The Baby Bargain

Chapter 12: Harker

Harker waited at the door to his house for Alison. "I still don't know why you drove."

"Because this won't take long, and I didn't see any reason for you to have to drive me all the way back home."

"Stop being obstinate." The muscle in his cheek ticked from clenching his jaw so much. She was the most stubborn woman he knew. He opened the door and followed her inside.

"I'm not. I'm being practical. I've already given you my answer."

"I don't think you understand." He stopped at the bar in his living room and made each of them a drink. "I considered what you said about custody and I agree to your demands." He handed her a glass.

"What you're actually saying is that I was right, and you were wrong." The smug look on her face made his hand itch to paddle her backside.

"No, I'm saying that there was merit to your suggestion." He sat on the chair next to her.

"Merit to wanting to take care of my own kid." She half snorted. "No kidding but why do you want a kid? Why don't you already have them? At your age—"

"I'm not that much older than you are." He was getting a little tired of her referring to him as old.

"How old are you?" She studied him. "Forty...five, forty-six? That'd make you fourteen or fifteen years older than me."

"I'm forty." He leaned closer to her. "Which means that if I don't want to be ancient when my child graduates from high school, I had better start now." The blood rushed to his dick at the thought. He couldn't wait to get all her energy in his bed and focused on him.

"That's true." She wrinkled her nose in thought. "You should. You have to figure at least a year from the time you start trying to when she should deliver."

He didn't like her referring to the mother as she instead of I, but he'd ignore it. "Exactly." He handed her the papers that he'd given to her earlier. "Read through this and let me know if you have any questions. Then, I'd suggest you take it to your lawyer." He handed her a business card. "Tell him or her to contact my lawyer if they have any questions."

"Oh, I don't need any of this." She handed the contract and the business card back to him. "You'd better start looking for another woman because I'm not having your baby."

"Why the fu..." He cleared his throat, getting his temper in check. "I thought your only objection was custody." He'd spent months choosing her; he wasn't letting her go.

"It was." She sipped her drink, trying unsuccessfully to hide her smug expression.

"Then I don't understand the issue." He leaned toward her. "Remember. I'm a businessman. I'm willing to negotiate." His eyes skimmed down her body. Damn he couldn't wait to strip her bare. Her breasts were small and her hips wide. She didn't have the perfect body, but he was dying to spend hours exploring every inch.

"I don't think you're this willing."

He raised his gaze, expecting to see her cheeks flushed from his blatant perusal of her body but she just stared at him with a polite expression on her face. The muscle in his cheek ticked faster. Women did not look at him like he was a eunuch. "Are you willing to give up all that money and all those wonderful things you can do with it?"

"I was thinking about that. Even though I'm not the right woman to have your kid doesn't mean that I'm not the right person to head up the software engineering department. We need a team if we're going to—"

"We are not taking the child out of this deal."

"You said you were a businessman. I want to negotiate."

"And I will but not about the child."

"You can still have the kid, just not with me and I can run the software part of your business."

"No."

"I understand that you won't want to give me five percent. How about three percent and I run your team? That's one worry off your plate. You can spend more time looking for the perfect mother for your child."

"No." He leaned back because if he didn't, he'd probably strangle her or kiss her to shut her up. "Listen very carefully. I'm willing to negotiate but there is no deal—none—without you agreeing to have my child." He wanted to fuck her, to see her round with his baby and he always got what he wanted.

"The problem is, Gus"—she stressed his name and the tick in his cheek almost did the cha-cha—"that I don't think you're willing to agree with what I need in order to have your child."

"Name it." Right now, he'd agree to almost anything to be able to rip her shirt off and discover the color of her nipples. His bet was peach because of her coloring but they could be a dusky rose or even brown.

"My mother is very religious."

"I'm aware of that." He had a hard time raising his gaze away from her chest. She wore a black silky shirt that made him wonder about her bra and panties. Had she put on sexy lingerie for her date? Would her hard little nipples push through the lace, begging for his lips? He cleared his throat. "She's a lovely woman." He smiled slightly as he lifted his eyes away from her breasts. "Not overly fond of cursing."

"I am that, and I'm glad you finally recognize it." He was a virile male, not some old limp-dicked geezer.

"What do you mean by that." He leaned forward and put his hand over her mouth, stopping her from speaking. "No. Don't answer that." He wasn't sure his ego could take it. "Just tell me what you need in order to sign those papers." He dropped his hand and tapped the contract.

"I need you to marry me," she said.

"Ma..." His throat closed up and he choked on the word.