The Billionaire And The Baby
“I think she is, too,” he said with all the tenderness of a proud, new father.
His answer, especially the way he said it, caught Hannah unaware. She found herself swallowing hard.
“Will you let us look at her?” the other one piped up.
He flashed them a smile that took Hannah’s breath. “Elizabeth is a little shy around strangers, so don’t feel bad if she starts to cry.”
In a deft move he turned the baby and lowered her to their eye level. On cue, her lower lip quivered. Within seconds her face screwed up and she burst into tears.
“You just want your daddy, huh.” While one tickled her chin, the other tried to grasp her tiny fingers.
Hannah fought the instinct to reach for the baby. If anyone tried to take her from Dominic right now, Elizabeth wouldn’t stand for it. As it was, she was already creating a fuss. Heads turned in their direction.
By the glint in his eye, Dominic found it all very amusing as he put the baby back in her favorite place against his heart. Content once more, she quieted down.
The girls thanked him and ran over to their parents.
He darted Hannah an amused glance. “Shall we go in?”
She took a deep breath. “I’m not sure if Elizabeth will hold out through a long meal. Perhaps it would be better if we put her back in the car and went to a drive-in. LaRue’s at the other end of town makes good homemade hamburgers.” Hannah was suddenly sure that sharing an expensive meal with this compelling man wasn’t a good idea.
“That’s hardly what I had in mind for tonight.”
“I realize that, but a baby has a way of changing the best-laid plans.” After a hesitation, “I’ll remember the thought, Dominic,” she added quietly.
“Will you?” he murmured, his gaze suddenly inscrutable. All mirth had vanished, making her the slightest bit uneasy.
She hoped he couldn’t tell her hands were trembling as she opened her purse. “Here are my keys if you’d like to drive. Oh, and here’s that five-hundred-dollar bill. You forgot to take it with you.”
As Dominic pulled to a stop at the drive-in, he decided the change in plans suited his purposes much better. Eating together in the small confines of her car kept things more intimate. Best of all, the baby seemed content in her infant seat. As long as she was being good, her mother couldn’t use her as a shield to avoid concentrating on him.
He’d never had Hannah Carr’s undivided attention except at the accident scene when he’d only been semiconscious. Things were about to change.
A middle-aged woman walked up to them and put a card under the windshield wiper. “Hi! What can I get for you?”
While he gave the waitress their order, he could feel her unsolicited scrutiny.
“Excuse me, but haven’t I seen you before?”
Throughout his life this sort of inquisition had happened so constantly, he’d been forced to learn to live with it. But tonight the intrusion on his privacy made him angry.
“I’m afraid not.”
“But I have. I saw you on TV.”
“I probably resemble someone you saw,” he muttered. So much for anonymity here. The fates continued to conspire against him and his desire to be alone with Hannah.
“No. You were on the America Today show, but you’re even more handsome in person. I told my husband you have a French name. I remember it because I love the sound of it. Dominic.”
He winced.
“I’m sorry if I’ve embarrassed you, but this is so exciting. The two men on the program with you were good-looking, too. I have to tell you—that was the most fascinating program I’ve seen in years!”
“Is that right?”
“Absolutely! I hope this means you’re running your bullet train through Laramie. I’ve got a husband who won’t get on an airplane, and hates long drives in the car. When that thing is built, we can go anywhere we want in a hurry and never leave the ground. Just like that!” She snapped her fingers.
“After I bring your food, can I have your autograph? Unless I show proof, my husband won’t believe you really came to LaRue’s to eat with your family. That’s a little doll you’ve got back there. She’s going to grow up to be a real heartbreaker just like her daddy, I bet.”
While he attempted to suppress a groan, he felt Hannah lean across him to talk to the waitress.
“If you’ll bring back a menu with our food, I’ll make sure Dominic signs it. What’s your name?”
Her eyes lit up. “Marie. Marie Gates. Thank you. Thank you so much! Since you’re his wife, I want you to sign it, too. All right?”
“She’ll do it,” Dominic assured the woman with relish before his gaze shifted to a pair of eyes whose impossibly green color rivaled the grass he’d seen growing in an Oregonian rainforest. The combination of dark lashes and delicately shaped eyebrows beneath those natural golden curls highlighted their beauty.
Every perfect feature of her oval face, particularly her sculpted lips, a larger version of Elizabeth’s, drew his attention so he didn’t want to look anywhere else. He’d never known a woman who had such a seductive mouth and flawless complexion. It would be as soft and silky as the baby’s.
Except for lipstick, she wore no makeup. Nature had blessed her with creamy skin that millions of women spent billions of dollars on cosmetics to replicate. Dominic knew this to be true more than any man. Those billions made up his family’s vast fortune. He bet if he looked in her purse or bathroom, he wouldn’t find one House of Eve product anywhere. What an irony.
With such a face and voluptuous curves, how on earth could any man have walked away from her and Elizabeth?
Was she still in love with him?
It made no sense to Dominic unless she was a widow. If that was the case, it might explain the faint shadows beneath her eyes.
He let go of the breath he’d been holding. So many questions needed answers, but he would have to proceed slowly.
“You shouldn’t have told the waitress I would give her an autograph, Dominic,” she said at last.
His lips twitched. “What’s sauce for the gander…”
“May be, but this goose doesn’t happen to be your wife.”
“Since I’m not married and never have been, I don’t see the problem. Don’t you know there’s an old adage that white lies are the good kind?”
“You made that up.”
He chuckled. “Even if I did, it’s true. Think how happy it will make her.”
“Uh-oh. She’s coming with our food.”
“Dieu merci! I’m ravenous.”
“Here you go.” The waitress fastened the tray of food to the lowered glass of the car window.
“How much do I owe you?”
“Since you’re going to autograph this for me, not one cent.” She handed him a new menu and pen through the opening.
He signed it, then gave everything back along with a twenty-dollar bill.
“‘Dear Marie.’” She read the words aloud. “‘We hope you and your husband enjoy many train rides across the country in the near future. With sincerest regards, Mr. and Mrs. Dominic Giraud.’”
Her head lifted. “Oh, my. This is wonderful. But I can’t take the money.”
“I insist.”
“Well, thank you again.”
“You’re welcome.”
“When you’re through, just blink your lights and I’ll come for the tray.”
As she hurried off, Dominic turned to his lovely companion who’d remained silent during the exchange. He put a straw in her drink and handed her what she’d ordered.
“Alone at last.”
CHAPTER THREE
HANNAH took the food from him, trying her hardest not to let the news that he was a bachelor affect her.
It certainly couldn’t have been for lack of opportunity that he hadn’t married. Maybe he’d buried his heart with someone he’d loved, and since then had thrown himself into his career.
“I’m afraid I missed that program on TV Marie was referring to. What is it exactly that you do for a living, Dominic?” She’d been dying of curiosity.
He stared at her over the rim of his root beer mug. “I travel across the country convincing landowners like you to become part of an exciting transportation idea for the twenty-first century.”
But that didn’t pay his bills for food, gas, hotels, the repairs to his damaged Jeep. The five hundred dollars he’d tried to give her had to come from somewhere!
“Let me ask you a question,” he said softly. “Who owns the property the museum stands on?”
His question came as a surprise. “It’s been in my family for generations.”
Something flickered in the dark recesses of his unforgettable brown eyes fringed with an overabundance of black lashes. Once again she was struck by the male beauty of this fascinating man.
“Whom would I speak to about using your land for a project I’m involved in?”
“You mean the bullet train Marie was referring to a moment ago?”
“That’s right. I’d like permission to run train track across your property.”
“You’re really going to build one?”
His mouth twitched provocatively. “Your incredulity doesn’t surprise me. Everyone I’ve spoken to has had the same initial reaction. I represent a group of people dedicated to building a special train which will stretch from New York to San Francisco.”
“You mean like the kind in Japan?”
“Exactly. It will operate on the principle of magnetic levitation, but this one will run close to five hundred miles per hour. Naturally before such an enterprise can get off the ground, permission must be obtained by everyone who owns land where the proposed track will be forged. Your property lies along the route we’ve already surveyed by air.”
At last she had the reason for his presence on her land the other night.
“Both owners on either side of you have given us the go-ahead.”
The unexpected news threw her. She shook her head in disbelief. “They’re selling their land to you?”
Her question caused the baby to stir in the back seat. Any second now and pandemonium could reign once more.
“No. We’re not asking anyone to sell anything, except as a last resort of course. We prefer offering stock in our company for the use of the land. One day in the future the dividends will be worth a great deal of money.”
Hannah faced him directly. “It’s an incredible concept, and I can’t help but admire the vision of such a project. I’ve heard the French have them, too. But even if you should make that dream a reality here in the States, I’m afraid I can’t give you the permission you’re looking for.
“Though it’s a very exciting idea running a bullet train through here, you have to understand the land is an historical site which my family has kept intact over generations. I could never sell it or allow it to be tampered with. I’m sorry,” she added lamely because she really would have liked to have told him yes.
After another bite of her hamburger she said, “It sounds like an impossible feat, but I don’t suppose that word is in your vocabulary.”
“You’re right.” His slow smile played havoc with her emotions. There was still so much she sensed he hadn’t told her.
“I couldn’t be the only person who has turned you down.”
“No.”
Unable to meet his steady gaze, she looked back at Elizabeth who’d fallen asleep again. “What do you do when that happens?”
“I hope they’ll change their minds. Since I conceived my dream, ninety-nine percent of the landowners I’ve talked to need a few days or weeks before they come around to the idea. It usually takes that long for them to catch the vision. Once they do, the paperwork can begin. In the meantime I look for alternative routes.”
“But that must be so frustrating!”
“At times it is, especially when dealing with state and federal government officials. But no dream worth its salt comes without disappointments and setbacks.”
“I can’t imagine such a gargantuan project. Won’t it take you months just to procure all the rights?”
“It already has, and I’ve only reached the eastern sector of Wyoming. That still leaves the western half, Utah, Nevada and California. But there’s plenty of time and I’m in no hurry.” He finished off the rest of his hamburger.
She flicked at an imaginary piece of lint on her thigh. ‘Hypothetically speaking, tell me why I would want the train to run across my land, aside from the stock options.”
“Perhaps for you personally, I can’t provide a reason. But you heard Marie. Her husband won’t fly. There are millions of people who have that same fear, yet they want to travel the vast expanse of this continent. A car is too slow, too dangerous and too confining.
“The train rides on a cushion of air at tremendous speed without harming the environment. An engineer who happens to be a close personal friend and colleague of mine, has produced a prototype which runs quietly, safely and allows the passenger to see the country at the same time.
“But such a train will never exist unless thousands of people and governmental agencies are willing to share their property for the common good.”
She shook her head. “It isn’t that I’m not willing to share my land, but before my father died, he made me promise that I would hold on to it and never alter it.”
There’s another reason. It’s Lisa’s land, too, and she’s not here to give her permission.
“A promise should be kept. Don’t worry. I’ll solve my problem. I always do.”
He was being very gracious about it, but she’d felt his underlying passion for the project.
“This whole idea is your brainchild, isn’t it?”
Quiet reigned until she heard him clear his throat. “That’s right.”
Perhaps her curiosity was irritating him, but she couldn’t seem to stop asking questions. This man had many facets to his character. She yearned to explore them all.
“Are you afraid of flying?” she asked gently. “Is that what promp—”
“The answer is no,” he broke in on her before she could finish. “But my English-born mother goes into shock at the very thought of getting on a ship or a plane.
“When I moved to New York, she used to tell me she would give anything in the world if a train could be built across the ocean so she could come and stay with me in New York when she liked. Though I couldn’t grant her that wish, it got me thinking.”
The bits and pieces of information he tossed her way were pure torture because she sensed there was so much more he wasn’t telling her.
Some people dreamed dreams. But you didn’t dream his kind of dream unless you rubbed shoulders with other visionaries. People who knew the right kind of people in order to undertake a project of herculean proportions. She’d been right all along in thinking Dominic Giraud was no ordinary man.
More than ever she could understand why he hadn’t acquired a wife. It would take a special woman to challenge his mind, let alone capture his heart.
Aware that the ache in hers had grown acute, Hannah realized it was long past time to go home to her world.
“That’s a very touching story.” No doubt the slight wobble in her voice gave away the state of her emotions. “I’m sure your mother must be thrilled that you’re making her wish a reality somewhere else in the world, even if she can’t enjoy it. Now, if you don’t mind, I think we’d better go. Elizabeth and I have to be up early in the morning.”
“So do I.” His voice grated.
He was leaving.
She’d known it was likely. The thought of his not being here anymore filled her with an emptiness, that frightened and surprised her.
Quickly she handed him the cup and wrapper to put back on the tray. He flashed his lights and Marie hurried over to them.
“How was your meal?”
“That was the best hamburger I’ve ever tasted.”
She beamed. “I’ll tell the owner. Don’t be a stranger now,” she called over her shoulder.
Hannah’s eyes closed tightly. She could have echoed those words.
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