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Her mouth thinned
She should have expected as much It wasn’t his son Slade wanted, it was victory Now that he had it, he’d lost interest—although, just for a , when he’d plucked Michael fro in the way he’d looked at the baby
Real? Loving? Fro she knew that what they’d done—the hours they’d shared in each other’s arms—was unimportant?
Lara bit back a sob and pressed her lips to her son’s head
The only thing real about Slade was his arrogance If he loved anybody, it was hi interest in Michael; with luck, disinterest would change to boredom And then maybe, just maybe, he’d let his unwanted wife and his trophy son return to their own lives
Lara eased her seat back, drew the baby closer and wearily shut her eyes
Until then, she’d have to s, not for her own sake but for her son’s
Slade stared blindly at the papers strewn over his tray table and wondered what in hell he was supposed to do now
Make the best of things, not for his sake but for his son’s Well, yeah, he’d already figured out that much The question hat about Lara?
Lara, his wife
It was still aluy with a dinner appointment and, after that, a weekend in Texas Well, he’d had his dinner appoint home with a wife and a son
His son
The words were still so strange Just thinking the a child, certainly not now, e responsibility, one he wasn’t sure he’d been cut out to handle Ityourself to one woman for the rest of your life because, just as he’d told Lara, he’d vowed, long ago, never to repeat his father’sTiht to know he’d come home froes in the cast of characters between eight in theand the three o’clock bell, the way there had been when he was growing up
Then he’d taken one look at a sleepy-eyed kid and his whole world had turned upside down And this , when he’d taken that kid in his arms…
Oh, hell
He had to stop choking up like this or he’d never be able to think straight And he had to think straight because, even if Lara thought he was a coldhearted, cold-blooded, , it wasn’t true
In his heart, he was terrified
What he’d done thiswas as irrevocable as it was inconceivable
He had a wife Her na about her She was good in bed, yeah, but so him now, as if he were a cross between Count Dracula and the Frankenstein et about that part of their relationship
Relationship? Slade sroan He had no relationship with this woht attendant’s offer of lunch Lobster salad, it had been, and Lara had said no Was it because she didn’t like lobster? Because she never ate lunch?
Or because she hated his guts?
He shot his wife a hooded glance She was lying back in her seat, Michael clasped in her ar, or was she just trying to avoid him?
So many questions, and he had no answers But that was okay There’d be plenty of ti he wanted to bother It wasn’t really necessary Two civilized people could live together, go through the motions of civility, pretend they didn’t despise each other, all for the sake of their son…
Except, that wasn’t what he wanted fro pregnant deliberately and then not telling hihed in his aro Her whispers Her caresses The heat of her skin, the taste of her mouth…It had all been lies It hadn’t been him she’d wanted, it had been what any healthy man could have provided via a test tube
All the things he’d re love to her were lies
Weren’t they?
She’d ht God, the feel of her The softness He could have taken her there, in that parking lot, her against the car and hi her, holding her to him…
“Flight attendants, please prepare for our descent into Logan Airport Ladies and gentleht and sunny…”
Bright and sunny, Slade thought, and alhed
He felt Lara’s seat coht Michael whimpered and he turned and put out his arms Lara stared at him
“Give me my son,” he said coldly
He sahat little color there was drain from her face Slowly she held the child out He took him from her, but not before he felt the tremor in her hands
She was afraid
Good, he thought coldly That was just the way he wanted her Afraid Terrified Because, dammit, that was exactly what he was Scared to within an inch of his life The only difference was, Lara would never know it
He’d left his car parked at the airport