She pouted up at him. "I'm trying to be serious here."
"I'm being serious. Believe me. Anytime you want." He lowered his mouth to hers, slow and lingering. But as he started slipping under her spell, he heard the beat of a helicopter's propeller closing in on the building.
He pulled away reluctantly and dropped one final kiss on her forehead before gently setting her on the floor next to him. "I have to go, baby. That's my ride."
"Your ride?" She looked confused.
"The helicopter that's about to land on the roof? It's for me."
Her mouth fell open and she stared at him out of huge, shocked eyes. "I didn't think you were serious about that."
"Are you kidding me? If you think I'm going to spend five hours in traffic every day when I could be spending them with you and the baby, you are sorely mistaken."
After giving her one more kiss-he couldn't resist-he climbed to his feet. Which was no easy task considering the pain he was in after spending the night on that ridiculous sofa of Desi's.
If he didn't know any better, he would think Desi had bought the thing for the sole purpose of making him as uncomfortable as possible. Except it wasn't as if furniture stores just had these things lying around. No way could she have gotten it there on such short notice. Which meant, unbelievably, that she actually liked the thing.
"I'll be home around seven," he told her after hustling into the bathroom and grabbing his shirt off the back of the door. He buttoned it up as he slipped his feet into his dress shoes, then grabbed his briefcase and headed for the door.
He changed course at the last second, detouring to the kitchen to drop another quick kiss on Desi's lips. "If I'm going to be late, I'll text you."
"I actually have a gala to cover tonight, so I won't be here when you get back."
"A gala? Where?"
"SeaWorld. It's for Save Our Oceans-a lot of Hollywood types are supposed to be there as well as the business elite."
"Save Our Oceans-that's a good cause." He raised a brow. "Want a date?"
"A date? You mean, you really want to come?"
"Well, the last gala we attended ended pretty well, I think. So, yes. I do want to go."
She laughed. "I'm not going to have sex with you on the balcony at SeaWorld."
"A guy can dream." He pulled open the front door. "I'll send the helicopter for you and we can meet up at the gala. Sound good?"
"Yeah, I guess."
He didn't like the uncertainty in her voice. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, it's just … I've never been in a helicopter before."
"Oh, right. Would you rather drive? I can send a car for you-"
"I'm a big girl, Nic. I am more than capable of driving myself to San Diego. That's how I met you, after all."
"I've never once doubted your capabilities. I just thought I'd have a car bring you down, we could spend the night at my place and in the morning I'll fly with you back to LA. The first time you ride in a helicopter shouldn't be by yourself. There's no fun in that."
"But what about you? You're working in San Diego tomorrow, aren't you?"
"Yeah, but the helicopter has to fly back to San Diego anyway. I'll catch a ride."
She rolled her eyes. "You'll catch a ride?"
"Okay, fine, I'll make them give me a ride." He glanced down as his phone beeped with a text. The pilot telling him they were waiting for him-as if he hadn't heard the noise of the approach. "I've got to go," he told her, "before all your neighbors revolt. Does the plan sound good to you?"
"Yes, the plan works, Mr. CEO."
"I think you've got me confused with my brother. I'm CCO. It's a very different thing."
He ducked out before she decided to throw something at him, and as he closed the door behind him, he couldn't help thinking that Desi was right. It did sound good. And so did everything else about their arrangement at the moment. Well, everything except that damn couch.
Thirteen
He'd sent a limo for her. An actual limousine, long and black with tinted windows and a driver in a full suit. And not one of those rental limousines, either-no, this limo belonged to Bijoux, and was at the disposal of the Durand brothers only. She knew that because she'd asked the driver, who had been more than happy to wax poetic about his employers.
Of course he had. Everyone loved Marc and Nic Durand. Everyone except her, she assured herself as she uneasily settled into the plush leather seats. She was woman enough to admit how wrong about them she'd been when she'd taken the word of a source who was more disgruntled employee than whistle-blower. She was even woman enough to admit that she liked Nic-he was pretty impossible not to like, after all, considering how kind and charming and supportive he was being.
But that didn't mean that she loved him. And it certainly didn't mean that she was on her way to falling in love with him. She barely knew the man after all.
And if that wasn't strictly true-if she knew his favorite color and how he liked to walk barefoot on the beach at midnight and that he gave huge amounts of his money away to those less fortunate and that he believed in standing up even when no one else would and that he liked his coffee with the teeniest drop of cream in it-well, that really wasn't that much to know about a person, was it? It certainly wasn't enough to make her fall in love with him when she had sworn she would never do that. With anyone. Ever.
Nic Durand could be as charming as he wanted to be, could do a million wonderful things for her and their child, and it still wouldn't matter, Desi assured herself. There was no way she would let any of that sway her from her course, no way she would let herself soften, let herself forget. No way she would let herself depend on him. Because that didn't work for her-it never had. Never would. The moment she started to believe someone cared about her, that the person wouldn't leave her-boom. That's exactly what happened.
So, no. There would be no falling for Nic, she told herself again as the limo made its way through the streets of LA before turning onto the freeway. Yes, he was living with her. Yes, they were incredibly sexually compatible, and yes, she was having his baby-but that was all there was. It was enough. More than enough. Trying for anything else would only end with one-or both-of them getting hurt.
The thought depressed her so much that she closed her eyes and willed herself not to think about it anymore. Nic had been living with her for only twenty-four hours, had been back in her life for only one week, yet the idea of him walking out of her life one day soon bothered her more than she would ever be comfortable with.
It had been a crazy day, and it wasn't long before the motion of the car had her drifting off to sleep. She'd planned on only dozing-wanting to be alert enough to answer if Nic texted her-but the next thing she knew, they were pulling into the massive SeaWorld parking lot. She reached for her phone and the directions she'd downloaded earlier on how to get to the pavilion, but the driver seemed to know exactly where he was going as he wound his way to the private entrance.
When they arrived, she thanked the driver profusely and tried to tip him, but of course he wouldn't take her money. Desi shook her head ruefully as she climbed out of the car. Having Nic around to take care of her was going to ruin her if she wasn't careful.
A glance at her phone showed she hadn't missed any texts from Nic, but then again, she'd made it to San Diego earlier than expected. She set her phone to recorder mode-which was one of the ways she kept track of who was talking to whom and what they were wearing while they were doing it-then followed the pathway up to the pavilion's main door.
Once she was checked in, she walked through the venue, scoping it out. She'd never been to a charity ball here before, and as she walked in the door, she was charmed to see the huge aquariums that surrounded the room on all sides. The decor was very much "under the sea," which was to be expected, considering the charity benefiting from the night's gala. The aquariums blended in beautifully.
She took quiet note of who was already there-not a lot of people yet whom her readers would be interested in-then made her way to the aquariums. She wanted to see the fish. She could imagine the beginning of her piece starting with the fish and expanding to the oceans and then the purpose of the gala. The society reporter before her used to focus exclusively on the glitterati, but Desi had gotten in the habit of giving her readers a little more of the atmosphere and charity angle before launching into the who's who.