Pregnant By The Ceo

“I hate repetition.”

Poor baby. “Do you want a fiancée or not? Because I would be doing this for you, not me.”

“We both know that’s not true. You benefit. Your brother benefits.” Derrick shifted his weight and looked down. He stared at the magazines piled on her floor for a few seconds then pushed them to the side with his foot. “All you need to do is follow a few simple rules.”

She didn’t bother to debate his idea of a “few” because that could take them all day. From his scowl she guessed he wanted to add another provision to the agreement to forbid her slight tendency toward clutter.

“You say that but everyone I know needs to believe it’s real.” She scooped up the agreement and flipped through the pages then began pointing. “Here, look at this.”

He didn’t bother to glance down. “I’m familiar with the contract.”

“Then you know we’re supposed to live together.” Which sounded as absurd this time as when she’d read it earlier.

“My house is big.” His gaze wandered again. This time over to the boxes she’d gathered in case she needed to move in a hurry. “But I prefer you not live out of boxes. Haven’t you been in this apartment for seven months, like right before Noah started working for me?”

She snapped her fingers. “Derrick.”

“Don’t do that. Ever.” He put his hand over hers and lowered it. “What do you want to say?”

The touch, so simple and innocent, shot through her. She felt it vibrate through every cell.

She pulled her hand from his and forced her breathing to slow. “We’ve barely spent an hour together.”

“We’ll have separate bedrooms.”

As if that were the only problem. “But you expect me to act like a fiancée.”

“Whatever that means, yes.”

“It’s a direct quote from paragraph twenty of this thing.” She shook the agreement at him.

“I’ve never been engaged, but I figure we can work out the details as we go. You know, like do the usual things engaged people do.”

She suddenly couldn’t breathe. A big lump clogged her throat and she had no idea why. “Usual?”

“Shows of...affection.”

He may as well have said poison. “You should hear yourself.”

He exhaled as he stepped back. His hand swept through his hair and, for a brief moment, his thick wall of confidence slipped. He looked vulnerable and frustrated. She didn’t think any of it was aimed at her. Not directly. This was more about the circumstances they’d gotten stuck in.

“We both need things, Ellie. You want to help your brother. You have some work issues that I can resolve for you.”

“Are you going to give me a job?” She thought about her bills and her fears about losing her apartment. Growing up she never felt welcome or comfortable. Home hadn’t been a sanctuary, but now it was. The idea she could lose that security left her shaken.

“Yes, as my fiancée.”

With him that did sound like a full-time job. But pretending to have feelings might not be enough. They didn’t run in the same circles. She didn’t know anything about charity functions or season tickets to the Kennedy Center. “People aren’t going to buy this.”

He stepped closer again. This time his hands came up and his palms rubbed up and down her arms, gentle and warm. “We tell them we met while haggling about your brother. There was a spark and...boom.”

“Did you just say boom?”

Instead of backing away, he leaned in. “The legal fees stop. Your brother gets some direction and guidance. Your bills get paid and my shareholders stop whining.”

“You make it sound reasonable in a weird sort of way.” She was practical and everything about this plan, including the very real problem of lying to her brother, was anything but.

“It is.”

“My brother will go ballistic.” And she feared that was an understatement.

“Trust me. We can sell this.”

She didn’t miss the fact his words sounded like a plea. She doubted he begged for anything. He probably didn’t even ask others for help, but he was asking now.

The realization had her stomach tumbling. This close she could see the intensity in his gaze and feel the heat rolling off him.

“You can’t fake a spark.” Her voice sounded breathy even in her ears.

“Let’s see if we need to.”

He lowered his head as his hand slid into her hair. Fingers expertly massaged the back of her neck. His mouth lowered until it hovered over hers. For a second he hesitated, with his eyes searching her face, then his lips met hers. Mouth against mouth, he brushed over hers once. Twice. So enticing.

His scent wrapped around her and his fingers tightened on her. One second they stood a foot apart. The next he closed in. The caress turned to kissing, deep and alive with need. Energy arced between them. Every touch, every press of his lips, proved hot and inviting.

He pulled her tight against him and her common sense faltered. Heat burned through her as her arms slipped up to wrap around his neck. She’d just balanced against his body when he pulled back.

“Right.” He cleared his throat as his chest rose and fell on harsh breaths. “There we go.”

A haze covered her brain. “There we go?”

“Sure. That was fine.” He set her away from him. Increased the distance between them to a few feet.

The man was an idiot.

“Fine?” She could barely feel her legs.

“Yes. I’m confident we can fake it.” He started walking around the room, almost pacing. “We’ll start with dates. In public. Let people see us together.” He nodded as he continued the one-sided conversation. “I’d say in a week we move you into my place and announce the engagement.”

“That’s too fast.” She was impressed her brain even spit that sentence out. Right now she couldn’t think at all. The kiss had blown out every rational thought and had her wanting to slide that tie right off him.

“Well, it looks as if you’re ready to pack.”

“I need to sit.” She plunked down hard on the armrest of the couch and struggled not to run her fingertips over her lips.

“We’ll have a party—”

“No.” Good grief, he was already planning. That was enough to snap her out of it.