Page 89 of The Mysterious Billionaire
Slowly, my heart lifts like a hot air balloon being inflated. “Really?”
He nods.
It’s surprisingly quiet in the office. Further along the corridor, there’s a distant ripple of laughter, presumably from the boardroom, but then it falls quiet again. Motes of dust dancein the shafts of sunlight that fall across the carpeted floor. It feels like glitter cast by a fairy godmother.
“If you want me to take a DNA test for the baby,” I say softly, “I’ll do it. If it’ll help you to trust me.”
He breathes in deeply, then blows out a long breath. “No. If you say it’s mine, I believe you.”
That makes me smile. “It’s yours, Caesar. There hasn’t been anyone else since the moment I laid eyes on you. But I want to say that if you don’t want to be involved with the baby, I’ll understand.”
He studies me for a moment. Then he gets to his feet, comes over to the sofa, and sits beside me. He’s still not wearing his jacket, and his white shirt is spotless, the creases crisp. His waistcoat fits so perfectly I’m pretty sure the suit is bespoke. He’s so handsome, he takes my breath away.
His gaze drops to my stomach. “I can’t believe we’ve made a baby.”
“I know what you mean.”
His eyes come back to mine. “I do want to be involved.”
“Really?”
He nods.
Hope lights me up. “Marcus said it’ll be due around the same time as Wren’s.”
“Yeah, it means we’ll all be parents together. That’s kinda nice.”
I nod, touched, and clear my throat. “I know trust is something that needs to be earned. And I promise I’ll do my best to earn yours, if you give me a chance.”
To my surprise, he holds out his hand. My heart banging, I slide mine into it.
“I want to say I’m sorry for calling the baby a mistake,” he murmurs.
That makes my eyes sting, and I swallow hard.
“It might have been an accident,” he says softly, “but it wasn’t a mistake.”
“I said the same thing to Brielle.” My eyes blur.
“It’s not Little Raspberry’s fault,” he says.
That makes me laugh. I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. “No, it’s not. Technically, he’s Little Strawberry now.”
“He?”
“Oh, it was a figure of speech. It was too early to tell.”
“Do you want to know?”
“Um… I’m not sure. Do you?”
He tips his head from side to side. “I guess we’ve got a bit of time to think about it.” He looks down and brushes the back of my hand with his thumb. “I’ve been thinking… how do you feel about starting again?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, maybe we should go on a few dates. Go out for dinner. And to the cinema. Meet each other’s friends and family. And get to know one another properly.”
I smile, warming all the way through. “I like the idea of being wooed.”
