“So that’s what you used to start your business?”
“No,” he said. “Like my mother, I didn’t want anything from that man. When she died, he didn’t even come to the funeral. He called me and said he was out of the country and wouldn’t be able to make it. That was the last time that I spoke to him. I tried to arrange for my attorney to return all of the money to him, but he refused it. I only used the money my parents left me to live on while I started my business on my own. That’s a big part of why I work so hard to keep it flourishing. It means something to me, not the money but the fact that I succeeded on my own. I also want the old man to know that I don’t want anything from him. I want that to be his last thought before he dies old and alone.”
“Wow.” I hadn’t known what to say other than that. It helped explain a lot of his quirks like his emotional unavailability, his strong hold on his private issues and his fear of any kind of commitment. It also made me a little concerned about what his views on family bonds might be like.
“Let’s go to the beach, Holly,” Aiden said, out of the blue.
“Really?”
“Yeah, really. How long has it been since you’ve gone to the beach?”
“Quite a long time,” I admitted.
“Then we both need to get away. I can only go for the day but let’s say we’ll leave around ten tomorrow and go out to the Jersey shore.”
“That sounds great,” I told him, trying not to sound quite as excited as I felt.
“I’d take you to my Island but we’d have to take a boat and it’s not really doable in a day.”
I had to remind myself to close my mouth.
“You have an Island?”
“Yeah, it was a guilt present from the old man. He deeded it to me the day of her funeral. Another thing I wasn’t aware of until years later.”
“A whole island?” I was having trouble wrapping my head around it. Who owns an entire island? I wondered if even Aiden knew how wealthy he actually was.
Chapter Eleven
~
So here I was getting ready for a trip to the Jersey shore with a man who owned an entire Island. It was somewhat surreal.
“Are you ready?” he asked me around ten.
“I’m ready,” I told him, still trying to contain my excitement. I hadn’t been on any kind of vacation since my father died over ten years ago. The thought of a simple trip to Jersey was thrilling to me.
The driver took us to a place called Avalon. I had never been there of course, but I had also never heard of it. Aiden told me that King James I granted it as a Province in 1584 and that it was fishing and hunting area for those first two hundred and fifty years. In the 1800’s a developer had a vision to turn it into a resort destination. Since then it has become a tourist hotspot, but more of an upscale one than others that surround it.
We were at a place called Seven Mile Beach. As soon as I stepped out of the car I could feel the cool ocean breeze against my face and taste the salty air on my tongue. The wind was blowing slightly and the waves were crashing in beautiful, serene arcs. We were surrounded by tall dunes and miles of pure, clean white sand. There was no commercial boardwalk and although the city of Avalon boasted a number of small boutique stores and several upscale restaurants, the beach was quiet and looked almost untouched. I could actually see whole seashells just lying out on the beach. I would have loved this place as a kid. I remember coming out with my father when I was little. We went to the boardwalk though and the seashells that hadn’t been crushed or picked over were few and far between.
Aiden took my hand like we were lovers, or at least friends. I guess we were, in a way. We began to walk along the beach, stopping occasionally to look into a tide pool or to inspect an indigenous plant. I couldn’t remember when I’d ever felt so relaxed, and I knew that since I’d met Aiden I had never seen him so happy.
AIDEN
I don’t remember the last time I took the time to do something so relaxing. Maybe I never have. My ex-wife told me that was why she’d turned to my best friend. She said that I worked too much and made everything about business and money. She said that I didn’t know how to have fun and that’s what life was supposed to be about.
I do remember that my life was fast paced while she and I were together, but I had taken time with the baby. I actually took a two week vacation when he was born and for the next two years…before she took him away from me, I made time to see him every day. I’m sure that if I had been given the chance, I would have continued to find time to spend with him, I could have learned a new way of life.
But if I was being honest, she was right about me not taking time for her. I was under the assumption that she understood that I was doing what I needed to do for our family. She was an adult she should have been able to understand, right? I was creating a legacy that our son and his children and their children could live off of for generations. She didn’t understand though apparently. Instead, she hooked up with my best friend and had a baby she considered passing off as mine. Well, she did pass off as mine, at least long enough for her and her new man to save some money from the job I had given him. I still thought it was important to leave something for your family when you’re gone, I think never remarrying, and the contract that I have with Holly are my best bets. I will have my child and no one will be able to take him or her away.
I stopped and sat on a rock while Holly explored, oohing and aahing at everything she saw. It was fun to look at things through her eyes. There was so much of life she had never experienced that it was almost like being with a child when she did. I slipped off my shoes and socks which was something else I hadn’t done before, at least not since I was a kid, and as I followed her along the sparkling white beach with the scent of the ocean in my nostrils, I realized that I liked it. The feel of the warm sand beneath my feet was somehow relaxing in itself. I looked at Holly, splashing barefoot along the edge of the blue-green ocean and I realized I liked her too, probably too much. But I understood that this was a business deal, a contracted arrangement. I was able to separate my emotions from my business. She looked at me then with one of her dazzling smiles and I found myself hoping that she truly understood it as well. Sometimes I was a little bit worried that she was getting too attached.
“This beach is so pretty, and there’s hardly anyone else here. It’s like our own private island,” she said. Then, remembering what I’d told her earlier she added, “Oh not that having your own private island is anything new to you.”
I laughed and said, “Well, it’s not like I’ve ever been there.”
“Are you kidding? You have an island and you’ve never even seen it?”
“I’ve seen photos,” I told her with a grin. “I don’t have time to be sitting around on an island. It’s pretty far out, not just a day trip.”
“Well, it will be good anyways when you have your child. Imagine taking boating trips out to an island that your father owns and spending days exploring it. It makes me want to be a child again just thinking about it.”
I did like the way she said, “Your child,” but I didn’t care for the fact that she was trying to tell me what I should or shouldn’t be doing with him or her.
“I think having a child might decrease the amount of time I have to spend on an island, rather than increase it,” I said. That might not be the case, but I suddenly felt the need to make her understand that she wouldn’t have a say in how the child was raised.
She stopped walking and said, “Really? A vacation exploring with your child doesn’t appeal to you at all?”
“He can explore, of course. I’ll send him with his staff.”
“With his staff? Are you serious?” she laughed, but I could tell she wasn’t amused.
“Of course, why wouldn’t I be? I’ll need a nanny and then when you throw in a driver and a cook…well, then it’s a full staff pretty much.”
“But to say he’ll explore the world with his staff? Aiden you realize that children need t
heir parents attention, right? Not just a pat on the head every now and again?”
I felt the annoyance flare hotter. She really was trying to tell me how I should raise my child. The one that she was being paid very well to walk away from. It made me angry and I snapped at her, “You realize that you have no say-so on the subject, right? This will be my child, not yours and I will raise him as I see fit. I’d prefer that you kept your opinions on that subject to yourself.”
She looked hurt, or maybe just shocked that I would speak to her that way. I felt bad about hurting her feelings by the way I’d said it, but I didn’t regret what I said. She seems to forget sometimes that we’re not actually a couple and that we’re not making a family together. It was all in black and white in the contract.
“I’m sorry for snapping at you,” I said, hoping that would appease her.
“It’s fine,” she said. “You’re right; it’s your child and your business.” She didn’t seem like it was fine and as she spoke I felt even worse about hurting her. I was really not an ass. I just wanted…no; I needed to keep things pragmatic. Her lips were pursed in a defensive way and I couldn’t help thinking about how sweet they always tasted. A sensation passed through my body and although I knew I should leave it alone for now so that she didn’t continue to get the wrong idea, I was compelled to kiss her. I covered the small space between us in one step and had her in my arms, kissing her, feeling her warm body against mine in two thrilling seconds.
When we came up for air she said, “What was that about?”
“Foreplay,” I told her. I was trying to be cute and charming but she furrowed her brow like she didn’t understand. “I was thinking of a long day at the beach, lunch in a nice restaurant and then a marathon of baby making sex when we get back…so that was foreplay.”
She smiled, but it looked forced. I saw something pass across her eyes and I wished for the first time that I knew what she was thinking. I told myself it didn’t matter, like the way I plan to raise my child; her thoughts were not my business. We had a contract and she signed it. I signed it and I hope that we both intended to honor it.
HOLLY
We did go home that night and make love for hours. I suppose to protect my heart, I should just refer to it as baby-making sex the way that Aiden does. It’s hard for me to see it that way. When we’re alone in that bed together he’s so sweet and tender and I hesitate to say it…loving. He’s a very unselfish lover and I shudder to think of the trail of broken hearts he had likely left in his wake.
But, I told myself, no matter how sweet it was, the next morning I always wake up alone. During the day I can tell that he’s doing all he can to keep our relationship on a business level. The day at the beach when he kissed me I was shocked because he usually didn’t do that out of the blue. All of our affection is usually relegated to the bedroom. I had to wonder if he was only feeling guilty about snapping at me, or if he was beginning to have real feelings as well. I hated to admit it, but I was hoping for the latter. He was very good at guarding his feelings and I also had to wonder how good that was going to be when he had a child and he was the only parent. I did hope he knew that the child was not going to be content or even healthy if the only attention and affection he was getting was from the staff. I hoped he knew he wasn’t going to be able to treat that child like a possession…like something he’d paid for…which he did. After the way he snapped at me though, I suppose I should remember to keep those opinions to myself.
It was Monday morning now and time for my weekly visit to the doctor. I was sitting in his lobby, flipping through a magazine, but not really seeing it. It had been two straight months and there was only one week during that time when we hadn’t had sex at least once a night. That was during my menstrual cycle. Other than that it was anywhere from one to three times a night. Sometimes he was insatiable and I almost couldn’t keep up with him. It was another reason I was able to lie to myself and believe that he felt something for me…who has that much sex with someone they don’t care for?
“Miss Valentine?” The nurse brought me out of my reverie. “Dr. Lewis is ready to see you now.” She had already taken all of my vitals and had me pee in a cup; the routine was the same every week. Then when the doctor was ready I would go back and he would tell me that I was in excellent health, but not pregnant yet. It all seemed like a waste of time and money to me, but Aiden insisted and he was the one paying the bills.
I followed the nurse through the double doors and down a long, quiet hall with lots of windows and green plants. I was starting to notice that places designed for the well-to-do were also designed for discretion. All of the doors were shut tight and I hadn’t seen another patient, not even in the halls. She showed me to my usual room and said, “Just go ahead and have a seat on the exam table. Dr. Lewis will be right in.”
I thanked her and picked up a copy of People magazine to thumb through while I waited. My thoughts started spinning again and I was happy that I didn’t have long to wait. Dr. Lewis came in carrying my chart within minutes.
“Hello, Holly. How are you doing today?”
“I’m doing well, doc. How are you?” I asked.
He smiled and said, “Good, thanks for asking. I have good news for you as well.”
I felt a tingle down my spine. Was he about to tell me that I was pregnant? Finally?
“Am I…?”
His grin grew wider and he said, “Yes, you’re pregnant, Holly. Just about six weeks along.”
“Yay!” I hooted out. I was so excited.
“Aiden’s going to be really happy, isn’t he?”
“Yes, he’ll be so excited, thank you doctor!”
He laughed and said, “You’re welcome.” Then he began to explain to me what would happen from here on out. “Not your visit next week, but the one after we’ll do a sonogram to get a more accurate conception date. Then we’ll do them about every two months to make sure that the baby is growing and healthy. I’m going to give you a prescription for prenatal vitamins as well. Otherwise, keep doing what you’ve been doing. You’re a very healthy young lady. Your body will most definitely undergo a lot of changes though, so if anything concerns you or leaves you with questions please don’t hesitate to call me.”
I told him I would, took my prescription, thanked him again and left. I got into the back of the limousine, trying to act naturally. I didn’t want anyone to know, or guess until I’d had a chance to tell Aiden. I thought all the way home about what I would make us for dinner and dessert, and how I would tell him.
I was filled with so many different emotions. There was a mixture of anticipation and relief that worried me. I knew the relief was because Aiden was beginning to get a little anxious over it taking so long, but the anticipation? Why was I anticipating nine months of a growing body, aches and pains, morning sickness…when all I had to look forward to at the end was packing my bags and leaving before the baby even makes it home to the nursery. The more I anticipated it, the more it was going to sting in the end.
When I got up to the penthouse I made a cup of tea and took it out on the balcony. I sat down on one of the loungers and leaned back into it. I closed my eyes and I let myself do something that I hadn’t done since this whole thing started…remember what my thoughts used to be on becoming a mother.
My own mother and I hadn’t had a good relationship for a long time. That had skewed my outlook a bit on motherhood. But before that, when things were good in my family I used to, like all other little girls, dream of the big wedding and the honeymoon on a beach and the big house where after a while I would discover that I was pregnant with our child and we would both be dancing on air.
We would embark on that new journey together and he would be at my side every step of the way. We would count our blessings…together. I would carry around my baby dolls and call myself “Mama.” I remember my dad telling me what a good mother I was going to be someday. I wondered what he would think of me now, but then I reminded myself that t
hings would be so much different if he were still around.
An Heir At Any Price: The Billionaire's Obsession - Contemporary Romance Page 9
