The Baby Contract (The Billionaire Bachelor Series) (23 page)

A circus had appeared after they’d arrived at the hospital. Cops had crowded into the hospital room, and she’d gotten drilled with the same questions over and over. The media had caught wind and a cop had been stationed outside the hospital room to make sure none intruded on Abby’s privacy. The bruiser and Spencer were already in custody. Spencer had been so shocked to see Abby shot that he’d fallen into a stupor while Liam had called 911. Richard and Martin would most likely find themselves behind bars soon as well. At least Abby hoped their money and connections wouldn’t win their freedom.

Liam brushed his fingers over Abby’s forehead, smoothing her bangs to the side.

“I want you to hear me out, Abigail,” he began after clearing his throat. “And let me finish before you say anything.”

Abby nodded, watching his face closely. Dark shadows stained the skin beneath his eyes, and a hint of beard growth gave him an even more tired appearance.

“I’ve discovered I have feelings for you. Feelings I hadn’t expected in our arrangement. I hadn’t wanted the complications of a relationship or fatherhood, but I realized tonight that my life is empty without you, Abigail. I want more than anything to wake up next to you every morning. I want to take our child to soccer matches and ballet recitals. I can’t think of anything I want more than to settle down and make a family with you.”

“Liam, I—”

“Wait. What I’m trying to say is I…care for you.” His shoulders drooped. “I…I really care about you.”

“You care for me?” Caring was a much too simple comparison to the love she felt in return. She pulled her hand from his. He frowned.

“Yes, I care about you and the baby, and I want to do right by both of you. I want you to move in with me.”

Her heart wanted to say
yes
, it wanted to grasp onto even a tiny amount of affection that Liam might offer. The old part of herself that accepted bits and pieces of the greater whole she actually deserved. Abby lifted her chin. No, she wanted more. She wanted love, she wanted marriage and the promise of a happily ever after. If Liam couldn’t offer all of it to her, she had to walk away.

“Will you move in with me, Abigail?” Liam asked. His eyes shone in the subdued lighting of the hospital room.

Abby’s heart twisted until pain choked her. She stared into the perfect handsome features of the man who’d become the world to her. Thank God for the baby which held her together, because what she had to say to Liam tore a hole right through her soul.

“I can never thank you enough for saving me, Liam. I owe you my life, and the baby’s life. But no I won’t. I can’t, not unless you can say you love me and want to marry me.”

His eyes dropped from hers. The room fell quiet except for the steady rhythm of the baby’s heart. The baby who tied them together, but would it be enough in the end?

Liam rubbed his hand over his hair and turned away. His silence stretched to minutes.

Abby knew then that it wasn’t enough.

* * * *

The stars glittered overhead, the Milky Way easily visible beyond the light pollution of the city. Abby lay on her back, staring into the depths of the inky sky, the cold tin of the barn roof beneath her. Nearby her brother had joined her. They were kids again, naming constellations and talking about aliens on other planets. The familiarity was comforting.

Since taking a leave of absence from her job after her kidnapping a few weeks before, she’d retreated to the Double H. She’d followed news reports about Whitmore Incorporated. Spencer had been arrested, along with Richard Bona and Martin Kay on a dozen different charges. It looked like for now, money wouldn’t bail them out of the trouble they were in. At least Abby hoped. Not much was said about Liam.
Liam.
Her heart turned over. She hated leaving him behind to deal with it all on his own.

“Do you think they know we’re here?” Mark asked, breaking into her reverie.

It took a moment for her to pick back up on their previous conversation. “I’m sure if aliens knew we’re here, they’d be incredibly bored with us by now. We don’t do much.” The baby kicked, and Abby smiled with the new experience, laying her hand on her now rounded belly beneath the blanket she’d brought along. She loved how active the baby had become; a feisty being ready for life and all its accompanying trials.

“Speak for yourself. I’m a fascinating person,” Mark said.

Abby laughed. This is what she looked forward to for her child, Uncle Mark’s imagination and his love of adventure. He’d be able to keep a child enthralled for hours on end. Her father had been aloof when she’d arrived on the ranch, until she’d shown him the ultrasound picture. Honestly, the baby was barely discernable as a life form, but it’d been all her dad had needed. A smile had spread across his face that had beamed with love.

Two days later a trailer had shown up with a yearling Appaloosa colt inside. A gift to his first grandchild, and one he intended to have trained by the time the child could sit in the saddle. Abby had spent many hours in the saddle in front of her father as they rode the ranch, before she was old enough to ride on her own. Wonderful memories to be shared by her son or daughter when they were old enough and she paid visits to the ranch.

Even while nestled within the sweet knitting of her family, she couldn’t stop missing Liam. He haunted her dreams at night, and often she awoke with his name on her lips. She ached for him, an ever-present hum in the background of her existence. Often she regretted how they’d parted at the hospital. He’d stared after her, she’d felt his eyes on her as Lupita wheeled her out the hospital doors.

They hadn’t spoken much after her admission that she wanted love and marriage or nothing at all, though he hadn’t left the hospital room the rest of the night. He’d remained even when Lupita had shown up and had some rather nasty words for him in both English and Spanish. He’d taken her verbal abuse without a word, only staring toward the floor with his head lowered.

Abby wished she’d had some magic words to say that would make him realize he loved her too. A sad wish, but she secretly held on to it. She wanted to believe he did love her, deep down in a part of his soul he didn’t understand. She could’ve sworn she saw it in his eyes in the hospital room.
I really care about you
, that’d been his words. Most likely she was wrong and wishful thinking added to the pain.

“It’s getting late, sis, let’s go. I’m cold.” Mark rose and dusted off his pants before offering her a hand up. They walked to the ladder leaning against the barn. She carefully made her way down, and after her brother joined her, they walked toward the house.

“This Liam guy, is he decent?” Mark asked. “I mean, I know he tried to rescue you and all.”

The lights near the house cast the area they were in into deep shadow.

“He did rescue me, Mark,” she answered.

“No, you hit the bad guy over the head with a rock. You rescued yourself.”

Abby laughed. “There were two bad guys, remember?”

“And I have every bit of faith that you could’ve taken the other one out too.”

“I appreciate you, big brother. Yes, Liam is decent.”

“Then why doesn’t he want to marry you? After all, he did risk his life for you.”

The question stabbed her, but she kept her voice calm. “Some men want to be bachelors, and Liam is one of them.”

“Well, if he ever shows up here, I’ll deck him for breaking your heart.”

She inhaled, not having realized her brother knew the depth of her feelings for Liam. Then again, he’d always been able to read her like a book. She forced a smile into her voice. “I really appreciate you, Mark. Promise me you’ll do exactly that.”

“I promise.”

Chapter 27

Liam was nearly on his ass drunk when he staggered up the driveway to the front door of the home. He’d at least had the presence of mind to take a taxi after downing a bottle of bourbon. He pounded on the door before leaning heavily against it. No one answered.
Damn it.
He pounded harder, putting muscle into the action. The ground wouldn’t stop bucking beneath his feet. No answer still.
God damn it.
He beat the door, determined to get someone to answer after the effort he’d put into getting plastered then making the trip. When the front door finally opened he fell forward, gravity being too much for him to overcome. A woman squealed and arms closed around him as he sagged to his knees.

“Liam, for the love of God.” Charity tried to hoist him to his feet. He couldn’t get his legs beneath him properly to help her out. “What the hell?”

Liam blinked, trying to focus on his assistant then Megan, who gawked from nearby. Charity gave up and let him sit on his butt. He stared up to the two women dressed in scanty robes. They both looked flushed with mussed hair. He’d interrupted something; the idea flitted through his mind.

“What the hell are you doing here this late and drunk as a skunk?” Megan asked.

“I…I don’t know…” He shook his head. “No, that’s not true. I do know.” He poked an accusatory finger toward Megan. “Tell me, why did you pick Charity over me?”

Megan opened then closed her mouth, looking to Charity then back to Liam. “Liam, I think you know.”

“No, I don’t,” Liam slurred out. “Was it me? Was it all me? Do I drive women away?”

“Jesus, Liam, you’re wasted.” Charity knelt beside him. “Let’s get you to bed to sleep this off, okay?”

He pulled away from her. “No, I have to hear it…” His tongue felt thick, it was hard to string words together and he had to concentrate. “Hear from Megan why. We never dated, Charity, and you don’t like men, so you can’t tell me why I’m so offensive.”

“Oh no, sugar, you’re not offensive.” Megan joined him on the floor. “It was never you. I had to remain in the closet when I was on the pageant circuit, but when I met Charity things changed. I wasn’t in that world anymore, and I needed to be who I was. I don’t understand where this is coming from. You seemed fine with our split.”

He blinked, trying to focus on her again, but she kept moving this way and that. She didn’t understand. Why didn’t she understand?

“Abigail,” he said.

Charity made a low sound.

“Abigail?” Megan asked.

“Abigail Haden, the nurse I told you about,” Charity answered. “The one who got kidnapped and Liam rescued.”

“Oh, I see now.” Megan made a clicking sound with her tongue.

The two women worked in tandem, hauling Liam to his feet, and half-carried him through the home to a guest bedroom. He fell face first onto the bed. He was suddenly so tired he couldn’t keep his eyes open.

“Liam, I’m putting a trash can next to the bed in case you get sick.”

Liam rolled onto his back and stared at Charity.

“No, babe, you have to sleep on your side or your stomach in case you vomit.” She grabbed him and maneuvered him back to his stomach. He rolled, limp as a ragdoll. “God, you’re heavier than you look.”

“Will he be okay?” he heard Megan ask from far away.

“I’ll make sure he passes out on his stomach, you can go back to bed. We did this a time or two for one another back in our university days.” Charity sounded even more distant.

“No, I mean he didn’t bat an eye when we broke up. Will he be okay after tonight?”

“I don’t think he’s ever had his heart broken. Poor man. It’s terrible the first time around.”

Yes, it really was terrible the first time around, Liam thought before he passed out cold.

Morning was brutal. Hammers pounded in his skull, light burned his eyes, and he was horribly dehydrated. He hadn’t tied one on since college and age had made the hangover ten times worse. He staggered from the bedroom, groping for walls, still feeling half-drunk and off balance. He found the kitchen, filled a glass with water and forced it down despite his rolling stomach.

Liam was embarrassed beyond words with his behavior, and he needed to call a taxi before he had to face Charity and Megan. Except he didn’t have his cellphone or his wallet, and wasn’t sure if he’d brought either. He barely remembered arriving at Charity’s, but his gut feeling told him he’d made an ass of himself. He eyed the coffeemaker—caffeine would be heaven.

“Hit the start button. Megan has to have her morning coffee.”

Liam looked behind him and had to grab the counter edge when the room spun. Charity stood in the kitchen doorway, dressed for work. She held up a suit. “I picked up your dry cleaning yesterday. There are men’s toiletries in the guest bathroom. I keep them for when my brothers visit. Feel free to get ready for work here. I’ll go on ahead. Megan can drop you off at Whitmore.”

Liam blew out a breath. “God, Charity, I apologize for last night.”

She smiled. “How many heartbreaks did you nurse me through in college? Don’t worry about it. We’re all entitled to at least one emotional breakdown. Even you, Liam.”

He still felt like a total ass, and also pretty damn humiliated. His downward spiral felt complete in the presence of his friend.

Charity walked into the kitchen, draped his suit over the kitchen island, then hit the start button on the coffeemaker. “Now I know you’re not one for being told what to do, but my advice...find your little nurse and make amends.”

Liam scrubbed his face with his hands, his eyes felt full of sand. He shook his head. “It’s too late.”

“Too late? Babe, it’s never too late, not for something like love.”

The aroma of brewing coffee filled the kitchen. Liam braced his hip against the counter, folding his arms over his chest and eyed his assistant.

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, for God’s sake.” She walked over and stood eye to eye with him. “You listen to me, you stubborn jackass, you can’t drink this away and you can’t work this away. You are going to find Miss Haden, and you are going to declare your love in a sweeping, romantic gesture sort of way. And you are going to do this today.”

“Or what?” Liam challenged.

“I’ll walk through Whitmore Tower butt naked and tell everyone it’s Whitmore Incorporated’s new promotional tactic.”

“I’d listen to her, sugar,” Megan said from the doorway. “She’ll do it.”