Billionaire Bachelors: Ryan. Anne Marie Winston

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СКАЧАТЬ All the way over in Cambridge? I didn’t know you strayed that far from home.”

      “Very funny. Will you do it?”

      “All right,” he said. “But only because I know you’ll bug me to death until I listen to you. I’m telling you right up front that there is no way I am going to change my mind.”

      “I understand,” she said. “All I ask is that you listen.”

      When she arrived in a taxi at 7:05 he already was waiting. To her eternal amusement he was seated at the bar with a woman on each side of him apparently vying for his attention.

      Jessie walked up behind them and put her hands over his eyes. “Guess who?”

      “Hey, there.” He swiveled around on his stool to face her. “You’re early.”

      The women who’d been speaking to him were eyeing her with something less than friendliness. An imp of mischief seized her, and she placed her hands on either side of Ryan’s face, leaning forward and giving him a quick peck on the lips. “Miss me?”

      “Always.” She hadn’t counted on his quick reflexes. His hands came up before she could draw away. One shackled her wrist, the other cradled the back of her head as he returned a second, much more leisurely kiss. His lips were warm and firm, molding her own as her heart thudded, and she nearly sank into the promise inherent in the lingering caress before she remembered who she was kissing and why. When he let her go, she drew back, flustered.

      He rose and settled a hand at her waist, turning to smile at the women as Jessie blinked and forced herself to focus. “It was nice meeting you.”

      As he seated her and moved around the small table, she sent him an easy grin, determined not to let him see she’d been shaken by that kiss. “Was I helpful?”

      “Infinitely.” He shrugged out of his leather jacket. “I was being accosted.”

      “Well,” she said, “it’s not every day a girl gets to meet an eminently available hunk.”

      “If I hear that phrase out of you one more time,” he said, leaning forward with mock menace, “your derriere is going to meet my eminently available hand.”

      She smiled brilliantly. “Ooooh, sounds like fun. Promise?”

      His eyes narrowed, and that quickly the playful moment metamorphosed into something entirely different, something dark and dangerous with undercurrents of an intensity that caught her breath in her throat.

      “Okay. You folks want to order drinks?” The arrival of the server broke through the stillness between them.

      She sat quietly as Ryan ordered their drinks. What was happening to her? And to the comfortable, familiar relationship she’d had with Ryan?

      “So,” he said when the waitress had returned with their drinks and taken their dinner orders, “what new wrinkle in your mind was so urgent that you had to see me again tonight?”

      “I was thinking about what you said.” She spoke slowly, cautiously.

      “I’ve said a lot of things to you,” he said, unhelpful. “Want to be a tad more specific?”

      “About marriage.” The words fell between them, their ripples widening, breaking up the smooth surface of the conversation.

      His eyes grew more intense, bluer; she felt like a mouse caught in the cat’s corner. “What about it?”

      “Well, I was thinking.” She stopped, swallowed. “If you were to donate—and I did get pregnant—we could maybe get married once the baby was born. I mean, it would be stupid of us to marry assuming we were going to be parents. A lot of things can happen during pregnancy and I wouldn’t want to trap you into anything if it didn’t—”

      “Stop.” He held up a hand, palm out. “You’re babbling.”

      “Sorry. I’m nervous.” She fell silent, biting her lip. “I just thought—”

      His eyebrows rose. “You’ve been doing quite a lot of thinking lately.” He picked up his wineglass and gently swirled the Merlot they were drinking, tilting the glass and absently studying the color of the wine. “Let me see if I understand what you’re proposing. I donate sperm. You, hopefully, get pregnant. If the pregnancy goes to term and we have a child, we marry.”

      She nodded, too embarrassed to look him in the eye but relieved that he’d grasped the idea. “Exactly.”

      “No.” He sat back in his chair, crossing one long leg over the other.

      “No?” Startled, she leaned forward and glared at him. “Why not? I thought you would be happy. This way we both get what we want.”

      “It makes me uncomfortable,” he said. “Where’s the guarantee that you’ll keep your end of the bargain once you get what you want?”

      She was stung by the implication that he didn’t trust her. “That’s not a very nice thing to say. Have I ever given you reason to distrust my word?”

      He shrugged. “No. But this is a life-changing discussion we’re having here, not a promise to water my plants while I’m out of town.”

      She had to admit he had a point. But she was still annoyed. “So call a lawyer if I’m so sneaky. I’ll sign a contract.”

      Ryan was silent. His eyes regarded her intently until she was the first to look away. Finally he sighed. “Okay, here’s another compromise. You get pregnant. If everything goes all right for the first couple of months…”

      “The first trimester,” she said, showing off her knowledge.

      “Right. If everything goes well through the first trimester, we marry then. I don’t want my child born out of wedlock.”

      She sighed. “You are an amazingly old-fashioned fuddy-duddy.”

      His broad shoulders rose and fell again. “An eminently available fuddy-duddy, though. There are lots of women who would leap at the chance to marry me and have my babies.”

      It would have been the perfect opportunity to say, Fine. Let one of them have you. But her tongue wouldn’t wrap itself around the words. Something inside her recoiled from the idea of another woman bearing his children. And hadn’t she decided he’d be a perfect biological father for her own? A perfect father in many ways? A perfect husband— She cut off that thought before it took root.

      “It’s not just being old-fashioned,” he said suddenly. “I’m helping you out. You can return the favor. If I’m married, there won’t be any more of those annoying articles.”

      He had a point. And the reminder that this would be something of an exchange of favors made her feel better. It was nice that she wasn’t the only one getting something out of the arrangement. “All right.” She spoke slowly, cautiously. “I guess we could get married if the early part of the pregnancy goes well.”

      He nodded once. “It’s a deal, then.”

      The waiter returned СКАЧАТЬ