Capture Me: Alpha Billionaire Romance (Hollywood Dreams) (17 page)

I wasn’t sure what I’d expected of Paisley today, but as I looked her over, it wasn’t this. Last time, she’d just figured out that she might be pregnant and couldn’t have looked more disheveled if she’d walked into my studio from a hurricane.

Today, Paisley’s black hair was pinned up with twists and braids in an intricate bun. Her neatly trimmed bangs fluttered in the wind. Very different from the frizzy mess she wore the last time. The white shirt and gray jeans accented her hips and showed no bulge that I could see.

But it wasn’t like I knew how soon a woman usually looked pregnant, and I certainly wasn’t one to say a damn thing before they did.

A shout from the street caught my attention. I looked up to see two teenage boys run across the crosswalk, much like Paisley and I had minutes ago. I held my breath as a car lurched forward, nearly hitting one of the kids. He slapped his hand on the hood and yelled something.

That could have easily been us, and if she really was pregnant, how could she think about taking a chance like that . . . with my baby?

Something about her appearance and attitude today didn’t fit. I squeezed her hand, wanting to ease the air so that she’d talk freely to me. “So, how are you feeling?”

She shrugged. “Depends on the day.”

Probably true enough, but minus the hand on the stomach to get her way, she seemed like the Paisley I knew.

“Are you eating enough? Feeling sick at all?”

She didn’t look to be gaining weight, but then it was still early.

The waiter stopped by with the wine list. She reached out to take it and I nearly lost my cool at the idea of either catching her in the lie or drinking while pregnant, but instead she placed her hand on the man’s wrist. “None for me today, but thank you.”

I shook my head and once he left I asked, “How far along are you?”

She frowned and her eyes moved back and forth as she worked through the math in her head. “Four or five weeks maybe.”

That seemed really early. “How do you not know exactly how far along you are?”

“I’m not supposed to go to the doctor until I’m at least eight weeks.”

“So you won’t know anything until then?” How could she know for sure that she was pregnant, then? Not something I could exactly ask Paisley unless I wanted to entertain the idea of my water being dumped on my head.

“I know enough,” she said.

Why the hell did I ask her to meet me at a restaurant? If we’d gone to my studio or loft I could pace. I shifted in my chair. I really needed to pace right about now. My thoughts were a ball of tangled yarn that needed to be straightened out.

She leaned over and kissed my shoulder, answering my inner turmoil of why we were here. Minimal PDA was one thing, but I really didn’t feel like having my shirt ripped off by anyone other than Tessa. And that was sure to happen if we were alone. This way we’d be forced to talk and not do anything I didn’t want to—something I knew I’d regret.

A man pushing a stroller down the sidewalk passed by. Paisley sighed. I stiffened.

A baby
.

Thinking about her being pregnant was one thing, but that meant I’d be a
father
.

Half of me still reeled from the idea and the other half still questioned everything. How could I continue working with nudes? All my prints would have to come down. My loft wasn’t exactly baby proof, and was I even father material?

Dammit
. People weren’t kidding when they said that a baby changes everything.

Then there was the thought of telling Tessa. Just when things between us were getting good. Hot damn good. She was all I wanted, all I could think about, and if what Paisley said was true, then what I had with Tessa might come to a close before it really ever got started.

I wiped my palms across my jeans. I might need that water on my head just to calm down. This was all too much.

If I was the father, I’d be there for the kid, but that also meant I’d never be able to cut ties with Paisley. She’d be part of my life forever, and that was what really had me concerned.

I rubbed the back of my neck. Not my favorite idea.

Again,
if
I was the father.

We’d never established being exclusive or anything. Being with one girl never really crossed my mind until Tessa, and I’d still slipped up. There was no chance I ever gave Paisley the idea we weren’t going to see anyone else.

I took a deep breath. The question had to be asked. “Do you know for sure it’s mine?”

Paisley leaned back in her chair and slowly crossed her arms. “The night of all those shots.” She punched each word as though pushing them into my head. “No condom. Ring any bells?”

Of course it did, but that wasn’t hard evidence—which I wanted,
needed
. If she fucked me without using a condom, maybe I wasn’t the only one.

Who the hell was I kidding? The timing fit. I was just in denial.

“And what about you?” she asked as she smoothed her cloth napkin in her lap.

Her question jolted me back to our conversation. “Me, what? I’m not pregnant.”

“We’ve been exclusive for months, now. If you’re asking me who the hell else I’ve been with, that means you’ve got to be screwing some bimbo.”

Heat rose on the back of my neck. “Was I conscious when we had this discussion?”

Paisley sat for a moment, smoothing out her napkin as though working through her thoughts. I opened my mouth to say something but stopped when she reached for her water. I braced myself for it to be dumped over my head.

Instead, she took a long sip.

“I thought about pouring this over your crotch. Cool you down and all that, but it seemed like the bitch thing to do.”

I swallowed, still not putting anything past Paisley.

“And I don’t want the father of my child looking like an idiot.” She dropped her napkin on the table and her eyes grew unfocused as she said, “This is all your fault.”

“Now look, Paisley—”

She still didn’t look up at me as she took another sip of water. “You need to think about what is important here. Take responsibility.”

She set the glass down onto the uneven material of the napkin and it tipped over toward her. Water streamed across the table and right onto her lap. She gasped as it hit her and jumped out of the way, knocking her chair over in the process. Half of her gray jeans now looked black and a large swatch of her white shirt became translucent, exposing the curve of her dark nipple.

Leave it to Paisley to not wear a bra.

“Are you okay? Do you need anything?” I lifted my napkin for her to use, then righted her chair.

Instead of taking it, she faced me then stuck her chest out. The now-translucent material stretched across her breasts. “Thank you, Liam.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “I’m a mess without you.”

Our waiter appeared at the table with a handful of napkins. “Is there anything else you need?”

“The check.”

Paisley’s eyes got wide as I dabbed at her leg. “We haven’t even ordered. It’s really not that bad.”

“You’ve upset yourself to tears.”

She turned to the waiter. “We’ll have two of your best entrée, to go.”

Which would probably also be the most expensive. It wasn’t the money I cared about. I tossed down a twenty for the tip. “I’ll have my driver pick you up some new clothes on your way home.”

“But—”

I held up a hand. “No. I’m taking responsibility.”

CHAPTER 28

Tessa

Dani grabbed my hand. “Stop pacing.”

“I’m not pacing,” I said. “I’m thinking and walking.”

Dani shifted from one foot to the other. “Stop. You’re freaking me out.”

She wasn’t the only one freaking out, but I’d never let her know just how worried I’d been. Edward had called yesterday and asked us to meet today.

To review our options.

Dani looked around our lawyer’s waiting room—if that was what it could be considered at this point. “It’s just . . . I’ve never had to stand in a waiting room before.”

She had a point. Being in a lawyer’s office already made people uncomfortable enough; the ongoing construction in Edward’s office really didn’t make things any better.

“Go say something to him.” Dani urged me forward.

“You saw him raise a finger. That means he’ll be with us soon.”

“That was twenty minutes ago. It’s not like he has another client in there with him.”

I leaned forward to get a better look into his office. Not something I could usually do with the door shut, but the massive hole knocked out of the wall covered by little more than a translucent tarp made it possible. Hard to say if the remodeling crew got a little sledgehammer-happy or if one of Edward’s clients got a bit of bad news and released it in a not-so-healthy way. With the bomb that he dropped on Dani and me the last time we came in here, I almost wouldn’t blame someone for doing just that.

Dani leaned over and whispered, “Do you think he can hear us?”

I looked up at the clear plastic tarp hanging in front of the bear-sized hole. “Pretty sure that’s not sound proofed.”

Dani stepped toward the lobby door. “Can you do this?”

“I—why? I thought you wanted to be here.”

She shook her head. “I’m really trying to not raid the nearest restaurant of its fries, but I’m weak.”

“This shouldn’t take much longer.”

“We haven’t even gotten in there.” She took another step back. “Do I have to be here?”

“It’d be nice to have your support,” I said. Dani wanted me to treat her like an adult but then she went and stocked up on Happy Meals. She gave me a pleading look that Mom learned to resist over the years, but not me. “But I can handle it.”

“You’re the best.” She hugged me then gave me her innocent look—the same one she used to give to our parents every time she asked for money. It was hard being on the receiving end this time, knowing it had only ever been for them before.

I handed her a ten.

Another look.

“Go or you get to stay.”

Dani turned on her heel and headed out the door.

I faced Edward’s office and wondered if the short-statured man sat on some sort of booster to see over his desk.

I sighed. Rude remarks weren’t my specialty but he was making me wait without chairs. I looked to his office and frowned. He no longer sat at his desk. I squinted, walked up to the plastic, then shrieked.

Without a sound, Edward had stepped up to the hole and peeked out just as I looked in to see where he was.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Do you always freak your clients out with that?”

He chuckled. “Gets the blood pumping. Come on in.” Edward pushed aside the plastic and continued, “Sorry about the mess and lack of chairs. Can’t seem to find a good remodeling company. Every time something gets half done, they either skip out or were crap to begin with.”

I sat in the only other chair besides his in the office. Part of me was now glad Dani asked to do her own thing. Otherwise, I’d still be standing because she’d certainly take the chair.

“Thanks for being patient. I’ve been running your numbers this morning and double checking how best to move forward.”

“And?”

“And you have a few options.”

I sagged in the chair with relief. Just knowing all wasn’t lost for us made a difference.

“You can either take over the company today—”

I sucked in a breath so fast that I started coughing. “
Today?
”

“And that brings us to the other option.”

“Which is?” Anything other than option number one . . . or bankruptcy.

“Your father owns—excuse me—
owned
controlling interest in the company. His partners would be interested in yours and Dani’s inherited shares.”

“Even though Dad made some bad decisions?”

“Your father partnered with them for a reason. They can pull the company back up. Problem is, his recent decisions drove their value down.”

“Be straight with me.”

“The house has to be sold, the cars, the business . . .” He was finally being direct.

His words hit me square and he must have seen it on my face because he pulled out a box of tissues.

I wiped my palms on my slacks but there wasn’t a chance in hell I would shed a tear. I was pretty sure I was all dried up anyway.

“And that’s it?” I asked. “We’ll be fine?”

Edward gave a sour look, the kind you only wanted to see when someone ate something especially bitter. “Define
fine
.”

“Me define it? You’re the one telling us where we’re at.”

He held his hands out, as though offering me something when he clearly had nothing to give. “I’ve been running the numbers.”

No wonder someone knocked his wall down. Talking to this guy would make anyone want to take a few rounds at the wall with a sledgehammer just to get the info out of him.