“You’re forgetting that this is our baby.” I take her hand in mine and kiss her palm, holding her gaze. “I want to take care of my child, and right now, the only way to do it is to take care of its mother. Wouldn’t you agree?”
Her cheeks turn a pretty shade of pink. “I don’t want your money, Ethan.”
“Fine. Then come stay with me.”
“I-I can’t do that!” She looks horrified.
“Why not?”
Flustered, she looks away. “I can’t. I just—I can find my own place.”
“I’m sure you can,” I say agreeably. “You can do a lot of things. I’m sure you will even be able to raise this child without my help.”
She stiffens, and I continue, “But that doesn’t mean you have to. I was willing to let you go because I thought I might remind you of what Lucas did to you. I thought you might blame me.”
“No.” Her voice is rough. “I’m not that blind to my brother’s actions. I never blamed you, Ethan. Not even back then. No matter what you did, I was also an adult. I went along with it willingly.”
I wind my fingers with hers. “I don’t like hearing that. You did nothing to deserve what he did, and he will pay for it. Even if you choose not to be with me, I will make him pay for what he did to you.”
Her expression tenses. “Ethan?—”
“Is that why you’ve been changing locations so quickly?”
She hesitates. “I—He wanted to kill me. He said he would finish the job. I believed him. It was only when I saw him once, a few months before I moved back to New York, and we exchanged looks that I realized he had washed his hands of me.”
“Because you were living quietly as a mouse,” I say grimly. “But now you’re pregnant, and you’ve been photographed with me. How do you think he’s going to react?”
She frowns at me. “Why’d you have to kiss me?”
“Because I like kissing you.”
I lean forward and brush my lips against hers. I expect her to pull away, but she doesn’t.
The kiss is sweet and chaste, and it ignites a burning hunger within me. But now is not the time. I’m walking on very fragile eggshells, and given how vulnerable she is right now, I have to convince her to choose me.
Her eyes flutter shut, and the small whine that escapes from her lips makes me rock hard in an instant.
When I pull away, her eyes are dazed, and I grin. “I really like kissing you.”
Her eyes dart down, and the red that fills her cheek makes me want to chuckle. I shrug off my jacket and cover my lap with it.
However, the brief moment is broken when I think back to the topic at hand.
Lucas.
“I want you to come back to work,” I say, my voice serious. “Frankly, the company still needs you. I don’t want you finding another job. You don’t have to. We can revise your contract if it makes you feel comfortable.”
“You do know that everybody in the office has probably seen our photographs. They’re going to assume the worst of me.” She looks stressed. “And once I start showing?—”
“You can work from home, if that’s what you want. But you built this career with a lot of hard work, Natalie. I’m not going to have you ruin it, not when I know how much pride you take in it.”
She gives me a brief smile. “It’s so annoying that you always know the right thing to say.”
I lift her chin. “You’re the only one who says that. But then, you’re the only one that matters.”
Pressing my lips to her knuckles, I murmur, “Move in with me. I’ll behave myself.”
“I doubt that,” she says slowly. “I don’t exactly trust you.”
