the dam. He remained silent, and she sighed. She would have to let him go his way. Not because she wanted to, but because she had no choice. Only he could decide he wanted to reach out to life. Only he could expose himself to the potential pain of love again.
He stabbed his fork into the swordfish. "I’ve told you I intend to provide for the child."
"That’s not necessary." She would never accept being tied to him due to his sense of responsibility. She sipped her water, a pale imitation of the rich, complex glass of wine she would have preferred, and she knew her life would be like that. Thin. Colorless. When it could have been full and abundant with love, if she'd fallen in love with a man who wasn't emotionally broken.
Her hand drifted to her stomach. She had another love to worry about now. "We’ll be fine. I think it would be better for the child to have no father than to have the kind who pays the bills but…" But is unable to love. The unspoken words hung in the air as her voice trailed off. She hadn’t come here to make him feel guilty.
He blew out a sharp sigh, as if she were being difficult, but he was determined to soldier on. "I was an ass to suggest you might have done this on purpose."
She shrugged. Yeah, he'd been an ass. Didn't change a thing.
Logan assessed her for a moment, as if wondering what strategy would work. "You should be thinking about the child," he finally said. "How will you provide for him or her? What about medical care? You're a smart woman. You know the best care costs money."
Anger spiked within her. How dare he act like she couldn't provide for herself, when he was the one who'd pulled her livelihood out from under her? "If I had my job," she said hotly, "I'd have insurance, and enough money."
"I was hasty about your job." A smidgen of apology colored his tone. "I'll find something for you."
"I want the job I was hired to do. Not some busywork to ease your conscience."
Annoyance flashed on his face. "The job I hired you to do requires a lot of travel and late nights. That won't be good for your pregnancy. Didn't you say you were already having trouble?" He glanced at her untouched food.
Darn. She couldn't get away with even the tiniest lie.
"I can do the job," she said stubbornly.
Logan speared an asparagus tip. "I spent the morning dealing with the Daily Eats lawsuit."
She heard what he didn't say. She should have been handling that problem on Friday. Already, the pregnancy had interfered with her ability to do her work.
"I know who sent the email," she said.
He continued chewing, but raised his eyebrows in silent query.
"Would you believe Phoebe did it?" she asked, then slapped herself mentally for not making a stronger statement.
He laid down his fork. "Do you have proof?"
Amanda sighed. Why couldn't she ever have the upper hand? "I plan to get it."
He frowned. "How did Phoebe know anything about the Daily Eats deal?"
"I caught her in my office one day. I think she saw some email correspondence on my computer and seized the moment to make trouble."
"Why would she want to harm you?"
Amanda dropped the roll she was trying to force down her throat. Less than half of it was gone. She had no more appetite for the food than for the conversation. But she had to defend herself.
She met Logan's gaze directly. "Has Phoebe ever made a pass at you?"
A red tinge bloomed on his cheekbones. But his voice was cool. "I think she chases anything in pants."
"She must have heard some of those ridiculous rumors flying around the company about us. It made her jealous."
"Ridiculous rumors?" He leaned forward. "What kind of rumors will fly when your condition becomes known?"
"No one needs to know…who the father is."
"Wrong," he snapped. "It will quickly become common knowledge that I am fathering a child."
"Not if we don't tell."
"I have no intention of hiding anything. Since I plan to be fully involved in the child's life, it would be stupid to attempt secrecy."
"You are not going to have anything to do with this baby." She had to resist the urge to pound her hand on the table. "You've made your feelings about children perfectly clear."
He lifted his brows. "There will be custody issues involved here. Let me be perfectly clear on that."
She sprang to her feet.