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“I do like you,” he said. “Aside from a single act you can’t forgive, I think you like me. Getting married for the sake of a baby is a time-honored tradition.”
“In what century?”
Had he really said he liked her? She shook her head. She had to get a grip. Who cared if he liked her? She would never marry Ryan—not in her lifetime.
“We’re rational, intelligent adults,” Ryan said. “We’re having a baby together. We’ll both want our child to have the best of everything and that means having both parents around. Do you really want to be a single mother?”
“Yes. I’m fine with it. I was raised by a single mother.” Sort of. Technically there was a father, but it wasn’t as if he’d ever bothered to stay more than fifteen minutes at a time.
“I think it’s important to have both parents around if at all possible,” he told her.
“Great, but it’s not possible.”
“Why?”
Why? She hated that he was sitting there, discussing this, all cool and composed while she was wishing they were in the law library so she could throw some really heavy books at his head.
“I don’t want to marry you,” she said, making her words as clear as possible.
“Why not?”
She was going to kill him and it wasn’t going to be her fault. “I don’t know you. Despite what your ego-inflated brain tells you, I don’t particularly like you. I’m not interested in getting married for some arcane sociological reason and I think a single parent can do a perfectly excellent job.”
“We could try.”
What was with him? Why did he keep pushing? And why was she both furious and incredibly sad?
“I don’t want to try. Not with you.”
“Okay. So it’s not me,” he said. “You object to marriage in general.”
“I do not. I want to get married. Someday.” When men stopped lying to her. “Just not now and not to you. You’re a man who assumes all women are after his money. I couldn’t stand that.”
“You’re saying you’d object to a prenuptial agreement? Protecting my assets is only reasonable.”
Right now he should be a whole lot more worried about his ass than his assets, she thought grimly as she briefly glanced around, looking for something sharp so she could stab him.
“You need to go,” she said between gritted teeth. “Seriously, I have work to do. I know you don’t understand how I could possibly turn down your incredibly flattering offer. Based on your view of women, there must be thousands who would take the plunge, especially after such a romantic proposal. Be still my heart. Wait. It is.”
One corner of his mouth twitched, as if he found this funny. That made her want to grind him into dust.
“So much energy,” he said in an infuriatingly soothing tone. “Makes me wonder what you’re hiding. Getting married isn’t all that unexpected a concept, Julie. So what are you really upset about?”
She stood. “This has been fabulous. We should do it again. Maybe have a party, exchange gift bags.”
He stood and walked around to her side of the table, took her hand and pushed her back into a corner of the room. One where they were out of sight of anyone walking by.
“I’m not going to leave this alone,” he said, staring into her eyes and making her thighs whimper. “Whatever you say, whatever you do, I’m sticking around. This is my child and my life, too. Don’t think you can hide from me forever.”
Then he kissed her. Right there in the office, in front of an empty conference table and a display cabinet holding some very expensive crystal pieces.
He pressed his lips to hers in a move that was both erotic and possessive. The heat was as instantaneous as it was intense. Her fingers itched to grab hold of him and never let go. The rest of her body just wanted to be naked and plastered against his.
She fought against her desire to deepen the kiss, but before she could either win or lose the battle, he stepped back.
“Have the paperwork drawn up for the retainer agreement and sent over to my office,” he said. “I’ll messenger it back with a check.”
What? Oh, yeah. Work. “I’m not interested in working with you.”
“Maybe not, but you want the account, so you’ll suffer. And Julie?”
She carefully wiped her mouth with her fingers before answering. “Yes?”
“How ever much you try to deny it—I know the truth. You do like me.”
“I love bagels,” Marina said as she emptied the bag. “I love the smell of them toasting, slathering them with cream cheese, taking them out onto the patio and eating one while sipping coffee and reading the Sunday paper.”
Julie glanced at Willow. “Okay, I’m suddenly hungry. How about you?”
“Starved. Mom won’t be back for another half hour or so. We could snack.”
“There’s plenty to choose from.”
In one of those unexpected quirks of fate, Julie had finished up all her work on Friday and hadn’t had to go into the office on Saturday morning. With nothing to fill her time except brooding, she decided to go to the farmer’s market and wander around. She’d indulged herself with tons of fresh fruits and vegetables, a sinfully gooey Danish and a baker’s dozen of fresh bagels that she’d shared with her sisters.
Marina pulled out the three bagels she would take home with her and put them in a separate bag. “So how are you feeling?”
“Good.”
“Not that I need to know,” Marina continued as if her sister hadn’t spoken. “I’m used to you keeping things from me.”
Julie groaned. “I invited you to join Willow and me last week, but you had that microbiology class.”
“Inorganic chemistry, but thanks for being interested.”
“Marina, come on. I told you as soon as you got home.”
“Yes, you did.” Her sister smiled at her. “So I still love you.”
“Great. Another conditional relationship. What happened to unconditional love forever?”
“We put it in the recycling bin,” Willow said helpfully. “It’s too late to get it back. They’ve already picked up.” She dumped the container of blueberries that had cost a fortune from the colander into a bowl. “Berry?”
“Thanks.” Julie grabbed a handful as she sank onto a stool by the center island.
“What’s wrong?” Marina asked. “You seem, I don’t know, not yourself.”
“I’m fine. Sort of.”
Willow wrinkled her nose. “That doesn’t sound good. Are you sick? Too much queasiness?”
“No. I can handle that. It’s just …” Julie hadn’t decided if she was going to mention Ryan’s stupid proposal, but suddenly she couldn’t keep it to herself.
“He came to see me yesterday,” she began.
“Ryan?” Marina asked helpfully.
Julie nodded. “He made an appointment. He’s dangling his company’s China business in front of me and I don’t like it. One of the partners met him and now sees flashing dollar signs. It would be a lot in billable hours.”
“Which sounds good,” Willow said cautiously. “So what’s the problem?”
“I don’t trust him. What if he’s just playing another sick, twisted game? What if he sets this all up and then disappears, taking his billable hours with him? I would look stupid in front of the partners. It wouldn’t be good for my career.”
Marina and Willow glanced at each other and then at her.
“Um, don’t take this wrong,” Willow said quietly, “but why would he do that? What does he have to gain?”
“I don’t know. Just to screw with me. Don’t forget this was a guy intent on teaching me a lesson, even though he’d never met me and knew nothing about me.”
“That was wrong,” Marina said. “But this is totally different. Julie, I can’t believe he wants to hurt your career. You’re having a baby together—why would he want to hurt the mother of his child?”
“To get control. That’s all he cares about.”
Julie knew she didn’t sound exactly rational, but she couldn’t seem to keep a grip on her emotions. “I just …” She swallowed and found herself fighting tears. “Okay, I’m weak. That’s it, the truth in all its ickiness. I know better than to expect a guy to be decent. I know better than to dream about someone who’s honest and caring. I know I should let the romantic dreams go and I try. I really try. But then when I least expect it, they pop back up and I’m hopeful and then the hopes get crushed and I want to slap myself for being so stupid in the first place.”
“I love you like a sister,” Willow said, which made Julie almost smile. “But what on earth are you talking about?”
“He asked me to marry him.”
“Okay, then,” Marina said, sliding on to the stool next to Julie’s. “Start at the beginning and talk slowly.”
Willow pushed aside the berries and leaned against the counter. “You have our full attention. I promise.”
“There’s not much to tell,” Julie said with a sigh. “He came to the office yesterday.”
She explained how Ryan had spoken about his three companies and how they needed help. “Then somehow we were talking about personal stuff, how he and Todd were close when they grew up and how women only wanted them for their money.”
“It could happen,” Marina said.
“Poor little rich boys,” Willow muttered sarcastically.
“That’s what I told him. Anyway, we were talking about that and then he said we should get married. That it was the best thing for the baby.” She paused, then shrugged. “I didn’t take it well.”
“Why?” Willow asked.
“Because … He really ticked me off. You don’t propose just like that. It’s wrong. We barely know each other. I don’t trust him and, based on how he treated me, he doesn’t trust me. It’s not exactly a basis for a successful marriage. I got angry.”
“I get it,” Willow told her. “He violated those secret dreams you’re not supposed to have. It wasn’t romantic and perfect and he doesn’t love you.”
“I refuse to have a weak side,” Julie said. “I’m tough.”
“You’re human,” Willow said.
“But it was romantic,” Marina said.
Julie rolled her eyes. “Here we go.”
“It’s true,” her baby sister insisted. “You get married because you have to, then you fall madly in love. It’s fabulous.”
“She’s insane,” Julie muttered.
“At least he was willing to do the right thing,” Willow said. “I know he was totally in the wrong on your date. Lying like that. But you know, I kind of don’t totally blame him. It’s really that Todd Aston’s fault. He’s the one who was too big a jerk to show up and talk to you himself.”
Julie thought they were both rats. “Ryan had his own agenda. Don’t make him into the hero of the night.”
“I won’t, but maybe there’s a chance he’s not all bad.”
“A tiny one.”
“So you won’t consider his proposal?” Marina asked.
“Not even on a bet. It would be dumb to marry a man I barely know just because I’m pregnant.”
There was a sound from the doorway. Julie looked up to find her mother standing there.
This was so not how she wanted to tell the news.
Willow and Marina disappeared into the back of the house. Julie stayed on her stool and watched her mother make coffee.
“It’s decaf,” Naomi Nelson said as she flipped on the switch.
“Thanks.”
Her mother turned to face her.
Naomi had run away with her one true love when she’d been just eighteen. She’d been pregnant and Julie’s birth had been followed by two more babies in the next two years. Naomi had been all of twenty-five the first time her husband had left.
Julie remembered very little of that day, except her mother’s crying. She’d been six and had just started the first grade. She’d brought home a picture she’d done in class, but her mother had been too sad to look at it. From that day on, she’d never been able to work on a school art project without remembering her mother’s tears.
“So,” her mother said calmly. “What’s new?”
“Oh, Mom. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for you to find out that way.”
“Did you mean for me to find out at all? You’re pregnant, Julie, and you didn’t tell me.”
Naomi was slim, pretty and not yet fifty. Yet suddenly, she looked older than Julie had ever seen her. Her blue eyes were dark with emotion, but hurt rather than anger.
“I’m sorry,” Julie repeated. “I was going to, I just didn’t know how to say the words. I didn’t plan this. In fact I messed up big time.”
