The Baby Pact (Babies and Billions #5) - Holly Rayner Page 0,22

time. But this felt different somehow. They were adults. Inviting someone back to your home had a different connotation now than it had back then.

“I’d love to see it,” he said.

He followed her out of the bar and down the block, his head spinning, his heart leaping with hope and anticipation. There had been chemistry between Rhea and him when they had known each other in school, but he had assumed they’d missed their window.

But maybe we haven’t. Maybe there’s still a possibility.

Rhea stopped outside a spacious-looking brownstone. “Here we are,” she said, her voice quiet and nervous.

Zach reached out and took her hand. “Lead the way,” he said.

Chapter 8

Rhea

The two weeks that followed were some of the greatest of Rhea’s life.

She and Zach hardly went outside except to go to work. All day long, when she should have been focusing on the responsibilities of Green Destiny and the needs of her clients, she found herself slipping away to text Zach about plans for that evening.

They alternated between staying at her place and staying at his. Zach’s apartment was spartan but luxurious, wired for comfort so that he could control just about anything, from the lights to the temperature to the music that was playing, without getting up. Rhea loved it there, but Zach insisted that her apartment had the better kitchen, and that he was eager to cook for her.

For the first three days or so, they ate nothing but takeout, placing orders between lovemaking sessions. They spent the bulk of their time in bed, leaving only to shower or fetch the things they needed from the kitchen.

“Are we making this official?” Zach asked her one morning, an hour before she had to get up and make herself presentable for work.

They were lying cuddled together in bed, sharing an omelet from a plate. It was the first time Zach had officially cooked for Rhea since their reunion, and she was loving it.

“I’ll make it official right now if it means I can have breakfast in bed every day,” she said, giggling.

“You can,” Zach said. “I love making breakfast. It’s the most important meal of the day.”

“Is this all organic?” she asked, indicating the omelet ingredients. He’d used golden-yolk eggs, goat cheese, tomatoes, green peppers, and parsley.

“Yes,” he said. “I get my vegetables from a local farmer’s market on Hennessy Street. Have you been?”

“No,” she said. “I didn’t even know there was a farmer’s market around here.”

“I’d love to take you,” he said. “Maybe next weekend?”

She hesitated. She had been putting off telling him about her plans.

“I have to go to my parents’ house next weekend,” she said. “We’re doing Thanksgiving.”

He frowned. “Next weekend is not Thanksgiving.”

“No, it’s not,” she agreed. “We’re doing it early because Mom and Dad are going to St. Maarten for the holiday.”

“Gotcha,” he said. “Well, that’s fine. You and I can celebrate real Thanksgiving together!”

She almost slipped and asked him how it was that he didn’t have other plans, but she caught herself in time.

His father’s gone. Holidays must be a very lonely time for Zach.

“I’d love to do Thanksgiving with you,” she said, smiling. “And honestly, I’d bring you home to my parents’ place, but—”

“This is still new,” Zach said, cutting her off. “We don’t need to worry about that yet.”

She was glad he had said so. She had worried a little about what might happen when she told him she was going home, and whether he would want to be invited along. After all, he had met her family before.

But Rhea had never quite forgotten what her father had said to her that day at school about never associating with Zach again. He had said that Zach wasn’t the right kind of person for her to be friends with.

That was a difficult thing to put from her mind.

Of course, she knew that her father wasn’t the kind of person to disparage those less fortunate than himself. Whatever had come over him that day, she was sure it would be long forgotten now.

At least, she was almost sure.

I wish I hadn’t told Zach what he said!

That was the thing she regretted most about their fight. In a moment of anger, she had lashed out at him. She could see that he’d long since forgiven her, but she hoped the idea hadn’t stayed with him.

I never felt that way. I never thought any less of Zach, regardless of how much money he had.

If anything, she had admired him back then. She had had such a