Pursued(26)

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.