The Boss's Baby Bargain. Karen Sandler

it hadn’t occurred to him how hurt Teresa would be to be excluded. He’d gone off to Tahoe to wed Carol and Teresa still nursed that pain. It had been enough of a disappointment that his chosen bride hadn’t been Inez.

      Yet, by inviting the Calderas, Lucas risked opening a door to his past he’d long ago nailed shut. How would he explain to Allie what Teresa and Guillermo were to him without telling her the rest? Only by flat lies which his foster mother would never be party to.

      Damn, he never should have brought Allie to Cocina Caldera. What had he been thinking?

      Glancing at the check, Lucas tossed down a twenty and rose abruptly to his feet. “The jeweler’s expecting us.”

      He put out his hand to help Allie from her seat, conscious all the time of Teresa’s eyes on him. As he followed Allie from the restaurant, he waved to Teresa and Inez, glad to escape from their scrutiny.

      Allie looked thoughtful as she sat beside him in the Benz, as if she was considering all the evidence and waited for it to click into place. The leather-wrapped steering wheel went slick with the sweat of his palms.