The Millionaire's Pregnant Mistress. Michelle Celmer
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Название: The Millionaire's Pregnant Mistress
Автор: Michelle Celmer
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Контркультура
Серия: Mills & Boon Desire
isbn: 9781408942734
isbn:
And he knew it.
“Why so nervous?” he said, easing even nearer, bracing his hands on either side of her head. Black hair framed his face, settling it deeper into the shadows, but she could still see his eyes—dark and penetrating pinned on her face. And so cold it made her shiver. “You didn’t mind being this close that night in my room. In fact, I was under the impression you rather enjoyed it.”
She glared up at him, refusing to be the one who backed down. She’d almost forgotten how beautiful he was. Beautiful in a completely masculine, testosterone driven way of course. But that was to be expected being the product of two gorgeous Academy Award winning actors.
He smelled good, too. The scent of his cologne and sheer male heat swirled through the narrow space between them. He smelled expensive and refined and…
My God, was she actually getting turned on by this he-man macho crap? It had to be the pregnancy hormones making her feel so loopy.
After that night with Ben she had forever sworn off men like him. They were nothing but trouble. If she ever did date again—and that was a big if—she was going to find herself a quiet, average, boring guy. She’d take safe and unexciting over sizzling and sexy any day.
She poked the solid mass of his chest with her index finger, feeling his body-heat soak through the silky softness of his sweater, enjoying the look of surprise on his face.
“You must think pretty highly of yourself if you believe I would want a relationship with you. Just like you, I went up to your room expecting one night. Go ahead and pin the blame on me if it eases your guilty conscience, but this is as much your fault as it is mine. I wasn’t in that room alone. If I recall correctly, you rather enjoyed it, too. And need I remind you that you were the one with the condoms? How do I know you didn’t do this on purpose? Maybe you get some sort of depraved thrill knocking up unsuspecting women. For all I know, you have illegitimate children all over the place.”
His expression shifted and he looked almost…wounded.
Was it possible she’d hurt his feelings? That he actually had feelings?
Ben dropped his hands from beside her head and backed away, his face somber. He looked so…sad. The brief charge of satisfaction hissed away like a deflating balloon.
“May as well take off your jacket and get comfortable,” he said. “We have a lot to discuss.”
Ben sat at his desk and ripped open the envelope his lawyer had messaged over. With a heavy heart, he read the results of the paternity test she’d taken last week. The wounds that had begun to heal in the year since his son’s death ripped open and grief twisted his insides.
Tess had been telling the truth. The baby was his.
If he had been able to talk Jeanette out of taking the trip to Tahoe while he wrapped up postproduction on his last film, she and his son would be alive. Even the doctor had said it was late in her pregnancy to be flying. Ben should have insisted, but when Jeanette wanted something she usually got it.
He would never forgive himself for letting them down, and he wouldn’t let it happen again. This baby was his, whether he wanted it or not. He would see that it was taken care of and raised properly.
In his son’s honor, he wouldn’t let anything bad happen to this child.
“I take it the news wasn’t what you’d hoped.”
He looked up to find Mildred Smith, his housekeeper, watching him from the doorway. Any other of his employees would have been fired for insinuating themselves into his business, but Mrs. Smith had been with his family since before Ben was born. It had only been natural to hire her when his parents moved permanently to Europe three years ago. She’d been with him those horrible months after the crash and had nursed him through the worst of it. She was more like family than hired help. More of a mother to him than his own mother had ever been.
“It’s mine,” he told her.
“What do you plan to do now?” she asked.
The only thing he could do. “I’m going to make sure she and the baby are safe. I’ll bring her here to live with us until it’s born.”
“You know nothing about this girl.” Her tone was stern, bordering on cold, but that was just her way. He knew she cared deeply for him. The past year hadn’t been easy for her, either. Though Mrs. Smith had never cared for Ben’s wife, the loss had hit her hard.
“I don’t know her, which is exactly the reason I need to keep her close. That’s my child she’s carrying.”
The one thing he didn’t get, that didn’t make sense about this whole situation, was why she’d waited so long to tell him. According to her due date, she had to be close to sixteen weeks pregnant. Meaning she’d known she was pregnant for at least a couple of months already.
He was sure she had her reasons.
He found the number Tess had jotted down on a slip of paper. It had been sitting there on his desk, taunting him for days. He hadn’t yet written it in his book, on the slim hope it was all a mistake. Since her visit last week, all communication had been through his attorney. Now it was time to make his position clear. Face-to-face.
“Suppose she doesn’t want to live here?” Mrs. Smith asked. “What then?”
He gave her a look, one that said he didn’t anticipate that being an issue. “You think a girl like that, with a menial job at the resort and next to nothing to her name, would pass up the opportunity to live in luxury? I know her kind. She’ll take whatever I have to offer.”
Two
“Absolutely not! There is no way I’m moving in with you.” All that Hollywood fame must have gone to Ben’s head if he thought he could boss her around. He hadn’t even asked. Instead he’d issued an order.
He sat casually behind his enormous desk like a king on his throne addressing his royal subjects. The only thing missing was a scepter and crown.
And tights—which she had to admit would be well worth seeing.
Instead he wore black again. Black shirt, black slacks. Did he own a single article of clothing in color?
Tess turned to see if the stern woman who had let her in was still standing in the doorway listening.
Thankfully she wasn’t.
Ben, Tess could handle. At least, she was going to give it a valiant effort. His housekeeper on the other hand—Lurch’s twin sister—gave her a serious case of the creeps.
“I have an apartment,” she said. “I don’t need or want to live here.”
“I didn’t need or want a child, yet one is being forced on me.”
“I did not make this baby all by myself,” she reminded him. “Besides, what has that got to do with where I live?”
“You live in a disreputable СКАЧАТЬ