The Billionaire's Troublesome Triplets - Holly Rayner Page 0,55

about your pregnancy, and the way they’ve continued to insist on pushing Androcyl straight to consumers even knowing that it doesn't work well enough…it’s not something I can be a part of anymore.”

“Oh, Lucas,” Elise said. “I would never have asked you to do that.”

“I know,” he said. “You never seem to ask me for anything. That’s something we’re going to have to work on.”

“We?”

“If I’m going to be in the baby’s life, I’m going to be in your life,” Lucas said. “You need to feel comfortable asking me for things. Money, emotional support…anything you need. I want us to be partners, and partners need to be able to ask each other for help.”

She came over to the table, pulled out a chair, and sat down beside him.

“The truth is,” she said, “I’ve been wanting to call you. I’ve been wanting to talk to you.”

“About the pregnancy?”

She nodded. “But I told myself I shouldn’t. I told myself I had to get used to handling things on my own, and that I shouldn’t let myself rely on you every time something unexpected happened.”

“I want you to rely on me,” he said.

Then her words hit him. “Wait,” he said. “Did something unexpected happen? Is everything all right? Is the baby okay?”

“Everything’s fine.” She splayed her hands out flat on the table and looked down at them. “The babies are fine.”

“Babies?”

“There are three of them,” she said. “It’s triplets.”

Triplets.

His first instinct was to ask her why she hadn’t told him. But she had just explained that. And when he thought about it, he could relate. He had embarrassed her, made her feel bad, by suggesting that she wasn’t as important as Quadra-Well. Of course she wouldn’t have wanted to turn to him with this. It was no different from Lucas’s unwillingness to talk to his father about his issues at work.

But she was telling him now. He was here for her now.

“Triplets,” he said aloud, trying the idea out for the first time.

She watched him nervously. “Is that… I mean, I know it’s a lot to deal with.”

“I think it’s great,” he said.

Her face lit up. “Really? You do?”

“I always wished I had siblings,” he said. “Now our kids will have each other from day one. What could be better?”

Her smile was the biggest, most genuine one he had seen on her face since the night they had spent together in Rome all those months ago.

“Oh, Lucas, I’m so happy to hear you say that.”

“You were worried?” he asked her.

“I don’t know,” she said. “It scared me when I first found out. I thought I wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

“I wish you’d felt like you could call me,” he said.

“I should have called you,” she said. “I should have let you know.”

“I understand why you didn’t,” he said.

“So you still want to be involved?” she said. “Even though it’s going to be three times the work?”

“That just means you’re going to need me three times as much.”

Elise flung her arms around his neck. He wasn’t expecting the embrace, and he just barely caught her in time. He had forgotten how good she felt, how nice it was to hold her against him. He breathed in her scent slowly, reminding himself.

Take it slow, Lucas. One thing at a time. She had just let him back into her life. Now wasn’t an ideal time to catch feelings for her.

Then again, what about any of this had been ideally timed? And they were making it work. Maybe it wouldn’t be too much to make a relationship work as well.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the doorframe.

Elise sat up quickly. “Mom. Dad.”

Sure enough, Elise’s father was standing there with a woman who looked just like Elise.

“We’re sorry if we’re interrupting,” her mother said.

“It’s all right,” Elise said. “I want you guys to meet. Mom, Dad, this is Lucas. Lucas, these are my parents, Howard and Marilyn.”

Lucas got to his feet and extended his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both.”

They both returned his handshake, although Elise’s father seemed a little hesitant to do so. “Why don't you put some coffee on, honey?” Howard said.

“You were eavesdropping, weren’t you?” Elise said.

“Yes,” her father said unabashedly. “And I have some questions for Lucas here.”

“Don’t interrogate him, Dad,” Elise said.

“No, it’s all right,” Lucas said. He faced her father. “I think that’s more than fair.”

Elise’s parents sat down at the table. Elise stared them down for a few minutes, then rose and went to the coffee