“I don’t.” She glanced down at her feet, took a deep breath, and looked at him. “I thought about your offer, and I’ve come to a decision.”
He put down the pen he was holding.
“It’s yes. I’ll have your baby.”
****
Xavier looked around her apartment. He’d never been inside before, and he liked it. It was tiny. Much smaller than his penthouse suite, which he loved. Anya’s space was filled with personality, life, love, all of it. He saw a picture of her graduation with her mother and father on either side.
She had agreed to be the mother of his child, and instead of letting her change her mind, he’d wanted to go to her place to iron out the details.
Taking a seat, he leaned back, and sighed. She had a wonderful sofa, nice and soft on the back, and something to sink into. Resting his head back, he closed his eyes, and it was strange how he found peace.
The apartment smelled like her. A floral sweet scent that always made him want to press his nose against her neck, breathing her in.
“I don’t have any fancy coffee I’m afraid, so I made hot chocolate.”
He watched as she walked in, and bent down to place his cup on a coaster on the coffee table.
“Hot chocolate is fine. Do you cook for yourself?” He noticed the long line of cookbooks across a wall.
“Yeah. It was something I always did with my mom. She’s an amazing cook. Every time I feel a little homesick, I cook or bake.”
Since she had entered the kitchen she had put her hair down, and now the long red strands caressed her face. He wanted to reach out, and touch. Resisting the urge, he grabbed the cup, holding it in his hands.
“We could have done this in the office,” she said, fidgeting in her chair.
“You don’t like having me in your space.”
“It’s nothing personal. Well, not much. It’s just, I don’t know what I’m saying.”
He smiled. “You’ve agreed to have my baby.”
“I know.”
“So, I should probably come around a little more, and get used to being with you.”
“I don’t want anyone at work to know. Can we keep it secret?”
“What about when the baby is born?”
“I’ll deal with everything after. Until then I’d just like to have this chance to … have a quiet life. It was difficult for me when you hired me without the interview. I’d rather not stir anything up.”
“You’re going to have my baby. That will stir everything up. I won’t keep it a secret.”
“I know. I know. Please, just do this for me.”
“Fine. I want you to start spending more time with me. When we’re out of work, I expect you to go on dates. I don’t live in the limelight as you’ve seen, so there’s no fear of us being caught together by the press.”
“I can handle that.”
He chuckled at her lack of enjoyment. She was such a refreshing change from all the women that wanted to be seen in certain places, by important people. “I guess we should talk about marriage then.”
“Wait, what?”
“We’re going to have a baby together. I want us to be married.”
“People have babies without the need for a marriage.”
“I know. I know what I want.”
“You want marriage now?”
“It’s a small thing. I don’t want my child to be known as a bastard. It’s old-fashioned, but I want my name at the end of his or hers.”
She held her hands up. “Okay, okay.”
“Besides, I don’t see why marriage will be a problem. We’re going to spend the rest of our lives together. Anya, I don’t want you seeing other men. When we do this, we become it for each other.” He wanted to make clear he had no interest in sharing her.
Anya blew out a breath. “I won’t cheat on you. This is a whole lot to take in. What if we’re not compatible?”
“We are.”
There was no way he was getting fucking hard if there wasn’t anything there. “How about we take a chance? Are you willing to … experiment?”
“How?”
He leaned back in the chair and patted his lap. “Come and have a seat.”