He shoved his hand through his hair. “I know. But—”
The wheels set down with a minor thump, and they were on the ground. He sighed and unbuckled his belt, waiting until the plane taxied to the private hangar before standing and swiftly opening the door. He held out a hand. “I have a car waiting.”
She halted in standing and then took his hand. He wouldn’t have a limo, would he? No way could she go to a sperm bank in a limo. No way. “My life is becoming a bad sitcom.” She followed him down the steps.
“What?” Colton asked, turning around.
“Nothing.” Relief filled her at spotting the black Camaro waiting by the plane with its top already down. Seattle had been experiencing a very nice March with an ever present sun, unlike Montana. “Nice car.”
He grinned. “I thought you’d like it.” Accepting their overnight bags from one of the two pilots, he tossed them in the trunk.
Melanie slipped into the passenger seat, taking a moment to appreciate the smooth leather. “I still don’t understand why we needed to bring overnight bags. We’re heading home today, right?” In addition, she might leave town knocked up. She blinked. No matter what Colton said, her becoming pregnant should put a damper on whatever they were starting together. If they were starting something. Chances were—
“Mel. Stop thinking so hard.” Colton unfolded his length into the driver’s seat. “My meetings may go late, and we might have to stay the night. I promise I’ll make it worth your while.” The deep timbre of his voice slid right under her skin to spring nerves to life.
“Stop flirting with me.” She buckled her seat belt.
“I’m not.”
Goodness help her if he started. She sighed. “Now isn’t a good time for us to start something.”
“Yet we did.” He ignited the engine and smoothly drove the powerful car through the quiet private airport to the main road. “It’s not like you’re getting inseminated today, anyway. This is a preliminary consultation, right?”
She swallowed. “Normally, but with my circumstances, they said they’d expedite the process if I want. I made the appointment months ago in case the embryo freezing didn’t work, and they would have all of my files and history by now.”
“Oh.” His hands visibly tightened on the steering wheel. “I’ll cancel my meeting and go with you.”
“No.” Panic tasted like acid. “If I’m going to do this by myself, be a single mom, then I should do it all by myself.” The idea of Colton sitting outside the door while she had her feet in stirrups, changing her entire life, made her head spin. “Thanks, though.”
He cut her a look that shot straight for her panties. What was wrong with her? God. She couldn’t arrive at a sperm bank turned on.
Life had gotten too weird too quickly.
Would she go through with it? For the first time in weeks, she wasn’t sure.
…
Colton ignored the spectacular view of the Seattle skyline outside the conference room window, his mind spinning. He shouldn’t have dropped Melanie off at the sperm bank. But she’d insisted, and he really didn’t have a right to accompany her.
Melanie. Pregnant. Not with his kid.
Which one of those statements bothered him the most? He hated to admit it, especially since they’d never even been on a real date, but if there was a kid in there, he wanted it to be his.
What the fuck was going on in his head?
The last thing he’d planned on at this stage of his life was settling down. Sure, it worked for his brothers, but he was just getting started in his career. Frankly, he’d liked playing the field. A lot. His plan was his plan, and the idea of altering it sent chills down his back. Plus, well, it was Melanie. She deserved somebody established in life, somebody ready to take care of her.
He’d be that guy if his plan went along the correct course, but not for a while. Right now, he was just starting out—and he may have already screwed up.
But when he thought of forever, when he thought of something real, the only face he saw in his head was Melanie’s.
There wasn’t anybody else he wanted to plan life with. To wake up with every morning, and to grow old and cranky with. Only Melanie.
And he’d just dropped her at a sperm bank alone.
“So what do you think?” Mark Manning, the CEO of Greenfield LLC asked, shoving his wire rims up his pointy nose.
Colton frowned at the only other person in the conference room. “About what?”
Mark sat back, his scrawny neck moving. “About our financial shortcomings. Can you invest more money?”
Colton leaned forward and made sure he had Mark’s attention before replying. “No.”
Mark sighed. “Then I’m not sure what we’ll do.”
Colton flipped open the report in front of him and grabbed his pen. “You’ll reallocate these resources here…and these here.” He proceeded to step-by-step show Mark how he’d not only climb out of the red but start making money.
Mark finally sat back. “I think you’re right.”
Colton smiled while keeping his eyes hard. “I know. Also, you should be aware if you ask me for more money again, I’m going to shoot you.”
Mark laughed and quickly sobered, his light brows slanting down. “Are you serious?”
“Yes.” Okay, he wouldn’t shoot Mark, but he might beat the crap out of him. “I told you not to invest in the other natural-oil company, and you didn’t listen. Now I have to go back to my board of directors and tell them times are going to be tight for the next year.” His board was his family, and he hated letting them down. But after the tough year, he’d work his ass off until times would be flush again, hopefully.
A flush time he’d like to spend with Melanie. The woman had never traveled. He’d love to take her somewhere warm for a winter vacation, somewhere they could find a private beach and play nude. Those breasts would probably burn. God, he loved her breasts.
His head jerked up. He had to stop her. If she needed a baby, he’d give her one.
Standing, he quickly shook Mark’s hand. “I have to go. Send me weekly reports until we’re back on track.” Ignoring Mark’s look of surprise, he hustled out of the office and all but ran for the car parked on the street.
Would it be too late?
The curse words he hissed as he maneuvered in and out of traffic compiled into a crazy flow of expressions. Where the hell did people learn to drive? Finally, he double parked in front of the skyscraper housing the sperm bank.
Running inside, he scanned the kiosk near the elevators. Fifth floor. She was on the fifth floor.
He skipped the elevator for the stairs, taking them two at a time. He burst into the waiting room, and several people glanced up from filling out forms. Lots of forms.
Long strides propelled him across the room to the receptionist’s granite desk. “I need to see Melanie Jacoby. Now.”
The receptionist, a buxom middle-aged redhead with deep frown lines, shook her head. “I’m sorry, but she’s in a procedure room.”
Oh, hell no. His brain had shut down hours ago, so his body took over. He shoved open the door next to the desk and hurried down a long hallway lined with closed doors. His boots echoed on the fake wooden floors.
“Melanie,” he bellowed, trying doorknobs.
One door opened to reveal a nude fat guy holding a plastic cup, and Colton yelped, slamming the door. “Sorry, dude. Lock the door.” God. That image was burned in his retinas for life.
“Melanie Jacoby,” he yelled louder.
A door opened farther down, and Melanie stepped out, pamphlets in her hands and her eyes wide. “What in the world?”
He took a deep breath. “Don’t do this. Have my baby instead.”
Chapter Thirteen
Melanie took a sip of her wine in the small alcove of the restaurant. The scent of garlic and roasted peppers wafted around. “You are out of your flipping mind,” she repeated.
Colton drew air in through his nose, his h
and around a glass of some man drink. “I know.” He grinned. “But you should’ve seen the face of the guy I stopped mid-jack.”
Laughter bubbled up in Melanie, and she snorted. “I bet you weren’t looking at his face.”
Colton groaned. “Don’t remind me.”
After hurrying from the clinic, Colton had driven them to his favorite pizza joint in the outskirts of Seattle. “So you didn’t get inseminated.”
“No. Even though I’m ovulating right now, I couldn’t do it.” Frankly, she had been having doubts and was no way prepared to make such a monumental decision. Well, not true. She’d decided to hold off because of Colton. She didn’t have to admit the truth to him, but she couldn’t lie to herself. “I don’t know what to do.”
Colton nodded. “Well, I was thinking. Say you get a baby from a sperm bank, and you have a boy. Who will teach the kid baseball?”
She hunched her shoulders. “Well, probably you, though I’m not bad.” Although Colt had been the best pitcher in Montana in high school and part of college before he’d turned to MMA fighting.
“Right. And who will attend those embarrassing your body is changing nights at school with him?” Colt took another drink of the clear liquid.
“You.” Melanie nodded.
“In other words, if you had a baby, I’d step in anyway.”
She sighed. Truth be told, any time she pictured a little boy, she pictured him with Colt’s intriguing hair and eyes. “I know.” Now she felt selfish for even considering having a baby. She wasn’t the only one whose life would change.
“So why not give the kid superior genes and a whole lot of cousins and family?” Colton showed a rare dimple in his right cheek.
Melanie lifted an eyebrow. “Superior genes?”
“I’m glad you agree.” Colton finished his drink as the pizza arrived.
She shook her head. “The timing is terrible. I mean, after we—”
Colton slipped pieces on their plates. “I know. The fact that we slept together does muddy the let’s have a baby waters.”
Melanie rubbed her eyes. “Life has gotten out of control.” It’d be smoother if she could take that night back, but deep down, she didn’t want to. “I can’t ask you to become a father right now. I know that’s not in your big plan.”
“My big plan?” he asked.
She grinned. Self-aware, he was not. “Sure. You plan everything. Go to school, check. Get masters, check. Take over family company, check. Talk Dawn into working there in a year or two, check. Open businesses with childhood friends, check. Play the field and have fun for a decade, check. Find hot, big-breasted blonde and settle down with three point two kids…”
He chewed thoughtfully and then sipped his water. “You know me pretty well, do you?”
“Yes.” The pizza warmed her belly, and she finally relaxed for the first time that day.
His gaze heated hotter than the pizza. “You believe in fate, right?”
She shrugged. “Sure. I live in Mineral Lake, Montana. Fate and destiny are in the waters. In fact, I’ve had a funky spirit guide who looks like a leprechaun ever since I was a kid. He believes in fate, although he believes in making your own.”
“Your spirit guide is a leprechaun?” Colt asked.
“No. I don’t know what he is. But he looks like a guy who’d guard a pot of gold. To be honest, I think he’s a couple cards short of a full deck.” But as a guide, she liked Bob.
“So, let’s proceed as if we just started dating, which frankly, we have, and see where fate leads us.” Colt signaled for another drink. “And we ditch the condoms, and let destiny decide.”
She coughed and then quickly took a drink of her wine. Colton—inside her—bare and hard? God. Heat slammed between her legs, and she shifted restlessly. Sex anywhere and anytime with Colton?
She tried to sound normal. “Let destiny decide? That is so unlike you. For years, I’ve watched you plan every relationship, up to and including the probable breakup.”
“I’ve never been with you before.”
Warmth spread right around her heart and settled in. If he didn’t stop being so sweet, she was going to fall even deeper in love with him. She cleared her throat. “What if I do get pregnant?”
“Then we proceed from there.” Colton accepted his new drink and didn’t seem to notice the waitress all but pressing her boobs against his shoulder and flirting.
Melanie waited until the woman had left. “If I get pregnant, you’ll convince yourself you’re in love with me, and then you’ll want to get married to fulfill your plan. I can’t take the pressure.” Even worse, what if he fell in love with somebody else down the line, and she was left alone? Because from the moment lightning had struck her the other night, it had become abundantly clear that Colton was it for her—and he still saw her as a buddy he wanted to help out.
The sides of his eyes crinkled. “I’d hate to pressure you, so let’s make a deal.”
Even she knew better than to make a deal with Colton Freeze. “What kind of a deal?”
“If I get you pregnant, I promise not to pressure you to marry me.” He leaned back, confidence in his eyes. “In fact, I’ll wait until you ask me.”
…
Colton opened the door to their hotel suite, smiling at Mel’s gasp of surprise. A stunning sunset illuminated the Seattle skyline outside the wide span of windows, and she hurried past the sitting room furniture toward them to get a better view.
His manic rush through a Seattle sperm bank had showed him one thing in exact clarity. He cared for Melanie too much not to be there for her and whatever baby she had. As always, he could plan this out. The woman reminded him of a skittish colt he’d trained as a teenager, all big eyes and hot temper.
This whole health problem made her even more reluctant to start up with him, so he’d proceed carefully until he figured out what was best for all of them.
He was good with planning. Melanie deserved someone who could give her the attention she needed. He had to save the family business, which might take years. If she did get pregnant, she’d need someone who could help and support her. That couldn’t be him. Being a husband and father took real commitment. He could teach the kid baseball, but the day-to-day, well he wouldn’t have the time. It killed him, but he wasn’t what she needed. He wasn’t good enough for her. The idea twisted his gut.
For now, they’d proceed slowly and have some fun.
He yanked his tie loose and tugged the silk free, unbuttoning the first couple of buttons on his shirt.
Melanie turned around as he was rolling up his sleeves.
Her eyes darkened and widened.
He bit back a smile. The expression crossing her face was one he’d never seen on her. Wary and intrigued. So he continued rolling up his sleeves and stalked toward her.
Slowly.
She swallowed. “I’m not sure about this side of you.” Her words emerged just breathless enough to awaken his cock.
“What side?” He continued toward her.
“You know.”
He knew exactly what she meant. But she was going to say the words. He reached her and grasped her chin to tilt her head. “What’s throwing you here?”
She blinked. “You’ve always been a bossy and protective pain, but this edge, is almost too much.”
God, she was sweet. He liked that she didn’t play coy, even when he kept her off center. Nor did she attempt to hide the desire now spiraling through her and darkening her stunning eyes. No other woman had ever come close to this one.
“I have never been bossy.” He ran his thumb along her lower lip, letting the softness entice him.
She rolled those eyes. “Baloney. If not bossy, then what?”
“In control.” He tightened his hold and slid his lips against hers. Once, twice, a third time. “I like to be in control in the bedroom, and you like giving it up.”
She gasped and jerked away. “I do not.”
Oh yeah. Cat and mouse. One of his
favorite games—and one he’d bet Melanie had never played. He leaned in until his mouth rested against her ear. “Sure you do. I bet you’re wet right now.”
Her hiss accompanied a two-handed push against his chest. But the intrigue crossing her face didn’t lie. “I am not.”
“Prove it.”
“You are such an ass.” She bit her lip against a half smile.
He grabbed her and kissed her hard until she pressed against him, little moans chorusing from her chest. Then he released her. “Watch that language, or I’ll do more than one little spank this time.”
The clouds slowly slipped from her eyes until they narrowed. “I don’t think so.”
“I do.” He ran his knuckle down the side of her face. “We both know I could have you begging, totally at my mercy, within minutes.”
Her gasp should’ve warned him. “Mercy?”
“Yes.” He kept his gaze on her smooth skin.
And thus didn’t see her leg shoot out to hook his. She took him down in a quick move he’d taught her about four years previous, turning them until he landed hard on his chest, her strong thighs straddling his back.
Her ass hit his just as she slipped an arm under his neck and pulled.
Then, against all logic, he burst into laughter. Not chuckles, not light amusement, but full-bore belly laughs that came from deeper than his heart.
Her execution of the move was beautiful.
He could barely breathe, his neck pulled back, her arm cutting off his air. The cold wooden floor chilled his skin, while his blood heated with lust.
“Stop laughing,” Mel hissed, pulling harder.
He couldn’t help it. Tears gathered in his eyes, and even with her chokehold gaining strength, he couldn’t stop laughing.
Until she released his neck, grabbed his hair, and smashed his forehead into the floor.
Pain radiated through his entire skull. He stopped laughing.
She. Did. Not.
Using his knee, he flipped over, grabbed her arms, and rolled until she lay flat on her back beneath him. “That last move is supposed to knock an opponent unconscious,” he ground out, his head aching.
Rising Assets Page 9
