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  “I guess.” He was being so logical and rational. Normally she appreciated that. But along with the wooziness, she seemed to be fighting some pretty impressive mood swings. “If you’re sincere about the business—”

  “I am.”

  “Then let’s talk.”

  “Good. Okay.”

  He smiled. It shouldn’t have meant anything. Men smiled all the time. But there was something about Ryan’s smile, about the way he stared into her eyes, as if she had his full attention. He made her knees go weak and she wasn’t even standing.

  “Is that offer for coffee still open?” he asked.

  “Sure. How do you take it?”

  “Black.”

  She stood and shook her head. “Such a typical guy.”

  “Of course. Come on. Admit it—you’d have no respect for me if I asked for three sugars and hazelnut flavored cream.”

  That made her laugh. “You’re right. I’ll be back.”

  “I’ll come with you.”

  “You don’t have to.” Her plan had been to escape for a minute and get herself together. Having him tag along would make the whole “get together” bit complicated.

  But there was no polite way to say no, so she led him into the break room and grabbed a clean mug from the tray by the full coffeepot.

  “You don’t have staff?” he asked.

  “I do, but I prefer not to waste her time on errands. The other two associates I share her with don’t agree with my position.” She glanced at him over her shoulder. “Leah likes me much better.”

  “I’m sure she does.”

  He smiled again and Julie found herself caught up in the moment. Unfortunately, she was pouring coffee at the time and when the mug was full, the hot liquid poured over the sides and onto her hand.

  “Ouch!”

  She set the mug on the counter and shook off her hand, her skin burning. Suddenly Ryan was at her side. He took the pot from her, then nudged her over to the sink. While standing behind her, he took her injured hand in his and held it under the cold water.

  “I didn’t know you were a klutz,” he said conversationally.

  “I’m not usually.”

  She wasn’t. She’d been distracted. She still was.

  He stood right behind her—his front pressing against her back. She could feel the strength and power of his body, along with the heat.

  Warmth seeped into her, making her want to sigh and rub and stroke. She could feel his fingers on her hand, his arm pressing against her. He was leaning forward, his face right next to hers.

  If she turned just a little bit to the right, their mouths would be inches apart.

  She wanted to kiss him. It didn’t matter that she practically hated him, she still felt longing building up inside of her.

  Just one kiss. It didn’t have to last very long. Just mouths pressing, tongues stroking, bodies—

  She jerked her hand free and stepped to the side. “I’m good. Thanks.”

  She pulled a paper towel from the holder and dried her hand, then mopped up the spill on the counter. After collecting a bottle of water for herself, she led the way back to the conference room.

  Her insides felt soft and mushy. Her panties were damp and that place between her thighs was swollen and achy.

  Pathetic, she thought grimly as she sat down and tried to gather her thoughts together. She was deeply pathetic. How could he have reduced her to a puddle after just one night? Sure, it had been a great night, but she’d had great nights before.

  Well, not that great. But still.

  She reached for her pen. “Why don’t you outline what you have in mind,” she said.

  Ryan began to talk about the business. Julie took notes, but she wasn’t really listening. How could he be so unaffected by what had just happened? Wouldn’t that be horrible—if the attraction was all one-sided? Life couldn’t possibly be that unfair.

  “We provide venture capital and retain a major interest in each of our companies. The goal is to take them all public, but when that doesn’t happen, we sometimes sell them. Right now there are three specific firms I need help with. Two are looking to do business with China, while the third is perfect for overseas manufacturing. I assume you have contacts in China.”

  She looked at him. Now it was her turn to smile. “Of course. Personal as well as professional.”

  “Want to explain that?”

  “We had a neighbor when I was growing up. Mrs. Wu had been a teacher. She retired only to discover she was bored with too much time on her hands. She taught my sisters and I Mandarin. I’m the only one who was really interested. When I was in high school, she took me to China with her to visit her family. I went back the following two summers and did a semester in China during college.”

  “Impressive.”

  “Thank you.”

  “What happens now?” he asked. “You’ll want specific information on the companies.”

  “Absolutely. Also what, if anything, you’ve already done to establish relationships in China. We’ll work on a retainer agreement, with my time billed in quarter-hour segments.”

  “Seems reasonable.”

  “I’ll want a substantial sum up front.”

  She would ask for more than the firm usually suggested, mostly to cover her butt.

  He sipped his coffee. “You still don’t trust me.”

  “I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, but I’m not willing to be stupid.” No matter how her body reacted to him.

  “Fair enough.” His dark gaze settled on her face. “Todd and I are both only children. We grew up spending a lot of time together. We became as close as brothers.”

  “A bit of a non sequitur, but okay. And I already know this part. It’s why you agreed to do his dirty work.”

  He ignored her. “We grew up rich. From the time we were teenagers there were girls, then later women, willing to do anything to get close. They weren’t interested in us—they wanted the money.”

  “I refuse to believe every female you’ve ever met has ignored who you are in favor of your bank account.”

  “Not everyone, but enough. Under the circumstances, knowing what our aunt had promised you and your sisters, it wasn’t unreasonable I think that about you.”

  Julie opened her mouth, then closed it. Okay, maybe she could see his point. “I know what it looks like, but that isn’t the way it is.”

  “I believe you. Can you do the same? Can you possibly understand why Todd and I might suspect you weren’t any different?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe. So don’t go on the date. Refuse. Setting up a stranger to teach her a lesson to punish her for every other bitchy female you’ve met isn’t right.”

  “Agreed. So you can see my side?”

  He was starting to get on her nerves. What did he want? “Yes, your childhood was very tragic. Poor rich boys liked by millions for all the wrong reasons.”

  “You’re not easy.”

  “I don’t try to be. I’ve said I’ll try to understand why you thought the worst of me and I’ll accept your apology for what you did, but that doesn’t mean I approve of it or even understand your actions. I still don’t trust you.”

  “You’re going to have to try. We’ll be a family.”

  On what planet? “Not under any definition I can think of. We’ll be co-parenting a child. That doesn’t make us a family.”

  “You can call it what you want,” he told her, “but having a baby together makes us a family. Everything has changed, Julie. There’s more here than what each of us feels. There’s a third life. Our child deserves the best from us. That’s why I think we should get married.”

  Seven

  “Married?” Julie sprang to her feet and stared down at Ryan. “Are you insane? Married? What the hell is wrong with you?”

  She suddenly remembered the glass walls and sat down again. She lowered her voice, but she wasn’t any less pissed off.

  “If this is your idea of a joke, it’
s not funny. It’s horrible.” Married? What was he thinking? And just when she’d decided he might not be so awful after all.

  “Horrible?” he asked, sounding disgustingly calm. “How so?”

  “We don’t even like each other,” she muttered. “What about being married would be pleasant?”

  “I do like you,” he said. “Aside from a single act you can’t forgive, I think you like me. Getting married for the sake of a baby is a time-honored tradition.”

  “In what century?”

  Had he really said he liked her? She shook her head. She had to get a grip. Who cared if he liked her? She would never marry Ryan—not in her lifetime.

  “We’re rational, intelligent adults,” Ryan said. “We’re having a baby together. We’ll both want our child to have the best of everything and that means having both parents around. Do you really want to be a single mother?”

  “Yes. I’m fine with it. I was raised by a single mother.” Sort of. Technically there was a father, but it wasn’t as if he’d ever bothered to stay more than fifteen minutes at a time.

  “I think it’s important to have both parents around if at all possible,” he told her.

  “Great, but it’s not possible.”

  “Why?”

  Why? She hated that he was sitting there, discussing this, all cool and composed while she was wishing they were in the law library so she could throw some really heavy books at his head.

  “I don’t want to marry you,” she said, making her words as clear as possible.

  “Why not?”

  She was going to kill him and it wasn’t going to be her fault. “I don’t know you. Despite what your ego-inflated brain tells you, I don’t particularly like you. I’m not interested in getting married for some arcane sociological reason and I think a single parent can do a perfectly excellent job.”

  “We could try.”

  What was with him? Why did he keep pushing? And why was she both furious and incredibly sad?

  “I don’t want to try. Not with you.”

  “Okay. So it’s not me,” he said. “You object to marriage in general.”

  “I do not. I want to get married. Someday.” When men stopped lying to her. “Just not now and not to you. You’re a man who assumes all women are after his money. I couldn’t stand that.”

  “You’re saying you’d object to a prenuptial agreement? Protecting my assets is only reasonable.”

  Right now he should be a whole lot more worried about his ass than his assets, she thought grimly as she briefly glanced around, looking for something sharp so she could stab him.

  “You need to go,” she said between gritted teeth. “Seriously, I have work to do. I know you don’t understand how I could possibly turn down your incredibly flattering offer. Based on your view of women, there must be thousands who would take the plunge, especially after such a romantic proposal. Be still my heart. Wait. It is.”

  One corner of his mouth twitched, as if he found this funny. That made her want to grind him into dust.

  “So much energy,” he said in an infuriatingly soothing tone. “Makes me wonder what you’re hiding. Getting married isn’t all that unexpected a concept, Julie. So what are you really upset about?”

  She stood. “This has been fabulous. We should do it again. Maybe have a party, exchange gift bags.”

  He stood and walked around to her side of the table, took her hand and pushed her back into a corner of the room. One where they were out of sight of anyone walking by.

  “I’m not going to leave this alone,” he said, staring into her eyes and making her thighs whimper. “Whatever you say, whatever you do, I’m sticking around. This is my child and my life, too. Don’t think you can hide from me forever.”

  Then he kissed her. Right there in the office, in front of an empty conference table and a display cabinet holding some very expensive crystal pieces.

  He pressed his lips to hers in a move that was both erotic and possessive. The heat was as instantaneous as it was intense. Her fingers itched to grab hold of him and never let go. The rest of her body just wanted to be naked and plastered against his.

  She fought against her desire to deepen the kiss, but before she could either win or lose the battle, he stepped back.

  “Have the paperwork drawn up for the retainer agreement and sent over to my office,” he said. “I’ll messenger it back with a check.”

  What? Oh, yeah. Work. “I’m not interested in working with you.”

  “Maybe not, but you want the account, so you’ll suffer. And Julie?”

  She carefully wiped her mouth with her fingers before answering. “Yes?”

  “How ever much you try to deny it—I know the truth. You do like me.”

  “I love bagels,” Marina said as she emptied the bag. “I love the smell of them toasting, slathering them with cream cheese, taking them out onto the patio and eating one while sipping coffee and reading the Sunday paper.”

  Julie glanced at Willow. “Okay, I’m suddenly hungry. How about you?”

  “Starved. Mom won’t be back for another half hour or so. We could snack.”

  “There’s plenty to choose from.”

  In one of those unexpected quirks of fate, Julie had finished up all her work on Friday and hadn’t had to go into the office on Saturday morning. With nothing to fill her time except brooding, she decided to go to the farmer’s market and wander around. She’d indulged herself with tons of fresh fruits and vegetables, a sinfully gooey Danish and a baker’s dozen of fresh bagels that she’d shared with her sisters.

  Marina pulled out the three bagels she would take home with her and put them in a separate bag. “So how are you feeling?”

  “Good.”

  “Not that I need to know,” Marina continued as if her sister hadn’t spoken. “I’m used to you keeping things from me.”

  Julie groaned. “I invited you to join Willow and me last week, but you had that microbiology class.”

  “Inorganic chemistry, but thanks for being interested.”

  “Marina, come on. I told you as soon as you got home.”

  “Yes, you did.” Her sister smiled at her. “So I still love you.”

  “Great. Another conditional relationship. What happened to unconditional love forever?”

  “We put it in the recycling bin,” Willow said helpfully. “It’s too late to get it back. They’ve already picked up.” She dumped the container of blueberries that had cost a fortune from the colander into a bowl. “Berry?”

  “Thanks.” Julie grabbed a handful as she sank onto a stool by the center island.

  “What’s wrong?” Marina asked. “You seem, I don’t know, not yourself.”

  “I’m fine. Sort of.”

  Willow wrinkled her nose. “That doesn’t sound good. Are you sick? Too much queasiness?”

  “No. I can handle that. It’s just…” Julie hadn’t decided if she was going to mention Ryan’s stupid proposal, but suddenly she couldn’t keep it to herself.

  “He came to see me yesterday,” she began.

  “Ryan?” Marina asked helpfully.

  Julie nodded. “He made an appointment. He’s dangling his company’s China business in front of me and I don’t like it. One of the partners met him and now sees flashing dollar signs. It would be a lot in billable hours.”

  “Which sounds good,” Willow said cautiously. “So what’s the problem?”

  “I don’t trust him. What if he’s just playing another sick, twisted game? What if he sets this all up and then disappears, taking his billable hours with him? I would look stupid in front of the partners. It wouldn’t be good for my career.”

  Marina and Willow glanced at each other and then at her.

  “Um, don’t take this wrong,” Willow said quietly, “but why would he do that? What does he have to gain?”

  “I don’t know. Just to screw with me. Don’t forget this was a guy intent on teaching me a lesson, even though he’d never met me and kne
w nothing about me.”

  “That was wrong,” Marina said. “But this is totally different. Julie, I can’t believe he wants to hurt your career. You’re having a baby together—why would he want to hurt the mother of his child?”

  “To get control. That’s all he cares about.”

  Julie knew she didn’t sound exactly rational, but she couldn’t seem to keep a grip on her emotions. “I just…” She swallowed and found herself fighting tears. “Okay, I’m weak. That’s it, the truth in all its ickiness. I know better than to expect a guy to be decent. I know better than to dream about someone who’s honest and caring. I know I should let the romantic dreams go and I try. I really try. But then when I least expect it, they pop back up and I’m hopeful and then the hopes get crushed and I want to slap myself for being so stupid in the first place.”

  “I love you like a sister,” Willow said, which made Julie almost smile. “But what on earth are you talking about?”

  “He asked me to marry him.”

  “Okay, then,” Marina said, sliding on to the stool next to Julie’s. “Start at the beginning and talk slowly.”

  Willow pushed aside the berries and leaned against the counter. “You have our full attention. I promise.”

  “There’s not much to tell,” Julie said with a sigh. “He came to the office yesterday.”

  She explained how Ryan had spoken about his three companies and how they needed help. “Then somehow we were talking about personal stuff, how he and Todd were close when they grew up and how women only wanted them for their money.”

  “It could happen,” Marina said.

  “Poor little rich boys,” Willow muttered sarcastically.

  “That’s what I told him. Anyway, we were talking about that and then he said we should get married. That it was the best thing for the baby.” She paused, then shrugged. “I didn’t take it well.”

  “Why?” Willow asked.

  “Because…He really ticked me off. You don’t propose just like that. It’s wrong. We barely know each other. I don’t trust him and, based on how he treated me, he doesn’t trust me. It’s not exactly a basis for a successful marriage. I got angry.”