but I work long hours.’
‘So I’d drive myself crazy, wandering around your awful apartment all day long by myself.’
His incredulous gaze swept around her tiny studio. ‘My awful apartment?’
‘All that cold chrome and steel. It’s heartless.’
‘So the reason you’re objecting to this arrangement is my choice of decor?’
‘No, of course not.’ Zoe folded her arms, hating how he’d already got her on the defensive. Hating how a part of her, a terrible, treacherous part, actually already wanted to say yes. How stupid was that, when they obviously had no future?When staying with him would surely make her crazy, stubborn heart start thinking and hoping for things that were impossible? Things she shouldn’t even really want? ‘It’s just not…practical.’
‘This—’ Aaron said, sweeping an arm around her apartment ‘—is not practical.’
Zoe bit her lip. ‘It probably won’t make a difference, anyway. I mean…what will be, will be.’
He shook his head. ‘That’s never been my philosophy in life.’
‘No, I didn’t think so.’
‘Zoe.’ He took a step towards her, his voice lowering in a way that made her want to shiver. ‘Admittedly, there is a chance a bit of bed rest won’t make any difference. But what if it did? Would you deny our baby that chance?’
Our baby
. She bit her lip harder so it hurt. ‘You’re blackmailing me.’
‘I’m just showing you reason.’
‘It’s not very fair.’
‘Why don’t you want to come live with me, have a few weeks’ holiday?’ He sounded exasperated now, as if he’d expected her to fall in with his plans far more quickly than this. ‘You can have your own bedroom.’
‘Given.’
‘And we don’t—We don’t even have to talk to each other, if you don’t want to.’
Zoe stilled. He sounded so oddly vulnerable then, so unlike the autocratic man she’d told herself she should despise. ‘I think I could handle talking to you.’ She relented, if only a little.
Aaron lifted an eyebrow. ‘So what’s the problem?’
So much for vulnerability. ‘Why are you doing this? Offering this? Because it’s about one hundred and eighty degrees from what you were suggesting a week ago.’
‘I know that.’ He pressed his lips together, colour slashing his cheekbones. ‘I’ve had time to think, and I’ve…re-evaluated my position on the matter.’
‘You’ve re-evaluated your position,’ Zoe repeated. ‘This isn’t a board meeting, Aaron.’
‘Will you come or not?’
She hesitated. Told herself this was a bad idea…for her. But it was a good idea for the baby. It was giving her baby—their baby—a chance. ‘I could just go to Millie and Chase’s,’ she said. ‘Or my parents’.’
‘You could.’
But she didn’t want to. Didn’t want to admit to them how desperate and alone she was. How she’d messed up…again. And she knew, no matter what she’d said to Aaron about emotional blackmail, she couldn’t deny her baby this chance. Working on her feet all day and living in a fifth-floor walk-up was not advisable with a threatened miscarriage. She got that. She felt the fear, the guilt. She closed her eyes, then opened them again. Nodded. ‘Okay. I’ll come. For a few days, though. Maybe a week.’ She said this as much for herself, because Aaron didn’t respond to her addendum.
He slid his phone out of his pocket and issued a few terse instructions. Then he glanced at her, his gaze taking in the tiny apartment. ‘You can pack whatever you need. My car will be here in five minutes.’
‘Five
minutes?’
A look of impatience crossed his features. ‘I have to get back to work. And the sooner this situation is resolved, the better.’ He turned away, scrolling through his messages as Zoe stood there, her mind whirling.
This situation
. That was what she was to him, she realised, what her—their—baby was. A situation. A problem he intended to solve as quickly and expediently as possible.
Swallowing,
‘So I’d drive myself crazy, wandering around your awful apartment all day long by myself.’
His incredulous gaze swept around her tiny studio. ‘My awful apartment?’
‘All that cold chrome and steel. It’s heartless.’
‘So the reason you’re objecting to this arrangement is my choice of decor?’
‘No, of course not.’ Zoe folded her arms, hating how he’d already got her on the defensive. Hating how a part of her, a terrible, treacherous part, actually already wanted to say yes. How stupid was that, when they obviously had no future?When staying with him would surely make her crazy, stubborn heart start thinking and hoping for things that were impossible? Things she shouldn’t even really want? ‘It’s just not…practical.’
‘This—’ Aaron said, sweeping an arm around her apartment ‘—is not practical.’
Zoe bit her lip. ‘It probably won’t make a difference, anyway. I mean…what will be, will be.’
He shook his head. ‘That’s never been my philosophy in life.’
‘No, I didn’t think so.’
‘Zoe.’ He took a step towards her, his voice lowering in a way that made her want to shiver. ‘Admittedly, there is a chance a bit of bed rest won’t make any difference. But what if it did? Would you deny our baby that chance?’
Our baby
. She bit her lip harder so it hurt. ‘You’re blackmailing me.’
‘I’m just showing you reason.’
‘It’s not very fair.’
‘Why don’t you want to come live with me, have a few weeks’ holiday?’ He sounded exasperated now, as if he’d expected her to fall in with his plans far more quickly than this. ‘You can have your own bedroom.’
‘Given.’
‘And we don’t—We don’t even have to talk to each other, if you don’t want to.’
Zoe stilled. He sounded so oddly vulnerable then, so unlike the autocratic man she’d told herself she should despise. ‘I think I could handle talking to you.’ She relented, if only a little.
Aaron lifted an eyebrow. ‘So what’s the problem?’
So much for vulnerability. ‘Why are you doing this? Offering this? Because it’s about one hundred and eighty degrees from what you were suggesting a week ago.’
‘I know that.’ He pressed his lips together, colour slashing his cheekbones. ‘I’ve had time to think, and I’ve…re-evaluated my position on the matter.’
‘You’ve re-evaluated your position,’ Zoe repeated. ‘This isn’t a board meeting, Aaron.’
‘Will you come or not?’
She hesitated. Told herself this was a bad idea…for her. But it was a good idea for the baby. It was giving her baby—their baby—a chance. ‘I could just go to Millie and Chase’s,’ she said. ‘Or my parents’.’
‘You could.’
But she didn’t want to. Didn’t want to admit to them how desperate and alone she was. How she’d messed up…again. And she knew, no matter what she’d said to Aaron about emotional blackmail, she couldn’t deny her baby this chance. Working on her feet all day and living in a fifth-floor walk-up was not advisable with a threatened miscarriage. She got that. She felt the fear, the guilt. She closed her eyes, then opened them again. Nodded. ‘Okay. I’ll come. For a few days, though. Maybe a week.’ She said this as much for herself, because Aaron didn’t respond to her addendum.
He slid his phone out of his pocket and issued a few terse instructions. Then he glanced at her, his gaze taking in the tiny apartment. ‘You can pack whatever you need. My car will be here in five minutes.’
‘Five
minutes?’
A look of impatience crossed his features. ‘I have to get back to work. And the sooner this situation is resolved, the better.’ He turned away, scrolling through his messages as Zoe stood there, her mind whirling.
This situation
. That was what she was to him, she realised, what her—their—baby was. A situation. A problem he intended to solve as quickly and expediently as possible.
Swallowing,
Similar Books
