Page 45 of The Billionaire's One-Night Baby

‘That explains the headache,’ Dodi commented. ‘Who found me?’

‘I did. You didn’t let me know that you were home and I felt uneasy.’ Jago brushed her hair off her forehead and tucked it behind her ear. ‘I couldn’t concentrate, at all, so I excused myself from the board meeting and left the room.’

Dodi winced. ‘Were they mad?’

He shrugged. ‘It was at a crucial point in the presentation, so they weren’t impressed, but I couldn’t continue, I couldn’t focus on anything but my rising dread. I tried to call you but your phone just rang and rang.’

‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.’

‘You took ten years off my life,’ Jago ruefully told her. ‘I used an app to find your phone, saw that you were at my house, but you weren’t inside because the alarm was still on. I checked the camera feeds and saw you lying outside the front door. My heart stopped.’

She winced and gestured for him to continue. ‘I called for an ambulance, told Micah I was leaving and raced home.’

Despite the torrential rain, he’d made the trip home in ten minutes instead of his usual fifteen. It had been a hair-raising trip, not knowing how seriously she was injured.

‘You left your important board meeting for me?’ Dodi asked, linking her fingers in his.

He’d move mountains for her if he could.

‘I thought it crucially important that you were there.’

Not as important as her. He shrugged. ‘Micah handled it.’

‘And did they vote for your changes?’ Dodi asked, tipping her head to the side.

He didn’t know and didn’t much care. Not at this moment, anyway. She was all that was important, his entire focus. ‘I have no idea.’

Dodi sighed, sat up and draped her arms around his neck, snuggling in. ‘I remember you looking over me last night, your hand stroking my hair back. I was so very glad to see you, to have you there.’

His hand drifted up and down her slim back. ‘I’ll always be there, Elodie Kate. And last night made me realise that it was ridiculous for us to live apart. I can’t do that any more—I need to have you close by, need to be able to protect you.’ He shuddered. ‘I can’t go through that again.’

She rubbed her hand over his back. ‘It was an accident, Jago and I’m fine. The baby is fine.’

This time. He couldn’t lose her, wouldn’t take that risk. ‘The doctor said that you can be discharged but he wants you taking it easy for the rest of the week.’

She nodded, wincing. ‘I can do that.’

Progress, Jago thought on a smile. ‘Then let’s get you dressed, and I’ll take you home.’

Dodi nodded and pushed back the bedcovers, trying to hide her wince. ‘I can’t wait to be in my bed, sleeping on my pillow.’

He shook his head. ‘You’re not going home. You’re coming back to my place. Jabu and one of the maids are packing up your clothes and toiletries as we speak, and when you are up to it you can tell me what furniture you want to be moved to Hadleigh House. I know it’s Lily’s house and you might not want to sell it but maybe you can rent it out, partially furnished. Or we can store the stuff you don’t want to get rid of.’

She stared at him, a frown pulling her eyebrows together. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t understand.’

Jago dumped the small overnight bag he’d brought with him, containing a change of her clothes. He pulled out a pair of loose summer trousers, a comfortable T-shirt, clean underwear. ‘What’s to understand? You’re moving into my place, with me.’

Her fists bunched and the colour drained from her face. Her eyes turned a deep, hard blue and it was at that moment that Jago realised that in his haste to have her with him, to look after her and to love her, he’d badly miscalculated. He’d made a major decision without her input....

He rubbed his jaw, his mind going at a mile a minute, trying to work out how he could extract himself from the quicksand he’d blindly walked into.

‘Please, please tell me that you didn’t just say what I thought you did. You couldn’t possibly have done all that without consulting me,’ Dodi said, her voice ultra-polite. ‘I told you how I feel about being pushed into situations not of my choosing, how I hate being manoeuvred, so you couldn’t have done something so idiotic.’

He had. Jesus. Why hadn’t he remembered that?

Because all he wanted this morning—after a night of sitting by her bedside staring at her, imagining a life without her in it—was to bind her to him, to hold her and keep her and protect her. She’d scared him senseless, and he’d just wanted her with him.

He hadn’t thought further than meeting that objective. Stupid. So stupid.

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