"You bastard. Don't even think about fighting me for custody."
"There you go." He looked up at her. "As it happens, I am not a bastard. But you use the slur automatically. Do you want it to be true when your child hears it?"
"Who knows what you are! You never say a word about your family. You could have sprung from the head of Zeus for all I know!"
A spasm of pain crossed his face. She sucked in her breath. Whoa. She'd definitely touched a nerve.
"You're going off track," he said, his tone very even. "I will not give up the right to see my child. But I'm prepared to be generous with custody if you—" He paused.
"If I do exactly as you say," she snapped. "With my life. No thanks."
"Please sit down," Logan said. "We're attracting an audience."
The two women at the next table were watching avidly. Staring. Amanda had no doubt they'd heard every word. With her luck, they were probably journalists.
"You're right," she said, injecting as much sweetness into her tone as she could manage. "Anger is an emotion, and we can't have any emotion on display, can we?" Slowly, she walked toward him.
"I think we're both mature enough to refrain from any emotional displays."
"Really?" She touched his shoulder and walked behind him, trailing her hand over the back of his neck. She was relieved to feel goose bumps appear. "Lust is also an emotion. You do know that, right? And it's the emotion that got us into this trouble." She stopped at his side, facing him, pleased to see wariness enter his eyes.
"What is your point, Amanda?" He didn't try to dislodge her hand. "As I said a minute ago, we've gotten totally off track here."
She removed her hand from his shoulder, letting it graze her breasts on the way down.
His eyes narrowed, but she couldn't miss the leap of desire.
He probably didn't miss the buzzing that stiffened her nipples either.
But she knew what she had to do.
"I feel emotions," she said. "I am not a robot. I feel pain when you tell me I've trapped you. I feel anger when you try to run my life."
His lips tightened. "You—"
She raised one hand to halt him. "Now that we've got that settled—" She grabbed her purse from the back of her chair. "I'll be on my way."
"What the hell does that mean?"
"On. My. Way." She threw the words over her shoulder. "That doesn't sound complicated to me."
"Wait." He pushed back his chair. "I want to finish this discussion."
"I wanted respect." She forced her lips into a curve, hoped it would pass for a smile, and stormed out of the restaurant.
Chapter 26
Amanda spent several weeks working hard. In the spirit of "don't ask for permission, ask for forgiveness", she carried on with her job as if she'd never been fired. With each day that passed, she grew more comfortable with the idea that Logan did not intend to challenge her on the issue.
Via email, she received permission to travel to Philadelphia and meet with the Molloys. They accepted her explanation that another employee had sent the note to cause trouble and that employee had been terminated. She left with high hopes that the purchase would take place.
Although, in the back of her mind, a niggle of worry remained. It would be very difficult for her to move to Philadelphia to run Daily Eats. She was going to need the help of her mother to raise this baby, which meant staying in the New York area.
If she grieved at night over the absence of Logan, no one else knew it. She would have a part of him when her baby was born, and that would have to be enough.
The tenuous peace she'd attained was blown up in the dark hours before dawn one morning when she began bleeding. After she reached the hospital, the doctor confirmed her worst fears.
"You need complete bed rest." Her ob/gyn, Dr. Vesser, spoke gently, but her words struck fear into Amanda's heart.
"I can't do that," Amanda said, clutching the thin hospital nightgown. "My job—"
"You're only in your fifth month. The health of your baby must be your first concern."
"Yes, but I need an income."
"That's what disability is for," the doctor said crisply. She tapped on her laptop, writing notes to seal Amanda's doom. "I'd like you to go home and make arrangements to stay there. Is there anyone who can help you? You'll need someone to take you home from the hospital today."