., to see his undisguised response to another employee.

“We have nothing to talk about,” Julia snapped.

A flicker of admiration crept through Raoul. At any time Julia was glorious, but angry? Gold flashed from her hair and eyes, color brightened her silken skin and she breathed deeply, emphasizing the womanly part of her that he’d already enjoyed so much. He drew a harsh breath of his own, exerting control over his unruly body.

“Nothing?” he asked. “Perhaps you would like to explain why you gave me an incorrect phone number.”

Julia’s eyelids dropped, concealing the hazel gold of her eyes. “Did I?”

“You know you did. Although the lady at the dry-cleaning establishment was quite cordial, I did not wish to speak with her, I wished to speak with you.”

“You could have called the company and gotten the number.”

“Since it was obvious you did not wish to speak with me, I respected your wishes. Now I question if that was the correct decision. You are being very evasive, Julia.”

“I told you—”

“Yes,” Raoul interrupted impatiently. “You told me many things. Some I have chosen to ignore.”

“That’s arrogant.”

“Isn’t that what you expect? The sheik who is as arrogant as his royal Arabian heritage?”

“It’s not your royal anything making you arrogant,” Julia returned. “It’s…” She stopped, clearly feeling she’d already said too much.

“Ah, yes. You do not think well of my sex, I think.”

“It isn’t necessarily your sex I was thinking about. In some ways that part is impressive.” Her gaze flicked downward for a brief moment, and he grew hard again.

She was impudent.

And sweetly naughty.

In the old days of his country a woman such as Julia would have been a disgrace, but no longer. As a youth his grandfather had embraced new ways of thinking about women, and for two generations they had been free to speak their minds in Hasan.

Sometimes that wasn’t always a blessing.

“I still do not understand why you wished such a temporary arrangement,” he said. “It doesn’t seem to be your nature.”

“Of course it is.”

Despite the denial, her gaze shifted once again, this time in evasion, and Raoul sighed.

“You are not promiscuous, chère.”

Julia glared. “Stop calling me…French things.”

He suppressed a smile, demanding control of his mouth. French endearments came naturally to him. Though his grandmother had spent far more years in Hasan than in her homeland, she remained exquisitely French, from the tips of her toes to the top of her perfectly coiffed head. He had spoken her native language from the time he was in his cradle and was named for Grand-mère’s own father.

“Julia, the fact remains that you are not the type for such casual encounters.”

“That’s ridiculous. You know nothing about me and don’t have a clue about my romantic life.”

He smiled knowingly. “A man knows when a woman has not been intimate for a while. There is a certain hesitation in her body when he—”

“Never mind,” Julia said hastily, certain her face was burning from embarrassment. Raoul was too knowledgeable for comfort, and if he was convinced she’d been celibate for a long time he would never believe the baby wasn’t his. The question was, what would he do once he figured it out?

Maybe she should tell him first.

Or maybe she should quit her job and leave town.

Oh, right. That’s a great solution.

She enjoyed the stability of her position at Kane Haley, Inc., and she was darned good at it. The Assurance and Advisory Service Division where she worked was growing by leaps and bounds. She had an excellent salary, and a number of friends here in Chicago. Leaving was not an option, particularly with a baby on the way.

All at once the demanding arrogance vanished from Raoul’s face, and he removed his hand from the control panel. “You are right. People will wonder if we overly delay the elevator.”

His expression had closed to the point she would never have guessed they were discussing anything more intimate than the corner deli, and she shook her head. How could a woman hope to understand a man like Raoul Oman?

Quickly, before he could change his mind, Julia pressed the button for the fifteenth floor and waited as the car swooshed upward. Normally she did take the stairs, preferring to be more active. But the baby was more important than anything else, and she was following everything the doctor said to the letter. And it should still be all right, as long as she did her best to stay quiet and eat as much as her stomach could tolerate.

The tour of the fifteenth floor went reasonably well, and they moved to the sixteenth without Raoul broaching more personal conversation.

As they passed the door of her own office, Julia’s feet faltered when she saw the president of the company inside, staring at her desk with a kind of fierce concentration.

“Kane, is something wrong?” she asked.

“My meeting is finished,” he said. “How was the tour, Raoul?”

“Ms. Parker has been most informative.”

“Hmm. That’s good. Fine.”

Raoul lifted his eyebrows. He’d never seen Kane Haley so distracted. They’d met a number of years before, and both men had formed an immediate liking for the other. When the position of CFO had come available, Kane had immediately contacted him to see if he was interested.

He had been.

Raoul cast a glance at the slender blond-haired woman standing at his side. In no small way, Julia was responsible for his decision. She fascinated, annoyed and frustrated him beyond measure. While a part of him appreciated her reluctance for a more permanent arrangement, he couldn’t help being intrigued.

Truly, he did not understand. Weren’t all women anxious for those permanent bonds?

Certainly, the parade of marriageable women his mother had vexed him with had wanted everything that an alliance with the royal house would bring—wealth, power, position, the title of princess in a country whose princesses were revered and protected. The paparazzi would find no welcome in Hasan; the people would see to it.

Julia cleared her throat, apparently uncomfortable in the silence. “Kane, I’m sure you have things you wanted to discuss with Mr. Oman. In the meantime I’ll get back to work.”

Kane gave her a peculiar look. “How have you been feeling, Julia?” he asked, ignoring her suggestion.

“Just fine,” she assured, though she seemed confused by the inquiry.

“Somebody mentioned you’d been sick several times—in the restroom.”

She jumped, and Raoul saw her hand hover over her stomach for an instant. “M-maybe once or twice. My system is a little sensitive after the Christmas holidays. You know, all that rich food. But I’m fine. I’ve even put on a few pounds.”

This seemed to interest Kane almost as much as her supposed illness. “Yes, I guess you have.”

Raoul frowned, wondering what nonsense his friend was pursuing. It was a matter for concern if a valued employee was suffering from ill-health, but anyone could see that Julia was fine. As for those “few pounds” she’d claimed, he’d noticed her figure was fuller and more enticing than ever, though it was well concealed by a heavy cashmere sweater.

Why western women were so concerned about weight was a mystery. Julia would be no less lovely if she gained a hundred pounds. Perhaps, though, the problem didn’t lie with western women, but with western men who could not appreciate the beauty of a ripe, voluptuous body.

America was a confusing place. He’d spent many of his thirty-six years in the country, off and on, and still didn’t always understand its ways.

He turned to Julia. “I will see you for dinner tonight. I appreciate your offer to acquaint me with some of the Chicago food you have raved about.”

Julia’s eyes narrowed. Things were going from bad to worse, but if Raoul thought he could manipulate her into having dinner with him, he was sadly mistaken. It would be awkward extricating herself in front of the company president, but she couldn’t go out with Raoul. He was too compelling…too interested in the reason she’d left that Washington conference without a backward glance.

“That’s a great idea,” Kane Haley said before she could say anything. “But you’ll both be my guests.”

Huh?

Julia could tell that Raoul shared her confusion and they exchanged glances. She couldn’t think of a single reason Kane would invite himself along, unless he was only thinking about visiting with an old friend.

“You know, I forgot I have an earlier commitment,” she said. “But it doesn’t matter, I’m sure you’ll enjoy yourselves more without me.”

“No.” The two men uttered the protest in unison.

“You must dine with me tonight,” Raoul insisted. “We have much news to share.”

News?

No way was Julia going there.

The only “news” she had to share was something she didn’t want him knowing in the first place. He was a proud man, and discovering she’d used him as a sperm donor wouldn’t go over in a big way. It wouldn’t matter that she’d felt desperate and had convinced herself he’d make her a beautiful baby; he’d be outraged.

With good reason, she acknowledged silently.

A familiar sense of guilt crowded Julia’s throat, and she shifted uneasily.

“Really, I have other plans,” she said. “Another time.”

“Please cancel,” Kane growled. Despite the “please” it sounded more like a command, and his face had the odd expression he’d gotten before, when he’d watched her talking to Maggie Steward. “I think we should properly welcome our new CFO to Chicago, don’t you?”

“I—”

“I’d consider it a favor,” he added.

A favor. Requested from the president. Sort of like a royal invitation you couldn’t refuse.

“All right,” Julia agreed reluctantly. “But there’s something I’d better go check…with Mrs. Steward.” She didn’t have anything to check, but since they were all in her office, it was the only avenue of escape.

“Wait.” Kane picked up something from her desk and handed it to her. “You’re looking a little green, so you’d better take these. Raoul, we’ll meet in your new office in say, fifteen minutes?” He stomped out, looking quite frustrated.

Julia’s fingers closed around the package of crackers she’d been trying to swallow for lunch. What did crackers have to do with anything? And why would the president of the company be so concerned about the condition of her stomach?

“I take it you do not wish our relationship announced to the office,” Raoul said after a moment.

She rolled her eyes, effectively distracted. “We don’t have a relationship.”

With a casual flick of his wrist, Raoul released the door so it swung closed. If it had been any other woman than Julia, he would have allowed the matter to drop. But the memory of her warm sensuality still invaded his sleep, though months had passed since he’d last held her.

He wasn’t ready for marriage—he’d even left Hasan because of the pressure from his mother to start a family—but why shouldn’t they enjoy one another? Particularly when their goal in remaining single seemed to be the same.

“I do not wish to make you uncomfortable, Julia, but nothing has changed…I still want you.”

All at once the room seemed smaller and closer and Julia dragged needed air into her lungs. There was nothing menacing about the declaration, he was simply stating his desire.

The trouble was, she still wanted him, too.

Her body was practically screaming to touch him, and there wasn’t a single thing she could do to make that need go away.