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“No, thank you.” She folded her arms and lifted her chin in defiance. “You can give us money for her support if you want, but I am not moving into a house that you bought.”
“What if we fall in love again and want to stay married?”
Her entire body stiffened. Wouldn’t he have a good laugh at her expense if he knew she already loved him? She hadn’t been able to stop loving him. It was Nik that wasn’t in love with her. He only wanted to have his daughter under his roof. Because he was a ruthless businessman, he obviously intended to keep her as his wife just to keep Mia close.
He placed his lips on her throat, and a shiver went through her. The hope that he did indeed have feelings for her made her want to explore things with him. She had to go for it. If he had feelings for her, even if it wasn’t love, she could cultivate them. She could help them to grow.
“Let’s get a sitter tonight,” she said. “I want to spend the night with you... if you want.”
A surprised expression widened his eyes. “Of course, I want to spend the night alone with you. Why would you doubt that?”
She shrugged. “You mentioned you wanted to take things slow.”
“And we have been.” He pulled her close and kissed her until she couldn’t think straight. “I want to make love to you over and over again tonight. What do you think about that?”
“I think it sounds perfect.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chloe felt like she was on the verge of melting into a silky puddle on Nik’s penthouse floor. He had arranged for them to have a private dinner. The intimate table for two was directly in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows. Nik’s eyes glowed in the candlelight, molten dark chocolate, and his dimples were on full display the entire evening. He turned up the charm to a nuclear level.
They dined on lobster and sipped bubbly champagne. She was careful not to get drunk, but she was definitely buzzed. Good thing Nik had arranged for Mia to spend the night one floor below them with the same sitter she had with her earlier.
For dessert, they shared a decadent chocolate creation that filled her with envy.
“I want this recipe,” she said after the first bite melted in her mouth. “Can I have the recipe?”
“The chef I hired is extremely secretive, but I will see what I can do.”
Nik had hired a three-person group to play romantic background music for their dinner. She closed her eyes and swayed to the sound of a violin, a cello, and a flute.
After they finished eating, Nik pulled out her chair and offered his hand. She took it. He led her to an open space where they could dance, and she stepped into his arms. They moved as one entity in perfect harmony. It was too bad they couldn’t be like this in everything.
“Move in with me,” he whispered in her ear. “We’re married, and we have a kid. We should at least try to make it work.”
What he was saying made logical sense, but she wasn’t ready to risk her heart. Or Mia’s.
“We’ve been over this. I will never move back here to Vegas.”
“I wasn’t talking about Vegas. Brookhaven. I want you and Mia to live with me in my new house in Brookhaven.”
She shook her head. “I can’t.”
“If we weren’t already married, I would be down on one knee proposing to you right now. That’s how sincere I am about this, about us. Since we are married, I’m asking you to live with me. Take a chance. Trust me.”
Her initial reaction was an astounding Yes!, but a million reasons to say No! refused to be ignored. On the top was Mia. Chloe wasn’t absolutely positive she could trust Nik with her daughter’s heart. Then there was his domineering mother. Estelle had signed a contract saying she wouldn’t try to take Mia or support her son in doing so, but the woman was sneaky. If she wanted to, she could easily find a way around that.
There was the fact Chloe lived in Brookhaven. No matter what Nik said, he wouldn’t be happy there for long. Eventually, he was going to run back to Vegas for good. Or maybe it would happen a little at a time. He would start disappearing for a day or two every few weeks. It would slowly grow to three or four days every single week.
Someday he would stay in Vegas. Perhaps he would have one of his people call her to inform her that he wasn’t returning, or he might send her flowers with a short note saying goodbye.
“It’s too soon,” she said.
“How much time do you need?”
“It’s not just about me. How much time will you need to discover you can’t survive in Brookhaven?”
He scoffed. “If I want to live in Brookhaven, I can do it.”
