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“What could be better than being there for my baby and the mother?”
Dina could hear the anger begin to tinge his voice, but ignored it. “Oh, I don’t know. Hanging out on your super yacht with your posse of friends and supermodels, or partying on your private jet as you fly out to some hot new party location?”
Instead of getting mad, Samuel just huffed and curved his lips in a smile. “Well, since I’m more than ready to put all that on hold, you should at least appreciate that I care and not be so stubborn.”
“But…”
“We could stand here all day arguing, or we could go in. You don’t want to miss your appointment. I’ve already met with the doctor, and she’s happy I’m going to be there. After all, I am the father.”
Dina just gaped at him. “I can’t believe you did that.”
“Well, it’s done. I’m going to be doing a whole lot more, what with you taking on so many work projects all at once. Can’t you see you shouldn’t be facing anything alone right now?” His blue eyes were intense, even though his overall demeanor was calm.
“If this is about me moving in with you again, I’d rather not go into that.” Dina impatiently turned to make her way into the hospital, but Samuel made her pause with a gentle hand on her elbow.
“I’m not trying to control your life or be a pain,” he said. “I just don’t think I have to take the backseat when this is something I’m obviously a part of. Whatever you might think of me personally, I want to be a good father. And this is how I’m going to start off achieving that.”
Samuel meant every word he said, and he hoped Dina believed it.
He could understand her cautiousness but not her continued animosity. It was almost as if she wanted him to back off and let her face this alone. That would give her the satisfaction of being right about him, but he was about to surprise her.
And himself, come to think of it. His excitement about the baby was just as bewildering to him. Starting a family had never been a priority. However, not only had he been drawn in by the thought of his heir, he was also filled with admiration for this beautiful, determined woman who let nothing stand in her way.
He cringed, thinking of what another woman would do if she was in Dina’s shoes and got pregnant by the Samuel Franklin. Emotional blackmail, scandal and extortion were just a few of the nightmare outcomes he could come up with. Samuel could just imagine his father laying eggs at the disaster and what it could do to the family image and business.
Dina showed no interest in what Samuel was worth, nor did she seem materialistic. Samuel was impressed that she was nothing like the women he was used to, always looking out for a way to entrap him just so they could say they were tied to a billionaire heir.
It would take some more time for her to trust him, he knew. He wasn’t ready to back down just yet. She might try to prove independent, but he could see the vulnerability in her beautiful brown eyes. When she talked about the pregnancy, he could discern her fear of the unknown, and their mutual worry for the baby’s safety.
That’s why he’d keep trying to reach into her, so she never felt she was facing her burdens on her own. He wouldn’t dig too deep into his motives just yet or discern the feelings already taking root in his heart. Dina wasn’t looking for any of that either. Right now, he’d focus on promoting a healthy pregnancy as much as possible and monitoring the baby’s progress.
And soon, maybe Dina would admit to herself that she needed him as much as he needed her.
***
Dina’s meeting with her agency had gone pretty much like she’d expected. Now that she was four months pregnant, with a baby bump in evidence, there was no way they could keep actively promoting her, Not as much as their other girls anyway.
They suggested she take time off until after the baby, and they could see about things then. That was if she got back into the shape she was before she got pregnant. Fortunately, she was far from pudgy and hadn’t put on too much weight. She’d been following the doctor’s strict diet to ensure her condition didn’t affect the baby.
Though her agency told her they could still get her a few work opportunities, Dina knew they wouldn’t be ‘image raising’ ones, which meant she might as well just stay in the background anyway. She definitely didn’t want to attract undue attention, not with the fact she was unmarried and pregnant.
Much as she’d come to enjoy modeling, Dina wasn’t about to settle for posing in obscure catalogues and such, just to stay in the game. She had her painting and her entrepreneurship dreams with the clothing line.
