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‘Looks busy.’
‘It is,’ she admitted cautiously.
‘Get rid of it.’The words were clipped.‘You said yourself all the management was getting too much for you.Sell out.Keep a hand in as creative advisor.’
Her mouth fell open.Yes, she might have said that, and, yes, she might even be thinking along the same lines, but she wasn’t going to let him dictate absolutelyeverythingin her life.‘I love my business.I’ve put a lot into it.’
‘You have a baby to think about now.’
Of course she did, but she wasn’t going to just throw this one away.She was going to see it right.
His eyes narrowed and his attack sharpened.‘Gourmet soup is hardly an original idea, Cally.Yours might be flavour of the month at the moment, but in a few months there’ll be another competitor.Wouldn’t it be better to be under the wing of a big company with the money to push the distribution, boost the marketing, develop the brand and the product?’
‘A company that might be happy to pull the plug as soon as it stops making the minimum margins,’ she argued straight back, conveniently ignoring the fact that she’d been organising things precisely so she could walk away from it—and soon.
‘And wouldn’t your employees still be better off?To be part of an operation in which they could diversify, get experience within a national or even multinational firm?’
‘With a dehumanising environment?A company that treats its staff like robots?That would make hundreds redundant in one swoop and not look back?’
‘A company that can offer good packages should that happen?What can you offer, Cally?Surely your staff would be better off with more of a backstop behind them than what you can give?’
She frowned, searching for another avenue, not wanting him to win all the damn time.‘I don’t want it to lose its artisan flavour.Or the gift of a percentage of its earnings to charity.People rely on that.’
‘Don’t worry, Cally.I can find the right buyer and arrange it, no problem.’
Anger spurted.He could arrange everything—babies, weddings, the works!
She looked at him again and was even more angered to see a small smile playing on his mouth as he watched her.
‘You and I want the same thing.We want this baby and we’ll do whatever to keep it safe.I’m right.You can’t keep working such long hours.You’re looking tired.’
Of course she was, because she spent night after night tossing and turning alone in her bed wishing he were there with her.In her.
‘You can’t do it all, Cally.Not now.Not on your own.’
She knew he was right, she just didn’t want to admit it—not now and not to him.He was calling all the shots and she needed to hang onto something for herself.Just for a little while longer until she had her plans for the future in place.Dignity forced her to fight.
‘If and when I decide what I’m going to do with the company, I’ll be sure to let you know.’
Only a day later Blake was sitting on the deck, meditating over his whisky, when he heard her walk up behind him.He gripped his glass a little tighter.Calypso Sinclair was going out to break him, and she was damn near to succeeding.But he wasn’t going to back down.Now he knew she’d spoken the truth about her fertility issues, the protective bit in him was doubly strong.Marriage was the only answer.It was the only way he could keep some control and be able to help her—and their child.She wasn’t Paola, she wasn’t going to destroy the baby they’d conceived.And he knew that she hadn’t set out to trick him—the pregnancy was as much of a shock to her as it was to him, if not more so.But he could not, and would not, let her go.He didn’t want his child to miss out on everything he’d missed out on.He didn’t want his child to think he didn’t care—having a father who didn’t care sucked.And he refused to be a father who wasn’t there.
But, he had to confess, it wasn’t all about the child.All he really seemed to want to do these days was haul Cally into his arms and have his wicked way.His arms ached, really ached, with emptiness.He wanted to hear her again, wanted to watch her as he sent her over the edge.
She stood with her arms folded, staring out across the water rather than at him.
‘I’m selling the company.Everything is organised.I’m walking away completely from now.Mel is going to take over the management while we find a purchaser.’
He tried to colour his words as noncommittal as he could.‘Want me to help with that?’
Her reply was equallyfauxuncaring.‘Think you can?’
‘Sure.’Of course he could.But of course he wasn’t going to rub his hands together and say she was doing the right thing.He’d play it as cool as she was trying to.‘Leave it to me.’
He relaxed a little more into his seat, took a sip of the whisky.He’d known she’d come round to that—she was halfway there before they’d even met.Now her pregnancy had sped up the process.All he wanted now was for her to come the rest of the way back round to him—all the way to him and with the unrestrained passion of that wild weekend.It was just a matter of waiting.Only problem was he didn’t know how much longer his body could handle not being merged with hers.It was all he’d been thinking of for weeks now.Surely once they’d done it some more, he could get it into perspective.Right now it was allwayout of perspective.He’d never have thought he could be so distracted by lust.But he wanted her to take the initiative.It would be too easy to sway her with kisses—he knew he could, he knew she wanted him—but he didn’t want to give her any more ammo against him.If she was coming back to his bed, it would be with her eyes wide open.
She walked to the edge of the pool, then turned to face him.She might look a little mocking, but she couldn’t mask all of her inner thoughts.There was that hint of desperation in her eyes that made him tense up all over again.
‘Tradition would have it that we spend our last night apart.’
