On the way in, he heard his name and turned to see the tall, solid form of Gabe Walsh stepping out of his car. Gabe was a former special agent with the FBI who now ran the Walsh Group, his family’s private security firm. Before Gabe had taken over, the Walsh Group had bought their body armor from Tate Armor, and Nick was loath to lose their business. One of the proposals he was working on now was the first one for TWG with Gabe at the helm.
“Walsh,” Nick said, waiting until the other man reached him, and then shaking his hand.
“Not often we see you out and about, Tate. Is this a special occasion?”
For a long moment, Nick considered telling him about Harper and the babies, trying to make it sound like casual chat, but really letting him know early in case Maverick released the information. At least that way it wouldn’t look like a security breach; instead, it would just be old news.
But, in reality, there was no way to announce such large personal news to a work acquaintance in a parking lot and make it sound natural. And Gabe had been in law enforcement—dropping something like that with no context would make him suspicious.
So, instead, he worked the other angle. “Just checking on a reservation. Hey, have you been looking into Maverick?”
Gabe’s head cocked to the side. “You know something?”
“Actually, I was hoping you would.”
Gabe winced. “Nothing. But I sure would love to know who it is.”
“You and everyone in town.” They reached the front doors, and both men stopped. Nick thrust his hand out, and Gabe shook it. “Good to see you. I’ll have that proposal to you in the next few days.”
“Looking forward to it.” Gabe went through the doors, and Nick let out a breath.
If there was about to be a breakthrough on the case, Gabe Walsh would know about it—he had connections everywhere. Which meant the situation with Harper was ripe for Maverick to milk or try to blackmail him over. The only way forward was to neutralize the potential threat before Maverick acted on it.
And that brought Nick back to the one way to resolve the situation on all fronts.
He had to marry Harper Lake.
* * *
Harper glanced across at Nick as he sat on the other side of their relatively secluded table at the restaurant in the Texas Cattleman’s Club. The table had the same crisp white tablecloth, sparking crystal glassware and thick, luxurious napkins as the others, but theirs definitely had something extra. To start with, there was the cascading arrangement of tiny white roses, and gold cutlery instead of silver on the other tables. And Nick had arrived to pick her up with a bouquet of pink lilies, which she’d put in a vase before they’d left. It all gave her a sinking feeling that Nick was pulling out all the stops. And she was going to tell him she was leaving anyway...
She’d been thinking about tonight almost constantly since he’d walked out her door twenty-four hours ago, and knew Nick would try to use their dinner to convince her to stay, so she’d decided to share one of her deepest fears with him, to be completely up front about why she had to go. Maybe then he’d understand—even if he didn’t like it—and wouldn’t make it more difficult than it already was.
At the very least, she owed him an explanation of why she wouldn’t risk staying and failing. Afterward, they could work out visitation arrangements and do their best to ensure the babies had a relationship with their father.
But she had a feeling Nick wasn’t going to make it easy to leave him.
She glanced at him now, the strong column of his throat emerging from the collar of his charcoal dress shirt, his mouth that she knew from experience could take her to heaven, dark eyes that were smoldering as they watched her... She tore her gaze away and looked down at her place setting. Leaving this man would never be easy.
In the car, as if by unspoken consent, they’d tabled the discussion about their situation and instead talked about the town and people they both knew. But now they were at the restaurant, and Harper didn’t want to put it off any longer. She needed to let him know where she stood before he started his pitch.
“Nick,” she began then paused to find some air for her lungs. “This is not how I pictured having my first baby.”
“It’s not how I pictured having my second and third, but we can make it work.” He seemed so sure, so confident he could make things right, and that broke her heart.
A waiter brought the two glasses of sparkling water they’d ordered, and Harper took a sip, both to help her dry mouth and to wait until they were alone again to resume the conversation.
“I need to explain something.” She tucked her hair behind her ear and met his gaze. “I grew up in a broken home. My mother did a great job, but some experiences will leave a mark. I made a vow that I’d never subject a child to the same pain, confusion and self-blame that I felt growing up.”
He cocked his head to the side, surveying her. “You don’t come across as someone who’s riddled with doubts.”
“How do I come across?” she asked, despite herself. She didn’t want to be sidetracked, but she was suddenly very interested in his opinion of her.
“When Malcolm talked about our attorney, he always said you were a go-getter. Someone who doesn’t back down for anyone or anything. Of course, I didn’t connect you to the person he was talking about until last night, but I’d have to say my initial assessment of you is the same.”
That was the image she’d tried to project. More than that, it was the person she’d worked hard to become. But life was always more complicated than that.
She shrugged one shoulder. “Appearances can be deceiving. The tough persona is an invisible armor I developed against being abandoned and rejected.” She hesitated, unsure how far to expose herself. But it was fair that he knew, that he understood. Despite her body wanting to fold itself up into a ball, she straightened her spine and went on. “It started back when my father left. The night he went, he was angry, maybe it was defensive, I don’t know, but he took it out on me as well as my mother. My last memories of him are him yelling at me in our living room then walking out the door.”
And despite the yelling, she’d followed him and thrown herself on the lawn outside, sobbing as his car drove away. She closed her eyes for long moments, trying to contain the emotions the memory always stirred up. The only sound was the clink of dishes from other tables and a low hum of distant conversation. She was almost scared to open her eyes in case she’d said too much. Given too much information too soon.
But she did open them and found Nick’s understanding gaze resting on her.
He drew in a deep breath. “God, Harper.”
She shook her head. “Believe me, I’m not telling you this for sympathy. In fact I haven’t told a soul that story before.”
“Then why are you telling me?” he asked.
“The thing is, that night triggered something for me. I don’t handle abandonment well, and I’ve never been able to move past it.” In fact, she’d been repeating the pattern through poor choices in men, dating guys who turned out to be commitment-shy to say the least. And so the cycle had continued. Being aware of what she was doing hadn’t helped her stop it. “Knowing how debilitating fears like that can be and how instability when you’re young can have lifelong effects, I’ve always wanted my children to only know the love and security of an intact family unit. That’s not an option now, but I still need to do the best I can to make the household they grow up in secure.”
“You don’t have to leave to get that. We can do that right here.”
“I’ll never keep them from you, Nick. I know how tough it can be to be separated from family members. But these babies are going to