“I didn’t—”
Hunter pulled her to his side and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “I’m sure we have enough for three, don’t we, darlin’?”
Had Hunter lost his mind? The last thing she wanted to do was spend more time in the presence of a snake like Craig Culbertson.
“Well, yes, but—”
“Good.” Hunter turned to Craig. “Why don’t you have a seat while I help my wife finish getting things on the table?”
Craig gave her a triumphant smile as he plopped down on the end of the love seat. “I think I’ll do that.”
As soon as she and Hunter entered the kitchen, she turned on him. “What on earth were you thinking?” she demanded, careful to keep her voice low. “I want him out of this house, out of this state and out of my life. For good.”
Hunter nodded. “That’s the plan.”
She looked at him as though he might not be the sharpest knife in the drawer. “And having him stay for dinner is the way to do that?”
“I believe so.”
Taking in a deep breath, Hunter still couldn’t believe that he’d claimed to be Callie’s husband and the father of her baby. But when he’d walked up the porch steps and heard the disgust in Culbertson’s voice and the fear in Callie’s, Hunter had done the only thing he could think of that didn’t involve putting his fist in the man’s nose.
“Would you care to explain your reasoning?” she asked as she reached for a pair of oven mitts. “Because I’m having a really hard time understanding.”
When he noticed how badly her hands trembled, he took the mitts from her and removed a roasting pan from the oven. Placing it on a hot pad, he tossed the mitts on the counter, then cupped her cheeks with his palms. “The first thing I want you to do is calm down, Callie. I give you my word that as long as I have breath left in my body, I won’t let him do anything to harm you or the baby. Is that clear?”
She gazed at him for several long seconds, and the fear he saw in her eyes just about tore him apart. “Yes,” she finally said, nodding.
“Good.” He reached into the cabinet for a platter. Handing it to her, he explained. “It’s clear that Culbertson needs some convincing that you and I are married.”
“That came as a surprise to me, too,” she said, slicing the roast.
He rubbed the tension building at the back of his neck. “Then it’s unanimous, because I was pretty damned shocked about it myself. But it’s the only thing I can think of that might make him leave you alone. And that’s what you want, isn’t it?”
“Absolutely.” There wasn’t even a heartbeat’s hesitation in her voice, and Hunter had no doubt that she didn’t want Craig Culbertson anywhere near her.
“The way I see it, if we can convince him how happy we are and how much we’re looking forward to our first child, he’ll get the message, go back to Houston and you’ll never hear from him again.” He carried the platter of pot roast over to the small kitchen table while Callie set another place. “Now all we have to do is get a few things straight.”
“Like what?”
He removed three glasses from one of the shelves, filled them with ice, then reached for a pitcher of iced tea sitting on the kitchen island. “He’ll want to know how we met, when we got married and what we’re going to name the baby.”
She stared at him openmouthed. “We don’t have time to coordinate all that.”
Thinking quickly, Hunter said, “Just tell me what you intend to name your son and when you discovered you were pregnant. I’ll take care of the rest. Just follow my lead and agree with the line I feed Culbertson.”
“This is never going to work,” she said, plunking a bowl of mashed potatoes onto the table. “There are too many ways he can trip us up.”
Hunter caught her by the shoulders and turned her to face him. “Trust me, Callie. Unless you can think of something else, this is the only way.”
He watched her close her eyes, take a deep breath, then opening them, she gave him the information he requested. “You’d better be right about this, Hunter. I won’t let him take my baby away from me.”
“There’s no way in hell, darlin’,” he said, giving her a quick hug.
Hunter’s heart twisted at the fear he’d heard in her soft voice. He wanted to know what had caused her to be so terrified that Culbertson would try to get custody when the man clearly had no use for children. But that would have to wait until later. Right now they had to con the man into leaving Callie alone for good.
By the time dinner was over, Callie’s nerves were stretched to the breaking point. Sitting between the two men, she’d listened to them discuss everything from baseball player stats to the size of engine they preferred in their vehicles. She wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or disappointed that the subject of her and Hunter’s marriage had yet to come up.
But that hadn’t stopped Hunter from playing his part as the devoted husband to the hilt. Throughout dinner he’d given her smiles that threatened to melt her bones and he’d found every excuse imaginable to touch her. She’d caught Craig taking it all in with great interest, but not once had he asked any of the questions she knew for certain had to be running through his mind.
“Why don’t we have dessert in the living room?” Craig asked when Callie rose from her chair to slice pieces of German chocolate cake for them.
“Go ahead and have a seat in there while I help Callie clear the table,” Hunter said, rising to gather their plates. “We’ll join you in a few minutes.”
“It’s not going the way we planned,” she whispered when Craig left the room.
“Be patient, darlin’.” Hunter rinsed the dishes to put in the dishwasher, then measured grounds from one of the canisters for a pot of coffee. “If he doesn’t get around to asking, I’ll bring up the subject myself.”
“I should have never let you talk me into this.” She shook her head at her own foolishness. “I’m sure he can see right through this little farce.”
“Don’t worry. Everything is going to be just fine.”
As she allowed Hunter to carry the tray she’d arranged with dessert plates, cups and saucers and a carafe of coffee into the living room, she prayed he was right. Her nerves couldn’t stand much more. She already had an almost uncontrollable urge to preheat the oven and start measuring sugar and flour.