A Baby for the Billionaire(31)

She wasn't wrong. Their deal had been temporary from the start. But  along the way everything had evolved into so much more. One thing he  knew for sure, he didn't want her walking out of this house and sleeping  in a bed he couldn't share with her.

"It could be real," he said, the words coming far more easily than he'd ever thought they would. "We could be real."

She froze, her eyes growing even wider if it was possible.

"Be clear," she demanded.

The words brought a smile to his lips. His little reporter wouldn't stop  until she uncovered the truth. About what he wanted from her. About  what he felt for her.

About what he planned for their future …

For the first time in his life, the idea of permanency, of normalcy, didn't send him running from the room.

Instead, it made him excited for every morning he woke up beside her.

"Stay," he said. "Live here. Don't leave us now."

"Because I make a good surrogate mother?" she asked. "Emily can help you take care of him. You don't need me for that."

He took her hands in his. "You are irreplaceable," he replied. "The best  mother Hunter could ever have. You love him as much as I do, admit it."

She drew in a shuddering breath. "But he's not mine," she said.  "Eventually we have to go back to our real lives and when we do … it's  going to hurt."

He leaned forward, his lips ghosting over hers. "What was so great about  our real lives? I could hug you, but I couldn't kiss you. I could sleep  beside you on a couch, but I couldn't wrap myself around you in bed. I  couldn't take your hand in public or attend one of those tedious gala  events with you on my arm." His fingers delved deeper into her hair,  angling her face up to his. "I couldn't touch you the way I always  wanted to. Do you really want to go back to that?"

"You were the one who said you couldn't make promises. You said there  were no strings here. That you didn't know how long we could last."

"I was an idiot."

Her grin was brief. "Can't argue with that."

"I take it all back. You want strings? Bring them on."

She shook her head. "If this is too fast for you, I don't want to rush anything. There's Hunter to think about."

"I am thinking about him. What if he was yours as much as mine?"         

     



 

A shudder went through her. "You can't offer this only to pull it away later," she warned.

"Losing you is the last thing I'd ever want to do. I mean every word I'm saying."

Not looking away from her, he drew his lips over the ring finger on her left hand.

"Let's be a family, Clara. For real. Forever."

It took her two tries before she could choke out the words. "Are you asking me-"

A knock interrupted her.

With a groan, Walker dropped her hand. "Who the hell is knocking at this hour?"

"Probably your assistant coming to drag you back to the office whether  you want to go or not," she said. "I told you not to keep ignoring him."

He glanced at the door before shaking his head. "He'd call if he needed me."

She arched a brow. "Walker Beckett, are you going to give up playing with some fancy piece of code for me?"

"Do you believe I'm serious now?"

"Oh deadly," she purred, leaning toward him as he lowered his head.

The knock sounded again.

With a sigh, she pushed to her feet. "Screw it. Let's let him in, he can  drop off whatever he's working on, and then we can send him on his  way."

"You are a far kinder person than I am," he said, running a hand through his hair.

"Tell me something I don't know," she replied with a grin. Climbing over  him, she skipped over to the door with a smile on her face.

He draped himself over the back of the couch as he watched her go.

Clara tossed him a smile as her fingers wrapped around the door handle,  as if she couldn't look away from him any more than he could from her.

Then she jerked the door open and horror washed through his body.

"Hello," the beautiful blonde standing in the entrance said. "I'm looking for my son."





Chapter Nineteen


Clara stood frozen as she faced the woman on the doorstep. Sluggishly,  her brain tried to assimilate what her eyes were seeing. The woman was  gorgeous but more disturbing was this person she'd never seen before was  hauntingly familiar, and her slow brain was finally figuring out why.

She'd been staring at a miniature version of the woman for weeks.

Every time she looked at Hunter.

"Or Walker? Is he here?" the woman asked, a frown crossing her perfectly made up face. "If this is a bad time I can come back."

"Bad time?" Clara said, shock receding in the face of the pain she knew  was coming. Was it a bad time for the mother of the child she wanted to  claim to show up? A bad time for this Amazonian model to come back into  Walker's life right when he'd been about to ask her …

What had he been about to say?

"I-"

"Clara, let her in."

The woman brightened at the sound of Walker's voice. There was nothing  she could do as Hunter's mother shouldered by her and stepped into her  home.

"Veronica," he said, rising.

"Hi," she said. "I know I must be the last person you want to see right now, but I had to come."

Clara drifted into the room, watching the scene unfold like a viewer watching a TV show. Nothing seemed like it was quite right.

Or real.

"Did you do this?" Walker said, obviously putting the pieces of the  puzzle together that she had. "Did you leave our child on my doorstep  like a cast-off pet you had gotten bored of?"

Veronica wrung her hands. "I didn't know what to do. I never wanted to  get pregnant. Once I discovered I was, I was on the other side of the  world working."

"They didn't have phones in this distant, remote location?"

She hung her head. "I get it. I know I screwed all this up in the worst  way possible, but I need to see my son. I thought I could give him up  and be happy knowing how good a father you'd be to him, but I can't."

Ice washed through Clara's veins. She opened her mouth to protest, but Walker beat her to it.

"If you try to take Hunter back, I will fight you with every resource I  have available to me. You abandoned him and I gave him a stable, loving  home. Any judge in their right mind would grant me custody."

"You misunderstand," she said, holding out a hand. "I'm not threatening  you. I won't try to take him back. I just want to be a part of my  child's life." A slow smile crossed her lips. "Did you call him Hunter? I  like it."

"I don't care what you like."

Clara blinked. She'd never seen him that icy cold. His eyes were artic as they looked at the mother of his child.

Veronica took a step back. "Of course. I made all the wrong moves, here.  I get that. Really, I do. But put yourself in my shoes. I'd had a brief  affair with a man I knew didn't want me or a child. Not long term, at  least. I thought I was all alone. When I reached the end of my rope, I  thought you'd refuse to help if I gave you the choice."         

     



 

"Did you even stick around to see if you were right about your gamble or  did you go straight to the airport once you'd delivered our child like a  stray dog?"

She glanced away, guilt on her face. "I knew you wouldn't send him away," she said. "You're a good man."

"Which you know from our extensive history together."

Her hands fisted. "You can berate me all you like, Walker, but I want to see my baby. Will you let me do that or not?"

"Of course," Clara cut in when Walker opened his mouth. "He's sleeping. I'll go get him."

"Thank you."

"I don't think so," Walker said at the same time.

With a sigh, Clara navigated around Veronica and took his hands in hers.  "Think logically," she murmured to him. "This is his mother. What are  you going to say to Hunter when he's old enough to start asking where  she is?"

He scowled.

"You don't have to forgive right now," she said. "But this isn't a door you should close. Let me go get the baby."

His eyes met hers instead of the blonde beauty standing a few feet away. "You think this is a good idea?"

"I do." The words were like acid on her tongue.

He jerked his head. "All right. Get Hunter."

Ducking around him, she raced to the nursery before he could change his mind.

Stepping into the dark room, she tiptoed to the crib and scooped up the sleepy baby.

"There's someone I want to reintroduce you to, little man," she whispered against his blonde curls. So much like his mother's.

He gurgled in her arms.

"Come on." Tucking the blanket around him she went back downstairs,  every step feeling like a weight pressing down on her shoulders. When  she entered the living room she paused. Walker and Veronica stood close  together. By his body posture she could see Walker was less than  thrilled to be so close to his ex, but she couldn't help feeling they  made a striking pair. With his dark charm and Veronica's angelic beauty  she could see why they'd ended up together.