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“Didn’t they teach you at Harvard Law that kidnapping is a felony?”
“Are they dropping the ball at the University of Chicago, or didn’t they explain that it’s only kidnapping if I’m restraining you against your will?” He rose from the chair, climbed onto the mattress next to me, and slid his palm along my inner thigh. “If I move my hand any higher, I’m pretty damn sure I’ll be able to demonstrate exactly how not against your will this is.”
“Which leads me right back to my original question.”
“Shit!” he hissed, leaping off the bed to pace next to it. “The cuffs might have been a tactical error on my part. Even with you all covered up, just knowing you’re at my mercy has me as hard as a fucking rock.”
“Maybe you should try punishing me with too many orgasms?” I asked hopefully, pressing my legs together.
I stilled when he rubbed his face with a deep sigh and dropped back down onto the chair. “I don’t think you understand how crazy it makes me when you won’t even talk to me.”
The defeated tone in his voice struck me straight in the heart. “I’m sorry,” I offered softly. “I really, really am.”
“You can make it up to me by giving me tonight. Let me hold you, feel you in my arms all night long.”
“If that’s what you want.”
Rising from the chair again, he leaned over the mattress and freed my wrists, rubbing them gently. “It isn’t what I want, sweetheart. It’s what I need.”
How could I do anything else other than scoot over and make room for him on the bed when he put it like that? Especially when I had a feeling it was exactly what I needed, too.
With his arms wrapped around me, we spent a couple of hours talking about nothing in particular before I drifted off again. It was my most restful night’s sleep since I’d checked into the hotel, and I felt better than I had in days when I woke up in the morning. But Jax looked like he hadn’t gotten more than a couple hours of sleep, based on the dark circles under his eyes.
“Go back to sleep,” I murmured, running my fingers through his hair. “You don’t need to wake up just because I am.”
“I don’t want to miss a minute of my time with you, not when you might up and disappear on me again come Monday.” I dropped my head to his chest and squeezed my eyes shut, trying not to cry. “I get why you’re fighting what’s happening between us. I really do.”
“I wouldn’t call it fighting, exactly,” I mumbled. “I meant it when I told you that I’m yours, Jax. But the timing is messed up. I’m brand new to the firm, representing my boss in a divorce case, and a relationship with you would be a clear conflict of interest that I would have to disclose to him. One I could lose my job over because of whatever happened when you left the firm.”
“You might have to disclose it to him anyway, regardless of how much time we spend together.”
I lifted my head to peer into his eyes. “What do you mean?”
One of his hands slid down to rest on my lower abdomen. “You could be carrying my baby already.”
“Am not.” Whoa, that was the best comeback I could think up?
“I’ve taken you bare each and every time, sweetheart. It’s a definite possibility.” He sounded damn smug about it, too.
I did some quick math in my head, counting backwards to when my last period started, and groaned. “My period isn’t even due until the middle of the week. What the hell am I going to do?”
“Take one of those early tests and see what it says.”
“I don’t think they work this soon.”
“They do,” he insisted. Then he shocked the crap out of me by climbing out of bed and tugging me with him to cross the room and pull a pink box out of the toiletry bag he’d set in the bathroom the night before. “You can take this one up to six days before your period.”
“Holy hell,” I breathed out. “I’m still asleep and dreaming this all up, right? You didn’t actually research pregnancy tests so you could go out and buy me one.”
“Being mine means that it’s my responsibility to take care of you.”
“This is going way above and beyond in your duties,” I cried out, waving the box around. “You’re a guy. You should be freaking out at the very idea of knocking me up.”
He chuckled as he nudged me towards the toilet. “Why would I freak out when you carrying my baby is exactly what I want?”
I was so befuddled, I didn’t even think about the fact that I was peeing in front of him. I just followed the directions before placing the test on the counter while I washed my hands. Then we waited for what seemed to be the longest three minutes of my life until time was up.
“I don’t think I can look,” I said nervously.
Jax pulled me into his arms, kissing the top of my head. “No matter what it says, everything will be okay. I’ll make sure of it. And, if it’s negative, I’ll double my efforts to make sure the next one is positive,” he finished with a wink.
I kept my face buried in his chest, holding my breath while I felt his arm reach around me to grab the test from the counter.
“Two pink lines,” he crowed, tossing the test back down to pick me up and twirl me around. “You’re pregnant, sweetheart.”
“I’m pregnant,” I repeated, my nerves suddenly settling as a sense of calmness filled me. There was no avoiding my conflict of interest anymore, not when I was carrying Jax’s baby. “I’ll meet with Mr. Warren first thing Monday morning to disclose my relationship with you.”
“And I’ll be right by your side when you do it.”
His tone made it clear there wasn’t any point in arguing, but I had to try anyway. “You can’t be there for this, Jax. Not if I have any hope of keeping my job.”
“You don’t know him like I do, sweetheart. There isn’t a chance in hell I’m going to let you face that asshole alone.”
“What happened between the two of you? This has to be more than sour grapes because he got a partnership before you.”
“Is that what the fucker told you happened?” His laughter held no humor as he tugged me into the sitting room of my suite and settled me on the couch, cuddled on his lap. “Warren isn’t the kind of lawyer who believes in professional courtesies. He’s always had a reputation for peppering his interactions with bullying and deception. To him, dirty tricks are the name of the game when it comes to unsettling opposing counsel in his attempt to win cases. His track record, combined with his bad reputation, should have been enough to get him fired from the firm. He knew it, and he took drastic measures to make sure it didn’t happen.”
“What did he do?”
“He proved he was willing to lie, cheat, steal… and marry if it meant making partner. Andrea and Eden’s father used to be the firm’s biggest client. His marriage to Andrea ensured that he was untouchable and garnered him an early partnership.”
No wonder they were getting divorced. “That poor woman.”
“Trust me, there’s no poor Andrea in this situation. She had just as much to gain from their arrangement as he did, including a trust her grandfather settled on her that paid out in its entirety on the day of her marriage. A fact Warren learned when he was working on their family files, and one he had no qualms about using to his advantage.”
It sounded like a soap opera, not a respected law firm. “How have I never heard about any of this before?”
“Smith and Yates were in too deep with Warren once they’d realized the kind of man he really was. There was no way he’d let them buy him out of his newly minted partnership, so they’ve done what they could to protect him and the firm by keeping it all a secret.”
“Which sucks for me because if I’d known all of this, I never would have taken a job with them in the first place,” I groaned. “But at least I don’t have to worry about being fired on Monday morning, not when I really shou
ld just quit instead.”
“Do it,” he urged. “Screw going into the office on Monday at all. Send them an email now. Tell them you’ve received a better offer. Come work with me.”
“I can’t work for the guy who knocked me up!” I exclaimed.
“Why not? I think Harvey, Croix, and Croix has a nice ring to it.”
10
Jax
Natalie recoiled at my statement and my heart cracked.
“You can’t make me a partner!” she gasped.
I felt marginally better when I realized her reaction wasn’t about what it would take to make her the second Croix from my comment. Except . . . I was also a little annoyed that she seemed to skip right over the fact that I’d practically asked her to marry me.
“I’m a junior associate, Jax. I’m not ready, and besides that, I would be doing exactly what I left Chicago to get away from. People won’t respect me if I’m given my position, I have to earn it.”
“Of course, sweetheart,” I agreed. “You’ll work with Isaac until the day you make partner.”
“Oh”—she paused thoughtfully—“Okay. That could work.” Then she poked me in the chest with a finger. “But, no interfering. You have to let Isaac manage me.”
I frowned, unhappy with the thought of all the time he’d get to spend with my girl, but logically, I knew she was right. So, I let it go with a simple nod.
She smiled and started to move off my lap. I held her tight around her hips, keeping her firmly in place. “I think you missed the whole point of what I was saying, sweetheart,” I growled. I fought the desire to pout. You’re a fucking man, asshole. Act like it.
A look of confusion crossed her face and she was obviously replaying our conversation in her head. “What do you—wait…”
