Page 24 of The Bargain

I looked at him silently, unsure why he was telling me.

“I won’t do anything,” I replied after a while when he just kept on staring.

He rolled his eyes, moving from his spot at the door. “Would you like to come with and bring Timothy?”

“Why?” I asked. I couldn’t help but feel suspicious. I’d only been here for a little over a week and somehow, I already knew that this man would never do anything nice for me.

“Why not?” He gestured around Timmy’s room. “I know you don’t like this room.”

“What’s not to like? It’s basically a lab room.”

He threw me an exasperated side look. “Well, I opened a credit line at Little Cherubs. Here.” He extended me a credit card. “While you’re there, buy whatever you need for you and the child.”

I looked at the card he was extending me as if it was a scorpion ready to strike. It felt loaded, like taking it was a trap.

“If you have a credit line at Little Cherubs, then it should be fine.” I looked away from the card. “I don’t need that.”

He locked his emerald eyes on mine. They were so intense; it was genuinely unsettling. “Humor me. You’ll need things. No issues, just take the damn card.”

“Fine!” I grabbed it from him. He was not wrong. “I would need lunch and some essential toiletries. I just need a few minutes to give Timmy his meds.”

He nodded. “I’ll see you in thirty minutes in the corridor.”

I watched him leave the room, suspicion settling in my stomach. I’d never been an over-trusting person, but he’d been nice… Well, no, not nice. I didn't think that man would ever be able to be nice, even if he wanted to. But he had been cordial and that was different from his usual hate.

I gave Timmy his meds, grabbed everything I needed and joined Dean in the hall. He was in what seemed like a conference call though, so just gestured me toward the car.

“I’ve put the stroller in the car, Miss,” the driver said as he opened the door for me.

“Thank you, David.”

He smiled, bowing his head slightly. “You’re very welcome.”

Dean spent the whole drive on his conference call asking about share price and takeovers. It was all so unbelievably boring that I tuned him out after five minutes and started to play with Timmy.

Just as we parked in front of the Beaumont Enterprise tower, Dean disconnected his call.

He looked down at his watch.

“Little Cherubs is two streets down. I believe you can find everything you might need in this neighborhood, but should you need to go anywhere else, you can use the car.”

“That won’t be necessary. I know the city. There’s everything I need in this district.”

He nodded sharply. “Very well.”

I watched him disappear into the tower in his perfectly tailored suit, the security guard scrambling to open the door for him like he was a god. Although, I suspected that’s exactly what he was in this building.

I sighed and shook my head, trying to get Dean Beaumont out of my mind.

I texted Dee, asking her to meet me for coffee in a couple of hours if she could. She replied almost immediately, saying that she missed me so much, so of course she’d be there.

I smiled at her reply. It was a nice change from the constant animosity I was facing with Dean Beaumont.

I entered the store, bracing myself at having to justify my presence. Little Cherubs was the most exclusive and expensive baby store in all of Philly. The shop assistant detailed me, looked at the stroller, and then smiled broadly.

“Welcome to Little Cherubs,” she said, rushing toward me. She peered into the stroller to find a sleeping Timmy. “Oh, he is adorable!”

As I looked down, I realized that the stroller was a very expensive brand and I was wearing the amazing red cashmere coat that Dean had bought for me - a coat I was more than grateful to have on today with the freezing, unforgiving wind.

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