Page 10 of The Nicolaides Baby

“Mama?” Rowan opened her eyes when Mara’s chubby hand touched her arm.

“Yes, baby?” She smiled at the sweet face she loved more than anything.

“We fly!”

“We sure are.” That seemed to satisfy her. Rowan’s eyes followed Mara to where she went back to playing with her blocks.

Anyone looking at all that curly red hair and freckles would know Mara was Rowan’s daughter. She was like a little duplicate of her—all except her eyes. They weren’t quite the same green, having tiny flecks of blue in them.

With those touches of blue and the almost knowing look Mara would give her at times, Rowan couldn’t help but see her child’s father.

God knows getting pregnant wasn’t something she’d planned, but she’d never regretted it. Mara had become her life. She let out a little laugh, remembering the shock in Sierra’s voice three months after Rowan’s return from Greece when she’d told her she was going to be an aunt.

“Oh my God,” Sierra had shouted and then nearly overwhelmed her with rapid-fire questions “How did you keep this a secret from me for so long? Why didn’t you tell me you were with someone? Who’s the father, dammit? Do I need to come back home and hurt someone?”

She’d let her know it had happened after she and her previous boyfriend had tried to make another go of it when she’d returned home, saying it was one of those last-ditch things after he’d told her how much he’d missed her. She’d told her it hadn’t lasted long and he was no longer in her life. She’d also told Sierra he didn’t know about the baby and that she’d better not confront him over it. Sierra hadn’t been happy but had sworn to keep her secret.

Rowan looked out the window at the ocean below. It was the only lie she’d ever told her sister.

4

Thankyou for thinking of me.

Leo stood on the tarmac as Rowan’s plane descended with her earlier words still ringing in his ears.

He’d done little else but think of her for months after she’d left. It had been hard not to. Who could forget her stubbornness, her quick smile, her beauty…

The way her deep green eyes had looked up at him with such sweet surrender while he’d been deep inside her body.

Of course his thoughts of her invariably ended with the back of her tense, angry shoulders walking out the hotel room door while he’d stood in place fighting with himself to call her back—to ask her to stay.

He clenched his jaw. In the end it hadn’t mattered. Whatever they’d shared hadn’t been as meaningful to her as it had to him, and he’d ended up calling himself all kinds of a fool since not long after she’d returned home she’d gone back to her boyfriend. And then of all things, she’d gotten pregnant by him.

He needed to remember that.

But he too had moved on—albeit not as quickly has Rowan—with Gia. And after nearly a year together, it was a foregone conclusion an announcement would be made soon. It would be a good merger. Joining Petrakis International’s shipping holdings in with The Nicolaides Group would be lucrative for both families. What better way to seal the deal than through marriage. He just hadn’t made it official by making a proposal.

The plane taxied to a halt. He steeled himself while the crews worked to get the door open and the stairs released. He could think of no gentle way to break the news to Rowan when she disembarked.Hehadn’t had time yet to properly grieve Andreas—not with the baby and worry over Sierra. Now—

There she is.

He soaked in the sight of her as she carefully walked down the steps with a sleeping child on one shoulder and the strap of a large bag over the other. Her eyes were on the steps and her free hand held tightly to the rail. He found himself walking toward her. She’d cut her hair to just below her chin. He’d loved her long hair and how easily it twisted in his fist to hold her still while he’d kissed her. But he supposed the length made more sense when caring for a tiny person.

But more about her had changed, even though everything seemed the same. She was still just as beautiful, but her beauty had blossomed since he’d last seen and touched her—rounded hips, fuller through the breasts, her features more mature.

But as stunning as he found her, he couldn’t help but notice the lines of worry and exhaustion around her eyes and mouth.

The little girl roused and looked around, squinting in the bright sunlight. For them it was four in the morning, not nearing noon as was in Greece. Her daughter’s sleepy gaze landed on him and he caught his breath at what a beautiful child she was.

When he’d first heard the news from Sierra of Rowan’s pregnancy, he’d wondered if the child was his. Any such notions had quickly been quashed when Sierra had divulged the father was one of Rowan’s former professors. According to Sierra, his and Rowan’s relationship had been hush-hush due to his position. Sierra had laughed, saying she’d been a little jealous her sister had snagged the “blond-haired, blue-eyed hunk.” She’d then patted a snarling Andreas on the thigh and whispered something in his ear that had his brother grabbing her hand and pulling her from the room.

They used to do that a lot. Theirs had truly been a love match, and he’d regretted many times his initial opposition to their union.

The one thing Leo had found interesting over the years, though, was the fact Sierra had seemed oblivious to the facthehad slept with her sister. Because if she had known, Andreas would have known. They had shared everything with each other. And if Andreas had known, Leo would have heard an earful about it.

So her ignorance of the fact was telling, leaving him to surmise Rowan regretted their involvement. But had she regretted it so much she refused to visit her sister? He would like to have the question answered, but with what had happened he doubted he would be enlightened anytime soon.

He focused back on Rowan and her daughter. The little girl hadn’t looked away from him. She truly was the spitting image of her mother. He’d known this all along, of course, since he’d seen numerous pictures of her over the years. Sierra had been a proud aunt and had shown them off to him whenever she’d gotten a new one. She’d had no idea she was stabbing him in the heart for the longest time until he’d finally become immune.

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