Until You Loved Me (Silver Springs #3)(27)

“I shouldn’t have come here. I—I’m not feeling very well.”

Dick raised her gently to her feet while his wife finished picking up the food, and she began digging around in her purse for her keys.

Despite Leo’s disapproval, which Ellie could feel rolling off him like a heat wave, Don stepped in front of her as she headed for the door. “Ellie, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” She skirted past him, hauling in a deep breath as soon as she stepped outside. The fresh air felt good, but she wasn’t safely away quite yet. She knew when Don yelled her name that he was coming after her.

“Ellie, can we talk for a minute?” he asked, hurrying to catch up.

Ducking her head, she kept marching down the street. “No.”

“Wait. I have a proposition for you, something I think you’ll like.”

Despite the way her heart hammered against her chest and her thoughts raced in her head, this caught her attention. “What is it?” she asked, whirling around to face him.

“Leo and I, we...we understand that it might be difficult for you to take care of a baby all on your own.”

Where was he going with this? “The baby’s my problem.” She was about to walk off again, when he grabbed her arm.

“That’s the thing. Your pregnancy doesn’t have to be a problem at all. You couldn’t have planned this, not with your folks out of town for the year.”

“So?”

When she didn’t argue, couldn’t argue, he seemed to take courage. “I’ve always wanted children.”

She lifted a hand to interrupt. “You can still have children, Don. Even if you don’t use a surrogate, you could adopt.”

“That’s true, I guess, but adoption’s an expensive process. Heck, it costs a lot of money just to rescue a dog these days.”

Why did he insist on waylaying her? She wanted to leave, go home, turn on her TV and stare at Hudson when no one else was around to notice how deeply the sight of him affected her. She hadn’t stopped thinking about him, not for one night. “That’s the way things are.” How did Don expect her to fix the system? “I—I can’t change the world.”

“I’m not asking you to change anything. I believe there’s a solution here that’d make us both happy. Rather than pay sixty to eighty thousand to get a surrogate, I’d prefer to give you that money. I mean, you could buy a house.”

She brought one hand to her chest. “You’re offering to pay me for my child? You want me to sell him or her to you?”

A pained expression appeared on his face. “No, no! That’s not it at all. I’m saying if you’re open to considering...placement options, Leo and I will do everything we can to be good parents. We’d love to have the baby—and we’d be generous with you in whatever way you needed.”

“This isn’t your child, Don. I’ve told you that before.”

“Doesn’t matter,” he argued. “I hope it is, so I’ll have some rights if you refuse my offer, but even if it’s not, I’d like the opportunity to be part of this kid’s life.”

She pulled her arm from his grip. “No! Go back and enjoy the game with Leo.”

Leo stood on the stoop, watching them. He’d come out shortly after Don. Ellie couldn’t help wondering what Don’s partner was thinking. Was he in agreement on this baby business? She couldn’t see his expression clearly now that she was two houses down, but it looked as if he was wearing a dark scowl.

“Just keep that in mind,” Don said. “If you decide you’re not ready for a baby—and you’d like your child to have the stability of two loving parents—we’re here. We’re ready for that when...when maybe you’re not.”

He believed he and Leo could offer her child more than she could? Eager to strike back after all he’d done, she said, “There’s no way. This baby belongs to Hudson King. Even if I wanted to, which I don’t, I couldn’t give the child away. He’d have to agree.”

Don’s eyebrows jerked together, becoming one giant slash above his blue eyes. “What are you talking about?”

What was she talking about? She’d spoken impetuously, allowed her desire to show him that she was more than his pathetic castoff take control. But she needed to keep her mouth shut, at least until she could decide what to do. “Nothing. Never mind.”

As she turned to go for the second time, he caught her by the shoulder. “Are you telling me that Hudson King—the Hudson King of the Los Angeles Devils—is the father of your child? That’s why you freaked out in there? You didn’t even know he played football?”

“No. That’s laughable. Of course I know who I slept with. I’m not feeling well, not making sense. I have to go.” Pulling away, she ran to her car, got inside and locked the door. But Don didn’t go back to the party. As she started the engine and punched the gas pedal, a quick glance in her rearview mirror showed him standing in the middle of the cul-de-sac, looking as stunned as she felt.

*

As soon as she got home, Ellie recorded the rest of the game. She watched it as it recorded, too, studied Hudson’s every move. That was the man she’d met at Envy, all right. So much of that night suddenly made sense. Why he was hanging back on the periphery of the crowd when he could’ve been in the middle of everything. Why he was wearing sunglasses even though it was dark. Why he’d escorted her out the back door. Why he had such a magnificent warrior’s body. And why he’d been in town in the first place. She’d signed on to the internet and called up the Devils’ schedule. Sure enough, they’d played the Miami Dolphins the Sunday following her stay at the Four Seasons. The Devils had lost, but that was one of only three losses on the season.