“I’ll talk to Saige. She seems like a protective mom. If she doesn’t want me hanging around the kid, she’ll tell me.”
He wagged his finger at me. “Or maybe—” he said and dragged out the word.
“Maybe what?”
“Maybe that’s exactly what she is hoping will happen.”
“What?”
“You’ll fall in love with the kid. Maybe she is looking for a baby daddy. You’re wealthy and we know she likes having sex with you. She’s looking for her new man.”
I rolled my eyes. “That would almost be believable if she could stand to talk to me. She hates me most of the time and tolerates me the rest.”
“You mean when she lets you bang her on your desk, she is just tolerating you? Damn, I would hate to see how she is when she actually likes you. The two of you would have to keep a bucket of ice water handy.”
I smirked. “I might have to see what happens when I’m nice to her.”
“Be careful. Me and you might be raising kids together.” He laughed.
“I’m good.”
“It’d be cool,” he said. “Our kids could be best friends like their dads.”
“I’m not your best friend.”
“But I’m your best friend,” he joked. “Don’t deny it because we both know it’s true.”
He wasn’t wrong. “Whatever. I’m going. I need to take care of some stuff. Congrats again on the kid. If there’s anything you need, let me know.”
“Are you offering to babysit?”
“Not a chance in hell.”
“How about a trust fund for the little nugget?” he joked.
“Yeah, let me get right on that. I suppose you’re going to want time off.”
“Duh, asshole. That’s what men do. Men that want to be in their baby mama’s good graces anyway.”
“Are you going to marry her?” I asked.
“You mean like a shotgun wedding?”
I shrugged. “If that’s what you want to call it. I thought maybe because you knocked her up, you might want to put a ring on it.”
“I’ve thought about it,” he said. “I was thinking about it before this happened but now I can’t ask her to marry me.”
“What kind of fucked-up logic is that?”
“Because she’s going to think I’m only asking her to marry me because she’s pregnant,” he explained.
“Aren’t you?” I asked. I was so confused.
“No. Yes. I loved her before she was pregnant and I think I love her even more now, but I can’t tell her that. I have to wait now.”
I groaned. “This is why I don’t do relationships. I don’t like the games. I think it should be way easier than all of that. If you want to marry her, marry her. If you don’t, then just keep things the way they are. It’s worse than navigating a minefield. I like what I have with Saige. There aren’t any questions. There’s no drama. If we happen to be alone and the mood strikes, we have sex. When we’re done, we go on with our lives. There is no conversation about what I should and shouldn’t do. It’s just easy.”
“Bullshit,” he scoffed. “You’re thinking about her even if you pretend you’re not. You’re all up in her business, literally, because you like her.”
“It’s my business,” I reminded him.
“But you don’t have to be there. She could run it for you.”
“Yes, but I need to be there to make sure it’s going the way I think it should. She doesn’t plan on staying long anyway. I need to hire a replacement and then supervise the training.”
“Good excuse. You just want to hang out with her a little longer.”
I shrugged. “It’s not all that bad.”
Chapter 41
Saige
“I see them,” I said to Jace as I waved to Joss.
They were already seated in a booth at our favorite diner that served the best brunch in the city. Jace practically floated toward them. He was thrilled to see them. I knew it was because he couldn’t wait to tell them all about his exciting day yesterday. I had purposely kept my own explanation of our day to a minimum so he could have the pleasure of telling Joss and Caitlyn.
“Hi, guys,” I said as we slid into the booth.
“Guess what I did?” Jace said. His eyes were so full of joy. It made my heart so happy to see him in such a good place.
“What?” Caitlyn asked.
“I went fishing!”
Joss looked at me. “Fishing?”
“Yep,” Jace answered. “I caught two fish. I didn’t keep them because I didn’t want to kill them. Nash said he was going to show me how to cut them