Baby for the Billionaire - By Maxine Sullivan Page 0,5
comfort to know she could help her parents.
At what cost to herself she wasn’t sure.
An hour later she stood in front of Nick’s apartment and rang the doorbell. Right now the cost seemed much too high a price to pay.
Oh God, if only this had been seven years ago. She’d have given anything for him to ask her to marry him back then.
She remembered that kiss in the gazebo in the summer rain. It had just happened and she’d almost melted in a puddle at his feet. He’d surely felt everything she’d felt, she’d told herself as it ended and she’d moved in closer for another one. He’d realize he loved her and couldn’t live without her and any moment he’d tell her so.
Instead he’d held her back from him, obviously appalled he’d kissed her. She’d seen it in his blue eyes that had turned from light blue to dark in a matter of seconds.
And then he’d left her there, gone back up to the main house to the party and casually taken another woman home, just like he’d been exchanging his Ferrari for another model. It had devastated her, but she’d never let him know it.
Right at that moment the door opened and Nick stood there, devastatingly handsome and undeniably male, and nothing on his handsome face giving away any of his thoughts.
He moved back to let her enter the apartment. “My father said you’d be stopping by.”
“Word gets around fast.”
She stepped through the doorway, trying to shake her feelings of the past. It was the present … now … that should concern her.
He gestured to the leather couch. “Make yourself comfortable. Would you like a drink?”
“No, I’m fine.” She couldn’t sit, and if she tried to drink anything she’d probably choke. Her throat ached with pure defeat.
His blue eyes rested on her. “So what made you change your mind?”
“My parents.” She didn’t want him to think it had been for any other reason. “I’m their only child and they really want our families to be joined.” She swallowed hard. “I can’t deny them that.”
Cynicism twisted the corners of his mouth. “I’m sure your father’s delighted.”
Her heart thudded inside her chest. Could Nick know that her father’s shipping business needed this deal?
Then she realized he didn’t know. If he did, he’d have certainly blackmailed her into marriage. Nick wouldn’t hesitate to use any leverage he could to get her to do what he wanted.
Still, she felt the need to defend her father.
She angled her chin. “Why do you say it like that?”
“Your mother’s a nice woman. I’m sure she wouldn’t pressure you into a marriage you don’t want.”
She realized he didn’t know her mother that well. If her father wanted something, then her mother was usually the go-between.
He held her gaze. “I don’t think I can say the same for your father.”
“And that’s so different from your father?”
Surprise flickered in his eyes. “True.”
She briefly appreciated her feeling of triumph. “Both my parents are happy about this marriage, Nick.”
He scrutinized her. “Why do I believe you?”
“Because it’s the truth.” She couldn’t confess her mother was happy for Porter’s sake, or Nick might get suspicious.
“Okay, let’s get down to business. First, I want to assure you that if things don’t work out we can always get a divorce later on.”
She winced inwardly at his insensitivity, or his honesty, as he liked to call it. It was the same this morning when he’d asked if his rejection had hurt her ego in the gazebo that night.
Could a man be so hard-hearted to a young woman in love with him?
Hadn’t he been able to tell she’d put her heart and soul into that kiss?
Of course he hadn’t.
“Are you reassuring me or yourself?” she asked cynically.
He scowled. “I just don’t want either of us to feel totally trapped.”
“How nice.”
He shot her a hard look, then, “Do you want children?”
Her heart skipped a beat and all her cynicism disappeared. “Do you?”
“One day. Not yet.”
“Me, too.” She hadn’t thought about children. They were a lifetime commitment, and one that connected her to Nick for the rest of her life.
She wasn’t sure she could do that.
Wasn’t sure she wanted that.
He started toward a small table where there were a bunch of papers. “Right. Looks like we have a wedding to plan.”
She took a quick breath. “Hold on. I have one condition of my own before we settle this.”
He stopped to look at her, his eyebrow winging upward. “And that is?”