Read Online Expecting...in Texas by Marie Ferrarella - Free Book Online
Authors: Marie Ferrarella
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would be resentment toward her.
She looked directly into his eyes, praying that he would forgive her for lying if he ever found out. “No, the baby isn’t yours.”
Relief flowed over him. But it immediately dried up in the heat of the surprising anger that followed. Anger that flamed high, hiding the hurt that hovered just behind it.
If it wasn’t his, then whose? Dallas’s? No, it was too soon for the baby to belong to Dallas. But maybe not. Maybe Savannah and Dallas had been together before. If they had, then what did that make him? Intermission?
Something bitter twisted deep within Cruz.
“Is Dallas the father?”
Surprise at his question gave way to hurt. Was that what he thought of her? That she slept around? Well, she reasoned, what could he think, if she’d just told him that the baby wasn’t his?
Logic did little to assuage the hurt she felt. Her thoughts were too painful. Unable to deal with them now, she blocked them out.
“Why are you cross-examining me?”
It wasn’t easy keeping his temper in check, not when he wanted to shake the answer out of her. “Is he?” Cruz demanded, his voice hardly above a hoarse, barely restrained whisper.
There was a darkness in his eyes that made her catch her breath. Savannah squared her shoulders, rallying. She could deal with anger far better than she could with kindness or sympathy. Anger begat anger. She clung to that.
“No, if it’s any business of yours. Dallas and I are just old friends.”
She was lying about some part of this. She had to be. “If the baby isn’t mine and it isn’t his—”
She didn’t want to go any further into the lie than she already had, but clearly he wasn’t going to be satisfied with evasions. Cruz wanted an answer, and she knew he wouldn’t leave her aloneuntil she gave him one. She thought of Reese. Naming him would hurt no one.
“If you must know, the baby’s father is my fiancé—my ex-fiancé,” she clarified when surprise leaped into his eyes.
“Your ex-fiancé,” he echoed.
The words made Cruz feel oddly numb. So much so that he wasn’t sure just what he was feeling. What he should have been feeling at this point was overwhelming relief, not this all-pervading discontent. He remembered how sad her eyes had looked at the christening. He’d prodded her until she’d told him about the broken engagement. Cruz couldn’t see her going back to the man.
“The one you told me you were trying to get over?”
“Yes.”
Savannah could feel his eyes boring into her. She wanted to look away, but she knew if she did, he’d know she was lying. So she endured the look of censure she saw and burrowed further into the deception.
“We decided to give reconciliation one last try.” Savannah shrugged, all the while hating what she was saying. “It didn’t take.”
His eyes regarded her coldly. She’d burned hot beneath him, then gone running back to a man whohad used her so badly. How could she have done that?
“Maybe ‘it’ didn’t, but something obviously did.”
Savannah’s face remained impassive at the cynical remark, giving Cruz no clue just how much it hurt. She drew herself up.
“The bottom line is that you don’t have to worry, Cruz. I won’t be coming to you asking for anything.”
He was off the hook totally. Every single man’s nightmare, and it was over, just like that. Why couldn’t he feel better about this than he did? Why couldn’t he successfully curtail his anger at finding out that she’d slept with someone else?
“So, will you be going back to him asking for anything?”
She didn’t like the tone of the question—and certainly not the implication that she would use the baby as a tool to get money.
Her eyes hardened, drawing a curtain over her vulnerability. “It wasn’t a planned pregnancy. Possession is nine points of the law. The way I see it, I have possession of the baby, that means the baby is my responsibility and no one else’s.”
For a second, Cruz’s
She looked directly into his eyes, praying that he would forgive her for lying if he ever found out. “No, the baby isn’t yours.”
Relief flowed over him. But it immediately dried up in the heat of the surprising anger that followed. Anger that flamed high, hiding the hurt that hovered just behind it.
If it wasn’t his, then whose? Dallas’s? No, it was too soon for the baby to belong to Dallas. But maybe not. Maybe Savannah and Dallas had been together before. If they had, then what did that make him? Intermission?
Something bitter twisted deep within Cruz.
“Is Dallas the father?”
Surprise at his question gave way to hurt. Was that what he thought of her? That she slept around? Well, she reasoned, what could he think, if she’d just told him that the baby wasn’t his?
Logic did little to assuage the hurt she felt. Her thoughts were too painful. Unable to deal with them now, she blocked them out.
“Why are you cross-examining me?”
It wasn’t easy keeping his temper in check, not when he wanted to shake the answer out of her. “Is he?” Cruz demanded, his voice hardly above a hoarse, barely restrained whisper.
There was a darkness in his eyes that made her catch her breath. Savannah squared her shoulders, rallying. She could deal with anger far better than she could with kindness or sympathy. Anger begat anger. She clung to that.
“No, if it’s any business of yours. Dallas and I are just old friends.”
She was lying about some part of this. She had to be. “If the baby isn’t mine and it isn’t his—”
She didn’t want to go any further into the lie than she already had, but clearly he wasn’t going to be satisfied with evasions. Cruz wanted an answer, and she knew he wouldn’t leave her aloneuntil she gave him one. She thought of Reese. Naming him would hurt no one.
“If you must know, the baby’s father is my fiancé—my ex-fiancé,” she clarified when surprise leaped into his eyes.
“Your ex-fiancé,” he echoed.
The words made Cruz feel oddly numb. So much so that he wasn’t sure just what he was feeling. What he should have been feeling at this point was overwhelming relief, not this all-pervading discontent. He remembered how sad her eyes had looked at the christening. He’d prodded her until she’d told him about the broken engagement. Cruz couldn’t see her going back to the man.
“The one you told me you were trying to get over?”
“Yes.”
Savannah could feel his eyes boring into her. She wanted to look away, but she knew if she did, he’d know she was lying. So she endured the look of censure she saw and burrowed further into the deception.
“We decided to give reconciliation one last try.” Savannah shrugged, all the while hating what she was saying. “It didn’t take.”
His eyes regarded her coldly. She’d burned hot beneath him, then gone running back to a man whohad used her so badly. How could she have done that?
“Maybe ‘it’ didn’t, but something obviously did.”
Savannah’s face remained impassive at the cynical remark, giving Cruz no clue just how much it hurt. She drew herself up.
“The bottom line is that you don’t have to worry, Cruz. I won’t be coming to you asking for anything.”
He was off the hook totally. Every single man’s nightmare, and it was over, just like that. Why couldn’t he feel better about this than he did? Why couldn’t he successfully curtail his anger at finding out that she’d slept with someone else?
“So, will you be going back to him asking for anything?”
She didn’t like the tone of the question—and certainly not the implication that she would use the baby as a tool to get money.
Her eyes hardened, drawing a curtain over her vulnerability. “It wasn’t a planned pregnancy. Possession is nine points of the law. The way I see it, I have possession of the baby, that means the baby is my responsibility and no one else’s.”
For a second, Cruz’s
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