A Baby for the Boss(51)

“I told you before, there’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” he said, and pulled her up from the scarred wooden bench. “But there’s plenty I do know.”

“Like what?” she asked, taking one short step backward.

“Like,” he said, closing the gap between them, “you’re so stubborn you’re probably getting ready to quit your job at Celtic Knot.”

Clearly surprised, she asked, “How did you know that?”

“Wasn’t hard to figure out, Jenny. You think it’ll be too hard for us to work together now.”

“I’m right and you know it, Mike.”

“No. You’re not,” he said, and watched hope bloom in her eyes. Sean had been wrong. All Mike had to do was lay out his plan and she’d see that it was the best thing for everyone. “I think we should work together and more. We both want our baby. We have great chemistry. Passion.”

His hands came down on her shoulders and he drew her closer. Looking down into those blue eyes of hers, he said, “We forget about the past. Let it all go and just move on from here. We’re going to get married, Jenny. It’s the right thing to do. For all of us.”

He waited, for her to smile at him, go up on her toes and kiss him. He wanted the taste of her in his mouth again. It had been days and he felt as if it had been years. All she had to do was say yes.

“No.”

She was screwing up a perfectly good plan. Staring down at her, he blurted, “Why the hell not? You’re pregnant, remember?”

She laughed shortly. “Yes, I remember. And I won’t marry you because you don’t love me. You don’t trust me. Passion isn’t enough to build a marriage on, Mike. And I won’t risk my baby’s happiness on a marriage doomed to failure.”

“It’s not doomed.”

“Without love it is,” she said, shaking her head. Laying one hand on his forearm, Jenny continued. “It’s our baby, Mike. I would never try to keep you from him. Or her. But I won’t marry a man who doesn’t trust me.”

Then she kissed him.

And left.





Ten

Jenny had a stalker.

For the next few days, every time she turned around, Mike was there. He carried her paints and insisted on getting her a chair if she so much as yawned. Only that morning, when she climbed a step ladder to add a few silvery cobwebs to a naked tree on an elevator door, he’d snatched her off the darn thing and carried her to her room. In spite of her loud protests. The man had appointed himself her caretaker whether she wanted one or not. It was annoying and endearing at the same time.

She didn’t want to get used to this kind of treatment, though. Firstly because she was perfectly healthy and able to take care of herself. But mainly because she knew it was all for show. He was trying to schmooze her into marrying him on his terms.

But she couldn’t do it. Couldn’t give up her fantasies of a loving husband and settle for a man who didn’t trust her, didn’t love her. Passion was a poor substitute for real love.

“Jen, what do you think of this?”

Jenny popped out of her thoughts and focused instead on the job at hand. “What’ve you got, Christa?”

The other artist was tall and thin, with black hair cut close to her scalp and a penchant for wearing eye-searing colors. She was also fast, talented and eager to please.

“I was thinking about adding in a few of the Death Flowers among the vines here at the windows.”

“Death Flowers?” Jenny repeated with a smile.

Christa shrugged. “I admit, I love the ‘River Haunt’ game. I play it with my fiancé all the time.”

“Do you win?”

“Not so far,” she admitted, “but I keep trying. Anyway, you know the bloodred flowers that have fangs? I thought if it’s okay with you, I’d add a few of them here on these vines. I mean, they’re not on the original design so I wanted to run it by you before I did anything.”

The dining room was nearly finished. The far wall was complete and the forest scene was spectacular. Though she’d had a few problems with one of the artists, she couldn’t fault the work. Jenny looked up at what Christa had done so far. The vines were thick and lush, wrapped around the edges of the windows and down to the bottom of the wall where a few of them even pooled on the floor. “You’ve done a great job here, Christa.”

“Thanks,” she said, stepping back to check out her own work. “I’m really grateful for the opportunity.”

Jenny looked up at her. As short as she was, she pretty much looked up at everyone. “The flowers are a fabulous idea. I love it.”