Page 30 of The Billionaire's One-Night Baby

What if he failed at this most important of tasks? What then? Could he live with himself? He didn’t think so. But neither could he walk away from his child, from Dodi—that wasn’t an option! So here he sat, in no man’s land.

Jago scrubbed his face with his hands and pushed his hand through his hair, before rubbing the back of his neck to ease the tension in his neck. He could either, he decided, sit in his car overthinking and overanalysing or he could get out, ring Dodi’s doorbell and take an exceptionally attractive woman out to a charity event at a lovely venue in the heart of the city.

Leaving his suit jacket in the car, Jago walked up the path to Dodi’s front door and rang the doorbell. He heard her shout telling him she was coming and a few minutes later she yanked the door open, dressed only in a short, silky nightrobe clinging to her damp body.

Jago’s eyes skimmed her body. She was not wearing anything under the thin fabric and immediately felt aroused. He swallowed and shoved down the urge to yank her into his arms, kiss her senseless and drop that gown to the hallway floor.

‘God, I’m so late! I’m so sorry!’ Dodi told him, pulling him inside the hall and slamming the door closed behind him. Her messy hair was piled up on her head, water ran down her skin into the vee at the bottom of her throat and her dark copper eyelashes were beaded with droplets. She’d literally just stepped out of the shower.

‘Can you give me fifteen minutes...twenty?’ Dodi gabbled.

Discombobulated, Jago stared at her profile, fighting the urge to kiss her. Then Dodi yawned and Jago noticed her pale complexion, the puffiness of her red eyes, her trembling lower lip. All thoughts of taking her to bed fled—well, okay, receded—and he placed a hand on her shoulder to halt her progress up the stairs. He turned her to face him and lifted her chin when she wouldn’t meet his eyes.

‘Hey, what’s wrong? You look like you’ve been crying.’

Dodi nibbled on her bottom lip before shrugging. ‘It’s been a stunningly difficult day.’

Yeah, he could see that. It was in her dark, sad eyes, in the way the skin pulled across her high cheekbones, in her wobbly lip and chin. ‘Workwise or pregnancy-wise?’

‘Both. I’ve started with morning sickness, but my body seems to think it’s something I should do a few times a day. And God, I’m tired. I’ve never known tiredness like this, ever.’

If she lived with him, he would’ve known about this. He could’ve called a doctor, made sure she got to bed early, helped her, dammit! Not wanting to start a fight, he swallowed down his irritation. ‘Is that normal?’

Dodi shrugged. ‘Apparently so. It hits some women harder than others.’ She pulled a face. ‘Lucky me.’

Dodi moved away from him to continue her dash up the stairs, but Jago stepped in front of her. ‘Wait, what happened at work?’

Dodi closed her eyes and shrugged. ‘Bad brides, horrible brides, demanding mothers, whiny bridesmaids.’ She patted his chest. ‘If I don’t go on up, we are going to be late. Very late.’

He didn’t care. ‘They’ll survive.’ He was lucky enough to have carte blanche entry into all the best parties and events in the city, in most cities, and nobody would complain if he was late. The fundraisers knew that the presence of any Le Roux attending a charity event was a stamp of approval and he could walk in at any time he liked and they would welcome him with open arms.

It was the power his surname commanded.

Dodi swayed on her feet and Jago grabbed her by the hips to steady her. If anything, she looked paler than she had a few minutes before. ‘When last did you eat, Elodie Kate?’

She scrunched up her nose, trying to think. ‘Breakfast? An apple midmorning?’

He ground his teeth together. Not good enough. And he couldn’t take her out until she felt a bit steadier on her feet, with a bit more colour in her cheeks. She needed food, stat.

And maybe an early night.

‘Go on up, pull on something comfortable and I’ll call Jabu and get him to bring us some food.’

She looked at him as if he’d grown an extra eye. ‘You will not! Your butler doesn’t need to cook me a meal and then drive forty minutes across town to deliver it.’

‘There are at least a dozen meals he can whip up in a heartbeat. He loves to drive, and more than that, he loves to be useful. If I call him now, we can eat in about ninety minutes.’

Dodi shook her head, looking bemused. ‘You could just order a takeout.’

‘With no nutritional value? I don’t think so.’

She looked at him, bemused but wide-eyed and lovely. ‘What about your charity event?’

‘I’ll write them a bigger than expected cheque to compensate for my non-attendance.’

Dodi’s eyes slammed into his and a small smile touched her lovely mouth. ‘You keep surprising me, Jago.’

He was so tempted to pull her into his arms, to lower his mouth to hers. Not only because he wanted her—and he always wanted her—but because he wanted to give her a little comfort, some tenderness. And that was strange, weird, because tenderness wasn’t something he was familiar with. Soft emotions made him feel vulnerable and uncomfortable and he tended to avoid them as much as possible.

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