“Are you saying that you don’t want to marry me?”
“I was willing to do the honorable thing and marry you since you’re carrying my child,” he said. “I realize now that you’re right. Neither of us can get what we want from a marriage to each other. You’ll eventually find some man who will be able to give you the love you need, and in five years, I’ll choose my proper mate.”
“I don’t know what to say.” Paige felt as if she’d been hit by a two-ton truck. This was the reaction she had halfway expected when Jared first learned that she was pregnant. But not now. Not after he’d spent weeks pursuing her, showering her with gifts and attention, and pleading with her to be his wife.
“You don’t have to say anything, except that you agree to my terms. I’m prepared to give you what you asked for in the beginning, and that was for you to be allowed to continue working here at Montgomery’s until the baby is born. I won’t interfere in your life, other than as your employer and as Angela’s father. I think you’ll agree that I do have a right to be concerned about my child.”
“Yes, of course you have a right. It’s just that I—”
“We can meet with my lawyer tomorrow and iron out all the details concerning child support and visitation. And whenever you decide about the house, just let me know.”
“I won’t need a house,” she said. “My apartment has a small room that I use for storage. I can turn that into a nursery.”
“Fine.” He nodded his head. “But later on, in a year or so, if you decide you want the house or one of the new condos Montgomery’s is building, you can let me know.”
“All right.”
“What about allowing me to finance your business?” he asked. “I’d be doing it as much for Angela as for you.”
“I’ll think about it. But if—and that’s a big if—I allow you to help me buy my doll shop and set me up in business, I’ll consider it a loan and I’ll repay it with interest.”
If Paige was acting, she was giving an Academy Award-winning performance, Jared decided. But it was too soon to tell. He had to stick to his plan and wait it out, until he was certain he could trust Paige.
“All right. We’ll consider it a loan, if that’s the way you want it.”
“That’s the way I want it.”
Paige seemed to be disappointed that he’d given up his pursuit to marry her. But he was relatively certain that she was merely in a state of shock over his abrupt change of heart, and that once she had time to carefully consider his new plan, she would readily agree. Unless her reluctance to marry him really had been an act…. Time would tell. If he had misjudged Paige, she’d give herself away soon enough. If marriage without a prenuptial agreement had been her goal all along, then she’d be forced to pursue him from now on.
“Is that all?” she asked. “Is our discussion concluded? May I leave?”
“Will you meet with my lawyer and sign the agreement tomorrow?”
“Not tomorrow. I’ll want my own lawyer to take a look at the agreement first.” Paige stood on unsteady legs, willing herself not to stumble on her way out of his office. She held out her hand. “Agreed?”
“Agreed.” He gripped her hand in his, shaking it soundly. But he didn’t want to let her go. He wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her. He wanted to add an amendment to their agreement. One that said she would be his lover for as long as he wanted her.
He might not trust Paige, but he couldn’t deny the desire that raged inside him. That hot desire could easily be his downfall if he didn’t control it. A shrewd woman would know how to use it against him.
Paige jerked her hand out of his grasp. Their gazes met and held for one long, endless moment, then she looked away and turned, hurrying toward the door.
“Oh, one other thing,” Jared said.
She stopped in the doorway but didn’t turn around. “I’m driving into Denver next Tuesday for a business meeting. It’ll be an overnight trip. I’ll need you to go along. As my administrative assistant.”
“Overnight?”
“Separate rooms, I promise.”
“Strictly business?”
“Business and friendship,” he said. “It will make things a lot easier all the way around if you and I can be friends.” He crossed the room, halted a foot away from her and reached out, placing his hand on her shoulder. Fighting the urge to take her in his arms and ravish her, Jared squeezed her shoulder gently. “We can put off signing the agreement until after our trip to Denver. We can take that time alone to discuss our child and her future. What do you say?”
“I’ll think about it and let you know.”
She walked away, through her office and out into the hallway. Jared had the oddest notion that she was rushing off in tears. Surely he was mistaken. Why would she be crying? She’d gotten what she wanted. Or had she?
* * *
Even after they were under way, heading south to I-70, Paige wasn’t sure she’d made the right decision. But in the week following Jared’s return from his Texas ranch, he had neither said nor done anything to suggest that he wasn’t one hundred percent sincere about their new agreement. Except for his occasional comments about the baby, he maintained a completely professional attitude toward her. He was her courteous, considerate employer and she was his competent, loyal employee.
Her doubts followed her all the way to Denver as they connected with I-70, which took them directly into the Mile-High City.
“Why don’t we simply fly to Denver in the company jet and return immediately following the business meeting?” she had questioned him before they left town.
“To be perfectly honest, Paige, I want some time alone with you. Away from the office and away from Grand Springs,” he’d said. “You and I have some major decisions to make about our lives and our daughter’s life. I thought this trip would give us the opportunity to get to know each other a little better…as friends. If we’re going to raise a child together, we should at least be friends, don’t you think?”
He was right, of course, and although her instincts cautioned her that she might be heading into trouble, she agreed to make the trip with him.
During the two-and-a-half hour drive in Jared’s new Jeep Grand Cherokee, he kept up a running conversation on various subjects. Gradually Paige realized that the two of them actually had quite a lot in common, despite the vast difference in their backgrounds. They enjoyed skiing, horseback riding, camping, canoeing and fishing.
“I had no idea you were such an outdoor girl.” He looked at her as if seeing her for the first time. “I assumed a woman whose passion is buying, selling and restoring dolls wouldn’t be into macho stuff like camping and fishing.”
“You forget that I grew up with a very macho father and two gung ho younger brothers. In my family, I either learned to enjoy macho stuff or I got left out.”
When Jared put on a Luke Bryan CD, they discovered that they both loved country music. And that led to a discussion about music in general, which revealed their mutual enjoyment of classical and their dislike for hard rock.
They arrived in Denver at ten-thirty, just in time to freshen up before Jared’s eleven o’clock appointment. Five minutes into the business meeting with a group of potential investors, Paige realized that her presence was unnecessary. The minute the meeting ended, at a quarter to twelve, she confronted him. He admitted that requesting her secretarial skills for the business trip had been a ruse.
“I knew that if I was totally honest with you and told you that I wanted to bring you to Denver on a shopping trip, you would have balked at the idea,” he told her.
“A shopping trip?”
“For maternity clothes, and for a complete layette, for everything our baby will need.”
“But, Jared—”
“Come on, Paige. This is something I want to do for you and our child.”
“I don’t know….”
“Look, honey, as the baby’s father, I not only have certain rights, but certain oblig
ations, too. Don’t you agree?”
“Yes, of course. It’s just that—”
“Even if we aren’t going to marry, I want to fulfill my obligations.”
“All right,” she reluctantly agreed.
He took her to lunch at European Café on Market Street, a three-story renovated brick warehouse decorated with antique carved-oak paneling. They dined on one of the chef’s specialties, filet mignottee “monsieur Louis” and discussed the Lamaze classes they agreed to take together.
They spent hours at Cherry Creek North, checking out the wonderful boutiques and stopping for a late afternoon dessert at one of the sidewalk cafés strung along First, Second and Third Avenues.
Jared made every decision. He chose every item for her and the child. As much as she loved having a new maternity wardrobe, she would have enjoyed it more if she’d been able to choose it herself.
This is what it would be like being married to Jared, she told herself. You aren’t even married to him and he’s already running your life to suit himself!
They filled the back of the Jeep with boxes of maternity clothes and matching accessories, and Jared made arrangements to have all the items he had purchased for the baby shipped to Grand Springs.
By the time they arrived at the Brown Palace Hotel on Seventeenth Street in downtown Denver, it was after six in the evening and Paige was exhausted. When the bellhop opened the doors to their suite, Paige’s mouth fell open. Stopping just inside the sitting room, she surveyed the fine antique furniture, lamps and mirrors. She had never seen anything quite so luxuriously elegant outside the pages of a magazine.
“Take the lady’s bag in there,” Jared instructed the bellhop, then turned to Paige. “Why don’t you go on into your room and take a nap before dinner? I know you’re exhausted. I’m afraid I let you overdo it today.”
“We’re sharing a suite?” Paige asked.
“Separate bedrooms,” he reminded her.
“Oh, yes, of course.” The bellhop opened the door to her room and carried in her small overnight bag. Paige followed, pausing in the doorway to turn and smile weakly at Jared. “I am tired. I think I’ll take a short nap.”
“Rest as long as you’d like,” Jared said. “I’ve planned a late dinner here in the suite. I thought that would be better for you after such a tiring day.”
“Yes, thank you. Dinner here would be nice.”
Once alone in her bedroom, she closed the door and took a deep breath. Even at his best, Jared was the most aggressive, overwhelming, take-charge man she’d ever known.
Despite wearing low heels, Paige’s feet ached from the hours of shopping. She kicked off her shoes, removed her coat and fell across the four-poster bed. Looking straight up, she gasped when she saw her mirrored reflection staring down at her.
Scooting off the bed, she glanced around the Victorian-style room while she undressed down to her slip. There was no telling what this suite cost per day, she thought, but then what did it matter to a man as wealthy as Jared.
She lay on top of the bedspread, nestled her head in the crook of her arm and dozed off to sleep, thinking about Jared. Jared with the mesmerizing green eyes. Jared with the devastating smile. Jared with the hard, lean body. Jared. Jared. Jared.
* * *
Jared reclined on the sofa. A half-finished rusty nail on the rocks rested on a coaster atop the coffee table, within arm’s reach. A copy of the Denver Post lay on the floor at his side. He had accomplished a great deal today, far more than just touching base with some potential investors. Of course, his main objective had been to persuade Paige to accept his offer of a maternity wardrobe and a complete layette for Angela. She had protested at first, but then once the shopping bug bit her, she’d been unable to resist temptation.
What woman could have resisted spending his money? This was the first time in Paige’s life that she’d been able to afford the best of everything.
After seeing, firsthand, what it could be like as his wife, with unlimited resources, would Paige start pursuing him? Now that he wasn’t begging her to marry him, would she realize that she wanted to accept what he was offering—marriage without love—once she’d signed the prenuptial agreement protecting his assets in case of a divorce?
The ringing telephone roused Jared from his memories of a pleasant afternoon. He picked up the receiver. “Montgomery. Yes, that’s right. Eight-thirty. No, I don’t want any champagne. I ordered sparkling cider. The lady is pregnant. Just make sure everything is perfect.”
He glanced at his watch. Seven-fifteen. He hadn’t heard a sound from Paige’s room since they first arrived. In sock feet, he crossed the sitting area, eased open her bedroom door and peeked in. Lying there on her side, in her half-slip and bra, her long red hair spread out across the pale bedspread, Paige looked like a sleeping beauty. Warmly flushed. Soft and delicate. Small, vulnerable and helpless. And sexy as hell.
He had told this woman he wanted them to be friends, and he did. But he wanted more. Paige had given herself to him once, freely, completely, going wild in his arms. But he now realized that her total abandon with him that night in the elevator had been uncharacteristic behavior for Paige Summers. She wasn’t the type of woman who went around having sex with strangers, and he’d bet his last dollar that he was the only man who’d ever made her lose complete control.
He knew for a fact that she was the only woman who’d ever made him lose complete control. And that fact scared the hell out of him. He refused to allow anyone to have that kind of power over him.
Jared’s sex hardened instantly and he cursed himself for wanting Paige. And why this woman, more than any other? What was so damn special about her? He could pretty well have his pick of women—everyone except the woman he wanted most. In every former relationship, no matter how passionate he felt about the lady, he never completely lost control. He made the rules. He said when things started and when they ended. And he’d never been enamored for more than a couple of months at a time.
But Paige Summers had changed everything. One wild, impetuous encounter with her in a stalled elevator had wreaked havoc on his orderly life. She’d turned him into a crazed lunatic, panting after her, begging her to marry him. And now, when he thought he’d finally taken back control of his life, he found himself longing for her more than ever.
Easing quietly across the room, he looked down at Paige. Her lush, Madonna-like femininity took his breath away. Her full, round breasts, already enlarged and preparing to nourish his child, strained against the lace cups of her bra. Her once flat stomach now bulged slightly, cradling the baby girl they had created together in their passion.
Unable to resist the lure of her beauty, Jared sat down on the bed beside her. He ran the back of his hand gently across her cheek. She stirred, sighing deeply, then opened her eyes and smiled.
“It’s nearly seven-thirty,” he told her. “We’re having dinner in an hour. I thought you might want to freshen up first, maybe even take a bath.”
She stretched lazily, like a newly awakened kitten, then glanced down at her undressed state. “Oh, I—I—” She crossed her arms over her breasts.
Jared pulled her hands away, grasped her wrists and lifted her arms over his shoulders as she rose into a sitting position. Her breasts brushed across his chest. She sucked in a startled breath.
“I’ve seen you in less,” he said. “Don’t be embarrassed.” He found it difficult not to take advantage of their intimacy, not to draw her into his arms and kiss her. But he didn’t dare. If he gave in to his desire for this woman, he’d be lost. And this time, he might not have the strength to regain control. Rising slowly from the bed, he took her hands into his and dragged her across the wrinkled spread. “I’ve ordered a platter of fresh fruit, breads and cheeses. I remembered from our lunches together how much you like that stuff.”
She knew she should feel uncomfortable standing there in her underwear while Jared discussed their dinner menu, but she didn’t. Somehow it felt natural t
o be alone with him, in her bedroom and partially undressed.
“I think I will take a bath and change clothes,” she said. “I feel pretty grimy after all that shopping and then my nap.”
“Take all the time you need.” Reluctantly he released her hands.
Before he closed the bedroom door behind him, Paige rushed into the bathroom. She had to escape, had to get away from Jared before she made a fool of herself. No matter how many times she told herself that she couldn’t possibly be in love with a man like Jared, her heart and her body told her the exact opposite.
She had no control of the sexual attraction she felt for him, the pure animalistic lust that overpowered them both. She didn’t want to love Jared. She’d tried not to care about him. He was arrogant and overbearing, qualities she disliked, but he was also a strong, dependable man with a sense of honor she admired. He might think himself incapable of love. but she knew better. He had shown her how very caring and generous he could be.
Unfortunately, even with all his millions, Jared lacked the most important thing in the world. Love. And it was obvious to Paige that he was a man greatly in need of love. Perhaps that was why she was so drawn to him on an emotional level, why despite all his faults, she wanted to give him the one thing his money could never buy.
* * *
Dinner arrived promptly at eight-thirty. The waiter placed the meal on the table, arranged the small centerpiece bouquet and lit the candles. Jared turned off all the lights, except one table lamp, allowing the candles to create a cosy, comfortable atmosphere. All this scene needed was music, he thought, and remembered the digital clock radio on his nightstand. He flipped hurriedly through the stations until he heard the incomparable strains of a Strauss waltz.
At precisely eight-forty, Paige entered the sitting room. The sight of her in a dusty rose cotton dress with an empire waist and embroidered bodice took Jared’s breath away. She’d left her hair loose, and the mane of burgundy silk cascaded down her back.
Nine Months Part 2 (36 Hours) Page 5
