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Six
Jonah ducked into a corridor and watched Emma as she headed toward the back exit of the building. When his dinner meeting was canceled earlier tonight, he was already at the restaurant waiting. He opted to get a to-go order and take it back to the office. There, he planned to get in some weight training—it was legs day—and eat his dinner as he went over some emails.
The gym was usually empty in the evenings and he enjoyed the solitude. He spent all day in meetings and on phone calls. His time at the gym was an hour out of the day where he could lose himself in some music and let his sore muscles distract him from his worries. He never expected to find Emma there. She seemed like the kind of woman who didn’t like to get dirty, much less sweat. Yet there she had been, going to town on one of the machines, music pumping into her ears, her eyes closed.
If he didn’t know better, he’d say she was trying to work something out of her system. Perhaps he’d done a better job of sexually frustrating her than he thought. Maybe she only resisted him on the surface.
He’d almost opened his mouth to say as much to her when she suddenly came to a stop and climbed down from the machine. He watched her from the doorway, unnoticed, as she sipped her water and wiped the sweat from her flushed face. It was then that he spied a flash of red peeking out from her black top. He took a few steps farther into the gym and could clearly see half a red heart tattooed on her left breast. Jonah had stopped, looked at the tattoo on his hand, then at her tiny, rounded stomach in disbelief before choking on a nervous laugh and darting out of the gym before she saw him.
Could it be?
Never. Never in a million years would he have pegged Emma as his butterfly. His butterfly had been free, uninhibited, wild. On the surface, Emma appeared to be anything but. She’d told him she was acting out of character that night, but he didn’t really believe her. Everyone said something like that when they found themselves in an awkward situation.
She must’ve been telling the truth. His butterfly had also told him that he wouldn’t want her in the morning, like she’d turn into a pumpkin at sunrise. Instead, she turned into an uptight accountant. A beautiful, graceful, aggravating, uptight accountant who looked as though she might be carrying his child.
He was no expert in that department. What he did know was that three months ago, her belly had been flat as a board, trembling as he planted kisses across it. Emma wouldn’t show much at three months, but it was hard to hide a belly in workout clothes. Could she really be having his child?
That was something Jonah had never really considered. He wasn’t opposed to children as a whole, but he’d not envisioned his life as one where he would settle down and have a family. Maybe one day, but one day always seemed a long way off. It certainly wasn’t six months from now.
Jonah let his head roll back against the wall with a dull thud that did little to help the situation. A baby. Was it really possible that Emma was having his child? They’d used protection. He always used protection. He wasn’t stupid. There were plenty of women who would be happy to carry his heir to inherit his money along with his blue eyes. Emma didn’t seem at all like that kind of woman.
Of course, if you’d asked him an hour ago, he would’ve told you she was the kind of woman who would tell a man when she was having his baby. And yet she hadn’t.
Jonah shook his head and started back down the hallway to his office. He couldn’t work out now. His head wasn’t in it. Besides, this revelation changed everything.
His pursuit of Emma had been purely business at first. Yes, distracting her would be a pleasurable chore to cover his ass and Noah’s until the finances were cleaned up, but still business. When she rebuffed him, it had become a challenge. He always enjoyed conquering impossible tasks.
But now it was a matter of pride. Emma knew who he was. Had known almost from the moment they’d met. She’d seen his hand, seen his tattoo and yet had said nothing despite the fact that she was carrying his child.
Why? The tattoos were supposed to help bring them together. The only link from the night of fantasy to their reality. Seeing his tattoo should’ve been a sign to her, a pleasant surprise, especially since she had no other way to contact her baby’s father. If he’d found her first, he would’ve instantly told her who he was. Unless she thought their night together was a mistake. Or that she didn’t want him in her or their baby’s life now that she knew who he really was.
Impossible! What woman wouldn’t be thrilled to find the father of her child was secretly a rich, successful and attractive businessman? There were plenty of outcomes to that scenario that weren’t nearly as positive.
Jonah reached his office and spied a copy of a recent entertainment magazine on Pam’s desk. It was flipped open to a page that featured a picture of him with a woman he’d only gone out with once or twice. The byline read “Software playboy romances lingerie model.” He frowned.
Okay, so maybe his celebrity status wasn’t helping his cause. He had a reputation for being a badass and he liked it. Women were just part of the package. Most women didn’t mind getting a piece of him, no matter how brief.
Emma was different. He knew that much. She wasn’t the type of woman to tolerate that kind of crap from a man. She was an old-fashioned woman who expected the romantic overtures that were practically dead in this day and age. Not flowers and jewelry, but time and attention. The kind of woman who made him cringe. Needy and clingy were two adjectives that quickly axed a woman from his address book.
And yet she was also the woman who had filled the last three months with erotic fantasies he couldn’t shake. The one who had occupied his thoughts and forced him to compare every other date to the high bar she’d set. So far, no one had measured up.
Pushing the door open and entering his office, he thr
ew his exercise towel over the back of his guest chair. She’d sat in that very chair when she’d had her panic attack.
The attack that had immediately followed their shaking hands. That had to be the moment she realized who he was. Not exactly the romantic response he’d pictured in his mind when they’d sat in that tattoo parlor and held hands while getting inked.
All this time, he’d been worried that her nerves and avoidance of him had been related to the audit. That she’d found out about Noah’s indiscretion already. Instead, there had been a bigger issue—she was trying to keep him from uncovering the truth about her. Apparently they both had secrets to hide.
For whatever reason, Emma wasn’t interested in Jonah and didn’t want him to know who she was. She’d resisted his every advance like no other woman had before, even knowing she was carrying his child. Why would she be so determined to keep that from him? Wasn’t he good enough to be her baby’s father? Would she prefer some quiet, unassuming banker or insurance broker who would provide stability and no passion?
He didn’t believe that for a second. The woman he’d spent Mardi Gras with had been complex, with layers that included passionate minx. Sure, he had a reputation for being wild, too, but he was an adult and knew there was a time and place for everything. Being a responsible father was a duty he wouldn’t shirk, no matter how low her opinion of him might be.
Their recent time together proved that she was also a strong-willed, stubborn woman who thought she could outwit him. Emma really thought she could keep this secret from him.
Jonah twisted his lips in thought as he reached for his butterfly photo. He’d imagined the moment he found her would be like taking his first breath, starting his life anew with the amazing woman he’d longed for all this time. Instead, his mystery lover thought he was nothing more than an irritating pebble in her shoe.
But she hadn’t seen anything yet.
