Carrying the Lost Heir's Child(77)

                Stepping farther into the stables, she stopped halfway up the aisle and crossed her arms. “Don’t you have a staff to do this for you?”

                Jake jerked around, bumbling with the pitchfork in one hand before he caught it with the other. Gripping the top of the handle, his eyes drank her in, his chest heaving from obvious exertion. Lily had to remember she was here for one reason only...and it wasn’t to appreciate the beautiful male form standing before her.

                “What are you doing here?” he asked.

                Holding her ground, Lily shifted her stance. “Why are you acting surprised? Didn’t you tell the pretty blonde that there was a possibility I’d come by?”

                Damn it, she hadn’t been able to hold back that stab of jealousy in her tone, and from his amused smirk he’d picked up on her green-eyed monster, too.

                “She’s my maid,” he informed her, swiping his forearm across his forehead.

                Lily rolled her eyes. “I don’t care what she is. What you do in your time now isn’t my business.”

                Silence settled between them until a horse shifted in its stall. She hated the uncomfortable cloud that seemed to hang over them.

                “You do care,” he told her, dropping the pitchfork into the stall. “You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t.”

                Oh, that ego she once found attractive was so damn maddening right now.

                Tilting her chin and taking a step forward, because Lily knew who really held the power here, she stopped only a few feet from him and cursed herself when her eyes dropped to that sweaty, chiseled chest. She couldn’t hold on to her control if she was being tempted by the devil himself.

                “Actually I’m here because I just had a checkup.” Lacing her fingers just below her stomach, Lily held his gaze. “She said my blood pressure is still high and I need to start taking precautions to keep it down. There’s some concern with me and the baby, so she said she wants to see me again in two weeks instead of the usual four to make sure the condition is under control.”

                “Damn it.” He raked a hand through his damp hair, rubbed the back of his neck and met her gaze. “What can I do? I know I’ve caused you more stress, that can’t be helping. Tell me what I can do to fix this.”

                The worry etched over his face almost moved her. But that worry was for the baby.

                “Actually I’m not here to get help from you,” she said. “I’m here to ask what you paid the doctor to care for me. I’m reimbursing you.”

                “Like hell you are.” Jake closed the gap between them, the tips of his boots nearly touching her bare toes. Those bright eyes were now blazing, the muscle in his jaw clenching. “You’re not paying me a dime. This is my baby, too.”

                “I had a feeling you’d say that,” she muttered as a wave of dizziness swept through her. Lily closed her eyes for just a moment, waiting for it to pass before she opened and met his still-angry gaze. “So I’m at least paying half.”

                “I pay for what’s mine,” he all but growled. “I will take care of my family, no matter what the needs are. It’s best you realize that now.”

                Black dots danced before her and Lily shook her head, wiping the sweat from the back of her neck. “Could I get some water?”

                In an instant Jake’s hands were on her shoulders, touching her face, brushing her hair back. His eyes instantly held concern and worry. “Are you dizzy?”