“Danielle,” he growled, stepping through the doorway toward her as she reached the top step. “Perhaps you should come inside.”
“Oh, that’s right. Be polite. Let’s not disillusion your staff about the type of boss they have.” Her furious gaze swept over the older couple. “I bet you think he’s a decent human being. Well, so did I and look where it got me?” She slammed her hands on slim hips covered by a clingy top. “I’m pregnant and Flynn Donovan doesn’t care if I have this baby out on the street.”
He swore under his breath. “I don’t know what your problem is but I suggest we talk about this in private.” Taking her by the elbow, he marched her inside past Louise and Thomas, then closed his study door behind them and turned to face her.
His eyes narrowed. “Now. What the hell is wrong with you? And what’s all this about you having the baby out on the street?”
She shot him a hostile glare. “Don’t pretend you don’t know.”
His mouth set in a tight line. “I’m not pretending. I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re going on about.”
“You told my landlord about me having a baby, didn’t you? You must have found out children aren’t allowed to live in the building.” Her voice suddenly broke on an emotional note. “Now I—” she swallowed, her eyes glistening “—now I have to leave.”
“You think I’d do that?” he rasped, striding toward her but she quickly stepped back, refusing to let him come any closer. He stopped a few feet away.
Her chin set in a stubborn line as she blinked back the tears. “Absolutely.”
“Even after last night?” he said in a brusque tone, a growing heaviness centering in his chest.
“Especially after last night,” she said without hesitation.
He drew himself up straighter, taut with anger. “I’m sorry but I don’t see the connection.”
“Then you’re the only one. You made me homeless so I’d have to marry you.”
He flinched inwardly. Was this the same woman he’d made love to last night? The same woman who had slid back into bed with him and begged him to make love to her?
“Danielle, you have my word that I had nothing to do with this.”
But he knew who did.
Monica.
Thank heavens he’d put a guard on her yesterday as soon as he’d left her apartment…a woman who knew she’d better do a good job or else…until he could get back from Paris and protect Danielle himself.
Her eyes distrusted him but he saw a flicker of doubt. “How can I believe that?”
He drew himself up straighter. “In business, my word would be enough.”
“This isn’t business. This is personal.” As soon as she said the words, she flushed, a becoming tint highlighting her cheekbones.
“Yes, very personal,” he drawled, pleased by her reaction.
“You know I don’t mean it like that,” she said, her voice softer now, the look in her eyes more gentle.
His gut clenched. “I can’t help what you think about me, but getting someone thrown out on the street is not my style.”
She stared, her eyes assessing him as the seconds ticked by. Then her mouth relaxed a fraction. “Why do I believe you?”
Fierce relief launched through his veins. “Because you know it’s the truth,” he said, pulling her toward him, the scent of Allure perfume filling his nostrils, stirring his senses. He hardened with desire and pressed himself against her, letting her feel what she did to him.
Her eyes darkened and she shuddered, her body emitting an aura that curled around him. “No,” she mumbled, pushing out of his arms and spinning toward the study window, where she stood with her back to him.
“You’re fighting a losing battle, Danielle.”
She let out a slow breath and turned to face him. “There isn’t going to be any battle,” she said, deliberately misreading him. “They’re the ones calling the shots. I have to leave the apartment. I have no choice.”
He was about to ignore her comment when something occurred to him, making him angry just thinking about it. “Surely the person who got you the apartment in the first place should have told you about the no-children policy,” he snapped.
She shot him a withering glance. “For your information Ben is a friend of Robert’s and, no, he didn’t know about the baby. And by the way, he’s a Realtor, not an ex-lover.” She winced. “I think he felt sorry for me living with Monica.”
Strangely enough, he suspected she was telling the truth. Yet could she really believe this Ben didn’t have other intentions? He was a man and any male would have carnal thoughts of Danielle and bed.
He forced his hands to unclench. “Do you know who told the landlord you were pregnant?”
“No.”
God. She really had no idea, no suspicion that Monica would do this to her. Danielle didn’t deserve a mother-in-law who tried to get her thrown out on the street.
Actually it was probably because of him that Monica was being so vindictive in the first place. He’d stirred the older woman up and now she was taking it out on Danielle.
All at once he stilled as another angle to this occurred to him, just the way it did in his business dealings. Any attempt by Monica to get her daughter-in-law back was bound to send Danielle running in the other direction.
Toward him.
Hmm. This may end up better than he’d thought.
“What does it matter now, anyway?” Danielle said, but her eyes flickered with uncertainty. “The damage is done. Ben said he would find me something else.”
He gritted his teeth. This Ben sounded far too helpful for his liking. “You could fight it.”
“What’s the use? Others in the building obviously don’t want me there.” Full-blown pride angled her chin. “And I’d rather not stay where I’m not wanted.”
He hated to see her hurting this way and once again he realized there was more depth to this woman than he’d previously believed. “I know a place where you’re wanted,” he said pointedly. “Very much.”
She held his gaze, lifted her chin more. “Thank you for your concern but I’ll be fine.”
His jaw tautened. “Come on. I’ll take you home.”
“I have my car.”
“I won’t have you driving while you’re upset. My car’s out front.”
“Don’t you have a plane to Paris to catch?”
Connie must have told her, including giving Danielle his address. Not that he minded.
He glanced at the gold Rolex on his wrist. He could delay the meeting or send someone else, preferably the latter. “I won’t be going now.”
“Oh, but—”
“I’m taking you home.”
Despair crossed her face. “Flynn, I don’t need you to drive me home. I can manage.”
“No.” He reached for the door handle, then looked at her. An odd tenderness swelled inside him. “Sit down and relax for a minute. I’ll be back shortly.”
As soon as Danielle stepped inside the penthouse and looked around what had so quickly become her home, a sense of despair filled her. Tears sprang to her eyes. She would miss this spacious apartment, with its glorious view of the ocean, sweeping around to the city skyline and backdropped by the brightest of blue skies.
Yet it wasn’t about the luxury. This was her new beginning. She felt safe here. Safe and secure.
And now it had come to an end.
Flynn tugged her toward him, and for once she knew she needed to lean on someone. On him. It would be the last time, she promised herself as she went willingly into his arms. They were surprisingly comforting and full of a strength that seemed to pour into her and helped her blink back the tears.
“Sorry,” she mumbled against his shirt, hating to cry even a little. It was just those silly hormones again.
“No need to apologize,” he said, his deep voice rumbling in her ears.
She sniffed and leaned back to look up at him. Right at that moment she realized it wasn’t just this ap
artment that made her feel safe and secure. It was being in Flynn’s arms, too. She felt protected, as she’d never been protected before. But in a good way, unlike with Robert.
Robert. A sensation tightened her throat as she pushed away bad memories and concentrated on now. She was about to lose her home.
“Oh, Flynn, I thought this place would be mine for a few years at least. It’s going to be so hard to leave.”
He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Try not to worry about it.”
She frowned. “How can I not worry? I signed a lease in good faith. I never, ever sign anything without reading it first. I wouldn’t even sign that paperwork Robert insisted…” All at once she remembered.
He stilled, but his eyes had grown alert. “Are you talking about the paperwork for the loan?”
Her breath stopped. Dear God, if she told him the truth would he tell Monica? Could she beg him not to? Could she throw herself on his mercy for the sake of her child? Of course she could.
“Danielle?” he warned in a low voice that said this was very important.
She totally agreed.
“Yes, Flynn, I am talking about that loan,” she admitted, stepping back, needing to separate herself from him while she talked. “I knew nothing about it. In fact, looking back I can see that Robert tried to get me to sign the paperwork but I felt uncomfortable so I threw it away. I never heard another thing until you sent me that letter and even then I didn’t realize Robert had forged my signature. Not until I saw it on the contract you showed me.” She took a ragged breath. “But why believe me now when you didn’t believe me before?”
A muscle pulsated in his lean cheek. “I know you now and I believe you’re telling me the truth.”
She choked back a short laugh. “How magnanimous of you.”
“I deserve that, but why didn’t you insist on telling me the truth before?” His gaze narrowed on her. “What are you trying to hide, Danielle?”
She sent him a wary glance. “I thought you might go to Monica and ask her for the money,” she admitted uneasily, praying she was doing the right thing. “That’s why I kept sending you those checks. I couldn’t risk her knowing. You see, if you didn’t believe me about the forged signature then she might prefer not to, as well. I knew she would use any opportunity to take this baby away from me.” She hugged her stomach protectively. “She still could. She’d drag me through the courts until my name was mud and she had my child in her custody.”
“Over my dead body,” he snarled.
Her throat seemed to close up but she managed to say, “Thank you.”
“This is why you were agitated when Monica came to your door, isn’t it? You thought I might mention the money to her.”
She nodded. “I was trying to get you out of there as fast as I could.”
“Danielle, I wouldn’t have mentioned the money then and you have no need to fear I will tell her now. That woman would be the last person in the world I’d want to raise a child. Any child. And definitely not your child.”
She swallowed a lump in her throat, blinked back sudden tears, then straightened her shoulders. “Unfortunately none of this fixes my immediate problem.”
He considered her. “Why not just wait and see what happens?”
That was easy to say when a person had plenty of money the way he did. He could afford to move into a hotel. She grimaced. He could afford to buy the hotel.
“No, I have to face reality now. It’s no use burying my head in the sand.”
“We’ll figure something out. Trust me.”
We? He planned on helping her? Again. That was why he wasn’t too worried on her behalf.
She took a shuddering breath and faced him. “Flynn, in case I haven’t made it clear, I do not need your help.”
“If you married me at least you wouldn’t have to worry about having nowhere to live.”
She gasped, dismayed he was back on that subject again. “I will have somewhere to live. Ben said—”
“Forget Ben! He’s going to stick you in a tiny apartment in some run-down part of Darwin somewhere.”
She boldly met his gaze. “It doesn’t appear to have done you any harm.”
Anger flared then died in his eyes. “Not quite everyone from my street turned themselves into a millionaire,” he drawled.
“Oh, you mean, no one but you and your friends have the brains to do what you’ve done?” she said sarcastically.
“Marry me.”
She tensed. “No.”
“You’ll be very happy. I promise.”
“Don’t make a promise you might not keep.”
A muscle knotted in his jaw. “Do you want your child to suffer without a father?” he asked harshly.
She gasped. “That’s not fair. I plan on being the best parent a child can have.”
“But you had parents. Plural. Are you going to deny your child something he should automatically have?”
Her chin lifted. “Maybe I’ll marry one day, but to the right man. That’s not you.”
He swore low in his throat.
“This is harassment, Flynn.”
“Wanting someone is not harassment.”
“You used sex to get what you can’t have. Me.” She shot him a shrewd look. “And I find it oddly telling that you haven’t mentioned anything about love.”
He didn’t move a muscle. “I’d prefer not to start off our marriage with high expectations.”
“I…am…not…marrying…you,” she said with gritted teeth.
“I’m sure we’ll learn to love each other in our own way over time,” he said, ignoring her protest. “For now, our desires will give us a few years grace. We’ll make a good marriage together.”
“No, we won’t.”
His mouth thinned with displeasure. “Danielle, I’m not arguing.” He went to reach for her but she spun away.
Only, she spun too fast and without warning she felt dizzy. Too dizzy. Her knees felt weak and nausea was rising up her throat. She could hear the blood pounding in her ears.
“Flynn,” she whispered, and suddenly he was there, his arms around her, holding her, his presence comforting.
“Danielle?”
She rested her head on his shoulder and heard him say her name in a worried tone, but she was too busy trying to stop the world from spinning.
His arms tightened a little. “I’m here, sweetheart.”
A moment passed, then another and thankfully the dizziness started to ease, the nausea abating, the blood not pounding quite as loudly in her ears.
“Are you okay?” he murmured, his heart thudding against her cheek.
She pushed back a little and looked up at him. “Yes,” she said on a shaky breath. “I felt a little faint, that’s all.”
“This is happening far too often.” He swooped her up in his arms and headed for her bedroom. “I’m calling my doctor. And I don’t want any argument from you.”
This time Danielle didn’t want to argue. For all her talk about independence, she knew he was right. She hadn’t been feeling right lately, so another checkup by a doctor was in order. She didn’t want to risk losing the baby. She couldn’t. Her baby was the only thing worthwhile in her life. She would be heartbroken if anything happened.
“How do you feel now?” Flynn said after he’d made her comfortable on the bed, then called the doctor on his cell phone.
The concern in his eyes halted her inner panic. “Better.”
He sat down next to her on the bed and squeezed her hand, as if trying to instill strength into her. “I won’t let anything happen to you or the baby,” he assured her.
She looked at his grim mouth and pale face and her heart softened. “Flynn, you can’t stop it.”
“Don’t,” he muttered, and she realized he was taking this much too personally. But she knew all about regrets and she wasn’t about to let either of them take responsibility for this.
Her throat thickened. “You can’t blame y
ourself for my feeling faint.”
“I shouldn’t have tried to grab you like that.”
“You weren’t being rough, Flynn. You never are.”
He held her gaze. “Thank you for that.”
The softened look in his eyes made her heart tumble over and she almost wanted to faint again, but for a different reason. “Um…how long do you think the doctor will be?”
Arrogance returned to his face. “Bloody quick, if he knows what’s good for him.”
She had to smile, glad to see the old Flynn back. And for the first time she actually noticed his marine-blue polo shirt and gray chinos that made him look both casual and sophisticated. There was something very distracting about the way the fine material of his shirt hugged his shoulders. Far too distracting.
All at once he kissed her hard on the mouth then jumped to his feet. “I’ll get you a drink of water. Call out if you need me.”
She watched him walk away, tempted to call out and say that she did need him, but that might be admitting too much, even in jest. He’d use it to his advantage at some time or other, no doubt.
When the middle-aged doctor came, he was introduced as Mike. She reddened when Flynn stood by watching her being examined.
Mike straightened. “The baby’s fine.”
Sheer relief washed over her. “Thank God,” she said, seeing the same reflection on Flynn’s face.
The doctor eyed her. “Have you had any stress lately? Getting enough sleep? Eating right?”
“She’s had a lot of stress, Mike,” Flynn said, and she shot him a look that said she could speak for herself.
Mike frowned. “Hmm, then I hope you don’t live here alone.”
“Yes, she does,” Flynn said again before she could get a word in. She glared at him again.
“Not a good idea.” The doctor put his stethoscope away and clicked the bag shut. “Don’t you have a friend or relative you could move in with for a while? You need to rest. Otherwise I might have to put you in the hospital,” he said, making her gasp. “It would only be a precautionary measure,” he assured her.
“She’ll be staying at my place,” Flynn said with authority, sending her heart slamming against her ribs.
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