Chapter 30
This is completely surreal. And I’m not sure if his need to claim me, and our child, is hot as fuck, or horrifying. Given the throbbing sensation between my legs, I think it’s the former. My treacherous body wants him to take me right here, right now, and fill me up with his big, beautiful dick, then wrap his arms around me and tell me everything is going to be okay.
Despite the brave face I’ve put on these past few months, the loneliness lingering inside of me has been cruel. Secretly, I’ve been terrified. And now he’s here, claiming he wants me—wants us—I can’t quite believe it. Can’t work out how I’m supposed to feel about it.
What are the chances of California being Cole Hartmann, my brothers’ biggest rival, and the billionaire with the power to propel my business into global fame?
He holds my stare across the desk. Every cell of my body is begging me to give into him, but I refuse to let him waltz in and take over, making demands and decisions about my child.
I vowed to do this alone.
To do things my way.
And that’s the way it’s going to be.
‘Tell me you don’t want me.’ His eyes drop to my breasts. My nipples are straining so hard against the fabric they could be spotted from space. ‘Tell me you haven’t thought about me since we parted. Tell me that this isn’t fate.’ His voice dares me to challenge him. He sits straighter in his chair; every inch of him exudes confidence, power, authority.
I swallow hard. ‘What I want is irrelevant. I have a family who despise you. A business to run. And not enough hours in the day p>
‘Let me help you.’ His eyes soften. ‘I don’t give a fuck about your family, but I can help with your business. We’ll hire more staff. Get you whatever you need to take the pressure off p>
‘That’s the problem right there, Cole.’ I stand to leave. ‘I give a fuck about my family. They drive me crazy. They’re overprotective and possessive, but they’re everything to me p>
‘The thing is, Zara.’ He stands, reaches over the desk and cups my chin, tilting my face up until our eyes meet. ‘Whether you like it or not, you have a new family now, too.’ Heat shoots over my spine, searing my skin and shattering my resolve.
A new family.
Fuck.
His hand drops, then he prowls round the desk like a predator stalking its prey. His face lowers until his lips are dangerously close to mine. The scent of whiskey and want hangs in the air between us. Goosebumps ripple over my entire body as my insides melt to molten lava.
It would be so easy to tilt my face up. To let him kiss me, claim me, and take me right here on this desk. But if I give him my body, what else will he take?
‘Tell me you feel it,’ he murmurs. ‘This thing between us is far from done. It’s only just beginning p>
‘We can’t,’ I whisper.
‘We can do whatever the fuck we want,’ he growls. ‘I didn’t choose this. But given the choice, I’d choose it again and again and again p>
‘You would?’ My voice cracks with pure, primal need. His words echo my exact thoughts from the day I found out I was pregnant. I didn’t choose it—this baby—but I would choose it, again and again and again.
Never in a million years did it occur to me that he’d truly want a permanent role in the baby’s life. Let alone mine.
‘Give us a chance, Zara. I don’t believe in coincidences. This—’ his hand drops to my stomach, and he runs a thumb tenderly over my bump—our baby— ‘was fate p>
My insides flutter.
‘What do you want from me?’ I whisper, watching his hand as he gently palms my stomach.
‘I want everything.’ His ice-blue eyes dance with desire. ‘But I’ll settle for a date for now. Let’s get to know each other. We’re having a baby together.’ His voice breaks with awe, like he can’t quite believe it.
This is not a good idea—mixing business with pleasure.
Dating my baby daddy, who happens to be Becketts’ current biggest rival.
Letting a man as powerful as Cole claw his way under my skin.
But truthfully, he did that a long time ago. It’s his face I see in my deepest dreams. His face at the forefront of my mind when I wake up.
‘One date,’ I whisper. ‘Just so we can discuss how we’re going to move forward with… things p>
His lips curl up a split second before they land on mine, warm, firm and soft at the same time. He parts my mouth with his tongue, conquering and claiming. My brain screams at me to stop him, but my body begs me to throw myself at him. Being back in his arms feels like the most natural thing in the world. His hand drifts to the base of my spine as he presses himself harder against me—and I melt into him.
The sensation is overwhelming. Just like my sense of smell, every single other one of my senses is heightened. His hands roam lower, over my backside, and I moan into his mouth, pushing my needy nipples against his chest. Heat floods my core and lower.
He pulls away all too soon. ‘Dinner tomorrow night. I’ll pick you up.’ He presses another tiny kiss on my tingling lips.
I snatch up my bag and strut towards the office door before he can steal any more of my senses. This was categorically not how this was supposed to go.
‘Where are you running off to now?’ he purrs, darting across the room and leaning his back against the door, effectively trapping me in his office.
‘Back to work.’ I eye him warily. ‘Remember that business I mentioned p>
‘Yes, but you’re working for me for the next three months.’ His eyes twinkle. ‘Come on, I’ll give you a tour of the casino p>
I bite my lower lip.
‘You do still want this contract, Zara?’ His eyebrows furrow.
Of course I fucking want it.
I wanted it before I knew it would mean spending the next three months with the insanely hot American who knows how to pleasure my body in ways that I didn’t even know were possible until I met him. But given he impregnated me, I feel utterly conflicted over how much time I should be spending with him, more so, because of how insistent he is on being part of my baby’s life, and because I can’t think straight in his proximity—clearly or I wouldn’t have let him kiss me.
I resigned myself to doing it alone. And now he’s offering another option—insisting on it, in fact. And I don’t know Cole Hartmann well, but I don’t doubt he can be persuasive.
His interest in me and our baby thrills me as much as alarms me.
I need time to get my head around it. And I can’t do that while I’m thinking about giving him head.
‘You know, if this project goes well, I’d love Beckett Deluxe Design to redesign my other casinos too.’ A grin lifts his lips. He’s dangling the carrot, and what a fucking carrot.
‘You don’t play fair.’ I rest a hand on my hip.
‘I never claimed to.’ He gestures for me to follow, and even though every inch of me knows I should run—not walk—straight out of this skyscraper of testosterone and terrible decisions… I follow him out the door.
Tate and Felstead flank the exit, both of them inspecting me from head to toe. Nico exhales a breath of relief and swipes a hand over his forehead. My PA is a tad dramatic. Mind you, this is more drama than we’ve ever had in.. maybe ever.
At least it will be when this all gets out.
‘You okay?’ Tate murmurs, his wide eyes swim with shock as they home in on Cole. Felstead is the only person here who has no idea Cole is my baby daddy. And that’s the way it has to stay. I refuse to let it get back to Killian and the others until I’m ready—which may very well be never.
‘Fine.’ I nod, forcing a bright smile as I prise the iPad from Nico’s fingers. ‘I’ll take this. Mr Hartmann is going to show me around p>
‘So we’re doing this?’ He glances between Cole and me with an expression of surprise.
I have no idea if he’s referring to the project or the baby, but given both are non-negotiable, yes, we are doing this.
‘Yes.’ I fire him a warning look, silently begging him to be discreet in front of Felstead.
‘Shouldn’t I come on the tour with you?’ Nico cocks his head, firing Cole a look of distrust.
‘I’ll take pictures.’ I hold up the iPad. ‘Wait out front,’ I tell all of them. I have no idea how to be around Cole, and the last thing I want is an audience while I’m trying to figure it out.
Felstead folds his arms over his chest and glares at Cole. Clearly, he doesn’t approve of my taking this contract, but I don’t pay him for approval. I pay him for protection.
‘Don’t worry, boys,’ Cole purrs the word boys patronisingly like he’s talking to mere children. ‘I’ll take care of her. I assure you, nothing will happen to her under my watch.’ He grins. ‘Nothing bad, anyway p>
Tension rolls through the air for a long few seconds, then Tate turns towards the lift, and the other two fall into step behind him.
‘We’re going this way.’ Cole places a hand on the base of my spine, guiding me in the other direction. Shivers soar over my skin at the contact.
The private corridor past his office spills onto a curved mezzanine overlooking the casino floor. It’s still a construction site. There’s scaffolding and dust sheets, but I can already see the bones of brilliance.
Cole watches my reaction like it’s his favourite sport.
‘I’m thinking,’ he murmurs beside me, his voice a low vibration against my skin, ‘lit onyx bars. Ivory leather booths. Glass walkways over the gaming floor. A champagne lounge here—’ he points to an elevated section ‘—and a high-roller suite overlooking the river p>
Damn him.
His vision is good.
Really good.
‘Dark, moody tones,’ I say, stepping closer to the railing. ‘Black marble. Antique brass. Statement lighting in sculptural forms. Booths structured for privacy, but without feeling claustrophobic p>
His eyes flicker, like I’ve just undressed him with my mouth.
‘That’s exactly what I want,’ he says quietly. ‘I knew you were the right woman for the job when I stepped into Varmont Castle p>
Colour flushes my cheeks at the compliment. ‘I aim to please p>
‘Oh, you are very pleasing.’ His gaze lingers on my lips again. ‘Shockingly so p>
‘And the rest of the hotel?’ I push, needing to distract myself from the heat pulsing to my lady parts and the pull in my stomach every time he looks at me like he’s contemplating devouring me—again.
Finally, he tears his eye away, then leads me through another door into another lift. Sexual energy swirls in the air between us, heat radiating like a furnace. His eyes catch mine, but he doesn’t make a move to touch me again. Probably a blessing, because with these pregnancy hormones racing through my body, I’d be powerless to stop him.
The door slides quietly open to the main hotel lobby, and I drag my eyes from his to soak it in. It’s vast—two-storey ceilings, humongous twin pillars either side of the glass front doors.
‘I want this to be bright, ivory, clean, and powerful. A space that feels expensive without screaming for attention. I don’t want glitter. I don’t want gaudy. I want…’ His eyes slide to me. ‘Sophisticated seduction p>
My lips part before my brain catches up. ‘I can do that p>
‘Don’t I know it p>
Heat flickers through me again. Hot flames lick every inch of my skin. They’re impossible to ignore.
We walk the rest of the floor together, and instead of clashing, we… align. On colour palettes. On materials. On ambience. On every damn detail. By the time we return to the front entrance, I’m breathless—and not just from the walk.
He turns to me with that slow American smirk that should be illegal on Irish soil.
‘So,’ he murmurs, eyes dragging deliberately from my mouth to my bump and back again, ‘I’ll pick you up tomorrow night p>
My heart hammers so hard in my ribcage I’m surprised it doesn’t echo off the double height ceiling.
I swallow. ‘For dinner p>
‘For the rest of our lives if you’re not careful.’ His lips lift in a wolfish smirk. ‘But yes. We’ll start with dinner p>