Page 31 of Escorting the CEO
Then she bit her lower lip. “But… What about poor Luke? If he hears that, he’s going to get his hopes up. I know he’s little, but I don’t like lying to kids. He’s been through enough. I don’t think that’s fair.”
I regarded her. For someone so young, with what I imagined might be a less-than-ideal background, she had real compassion. “I agree.”
“So, what do we do?” she asked.
“We can say it to the board, and to Miranda, and leave Luke out of it.”
She nodded. “But what if he hears someone talking about us? I really don’t want to put him through anything else. He’s already heartbroken.”
“I agree—he needs to be our priority. But since that’s true, we need to do our best to retain custody of him. If Miranda got him, that would be a disaster. We can’t let that happen.” I shook my head. “In order to do what’s best for Luke, we need to present our situation in a way that feels real and makes sense.”
“I understand that. I only met Miranda once so far, and even I can tell that she’s not guardian material.” Rory shivered.
“Exactly.” Again, my gaze trailed over the girl. Her bright eyes, smooth skin, and most surprisingly of all, her integrity—were almost shockingly attractive to me.
But maybe that was just the bourbon talking.
“And if we decide, somewhere down the road, that wedowant to give Luke a cousin, we can certainly negotiate that. I could make it worth your while.”Is that my dick talking?
Her mouth gaped open, and I stood. “I have a meeting. I will see you at dinner. Please wear something appropriate.”
Before the bourbon could keep talking, I strode off.
DEEPER
RORY
“And if we decide,somewhere down the road, that we do want to give Luke a cousin, we can certainly negotiate that. I could make it worth your while.”
Rhodes’s words rang in my ears. He’d made the provocative offer and then left, giving me whiplash.
The billionaire might want to have an actual baby with me someday?
How exactly wasthatsupposed to work?
Well, I mean, I knew how it would work. Even though I’d never done “it,” I wasn’t a total fool. At least, not mostly.
But what Rhodes said… Did that mean he wanted to do that with me? Have a baby,anddo the thing that got us the baby? All of a sudden, I was in over my head again. Every time I thought I had finally reached some solid footing at Barrington Manor, the undertow knocked me over. My head was spinning.
Leaving my family behind.
More money than I’d ever dreamed of.
Living in a mansion.
Sleeping next to a stranger.
Married next week.
Custody of little Luke.
Talking about having a baby.
My world had been turned upside down so many times in the past few days; no wonder I felt dizzy. But it was Rhodes Barrington himself who had me most on edge. I couldn’t figure him out. He didn’t want to know about my personal life, yet he’d grilled me about what was the matter that morning. He said he cared for Luke and wanted what was best for him, but didn’t know there was a playground in his own backyard.
He’d hired me just for show, but now he was saying he’d make it worth my while to have his baby.
I envied him his bourbon. I probably could’ve used some at this point.
