Expecting A Fortune. Jan Colley

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СКАЧАТЬ flinched, blinking. “If you want. What do you want?”

      He gave her a withering look. “Thanks for asking. Pick a date. We’ll get the whole family around tomorrow and tell them we’re getting married.”

      “What?” It was her turn to be shocked.

      “Make it quick, Skylar. I can’t be away from home for long.”

      “Married?” she whispered, her head spinning.

      He drained his glass and banged it down on the table. “My child is going to have two loving parents, not just one.”

      “I’m not marrying you, Zack.” A hiccup escaped her throat. “Not marrying anyone.”

      He leaned down, his face inches from hers. “You may have cut me out of this till now, the worrying, the morning sickness, the movements. But that changes as of right now.” She’d never seen his gray eyes glint like steel before. “We are going to be married, so get used to it.”

      She made a pitiful attempt at a smile. “That’s just—dumb.”

      “What’s dumb?” he demanded. “Pretending it hasn’t happened? Hiding it from everyone? I suppose you could have delivered it in the stables and told everyone the stork left it.”

      His flippant remark stirred an unusual lick of anger. “Maybe this is why I didn’t tell you. I was afraid you’d want to take over, have it all your way.”

      Her voice rang out, clear and strong, making them both start. Skylar seemed to have lost her stammer. Normally she was hard-pressed to string five words together around Zack Manning.

      He recovered first. “You’ve had your way. It isn’t good enough.”

      “I’m not marrying you, Zack.”

      “No kid of mine is going to be brought up without two parents and a wedding ring.”

      “This child will want for nothing,” she repeated, stung at the assumption she couldn’t provide for the baby.

      This wasn’t like her, to argue back. It must be her hormones kicking in. Her baby-protective hormones.

      “No, it won’t, because I’ll take care of the both of you.”

      Incredulous, she just stared at him, shaking her head. “I don’t believe you.”

      “Whatever.” He shrugged and headed for the door.

      “Where are you going?”

      “If I’m not back in an hour, your father has used his shotgun on me.”

      “No!” Skylar leapt after him. “Zack, please. Let me tell him, my own way.”

      “You’ve had your way for four months. The next five are mine, I reckon.”

      She attempted to scoot around him to get to the door first. “He’s an old man and he has problems of his own right now.”

      Zack blocked her with ease. “Your father is tough as an ox.”

      “Zack, Patricia has left him. He’s devastated.”

      “Then a wedding to look forward to and a baby on the way should be just what he needs to take his mind off things.”

      “Will you please,” she implored, “leave my father out of this until I’ve had a chance to think?”

      Zack nearly combusted, his knuckles on the doorknob turning white. “A chance to think?”

      “Just until I tell everyone. I’ll keep you informed—”

      He yanked the door open, rolling his eyes. “Yeah, right!”

      Skylar was hot on his heels and having to run to keep up.

      Zack turned on her. “Get back inside.”

      “I’m coming with you.”

      “Skylar, this is man’s talk. You don’t want to be there.”

      “Don’t you patronize me!” Much as the note of panic in her voice disgusted her, she had to stall him.

      “Calm down.” He turned her, his hands surprisingly gentle on her shoulders and at odds with the harshness of his voice. “I’ll be back soon.”

      “Dad’s not at the house,” she lied, desperate. “He had to go look for Patricia.”

      “Forgive me if I don’t believe you.”

      “You’re impossible!” she wailed.

      “No, I’m a lamb.” He propelled her back inside. “And you are a lying, conniving…Sit down.” He settled her gently, insistently, into a chair. “And wait for me.”

      “When did I ever lie to you?” Skylar wondered if she could faint on cue. Any stupid female trick would do, just to keep him here.

      He bent toward her, his face so close she felt his breath on her skin. “How about my twice-monthly phone calls, when I would ask how you were?” he suggested.

      She bit her lip, her eyes wide. Trust him to bring that up.

      “Did you not think to say, ‘Fine, Zack. Pregnant. It’s yours, but fine.’” He glared down at her then turned on his heel.

      She slumped. It was true. She’d had ample opportunities to tell him he was going to be a father. How excited she’d been, the first time he called, yet embarrassed, too, at the less than perfect ending to their night of passion. In subsequent calls he’d suggested she come down to check out his new stud and also dropped hints about his return in September for the Keeneland Sales: “Maybe you could take a couple days off and come with me…” She was ever the blithering idiot, too shy to talk of anything other than horses.

      Naturally, after she discovered she was pregnant, those conversations were torture and she wondered why he bothered. But to give him his due, he had always shown an interest, always asked after her.

      A car engine started up outside, rousing her.

      Her father! She had to warn him. Picking up the phone, Skylar quickly dialed the house and begged her father not to talk to him. “Get Peggy to say you’re out,” she demanded. Goodness knows she asked for little enough from her father.

      Curious, Nash Fortune agreed, telling her to come up directly after Zack had gone.

      A few minutes later, Zack returned, thwarted in his attempt to speak to her father. Grim and determined, he pushed his face close to hers. “If you are not here in the morning,” he warned, “I will track you down. Count on it.”

      As soon as he left for town, Skylar drove up to the big house and her father opened the door. “What is going on, Skylar?”

      He looked so tired. She hated having to dump this on him, after the day or so he’d endured. It wasn’t СКАЧАТЬ