His Heir, Her Honour / Meddling With A Millionaire: His Heir, Her Honour

Nancy was everything he wanted in his personal life. She was intelligent, witty, with common interests and made no demands on his emotions. She should have been perfect for him, except she left him cold. Rather than helping him move on from that colossal mistake, the presence of his “girlfriend” reminded him of just how much every woman paled alongside Lilah.

He’d been planning to break things off with Nancy tonight, even before today’s shocking revelation. Continuing to see her when he had unresolved issues with Lilah wasn’t fair. Damn shame he hadn’t spoken to Nancy a day earlier.

The new radiologist looked from Carlos to Lilah and back again, confusion stamped on her face. “I don’t mean to interrupt if you two need to talk business. I can always come back later for our dinner date.”

Carlos nodded. “That would be best.”

“All righty.” She arched up on her toes as if to give him a quick kiss, then paused.

Either she realized such a public display of affection would be inappropriate in the workplace—or she saw Carlos’s scowl. Regardless, the woman got the message and pulled away fast.

He caught Lilah’s raised eyebrow and added, “Actually, I have an appointment I need to take care of as soon as I check on my patient.”

He’d contacted his doctor and the lab about checking his sperm count. He already felt certain of the outcome, but he needed to confirm for Lilah’s sake.

And if by some fluke he could father children? Then he would tuck aside his reservations about the way she unsettled his world and launch an immediate campaign to win her over. No half measures, he would be all in, 24/7, until they settled things between them once and for all.

Turning away from Nancy, toward Lilah, he took in her tumbled hair, remembered how it got that way, felt the inevitable kick to his balance. “We will be talking again tomorrow.”

Leaving the hospital lab, Carlos walked down the corridor back to his office in a daze. It had been a helluva day. He’d started out operating on a child who reminded him too much of himself, a child caught in the crossfire of war. Before he’d found even five minutes to regain his footing, Lilah had swept aside his shower curtain. Now, his day had ended with the surprise revelation from his own doctor. Not definitive results, by any means, but there was a very slim chance he could father children.

Even the possibility rocked him to the core. He needed time to hole up in his office and plan his next move.

He rounded the corner. Nancy waited beside the door, shuffling from foot to foot while she texted on her cell phone. Apparently she’d been busy while he was gone. She’d changed from her work clothes into a dress—a silky sort of thing for a nice dinner out.

There was no way he could sit through dinner waiting for the right opening to break things off. He needed to make his position clear now. It was the only fair thing to do for Nancy and Lilah.

“Nancy, I’m sorry to have kept you waiting.”

“No need to apologize.” She tucked her cell phone into her tiny black bag. “I was just telling my best friend about our date tonight.”

He winced. “About that.” He pushed open his office door. “Let’s step into my office so we can talk.”

“Oh, um, it’s too late in the evening, isn’t it?” She scrunched her nose and stayed in the hall. “You need to cancel. I understand. We can go out tomorrow instead. Or how about I cook you dinner—”

“Nancy,” he cut her ramble short as gently as possible. “I’m afraid I’ve given you the wrong impression. This isn’t something we should discuss in the hall.”

She chewed her lip for a second before smiling, too brightly. She charged into the office ahead of him. He felt bad for misleading her. He’d made a mess of his personal life. He couldn’t change the past, but starting now, he could make things right.

As he followed, he decided no more hesitation. No more avoidance. Just as he needed to be clear with Nancy now, he should have settled things with Lilah before.

He wouldn’t make the same mistake again. As soon as he finished this confrontation with Nancy, he would go straight to Lilah’s—tonight, not tomorrow—and tell her the results of his lab test.

Standing in the open doorway to her penthouse condo, Lilah wished she’d checked the peephole first. But then why hadn’t the doorman rang to let her know Carlos was on his way up? Even royalty shouldn’t be given a free pass into her building.

Granted, she wouldn’t have sent Carlos away, but she would have liked a second to prepare herself before facing him again.

Corridor sconces bathed him in a halogen glow as he waited. Moisture from the light rain clung to his hair and glinted on the hint of silver at his temples. Too easily, she could envision him damp from his shower earlier. Except now he wore clothes. His long trench was open, revealing his gray suit, red tie trekking down his chest the way her fingers itched to mimic.

The hall echoed with intimate silence, everyone else tucked in for the night inside their units in the restored waterfront building. Carlos had been here in the past for informal gatherings, drop-ins and dinner parties, but always with others. Never alone.

Totally alone. Like now.

She gripped the brass doorknob tighter. “I thought you said we would be speaking tomorrow.”

The scent of the salty outdoor air clung to him, teasing her nose.

“My appointment took care of itself faster than I expected.” Palm flattened to the door frame, he looked past her shoulder into her condo. “We should step inside.”

Even fully covered in silky sleep pants and matching green paisley top, she was too aware of the nighttime, her PJs and him. “It’s polite to ask to be invited in rather than demand.”

His jaw flexed with irritation. “Let’s stop with the word games. We have important business to discuss.”

Of course, he was right. She just resented that he’d caught her unawares, dictating the time and manner of their meeting. “Come inside, then. But don’t get too comfortable. It’s been a long—” disappointing “—day. I’m tired.”

Careful to step well clear of him, she pressed her back against the hall rather than risk an accidental brush of her body and his. His uneven gait thudded against the freshly restored hardwood floors as he walked deeper into her condominium. She loved her two-bedroom haven full of character from the whitewashed brick walls to the soaring ceiling with exposed beams and a loft office. A wall of windows revealed the twinkling lights of the Tacoma skyline, historic Foss Waterway and a fog-ringed mountain in the distance.

Shrugging out of his trench coat, Carlos stopped just shy of her burgundy sofa, half in, half out of her place, much like he kept himself from committing to any people, emotions, relationships. “About Nancy—”

She cut him off with the wave of her hand. “I don’t care who you date.” And maybe if she kept saying it often enough, she would believe it. “That’s your business and has nothing to do with us. We were never a couple. You and I have nothing more to say to each other outside of hospital business until after the paternity test.”

“Nancy and I are not an item, never were,” he ignored her final jab, sticking to the point he seemed determined to press. “We had a couple of casual dates, and I’d already decided to break things off before today.”

“How convenient, but still not relevant.” She padded closer to him, her bare feet whispering along the cool, bare flooring. “If that’s all you came to say, then we’re done.”

She pointed to the door.

He flung aside his trench to rest on the back of a striped chair and clasped her wrist in a big but gentle grip. Silently, slowly, deliberately, he folded her arm back against her chest, which brought him closer to her. His eyes turned smoky with intensity….

And focused on her mouth.

Her heart somersaulted in her chest. “Don’t even go there, Carlos,” she warned, but didn’t pull away. “Any urge to kiss you evaporated once you refused to believe me about the pregnancy.”

Teasing his thumb along her speeding pulse, he stilled her again with his eyes. “I came here to tell you that I’m willing to entertain the possibility this could be my baby.”

The sensual tug, the raspy allure of his callused fingers on her skin sidetracked her, delaying her brain from absorbing his words for three, needy heartbeats.

Then awareness faded from her body as his words penetrated, followed by realization of the reason for his surprise visit. She leaned nearer, her breasts so close to his chest a simple deep inhale could skim her tingling nipples against him.

She kept her breathing shallow, even as she lowered her voice into a husky whisper sure to heat his exposed neck. “Got a sperm count check, did you? That was quick.”

A fleeting dry smile twitched his mouth. “It helps having connections in the medical world.”

Confirmation of her suspicion didn’t make her feel one bit better. He wasn’t here because he had a change-of-heart decision to trust her word. He’d gotten his proof. While she understood on an intellectual, practical level, she was currently feeling anything but sensible.

Let alone amenable.

“How nice for you.” She wrenched her wrist from his grip, wrapping her arms around herself and stalking to the window wall. “What a shock it must have been that you still have swimmers.”