The Million-Dollar Catch

“It didn’t seem relevant.”

“All evidence to the contrary. You have no way of knowing who she was with the night or week before she met you. Okay, sure, assume it’s yours, but protect yourself, Ryan. It makes sense.”

It did make sense, he thought. The thing was, he knew it wasn’t necessary. Something in his gut told him that Julie was telling the truth.

“Maybe she planned this,” Todd said. “Maybe she set the whole thing up.”

“Right. She arranged to reconcile with a grandmother she didn’t know she had, confident Ruth would insist one of the sisters go out on a date with you. Then she waited until the perfect night of her cycle, arranged the date, seduced me, dragged me home and slept with me without knowing if I would use a condom, all the while hoping she would get knocked up.”

“It could happen,” Todd muttered.

“You’re making me rethink our partnership.”

“I’m looking out for you. I know you, Ryan. You have that damned honorable streak. You keep it hidden, but I know it’s there. You lied to her and even though you were justified and angry at the time, you hate that you did it. Now the woman is pregnant and you’re feeling responsible. Don’t be stupid.”

“I won’t be.”

“Like I believe that. At least don’t do anything until after the kid is born and you get a DNA test, okay? I can get you the name of a good lawyer.”

Ryan appreciated Todd’s intentions, but they weren’t necessary. “Julie is a good lawyer.”

“I meant the name of one who isn’t out to screw you.”

Unfortunately Ryan doubted Julie would ever want that again. He’d spent their brief meeting thinking about getting her naked again and he would bet money that she’d been planning fifty ways to skin him alive.

“Are you sure she isn’t in it for the money?” Todd asked.

“Yes.”

“I’m not. Ryan you’re the closest thing I’ll ever have to a brother. Remember what happened last time. I don’t want you worked over again.”

“Julie wouldn’t do that.”

“How do you know?”

Ryan didn’t have an answer. It was something he felt, not something he could prove or explain.

In truth, Todd had a point. Ryan knew very little about Julie. It was possible she was just in it for the money. Maybe this was a game to her. But honest to God, he couldn’t begin to care if she was.

Which said what about him?

“She’s not like that,” he said at last.

Todd shook his head. “They’re all like that.”

“Why am I meeting you here?” Willow asked as she climbed out of her car and glanced around at the shopping center. As Julie had requested, she’d parked in front of the office-supply store. “Is there a sale on paper clips or colored pens?”

Julie waited until her sister had joined her on the sidewalk. “I have something to tell you.”

“You don’t want to be a lawyer anymore? You’re going into retail?”

“Almost.”

“Don’t make any big decisions now, while you’re still in recovery from jerk-man. He’s not worth it.”

“I appreciate the support.”

Delicate little Willow was also so passionate about everything. Unfortunately, when guys looked at her, they tended to see a best friend or a buddy. But one day the right man would open his eyes and be swept away. Julie hoped he was up for the ride.

“So I have something to tell you,” Julie said as she led her sister past the office-supply center and toward the baby store next door. “I left out a small detail of my night with Ryan.”

“He’s a hermaphrodite?” Willow asked with a grin. “Because that would have made things really weird.”

“More weird than you know.” Julie faced her and stared into blue eyes that were so much like her own. “I slept with him.”

Willow surprised her by nodding slowly. “I kind of figured that.”

“What? How? I didn’t say anything.” Julie had always thought she was good at keeping secrets. “I didn’t even hint.”

“You didn’t have to. You were more upset than you needed to be and that’s more my flaw or even Marina’s. Not yours. So I figured there had to be a reason. Sleeping with Ryan was the most logical.”

Julie sighed. Her sisters knew her and she knew them. That was at the core of their closeness. “I’d been looking forward to your shock and outrage.”

“I could get huffy now, if that would help.”

“I appreciate that, but I’m okay. Still, there’s one more thing.” She motioned to the baby store.

This time she got the reaction she’d been expecting before. Willow turned slowly, then froze in place. Her eyes widened, her mouth dropped open and she gave a strangled sound.

“You’re pregnant,” she breathed. “Oh no. Pregnant? Really? By Ryan?”

“Uh-huh. It was a busy night.” Julie went for humor because if she actually sat down and thought about the mess she was in, she got overwhelmed.

“Pregnant.” Willow reached for her hand. “What do you think? Are you happy?”

Julie smiled. “Yeah, I really am. I never thought much about kids except as something to get to later, but the second I found out, I knew I wanted this baby.”

“Have you told Ryan?”

“Yesterday.”

“What did he say?”

“Not much of anything. He looked a little shell-shocked, then said we needed to talk. We exchanged business cards.”

Willow frowned. “That’s it? Shouldn’t there have been more?”

“I don’t know.” Julie felt unsettled about her conversation with him, but she couldn’t figure out why. “He wasn’t expecting to see me again, so under the circumstances he did okay. The baby threw him, but then it threw me, too. We’ll deal with things when we have to. I offered to let him sign away his responsibilities, but he refused.”

She hadn’t really expected him to accept, which was strange. Wouldn’t a man who felt comfortable lying to a woman he’d never met about whom he was and then sleeping with her seem the perfect candidate for baby abandonment?

“So you’re in this together,” Willow said.

“Sort of. Until there’s an actual baby, I don’t plan to hang out with him much.”

Willow squeezed her arm. “A baby. Are you excited?”

“Yes. I am. Scared, too, but mostly excited.”

“I get to be an aunt and buy presents and babysit.” Willow’s hold on her arm tightened. “Maybe it was supposed to happen this way. Maybe he’s your—”

Julie groaned. “Don’t say it, I beg you. Ryan is not my destiny.”

“But you never know.”

“I know. Now, come on. Let’s go look at baby furniture. We have a nursery to plan.”

“Your eleven o’clock is here,” Leah said as she poked her head into Julie’s office. “Cute guy.”

Julie smiled at her assistant—the one she shared with two other second-year associates. “Do you tell that sort of thing to Mark and James?”

“Mark, no,” Leah said cheerfully. “But there are rumors about James, so he might be interested if you’re not.”

“You’re bad.”

“Yes, I am. In every way possible.”

Leah was a fifty-something grandmother who was also a brilliant assistant. She’d been with the firm longer than most senior partners and refused to work for any of them, contending that the associates needed her more. She’d been invaluable to Julie on more than one occasion.

Julie glanced at her calendar and saw the next hour blocked simply by a “potential client” notation. No name, no stated reason for the appointment. Interesting. Leah usually filled in the details.

Julie picked up a legal pad, her pen and BlackBerry, then walked down the long corridor to the main foyer.

As she stepped onto the polished marble floor by the round reception desk, she came to a stop so quickly, her feet nearly slid out from under her.

Ryan Bennett stood talking to Ethan Jackson, a senior partner in the firm.

Her psyche neatly split in two with her body and her emotions sighing at the sight of Ryan and her brain wanting to spit fire.

He could not be her potential new client, she thought frantically. How on earth could she do business with the man who had lied about who he was, slept with her and was now the father of her unborn child? That wasn’t anyone’s life—that was a movie-of-the-week plot.

It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. If he thought he could weasel his way into her world with a big check to her law firm then he … Damn, then he was right.

His venture-capital company was big business and it was her job to help the firm’s bottom line. Second-year associates who wanted to make it to partner didn’t turn down millions of dollars in billing for personal reasons. Assuming that’s what he was here for.

She sucked in a deep breath, vowed she would ignore how good he looked in his suit and how much she remembered about his mouth on her body, stepped forward and smiled.

“Good morning, Ethan.”

Both men turned to her.

“Julie,” Ethan said as he nodded. “Good. You have a new client here. Ryan Bennett, meet Julie Nelson.”

“We’ve met,” Julie said, wanting to get everything out in the open. Well, everything except the fact that she’d slept with Ryan on their first and only date and was now pregnant. Talk about tacky.

“That’s right,” Ryan said easily. “We’re almost related. My great-aunt by marriage is Julie’s grandmother. Due to some family estrangements, we only met a few weeks ago.”

Ethan gave her an approving glance. She was sure her relationship with Ryan would be discussed at the next partner meeting and a little star would go next to her name.

“I’m here to talk about our business in China,” Ryan continued. “We have several companies looking to get ‘the China price’ on various items, along with some companies wanting to do manufacturing there. I’m hoping your expertise can make a difference.”

Ethan looked happier than Julie had ever seen him. “Then I’ll leave you two to get this going. Let me know how you progress, Julie.”

“Of course,” she said, holding in a sigh. If Ryan was serious about bringing that much business to the firm, they would be working very closely together. The thought of that closeness made her uncomfortable and far too aware of him.

“Let’s step into a conference room,” she said and led the way.

When the glass paneled door was carefully shut and she’d offered both coffee and bottled water, which he refused, she took a seat across from his.

“What’s this all about?” she asked, keeping her voice low, her expression controlled. This particular room had mostly glass walls. She’d chosen it deliberately, so that they would both be forced to keep things polite.

“I told you. When we had dinner, you mentioned you dealt with international concerns and that you speak Mandarin. It seemed like a good fit.”

“Are you setting me up?” she asked bluntly. “Do you plan to dangle all these billable hours in front of me and one of the partners, only to pull them back later? Whatever you may think, I didn’t get pregnant on purpose. If your plan is to get me fired, thinking then you’ll have an easier time manipulating me, you can forget it. I’m one of the best lawyers you’ll ever come up against and I won’t let you mess things up for me.”

He swore under his breath. “Is that what you think? That I’m doing this to set you up? That it’s a joke?”

“I don’t know. You’re the one who decided I deserved to be taught a lesson. Why shouldn’t I think the worst?”

“Did it ever occur to you I might be here to do business? That I’m accepting what I did was wrong and even though I’ve apologized that doesn’t begin to make it right. Did it occur to you that I’m doing my best to make a difficult situation easier for both of us, but mostly you. We need a good international lawyer. Todd and I were discussing that and I thought of you. That’s it. No hidden agenda.”

It was a good speech, but was he telling the truth? “I want to believe you,” she said.

“So give it a try.” He leaned forward. “Julie, why would I want to set you up? Why would I want to hurt you any more than I have? I know this is going to be difficult for you to believe, but I’m actually a pretty decent guy.”

She raised her eyebrows. “You lied.”

“Yes, I did. It was a moment of bad judgment. Ever have one of those?”

She touched her stomach. “Maybe.”

“You can’t keep running from me.”

“As you’re sitting across from me,” she said, “I’m not running.”

“You know what I mean. Look, I’m here to talk to you about helping us out. Strictly business. I’ve checked around and you’re good at what you do. I need someone good. If, in the process, we have a chance to get to know each other in a less charged situation, isn’t that for the best?”

“I guess.” He was being so logical and rational. Normally she appreciated that. But along with the wooziness, she seemed to be fighting some pretty impressive mood swings. “If you’re sincere about the business—”

“I am.”

“Then let’s talk.”

“Good. Okay.”

He smiled. It shouldn’t have meant anything. Men smiled all the time. But there was something about Ryan’s smile, about the way he stared into her eyes, as if she had his full attention. He made her knees go weak and she wasn’t even standing.

“Is that offer for coffee still open?” he asked.

“Sure. How do you take it?”

“Black.”

She stood and shook her head. “Such a typical guy.”

“Of course. Come on. Admit it—you’d have no respect for me if I asked for three sugars and hazelnut flavored cream.”

That made her laugh. “You’re right. I’ll be back.”

“I’ll come with you.”

“You don’t have to.” Her plan had been to escape for a minute and get herself together. Having him tag along would make the whole “get together” bit complicated.

But there was no polite way to say no, so she led him into the break room and grabbed a clean mug from the tray by the full coffeepot.

“You don’t have staff?” he asked.

“I do, but I prefer not to waste her time on errands. The other two associates I share her with don’t agree with my position.” She glanced at him over her shoulder. “Leah likes me much better.”

“I’m sure she does.”

He smiled again and Julie found herself caught up in the moment. Unfortunately, she was pouring coffee at the time and when the mug was full, the hot liquid poured over the sides and onto her hand.

“Ouch!”

She set the mug on the counter and shook off her hand, her skin burning. Suddenly Ryan was at her side. He took the pot from her, then nudged her over to the sink. While standing behind her, he took her injured hand in his and held it under the cold water.

“I didn’t know you were a klutz,” he said conversationally.

“I’m not usually.”

She wasn’t. She’d been distracted. She still was.

He stood right behind her—his front pressing against her back. She could feel the strength and power of his body, along with the heat.

Warmth seeped into her, making her want to sigh and rub and stroke. She could feel his fingers on her hand, his arm pressing against her. He was leaning forward, his face right next to hers.

If she turned just a little bit to the right, their mouths would be inches apart.

She wanted to kiss him. It didn’t matter that she practically hated him, she still felt longing building up inside of her.

Just one kiss. It didn’t have to last very long. Just mouths pressing, tongues stroking, bodies—

She jerked her hand free and stepped to the side. “I’m good. Thanks.”

She pulled a paper towel from the holder and dried her hand, then mopped up the spill on the counter. After collecting a bottle of water for herself, she led the way back to the conference room.

Her insides felt soft and mushy. Her panties were damp and that place between her thighs was swollen and achy.

Pathetic, she thought grimly as she sat down and tried to gather her thoughts together. She was deeply pathetic. How could he have reduced her to a puddle after just one night? Sure, it had been a great night, but she’d had great nights before.

Well, not that great. But still.

She reached for her pen. “Why don’t you outline what you have in mind,” she said.

Ryan began to talk about the business. Julie took notes, but she wasn’t really listening. How could he be so unaffected by what had just happened? Wouldn’t that be horrible—if the attraction was all one-sided? Life couldn’t possibly be that unfair.

“We provide venture capital and retain a major interest in each of our companies. The goal is to take them all public, but when that doesn’t happen, we sometimes sell them. Right now there are three specific firms I need help with. Two are looking to do business with China, while the third is perfect for overseas manufacturing. I assume you have contacts in China.”

She looked at him. Now it was her turn to smile. “Of course. Personal as well as professional.”

“Want to explain that?”

“We had a neighbor when I was growing up. Mrs. Wu had been a teacher. She retired only to discover she was bored with too much time on her hands. She taught my sisters and I Mandarin. I’m the only one who was really interested. When I was in high school, she took me to China with her to visit her family. I went back the following two summers and did a semester in China during college.”

“Impressive.”

“Thank you.”

“What happens now?” he asked. “You’ll want specific information on the companies.”

“Absolutely. Also what, if anything, you’ve already done to establish relationships in China. We’ll work on a retainer agreement, with my time billed in quarter-hour segments.”

“Seems reasonable.”

“I’ll want a substantial sum up front.”

She would ask for more than the firm usually suggested, mostly to cover her butt.

He sipped his coffee. “You still don’t trust me.”

“I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, but I’m not willing to be stupid.” No matter how her body reacted to him.

“Fair enough.” His dark gaze settled on her face. “Todd and I are both only children. We grew up spending a lot of time together. We became as close as brothers.”

“A bit of a non sequitur, but okay. And I already know this part. It’s why you agreed to do his dirty work.”

He ignored her. “We grew up rich. From the time we were teenagers there were girls, then later women, willing to do anything to get close. They weren’t interested in us—they wanted the money.”

“I refuse to believe every female you’ve ever met has ignored who you are in favor of your bank account.”

“Not everyone, but enough. Under the circumstances, knowing what our aunt had promised you and your sisters, it wasn’t unreasonable I think that about you.”

Julie opened her mouth, then closed it. Okay, maybe she could see his point. “I know what it looks like, but that isn’t the way it is.”

“I believe you. Can you do the same? Can you possibly understand why Todd and I might suspect you weren’t any different?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. So don’t go on the date. Refuse. Setting up a stranger to teach her a lesson to punish her for every other bitchy female you’ve met isn’t right.”

“Agreed. So you can see my side?”

He was starting to get on her nerves. What did he want? “Yes, your childhood was very tragic. Poor rich boys liked by millions for all the wrong reasons.”

“You’re not easy.”

“I don’t try to be. I’ve said I’ll try to understand why you thought the worst of me and I’ll accept your apology for what you did, but that doesn’t mean I approve of it or even understand your actions. I still don’t trust you.”

“You’re going to have to try. We’ll be a family.”

On what planet? “Not under any definition I can think of. We’ll be co-parenting a child. That doesn’t make us a family.”

“You can call it what you want,” he told her, “but having a baby together makes us a family. Everything has changed, Julie. There’s more here than what each of us feels. There’s a third life. Our child deserves the best from us. That’s why I think we should get married.”

Seven

“Married?” Julie sprang to her feet and stared down at Ryan. “Are you insane? Married? What the hell is wrong with you?”

She suddenly remembered the glass walls and sat down again. She lowered her voice, but she wasn’t any less pissed off.

“If this is your idea of a joke, it’s not funny. It’s horrible.” Married? What was he thinking? And just when she’d decided he might not be so awful after all.

“Horrible?” he asked, sounding disgustingly calm. “How so?”

“We don’t even like each other,” she muttered. “What about being married would be pleasant?”

“I do like you,” he said. “Aside from a single act you can’t forgive, I think you like me. Getting married for the sake of a baby is a time-honored tradition.”

“In what century?”

Had he really said he liked her? She shook her head. She had to get a grip. Who cared if he liked her? She would never marry Ryan—not in her lifetime.

“We’re rational, intelligent adults,” Ryan said. “We’re having a baby together. We’ll both want our child to have the best of everything and that means having both parents around. Do you really want to be a single mother?”

“Yes. I’m fine with it. I was raised by a single mother.” Sort of. Technically there was a father, but it wasn’t as if he’d ever bothered to stay more than fifteen minutes at a time.

“I think it’s important to have both parents around if at all possible,” he told her.

“Great, but it’s not possible.”

“Why?”

Why? She hated that he was sitting there, discussing this, all cool and composed while she was wishing they were in the law library so she could throw some really heavy books at his head.

“I don’t want to marry you,” she said, making her words as clear as possible.

“Why not?”

She was going to kill him and it wasn’t going to be her fault. “I don’t know you. Despite what your ego-inflated brain tells you, I don’t particularly like you. I’m not interested in getting married for some arcane sociological reason and I think a single parent can do a perfectly excellent job.”

“We could try.”

What was with him? Why did he keep pushing? And why was she both furious and incredibly sad?

“I don’t want to try. Not with you.”

“Okay. So it’s not me,” he said. “You object to marriage in general.”

“I do not. I want to get married. Someday.” When men stopped lying to her. “Just not now and not to you. You’re a man who assumes all women are after his money. I couldn’t stand that.”

“You’re saying you’d object to a prenuptial agreement? Protecting my assets is only reasonable.”

Right now he should be a whole lot more worried about his ass than his assets, she thought grimly as she briefly glanced around, looking for something sharp so she could stab him.

“You need to go,” she said between gritted teeth. “Seriously, I have work to do. I know you don’t understand how I could possibly turn down your incredibly flattering offer. Based on your view of women, there must be thousands who would take the plunge, especially after such a romantic proposal. Be still my heart. Wait. It is.”

One corner of his mouth twitched, as if he found this funny. That made her want to grind him into dust.

“So much energy,” he said in an infuriatingly soothing tone. “Makes me wonder what you’re hiding. Getting married isn’t all that unexpected a concept, Julie. So what are you really upset about?”

She stood. “This has been fabulous. We should do it again. Maybe have a party, exchange gift bags.”

He stood and walked around to her side of the table, took her hand and pushed her back into a corner of the room. One where they were out of sight of anyone walking by.

“I’m not going to leave this alone,” he said, staring into her eyes and making her thighs whimper. “Whatever you say, whatever you do, I’m sticking around. This is my child and my life, too. Don’t think you can hide from me forever.”