Carrying The Billionaire's Baby

She popped out of her seat, grabbed her purse and turned away from the table. “We’ll talk another time, Jake.”

Her pulse pounding, she raced out the door and into the hot first-day-of-September evening. She couldn’t believe how this situation kept spiraling. Anger poured through her in waves. If she couldn’t trust Jake not to say anything to anyone until they had their situation resolved, how could she trust him with anything?

A hand caught her arm, slowed her down, then stopped her.

It had to be Jake.

She spun to face him. “Now what? Would you like me to sit with a reporter from the New Yorker and give an interview? Maybe we can get ABC to put us on Good Morning America?”

“Will you stop? I didn’t tell her to come here!”

“You expect me to believe it was a coincidence?”

“It was!And you’re being stupid. It was my sister for God’s sake. Not a girlfriend.”

“I would have much rather that she’d been a girlfriend!”

He stepped close. “Really?”

He smelled spicy and male and all her pregnancy hormones popped. She ignored them. “You can date anybody you want.”

“I’m about to be a father. I want to settle one life crisis at a time. I don’t want to date anybody.”

“Well, you might as well, because you and I are oil and water. Our lives clash. Even when we try to get along, we fight. We’ll never get a custody agreement hammered out. We’re going to end up in court.”

“Because you intend to be stubborn?”

“Because I had a plan!”Three plans, actually. And all three had failed.“You don’t believe this about me, but I love plans. I love order. Just because I don’t say it with a calm, rational voice, doesn’t mean I—”

He caught her by the upper arms and hauled her against him, and for twenty seconds they stared into each other’s eyes. Warmth coursed through her. Her breasts met his chest. Their baby bumped against his stomach.

A million emotions flashed through his blue eyes. She was pretty sure his intention had been to stop her tirade by kissing her. Then he’d felt the baby bump and frozen.

Except for those eyes. Every emotion from confusion to fear to happy surprise and anger raced through them.

CHAPTER THREE (#udd98c834-7712-5e67-b315-be9f463ec87f)

JAKE DROPPED HER ARMS then stepped back, away from the temptation of Avery’s mouth.

He couldn’t believe how desperately he wanted to kiss her. He’d caught her arms to shut her up, but staring into her eyes he’d remembered her fire and wanted to taste it again. Then he’d felt the baby—his baby—and his brain had scattered in a million directions.

“Well, that was interesting.”

“Not really.” She shrugged. “You said yourself we both prolonged our relationship because we were so hot in bed. We’re accustomed to touching each other. And when we touch, sparks fly.”

“That’s about the size of it.” He took another step back. Not wanting to talk about the myriad feelings racing through him when he’d felt the baby bump, he said, “It really was a coincidence that we ran into Sabrina.”

She took a breath, then looked away as if thinking it through. Her long red hair shimmered when her head moved, and he struggled not to reach out and touch it. Not to reach out and touch her, if only in amazement that she carried his child. But that was wrong. A weakness he couldn’t afford with her.

When she caught his gaze, the anger was gone from her eyes too.

“We’re both just a little too edgy right now. Not sure of each other or how to handle this situation. We’re going to have to be more careful about where we meet next time.”

“Should we meet in one of our apartments?”

“No. We should meet in mine. We never know who’s lurking in the bushes outside yours. And—” She held his gaze with an intensity that might have scared another man but almost made him laugh. He had no doubt why Pete Waters considered her his top associate. That stare could terrify any witness and probably some judges.

“No more touching on public streets.” She looked around then glanced back at him again. “We don’t know who could have seen that.”

He said, “Sure,” as she turned and walked away. The way she could so easily leave, snatching control out of his hands again, sent a wave of annoyance through him. “I notice you didn’t say anything about touching on private streets. Maybe alleyways. The lobby of your building.”

She didn’t turn around, didn’t acknowledge anything he’d said, just kept striding up the street.

A laugh escaped. She might not have turned, but she’d heard him. He’d seen the way her spine straightened. God help him, but he’d needed the validation that he still got to her, still had a little bit of control. Even if it was only teasing her.

When he pivoted to return to the coffee shop, he almost plowed into his sister.

“Mom is going to have a cow.”

All the fun of teasing Avery instantly evaporated.

Sabrina’s face fell. “You are going to tell her, aren’t you?”

“Eventually.”

“Eventually? That woman has got to be at least six months pregnant! What are you going to do? Call Mom from the hospital and say, It’s a boy?”

“I’d like a boy.” He really would. Someone to teach everything he knew. Someone to inherit everything he’d worked for. Now that he was adjusting to being a dad, the thought filled him with a pleasure that was almost indescribable. If he and Avery weren’t the worst possible match, he might think this was fate. Destiny. A sign they were meant to be together.

Of course, though it might not be romantic fate, it still could be fate. Not a way to bring him and Avery together, but a way for him to have an heir.

“Are you even listening to anything I said!”

Forcing himself back to reality, he sighed. “Yes. I heard you. You think I should tell Mom.”

“Soon.”

“All right. Soon.”

But the more he thought about fate and heirs, the more he realized that he’d have to see Pete Waters again—at the corporate headquarters. Not Pete’s office. Avery Novak wasn’t just smart. She was sexy and unpredictable. And he’d already slipped and almost kissed her. He had to get the facts about his parental rights before he tangled with her again.

But he didn’t get the chance to summon Pete to his office. The first thing the next morning, his phone blew up with calls from his lawyer. There were thirteen messages that started at five, while Jake was in the shower, and kept going until Jake finally walked into his room and saw his phone blinking hysterically, as if Pete had continually hit Redial.

When the phone rang again, he answered. Pete didn’t even bother with hello. “Are you crazy?”

“I think we both know I’m not.”

“Then why is there a picture of you with Avery Novak in the society pages?” Pete’s voice rose. “Are you the father of Avery’s baby?”