Carrying The Billionaire's Baby

He closed his eyes and shook his head, obviously controlling his temper. Finally, he said, “How much?”

“How much what?”

“How much do you want to make you more agreeable?”

She gaped at him. “Are you trying to bribe me?”

“I’m trying to make you more agreeable.”

“And you think if you give me a few hundred or even a few thousand dollars, I’ll give you what you want in a visitation agreement?”

“I was thinking more like a few million.”

Her eyes widened. “You’re insane! I have a plan. I don’t need your money! I don’t want your money. I want to do what’s best for the baby. So should you.”

He studied her. She could all but see the wheels turning in his head as he came to terms with the fact that this situation wasn’t about money. In his world, everything came down to money. She couldn’t even fault him for trying to find her price—though she did want to deck him. The truth was, she didn’t even want child support. But she figured it was a little too early in the game to tell him that. His brain would have to work so hard to process it that he’d probably have a stroke.

“We’re going to need a written agreement.”

For ten seconds, she wished he hadn’t seen her that morning at the law office. But while her dad had been in prison for something he hadn’t done, she learned wishing for things to be different didn’t change them. Plus, she hadn’t given up on Plan B, convincing him he didn’t want a crying, pooping, spitting-up baby destroying the peace of his life. And that would take more tact and diplomacy than she could muster tonight.

“Okay. But we should have a few more conversations to see what we both want before we even try to get anything on paper.”

He considered that. “Agreed.”

He headed for the door. Though Avery gave him a pleasant smile as she saw him out and said goodbye, another alternative jumped into her brain.

If she couldn’t make him see a baby didn’t fit into his life, there was a risky Plan C. She could tell him that her dad had been in prison and remind him of the can of worms that would be opened once the press started digging into the life of the woman pregnant with his child. They both knew he wouldn’t want that kind of media attention any more than she did. If anything would send him scurrying away from her, it would be the horror of that much negative attention from the press.

There was just one little problem with Plan C—

When she told him about her dad, she’d also be handing him the ammunition to take her child, or to at least keep her and her little one in New York City. All he would have to do would be tell the court he wanted to keep his child away from Avery’s ex-con dad.

Then even if she kept custody, she’d be stuck in New York, away from the people she wanted to help.

Away from the dream she had nurtured and worked for since she was fifteen.

If Plan C went south, it could ruin her life.

CHAPTER TWO

THE NEXT MORNING, a quick knock on Jake’s office door brought his gaze up from the documents on his ornate mahogany desk, the desk that had once belonged to his dad. Because the list of people his secretary would let down the corridor to his office was slim, mostly family, he automatically said, “Come in.”

His brother Seth opened the door and poked his head inside. As tall as Jake and with the same dark hair, Seth hadn’t gotten their mom’s blue eyes, and had irises so brown they were almost black. Especially when he got angry.

“I won’t ask you if you’re busy. I know you are, but can I have five minutes?”

Jake sat back on his soft leather office chair. “Sure. What’s up?”

Seth walked to the seat in front of the desk. “Just curious if you’re really going to offer Mom a job. I mean, it would be kind of fun to watch, but there are twelve people on the board who don’t want us giving an office and a paycheck to family members who aren’t actually coming into work.”

“Since when did you start caring about what the directors think?”

Seth winced. “Since they began calling me because they don’t want to insult you by questioning your judgment.”

“The way they used to call me when they wanted to complain about Dad—”

He left the sentence open, giving Seth the opportunity to mention if the directors had told him anything about their father, a man whose business practices had been so sketchy they’d teetered on the edge of illegal. Ten years had given Jake a chance to fix most of their dad’s messes, to argue him into working fairly or to quietly go behind the scenes and make amends with contractors their dad had threatened to ruin. But Jake didn’t want his brother, his sister and especially not their mother to know what a cheat and a thief Tom McCallan had been. Not to preserve their dad’s reputation, but to finally shake it off. He didn’t want to remember that his dad had emotionally abused him and Seth until his brother had all but dropped out of their family. He didn’t want to remember the times his father had publicly humiliated him. He just wanted to get on with his life.

Seth didn’t say anything, and his facial expression remained casual.

Jake breathed a silent sigh of relief. Obviously, with Tom McCallan gone the directors believed as he did: the past was the past. It was time to move on.

He caught Seth’s gaze. “Pete Waters doesn’t like the idea of me hiring Mom either. He thinks she’ll be underfoot and that she doesn’t have any real skills. But I had a talk with her this morning. I told her there might be a possibility of a job, but she really had to work.”

Seth winced. “How did she take that?”

“I think she felt becoming chairman of the board was her due, and a job, though interesting, is a step down.” He shook his head. “I’m hoping that going to Paris will make her see she doesn’t want any of it. That she’s useful enough working with her charities.”

“That’ll make the board and Pete happy.”

Jake sighed and sat forward on his chair again. “Speaking of Pete, there’s something else I have to tell you.”

“About Pete?”

“No. About the lawyer I was dating from his office.”

Seth grinned. “The hot redhead.”

Jake grimaced. It was typical of Seth to judge a woman by looks alone. Though he had to admit Seth had hit the nail on the head with his description of Avery. She was hot, and talking to her the night before had made his head spin. Especially, looking at her stomach and knowing that baby was his. Feelings he’d never before felt had grabbed his chest and squeezed until he couldn’t ask the things he should have asked. Like for a DNA test and a good explanation about why she’d kept her pregnancy from him.

“Yes. She’s pregnant.”

Seth’s mouth fell open. “Holy hell. And the baby’s yours?”

“She says it is.”

“No DNA test?”

He wasn’t about to tell his brother he’d turned into a ball of confusion the night before just looking at Avery’s belly. He wasn’t that kind of guy. He might have had a moment of pure emotion but that was only because he’d been surprised. He was back to his usual controlled self now.

“We ran into each other at a coffee shop on Valentine’s Day because neither one of us had a date. She works eighty hours a week. Most of our time together started after nine. It’s very clear she doesn’t go out with many men. Besides, I trust this woman. She wouldn’t lie about something like this.”

And that was the bottom line. He did trust her. Not because she was honest, but because the last thing she’d want was more involvement with him or his life. She’d made that abundantly clear. If this baby wasn’t his, it would have been her joy to tell him that.

“What are you going to do?”

“First, we need a halfway decent custody agreement.”

“What do you think that’s going to cost?”

“She doesn’t want money.”

Seth burst out laughing. “Seriously?”

“She’s a lawyer. She can earn her own. Plus, she made a smart choice when she bought her condo. Her plan is to move back to Pennsylvania where the cost of living is a lot lower than what we have here.” He shrugged. “There’s no price for her. She doesn’t need our money.”

“Mom’s going to have a fit.”

“No kidding. Especially since Avery’s got to be six months along.” He remembered her swollen with his child, and suddenly imagined a little boy that was his. Not just an heir, but someone to teach everything from throwing a spiral to getting what you want in a negotiation. He never thought he’d have a child. Never thought he wanted a child. But he needed an heir, and he wanted to be a dad. If nothing else, he wanted to do better than his father had done with him and Seth. And come hell or high water he intended to be part of this baby’s life.

Seth laughed. “Six months and she only told you now? This just keeps getting better. You should rent an arena and sell tickets for when you tell Mom.”

“Very funny.”

Seth sat back. “I’m going to be an uncle.”

Jake met his brother’s gaze. “I’m going to be a dad.” Confusion swam through him again, tightening his chest with a combination of elation and fear. For as much as he longed to right things with this child, he also realized he could screw up worse than their dad had.

Seth sighed. “It’s official. We’re adults. I got word today on Clark Hargrave buying my share of the investment firm we started. He’s pulled the money together. Once it comes through, I’m out of the investment business.”

“Really?” Jake sat back. “Does that mean you can permanently take over the CEO position I left to become chairman of the board?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“You’ve been doing the job since Dad died, but if you want to leave I could appoint Sabrina.” Both Seth and their baby sister Sabrina had MBAs, but while Seth had started his own company, refusing to work for their dad, Sabrina currently ran a consulting firm for start-ups.

“And ruin her life too?” Seth rose. “I’ll do it, but I’m hiring two assistants and a vice president, so I’m not chained to my desk the way you are.”

“It’s a deal.” Jake rose too, extending his hand to his brother.

Seth shook it. “I think we’re both crazy.”

Considering workload alone, Jake would have agreed with him, except he liked who he was. He had been grateful for the chance to fix the reputation of McCallan, Inc. Now that he had a baby on the way, getting it right was a thousand times more important. He would make his child a part of everything he had—

Unless Avery Novak disappeared. And she just might. They hadn’t gotten anywhere close to agreement the night before, and she was just offbeat enough to think running was the answer.

He couldn’t bribe her.

He didn’t think he could outwit her. They were an even match.

The only thing left was sweet-talking her.

Almost at the door, Seth turned. “If you don’t mind, I think I’ll run this pregnancy by George Green.”

Jake’s brow furrowed. “The private investigator?”

“You dated Avery Novak for only three weeks, but you don’t think you need a DNA test. You don’t seem to care that she’s moving to Pennsylvania. Either you’re still half in love with her—”

“I’m not.”

“Or you’re so happy to be having a child you’re not thinking clearly.”

He sighed. “I’m thinking perfectly fine.”

“Let me call George anyway, have him do a bit of research into her past to make sure everything’s okay.”

“I don’t know.”

“It’s just a precaution. Plus, you never know what he’ll find. Maybe there’s something in her past that could help you.”

Jake ran his hand across his mouth. Calling a private investigator to make sure Avery was on the up-and-up was one thing. But digging up dirt, ruining someone’s life to extort them into compliance sounded so much like something his father would do after one of his fits of rage that he hesitated.

“Look, Jake, Mom’s already at odds. If this blows up in your face, she’s going to go over the edge. You know it. I know it. This isn’t just about you.”

Jake tossed his pencil to his desk. “All right. Call George. But I want to be the one to talk to him.”

“Great. I’ll set a meeting for this afternoon.”

“Not at the office.”

“Your place?”

He hesitated again. A horrible feeling washed through him. Was he pulling one of his dad’s tricks? Looking for something in Avery’s past? His intention was to make sure Avery could be trusted, but what if he found something that might make her seem unfit? Would he take her baby?

He stopped himself. There was no reason to get ahead of himself. A woman he barely knew, albeit that she’d been vetted by Waters, Waters and Montgomery when they’d hired her, was having his child. There was nothing wrong with checking up on her. Plus, he couldn’t dismiss what Seth was saying. Their mom was fragile. Their father might have been dead five months, but she wasn’t bouncing back from the loss. They didn’t need a scandal, or worse yet, a thief in their lives right now.

“Have him meet me at my house at about six.”

The feeling rolled through him again. The awful fear that he was becoming his dad. This time, he ignored it.

* * *

As Avery arrived at her office, she closed the door and hit the Contacts button on her phone to call her mom.

She hadn’t been able to sleep the night before. After hours of tossing and turning, she’d realized she’d been lulled into a false sense that she was in control of this situation with Jake because she had a Plan A, Plan B and even Plan C.

But Jake McCallan was much too careful, too smart. Sleeping with her ten times had been one thing. Having her as the mother of his child was quite another. If he hadn’t checked into her past before this, he would be checking now.

And once he did, Plan C would be as dead in the water as Plan A, and Plan B wouldn’t stand a chance.

Still, right now, her priority was to warn her mom.

When she answered, Avery said, “Hey, Mom.”

“Avery! What a nice surprise. What’s up? You never call on a weekday.”

She winced. She didn’t like reopening old wounds, but she wouldn’t let her mom be blindsided. “I have a feeling some people are going to be coming around asking questions about me.”

“You mean like the private investigators who checked into your life when you were hired by the big law firm?”

Avery said, “Yes,” but her heart stuttered. Pregnancy hormones must be making her slow and dull. Jake wouldn’t have to hire a private investigator to check out her past. All he had to do was ask her boss. Pete Waters had investigated her before he hired her. But where Waters, Waters and Montgomery considered it an advantage to employ a woman whose dad had been unjustly convicted—because it motivated her to work hard for their clients—all Jake would see was that her dad had been in jail.

And he could use that.

She ran her hand through her hair and walked to the filing cabinet. There were no windows in her office. Associates didn’t get offices with windows. That was her place. A very small person in a very big world. A world that was quickly spinning out of control.

She squeezed her eyes shut. There was absolutely no way to fight this. “This is a mess, Mom. It’s going to bring up all Dad’s troubles again for you guys.”

“Avery,” her mom said softly. “We live it every day. The whole town knows your dad was in jail but got out when Project Freedom proved he’d been framed. Let someone come and ask questions. We’re fine.”

“Okay.”

“But that doesn’t mean we don’t want you starting your law firm. Your dad went through hell for six years and we don’t want to see that happen to anybody else.”

“Neither do I.”

“And we’re proud of you.”

“Thanks.” She sucked in a breath, blew it out slowly. Her parents being okay with an investigator coming to town solved one problem. But there were thirty others nipping at her heels, things she wouldn’t burden her mom with.

“So...this guy who’s coming to ask us questions...does this have anything to do with the baby?”

She swallowed. She should have known her mom would figure this out. Who else from New York would care about her dad’s past?

“The baby’s father and I ran into each other. He saw I was pregnant and pretty much did the math.”

“And you think he’s going to look into your past hoping to find something he can use to get custody of the baby?”

“He might. Or he might just use it to keep me in New York.”

“Oh.”

Her mother’s hopeless tone caused all of Avery’s fears to rush to the surface. “He could ruin all my plans.”

“Or maybe the two of you could work this out?”

The more she thought about it, the more she doubted it. But to placate her mom she said, “Sure.”

“I mean it.” Her mother’s voice brightened. “All you need is a little trust. In fact, if you told him about your dad so he didn’t have to send a private investigator to Wilton, then he might see you’re an honest person and negotiate a little more fairly.”

Avery laughed. “That is the most optimistic thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Sweetie, he’s going to find out anyway. And if you don’t tell him, it might make him suspicious and maybe even angry that you held such important information back. But if you tell him, it could be your door of opportunity to start some trust between you.”

Her mother sounded so sure that for a second Avery waivered. “I don’t know.”

“Your dad and I aren’t running. You shouldn’t either. Face this head-on.”

If it was anybody else but Jake McCallan, she might be able to cobble together enough optimism to give it a shot. Knowing her mother would keep trying to persuade her if she didn’t at least say she’d consider it, Avery said, “I’ll think about it.”

After some gossip about the flower shop owner, Avery hung up the phone and squeezed her eyes shut. If Jake discovered her father’s past and confronted her, she could come out swinging, quote bits and pieces from the hearings that freed him and defend him.

But to tell Jake herself? To explain that her dad had been framed by a coworker with a sick wife, who could have freed him the day his wife died but waited until his own death to admit to his crime? To tell Jake about weeks and months of waiting for hearings, about having her dad’s old boss oppose a new trial, about the worry that Paul Barnes had bribed the judge? It would be one of the most vulnerable moments of her life. She was a fighter, not a beggar.

But her mother was right. Jake was going to find out. And soon. If she could humble herself to explain this to him, it might be the beginning of trust between them.

Then maybe she could use Plan C. Once she told him about her dad, reminding him of the field day the media would have could show him how difficult having her baby in his life would be.

It was risky. But as her mom had said, he was going to find out anyway.

She got to work to take her mind off everything. An hour later, her private cell phone rang. She glanced down, saw the caller was Jake and squeezed her eyes shut before she answered.

“Good morning, Jake.”

“I’d like to finish our discussion from last night. How about dinner tonight at 4 Charles Prime Rib?”

She blew her breath out in a quiet stream. She didn’t want to cause an argument, but if she was going to tell him about her dad, she didn’t want to go to a restaurant. Especially not some place where anyone could see them and where paparazzi hung out at the entry, waiting for celebrities. One look at the pregnant belly on Jake’s date and the photographers would go nuts taking pictures.

“Maybe a coffee shop would be better? Someplace low-key.”

A few seconds passed in silence. He clearly wasn’t thrilled to have her change his plan.

“I just don’t want to run into the photographers who hang out in front of those ritzy restaurants you like.”

He sighed. “Okay. How about that small coffee shop up the street from your condo?”

“Great. That would be great.”

She hung up the phone equal parts grateful for the opportunity to talk to him and terrified at the thousands of ways this discussion could go wrong.

At nine o’clock, she strode up the still busy street to the brick building housing the coffee shop where she was meeting Jake. Large windows fronted the well-lit establishment. The place was crowded with chatting people hovering at the bar on the left, or lounging at one of the curved booths with cushioned seats.

She stepped inside, glanced around and found Jake in the back, at one of the compact wooden tables for two. Disciplined Jake wouldn’t waste the space of one of the big comfy booths, no matter how much she would have loved to sink her tired body into those cushions right now.

Convinced her mother was right—with the addition of Plan C—and ready to have the discussion, she walked up to the table. “Hi.”

He rose. Nice-fitting trousers and a pale blue dress shirt outlined muscles created in the gym. Her mouth all but watered. But she told herself to settle down. Not to salivate over how good-looking he was, or to realize how easily she could unbutton that shirt and feel all the fabulous muscles of his chest.

Her breath shivered and she took a quiet drink of air to steady herself. “I see you went home to change.”

“I had some time.”

Something about the way he said that set her warning signals to high alert. But before she could say anything, he asked, “Can I get you a coffee?”

She shook her head. “I’ll have a bottle of water. I can’t drink coffee. Another unfortunate side effect of pregnancy.”

“Another?”

She sure as hell wasn’t going to tell him that pregnant women were easily aroused or that just looking at him had made her want to rip his shirt off. “You’d be surprised what happens to a body when a woman is pregnant.”

He walked away and she settled herself on the seat across from his while he went for her water.

Setting it on the table in front of her, he asked, “So did you have morning sickness?”

She opened the bottle. “Horribly.”

“But that only lasts the first trimester, right?”

He’d done some homework. More proof that if he didn’t already know about her dad, he would soon.

“Yes. But some things bring it back.”

“Like what things?”

“You’re going to laugh, but certain toothpastes just about kill me.”

He caught her gaze as he sat across from her. “Really?”

“I went through four brands before I found something I could brush my teeth with.”

He laughed.

She rolled her eyes. “Consider yourself very, very lucky that your part in creating this baby was a lot more pleasant.”

He laughed again and Avery said a silent prayer for strength. She’d never seen him this comfortable or relaxed. There might never be another chance as perfect as this to tell him her father’s story.

She sat up straighter, pulling together all her confidence—

“Why if it isn’t the lovely and talented Jake McCallan.”

Avery’s head snapped to the right and she saw the pretty blonde who’d walked up to their table.

Jake groaned. “What do you want, Sabrina?”

The blonde smiled at Jake. “Nothing.” She slid a glance at Avery. “I just rarely see you anywhere but the office and dinner once a week at Mom’s. And with company too.”

Jake shook his head. “Avery, this is my sister, Sabrina. Sabrina, this is Avery Novak. She works at Waters, Waters and Montgomery.”

Sabrina extended her hand.

Avery froze. His sister just happened to be in the same coffee shop where they’d planned to meet twelve hours ago?

Shell-shocked and confused, she took the hand Sabrina extended. Social convention dictated that she rise, but then she’d expose the baby bump. And it wouldn’t be long before everyone in his family would know she was pregnant. And once the news was out, it would really be “out.” They’d tell their friends. Everyone would know. There’d be no way to ease him out of the picture. No way for him to quietly disassociate himself from her.