Surprised by Family: a Contemporary Romance Duet (18 page)

But first she had to put the girls to bed.

“Miss Martin is in the living room. If you need anything or get scared, she’ll be there to help you. I’ll be back as soon as I talk to Mr. Baron, but you should be asleep by then.”

"And you'll give him our card?" Charlotte confirmed.

"Yes. I'll give him your card. I have it in my purse." Leila kissed them both again, since they were so sweet and she loved them so much.

“Is it bad?” Jane asked, her green eyes wide and worried as Leila started to leave the room.

“Is what bad?”

“Is your talk with Mr. Baron bad?”

“Are you gonna break up with him, Mommy?” Charlotte asked.

“No, no,” Leila assured them, upset that they had somehow read her mood and were worried about it. “It’s nothing like that. It’s just that some things are important and so you go to talk about them in person. It’s nothing for you to worry about.”

She wasn’t sure they were convinced, but they didn’t ask any further questions.

Leila kissed them one last time and told Miss Martin she’d be back by midnight. Then she grabbed her purse and left the house before she changed her mind.

She took a cab, since parking would be difficult at Baron’s downtown building. On the drive over she smoothed her hair into a low ponytail and powdered her face. She was just wearing jeans, a stretchy t-shirt, and a fuzzy red hoodie. She wasn’t looking glamorous or sexy, but she supposed it didn’t really matter.

She was so, so scared about how Baron would react.

She was genuinely worried that Baron would be hurt by what she had to tell him, but it was more than that.

As selfish as it sounded, she was even more scared about how this might affect her relationship with him.

She knew Baron was trying. She knew all of this was new for him. She knew he wasn’t used to being in a real relationship. And she knew he was almost crippled by all the work and responsibility that had been dumped on him in the wake of his father’s death.

She was trying to think positively about things, but it was so hard not to expect the last straw to finally land, the one that would break the back of their relationship.

Things were going so well right now between Leila, Baron, and the girls, but this could easily be the last straw.

Leila swallowed over her nerves, hating Steven James with everything inside her but determined to deal with this problem in a mature and honest way.

After she paid the cabdriver, she got out in front of Baron’s building. She had to wait in the lobby until the doorman got permission for her to go up in the private elevator to his place.

She spent the whole elevator ride to the top breathing deeply and mentally rehearsing how she would begin her explanation.

When the elevator doors slid open, Baron was waiting for her in the foyer. He wore a white t-shirt, dark pants, and bare feet.

Leila’s heart clenched when she saw him.

“What’s the matter?” he asked, his expression and voice reflecting obvious concern, “Leila, what is it?”

She shook her head, ridiculously touched that he was so clearly worried about her. “Nothing. I mean, it’s nothing like that. I just had to talk to you. Sorry I didn’t call first. It’s late. I should have called.”

Baron shook his head and put his hand on her back to lead her into his apartment.

She’d never been to his place before, but it was exactly as she would have imagined it—sleek, glossy, polished, modern, incredibly expensive.

She liked the feel of his hand on her back, but it also made her feel weak and clingy. She moved away from his hand as they walked, trying not to make the move obvious.

She sat down in a black leather chair, and Baron sat down on the low sofa across from her. His expression had changed. It now looked guarded and closed.

Not a good sign.

Leila opened her mouth to begin but nothing came out. She cleared her throat. Tried again. “Baron,” she began. “I... I...”

“For God’s sake, Leila,” he interrupted roughly, something desperate suddenly awakening in his eyes. “Just say it. Are you trying to break up with me?”

Leila blinked. “
No
!” she burst out after a stunned moment. “No, of course not! Why would I break up with you?”

Baron’s face conveyed relief before he masked it. “I don’t know, but that’s what it felt like.”

Hating that she’d made him believe such a thing, even for a moment, she said, “I’m sorry. No, it's nothing like that. The girls thought I was breaking up with you too. What’s wrong with everyone? Am I crazy?”

Baron smiled for real at her rambling reply, but on her last words he looked a little confused. “Crazy?”

“Breaking up with you would be crazy,” she explained, a little embarrassed now. “And I’m not crazy, am I?”

He actually laughed. And the sound warmed her so much she got out of the chair and went to sit by him on the sofa. She leaned against him, sighing when he put his arm around her.

“I’m sorry, Baron. I’ve messed this whole thing up. I've gotten too uptight about this, but I'm nervous about it and..." She trailed off, seeing nothing worthwhile coming from trying to finish that incoherent sentence. "I do have to tell you something.”

“So tell me.” His body had tensed slightly beside her, but he didn’t pull away.

And maybe it was cowardly of her, but she stayed cuddled up beside him as she began, so she didn’t have to see his face as he heard her first words.

“Your brother came to my office after you dropped me off this afternoon.”

He tightened palpably against her. “What did he want?”

“I’m not exactly sure what he wanted. He didn’t say. He said he was just paying a visit. And obviously he was causing trouble of some kind, but his purpose wasn’t really clear. At least, not to me.”

Baron pulled away from her, which worried her at first, but he put his hands on her shoulders and turned her upper body so he could look into her face. “Leila,” he said, his voice deadly serious. “Baby, what did he say?”

She swallowed. “He made a few fake pleasantries about how he hoped he wasn’t intruding. Then he made some snide comments about my having
lunch
with you.”

Baron winced slightly, but he nodded for her to continue. His eyes were scarily focused. As focused as his brother’s always were.

“He said he was surprised that you were keeping company with me since he remembered me as a silly little girl. Obviously, he was insulting me, but I couldn’t really tell what the purpose was in it.”

Baron’s brows drew together. “I’m not sure either. What else did he say?”

This was the part that Leila really didn’t want to tell him. She dropped her eyes.

“Leila?” he prompted, raising her chin with his hand. “I know it’s going to be bad. Tell me what he said.”

“He got... he got offensive... in a different way. He leered at me and said something about how I wasn’t a little girl anymore.” When Baron sucked in a breath, Leila realized he hadn’t expected that. So she just blurted out the rest. “Then he said I never noticed him before but I should consider liking him now.”

Baron was frozen across from her, one of his hands still on her shoulder. She couldn’t read his expression. Didn’t really want to.

“There’s more. Tell me.”

She took a long shuddering breath and stared at her hands. “He... Oh, God, Baron, I’m so sorry. He tried to kiss me.”

When Baron didn’t reply for a long time, she darted her gaze up to check the expression in his eyes.

She had to turn away from what she saw there.

“I’m so sorry,” she said again, feeling like she might cry. “I’m sure he doesn’t have any interest in me, so it must just be a way of trying to get in between us—to hurt you or something. Or take away something you have.”

“I don’t know,” Baron said at last, his tone chilly and disturbing.

“You don’t know what?”

“He might have an interest in you. It wouldn’t surprise me. But he can’t have you.”

“
Of course
he can’t have me!” she exclaimed, so surprised she reached out to Baron and grabbed his hands. “I hate him. He disgusts me. I pushed him away. Hard.”

A ghost of a smile crossed Baron’s lips. “Did you?”

“Yes. He’s horrible. And I can’t stand that he tried to hurt you through me.”

Some of the shock had worn off in Baron's expression, and he was evidently able now to reflect more rationally on what she’d told him. “He wouldn’t have just been trying to hurt me.”

Leila opened her mouth to argue, but Baron shook his head and continued. “Yes, he might try to hurt me. But he’d have a motive beyond simply that. He was trying to accomplish something.”

She paused, thinking about what he’d said. “He couldn’t have thought I would actually... respond to him.” She took comfort in the fact that Baron hadn’t pulled his hands away from hers. In fact, he’d turned hers around so he was holding them.

“Maybe not. Although he’s so arrogant it’s hard to know for sure. But he was trying to gain a position of power with me in some way. That much is certain. I'm just not yet sure exactly how.”

“Well, he
didn’t
,” Leila said, her voice earnest and broken. “He didn't gain anything. He didn’t make any headway with you or me. He didn’t come between us.” She swallowed hard. “Did he?”

“No.”

She was almost crying now—more from an overflow of emotion than anything else. “I’m so sorry I had to tell you this, Baron. I’m so sorry about it. Is there anything I should do?”

“No,” he said, pulling his hands away. He looked a little closed off now. “I don’t think so.”

She sat in silence for a long time. She wanted to pull him against her, kiss him, comfort him, but she knew he’d pull away. “Please don’t let this mess everything up. Things were going so well. I thought... I thought we were... I thought you were...”

“Happy,” Baron finished for her. He wasn’t looking at her now. He was staring blankly at the air in front of him. “I was.”

“Baron, he doesn’t have the power to take that away from you. Please don’t let him.”

“I don't want him to,” he said, obviously thinking hard. He shook his head slightly as he spoke. “I just need to figure out what to do.”

“Baron, you can just ignore him. Pretend he doesn’t exist. That’s what you did when you were boys. This is exactly what he wants—to come in and mess things up for you. Don’t let him do it. Do you think you can... Do you think you can just walk away from him?”

Baron swallowed so hard she saw it in his throat. “I don’t know,” he said, the words barely a breath. “Can I?”

“I think you can.”

He seemed to shake himself off. “Maybe. I know you’re right about all of this, but I just need some time to process it.”

Leila understood. She felt a little rejected but she understood. “Do you want to be alone? I can stay—if you want me to.”

He considered this for longer than she’d expected, but he finally shook his head. “No. I don’t think so. Thank you.”

She stood up, feeling uncertain and worried and kind of silly. “Okay. Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”

Baron stood up too. Then he suddenly looked at her with intense scrutiny, his hand moving up to cup her face. Like his brother had earlier that day. But nothing like his brother at all. “Are you all right? I should have asked before. I know dealing with him couldn’t have been easy.”

“I’m fine. It was revolting. But I’m fine. I’m worried about you.”

“I know you are. Thank you.”

To her surprise, he leaned down to kiss her softly. “We’ll talk tomorrow. Thanks for coming over. For telling me.”

She felt a little better—like Baron, and their whole relationship, wasn’t about to fall apart completely. “You’re welcome.”

He walked her to the door, where he kissed her again.

“Oh,” she said, hardly believing she almost forgot. She pulled the construction-paper card out of her purse. “The girls made this for you this evening.”

Baron stared down at the folded paper. There was a crayon castle with two horses, four flags, and a king with armor and crown on the front. Inside, they’d written out in their best printing, “We think you are great, Mr. Baron. Thank you for everything. Charlotte and Jane.”

Baron stared down at the childish lettering for way too long.

Leila reached out and squeezed his forearm. “Don’t stay up all night brooding. All right?”

He looked up at her with a slightly dazed expression.

She kissed the corner of his mouth. “Good night, Baron.”

Leila left feeling much better than she had when she’d come. She was still worried about Baron, that he’d sit up all night drinking and brooding or that he’d go and beat his brother to a bloody pulp.

But he hadn’t exploded. He'd liked the girls’ card.

Leila couldn't help but think—couldn't help but
hope
—that if they could make it through this, maybe they could make it through everything.