Page 42 of After-Party Consequences

From the little he had let slip about his past, she knew Cade had some trust issues. She understood what that was like—because she had several trust issues of her own.

Living with him scared her on a lot of levels. She couldn’t allow herself to need his care or his attention too much. But maybe she should do the mature thing and start dealing with how scared that made her feel before she tried to deal with his insecurities too.

‘I don’t want your money, Cade,’ she began.

‘Well, tough,’ he interrupted her. ‘Because there is no way in hell I’m not supporting my own child.’

She put up her palm. ‘Whoa...That’s not what I said. I saidIdon’t want your money. We can certainly agree on a financial arrangement between us as parents for the upkeep of our baby. When it’s born.’ She placed her palm on her stomach and waited for the stupid wave of emotion to level out. It was good he was so determined to support this baby. His protective instincts and sense of responsibility didn’t have to be a bad thing, as long as they established some boundaries—such as thatherlife and autonomy, and their baby’s well-being, were two separate issues.

‘But it’s not a baby yet. It’s barely an embryo,’ she continued. ‘My financial independence is important to me. I love my business. I want to make a success of Trouble Maker. You said you’d give my business your financial support while I’m here—as a trade-off for posing as your date. And I plan to hold you to that. But that’s the only financial support I want from you.’

She could see the enormity of the mountain she had to climb though when his frown deepened.

Good grief, what on earth had he expected her to do while she was here? Sit around and twiddle her thumbs while he took charge of everything? Simply because she was pregnant?

She wanted to be angry with him, but had she created this rod for her own back by being so flaky over the last twelve hours?

Lesson to self: no more wimping out around Cade, no matter how crap you feel.

The thought was strangely motivating. She was bound to be tired from time to time—but she could remedy that by sleeping as much and as often as she needed to.

She had no idea how long the nausea was supposed to last—or what other symptoms she might be dealing with in future, other than a hyperactive libido every time she was within ten feet of her child’s father. Because she had completely zoned out when Dr Ramirez had given them both the lowdown on the first trimester of pregnancy that morning.

No wonder Cade thought she couldn’t hold up her end of this when she’d allowed him to take the lead on everything so far. Well, that ended now.

‘I don’t want you working if you’re sick,’ he said, his voice tight with irritation.

Well, that’s not your decision.

It was what she wanted to say, but she swallowed the provocative reply.

He had to be struggling, too, with the enormity of what they were dealing with. Not just logistically, but also emotionally. But she suspected from his closed expression and what she knew of him already that he would rather cut off his tongue than admit it.

Cade was a guy who she doubted ever admitted a weakness. And who always wanted to be in charge, hence his desire to wrap her in cotton wool, rather than treat her as an equal... But what if that was a lay-over from his childhood, too, a way to avoid dealing with any messy emotions?

Well, he’d have to deal with them eventually. And her. And living in his apartment with him would give her ample opportunity to find out a lot more about his fears and insecurities too.

Until then, though, she could cut him some slack. Up to a point.

‘How about we compromise. I can live here with you...’ She puffed out a breath. ‘In the guest room,’ she added hastily, when his eyes darkened with something which only made her more aware of the heat pulsing insistently in her abdomen. ‘But I continue to work on my commissions during the day, and I set up my workspace in the Embarcadero as planned.’

His piercing blue eyes narrowed. She could see he didn’t want to give an inch.

‘Or...’ she continued, determined to make him see reason. ‘I get a flight back to the UK tomorrow morning...’Two can play the carrot and stick game.‘And we forget all about the stunt dating. And you lose the Helberg bet. Your choice.’

His frown became catastrophic. She wondered if she’d pushed him too far. But she refused to back down. Surely he couldn’t still carry out his threat of suing her over those photos? Not when he was so adamant about protecting the mother of hischild? So she had him, and he knew it, but it might take him a while to figure it out...

Luckily, she was more than willing to wait.

Cade was so furious he felt as if steam was about to explode out of his ears. But far worse was the heat in his groin. And that unsteady, unsettled feeling in his gut.

The same damn feeling he’d always had when he’d been yanked out of one home to be dumped in another. He had always hated the loss of control, more than the not knowing where he would wind up next. Some of the foster homes had been great, some just okay, some not even that, but in each new place he’d learned to add another layer of I-don’t-give-a-damn until it hadn’t mattered to him any more how good or bad the homes were, because he knew he would survive regardless. And he had promised himself that as soon as he was old enough, he would get out of the system—and finally be able to live his life on his own terms.

But as he glared at Charlotte, it occurred to him that having a baby with her was going to mean losing some of that precious control...unless he could find a way to make her play ball.

The fact that winning the bet, even acquiring Helberg, didn’t mean as much to him as keeping her and the baby safe only made the whole situation more infuriating. He couldn’t afford to caretoomuch, because he didn’t trust her not to use that weakness against him.

He couldn’t deny, though, as she stood in front of him, her arms folded, her stance stubborn and determined, that being bested by her was also kind of...well, hot.

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