Heiress's Baby Scandal

by Janice Lynn

  Majorly turned on.

  Each and every time Eleanor’s mouth closed around her fork, her eyes closed and joy lit up her face. Had she moaned with her delight in the food he wouldn’t have been surprised.

  She opened her eyes, caught him watching and pink splashed her cheeks. “Sorry.”

  “For?”

  “Making a glutton of myself. I like to eat. I did warn you.”

  “Enjoying your dinner isn’t making a glutton of yourself.”

  She pushed her plate back, eyeing the remaining food with regret. “Yeah, but if I want to fit into my dress for my dad’s campaign fund-raiser, I’d best stop.”

  Immediately his mind was brought back to the tight red dress that had wrapped around her body so delectably at the ribbon-cutting.

  “You fill a dress out just fine.”

  “Yeah, that’s the problem.” She sighed a bit self-derisively. “I fill it out.”

  “Why is that a problem? Admittedly, I’ve only seen you in one dress, but you looked great.” More than great. She’d been hot. “Ever since then I’ve been considering requesting a change to hospital policy just so I can see you in a dress on a regular basis.”

  Snorting softly, she toyed with the napkin in her lap. “You can’t help yourself, can you?”

  “Hmm?” he asked innocently, knowing he hadn’t been innocent since his sixteenth birthday when he and seventeen-year-old cheerleader Casey Thompson had made out after a football game.

  She folded the napkin and placed it neatly in her lap. “Whenever there’s a woman around you just have to spew out compliments.”

  “Is it wrong to tell a woman she looks beautiful with her glasses off so that I can see those amazing eyes?”

  Those amazing eyes lowered. “I wear my contacts for sports. I just didn’t change back to my glasses afterward, that’s all. Thank you for the compliment, but you don’t have to say things like that. I don’t expect you to.”

  Ty considered all she’d said, trying to decide which subject he wanted to tackle. The fact that she wasn’t used to compliments was the one that bugged him most, but for now he opted to go with one that would hopefully have her relaxing again. He wanted her relaxed, wanted her to enjoy their dinner as much as he was.

  “What sport do you play?”

  Her relief was palpable and he was glad he’d not pushed. He’d liked the easy camaraderie between them, the easy flow of conversation as they discussed everything from the new hospital wing to the New York Knicks, who, to his surprise, Eleanor loved.

  “Tennis and racquetball mostly. I was on the swim team and ran track during my high-school years. I still do both, but only for the exercise.”

  He picked up her fork, loaded it with food and held it out to her. “Then I’d say you’re allowed to finish your dinner.”

  Eyeing the fork of North Atlantic salmon with longing, she shook her head. “I can’t.”

  “You can,” he said temptingly, moving the fork toward her mouth.

  “Really, I shouldn’t.” But her eyes said she wanted to.

  “You should, darlin’.” He brought the food to her lips and they parted. He barely bit back his groan when her eyes closed and she savored the melt-in-the-mouth entrée.

  He convinced her to have dessert under the pretense of them sharing it. He enjoyed immensely having the excuse to feed her bite after bite, watching her reaction as the cheesecake hit her tongue.

  Watching Eleanor Aston eat could quickly become an obsession.

  “You promised me an explanation about why you wanted me to come to Texas with you,” she reminded him, dabbing her mouth with her napkin.

  “That I did.” Somehow in the course of their dinner and the enjoyable company he’d forgotten all about the trip to Texas. That alone was testament to how wrapped up in watching Eleanor, in talking with her, he’d been. “My family is hosting the local rodeo this year. I need a date.”

  Her gaze narrowed suspiciously. “You’re never short on dates, Ty. Why would you choose me?”

  “Why wouldn’t I?”

  “Because we’re not dating.”

  “One could argue that technically we’re on a date at this very moment.”

  She seemed to consider that a moment, then met his gaze again. “I’m not your usual fare.”

  “Exactly.”

  She frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  He laughed at her expression, quite enjoying how her every thought was broadcast so plainly in her eyes. “Quit looking so perturbed, Ellie. I meant it as a compliment.”

  If anything, her frown deepened. “Don’t call me that.”

  “What? Ellie? It fits.” He spooned another bite of the cheesecake, but she wouldn’t even look at it, just shook her head, practically wincing.

  “I don’t want any more and, no, that name doesn’t fit.”

  He started to tempt her, knew he could, but realized there was more going on than she was telling him, something profound.

  “I’ll make a deal with you,” he offered, watching every emotion flicker across her lovely face.

  “What’s that?”

  Had her voice broken? Her eyes were sparkling and not from looking at him but as if she was fighting back tears.

  Ty reached across the table, took her hand in his and laced their fingers. “I’ll only call you Ellie when you steal my breath with your beauty.”

  Not looking at him, she snorted. “That’s a deal I’ll gladly make, because I don’t want to be called that.” She took a deep breath, pulled her hand free of his and slipped on what he supposed was her game face. “Now, tell me more about this trip to Texas.”

  Ty wanted to dig, wanted to know what made Eleanor tick, to know what had upset her, but now wasn’t the time for digging for details. At least, not into Eleanor’s life. His was another story altogether as he’d promised her the goods.

  Eyeing Eleanor’s quiet expression, he couldn’t resist saying, “For the record, I wouldn’t count on not hearing me call you Ellie again. You’re a very beautiful woman. On the inside and the outside.”

  She ignored his implication and his compliment. “So the trip’s for an entire weekend?”

  “We’ll fly up on Thursday morning and can safely sneak out on Sunday afternoon under the need to get back to our patients. Should be a breeze, right?”

  Four days with Ty Donaldson. Could she survive it? Because the man was a natural-born charmer and she really wasn’t equipped to deal with the likes of him. It would be so easy to believe in his quick lines.

  To believe in the way he looked at her.

  Because he looked at her as if he found her attractive. If she’d thought she’d imagined it the night of the ribbon-cutting, she’d been wrong. He was looking at her the same way right this minute. As if he found her interesting, desirable, beautiful—inside and out.

  When he’d fed her, she’d almost died. No man had ever fed her, ever taken pleasure in doing such a simple act, but Ty had. When she’d opened her eyes after that first bite, she’d seen the pleasure in his eyes. He’d enjoyed feeding her every bit as much as she’d enjoyed him doing so.

  Don’t read anything into it. You’ve seen how he’s gone through women at the hospital. You’re just this week’s flavor.

  “Where I come from,” Ty continued, “the local rodeo is a very big deal. My brother and I grew up wanting to be rodeo stars, but we’re too tall.”

  “Is that like one of those carnival rides where you have to be this tall to ride, only in reverse?” she teased, trying to picture Ty as a young boy.

  He grinned. “You’re funny. Actually, most cowboys on the rodeo circuit are under five and a half feet tall.”

  Her eyes widened. “That’s pretty short for a man.”

  “But just right if you’re going to ride a bronco.”

  If he said so. In her mind, she preferred thinking of cowboys as tall, dark, ruggedly handsome. Like Ty, actually. Which set off a whole slew of cowboy fantasies. Not good.


  She could see Ty in worn jeans that fit just so, in a Stetson that sat upon his head just so, with no shirt on, of course, because in her mind he was all six-pack-and-muscle bound. And feeding her some light and flaky calorie-free delicacy that only paled in comparison to him.

  She picked up her napkin, started to fan her face with it, realized what she was doing and dropped the cloth back into her lap.

  “My father said you grew up on a ranch so I imagine you do ride, even if you are too tall to be a rodeo star,” she said, taking a sip of her water in the hope of moistening her dry mouth and cooling her libido, which was in overdrive.

  “I was riding a horse before I could walk.” His grin widened, making her wonder if he could somehow read her thoughts and knew exactly the effect he was having on her body.

  “Well,” he continued, his eyes twinkling, “not alone, but I’ve seen the pictures of me sitting on a horse in one person or another’s lap. Donaldsons pretty much go from birth to horse.”

  “What about cows?”

  “Nah, we don’t ride cows until we hit at least elementary-school age.” His lips twisted with amusement. “My nephew’s competing in the sheep-riding competition.”

  “Sheep-riding? How old is he?” For the life of her, Eleanor couldn’t picture a wild bucking sheep trying to throw someone off its back. But what did she know about ranch life or rodeos?

  “Don’t look so horrified. William is four. Feel sorry for the sheep. That kid is hell on wheels.”

  The love in Ty’s words was strong, making Eleanor wonder yet again why he’d stayed away from Texas so long. “Takes after his uncle Ty?”

  “Nah, that would make him the black sheep of the family.”

  His answer startled Eleanor.

  “I can’t imagine any family not being proud of your accomplishments.” Then again, didn’t her own parents look at her as if she was demented for working for a living?

  “I should prepare you. My father and I had a disagreement, shall we say, about my career choice and where I chose to work.”

  “Because he wanted you to practice in Texas?”

  Ty’s face lost its playful edge. “Something like that. Quite frankly, darlin’, the man scares the daylight out of me.”

  He said it jokingly, but there was no humor in his voice.

  “Because you’re easily scared?” Her fingers toyed with the napkin in her lap, twisting one end back and forth.

  “There’s a reason I work with babies.” Although his tone was teasing, something told her there was more to what Ty said than his actual words.

  “I’m glad you work with babies, Ty. You’re an excellent doctor and your patients are very blessed to have you overseeing their first few months in this world.”

  His smile was genuine and her compliment softened his eyes. “Ditto, Ellie.”

  She frowned at his use of the nickname, but his grin held and he shrugged as if to say he couldn’t help himself.

  “A deal’s a deal,” he reminded her.

  Right. Because he’d looked across the table at her and she’d stolen his breath by her beauty and had felt the need to let her know.

  “Tell me about your brother,” she rushed forward, not wanting to let her mind go down the “Ellie” path. They’d been there once too often that evening already.

  “Harry is great. The spitting image of my father and the golden boy of Swallow Creek. All his life, he’s excelled at everything he’s done, especially bowing to my father’s whims. On paper, he runs the ranch, but I’ve no doubt my father still pulls the strings.”

  His words held no sarcasm, no malice. She could tell that he genuinely loved his brother, yet so easily his words could be taken as sibling rivalry. Or worse.

  “He’s older?”

  Ty nodded. “By three years.”

  She considered her next words carefully. “Must’ve been tough growing up in the shadow of such a successful sibling.”

  Ty shrugged. “I never was much for standing in the shadows.”

  At the thought of a younger Ty daring twice as much to keep up with his gifted older brother, Eleanor smiled. “I thought that about you.”

  The corner of Ty’s mouth lifted. “What about you? Must never have been boring growing up with Senator Cole Aston as a father.”

  “No, I can’t say I was ever bored.” Just never quite part of the family. “He is constantly into something.”

  “Like donating the money to open the new hospital wing?”

  “That’s one of the few things he’s done that makes me very proud to be an Aston.”

  “The few?”

  She shrugged. “He’s a politician. He does what he needs to do to get votes. My whole life was planned around what would help Daddy most in the polls.”

  Ty regarded her for long enough that Eleanor wanted to squirm, but didn’t.

  He leaned back in his chair, eyed her curiously with a glimmer of bedevilment dancing in his eyes. “Tell me, Eleanor. Come election day, do you vote for dear old dad?”

  Her jaw dropped. Never had anyone asked her that. They just assumed …

  “I’d answer that,” she began, keeping her tone even, “but then I’d have to kill you. So I’m just going to plead the Fifth.”

  Ty burst out laughing. “Like I said, you’re funny. I like you, Ellie.”

  Yeah, she liked him, too.

  Except for the nickname, which she could do without, although there was something about the way it rolled off his tongue that was starting to get to her.

  She only hoped that later down the road liking Ty didn’t come back to haunt her.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  ELEANOR HAD SEEN Ty several times around the hospital, had even grabbed a few quick cups of coffee with him in the cafeteria and twice they’d shared lunch.

  She’d heard the rumors that were flying around, had fiercely denied them, but everyone knew Ty’s reputation.

  “Just be careful, Eleanor,” Linda Busby, a registered nurse in her early sixties who worked in the NICU, warned. “Dr. Donaldson is wonderful. I swear every woman he’s gone out with still sings his praises, so I know he’s a great guy. However, you don’t play the dating games most men and women do, and I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

  “We’re just friends.” They were. Not once had Ty attempted to kiss her or hold her hand other than the brief moment at the restaurant. Actually, on the night of the ribbon-cutting he’d touched her more than he had all the other times they’d seen each other since then combined.

  “Watch him,” Linda warned, her hands on her hips. “He isn’t known for being just friends with pretty young girls.”

  Seeing Ty behind the nurse and knowing her friend was unaware of their eavesdropper, who was nodding his head in agreement with everything Linda said, Eleanor bit back a smile.

  “Then you might want to watch out for him, too. I hear he’s into the whole cougar thing.”

  Linda spun at Ty’s teasing comment, her face turning beet-red. She playfully smacked his arm. “You, young man, are bad.”

  His grin killed any argument anyone tried to make to the contrary. “Wanna be bad with me, darlin’?”

  Linda shook her head, turned to Eleanor. “Like I said, watch this one. He uses that good-ole-boy Southern charm to boil our Northern-girl blood. You’d be wise to steer clear.”

  “You know you love me,” Ty teased her.

  Linda and Eleanor both rolled their eyes, making Ty laugh out loud.

  “I’ve got work to do.” She gave Ty a well-meaning glare and pointed her finger at him. “You behave.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He gave her his lopsided grin.

  Linda walked away smiling, shaking her head and mumbling something about God having blessed Texas.

  “You here to check on the new twenty-four-week preemie?” Eleanor asked him, wondering why her heart was beating so fast in her chest just from Ty being near.

  His expression sobered. “I am. The family given him a name y
et?”

  She’d taken a peek at the newborn herself just a few minutes prior to Linda giving her advice about spending so much time with Ty.

  “No.” Eleanor shook her head, walking with him to the little boy’s incubator. “He’s just Male Griffin at the moment. Linda told me they say they aren’t going to. They think that will only make them get more attached.”

  Glancing toward her, Ty winced. “They’ve not been to see him?”

  “The father has, but he refuses to let his wife come. Her nurse says she asks continually but that she won’t go against her husband’s wishes.”

  His eyes assessing the tiny baby he’d watched be born and had immediately taken charge of, Ty sighed. “He’s trying to protect her, but how is she not supposed to already be attached to a baby she carried inside her body for twenty-four weeks and built a lifetime of dreams around?”

  “He knows her better than we do, but if she wants to see her baby, he shouldn’t keep her from doing so. If he dies and she hasn’t seen him even though she really wanted to, she may never forgive herself.”

  “Exactly my thoughts,” Ty agreed.

  Eleanor couldn’t imagine the fear the baby’s parents must be going through, the worries, the doubts. Her heart went out both to the parents and to the little boy who very well might not live.

  Ty examined the baby, discussed his immediate care with Eleanor, asking her opinion on a few points and then they stood next to the incubator, watching the baby struggle for each second of life, alive only by the technology that kept him that way.

  Even though she dealt with similar cases routinely, just looking at the tiny baby was enough to make Eleanor’s heart clench.

  As if maybe he’d had a few heart clenches of his own, Ty inhaled sharply, then turned toward her. “Pick you up at six for the fund-raiser tonight, right?”

  Her pulse jumping for no good reason at all except for the way his gaze held hers, Eleanor shook her head. “My father insists on sending his limo for you.”

  Ty’s dark brows drew together. “Will you already be in that limo?”

  Eleanor shrugged. “I have no idea what order my father has planned. I thought perhaps you two had discussed the arrangements.” She’d barely spoken to her father since the morning he’d summoned Ty to the Aston penthouse. “I just know that when he called me this morning he insisted on providing our transportation. For us both to be ready so we wouldn’t be late arrivals. He wants us to make a big media splash.”