Page 22 of Baby Perfection

No way was she touching that one. “Not at all. I’m talking about a crucial deal breaker to the job currently under discussion.”

He simply shook his head. “Somehow I think we’re talking about Lisa. Just in case, let’s address it so there aren’t anylingering questions.” His expression remained empty, still giving nothing away, making it impossible to get a read on him. “Lisa and I had an affair. After it ran its course she turned to my best friend, Geoff. When that relationship didn’t work out, when it ended badly, as well, she dropped by my apartment. She claimed her affair with Geoff had been a terrible mistake. I compounded that mistake by giving her a shoulder to cry on. As I’m sure you can guess, one thing led to another. It wasn’t planned. It was one night and only one night. In retrospect, it wasn’t one of my smarter decisions. In fact, it was damn stupid.”

“I wasn’t asking.” Didn’t even want to hear. She got that Lisa was irresistible to men. That she had something that Angie couldn’t possess if she lived to be a hundred. That she was the type of woman Lucius wanted, a type Angie would never be. Could never be. And it brought home the brutal fact that he would never love her. She fought to keep her voice level, when all she wanted was to weep. “To be honest, I’d rather not know.”

“If we’re putting our cards on the table, you deserve to know. Now you do.” He lifted an eyebrow. “Any cards you’d care to throw on the pile?”

Oh, God. She struggled to conceal her alarm behind a calm facade. “Not right now, thanks.”

“That suggests there are cards.”

“We all have cards. Right now, mine remain facedown.”

“Fair enough.” He gestured to the sitting area. “Are you interested in continuing our negotiation, or should we walk away from the table and resume our former business relationship?”

That wasn’t possible, not after their latest kiss. He had to suspect as much. But if she continued with their negotiation itwould be with eyes wide open, aware he’d never feel for her what she felt for him. If she couldn’t accept that, better she walk away. Now. There existed an outside possibility they could return their working relationship to status quo. Well, almost status quo. This second kiss would make it far more difficult to find their way back to familiar ground. That didn’t change her options. Retreat…or gamble everything. Not that there was any real question.

She summoned a cool smile. “I’d like to hear the rest of your offer and see if we can’t come to terms. I think we’ve resolved your first point. Shall we simply agree to a fidelity clause?”

He approached again, invading her personal space, watching her helpless reaction to his proximity. “That would be acceptable.”

“What’s your next point?” she asked, fighting for equanimity.

He took a long swallow of his drink before setting it aside. Hunger glimmered in the depths of his inky gaze, a clear warning of what his next point would be before he even opened his mouth. “Point Two. Sex.”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” she asked wryly.

“I don’t know, since it’s surprising the hell out of me.” He tugged at one of the loose curls dangling along her neck. “I assume we’re also in agreement there? If it makes you feel any better, I’ll even agree not to expect anything more from you than a purely physical relationship. Will that satisfy you?”

No!“Yes. That would satisfy me.” She wanted to weep at how neatly she’d been boxed in, or rather, out of a personal relationship with Lucius, though she didn’t have a single doubt he was delighted by the arrangement. Sex without strings. Theperfect fantasy. She stepped away from him, forcing him to release the lock of hair he’d twined around his finger. She resumed her seat in the sitting area, anything to give herself some space from the strength of his personality. She needed to think straight if she were to win any concessions in this devil’s bargain. “Assuming the trial period goes well, we’ll marry?” she asked.

“Absolutely. Point Three. I don’t want too long a trial period.” He followed her, also sat. “The Ridgeways are on the verge of suing for custody of Mikey.”

She frowned in concern. “It’s gotten that contentious?”

His mouth tightened. “I suspect they hired a private investigator who uncovered the fact that I had an affair with Lisa. They informed me they’re concerned that between Lisa’s bloodline, as they refer to it, and my own questionable judgment, Mikey’s welfare is at risk.”

“Yes, they said something similar to me,” she murmured. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

Their gazes met in perfect accord. “Nor do I.”

“What happens to our arrangement if guardianship is awarded to the Ridgeways?”

“I believe that’s Point Four. If I can’t get it reversed, our marriage will be dissolved. In addition to your salary, you’ll also be suitably compensated for your time and for the interruption to your career.” He mentioned an amount that stunned her.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Lucius,” she protested. “That’s…that’s obscene.”

He chuckled, the sound low and warm and strangely intimate. “It’s not obscene. A trifle extravagant, but I suspect you’re worth it.”

“I’m not sure I like the sound of that.”

His brows snapped together. “I’m not paying you for sex, if that’s what you’re thinking. I’m paying you for precisely what I said. Your time and the hit this job will mean to a career that’s a vital part of who you are as a person. The money will allow you to pursue a course of study after the dissolution of our marriage so you can once again enter the workforce with marketable skills. Or you can sit at home and twiddle your thumbs, for all I care. If you invest the funds intelligently, you’ll be in a position to choose what you want to do with your life from that point onward, while living quite comfortably for the rest of your life.”

She edged away from the topic. “And if you’re awarded permanent custody of Mikey? What happens to our marriage?”

“Fair warning, I fully expect to be awarded custody, which brings us to Point Five. I’ll require a guarantee that you’ll remain with me for at least six years. Mikey will be of school age by then, which puts him at a less vulnerable age. After that, we can renegotiate terms.”

“Very businesslike,” she observed. Painfully businesslike. “Very cut and dried.”

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