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“I want to meet her.”
Jules bit her lip and paused, but finally nodded. “Of course. We need to discuss how that will work, what kind of visitation you want, especially with the amount of travel you do. I don’t want to turn her life upside down.” Jules frowned, her hands balling into fists on the table before she continued. “You can be as involved in her life as you want to be, but you have to promise me that you’ll honour your commitments to her. I don’t want you to make plans and then cancel because work is more important. Ava doesn’t deserve that. No child does. She needs to believe you care about her.”
She had turned her head away from him as she spoke, and her words were fierce but laced with pain. Nik wondered who had hurt Jules so badly. Her ex-husband? Or another man? Because this wasn’t a generic warning, a mother demanding her child’s father be present in her life. Nik had his own demons left over from his childhood. He had no intention of repeating his father’s mistakes.
Nik’s mind raced. He’d been handed a gift he wasn’t going to let go of, and he would not let Jules or Ava down. “That won’t be a problem. No child of mine will ever think I don’t love them. I can think of one thing we could do. We could get married.”
CHAPTER14
Marriage? Jules’s head snapped back to face Nik, and she tried to stop her hands from shaking, needing to mask how much his words unnerved her.
Those words reverberated in her brain, dredging up emotions better left buried. She had to have heard him wrong. The idea was ridiculous. There was no way he could be serious, and if he was, then he was out of touch with reality. After Michael, the idea of marriage scared her. There was no way she would go down that road again.
“I’m sorry, could you repeat that? Did you say you wanted to getmarried?” Jules kept her voice low, not wanting to draw the attention of either staff or guests.
Nik looked puzzled. “Why shouldn’t we get married? It’s the logical option. I want my daughter, and I want you. You want my guarantee that I won’t abandon Ava. Marriage would be mutually beneficial for both of us.”
“We barely know each other!”
“We have a child together. We have to think of her first. I want to be an active part of her life, and I’m not willing to lose her to some other man playing daddy. It’s not like you and I aren’t compatible. I’ve never met anyone I want as much as you, and based on your responses to me, the attraction is mutual.”
Nik’s dark eyes blazed as they roamed over her, and her own blood began to heat in response. Being attracted to him had never been the issue. Jules jerked her attention back to Nik, who was still talking.
“Financially, neither you nor Ava will ever want for anything. You can work, or not, it will be your choice. The only thing I need in return is your fidelity.”
Nik swallowed, and even in the dim light of the restaurant Jules could see the tightness in the tendons of his neck. There was something else behind this demand. “If I were to marry anyone, I would never be unfaithful. Why is it so important?”
“Vanessa, my first wife, was unfaithful. She even got pregnant with her lover’s baby. I can’t go through that again.” There was a flash of pain in his eyes, masked almost immediately.
The way he calmly laid all this out made Jules want to scream. He was being soreasonable. He was certifiable. That was the only explanation Jules could come up with for his behaviour. The expectation that she would fall in with his plans surprised her. Sure, he was ruthless when it came to business, but he’d seemed agreeable up until now. But his immediate decision to offer marriage, and to think she would accept? The heat of attraction was swiftly being replaced with a surge of frustration.
“I think we need to get a few things straight, Nik. I don’t want your money, other thanmaybesome small amount of child support to benefit Ava. I certainly don’tneedit. I wanted you to know about Ava because it was the right thing to do, and because Ava should know her father. I wasn’t looking for a boyfriend, and I’m definitely not looking for a sugar daddy. I don’t want or need another husband. I’m never giving another man that much control over my life.”
Nik could have been a marble statue of a Greek god. The pinched lines around his eyes and mouth were her only hint at his response to her refusal. Jules suspected Nik wasn’t used to hearing the wordno, and when he did, he would find ways around any obstacles in his path. Not this time. She was not about to surrender her freedom to another man.
“I don’t want to argue with you. I want to be part of Ava’s life, and I don’t want to accept a limited visitation schedule. I thought marriage would be an ideal solution.” He shrugged, as if her refusal meant nothing to him, but his body was rigid with tension.
His calm response to her objections made her even angrier. Somehow he had her feeling like she was the one being unreasonable for not even considering his proposal. Swallowing a snarky retort, Jules simply nodded. There was no point in arguing with him about this right now. Nik hadn’t even met Ava yet, and if their relationship was acrimonious, both Ava and her mother would pick up on the tension. Aside from which, until WYCK decided what they were doing about Coastal, she and Nik still needed to work together. Keeping things civil was the only option.
“We can work out an equitable custody agreement. For as long as you’re in Vancouver working on this deal, you are welcome to see her as often as you like. She goes to preschool every morning; anything else we can work around.”
“I want to meet her,” Nik said again, eagerness and excitement coming off him in waves. “Tomorrow is Sunday. Do you have any plans you can’t get out of?”
Jules hid her silent sigh of relief as their conversation shifted back to stable ground. One of her reasons for choosing tonight to tell Nik about Ava was the fact that Sundays were generally unstructured in the Roberts house, leaving Jules free to indulge in activities with Ava. Depending on the seasons, those could range from trips to the beach or picnics in the park to finger painting or baking cookies.
The plan for tomorrow had been to stay home and do something inside, because the weather had been cold and rainy since Christmas. Having Nik join them would allow her to introduce him to Ava in an environment Ava felt safe in. Jules had no idea how Ava would react to meeting Nik.
“We’ll be at home all day tomorrow. You’re welcome to join us if you’d like.”
“I’d like that. What are we going to tell her about who I am?” Concern tempered some of the excitement in Nik’s voice.
Jules let out a long exhale. She’d been worrying about this all day too. What to tell Ava if Nik wanted to be part of her life. The conclusion she’d reached was that the best option was the truth. “I want to tell her who you really are. If you are committed to being a father, there’s no point lying to her now and then confusing her later. Are you fine with that?” Jules hoped so. She tried very hard not to lie to her daughter about anything, and she didn’t want to start.
“More than fine,” he said.
The smile Nik flashed at her had heat crawling up from her core, warming her from head to toe. He was so happy about finding out about Ava. Jules only hoped that joy never wore off.
The release of tension and the emotions of the evening hit her, hard. All she wanted was a warm bath and her bed. Tomorrow was going to be another challenging day. Setting down the glass of wine she’d barely touched, Jules moved to slide out of the booth. “I need to get home.”
