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Make Me Yours
Katee Robert
One hot night with a stranger… Leads to something very unexpected! Three months ago, fitness instructor Becka Baudin gave me the most satisfying night of my life…and walked away. Now the wildest, sexiest woman I’ve ever met is pregnant with my child. Despite persuading her to move into my Manhattan penthouse, she wants nothing to do with my upscale CEO life. She may let me back into her bed, but getting into her guarded heart is a different ball game!
A one-night stand leads to something very unexpected in this sizzling-hot DARE story by USA TODAY and New York Times bestselling author Katee Robert!
I didn’t get to be CEO of a New York tech company by chasing whims...or women. But when wildly beautiful, fiercely independent fitness instructor Becka Baudin caught my eye across a crowded wedding reception, my body reacted with a will of its own.
She wanted a sexy distraction—one night of lust in a glamorous hotel. And I was happy to oblige. Then, after the most amazing night of my life, she walked away—leaving me wanting so much more. I haven’t been myself since that night. My work is suffering. My social life is nowhere. All I think about, all I dream about, is her.
Three months later, she told me. A baby. My baby... I insisted she move into my Manhattan penthouse. Now I see her every day. I crave her every second. I long for her touch, her kiss, her body moving under mine. I know if I try to cage her she’ll fly away. How can I convince a wild thing to stay in my life, in my heart, forever?
New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author KATEE ROBERT learned to tell her stories at her grandpa’s knee. Her 2015 title The Marriage Contract was a RITA® Award finalist, and RT Book Reviews named it ‘a compulsively readable book, with just the right amount of suspense and tension’. When not writing sexy contemporary and romantic suspense, she spends her time playing imaginative games with her children, driving her husband batty with what-if questions and planning for the inevitable zombie apocalypse.
Make Me Yours
Katee Robert
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-08694-3
MAKE ME YOURS
© 2019 Katee Hird
Published in Great Britain 2019
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.
® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
To Lauren
Contents
Cover (#ua0db45c8-b221-50c4-b7f4-ddc396dec1b9)
Back Cover Text (#u70beb21a-8eb7-5823-bfcb-452d5e3527a0)
About the Author (#u4f607830-306c-56f7-bb96-1c58b5ceca2b)
Title Page (#udf19ade3-de95-539d-bc5f-23082bc4b2c3)
Copyright (#u5cd16901-7aea-5895-a613-cbbaee435f6b)
Dedication (#u6443796b-070f-5972-8d37-c7da49bc435a)
CHAPTER ONE (#ubdc87dde-8ffd-5516-a3ee-8bb0fb53d3fc)
CHAPTER TWO (#u2eadb5b3-ffe4-512d-988f-c770bb3d278b)
CHAPTER THREE (#ud481463f-1687-5406-a0c0-e593f692847d)
CHAPTER FOUR (#ub16decf9-f5cc-5f11-a8ac-5eaeb0896c7c)
CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FOURTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIFTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SIXTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
EPILOGUE (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE (#u801ee42b-4df1-546b-b266-8b04eb18765e)
“HAVE I MENTIONED how much I loathe weddings?” Becka Baudin grabbed two champagne glasses and handed one to her best friend, Allie.
“Only about half a dozen times—in the last hour.”
She drained the glass and waited for her stomach to settle. Only then did she focus on her best friend’s amusement. “It’s not my fault. They give me hives. Even this one.” Especially this one.
“Here.” Allie passed over the second champagne glass, her expression sympathetic. “You know you’re not losing her, right?”
“Of course I know that. I’m not a child.” But she still glanced at her big sister gliding across the dance floor with her new husband. They looked like something out of a fairy tale, Lucy in a gorgeous white dress that hugged her lean form. It was overlaid with lace and gave a little sparkle with every move. Her dark hair was twisted in an intricate style that left her neck and shoulders bare except for the truly outstanding necklace Gideon had bought her.
And Gideon.
Lord, the man could wear a tux.
But it wasn’t the clothes that made them the most beautiful couple in the room. It was the way they looked at each other.
She sipped her second glass of champagne. “They seem happy.”
“Yes, well, that generally happens on someone’s wedding day.”
Becka rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m being an asshole. It’s not this wedding I object to—it’s the rest of them.” Weddings were nothing but false promises of happily-ever-after. They sold a dream most people never actually realized—more than half ended in divorce.
She gave herself a shake and eyed her glass. “I think it might be time to start with the vodka.” She’d already done her duties as maid of honor, from the pictures to the people herding to the speech. Now it was just a matter of keeping her head down until it was time to see Lucy and Gideon off to the limo. Yes, a drink is exactly what I deserve for keeping my happy mask in place. If she didn’t do something to break the tension soon, she was liable to snap at someone and make an ass of herself, and end up on some Maids of Honor Behaving Badly list. She couldn’t do that to Lucy. Today was like playing through one of her personal nightmares, but Becka could do better than to act out like a spoiled child as a result. She was better than that. She had to be.
Becka turned to the bar and froze.
Blue eyes captured hers, rooting her feet in place even as her body tried to sway forward. Toward him. Square jaw, straight strong nose, sensual lips that quirked up as he gave her his own perusal. She straightened, suddenly glad that her sister hadn’t followed the shitty tradition of clothing her bridesmaids in the ugliest dresses imaginable. Her purple dress set off the rich blue color she’d settled on for her hair, and it hugged what few curves she had. The stranger wore a tux even better than the groom, his broad shoulders tapering to a lean waist.
She’d never seen a more striking man in her life.
“That’s Aaron Livingston.” Allie’s shoulder brushed hers, effectively grounding her. “He’s friends with Roman and sometimes business associates with Gideon, I think. I didn’t realize he’d be here.”
Aaron. I like it. “I should go say hi, be hospitable...or something.”
Allie snorted. “Yeah, sure. That’s exactly what you’re going to do.” She grinned. “Have fun. I’m going to go dance with my man.”
“Yeah, yeah, rub it in that you’re deliriously domestically happy.” The words held no sting. She was happy her best friend had found the love of her life in Roman Bassani. Between Allie and Lucy, it was almost enough to convert Becka to a romantic way of thinking.
Almost.
Too bad I’m well acquainted with the downsides of romance. Hard to put on rose-tinted glasses when I’ve been up close and personal with everything that can go wrong.
God, she was a mess. She needed to do something—fast.
There was nothing quite as distracting as a man. The one currently staring at her as if memorizing every inch of her would fit the bill nicely.
It’s just a Band-Aid.
She shoved the knowledge aside and made her way to the bar, never taking her gaze off Aaron. He watched her but didn’t move from his spot. Letting her approach. Letting her set the tone. Smart man.
Becka sidled up to the spot next to him and broke eye contact to order a vodka seven. This close, she could smell his cologne—something expensive that made her think of hot and dirty sex in the best way possible. Down, girl. If this wedding was for anyone else, she wouldn’t hesitate to haul him to a convenient closet or bathroom stall to silence the ugliness inside her, but she wouldn’t do that to Lucy. Her sister deserved the best on her wedding day, and damn it, Becka would make sure she had it.
At least until Lucy got into the limo.
Then all bets were off.
“Maid of honor.”
God, even his voice was wonderful, low and even with just a hint of growl. She twisted to face him. “Wedding guest.” He just raised his eyebrows, and she smirked. “Sorry, I thought we were throwing out labels.” She held out her hand. “Becka Baudin.”
“Becka being short for Rebecka?”
“Something like that.” No one called her Rebecka—not even Lucy. She certainly wasn’t going to hand out that name to this guy, no matter how magnetic he was or how he seemed to be so close to what she needed in that moment, it was a wonder she hadn’t conjured him into existence.
But then, Becka didn’t believe in magic any more than she believed in romance.
“I’m Aaron.” He took her hand and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. His five o’clock shadow scraped against her skin, completely at odds with the softness of his lips. It would feel good to have him sliding his mouth along other parts of her. Better than good. Decadent and sinful and absolutely perfect.
Not yet.
She licked her lips. “I know.”
“I see you’ve done your homework.”
“More like your reputation precedes you.”
“Can’t complain about that if it brings a woman like you my way.” He let their hands drop but didn’t release her. Aaron slid his thumb over the same path his lips had just taken, as if he had every right to seduce her with a single touch. His lips quirked into a smile and, damn it, it made him even more handsome. “Nice wedding.”
Come on, Becka, you can do better than this. Stop staring at him like a lust-struck idiot. She cleared her throat and reclaimed her hand just in time for the bartender to deliver her drink. She turned to face the bar fully, needing some distance, even if it was only in her head. No matter what her plans for this man were, she couldn’t afford to lose focus until later. Maybe this is a mistake. Maybe you should find someone less magnetic, less overwhelming, to lose yourself in. Even as she thought it, she knew she wasn’t going to. A few short minutes of conversation and Aaron Livingston had dropped a lure she couldn’t have resisted if she tried. Better to just let things unfurl on the path they were both obviously heading down.
It’s only one night. Tomorrow I’ll go back to my life and it will be nothing but a fond memory.
What had he asked her? Right. The wedding. Of course it was the wedding. That was all anyone had been talking about for months, and they were at the damn event right now.
She downed half her drink. “It’s a wedding. They’re all flavors of the same thing.” Damn it, that sounded bitter. She took a careful breath and pasted a happy smile on her face. “It’s what Lucy wanted, and she’s happy, so I’m happy.” That, at least, was the truth.
“I take it you don’t subscribe to the American dream that ends with a white picket fence?”
Becka shot him a look, trying to gauge where he was going with that comment. Even if he shared her views on marriage and weddings, this was hardly the event to start bitching about how cynical they were. “We live in New York. We don’t do white picket fences here as a general rule.”
“True enough.” Aaron’s blue eyes took her in, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that he saw too much. That if he looked deep enough, he’d be able to trace her aversion to the fictional happily-ever-after right back to her parents’ destroyed marriage and...
Enough.
Keeping ahold of her drink, she gave him her full attention. No reason to avoid pulling the trigger on this. If by some miracle she’d misread the situation, she still had plenty of time to bounce back from any rejection he dealt and move on to someone else. “You want to get out of here?” She waved a hand at her sister still on the dance floor. “I mean, after this dog and pony show has reached its natural conclusion.”
His grin widened, just a little. “I wouldn’t say no to another drink somewhere quieter, where we could have a conversation.”
A conversation? Hard pass. The conversation, the drinks, the quiet place... It was all just frills to fancy up the fact that they wanted to bang each other’s brains out. Whatever his reasons, he seemed just as onboard with this plan as she was. Except he wanted to talk. If he was anyone else, if the attraction was any more manageable... But he wasn’t, and it wasn’t. She knew her strengths, and while she didn’t believe in love at first sight, what she had with Aaron was definitely lust at first sight. Better for both of them to keep things simple and define clear boundaries from the start.
Becka reached up and traced the top button of his dark gray shirt. “Is a conversation really what you’re after?”
He opened his mouth and seemed to reconsider. “I’m after you.”
The honesty washed over her, a fresh breeze that made the choking environment of this fucking wedding a little more bearable. I am happy for Lucy. I am. I just can’t look at her without seeing our mother, and we both know how that turned out. It’s not the same and it won’t have the same outcome, but that doesn’t change anything. Not really.
Becka managed a smile. “In that case, let’s skip the drinks and you can take me back to your place for a nightcap.”
If anything, his brows rose higher. “A nightcap.”
“Yep.” It would be good with Aaron. Exactly what she needed. The lightning nipping at her fingertips from just this small touch told her as much. They could offer each other an enjoyable night, and then she’d get back to her life with only a fond memory to balance out her mixed feelings about her friend and sister leaving her behind.
They weren’t really leaving her. Rationally, Becka knew that. Most days, she even believed that nothing would really change even though both Lucy and Allie had gone and fallen in love.
Stop that.
Becka finished her drink and set it on the bar. “Another, please.”
Aaron covered the glass with his hand. “If you want that nightcap, then you’re done for the night.” When she opened her mouth to protest, he shifted closer, placing his free hand over hers, his broad shoulders blocking out the rest of the room. “Trust me—you’ll want to be sober for this.”
His audacity made her laugh. “Yeah, no, you don’t get to decide when I’m done.” She was buzzed, but she wasn’t anywhere near drunk. Another drink or two wouldn’t make a difference.
“All the same.” He removed his hand, but he didn’t move away. “You’re more than welcome to drink yourself stupid, but you won’t be coming home with me if you do.”
Sheer stubbornness almost made her tell him to fuck right off. Becka responded to commands about as well as she did to ultimatums, and Aaron had issued both in the last thirty seconds. The whole point of a night of wild abandon was the abandon part, and that only worked if they were equal. Letting him set the pace and lay down the boundaries was not part of the plan.
But then the DJ’s voice laughed from the speakers. “It’s about that time, ladies and gentlemen. All the single ladies on the floor to catch the bouquet!”
Desperation clawed at Becka’s throat. She had to go out there and smile and be supportive, and all she wanted to do was crawl under the bar with a bottle of vodka. She glared at Aaron. “Fine. No more drinks.” She turned on her heel and stalked toward the group of women gathering in the middle of the dance floor.
He’d better be as good as he thinks he is.
* * *
Aaron spent the rest of the reception watching Becka. Taking her home was likely a mistake. He might be on decent terms with her sister, but her newly acquired brother-in-law was a different story altogether. Pissing off Gideon Novak wasn’t on his list of things to accomplish, especially with Aaron’s business on the verge of expanding. He’d need the headhunter in the future, which was part of the reason he’d accepted the invitation to this wedding.
Becka’s laugh drew his attention, the sound just as bold as the rest of her. From her blue hair to the piercing glinting against her red lipstick to her tight little body... Yeah, bold summed up Becka Baudin pretty damn well. She couldn’t be more different from her straitlaced older sister, and even though he knew better, those differences intrigued him. She was the kind of woman who saw what she wanted and went after it, no holds barred.
Tonight, it appeared that what she wanted was him.
He set his empty tumbler on the bar as Becka grabbed a microphone and instructed the guests to head out front to see Lucy and Gideon off. She was the kind of woman born to stand in the spotlight. She held everyone’s attention easily as she laughed and made a joke, but still managed to be firm and get everyone moving toward the door. Most of them would be coming back into the reception to keep drinking while the bride and groom went off to do what new couples did on their wedding night.
Aaron had other plans.
Becka’s gaze found him across the small sea of people between them, and the barely banked heat in those blue eyes seared him to the bone. He started for the door with the rest of the guests. Despite all the jostling, he never lost sight of her in the crowd. How could he, when everything about her seemed designed to draw attention? Aaron let himself be borne along, but he managed to ensure he ended up close to her once they reached the sidewalk. As more people piled out in front of the venue, he had to step closer until he nearly bumped into her.
She glanced over her shoulder and grinned. “Hey there, handsome. You come here often?”
Before he could answer, Lucy and Gideon walked out the door, hand in hand. A cheer went up from the people around him, and the crowd surged as guests started blowing bubbles at them. The movement sent Becka teetering in her sky-high heels, and Aaron instinctively grabbed her arm and steadied her. It pressed their bodies together, her back to his front. This close, there was no way to avoid noticing the curve of her ass, or the way it lined up so fucking perfectly with his cock.
He gritted his teeth and tried to get his body’s reaction under control, but Becka chose that moment to lean back against him and roll her hips, ever so slightly. In case he missed it—not likely—she shifted his hand from her arm to her stomach, tucking them tighter together. Another roll of her hips had him cursing softly. He resisted the temptation to let his hand drop lower to brush the V between her thighs. They were in the middle of a goddamn crowd, and her sister was only a few feet away.
But he wanted to.
Fuck, he wanted to.
Aaron wanted to hook his fingers beneath the hem of her dress and stroke her pussy right here. To bring her to the edge and leave her there, teasing her to see how long she could hold out from making a noise that would give them away.
Holy shit, get ahold of yourself. This isn’t you. You don’t lose control like this—especially with a woman who’s barely more than a stranger.
A few precarious minutes later, the newlyweds were safely tucked into the limo. Before he could decide how he wanted to play this, Becka turned in his arms and laced her hands around his neck. The move pressed her more firmly against his cock, and hell if her lips didn’t part and her blue eyes go hazy with need. For him. She leaned up until her lips brushed his ear. “You are the sexiest goddamn distraction I’ve ever seen.”
He traced the curve of her ass and lost his battle with control. Aaron dipped his fingertips beneath the hem of her dress. “I’m not the only one.” Weddings made people crazy, and he’d always thought he was immune to that particular insanity, but then, he’d never met a woman like this before. The attraction was too strong to resist, and it came on too quickly to do anything but let go and see where it took them.
Becka nipped his earlobe. “Let’s get out of here.”
“One thing before we go.” He walked them back until his shoulders hit the brick wall, away from the people already disappearing through the door into the hotel. It took several long minutes before the sidewalk cleared of the wedding guests. All the while, he studied Becka’s face, the dark fringe of her lashes, the curve of her lower lip, the way her breath caught when she met his gaze.
Aaron cupped her jaw and tilted her face up to claim her mouth. She tasted minty, a burst of freshness as intoxicating as the woman herself. Becka went soft in his arms, melting as she opened for him, her tongue eagerly meeting his, stroke for stroke. As if she’d been as impatient for this moment as he’d been.
She’d called him a distraction.
She was the distraction—one he wasn’t sure he could afford.
He pressed his forehead to hers, trying to regain control. “Let’s go.”
“How far is your place?”
A forty-minute cab ride.
Too far.
Inside the building, a burst of laughter trailed down to them. Perfect. “About twenty yards.”
She laughed. “That works. I don’t want to wait anymore.” She grabbed his hand and towed him back inside the building. They bypassed the entrance to the ballroom where the reception was being held and headed for the main desk.
Ten minutes later, they stumbled through the door to a room and slammed it behind them. Aaron guided Becka to the bed and laid her on top of it. He kissed her neck, her shoulder, the line of her heart-shaped bodice. She was fire in his arms, arching to meet his mouth, her hands busy on the front of his shirt. She shoved it down his shoulders, and he released her long enough to shrug it off. Aaron tugged her dress up over her head.
Need shot through him, rushing his movements even as part of him wanted to slow down.
To savor every moment.
He stopped short, drinking in the sight of her. She wore nothing but a silk thong in show-stopping pink. Against her pale skin, the neon color practically glowed, just as brilliant as her hair. Aaron traced the rose tattoo nestled on the inside of her left hip, noting the thorns circling the full petals of the flower, and then he smoothed his hand up her taut stomach to her high breasts. She was lean, every muscle defined in a way that spoke of serious time spent in the gym. “Strong little thing, aren’t you?”
“Well, I’m a spin and TRX instructor, so that goes with the territory.”
He bracketed her ribs with his hands and then cupped her breasts. “Maybe I’ll take one of your classes sometime.”
Becka laughed even as she twined her hands over her head, offering her body to him. “Honey, you wouldn’t last ten minutes.”
“Think so?” He lightly pinched her pale pink nipples, gauging her reaction. Her sharp inhale only fanned the flames within him. He needed her. Now.
“I know so.” She grinned. “But let’s be honest—there’s only one kind of exercise we’re interested in right now, and it doesn’t have a single thing to do with a bike. Now, stop teasing me and take off your pants.”
CHAPTER TWO (#u801ee42b-4df1-546b-b266-8b04eb18765e)
BECKA COULD BARELY breathe at the look on Aaron’s face as he ran his hands over her body. Learning. Reveling. Worshipping. It left her feeling off center, as if this was more than some horny wedding sex between two single people who’d never see each other again. She covered her uncertainty the only way she knew how—brazenly charging forward. “You’re still wearing pants.”
“Don’t rush me.” He lifted her farther onto the bed and lay next to her, his head propped on his hand. She started to protest, but Aaron cupped her pussy and she forgot whatever she’d been about to say. He stroked her over the silk of her panties, his blue eyes arrested on the spot he touched her. The slick fabric lent an erotic edge to the slide of his fingers. “Spread your legs.”
She obeyed instantly. Becka normally preferred to take charge of her sexual encounters. She knew what she liked and had no reservations with demanding exactly that. Most guys found it sexy as hell and—more importantly—it ensured they both had one hell of a good time.
Aaron wasn’t going to let her lead this encounter. She’d known it from the second he commanded her not to drink any more that night. And the kiss... God, that kiss had been claiming in a way she wasn’t prepared to deal with.
Doesn’t matter. I’m a grown-ass woman. I knew what I signed up for. I can handle it.
That didn’t stop a shiver from working its way through her body as he traced her opening through her panties and moved up to circle her clit. This wasn’t the rushed fucking she’d prepared herself for. He touched her as if she meant something beyond a mutually satisfying night. “Stop that.”
Aaron met her gaze, his hand stilling. “Problem?” There was no anger in those blue eyes, just a kind of knowledge that said he already knew what her protesting was about and didn’t give a damn.
“Don’t make this into something it isn’t.” He didn’t respond other than to slide his hand back down to cup her again. Possessively. She swallowed hard, fighting not to rub against him like a wanton thing. Focus. “I’m just here for the sex.” For the desperately needed distraction.
He raised his eyebrows. “You’re just here for the sex.”
“That is literally what I just said.”
“I heard you.” His thumb dipped beneath the edge of her thong. “Becka, if you think this night is going to end before I’ve stroked, tasted and fucked you until we’re both damn near comatose...” He shook his head in mock sympathy even as he kept up that teasing stroking beneath her panties, not quite where she so desperately needed him.
“I signed up for that.” She gritted her teeth in an effort to keep still. “I didn’t sign up for this.”
“Do you want me to stop?” The arrogant tilt of his lips said he already knew the answer. She hated that he was so sure of her, hated even more that he was right.
Becka smacked his hand away from her and shoved his shoulders, well aware that he allowed her to tumble him onto his back. She was strong for her size, but he had a good six inches and fifty pounds on her. She grabbed his wrists and pinned them over his head, and he let her do it. “I don’t want you to stop.” She shifted, dragging her breasts against his bare chest. God, he’s breathtaking. All I want to do is rub myself all over him like some horny teenager. She pressed down against his cock and had to bite back a whimper.
“Come here, Becka.” The way he said her name was almost a purr, a soft coaxing that was no less a command than all his others tonight. “Give me your mouth.”
She kissed him, telling herself she did it because she wanted to and not because part of her quivered with need at the rough growl in his voice. He tasted like the scotch he’d been drinking at the reception, and it went straight to her head. She forgot she was supposed to be in the dominant position, to be driving this encounter, to be the one calling the shots. Instead, she released his wrists and cupped his jaw on either side, losing herself in the feel of his tongue sliding decadently against hers, his lips hard and unyielding and yet giving her everything she needed.
It was too much.
He kissed her like this meant something.
She didn’t want him to be right.
She leaned back, desperate to put some distance between them, to remember the purpose for that night.
Her plans disappeared through her fingers like smoke when his lips curled into a wicked smile. “Let me taste you, Becka.”
* * *
It took everything Aaron had to leash himself, to hold still as Becka considered him. The first impression he’d gotten of the wild thing on the verge of fleeing was only reinforced by the skittish look in her eyes. She’ll run at the first hint of a cage. He filed away that information, but the truth was that he didn’t want to cage her.
That isn’t what tonight is about.
She worried her bottom lip even as she shifted deliciously against him. “I can’t think straight when you say my name like that.”
Good. He didn’t say it through sheer force of will. “This thing with us has nothing to do with thinking straight.” He’d accepted the offer of a nightcap because she was beautiful and interesting, and it had been a long time since he’d let himself indulge in anything resembling a one-night stand. But this bold and slightly brittle woman intrigued him despite himself.
She sat up a little, pressing herself down against his cock. “That’s a good point. A brilliant point, even. I’m overthinking things.” She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t usually bring this much baggage to banging. Sorry. The wedding has me all twisted up for various reasons.”
“Becka—”
She charged right over him. “But that’s neither here nor there.” She gave a brilliant smile. “You wanted a taste.”
He kept himself perfectly still as she sat up fully and stretched her arms over her head, showing off her body. And, fuck, what a body. Aaron wanted to pin her down, to lick and kiss every inch of her until she felt the same desperation coursing through his veins. I do that, she leaves.
Unacceptable.
Becka moved up until she straddled his face. He could see how wet she was against the silk of her panties, and he ran hands up her thighs, urging her to spread a little farther for him. “Perfect.”
“Hey now, remember who’s in the driver’s seat.”
He shifted his hands higher so he could hook a thumb into her panties and tug them to the side, exposing her. “Let me know if I miss the mark.” He lifted his head, still holding her gaze, and flicked his tongue out to taste her.
She braced her hands on the wall over the headboard and bit her bottom lip. “More of that, please and thank you. Suck my clit, Aaron.”
Fuck me.
His control snapped. He obeyed her hoarse command, sucking her clit into his mouth and rolling the sensitive bud against his tongue. Becka let loose a whimper that sent a bolt of lightning to his cock.
Getting her to make that noise again shot to the top of his list of things to do.
He lost himself in her taste, in the way her thighs went tense beneath his hands when he licked her just right. It didn’t take long to find the blend of rhythm and pressure that had her rocking against his mouth, her whimpers turning into gasping cries. Higher and higher he took her, driving her ruthlessly into her first orgasm. She let loose a breathless giggle when she came, as if overtaken by sheer delight the same way she’d been overtaken by pleasure.
He fell a little bit in love with her right then and there.
“Safe to say you didn’t miss the mark.” Becka laughed again and slumped to the side, letting one leg sprawl across his chest as she blinked at him from beneath a curtain of blue hair. “I was right—it is good with you.”
“Happy to live up to expectations.” For the first time in so long, he wasn’t thinking about his next business move or the future, beyond the moment when he got inside this woman. Tonight. Even if it’s only tonight, it’s worth it for the reprieve she’s offered. Aaron rolled onto his side and smoothed back her hair. “I like the blue.”
“I live to please.”
He lightly pinched her nipple. “So snarky.”
“Hmm, you know it.” She stretched from her fingers to her toes, her body perfectly on display for one breathtaking moment before she relaxed and grinned at him. “That was a great appetizer, but I’m more than ready to move on to the main course.”
He dug his wallet from his pocket and fished out the condom he’d stashed there earlier that week. Aaron always carried one with him—the better to be prepared for any given situation that arose, so to speak—but he switched it out regularly to avoid any mishaps. He took her hand and pressed it to her palm. “Do the honors.”
“The honors.” Becka smirked. She ripped the foil packet open. “Someone’s got a high opinion of themselves.” She took her time rolling the condom on, teasing him, prolonging the moment when this reached the point of no return. As if she wanted this to last as much as he did.
“That’s enough.” He cupped the back of her neck and towed her up so he could take her mouth. Aaron rolled them without breaking the kiss, loving the way she moved with him as if they’d done this a thousand times. She stroked her hands down his sides and gave his ass a playful squeeze as he settled between her thighs. He chuckled against her mouth. “Cheeky.”
“Just call me a saucy little minx.” She nipped his chin and pressed an openmouthed kiss against his neck. “I don’t want to wait anymore, Aaron. I need you.”
“Next time we go slow.” He reached between them to position his cock at her entrance. “Ready?”
“Baby, I was born ready.” She hooked a leg around his waist and arched up to meet him.
He’d expected the move, so he countered it, letting himself sink into her a single inch and no more. “Slow, minx. I don’t want to hurt you.”
Her laugh seemed to vibrate her whole body, and her blue eyes shone with true amusement. “That giant cock of yours is impressive, but I can take it.” Becka grinned. “Do your worst.”
Impossible to resist the playful challenge in every line of her body. He didn’t really want to hold back any more than she seemed to want him to. Aaron slammed into her, sheathing himself to the hilt. She jolted, that delicious whimper slipping free again. He ate the sound, kissing even as he began moving. His leash had snapped without his realizing how close he was to losing control. This woman, this wildfire in his arms, she brought out something he’d fought long and hard to tame within himself.
Something savage.
He tried to pull back, tried to regain control.
As if sensing his withdrawal, Becka wrapped both legs around his waist and grabbed his hands, lacing their fingers together. She stretched her arms over her head, guiding him to pin her down. “I’m not breakable, Aaron. You don’t have to be careful with me.” She squeezed his hands. “I want everything.”
He could no more resist her command than he’d been able to turn away from her at the bar. Aaron put his weight onto her hands and pounded into her, each thrust making her breasts bounce and drawing a cry from her lips. He watched her face the entire time, finding only a mirror to the delirious pleasure spiraling through him. Feeling more animal than man, he shifted his grip to her wrists, and her splayed fingers only drove him to fuck her harder.
“Yes, yes, yes!” Becka let loose another of those intoxicating giggles, her pussy clenching around him in climax hard enough to pull him over the edge with her. He thrust into her roughly, his grip on her the only thing that kept them from sliding right into the headboard, his orgasm hitting him with the force of a tidal wave.
Aaron dropped his face to the curve of her neck and pressed a careful kiss there. “Fuck, minx, nothing could have prepared me for you.”
* * *
Becka shouldn’t let a comment like the one Aaron just made stand, but she couldn’t work up the energy to remind him yet again that this was a one-shot deal. Not with his big body pinning her to the bed, his hands still holding her down in a way that had her squirming despite coming twice in quick order. Aaron made her feel... She didn’t know how to put it into words. She wasn’t submissive—not really—but being at his mercy while he fucked her within an inch of her life?
Yeah, that moment was going into her hall of fame.
She stroked a cautious hand down his back and shivered as he thrust into her a little. He was still half-hard, which had her glancing at the clock and doing a quick calculation to how much time was really left in this one-night stand. More than enough. It doesn’t really end until the sun rises, right?
Aaron kissed her neck again and then took her mouth. There was no other way to describe his mouth claiming hers, his way of controlling the kiss that made her head spin. He thrust again, and she clenched her legs tighter around him. “More. I need more. Again.”
He set his teeth to her bottom lip, but just when she thought he’d give her exactly what she wanted, he cursed and retreated. “We’re going to have to go back to my place for that nightcap. I have exactly one condom on me, and we just used it.”
Disappointment threatened to sour her good mood, but she shoved it aside. What would it hurt to catch a cab back to his place and keep this thing going for a few more hours? He’d already more than proven he could give it to her better than ninety percent of the guys she’d hooked up with in the past. Letting a tiny technicality get in the way of more orgasms wasn’t her style.
Becka reluctantly uncrossed her ankles so he could move. “I suppose you’ll make it worth my while if I suffer through a cab ride.”
“You know it.” Her heart skipped a beat at his answering grin. His buttoned-up attitude hadn’t lasted past their first kiss, but there was such mirth in that expression she couldn’t stop herself from grinning in response.
Aaron pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “Let me clean up and we’ll get out of here.” He slid off her...and froze. “Fuck.”
“What?” She scrambled back, her stomach doing a slow flip at the sight of the broken condom. Fuck, indeed. “Shit.”
“I’m clean.”
It was too much on top of everything else that had happened that day. Becka shook her head and edged around him to get off the bed. “Thanks for the memo.” She believed him, even though she had no right to take his word for anything at this point. She reached the edge of the bed and hesitated. Think, Becka. Don’t be a jackass. “I’m clean, too. I get tested regularly.” He deserved to know that, at least.
She pushed her hair back, hating that his face had immediately fallen back into the cold lines he’d worn when she first caught sight of him. This was never going to work. Get out now before it gets even more awkward.
“Becka—”
Becka. Not minx.
She shook her head. “No, it’s fine. I’m on birth control. If you’re clean—”
“I am.”
“Then there’s nothing to worry about.” She grabbed her dress from the floor and tugged it on. “This has been fun, but I need to go home now.”
He disappeared into the bathroom for a few seconds, and then he was back, unabashedly naked and stalking across the room to her. “We need to talk about this.”
“Actually, we don’t. Clean.” She pointed at him. “Clean.” She pointed at herself. “Birth control. End of story. This has been fun, but it’s over now.” Becka didn’t see her panties, but she wasn’t about to stick around to search for them. Instead, she grabbed her shoes and ducked under Aaron’s arm.
“I’d like to see you again.”
She reached the door and paused. It had been fun. A lot of fun, right up until that shitty ending. Becka closed her eyes, letting herself picture—just for a moment—what it would be like if she said yes. Maybe he was talking about just sex, and they’d spend a prolonged one-night stand blowing each other’s minds until he got tired of her and decided to try to let her down easy, bruising her in the process. Or maybe he’d try to take her out on a date, and they’d end up fucking again, and it would end exactly the same. Even if things did work for a while, eventually they would explode in her face, just like every other relationship she’d been in.
Historically, men looked at her appearance and assumed one of two things.
They figured that she was some kind of manic pixie dream girl who would help them find themselves. Or, more often, they assumed that she was a kinky sex fiend who’d be down for everything and anything and not be bothered by days gone by without communication as long as the sex was on point.
Becka wasn’t about to play prop to a man, and she might like sex, but she had more respect for herself than to be some guy’s one A.M. booty call while he was trying to date other women. As a result, every single time she’d tried to actually date someone, it had gone down in flames sooner rather than later.
Like mother, like daughter.
She straightened her spine, but she couldn’t look at him. If she met those gray-blue eyes, she was a goner. “It’s been fun. Really fun. But let’s leave this on a high note. I want to be a fond memory, something that will never get a chance to lose its shine.”
His bitter laugh made her stomach drop. “Sounds like you already have the narrative set.”
Better me setting the narrative than playing supporting role in someone else’s. “I do.” She forced her hand to turn the doorknob and open the door, because if she didn’t move right then, she’d go back to him and let him spin whatever pretty fantasy until she actually believed it. It wasn’t the truth. She knew that, even if he wasn’t willing to admit it. “Have a nice life, Aaron.”
Becka walked out the door without looking back.
CHAPTER THREE (#u801ee42b-4df1-546b-b266-8b04eb18765e)
Twelve weeks later
“THAT ABOUT SUMS it up. The new account didn’t request anything fancy, but we’d be assholes if we left them exposed. Better to just go the extra mile.” Aaron slid the file across the table to his business partner, Cameron O’Clery. “You want to handle this one, or should I?” Their security business focused heavily on all things tech related, and this new account was no different. Once they got the initial cybersecurity laid down, they would maintain it for as long as their retainer was paid, but it took time to figure out exactly what the client needed—and often enough, it wasn’t what the client thought they needed.
Cameron flipped through it. “You usually don’t ask me—you just dole out the clients.”
Aaron tensed, but it was the truth. He tended to be the client-facing part of the company, and he picked and chose which ones he passed to Cameron because Cameron...wasn’t particularly patient with people he considered too stupid to live. Unfortunately for any prospective business-client relationships, Cameron found ninety percent of the world too stupid to live. Some clients could handle his attitude because he was the best cybersecurity expert in the city, and some couldn’t. Part of Aaron’s job was figuring that out. “We’re partners.”
“Never said we weren’t.” Cameron sat back and laced his fingers behind his head. He was a big fucker, his white T-shirt stretched tight against his dark skin. He narrowed brown eyes at Aaron. “You’re off your game—have been for weeks. I didn’t ask, but if it’s going to affect the job, maybe it’s time to.”
“It’s nothing.” Just a blue-haired woman he couldn’t seem to scrub from his mind. He hadn’t tracked Becka down after she’d left so abruptly because she couldn’t have been clearer in wanting nothing to do with him. If he was smart, he would have left what happened between them in that room behind as easily as she had.
But she haunted his dreams.
He kept waking up and reaching for her, only to find himself alone in bed. It didn’t make a damn bit of sense. It had been sex—outstanding, earth-shattering sex, but sex. A single fuck shouldn’t screw with his mind so effectively.
“Doesn’t look like nothing to me.” Cameron held his hands up. “Not my business. Just handle your shit, Aaron. I can take this client.”
He thought about the timid man who had signed the contract earlier that day and sat back. “Nah, I got it. This guy needs a softer touch.”
“Shit. Take it.” Cameron slid the file back to him with a disgusted look on his face. “I’ve got to tie up a few loose ends with the last one. She came back wanting changes despite the job being done. Nothing I can’t handle, but it’s a pain in the ass.”
“Always is.” Aaron grabbed the file and rose. “Let me know if you need an assist.”
“I don’t.” Cameron frowned. “Though I think we might need to expand the team to include someone to handle paperwork and all that shit. It’s taking too much time from the jobs themselves, and you know how I feel about paperwork.”
“The same way you feel about most things.” He hated it.
Cameron nodded. “I’ll post a job opening. Figure they can man the phones and the main email account to field and file prospective clients. Frees you up to focus on the jobs and stop handling me.”
Considering Aaron didn’t know who they would hire who was capable of handling Cameron, he just nodded. It was a problem for another day. First, he had to arrange a secondary meeting with the new client and bring them up to date with the prospective client list sitting in his inbox. Throwing a new person into the mix without them being caught up was a recipe for disaster.
That said, it would be nice to delegate some of the more tedious tasks. “Sounds like a plan.”
He headed out of the room. They owned the entire floor of this building, but they really only utilized their respective offices, a boardroom and a waiting room that was more neglected than anything else.
Their cybersecurity company was small, but both he and Cameron preferred it that way. With the reputation they’d spent years building, they could handpick their clients and charge top dollar for their services. But the demand seemed to be increasing lately, which meant they’d have to hire that secretary—and potentially add a cybersecurity specialist or two to their team—sooner, rather than later.
Aaron stopped in the hallway and tried to picture what the waiting room would look like with someone at the desk livening up the place. He preferred to take his meetings with clients off-site, and Cameron preferred not to take them at all. Aaron shook his head. If the secretary stayed on for more than a week, it’d be a fucking miracle.
His phone started ringing as he strode into his office. He cursed and fished it out of his pocket. An unfamiliar number scrolled across the screen. Aaron took a breath and put his professional persona on. “Aaron Livingston.”
“Hey, Aaron.”
Three months later, he’d still recognize Becka’s voice anywhere. He walked back to his office, shut his door, and moved around his desk to sit down. “I didn’t expect to hear from you.” He realized how that must sound and grimaced. “But I’m glad you called.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t expect to call.” Her voice went thick as if she was...holding back tears? “Funny story. Remember when the condom broke? Well, apparently the pill isn’t one hundred percent foolproof because, surprise, I’m pregnant.”
He waited for the words to rearrange themselves into an order that made sense. They stayed stubbornly in place. “What?”
“Pregnant. With your kid.” She cleared her throat. “I, ah, I wasn’t going to keep it, but I chickened out at the last second, and it turns out I want this baby. I’m sorry. I swear to God I didn’t know this would happen, and I don’t expect anything from you. It’s not your problem—it’s mine. I just... I thought you should know.”
A baby.
His baby.
With Becka.
He closed his eyes and tried to focus. She thought he would wash his hands of this. Aaron had questions—a whole hell of a lot of questions—but he didn’t honestly believe that Becka had tricked him into getting her pregnant. She sounded upset and scared, and the fact she’d let that slip through what he surmised were impressive shields meant she was exponentially more freaked out. How long have you been sitting on this knowledge, scared and alone?
He wasn’t about to let her shoulder it by herself. That child was half his, and if she was keeping it, he would be in the baby’s life. End of story.
That decided, he opened his eyes, plan in place. “Where are you?”
“What? I’m at home.”
“Text me the address.”
She hesitated, and he could almost see her arguing with herself about having him in her house. Well, too fucking bad. Whether she liked it or not, Aaron was in her life, and he wasn’t going anywhere. They had a future in common, one way or another. Finally, Becka sighed. “Okay.”
“Good. I’ll see you soon.” He hung up and stared at his phone.
His life had just taken a hard right turn. He had no fucking idea how he was going to keep it from going off the rails entirely. One step at a time. Talk to Becka in person. Be calm. Reassure her. Get her to see things your way.
Shouldn’t be too difficult. Right?
* * *
Becka nearly paced a hole in her floor waiting for Aaron to show up. She should have realized he was going to demand to see her face-to-face when she called, but part of her had honestly thought he’d be relieved not to be asked to do anything. Isn’t that what most guys wanted in a shitty situation like this? To be absolved of all responsibility so they could go on with their lives unscathed while the woman was left to clean up the mess they’d created together?
You were projecting and you damn well know it. She caught herself wringing her hands and cursed. “I can do better than this. It’s just a baby.”
A baby she hadn’t signed up for.
She touched her stomach gingerly. There were none of the symptoms movies had told her to expect—aside from being extra exhausted all the time—but her doctor had confirmed there was, in fact, a baby growing inside her. A freaking baby.
She didn’t know how to be a mom. Lucy was the nurturer. The planner. The one who took care of everyone around her and was universally loved as a result. Becka had too much of their mother in her. She was too selfish, too bitchy, just too much across the board. Up until she made the call to keep the baby, she’d been sure she didn’t want kids at all—better to let the sins of the past lie and not tempt fate. Lucy always told her there was no reason to think they’d end up like their parents, but Becka didn’t believe her any more now than she had as a kid.
The buzzer sounded, and she jumped half out of her skin. “Shit.” Aaron was here. There was no time to think of a new, better plan. There was nothing left to do but buzz him up.
Thirty seconds later, she opened the door and froze. How had she forgotten how magnetic he was? His broad shoulders took up the space of her narrow door frame, and he wore a suit that probably cost as much as a couple months of her rent. Becka belatedly realized she was blocking the entrance and stepped back, letting him into her apartment.
He looked around, and she could almost see the thoughts rolling through his head. Shabby place. Secondhand furniture. A hole in the drywall from where she’d accidentally kicked it in when she fell out of a headstand a year ago. It was clean, but she was barely there long enough to sleep between teaching classes at Allie’s gym, Transcend, and her second job as a personal trainer at an upscale facility downtown. She’d never seen a reason to spiff up the place when that money could be spent in better places.
Now, she kind of wished she’d told Aaron to meet her somewhere else so he wouldn’t have seen this.
He turned as she shut the door and gave her an equally thorough examination. His gaze landed on her flat stomach and then rose to her face. “You’re not facing this alone.”
It was tempting to throw herself at his feet and beg him to hold her until this whole thing went away. Fear ate at the edges of her mind, and there was no easy answer to combat it. Hell, there were no answers at all.
But Becka had spent all her adult life fighting to stand on her own. She wasn’t about to compromise that now for a man who was essentially a stranger. She lifted her chin. “Easy for you to say. I’m the one incubating the kid, and I’m going to be the one solely responsible for its needs.”
“In this...apartment.” The way he said the last word translated to hovel.
She glared. “There’s nothing wrong with my apartment.”
“You have a hole in your wall.” He stalked around her kitchen. “Water damage on the floor.” The living room. “The rugs are worn down to nothing.” Aaron almost sounded like he was talking to himself instead of her. “If you don’t have money to repair this place, you sure as fuck don’t have money to give our baby everything he or she needs.”
She wanted to tell him she didn’t need him at all, that she’d find a way, but the hard reality was that Aaron had money and Becka didn’t. She made a comfortable living for herself, but she didn’t need much to get by in the grand scheme of things.
A baby changed that.
She turned away and wrapped her arms around herself. You can compromise. Try it—just this once. “I’m willing to negotiate some kind of...child support or something. If that’s something you’re comfortable with.” She wasn’t comfortable with it, but she’d suck up her pride and get over herself if it meant he could help her meet the baby’s needs.
“No.”
Becka turned back to find Aaron shaking his head and doing another circuit around her apartment. “What?”
“I said, no.” He poked the threadbare pillow on the couch. “You can’t live like this while you’re pregnant. You shouldn’t be living like this right now.”
“Excuse me?” Anger flared through her, and she welcomed it with open arms. Easier to be angry than to be scared, easier to fight than to admit she was in over her head and didn’t know what she was going to do. “There’s nothing wrong with my apartment.”
“The list of everything wrong with this place is longer than we have time for. Pack your bags. We’re leaving.”
Her jaw dropped. “You’re crazy.”
“No, you’re crazy if you think I’m going to let the mother of my future child live in these conditions when I have a perfectly adequate apartment that will fit both of us and the baby without crowding.” He crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. “I have a spare room, if that’s what you’re worried about. I don’t expect you to be in my bed.”
The top of her head damn near exploded. “No.”
“Wrong answer.”
She sputtered. “You can’t just decide to move me in with you. That’s not how any of this works.”
Aaron stalked to the fridge and opened it. He barked out a laugh. “I suspected as much. There isn’t even fucking food in your fridge.” He turned and glared. “Let me lay it out for you—you have two options.”
“I choose the option where you get the hell out of my life.”
“That’s not on the list.” If anything, her anger only made him calmer, icier. He nodded at the door leading into her bedroom. “You can walk in there, pack your shit and come with me to my place. You’ll settle in. It will take some adjusting, but it’s doable.” He shrugged. “Or I can call your sister and brother-in-law—and Roman and Allie, since they have a vested interest in your well-being—and we can all have a sit-down about your current living conditions and how you’re rejecting a perfectly reasonable plan out of hand.”
Checkmate.
She could actually hear the cage click into place around her. Becka didn’t have a chance in hell of winning that argument with all the parties involved. Allie would be sympathetic to her plight, but Lucy would offer a secondary option of moving in with her. Both Gideon and Roman would go into protective older brother roles and, no matter which way they fell on the argument, Becka wouldn’t come out on top. She didn’t stand a chance.
She snarled. “That’s blackmail.”
“It’s called skillful negotiation. You should try it sometime.”
I will not punch my baby daddy. I will not just chop him in his stupidly attractive throat.
She counted to ten, but it did nothing to lower her blood pressure. There had to be a way out of this. Aaron was obviously only steamrolling her because he had an honorable streak that apparently demanded he borderline kidnap her. Okay, maybe not that honorable. She just needed to buy some time, to get a little distance to figure out what she wanted.
It was the one thing Becka couldn’t pin down.
She knew she wanted the baby. The rest was terrifyingly hazy.
She gritted her teeth. “I’ll consider it.”
He stared at her so long, she just knew he was weighing his options—including throwing her over his shoulder and hauling her ass back to his place. Finally, Aaron nodded. “You have until tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
“At that point, I’m coming back here. Whether I come back alone or with Roman and Gideon in tow is entirely up to you.” He strode to the door and paused to look over his shoulder at her. “Don’t let stubbornness get in the way of what’s best for the baby.” He was gone before she could give in to the impulse to throw something at his head.
Becka stumbled over to her ugly green couch and sank onto it. She let her head fall to her hands and spit out every single curse she knew. It didn’t make her feel better. She wasn’t sure anything could make her feel better at this point.
“I am so freaking screwed.”
CHAPTER FOUR (#u801ee42b-4df1-546b-b266-8b04eb18765e)
“OKAY, LET ME see if I have this straight—you’re pregnant.”
Becka didn’t lift her face from the pillow. Maybe if she concentrated, her couch would swallow her whole and she wouldn’t have to deal with this mess anymore. She’d called Allie in desperation, but confessing the truth had taken the last of her energy and now all she wanted was to curl up in a ball and wait for this to blow over. Fat chance of that happening.
Allie’s footsteps echoed through the apartment. “You’re pregnant,” she repeated. “Okay, right. Pregnant.”
“You said that already. Three times.”
“Right. And it’s Aaron Livingston’s. And Aaron wants you to move in with him for, what, the duration of the pregnancy? Or are you supposed to live there forever?”
She groaned and pressed her face harder into the pillow. “He didn’t specify.”
“Because you kicked him out after yelling at him that you’d live with him over your dead body.”
Becka frowned and lifted her head. Allie stood across the small living room, her hands on her hips. She looked like some kind of plus-size superhero on her day off, her blond hair windblown and her black leggings and fitted sweater comfortable and stylish. But it was the contemplative look on her face that sent alarm bells pealing through Becka’s head. “You don’t sound angry and self-righteous. Why don’t you sound angry and self-righteous? You should be angry and self-righteous.”
“Unpopular opinion—but Aaron Livingston isn’t a total monster.”
She rolled onto her back and flung her arm over her eyes. “That lack of monstrosity really commends him to be my baby daddy.”
“Becka, I’m serious. He and Roman are good friends. I’ve hung out with him a few times.” She hesitated long enough that Becka lifted her arm and shot her a look. Allie seemed to be silently arguing with herself. Finally, she said, “I think you should do it.”
“What?”
“I know you, and if I offer for you to stay with me and Roman, you’re going to say—”
“Hell, no.” She didn’t need her family and friends to swoop in and take care of her. Becka had gotten into this situation on her own—well, technically with Aaron, but whatever—and she wasn’t going to drag anyone else in alongside her. Allie and Lucy finally had things working out for them. They didn’t need Becka’s mistakes putting a damper on their happily-ever-afters.
Which really only left her one option.
She closed her eyes. “Damn it, I have to do it, don’t I?”
“I mean, you could put on your martyr’s sash and try to power through it on your own, but that’s not going to accomplish anything but to save your pride—and only for a while.”
She would need help eventually. Whether it was financially or with babysitting or... God, Becka didn’t know where to start.
Easy. You start with Aaron and go from there.
“If I change my mind, he’s going to have me over a barrel.”
“Sounds like your kind of kink.”
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Katee Robert
One hot night with a stranger… Leads to something very unexpected! Three months ago, fitness instructor Becka Baudin gave me the most satisfying night of my life…and walked away. Now the wildest, sexiest woman I’ve ever met is pregnant with my child. Despite persuading her to move into my Manhattan penthouse, she wants nothing to do with my upscale CEO life. She may let me back into her bed, but getting into her guarded heart is a different ball game!
A one-night stand leads to something very unexpected in this sizzling-hot DARE story by USA TODAY and New York Times bestselling author Katee Robert!
I didn’t get to be CEO of a New York tech company by chasing whims...or women. But when wildly beautiful, fiercely independent fitness instructor Becka Baudin caught my eye across a crowded wedding reception, my body reacted with a will of its own.
She wanted a sexy distraction—one night of lust in a glamorous hotel. And I was happy to oblige. Then, after the most amazing night of my life, she walked away—leaving me wanting so much more. I haven’t been myself since that night. My work is suffering. My social life is nowhere. All I think about, all I dream about, is her.
Three months later, she told me. A baby. My baby... I insisted she move into my Manhattan penthouse. Now I see her every day. I crave her every second. I long for her touch, her kiss, her body moving under mine. I know if I try to cage her she’ll fly away. How can I convince a wild thing to stay in my life, in my heart, forever?
New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author KATEE ROBERT learned to tell her stories at her grandpa’s knee. Her 2015 title The Marriage Contract was a RITA® Award finalist, and RT Book Reviews named it ‘a compulsively readable book, with just the right amount of suspense and tension’. When not writing sexy contemporary and romantic suspense, she spends her time playing imaginative games with her children, driving her husband batty with what-if questions and planning for the inevitable zombie apocalypse.
Make Me Yours
Katee Robert
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-08694-3
MAKE ME YOURS
© 2019 Katee Hird
Published in Great Britain 2019
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
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To Lauren
Contents
Cover (#ua0db45c8-b221-50c4-b7f4-ddc396dec1b9)
Back Cover Text (#u70beb21a-8eb7-5823-bfcb-452d5e3527a0)
About the Author (#u4f607830-306c-56f7-bb96-1c58b5ceca2b)
Title Page (#udf19ade3-de95-539d-bc5f-23082bc4b2c3)
Copyright (#u5cd16901-7aea-5895-a613-cbbaee435f6b)
Dedication (#u6443796b-070f-5972-8d37-c7da49bc435a)
CHAPTER ONE (#ubdc87dde-8ffd-5516-a3ee-8bb0fb53d3fc)
CHAPTER TWO (#u2eadb5b3-ffe4-512d-988f-c770bb3d278b)
CHAPTER THREE (#ud481463f-1687-5406-a0c0-e593f692847d)
CHAPTER FOUR (#ub16decf9-f5cc-5f11-a8ac-5eaeb0896c7c)
CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FOURTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIFTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SIXTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
EPILOGUE (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE (#u801ee42b-4df1-546b-b266-8b04eb18765e)
“HAVE I MENTIONED how much I loathe weddings?” Becka Baudin grabbed two champagne glasses and handed one to her best friend, Allie.
“Only about half a dozen times—in the last hour.”
She drained the glass and waited for her stomach to settle. Only then did she focus on her best friend’s amusement. “It’s not my fault. They give me hives. Even this one.” Especially this one.
“Here.” Allie passed over the second champagne glass, her expression sympathetic. “You know you’re not losing her, right?”
“Of course I know that. I’m not a child.” But she still glanced at her big sister gliding across the dance floor with her new husband. They looked like something out of a fairy tale, Lucy in a gorgeous white dress that hugged her lean form. It was overlaid with lace and gave a little sparkle with every move. Her dark hair was twisted in an intricate style that left her neck and shoulders bare except for the truly outstanding necklace Gideon had bought her.
And Gideon.
Lord, the man could wear a tux.
But it wasn’t the clothes that made them the most beautiful couple in the room. It was the way they looked at each other.
She sipped her second glass of champagne. “They seem happy.”
“Yes, well, that generally happens on someone’s wedding day.”
Becka rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m being an asshole. It’s not this wedding I object to—it’s the rest of them.” Weddings were nothing but false promises of happily-ever-after. They sold a dream most people never actually realized—more than half ended in divorce.
She gave herself a shake and eyed her glass. “I think it might be time to start with the vodka.” She’d already done her duties as maid of honor, from the pictures to the people herding to the speech. Now it was just a matter of keeping her head down until it was time to see Lucy and Gideon off to the limo. Yes, a drink is exactly what I deserve for keeping my happy mask in place. If she didn’t do something to break the tension soon, she was liable to snap at someone and make an ass of herself, and end up on some Maids of Honor Behaving Badly list. She couldn’t do that to Lucy. Today was like playing through one of her personal nightmares, but Becka could do better than to act out like a spoiled child as a result. She was better than that. She had to be.
Becka turned to the bar and froze.
Blue eyes captured hers, rooting her feet in place even as her body tried to sway forward. Toward him. Square jaw, straight strong nose, sensual lips that quirked up as he gave her his own perusal. She straightened, suddenly glad that her sister hadn’t followed the shitty tradition of clothing her bridesmaids in the ugliest dresses imaginable. Her purple dress set off the rich blue color she’d settled on for her hair, and it hugged what few curves she had. The stranger wore a tux even better than the groom, his broad shoulders tapering to a lean waist.
She’d never seen a more striking man in her life.
“That’s Aaron Livingston.” Allie’s shoulder brushed hers, effectively grounding her. “He’s friends with Roman and sometimes business associates with Gideon, I think. I didn’t realize he’d be here.”
Aaron. I like it. “I should go say hi, be hospitable...or something.”
Allie snorted. “Yeah, sure. That’s exactly what you’re going to do.” She grinned. “Have fun. I’m going to go dance with my man.”
“Yeah, yeah, rub it in that you’re deliriously domestically happy.” The words held no sting. She was happy her best friend had found the love of her life in Roman Bassani. Between Allie and Lucy, it was almost enough to convert Becka to a romantic way of thinking.
Almost.
Too bad I’m well acquainted with the downsides of romance. Hard to put on rose-tinted glasses when I’ve been up close and personal with everything that can go wrong.
God, she was a mess. She needed to do something—fast.
There was nothing quite as distracting as a man. The one currently staring at her as if memorizing every inch of her would fit the bill nicely.
It’s just a Band-Aid.
She shoved the knowledge aside and made her way to the bar, never taking her gaze off Aaron. He watched her but didn’t move from his spot. Letting her approach. Letting her set the tone. Smart man.
Becka sidled up to the spot next to him and broke eye contact to order a vodka seven. This close, she could smell his cologne—something expensive that made her think of hot and dirty sex in the best way possible. Down, girl. If this wedding was for anyone else, she wouldn’t hesitate to haul him to a convenient closet or bathroom stall to silence the ugliness inside her, but she wouldn’t do that to Lucy. Her sister deserved the best on her wedding day, and damn it, Becka would make sure she had it.
At least until Lucy got into the limo.
Then all bets were off.
“Maid of honor.”
God, even his voice was wonderful, low and even with just a hint of growl. She twisted to face him. “Wedding guest.” He just raised his eyebrows, and she smirked. “Sorry, I thought we were throwing out labels.” She held out her hand. “Becka Baudin.”
“Becka being short for Rebecka?”
“Something like that.” No one called her Rebecka—not even Lucy. She certainly wasn’t going to hand out that name to this guy, no matter how magnetic he was or how he seemed to be so close to what she needed in that moment, it was a wonder she hadn’t conjured him into existence.
But then, Becka didn’t believe in magic any more than she believed in romance.
“I’m Aaron.” He took her hand and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. His five o’clock shadow scraped against her skin, completely at odds with the softness of his lips. It would feel good to have him sliding his mouth along other parts of her. Better than good. Decadent and sinful and absolutely perfect.
Not yet.
She licked her lips. “I know.”
“I see you’ve done your homework.”
“More like your reputation precedes you.”
“Can’t complain about that if it brings a woman like you my way.” He let their hands drop but didn’t release her. Aaron slid his thumb over the same path his lips had just taken, as if he had every right to seduce her with a single touch. His lips quirked into a smile and, damn it, it made him even more handsome. “Nice wedding.”
Come on, Becka, you can do better than this. Stop staring at him like a lust-struck idiot. She cleared her throat and reclaimed her hand just in time for the bartender to deliver her drink. She turned to face the bar fully, needing some distance, even if it was only in her head. No matter what her plans for this man were, she couldn’t afford to lose focus until later. Maybe this is a mistake. Maybe you should find someone less magnetic, less overwhelming, to lose yourself in. Even as she thought it, she knew she wasn’t going to. A few short minutes of conversation and Aaron Livingston had dropped a lure she couldn’t have resisted if she tried. Better to just let things unfurl on the path they were both obviously heading down.
It’s only one night. Tomorrow I’ll go back to my life and it will be nothing but a fond memory.
What had he asked her? Right. The wedding. Of course it was the wedding. That was all anyone had been talking about for months, and they were at the damn event right now.
She downed half her drink. “It’s a wedding. They’re all flavors of the same thing.” Damn it, that sounded bitter. She took a careful breath and pasted a happy smile on her face. “It’s what Lucy wanted, and she’s happy, so I’m happy.” That, at least, was the truth.
“I take it you don’t subscribe to the American dream that ends with a white picket fence?”
Becka shot him a look, trying to gauge where he was going with that comment. Even if he shared her views on marriage and weddings, this was hardly the event to start bitching about how cynical they were. “We live in New York. We don’t do white picket fences here as a general rule.”
“True enough.” Aaron’s blue eyes took her in, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that he saw too much. That if he looked deep enough, he’d be able to trace her aversion to the fictional happily-ever-after right back to her parents’ destroyed marriage and...
Enough.
Keeping ahold of her drink, she gave him her full attention. No reason to avoid pulling the trigger on this. If by some miracle she’d misread the situation, she still had plenty of time to bounce back from any rejection he dealt and move on to someone else. “You want to get out of here?” She waved a hand at her sister still on the dance floor. “I mean, after this dog and pony show has reached its natural conclusion.”
His grin widened, just a little. “I wouldn’t say no to another drink somewhere quieter, where we could have a conversation.”
A conversation? Hard pass. The conversation, the drinks, the quiet place... It was all just frills to fancy up the fact that they wanted to bang each other’s brains out. Whatever his reasons, he seemed just as onboard with this plan as she was. Except he wanted to talk. If he was anyone else, if the attraction was any more manageable... But he wasn’t, and it wasn’t. She knew her strengths, and while she didn’t believe in love at first sight, what she had with Aaron was definitely lust at first sight. Better for both of them to keep things simple and define clear boundaries from the start.
Becka reached up and traced the top button of his dark gray shirt. “Is a conversation really what you’re after?”
He opened his mouth and seemed to reconsider. “I’m after you.”
The honesty washed over her, a fresh breeze that made the choking environment of this fucking wedding a little more bearable. I am happy for Lucy. I am. I just can’t look at her without seeing our mother, and we both know how that turned out. It’s not the same and it won’t have the same outcome, but that doesn’t change anything. Not really.
Becka managed a smile. “In that case, let’s skip the drinks and you can take me back to your place for a nightcap.”
If anything, his brows rose higher. “A nightcap.”
“Yep.” It would be good with Aaron. Exactly what she needed. The lightning nipping at her fingertips from just this small touch told her as much. They could offer each other an enjoyable night, and then she’d get back to her life with only a fond memory to balance out her mixed feelings about her friend and sister leaving her behind.
They weren’t really leaving her. Rationally, Becka knew that. Most days, she even believed that nothing would really change even though both Lucy and Allie had gone and fallen in love.
Stop that.
Becka finished her drink and set it on the bar. “Another, please.”
Aaron covered the glass with his hand. “If you want that nightcap, then you’re done for the night.” When she opened her mouth to protest, he shifted closer, placing his free hand over hers, his broad shoulders blocking out the rest of the room. “Trust me—you’ll want to be sober for this.”
His audacity made her laugh. “Yeah, no, you don’t get to decide when I’m done.” She was buzzed, but she wasn’t anywhere near drunk. Another drink or two wouldn’t make a difference.
“All the same.” He removed his hand, but he didn’t move away. “You’re more than welcome to drink yourself stupid, but you won’t be coming home with me if you do.”
Sheer stubbornness almost made her tell him to fuck right off. Becka responded to commands about as well as she did to ultimatums, and Aaron had issued both in the last thirty seconds. The whole point of a night of wild abandon was the abandon part, and that only worked if they were equal. Letting him set the pace and lay down the boundaries was not part of the plan.
But then the DJ’s voice laughed from the speakers. “It’s about that time, ladies and gentlemen. All the single ladies on the floor to catch the bouquet!”
Desperation clawed at Becka’s throat. She had to go out there and smile and be supportive, and all she wanted to do was crawl under the bar with a bottle of vodka. She glared at Aaron. “Fine. No more drinks.” She turned on her heel and stalked toward the group of women gathering in the middle of the dance floor.
He’d better be as good as he thinks he is.
* * *
Aaron spent the rest of the reception watching Becka. Taking her home was likely a mistake. He might be on decent terms with her sister, but her newly acquired brother-in-law was a different story altogether. Pissing off Gideon Novak wasn’t on his list of things to accomplish, especially with Aaron’s business on the verge of expanding. He’d need the headhunter in the future, which was part of the reason he’d accepted the invitation to this wedding.
Becka’s laugh drew his attention, the sound just as bold as the rest of her. From her blue hair to the piercing glinting against her red lipstick to her tight little body... Yeah, bold summed up Becka Baudin pretty damn well. She couldn’t be more different from her straitlaced older sister, and even though he knew better, those differences intrigued him. She was the kind of woman who saw what she wanted and went after it, no holds barred.
Tonight, it appeared that what she wanted was him.
He set his empty tumbler on the bar as Becka grabbed a microphone and instructed the guests to head out front to see Lucy and Gideon off. She was the kind of woman born to stand in the spotlight. She held everyone’s attention easily as she laughed and made a joke, but still managed to be firm and get everyone moving toward the door. Most of them would be coming back into the reception to keep drinking while the bride and groom went off to do what new couples did on their wedding night.
Aaron had other plans.
Becka’s gaze found him across the small sea of people between them, and the barely banked heat in those blue eyes seared him to the bone. He started for the door with the rest of the guests. Despite all the jostling, he never lost sight of her in the crowd. How could he, when everything about her seemed designed to draw attention? Aaron let himself be borne along, but he managed to ensure he ended up close to her once they reached the sidewalk. As more people piled out in front of the venue, he had to step closer until he nearly bumped into her.
She glanced over her shoulder and grinned. “Hey there, handsome. You come here often?”
Before he could answer, Lucy and Gideon walked out the door, hand in hand. A cheer went up from the people around him, and the crowd surged as guests started blowing bubbles at them. The movement sent Becka teetering in her sky-high heels, and Aaron instinctively grabbed her arm and steadied her. It pressed their bodies together, her back to his front. This close, there was no way to avoid noticing the curve of her ass, or the way it lined up so fucking perfectly with his cock.
He gritted his teeth and tried to get his body’s reaction under control, but Becka chose that moment to lean back against him and roll her hips, ever so slightly. In case he missed it—not likely—she shifted his hand from her arm to her stomach, tucking them tighter together. Another roll of her hips had him cursing softly. He resisted the temptation to let his hand drop lower to brush the V between her thighs. They were in the middle of a goddamn crowd, and her sister was only a few feet away.
But he wanted to.
Fuck, he wanted to.
Aaron wanted to hook his fingers beneath the hem of her dress and stroke her pussy right here. To bring her to the edge and leave her there, teasing her to see how long she could hold out from making a noise that would give them away.
Holy shit, get ahold of yourself. This isn’t you. You don’t lose control like this—especially with a woman who’s barely more than a stranger.
A few precarious minutes later, the newlyweds were safely tucked into the limo. Before he could decide how he wanted to play this, Becka turned in his arms and laced her hands around his neck. The move pressed her more firmly against his cock, and hell if her lips didn’t part and her blue eyes go hazy with need. For him. She leaned up until her lips brushed his ear. “You are the sexiest goddamn distraction I’ve ever seen.”
He traced the curve of her ass and lost his battle with control. Aaron dipped his fingertips beneath the hem of her dress. “I’m not the only one.” Weddings made people crazy, and he’d always thought he was immune to that particular insanity, but then, he’d never met a woman like this before. The attraction was too strong to resist, and it came on too quickly to do anything but let go and see where it took them.
Becka nipped his earlobe. “Let’s get out of here.”
“One thing before we go.” He walked them back until his shoulders hit the brick wall, away from the people already disappearing through the door into the hotel. It took several long minutes before the sidewalk cleared of the wedding guests. All the while, he studied Becka’s face, the dark fringe of her lashes, the curve of her lower lip, the way her breath caught when she met his gaze.
Aaron cupped her jaw and tilted her face up to claim her mouth. She tasted minty, a burst of freshness as intoxicating as the woman herself. Becka went soft in his arms, melting as she opened for him, her tongue eagerly meeting his, stroke for stroke. As if she’d been as impatient for this moment as he’d been.
She’d called him a distraction.
She was the distraction—one he wasn’t sure he could afford.
He pressed his forehead to hers, trying to regain control. “Let’s go.”
“How far is your place?”
A forty-minute cab ride.
Too far.
Inside the building, a burst of laughter trailed down to them. Perfect. “About twenty yards.”
She laughed. “That works. I don’t want to wait anymore.” She grabbed his hand and towed him back inside the building. They bypassed the entrance to the ballroom where the reception was being held and headed for the main desk.
Ten minutes later, they stumbled through the door to a room and slammed it behind them. Aaron guided Becka to the bed and laid her on top of it. He kissed her neck, her shoulder, the line of her heart-shaped bodice. She was fire in his arms, arching to meet his mouth, her hands busy on the front of his shirt. She shoved it down his shoulders, and he released her long enough to shrug it off. Aaron tugged her dress up over her head.
Need shot through him, rushing his movements even as part of him wanted to slow down.
To savor every moment.
He stopped short, drinking in the sight of her. She wore nothing but a silk thong in show-stopping pink. Against her pale skin, the neon color practically glowed, just as brilliant as her hair. Aaron traced the rose tattoo nestled on the inside of her left hip, noting the thorns circling the full petals of the flower, and then he smoothed his hand up her taut stomach to her high breasts. She was lean, every muscle defined in a way that spoke of serious time spent in the gym. “Strong little thing, aren’t you?”
“Well, I’m a spin and TRX instructor, so that goes with the territory.”
He bracketed her ribs with his hands and then cupped her breasts. “Maybe I’ll take one of your classes sometime.”
Becka laughed even as she twined her hands over her head, offering her body to him. “Honey, you wouldn’t last ten minutes.”
“Think so?” He lightly pinched her pale pink nipples, gauging her reaction. Her sharp inhale only fanned the flames within him. He needed her. Now.
“I know so.” She grinned. “But let’s be honest—there’s only one kind of exercise we’re interested in right now, and it doesn’t have a single thing to do with a bike. Now, stop teasing me and take off your pants.”
CHAPTER TWO (#u801ee42b-4df1-546b-b266-8b04eb18765e)
BECKA COULD BARELY breathe at the look on Aaron’s face as he ran his hands over her body. Learning. Reveling. Worshipping. It left her feeling off center, as if this was more than some horny wedding sex between two single people who’d never see each other again. She covered her uncertainty the only way she knew how—brazenly charging forward. “You’re still wearing pants.”
“Don’t rush me.” He lifted her farther onto the bed and lay next to her, his head propped on his hand. She started to protest, but Aaron cupped her pussy and she forgot whatever she’d been about to say. He stroked her over the silk of her panties, his blue eyes arrested on the spot he touched her. The slick fabric lent an erotic edge to the slide of his fingers. “Spread your legs.”
She obeyed instantly. Becka normally preferred to take charge of her sexual encounters. She knew what she liked and had no reservations with demanding exactly that. Most guys found it sexy as hell and—more importantly—it ensured they both had one hell of a good time.
Aaron wasn’t going to let her lead this encounter. She’d known it from the second he commanded her not to drink any more that night. And the kiss... God, that kiss had been claiming in a way she wasn’t prepared to deal with.
Doesn’t matter. I’m a grown-ass woman. I knew what I signed up for. I can handle it.
That didn’t stop a shiver from working its way through her body as he traced her opening through her panties and moved up to circle her clit. This wasn’t the rushed fucking she’d prepared herself for. He touched her as if she meant something beyond a mutually satisfying night. “Stop that.”
Aaron met her gaze, his hand stilling. “Problem?” There was no anger in those blue eyes, just a kind of knowledge that said he already knew what her protesting was about and didn’t give a damn.
“Don’t make this into something it isn’t.” He didn’t respond other than to slide his hand back down to cup her again. Possessively. She swallowed hard, fighting not to rub against him like a wanton thing. Focus. “I’m just here for the sex.” For the desperately needed distraction.
He raised his eyebrows. “You’re just here for the sex.”
“That is literally what I just said.”
“I heard you.” His thumb dipped beneath the edge of her thong. “Becka, if you think this night is going to end before I’ve stroked, tasted and fucked you until we’re both damn near comatose...” He shook his head in mock sympathy even as he kept up that teasing stroking beneath her panties, not quite where she so desperately needed him.
“I signed up for that.” She gritted her teeth in an effort to keep still. “I didn’t sign up for this.”
“Do you want me to stop?” The arrogant tilt of his lips said he already knew the answer. She hated that he was so sure of her, hated even more that he was right.
Becka smacked his hand away from her and shoved his shoulders, well aware that he allowed her to tumble him onto his back. She was strong for her size, but he had a good six inches and fifty pounds on her. She grabbed his wrists and pinned them over his head, and he let her do it. “I don’t want you to stop.” She shifted, dragging her breasts against his bare chest. God, he’s breathtaking. All I want to do is rub myself all over him like some horny teenager. She pressed down against his cock and had to bite back a whimper.
“Come here, Becka.” The way he said her name was almost a purr, a soft coaxing that was no less a command than all his others tonight. “Give me your mouth.”
She kissed him, telling herself she did it because she wanted to and not because part of her quivered with need at the rough growl in his voice. He tasted like the scotch he’d been drinking at the reception, and it went straight to her head. She forgot she was supposed to be in the dominant position, to be driving this encounter, to be the one calling the shots. Instead, she released his wrists and cupped his jaw on either side, losing herself in the feel of his tongue sliding decadently against hers, his lips hard and unyielding and yet giving her everything she needed.
It was too much.
He kissed her like this meant something.
She didn’t want him to be right.
She leaned back, desperate to put some distance between them, to remember the purpose for that night.
Her plans disappeared through her fingers like smoke when his lips curled into a wicked smile. “Let me taste you, Becka.”
* * *
It took everything Aaron had to leash himself, to hold still as Becka considered him. The first impression he’d gotten of the wild thing on the verge of fleeing was only reinforced by the skittish look in her eyes. She’ll run at the first hint of a cage. He filed away that information, but the truth was that he didn’t want to cage her.
That isn’t what tonight is about.
She worried her bottom lip even as she shifted deliciously against him. “I can’t think straight when you say my name like that.”
Good. He didn’t say it through sheer force of will. “This thing with us has nothing to do with thinking straight.” He’d accepted the offer of a nightcap because she was beautiful and interesting, and it had been a long time since he’d let himself indulge in anything resembling a one-night stand. But this bold and slightly brittle woman intrigued him despite himself.
She sat up a little, pressing herself down against his cock. “That’s a good point. A brilliant point, even. I’m overthinking things.” She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t usually bring this much baggage to banging. Sorry. The wedding has me all twisted up for various reasons.”
“Becka—”
She charged right over him. “But that’s neither here nor there.” She gave a brilliant smile. “You wanted a taste.”
He kept himself perfectly still as she sat up fully and stretched her arms over her head, showing off her body. And, fuck, what a body. Aaron wanted to pin her down, to lick and kiss every inch of her until she felt the same desperation coursing through his veins. I do that, she leaves.
Unacceptable.
Becka moved up until she straddled his face. He could see how wet she was against the silk of her panties, and he ran hands up her thighs, urging her to spread a little farther for him. “Perfect.”
“Hey now, remember who’s in the driver’s seat.”
He shifted his hands higher so he could hook a thumb into her panties and tug them to the side, exposing her. “Let me know if I miss the mark.” He lifted his head, still holding her gaze, and flicked his tongue out to taste her.
She braced her hands on the wall over the headboard and bit her bottom lip. “More of that, please and thank you. Suck my clit, Aaron.”
Fuck me.
His control snapped. He obeyed her hoarse command, sucking her clit into his mouth and rolling the sensitive bud against his tongue. Becka let loose a whimper that sent a bolt of lightning to his cock.
Getting her to make that noise again shot to the top of his list of things to do.
He lost himself in her taste, in the way her thighs went tense beneath his hands when he licked her just right. It didn’t take long to find the blend of rhythm and pressure that had her rocking against his mouth, her whimpers turning into gasping cries. Higher and higher he took her, driving her ruthlessly into her first orgasm. She let loose a breathless giggle when she came, as if overtaken by sheer delight the same way she’d been overtaken by pleasure.
He fell a little bit in love with her right then and there.
“Safe to say you didn’t miss the mark.” Becka laughed again and slumped to the side, letting one leg sprawl across his chest as she blinked at him from beneath a curtain of blue hair. “I was right—it is good with you.”
“Happy to live up to expectations.” For the first time in so long, he wasn’t thinking about his next business move or the future, beyond the moment when he got inside this woman. Tonight. Even if it’s only tonight, it’s worth it for the reprieve she’s offered. Aaron rolled onto his side and smoothed back her hair. “I like the blue.”
“I live to please.”
He lightly pinched her nipple. “So snarky.”
“Hmm, you know it.” She stretched from her fingers to her toes, her body perfectly on display for one breathtaking moment before she relaxed and grinned at him. “That was a great appetizer, but I’m more than ready to move on to the main course.”
He dug his wallet from his pocket and fished out the condom he’d stashed there earlier that week. Aaron always carried one with him—the better to be prepared for any given situation that arose, so to speak—but he switched it out regularly to avoid any mishaps. He took her hand and pressed it to her palm. “Do the honors.”
“The honors.” Becka smirked. She ripped the foil packet open. “Someone’s got a high opinion of themselves.” She took her time rolling the condom on, teasing him, prolonging the moment when this reached the point of no return. As if she wanted this to last as much as he did.
“That’s enough.” He cupped the back of her neck and towed her up so he could take her mouth. Aaron rolled them without breaking the kiss, loving the way she moved with him as if they’d done this a thousand times. She stroked her hands down his sides and gave his ass a playful squeeze as he settled between her thighs. He chuckled against her mouth. “Cheeky.”
“Just call me a saucy little minx.” She nipped his chin and pressed an openmouthed kiss against his neck. “I don’t want to wait anymore, Aaron. I need you.”
“Next time we go slow.” He reached between them to position his cock at her entrance. “Ready?”
“Baby, I was born ready.” She hooked a leg around his waist and arched up to meet him.
He’d expected the move, so he countered it, letting himself sink into her a single inch and no more. “Slow, minx. I don’t want to hurt you.”
Her laugh seemed to vibrate her whole body, and her blue eyes shone with true amusement. “That giant cock of yours is impressive, but I can take it.” Becka grinned. “Do your worst.”
Impossible to resist the playful challenge in every line of her body. He didn’t really want to hold back any more than she seemed to want him to. Aaron slammed into her, sheathing himself to the hilt. She jolted, that delicious whimper slipping free again. He ate the sound, kissing even as he began moving. His leash had snapped without his realizing how close he was to losing control. This woman, this wildfire in his arms, she brought out something he’d fought long and hard to tame within himself.
Something savage.
He tried to pull back, tried to regain control.
As if sensing his withdrawal, Becka wrapped both legs around his waist and grabbed his hands, lacing their fingers together. She stretched her arms over her head, guiding him to pin her down. “I’m not breakable, Aaron. You don’t have to be careful with me.” She squeezed his hands. “I want everything.”
He could no more resist her command than he’d been able to turn away from her at the bar. Aaron put his weight onto her hands and pounded into her, each thrust making her breasts bounce and drawing a cry from her lips. He watched her face the entire time, finding only a mirror to the delirious pleasure spiraling through him. Feeling more animal than man, he shifted his grip to her wrists, and her splayed fingers only drove him to fuck her harder.
“Yes, yes, yes!” Becka let loose another of those intoxicating giggles, her pussy clenching around him in climax hard enough to pull him over the edge with her. He thrust into her roughly, his grip on her the only thing that kept them from sliding right into the headboard, his orgasm hitting him with the force of a tidal wave.
Aaron dropped his face to the curve of her neck and pressed a careful kiss there. “Fuck, minx, nothing could have prepared me for you.”
* * *
Becka shouldn’t let a comment like the one Aaron just made stand, but she couldn’t work up the energy to remind him yet again that this was a one-shot deal. Not with his big body pinning her to the bed, his hands still holding her down in a way that had her squirming despite coming twice in quick order. Aaron made her feel... She didn’t know how to put it into words. She wasn’t submissive—not really—but being at his mercy while he fucked her within an inch of her life?
Yeah, that moment was going into her hall of fame.
She stroked a cautious hand down his back and shivered as he thrust into her a little. He was still half-hard, which had her glancing at the clock and doing a quick calculation to how much time was really left in this one-night stand. More than enough. It doesn’t really end until the sun rises, right?
Aaron kissed her neck again and then took her mouth. There was no other way to describe his mouth claiming hers, his way of controlling the kiss that made her head spin. He thrust again, and she clenched her legs tighter around him. “More. I need more. Again.”
He set his teeth to her bottom lip, but just when she thought he’d give her exactly what she wanted, he cursed and retreated. “We’re going to have to go back to my place for that nightcap. I have exactly one condom on me, and we just used it.”
Disappointment threatened to sour her good mood, but she shoved it aside. What would it hurt to catch a cab back to his place and keep this thing going for a few more hours? He’d already more than proven he could give it to her better than ninety percent of the guys she’d hooked up with in the past. Letting a tiny technicality get in the way of more orgasms wasn’t her style.
Becka reluctantly uncrossed her ankles so he could move. “I suppose you’ll make it worth my while if I suffer through a cab ride.”
“You know it.” Her heart skipped a beat at his answering grin. His buttoned-up attitude hadn’t lasted past their first kiss, but there was such mirth in that expression she couldn’t stop herself from grinning in response.
Aaron pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “Let me clean up and we’ll get out of here.” He slid off her...and froze. “Fuck.”
“What?” She scrambled back, her stomach doing a slow flip at the sight of the broken condom. Fuck, indeed. “Shit.”
“I’m clean.”
It was too much on top of everything else that had happened that day. Becka shook her head and edged around him to get off the bed. “Thanks for the memo.” She believed him, even though she had no right to take his word for anything at this point. She reached the edge of the bed and hesitated. Think, Becka. Don’t be a jackass. “I’m clean, too. I get tested regularly.” He deserved to know that, at least.
She pushed her hair back, hating that his face had immediately fallen back into the cold lines he’d worn when she first caught sight of him. This was never going to work. Get out now before it gets even more awkward.
“Becka—”
Becka. Not minx.
She shook her head. “No, it’s fine. I’m on birth control. If you’re clean—”
“I am.”
“Then there’s nothing to worry about.” She grabbed her dress from the floor and tugged it on. “This has been fun, but I need to go home now.”
He disappeared into the bathroom for a few seconds, and then he was back, unabashedly naked and stalking across the room to her. “We need to talk about this.”
“Actually, we don’t. Clean.” She pointed at him. “Clean.” She pointed at herself. “Birth control. End of story. This has been fun, but it’s over now.” Becka didn’t see her panties, but she wasn’t about to stick around to search for them. Instead, she grabbed her shoes and ducked under Aaron’s arm.
“I’d like to see you again.”
She reached the door and paused. It had been fun. A lot of fun, right up until that shitty ending. Becka closed her eyes, letting herself picture—just for a moment—what it would be like if she said yes. Maybe he was talking about just sex, and they’d spend a prolonged one-night stand blowing each other’s minds until he got tired of her and decided to try to let her down easy, bruising her in the process. Or maybe he’d try to take her out on a date, and they’d end up fucking again, and it would end exactly the same. Even if things did work for a while, eventually they would explode in her face, just like every other relationship she’d been in.
Historically, men looked at her appearance and assumed one of two things.
They figured that she was some kind of manic pixie dream girl who would help them find themselves. Or, more often, they assumed that she was a kinky sex fiend who’d be down for everything and anything and not be bothered by days gone by without communication as long as the sex was on point.
Becka wasn’t about to play prop to a man, and she might like sex, but she had more respect for herself than to be some guy’s one A.M. booty call while he was trying to date other women. As a result, every single time she’d tried to actually date someone, it had gone down in flames sooner rather than later.
Like mother, like daughter.
She straightened her spine, but she couldn’t look at him. If she met those gray-blue eyes, she was a goner. “It’s been fun. Really fun. But let’s leave this on a high note. I want to be a fond memory, something that will never get a chance to lose its shine.”
His bitter laugh made her stomach drop. “Sounds like you already have the narrative set.”
Better me setting the narrative than playing supporting role in someone else’s. “I do.” She forced her hand to turn the doorknob and open the door, because if she didn’t move right then, she’d go back to him and let him spin whatever pretty fantasy until she actually believed it. It wasn’t the truth. She knew that, even if he wasn’t willing to admit it. “Have a nice life, Aaron.”
Becka walked out the door without looking back.
CHAPTER THREE (#u801ee42b-4df1-546b-b266-8b04eb18765e)
Twelve weeks later
“THAT ABOUT SUMS it up. The new account didn’t request anything fancy, but we’d be assholes if we left them exposed. Better to just go the extra mile.” Aaron slid the file across the table to his business partner, Cameron O’Clery. “You want to handle this one, or should I?” Their security business focused heavily on all things tech related, and this new account was no different. Once they got the initial cybersecurity laid down, they would maintain it for as long as their retainer was paid, but it took time to figure out exactly what the client needed—and often enough, it wasn’t what the client thought they needed.
Cameron flipped through it. “You usually don’t ask me—you just dole out the clients.”
Aaron tensed, but it was the truth. He tended to be the client-facing part of the company, and he picked and chose which ones he passed to Cameron because Cameron...wasn’t particularly patient with people he considered too stupid to live. Unfortunately for any prospective business-client relationships, Cameron found ninety percent of the world too stupid to live. Some clients could handle his attitude because he was the best cybersecurity expert in the city, and some couldn’t. Part of Aaron’s job was figuring that out. “We’re partners.”
“Never said we weren’t.” Cameron sat back and laced his fingers behind his head. He was a big fucker, his white T-shirt stretched tight against his dark skin. He narrowed brown eyes at Aaron. “You’re off your game—have been for weeks. I didn’t ask, but if it’s going to affect the job, maybe it’s time to.”
“It’s nothing.” Just a blue-haired woman he couldn’t seem to scrub from his mind. He hadn’t tracked Becka down after she’d left so abruptly because she couldn’t have been clearer in wanting nothing to do with him. If he was smart, he would have left what happened between them in that room behind as easily as she had.
But she haunted his dreams.
He kept waking up and reaching for her, only to find himself alone in bed. It didn’t make a damn bit of sense. It had been sex—outstanding, earth-shattering sex, but sex. A single fuck shouldn’t screw with his mind so effectively.
“Doesn’t look like nothing to me.” Cameron held his hands up. “Not my business. Just handle your shit, Aaron. I can take this client.”
He thought about the timid man who had signed the contract earlier that day and sat back. “Nah, I got it. This guy needs a softer touch.”
“Shit. Take it.” Cameron slid the file back to him with a disgusted look on his face. “I’ve got to tie up a few loose ends with the last one. She came back wanting changes despite the job being done. Nothing I can’t handle, but it’s a pain in the ass.”
“Always is.” Aaron grabbed the file and rose. “Let me know if you need an assist.”
“I don’t.” Cameron frowned. “Though I think we might need to expand the team to include someone to handle paperwork and all that shit. It’s taking too much time from the jobs themselves, and you know how I feel about paperwork.”
“The same way you feel about most things.” He hated it.
Cameron nodded. “I’ll post a job opening. Figure they can man the phones and the main email account to field and file prospective clients. Frees you up to focus on the jobs and stop handling me.”
Considering Aaron didn’t know who they would hire who was capable of handling Cameron, he just nodded. It was a problem for another day. First, he had to arrange a secondary meeting with the new client and bring them up to date with the prospective client list sitting in his inbox. Throwing a new person into the mix without them being caught up was a recipe for disaster.
That said, it would be nice to delegate some of the more tedious tasks. “Sounds like a plan.”
He headed out of the room. They owned the entire floor of this building, but they really only utilized their respective offices, a boardroom and a waiting room that was more neglected than anything else.
Their cybersecurity company was small, but both he and Cameron preferred it that way. With the reputation they’d spent years building, they could handpick their clients and charge top dollar for their services. But the demand seemed to be increasing lately, which meant they’d have to hire that secretary—and potentially add a cybersecurity specialist or two to their team—sooner, rather than later.
Aaron stopped in the hallway and tried to picture what the waiting room would look like with someone at the desk livening up the place. He preferred to take his meetings with clients off-site, and Cameron preferred not to take them at all. Aaron shook his head. If the secretary stayed on for more than a week, it’d be a fucking miracle.
His phone started ringing as he strode into his office. He cursed and fished it out of his pocket. An unfamiliar number scrolled across the screen. Aaron took a breath and put his professional persona on. “Aaron Livingston.”
“Hey, Aaron.”
Three months later, he’d still recognize Becka’s voice anywhere. He walked back to his office, shut his door, and moved around his desk to sit down. “I didn’t expect to hear from you.” He realized how that must sound and grimaced. “But I’m glad you called.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t expect to call.” Her voice went thick as if she was...holding back tears? “Funny story. Remember when the condom broke? Well, apparently the pill isn’t one hundred percent foolproof because, surprise, I’m pregnant.”
He waited for the words to rearrange themselves into an order that made sense. They stayed stubbornly in place. “What?”
“Pregnant. With your kid.” She cleared her throat. “I, ah, I wasn’t going to keep it, but I chickened out at the last second, and it turns out I want this baby. I’m sorry. I swear to God I didn’t know this would happen, and I don’t expect anything from you. It’s not your problem—it’s mine. I just... I thought you should know.”
A baby.
His baby.
With Becka.
He closed his eyes and tried to focus. She thought he would wash his hands of this. Aaron had questions—a whole hell of a lot of questions—but he didn’t honestly believe that Becka had tricked him into getting her pregnant. She sounded upset and scared, and the fact she’d let that slip through what he surmised were impressive shields meant she was exponentially more freaked out. How long have you been sitting on this knowledge, scared and alone?
He wasn’t about to let her shoulder it by herself. That child was half his, and if she was keeping it, he would be in the baby’s life. End of story.
That decided, he opened his eyes, plan in place. “Where are you?”
“What? I’m at home.”
“Text me the address.”
She hesitated, and he could almost see her arguing with herself about having him in her house. Well, too fucking bad. Whether she liked it or not, Aaron was in her life, and he wasn’t going anywhere. They had a future in common, one way or another. Finally, Becka sighed. “Okay.”
“Good. I’ll see you soon.” He hung up and stared at his phone.
His life had just taken a hard right turn. He had no fucking idea how he was going to keep it from going off the rails entirely. One step at a time. Talk to Becka in person. Be calm. Reassure her. Get her to see things your way.
Shouldn’t be too difficult. Right?
* * *
Becka nearly paced a hole in her floor waiting for Aaron to show up. She should have realized he was going to demand to see her face-to-face when she called, but part of her had honestly thought he’d be relieved not to be asked to do anything. Isn’t that what most guys wanted in a shitty situation like this? To be absolved of all responsibility so they could go on with their lives unscathed while the woman was left to clean up the mess they’d created together?
You were projecting and you damn well know it. She caught herself wringing her hands and cursed. “I can do better than this. It’s just a baby.”
A baby she hadn’t signed up for.
She touched her stomach gingerly. There were none of the symptoms movies had told her to expect—aside from being extra exhausted all the time—but her doctor had confirmed there was, in fact, a baby growing inside her. A freaking baby.
She didn’t know how to be a mom. Lucy was the nurturer. The planner. The one who took care of everyone around her and was universally loved as a result. Becka had too much of their mother in her. She was too selfish, too bitchy, just too much across the board. Up until she made the call to keep the baby, she’d been sure she didn’t want kids at all—better to let the sins of the past lie and not tempt fate. Lucy always told her there was no reason to think they’d end up like their parents, but Becka didn’t believe her any more now than she had as a kid.
The buzzer sounded, and she jumped half out of her skin. “Shit.” Aaron was here. There was no time to think of a new, better plan. There was nothing left to do but buzz him up.
Thirty seconds later, she opened the door and froze. How had she forgotten how magnetic he was? His broad shoulders took up the space of her narrow door frame, and he wore a suit that probably cost as much as a couple months of her rent. Becka belatedly realized she was blocking the entrance and stepped back, letting him into her apartment.
He looked around, and she could almost see the thoughts rolling through his head. Shabby place. Secondhand furniture. A hole in the drywall from where she’d accidentally kicked it in when she fell out of a headstand a year ago. It was clean, but she was barely there long enough to sleep between teaching classes at Allie’s gym, Transcend, and her second job as a personal trainer at an upscale facility downtown. She’d never seen a reason to spiff up the place when that money could be spent in better places.
Now, she kind of wished she’d told Aaron to meet her somewhere else so he wouldn’t have seen this.
He turned as she shut the door and gave her an equally thorough examination. His gaze landed on her flat stomach and then rose to her face. “You’re not facing this alone.”
It was tempting to throw herself at his feet and beg him to hold her until this whole thing went away. Fear ate at the edges of her mind, and there was no easy answer to combat it. Hell, there were no answers at all.
But Becka had spent all her adult life fighting to stand on her own. She wasn’t about to compromise that now for a man who was essentially a stranger. She lifted her chin. “Easy for you to say. I’m the one incubating the kid, and I’m going to be the one solely responsible for its needs.”
“In this...apartment.” The way he said the last word translated to hovel.
She glared. “There’s nothing wrong with my apartment.”
“You have a hole in your wall.” He stalked around her kitchen. “Water damage on the floor.” The living room. “The rugs are worn down to nothing.” Aaron almost sounded like he was talking to himself instead of her. “If you don’t have money to repair this place, you sure as fuck don’t have money to give our baby everything he or she needs.”
She wanted to tell him she didn’t need him at all, that she’d find a way, but the hard reality was that Aaron had money and Becka didn’t. She made a comfortable living for herself, but she didn’t need much to get by in the grand scheme of things.
A baby changed that.
She turned away and wrapped her arms around herself. You can compromise. Try it—just this once. “I’m willing to negotiate some kind of...child support or something. If that’s something you’re comfortable with.” She wasn’t comfortable with it, but she’d suck up her pride and get over herself if it meant he could help her meet the baby’s needs.
“No.”
Becka turned back to find Aaron shaking his head and doing another circuit around her apartment. “What?”
“I said, no.” He poked the threadbare pillow on the couch. “You can’t live like this while you’re pregnant. You shouldn’t be living like this right now.”
“Excuse me?” Anger flared through her, and she welcomed it with open arms. Easier to be angry than to be scared, easier to fight than to admit she was in over her head and didn’t know what she was going to do. “There’s nothing wrong with my apartment.”
“The list of everything wrong with this place is longer than we have time for. Pack your bags. We’re leaving.”
Her jaw dropped. “You’re crazy.”
“No, you’re crazy if you think I’m going to let the mother of my future child live in these conditions when I have a perfectly adequate apartment that will fit both of us and the baby without crowding.” He crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. “I have a spare room, if that’s what you’re worried about. I don’t expect you to be in my bed.”
The top of her head damn near exploded. “No.”
“Wrong answer.”
She sputtered. “You can’t just decide to move me in with you. That’s not how any of this works.”
Aaron stalked to the fridge and opened it. He barked out a laugh. “I suspected as much. There isn’t even fucking food in your fridge.” He turned and glared. “Let me lay it out for you—you have two options.”
“I choose the option where you get the hell out of my life.”
“That’s not on the list.” If anything, her anger only made him calmer, icier. He nodded at the door leading into her bedroom. “You can walk in there, pack your shit and come with me to my place. You’ll settle in. It will take some adjusting, but it’s doable.” He shrugged. “Or I can call your sister and brother-in-law—and Roman and Allie, since they have a vested interest in your well-being—and we can all have a sit-down about your current living conditions and how you’re rejecting a perfectly reasonable plan out of hand.”
Checkmate.
She could actually hear the cage click into place around her. Becka didn’t have a chance in hell of winning that argument with all the parties involved. Allie would be sympathetic to her plight, but Lucy would offer a secondary option of moving in with her. Both Gideon and Roman would go into protective older brother roles and, no matter which way they fell on the argument, Becka wouldn’t come out on top. She didn’t stand a chance.
She snarled. “That’s blackmail.”
“It’s called skillful negotiation. You should try it sometime.”
I will not punch my baby daddy. I will not just chop him in his stupidly attractive throat.
She counted to ten, but it did nothing to lower her blood pressure. There had to be a way out of this. Aaron was obviously only steamrolling her because he had an honorable streak that apparently demanded he borderline kidnap her. Okay, maybe not that honorable. She just needed to buy some time, to get a little distance to figure out what she wanted.
It was the one thing Becka couldn’t pin down.
She knew she wanted the baby. The rest was terrifyingly hazy.
She gritted her teeth. “I’ll consider it.”
He stared at her so long, she just knew he was weighing his options—including throwing her over his shoulder and hauling her ass back to his place. Finally, Aaron nodded. “You have until tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
“At that point, I’m coming back here. Whether I come back alone or with Roman and Gideon in tow is entirely up to you.” He strode to the door and paused to look over his shoulder at her. “Don’t let stubbornness get in the way of what’s best for the baby.” He was gone before she could give in to the impulse to throw something at his head.
Becka stumbled over to her ugly green couch and sank onto it. She let her head fall to her hands and spit out every single curse she knew. It didn’t make her feel better. She wasn’t sure anything could make her feel better at this point.
“I am so freaking screwed.”
CHAPTER FOUR (#u801ee42b-4df1-546b-b266-8b04eb18765e)
“OKAY, LET ME see if I have this straight—you’re pregnant.”
Becka didn’t lift her face from the pillow. Maybe if she concentrated, her couch would swallow her whole and she wouldn’t have to deal with this mess anymore. She’d called Allie in desperation, but confessing the truth had taken the last of her energy and now all she wanted was to curl up in a ball and wait for this to blow over. Fat chance of that happening.
Allie’s footsteps echoed through the apartment. “You’re pregnant,” she repeated. “Okay, right. Pregnant.”
“You said that already. Three times.”
“Right. And it’s Aaron Livingston’s. And Aaron wants you to move in with him for, what, the duration of the pregnancy? Or are you supposed to live there forever?”
She groaned and pressed her face harder into the pillow. “He didn’t specify.”
“Because you kicked him out after yelling at him that you’d live with him over your dead body.”
Becka frowned and lifted her head. Allie stood across the small living room, her hands on her hips. She looked like some kind of plus-size superhero on her day off, her blond hair windblown and her black leggings and fitted sweater comfortable and stylish. But it was the contemplative look on her face that sent alarm bells pealing through Becka’s head. “You don’t sound angry and self-righteous. Why don’t you sound angry and self-righteous? You should be angry and self-righteous.”
“Unpopular opinion—but Aaron Livingston isn’t a total monster.”
She rolled onto her back and flung her arm over her eyes. “That lack of monstrosity really commends him to be my baby daddy.”
“Becka, I’m serious. He and Roman are good friends. I’ve hung out with him a few times.” She hesitated long enough that Becka lifted her arm and shot her a look. Allie seemed to be silently arguing with herself. Finally, she said, “I think you should do it.”
“What?”
“I know you, and if I offer for you to stay with me and Roman, you’re going to say—”
“Hell, no.” She didn’t need her family and friends to swoop in and take care of her. Becka had gotten into this situation on her own—well, technically with Aaron, but whatever—and she wasn’t going to drag anyone else in alongside her. Allie and Lucy finally had things working out for them. They didn’t need Becka’s mistakes putting a damper on their happily-ever-afters.
Which really only left her one option.
She closed her eyes. “Damn it, I have to do it, don’t I?”
“I mean, you could put on your martyr’s sash and try to power through it on your own, but that’s not going to accomplish anything but to save your pride—and only for a while.”
She would need help eventually. Whether it was financially or with babysitting or... God, Becka didn’t know where to start.
Easy. You start with Aaron and go from there.
“If I change my mind, he’s going to have me over a barrel.”
“Sounds like your kind of kink.”
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