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She opened her mouth to ask the very same question, ignoring the flash of heat and anticipation zipping through her body as he came towards her.
‘These weren’t the circumstances under which I imagined we would conclude this conversation, but here we are,’ he drawled.
She felt the blood drain from her head when she saw the packages in his hand. ‘You’re not serious.’
CHAPTER FOUR
HEMERELYRAISEDan eyebrow, delivering a pithy answer with that smooth motion.
‘You want me to take a pregnancy test right now? Absolutely not!’ Raised voice. Elevated heartbeat. Vivid sensation pulsing through her. All signs of unstructured overstimulation.
Absently, Genie wondered why she wasn’t more alarmed. Why she felt weirdly...alive.
Granted, she’d also never been pregnant—a possibility she suspected was most likely. Nevertheless, she blamed him entirely for her destabilised state because, according to the information she’d consumed, pregnancy hormones wouldn’t kick in for another week or two.
‘This plane’s travelling range is thirteen and a half hours. I’m sure you’d like to finish this business long before then.’
She balled her fist. ‘I have a right to do this in my own time.’
‘Then why haven’t you done it yet?’ He raised a hand when she opened her mouth to shut him down. ‘Before you say it, this no longer falls under the “none of your business” banner.’
She bit her tongue. As much as she wanted to hate him, he was right. Hell, she had the same superior brand of test he held in his hand burning a hole in her handbag.
‘Tell me why,’ he urged.
She hated him even more because he didn’t demand or command. There was genuine curiosity in his tone. A need to know that urged her to confront her own reasons why.
She was afraid.
Afraid that, despite wanting this more than she’d ever wanted anything else, she would fall short as a mother. That the same lack her parents had found in her would curtail her full potential as a parent.
She was different. She knew that in her bones. An oddity in a world that rarely celebrated idiosyncrasies unless they directly benefitted or entertained, and even then, preferring the benefits to be delivered from a distance. As much as she hated to admit it, that difference had chipped away at her self-esteem over the years.
Enough to make her put this off even after two missed periods.
She couldn’t tell Seve any of this, of course. The raw power he exuded and the conquer-at-all-costs persona demanded that she keep her fears under lock and key.
So she cast her gaze around the room. Then forced a shrug. ‘I wasn’t ready.’
His eyes narrowed and his body turned stiff as marble. ‘You weren’t ready?’ he repeated with zero emotion. ‘You asked me to father your child as part of our deal nine weeks ago.’
The memory burned and chafed inside her, the bold attraction that had led her to issue that request still disarming. ‘I did. And had you said yes, we would’ve discussed the appropriate time for scheduling a baby.’
Impossibly, he grew stiffer and, from the corner of her eye, she watched his face turn dark with condemnation. ‘Scheduling a baby?Like scheduling a coffee run or a test drive on a string of code?’ he bit out, his tone arctic.
Like last time, she’d evidently struck a nerve. Again, she tried to see beneath his surface to why he felt so strongly about it.
Since he’d said no.
‘Well, not as unfeeling as all that but—’
‘But what? You would’ve found time to schedule in some emotion too?’
Despite deliberately seeking the distance from emotion, Genie felt her insides sting at his words. ‘How I feel about the child I may or may not be carrying is—’
‘Let me guess, none of my business? That’s where you’re wrong. Because now more than ever, I’m convinced right here is where I need to be,’ he stated with rigid reproach. ‘Let me state again. I’m not going anywhere, Genie. Not until we confirm whether or not you’re carrying my child. So what’s it to be?’
Get it over and done with.
