The Texas Wildcatter's Baby. Cathy Thacker Gillen

So she thanked Michelle and rose, too.

      Moments later she and Rand were walking out into the spring sunshine. He had been in a mood all day. Quiet and brooding. He kept looking at her, too.

      That was probably because he’d apparently had to carry her to bed the night before, when she’d fallen asleep in the bathroom. That was no surprise. In the past few weeks she had been falling asleep more readily and more often than usual. It was, she had learned, a symptom of pregnancy in the first trimester.

      Her overabundance of emotions, too. Which was why, she guessed, she had gotten all weepy after they’d made love the night before.

      Part of it, of course, was the fact it was their wedding night that wasn’t really a wedding night. At least not in the genuine traditional sense. And the other part was that, if things were different, she could easily see herself falling in love with him.

      And she knew she couldn’t let that happen.

      Not when the two of them had such different outlooks on life.

      Aware he was studying her, in that same careful analytical way, Ginger asked the first question that came to mind. “Why did you cut that meeting short?”

      “Because clearly we have some talking to do, and I didn’t want to do it in front of anyone else. Besides—” he pushed an errant strand of hair from her cheek “—it’s been a long couple of days, and you’re looking a little worn around the edges.”

      Ginger made an unappreciative face. “Thanks.”

      “You’re also pr—”

      She touched her finger to his lips before he could finish saying the word.

      He stopped, his lips pressed evocatively against her index finger.

      Aware this was as close to a kiss as she wanted to get, now or at any other time in the future, Ginger swiftly dropped her tingling hand and stepped back.

      Still holding her gaze with a wickedly sensual one of his own, Rand continued. “I figured you could use a little nap before we combine places.”

      Lovely. He was bossing her around. Again.