Pregnant by the Maverick Millionaire (9 page)

A small frown pulled his strong eyebrows together. “Were we talking about a relationship?”

“I just... We just...” Dammit, he made her sound like a blithering idiot.

“Relax, Brodie.” He touched her lips, her jaw. “I want you, just like I wanted you forty-five minutes ago, last week, six weeks ago. Not because of the baby but because you drain the blood from my brain. It's a totally separate issue from us being parents. We can do it.”

“I don't see how.”

“That's because you could complicate a three-piece jigsaw puzzle,” Kade teased. “So we slept together again...”

“Yeah, we weren't supposed to do that.”

The corners of Kade's mouth tipped up in amusement. “On, the plus side, at least we know you won't fall pregnant.”

“Ha-ha.” Brodie stared at his broad chest. “I still think we should try to be friends. Our lives are complicated enough already without dealing with sex.”

“Why can't we be friends who make love?”

“Because it never works. What if you meet someone you like, someone you desire more than me? I still have to find you two more dates. What if you fall head over heels in love with one of them?”

Kade's hand on her thigh tightened and then relaxed. “What if the sky fell down in the morning?” he drawled. “Do you always borrow trouble like this?”

Her sky had fallen down and trouble had landed on her door. She just wanted to protect herself from it happening again. Was that so wrong? Talking to him, opening up, was dangerous. If she wasn't careful she could love him. She couldn't—wouldn't—allow herself to do that.

Brodie started to move away, to climb off his lap, to find some physical and emotional distance, but his arms held her close.

“No, don't go, Brodes. Just rest that brain of yours, take some time to regroup. Stop thinking.”

It was such a huge temptation to rest a while in his embrace. Surrounded by him she felt like nothing could hurt her, that the world and her life weren't quite as scary as she imagined them to be.

“Just rest, sweetheart. We'll figure it out, I promise.” Kade's deep voice sounded almost tender. Brodie curled into him and placed her cheek on his chest, her ear directly over his heart. If she closed her eyes she would just drift off...

* * *

Brodie rolled over onto her stomach and looked across the coffee table. It was a beautiful day and the sky was a bright, clear blue. Beyond False Creek the Pacific Ocean looked grumpy and the wind teased the water, creating white horses on its surface. If she ignored the morning sickness, she felt better than she had for days, maybe weeks.

Last night, instead of thinking, planning, shoring up her defenses, instead of arguing, she'd allowed Kade to pull her head back to his chest and loop his arms around her. His hand, drawing lazy circles on her back, had lulled her to sleep. She had a vague memory of him picking her up and placing her on the large couch and wrapping his long body around hers as she slept. He'd kept her restless dreams at bay and the feeling of being protected, cared for, had allowed her to drop into a deep, rejuvenating sleep.

Brodie sat up and pushed her hair out of her eyes. She looked over her shoulder and saw Kade standing at the center island, watching her. Something deep, hot and indefinable sparked between them and Brodie bit her bottom lip. Sexy, rumpled man, she thought. How was she supposed to resist him?

“Come here, Brodie,” Kade said, his voice as deep and dark as his gaze, the order in it unmistakable.

She knew what would follow if she stood up. She heard it in his voice, saw it in the desire flashing in his eyes, in the way he gripped the counter, tension rippling through his arms. He wanted her...

Brodie knew she shouldn't, knew this was a mistake but she stood up anyway. On shaky legs, she crossed the space to the kitchen, walked around the island and stopped a foot away from him. Seeing a half-empty glass of orange juice, she picked it up and took a long sip. Excitement and desire caused her hand to shake and orange juice ran down her chin.

Kade wiped the droplets off with his thumb. “I have to kiss you.”

Brodie started to speak but Kade shook his head. “No, don't say it's a mistake, that we shouldn't be doing this. Just forget about everything else. This is just about you and me... There are no other complications right now. They'll be back later, but right now...? There's nothing but you...and me.”

“I was just going to tell you to hurry up,” Brodie whispered, lifting her face. “Hurry up and kiss me, Kade.”

Kade leaned forward, cupped the side of her face in his hand and lowered his mouth to hers. Part of her thought that if Kade did nothing else but kiss her for the rest of her life, she could die happy. Another section of her brain just squawked warnings: they had to be friends only. She still had to be his matchmaker. They shouldn't be doing this. If the media found out they would go nuts. Then Kade took control of her mouth, her brain shut down and she felt energized, revitalized, as if he'd plugged her in to recharge.

“Take me to bed, Kade,” she muttered against his lips as her arms looped around his neck and her fingers played with the taut skin there.

Kade groaned. “Yeah, that was my intention. Except that my bed is too far.” Kade used his forearm to push everything standing on the center island to the far edge of the block before bending his knees and wrapping one arm around her hips. In one easy, fluid movement he had her sitting on the island, their hands and mouths now perfectly aligned. Brodie placed her palms on Kade's shoulders and tipped her head to give him better access so he could brush his lips against her neck, her jaw, her cheekbones.

“You are so beautiful.”

She wasn't, not really, but right now she believed him. Feeling sexy and confident, she dropped her hands and gripped his T-shirt, slowly pulling it up and over his chest, wanting to get her hands on those muscles. Kade used one hand to finish pulling the T-shirt over his head and toss it to the floor. Brodie sucked in her breath. His track pants were low on his hips, displaying his ripped abdomen, those long obliques over his hips. Those sexy muscles made her feel squirmy and stupid and so, so wanton.

Brodie's fingers drifted over his abdomen and hips, the side of her hand brushing his erection. She heard Kade suck in a breath. Liking the fact that she could make him breathe faster, that she could make his eyes glaze over, she pushed her hands inside his pants and pushed them over his hips to fall into a black puddle on the wooden floor.

“Whoops.” She smiled against his mouth.

“Since the urge to strip is all I ever think about when you are in the room, I'm not complaining,” Kade said, his mouth curling into a delighted smile.

His smile could melt ice cream, make women walk into poles and stop traffic. It heated up every one of Brodie's internal organs and made them smile, too.

He had a hell of a smile, Brodie thought, especially when she felt it on her skin.

Nine

A
few days later, Brodie parked her car next to Kade's and ran an appreciative hand over the sleek hood. Had Kade realized this car was something he'd have to give up or, at the very least, that he'd need to buy a new one to transport the baby? There was no room for a car seat and she doubted a stroller would fit in the trunk.

So much was changing, Brodie thought as she headed to the entrance of his apartment building, quickly keying in the code to open the front doors. She and Kade were sort of lovers, kind of friends, about to be parents. The parenting bit was the only thing she was certain of, she thought as she walked into the private elevator that opened into Kade's hallway.

Kade could rocket her from zero to turned-on in two seconds flat. And he was funny and smart... She was crazy about him.

Brodie rested her head against the panel of the elevator, petrified she was building castles in the air. She was pregnant and it was so natural to look to the father of her baby for sex, for comfort. It made complete sense. Who wanted to be a single parent, who wanted to go through this frightening, exhausting, terrifying process alone? But castles built on fantastic sex and thin air and wishes could collapse at a moment's notice. Kade wasn't going to be her happily-ever-after guy. She didn't believe in happily-ever-after. She believed in getting through, doing the best she could, building a safe and secure life. There was only one person she could rely on 100 percent and that was herself.

Brodie hit the emergency stop button and rested her forehead against the elevator door. She had to pull back from him, had to put some distance between them. She was being seduced by what-ifs and how-it-might-be's. She couldn't afford to think of Kade as anything more than the father of her child. He was her temporary lover but he wasn't her partner or her significant other.

He
definitely
would never be her husband.

The last time she'd planned her future she'd had it ripped from her. She'd lost everyone she'd loved in one fell swoop and she refused to take that risk again.

She couldn't taste love, hold love and lose love again. That was too big a risk to take.

She smacked the emergency button and the elevator lurched upward.

No, she'd had her fun...too much fun. It was time to back the hell away and get a handle on this relationship. She needed to dial it back to a cordial friendship. She could do that. And she
would
do that before the story broke in the press. Presently the press saw her as nothing more than his matchmaker but they'd soon sniff out the truth. With her spending nights at his place, they'd been lucky to keep it a secret this long.

Luck, as she knew, always ran out.

* * *

Kade walked into his loft, ignored Mac and Rory and Quinn, and walked straight over to Brodie. He picked her up and turned her upside down so her head was facing the floor. She gurgled with laughter and placed her hands on the floor to steady herself.

“Kade, she's pregnant!” Quinn grabbed his arm. “What are you doing?”

“I'm getting blood to her head, something that was obviously missing when she chose my date,” Kade replied, easily restoring Brodie to her feet. “She's lucky I didn't hang her over the balcony.”

Brodie wiped her hands on the seat of her pants and sent him a cocky smile. She hadn't been remotely scared at being tossed around like a doll, Kade mused. Her eyes were bright and full of mischief. “Really, Stewart?”

Brodie attempted an innocent shrug. “What? She's a biokinetics engineer and a part-time entertainer.”

“And a full-time loony. She wants to be a freakin' mermaid.” Kade pointed an accusing finger at Brodie.

“What are we talking about?” Mac asked, mystified.

“The latest date Brodie and Wren sent him on. He had lunch with her today,” Quinn explained. He turned to Kade. “You do know it's weird that you're going on these dates while Brodie is pregnant with your child?”

No, the thought hadn't occurred to him, he sarcastically, silently replied. Brodie and he had an understanding—basically, they both understood they had no idea what they were doing. “Blame Wren. Besides, the dating is done.”

“When did you do date number two?” Mac asked.

“A couple of weeks back. Teacher, triathlete. We had lunch,” Kade answered him. “I am now off the dating hook.”

“Anyway, getting back to today and this date—” he pointed a finger at Brodie “—revenge will be sweet.”

Brodie didn't seem particularly concerned, so Kade left her to talk to his friends and headed for the kitchen. On the plus side, he'd fulfilled his duties to Wren's publicity campaign. The public could vote, speculate and talk about his love life until the damn cows came home but the only woman who interested him, on any level, was standing on his balcony, carrying his child.

He opened the fridge, yanked out a beer, saw Quinn behind him and reached for another. Kade handed Quinn a bottle and closed the fridge door with a nudge of his knee. He cracked open the beer and took a long swallow. He looked across the loft to the balcony where Brodie stood. It was a nice evening, his friends were here and he'd ordered Thai for dinner. He'd had a busy, drama-free day and then he'd joined Quinn and Mac on the ice for a workout. While the news had been unexpected, he was going to be a father and he was starting to become excited at the prospect.

Life
should
be good.

So what was the problem? In a nutshell, it was this half on, half off, up-in-the-air arrangement he had with Brodie. Half friends, sometimes lovers, future parents, both of them wanting, on some level, to run. He was jogging in place but Brodie had her sneakers on and was about to sprint, as hard and as fast as she could.

As soon as she could.

Kade felt he was living the same life he'd lived with his father, not sure how the next move would affect him. Every day was new territory for him and he felt as unsettled as he had when he was a child.

Quinn's fist smacking into Kade's biceps rocked him back to the here and now. “What the hell was that for?”

“I talk to both you and Mac but neither of you listen! It's like talking to a blow-up doll.”

“You should know,” Kade grumbled, rubbing his arm.

Quinn's fist shot out again but Kade stepped back and the fist plowed through air. Kade sent Quinn a mocking glance. “Too slow, bro.”

Quinn picked up his beer bottle, sipped and after lowering it he spoke again. “You concentrating, dude?”

“Yeah.” Kade leaned against the kitchen counter and crossed his legs. “Speak.”

“Your dad is having an exhibition in a couple of weeks, downtown.”

So? His father was a well-respected artist and frequently held exhibitions in the city. James didn't invite him to any and Kade didn't attend. It worked for both of them. “Not interested.”

“The exhibition is called ‘Retrospective Regrets.'”

Kade didn't give a crap. His father wasn't part of his life, hadn't been part of his life for a long, long time. And he liked it that way.

“I just thought you might like to tell him he's going to be a grandfather.”

He hadn't wanted a son so Kade doubted he'd be interested in a grandchild. But maybe he should give James the benefit of the doubt? Maybe he'd changed. Kade cursed at the hope that flickered.

“I'll think about it.”

Quinn knew better than to push. He just shrugged and lifted his beer bottle in Brodie's direction. “What are you going to do about her? Are you going to marry her, live with her, demand joint custody?”

Kade wished he knew. “I definitely want joint custody, everything else is up in the air.” He rested his beer bottle against his forehead and sighed. “It's all craziness.”

“Well, I suggest you figure out what you are before the news of your impending fatherhood hits the papers. If you don't know they'll decide for you.”

Because the media's focus had been on his dates and the future of the team, so far he and Brodie had managed to dodge that bullet, but Kade wasn't under any illusions they'd keep the baby a secret indefinitely.

Quinn grinned. “On the plus side, my BASE jumping and having to talk myself out of being arrested aren't quite so bad when you measure them against the fact that another Maverick-teer is going to become a father, barely a month after Mac.”

Kade would cross that burning bridge when he came to it. And talking about daredevil stunts... “Talking of, are you insane? You could've been killed!”

“Only if my chute didn't open,” Quinn cheerfully agreed. “Then I would've made a dent in the concrete.
Splat!
”

Kade sent Brodie an anxious look, grateful she hadn't heard Quinn's cavalier attitude toward death. “Not funny, Rayne.” Kade stopped, whirled around and slapped his hand on Quinn's hard chest. He scowled at his best friend. “Brodie lost everyone she loved in one accident. Don't you dare be glib about death, yours or anyone else's, around her! Got it?”

Quinn rubbed the spot on his chest. “Jeez, okay! Got it.”

Kade walked away and Quinn scowled at the ceiling.

“I'm running out of friends to play with,” he muttered.

* * *

Later in the week, after a night long on pleasure and short on sleep, Brodie stood at the center island in Kade's kitchen, and scowled at her daily calendar on her tablet screen. Her schedule was utterly insane and she would be rushing from one appointment to another, all with men looking for a happily-ever-after. Didn't they realize the closer and the more perfect the relationship, the more pain they could expect to feel if the relationship went south? The end always hurt the most when the connection felt the best. Argh...she normally never thought about how her clients progressed after she matched them. Damn this situation with Kade for making her so introspective!

Kade, on his way up from the gym, walked past her to the sink and filled a glass with water. He whistled when he caught a glimpse of her schedule. “And I thought I had a hectic day ahead.”

“Crazy, isn't it?” Brodie sipped her coffee and scowled at the screen. “I won't take all these men on as clients, some I'll be able to help and some I'll discard because, well, they'll be idiots.”

Kade rested the glass on his folded arm. “Why matchmaking, Brodie? Why earn your living from something you don't believe in?”

Why would he think that? “But I do believe in it. I do believe people function best when they are in healthy, stable, supportive relationships. Being alone sucks.”

“But you avoid relationships. You are alone,” Kade pointed out.

“Yeah, but that's the choice I've made.” Brodie picked up a banana from the fruit bowl and slowly peeled it. “I know it's ironic that I, commitment-phobic as I am, own a matchmaking service.”

Kade put his hands behind him and gripped the counter. “Okay, so why do you?”

Brodie looked across the loft to the rainy day outside. She took a bite of the banana, chewed it slowly and then placed it on the side plate next to her half-eaten toast. Should she tell Kade? Was she brave enough to open up a little more? She rarely—okay, never—spoke about Jay. She had trained herself not to think about him. But Kade was the father of her baby and she almost trusted him. Well, as much as she could.

“In the car crash, I didn't only lose my parents, I lost my best friends, as well. Chelsea and Jay. We were all in the car. I survived, and they didn't. We were like you and Mac and Quinn—inseparable.” Brodie swiped her finger across the program to close her calendar. “Jay and I always knew that, one day, we'd move on from being best friends. Three weeks before the crash, we finally admitted we loved each other. We started sleeping together, everything was new and bright and wonderful.” Her voice cracked and Brodie cleared her throat.

Kade took a step forward but Brodie held up her hand to stop him. If he touched her she would start to cry and she had clients to see. “I lost my world in the space of three minutes. But I was so loved, Kade. So damn much.”

“And you don't want that again?”

“I can't
lose
that again. I'll have this child and that'll be enough. This child arrived by sheer fluke and I've accepted that the baby is life's way of forcing me to love again. To love in a different way.”

“And will that be enough?”

Brodie lifted one shoulder in a tiny shrug. “It has to be. It's all I'm prepared to risk.” Her smile felt a little shaky. “I am going to be the best mother I can be. I am going to be your friend, your lover, for as long as that works or until you meet the woman you can't live without.” Brodie rubbed her hands across her eyes. “I hope you find her, Kade. I'd like you to. I think you deserve her.”

“And I think you deserve the same.”

“I wouldn't be that lucky, not twice. Life doesn't work that way.” Brodie pushed her tablet into its case and sighed. “I have to go. Busy day.”

“It's barely seven, Brodie, and I need to talk to you about something else.”

Brodie frowned at his tone. Being bossed around so early in the morning really didn't work for her. “Okay, what?”

“So gracious.” Kade walked across the kitchen to take a mug from a shelf. He jammed it under the spout of his coffee machine and pushed a button. Brodie tapped her fingers against the counter, listening to the sounds of the beans grinding. She was feeling exposed and hot, like her skin was a size too small for her body. That's why she didn't usually talk, she reminded herself. It made her feel sad and funny and...weird.

“I'm going to need to tell the press something about us and soon.”

“Why?”

Kade looked at her over the rim of his mug. “We spend a lot of time together and someone is going to realize that. And when you start showing, they'll go into overdrive. Wren suggests we hit them with a press release and cut off the speculation. So what do you want to be called? My girlfriend, my partner, my common-law wife?”