Chapter 15 #2
“No.” He shakes his head. “That’s not happening. Just let me think for a moment.” His jaw is tight, his eyes narrow, and there’s this determined look on his face. “You’ll have to come with me.”
“What? Where?” I twist in the bed, still clutching the hot water bottle to my stomach. “What are you talking about?”
“To my family reunion.” He’s still deep in thought, sounding as though he’s talking to himself as much as to me. “There’s good WIFI, we can work from there.”
“Myles,” I say, my voice low. “I can’t come with you to your family reunion.”
“Why not?”
“Are you serious?” I question, trying not to laugh. “First of all, because the clue’s in the name. A family reunion. Your family. And anyway, New York will never let us both be out of the office.”
“I’ll explain that it’s a team building exercise. Or a chance to brainstorm off site.” He’s so unruffled it’s stupid. If he didn’t smell of peppermint and coffee I’d think he was drunk. “They want me to persuade you to come to New York, I’ll tell them that I’m working on that.”
A long breath escapes from my lips. “And your family, what will you tell them?”
“The same thing.”
“And if I’m ovulating when we’re there? How will you explain having to do the deed?”
“I wasn’t planning on inviting them to watch, Ava. It’s none of their business. I’ll tell them there’s some work we have to do and that’s why you’re there. They’re used to me being a workaholic, it won’t surprise them.”
“We should just skip the month,” I tell him, thinking his idea is insane. “You don’t have to ruin your reunion by taking me.”
He looks at me for a moment, then shakes his head. “You’re coming. I want you there. We made an agreement and I’m going to keep it.”
“Won’t your family think I’m an interloper?”
This time he laughs. “My family is made up of interlopers. Half the time I’ve no idea who most of the people are. You don’t have to worry, you’ll fit right in.”
“I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not.”
His smile is crooked. “It is.”
My cheeks heat up and I feel like he’s caught me fishing for a compliment. “At least we know it’ll only take you three minutes to provide the sample,” I say jokingly, just because I can’t stand this tension between us. “They’ll hardly notice you’re missing.”
He lifts an eyebrow. “It took me three minutes because I wanted to get the job done. When it counts I can last a lot longer.”
“You can?” I squeak. This is a dangerous path. If I open up that door I’m not sure I can close it again.
His eyes are blazing. I can’t decide if he’s angry at my joke or annoyed by something else. “Yes,” he says shortly. “I’ve never had any complaints, Ava.”
The stupid thing is, I know he wouldn’t have. He has a dedication to being the best at all things.
And he’d be good at sex, too. I have no doubt about that. He’d probably have me screaming in three minutes flat.
Let’s face it, I haven’t had anything approaching a screaming man-induced orgasm for a very long time.
He’s staring at me and I’m staring right back, my cheeks flaming. Neither of us wanting to be the first to look away. My heart is doing a little polka in my chest, dancing in double time. And all I can think of is just how warm and heavy he’d feel between my thighs.
How good a kisser he’d be. How he’d dedicate himself to my pleasure the same way he dedicates himself to everything else.
“Shall we watch the show?” I finally ask. “I want to find out if she gets caught.”
I couldn’t give a damn about the show, actually, but I need to stop thinking about his sex face. A dismembered body should help with that.
He reaches for me and I scramble into his arms with embarrassing haste. His arm loops around my shoulders, pulling my face against his chest and this time he traces my spine with soft, maddening fingers.
And when I wake up early the next morning, he’s gone.
MYLES
“I hear you’re bringing a plus one to Misty Lakes,” Liam says when we’ve finished our video conference with his clients. It’s just the two of us now, and I’m in the apartment I’ve rented in Charleston, because the kind of meeting we just had can’t take place at work.
“She’s not a plus one, she’s a work colleague. And I need her there because we’ll be working.”
“Bullshit. I know exactly who you’re bringing. And I remember you telling me exactly how gorgeous she is.”
Liam has this ability to push through the armor I wear to keep the world out. It’s infuriating.
“She’s not my plus one,” I say again.
“So what is she? Because there’s no way you’re bringing her for work reasons. I know you and I know you’d prefer her to be in the office right now. Things are moving fast.”
I sigh. “Okay. But you have to keep your mouth shut about this.”
Liam’s eyes light up. “What is it?” he asks. “If you’re not banging her, then why the hell do you want to bring her with you?”
“Because we’re trying to have a baby.”
I get a sense of grim satisfaction from the way Liam’s mouth drops open on the screen. Shutting my brother up takes a lot of work yet I’ve done it with a few words.
“Satisfied?” I ask a minute later when he still hasn’t said anything. “Because I have work to do. I need to go.”
“No way. You’re not leaving me hanging,” he finally says. “So you are banging her?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“But you’re having a…” He shakes his head. “A baby. And I don’t know if mom gave you the birds and bees talk, but you kind of need to knock boots for that.”
“No you don’t. I’m donating sperm. She’s inseminating herself with it. There are no knocking boots going on.”
“Whoa.” Liam holds his hand up, his palm looking huge on the screen. “Let’s backtrack. Why the hell are you donating sperm?”
“Because she wants to have a child.”
“So why don’t you fuck her?”
I wince. Mostly because he’s so direct. But also because that thought crossed my mind, too. “Can you try to not be so crass? This is the potential mother of my child we’re talking about.”
“You’ve finally gone mad,” Liam says, sounding almost serious. “I knew it would happen, I just didn’t know when.”
“Shut up and listen,” I demand. “You’re not to say a word to anybody about this.
And you’re not to make Ava feel weird either.
She’s already nervous about this, I don’t want her feeling any worse.
” Then I take a deep breath and explain exactly what’s happening.
Liam’s expression doesn’t change one inch.
He still looks somewhere between shocked and disbelieving.
I guess I can’t blame him. I’d think the same about him if roles were reversed.
And let’s be honest, this is Liam. The only reason he’s not a father right now is that he’s paranoid about birth control. He certainly seems to work his way through half of New York.
“And your lawyer okayed it?” he asks.
“Yes. The contract is signed.” And the deed has already been done once, but I don’t need to tell him that.
“Wow.” He shakes his head. “You’re going to be a dad.”
“Technically, I’m not,” I correct. “I’m just a donor. Ava will be the only parent.”
His brows scrunch tight. “But why? Why would you do this?”
It’s the same question Ava asked me. And there’s no answer I can give that will explain my reasons. I’m not even sure if I know them myself.
“Because I can.” It’s the easiest answer to give. “Now can you promise me you won’t say anything?”
He nods slowly. “Yeah. I don’t think anybody would believe me anyway.”
“Good. Then we’re done. I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”
Liam nods, then leans forward, his face taking up the camera. “Bro?” he asks.
“Yeah?”
“Don’t go falling for her, okay? Because that would complicate an already complex situation.”
I let out a sigh because I’m not an idiot. “Of course I won’t. You know me better than that.”