The Paternity Pact

by Cat Schield

  He set his fingertip against her lips, silencing her. “What can I do to convince you?”

  Immediately, her mind latched on to the one crazy, outrageous thing she wanted more than anything else, knowing it was something he’d never in a million years do. But as she stared at the man she loved, the words trembling on her lips, Harley knew she could never bring herself to ask him to make such a sacrifice.

  “You don’t have to do anything,” she heard herself saying and recognized that it was true. How could she expect him to trust his feelings for her if she didn’t have confidence in them?

  “What if I go with you and Daniel to Thailand?”

  Harley’s chest spasmed at his earnest expression and for a moment she couldn’t breathe. “You can’t.”

  He shook his head. “I can. It’ll just take me a little time to make arrangements. Many of my clients are undergoing treatment and I can’t abandon them when they are on the verge of creating families of their own. But if I don’t take on any new patients, I should be able to go with you in a couple months.”

  She laughed uneasily, surprised and unsure how to respond to such an incredible offer. “Are you sure?”

  “I’ve never been more serious about anything in my entire life.”

  Believing that he was indeed committed to following through, Harley immediately backpedaled. “I can’t ask you to do that.”

  “You didn’t ask,” he pointed out with a wry smile. “I offered to go with you. I was serious when I said I needed you. And Daniel. Yes, you’re a package deal. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. I want us to be a family. Whatever that involves. Wherever you are—whether it’s in Royal or in Thailand—I want to be with you. You have my heart. And where it goes, I go.”

  It was everything she’d ever wanted to hear from him and so much more. Harley squeezed her eyes shut, her entire body buzzing with energy. This was the moment to embrace what he was offering her and spend the rest of her life as the happiest woman on earth. To take that leap of faith. To believe in him. In them.

  “I love you,” she whispered, all fight rushing out of her. “And because I do, I can’t take you away from what you love.”

  “What I love is you and Daniel and the family we make when we’re together. Everything else is mere distraction that keeps me from noticing how incredibly lonely I was before you came back into my life.”

  The throb of profound emotion in his voice was the sweetest music Harley had ever heard. Grant’s entire life was driven by logic. For him to recognize and relish his love for her and acknowledge his longing for them to become a true family was all she’d ever wanted.

  “I belong with you and Daniel,” he continued, his fingers tightening as he pledged his heart. “You’re my home. So you see, it doesn’t matter if it’s here or halfway around the world. I can be a doctor anywhere. What I can’t bear is being without you and Daniel.”

  Harley could barely see his features dissolve into a breathtaking smile as tears filled her eyes. She blinked, trying to clear her vision and felt a hot trickle make its way down her cheek. Grant’s thumb whisked away the moisture as his lips met hers in a reverent kiss that left her senses soaring and the blood rushing fast and hot through her veins.

  Surrendering to unbridled joy, Harley wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, leaving nothing to his imagination. She surrendered her whole heart and gloried as he gave her his heart in return. Passion simmered as the romantic embrace went on and on. His fingers tunneled into her hair and caressed her cheek, making her feel safe and adored.

  Leaving all their misunderstandings behind, Harley promised she would no longer hide from him how she felt. Good or bad, she was determined that she would share her deepest thoughts with Grant. They might disagree. They might even fight. But she would trust him to listen.

  “You and Daniel are my everything,” she confessed, beaming up at him. How was it possible that she’d gotten so lucky? The icy chill of loneliness she’d suffered these last five years vanished as happiness blazed inside her like the sun.

  “I’m sorry it took me so long to understand how important you are to me. If I hadn’t been such an obstinate fool five years ago, we wouldn’t have lost so much time.”

  “You weren’t wrong back then,” she said. “I had a lot of growing up to do. Becoming Daniel’s mother and the years abroad with no one to rely on but myself enabled me to figure out who I am.”

  “I lusted after the woman you were,” he declared with a wicked grin. “but I adore the woman you are.”

  Harley’s heart melted at the mixture of fondness and passion in his gaze. All she’d ever wanted was for someone to love and appreciate her.

  “You know that we don’t need to leave Royal for me to be happy,” she said. “I understand how important your work is to you.”

  “And that’s exactly why I’m able to leave it behind.” Eyes glowing with affection, he cupped her face in his palm. “My family never made an effort to understand me. You see what motivates me and appreciate why I am the way I am.”

  “I love your big beautiful brain and your selfless dedication to helping women conceive. You don’t help people for the accolades or the money. You create families because that brings people joy. Anyone who doesn’t understand that is a fool.”

  Harley barely finished speaking before Grant crushed her body to his and pressed ardent kisses to her lips. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave herself over to the bliss that flooded her. As she lost herself in his thrilling embrace, she thought about the journey she’d been on since the troubles began plaguing the Wingate fortune. The financial downturn she’d suffered had forced her to come home, but it was her heart that had been impoverished. Only when she’d set aside her pride and believed in love had she been gifted with all the riches that were Grant’s devotion.

  “We’re going to make this work,” she murmured in wonder when at last he lifted his lips from hers. She framed his face with her palms and smiled.

  “We’re going to do more than that,” he assured her, his eyes glowing with tender passion. “We’re going to make people’s lives better and we’re going to be very very happy doing it.”

  * * *

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  One

  Haley Shaw bent over the gift boxes, searching around the obscene bouquets of flowers and cupcake boxes, just trying to find her damn yellow highlighter.

  “That’s quite a display.”

  The low, throaty voice was all too familiar...and all too arousing.

  Haley straight
ened and turned to face a smirking, sexy Chase Hargrove. The persistent man was vying for the coveted position of CEO of Black Crescent Hedge Fund. The successful investment firm had been through hell and back, and Haley had stuck through it all—which made her the target of all the résumés and all of the bribes. Hence the gifts cluttering her normally pristine work space.

  “I assume you were referring to the flowers and boxes and not the fact I was bent over with my backside facing you while looking for my highlighter,” she stated, smoothing down her conservative dove-gray pencil dress.

  His deep brown eyes held hers. “Of course.”

  Sure. That naughty grin gave him away and she had a feeling a powerful man like Chase always held his emotions and cards close to his chest. He wanted her unnerved, thrown off track. Well, it would take a hell of a lot more than charm and a little flirting to really get her attention.

  Haley prided herself on her professionalism. She’d worked too hard, overcome too much, to land where she was. True, she was an executive assistant, but she had power here at Black Crescent and she never let her emotions, or a man, get in the way of her duties.

  Not even this sexy man who was very qualified to take over the coveted CEO position and potentially become her boss.

  “Do you have an appointment?” she asked, knowing full well he didn’t.

  Chase had been popping in and out over the past several weeks, ever since Josh Lowell had announced he was stepping down and the CEO position would be available. Chase had turned in a rather impressive résumé and had even landed an interview a few weeks ago. The position had been offered to Ryan Hathaway, but ultimately, Ryan turned down the coveted title. So the search continued as Chase moved closer to the top of the list. Hence Chase pursuing the job...and her.

  Not that she minded a sexy distraction, but she really did need to get her work done and there was no chance of that as long as Chase stood at her desk with that panty-dropping stare.

  Maybe he really was here for the job, but he spent an exorbitant amount of time charming her.

  Haley was Josh’s right-hand woman and everyone thought she was the gatekeeper in regards to the top position. Haley had to admit, she didn’t hate all of this attention. Who could be mad when cupcakes, flowers and chocolates were delivered on the daily?

  “I do have an appointment,” he amended with a naughty, crooked grin. “With you.”

  Confused, she crossed her arms over her chest. “Me?”

  “For lunch.”

  Oh, he was a smooth one. He thought he could waltz in here, pour on the charisma and she’d just take him up on a day date? Clearly he knew nothing about women...or at least this woman. She didn’t let anything interrupt her work. Or at least, she never did before him.

  “I’m not free for lunch.” She lifted one vase, then another, on her desk, glancing for all the things she’d lost in this chaos. “But you go have a nice time.”

  “What are you looking for?” he asked, obviously in no hurry to go.

  “My highlighter,” she informed him. “I keep getting all of these gifts and I’ve run out of room for things I actually need. I normally have everything in a designated spot, but now...”

  She tossed her hands up, frustrated with how quickly her space had become unorganized.

  “When we go to lunch, we can stop and get you as many new highlighters as you need,” he suggested. “My treat.”

  Haley glanced up and really wished her belly would stop doing those schoolgirl flops over a hot guy and his offer to buy her dollar markers.

  So what if his shoulders perfectly filled out that black suit jacket? So what if his messy hair looked like he’d just rolled out of his lover’s bed? He wouldn’t be rolling out of her bed, so she really had no place fantasizing about such things.

  She had important issues to tend to and getting distracted by a man who likely wasn’t interested in her, but in how far she could get him in this field, was not one of them.

  The phone on her desk rang and she sighed. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to work.”

  She took the call and moments later when she hung up, she was surprised to see he had actually left. But there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that Chase Hargrove would be back. A man like that never gave up.

  * * *

  Chase clutched the surprise in his hand and headed into Black Crescent Hedge Fund for the second time that morning. Determination and revenge were a combination that no rejection could penetrate.

  No matter how many times he had to show his face, flirt a little or buy silly bribes, he’d sure as hell do it. A little humility was nothing in comparison with what his family had gone through at the hands of Vernon Lowell.

  The sneaky bastard had squandered millions and disappeared fifteen years ago, but Chase would never forget the struggle his family went through after his father was framed by Vernon to take some of the fall.

  Chase’s father had landed in prison for a few years, paying for his actions after Vernon had left a neat and tidy paper trail leading right to their door.

  Now Chase had the opportunity to seek his own justice, since Vernon was never caught. His son Josh was now at the helm, and Chase didn’t find him exempt from the damage.

  He hadn’t counted on the perks of the revenge plot, though. Getting an eyeful of Haley Shaw was certainly an added bonus. There was something about her unruffled attitude that made him want to just get his digs in where he could...which was why he didn’t mind one bit that she’d caught him staring at her ass.

  He wasn’t a jerk or a guy who took advantage of women. He respected women, but if a male held the position that Haley did, Chase would certainly be going about this via a much different route.

  As he stepped through the double glass doors, he nodded to the receptionist and headed toward the elevators. One day soon, this would all be his. Chase had the credentials and was more than qualified to settle perfectly into the CEO position. But if not, then he’d at least get the scoop he needed to help bring Black Crescent down for good. They deserved nothing less and Haley was inadvertently going to help him.

  As for the top slot here, Chase didn’t need it. He sure as hell wasn’t hurting for money, but he wouldn’t mind adding another investment firm to his portfolio.

  Chase stepped out of the elevator and walked toward Haley’s large circular desk, and once again the overwhelming scent of flowers assaulted him. He shouldn’t be surprised at all the candidates vying for her attention, though they were being too predictable. Boxes of gourmet chocolates? Oversize floral arrangements? Cupcakes from the local bakery? Please. Those candidates were amateurs and utterly boring.

  Haley had her back to him and was holding a stack of papers, muttering beneath her breath. A woman getting caught up in her work was damn sexy, but he wasn’t here for seduction. Shame that. Having Haley under different circumstances wasn’t something he’d turn down. Classy, smart, powerful... She was the entire package of sex appeal.

  Chase pushed lustful thoughts from his head and tapped his knuckles on the edge of the desk. She startled and glanced over her shoulder, her wavy blond hair framing her face.

  “Back so soon?” she asked, quirking a brow.

  Damn if her sarcasm didn’t up his attraction to her. He had to admit, this challenge wasn’t proving to be boring. He actually looked forward to his interactions with Haley.

  Chase held up the present. “I brought you something.”

  Her eyes darted to his hand and she turned fully to face him. “Seriously?” She laughed as she circled her desk. “Is that a bouquet of highlighters?”

  He extended the gift. “You couldn’t find yours and you had enough flowers and gourmet-cupcake boxes.”

  She stared at the bundle for a second before she took the variety of colors. The wide smile on her face was like a punch of lust to his gut. Not exactly what he’d come l
ooking for, but something about her simple style and natural beauty appealed to a side he didn’t want to be appealed to.

  Lust and desire didn’t follow guidelines, though. He couldn’t help this attraction and he couldn’t help but wonder if she was getting that kick of arousal, as well.

  “Well done,” she told him with a wide grin. “I admire someone who thinks outside the box.”

  Chase shoved his hands in his pockets. “Admire enough to go to lunch? You do get a lunch break, right?”

  “I do,” she confirmed. “But I’m not going to lunch with you. I have other plans.”

  “Cancel them.”

  She cocked her head. “Are you always demanding?”

  “When I see something I want.”

  And there it was. A glimpse of desire he hadn’t quite been sure about flashed through her eyes. Well, well, well. Maybe he could keep working this angle and come out with the job and a side fling. Win-win.

  “Fine,” she conceded. “We’ll go to lunch, but we will not talk business.”

  Not talk business? No problem. He could gather information from her without her even realizing he was doing so. He hadn’t gotten this far making billions by not being able to read people.

  Besides, he’d already worn her down—by a bouquet of highlighters, no less. Chase was confident he would get damaging intel from her and she wouldn’t have a clue she’d even let him in.

  “Lead the way,” he said, gesturing to her door.

  Chase followed those swaying hips and reminded himself he was here for a purpose, a vendetta, not to see how quickly he could slide that zipper down and have her out of that body-hugging dress.

  Only time would tell which one of them came out on top... But Chase didn’t intend to lose.

  Copyright © 2020 by Harlequin Books S.A.

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