The Things I Do for You (The Alexanders) (7 page)

She immediately tensed up and set her drink down on the table. “You are relentless!”

“That’s why you should just tell me. The faster you tell me, the faster we can move on to finding a solution.”

“Not everything has a solution, Nick. This isn’t a business deal.” She pushed her hair back and rubbed her hands over her face. It killed him to see her looking so tired. So defeated.

“If you don’t tell me, then I’m just going to work with the facts I have. Let’s see…” He pretended to think. “I find a brochure for a sperm bank that
does not
belong to my brother and Ridley. Since you were the only other person on the patio that day, it must have been yours. But that doesn’t make sense since last I knew you were engaged. What am I missing?”

Raina glared at him. “Fine. Since you apparently aren’t going to stop until I tell you everything, consider yourself warned. I hope you’re not the type to get squeamish when talking about girl stuff.”

Nick leaned over and took her hand again and held it fast when she tried to pull back. “Raina, this is not high school. Despite our past, I want to know that you’re okay. If that involves talking about feminine stuff, then so be it. So, why would you need a sperm donor when you had a fiancé?”

Raina stood and he let her. She didn’t look at him as she walked over to the window. She stood there so long that he wondered if she was reconsidering her decision to talk. She finally turned to face him.
 

“I have a condition called endometriosis. I won’t bore you with the details.” 

“Nothing about you bores me, Raina.”

“Anyway, bottom line is that I’m a ticking time bomb. Every month that passes where I’m not pregnant means it’s less likely I’ll get to be a mother. A baby is all I want.”
 

“Did Steven not want children?”

“No, he said he did. We weren’t in love but we both wanted the same things. Partnership. Family. Children. Marriages built on common goals have higher success rates. It made sense to get married and start trying right away. My doctor gave me a bunch of brochures about in vitro fertilization, egg donation, and surrogacy just so that I could be informed. Turns out I’ll actually need them now.”

She turned away and he realized she was wiping away tears. The sight of her crying sent a paralyzing wave of fear through Nick.

“Oh, sweetheart. Please don’t cry.” The endearment slipped out before he could catch himself.
 

“Sorry. Ugh, I hate crying. As awful as it sounds, I’m less upset about Steven and more heartbroken over losing my dream.” 

“What if you could still have it?” 

“I don’t think Steven is going to change his mind.” Raina laughed bitterly. “Not that I’d want him to. We were supposed to have a relationship based on mutual respect and trust. If I wanted someone who’d cheat and lie I could just have a normal relationship.”

It was all he could do not to growl. “I’m not talking about Steven. And we’ll have to talk about your shitty relationship expectations later. But I’m saying what if someone else offered to help you out?”

He debated the best way to present his idea to her. He could do what he really wanted to do, which was fall to one knee and tell her he adored her. But their interactions had proven time and time again that Raina didn’t respond well to romantic gestures from him. If he told her he loved her, she’d probably just assume he was trying to get in her panties and just saying what he thought she wanted to hear.
 

There was only one thing he hadn’t tried. She freely admitted that she hadn’t loved her fiancé and was just marrying him because it “made sense.” Well, Nick would be damned if she considered Silvestre a better bet than him. It was going to kill him to play it cool, but if pretending their interaction was just a business deal got him what he wanted, then he wasn’t above a little deception.
 

“Help me out? How likely is that? It’s not like I’m asking to borrow a cup of sugar, Nick! How many men would offer to father my child?”

Nick stood and thrust his hands in his pockets, aware that his next words would change his life forever.

“You’re looking at one.”

FOR A MOMENT, Raina wondered if it was possible to be dreaming while standing up. Because she was pretty sure Nick Alexander had just offered to get her pregnant.
 

And he wasn’t laughing.

“Are you crazy? Why would you say that? You and I don’t even get along.” 

Not to mention that she’d been shutting him down for months. Why would he want to do her a favor now?

“Well, as you just pointed out, it’s not about being in love. It’s about shared goals. I’m a businessman, Raina. I can appreciate the logic of what you’ve described. A stable mother for my children and someone who has the kind of DNA that money can’t buy.”
 

Nick stood and joined her at the window. If it was possible, he was even more handsome with his clothes all rumpled and his tie askew. He looked like he’d just been rolling around in bed. Which made her think about what he’d just offered to do.
 

Focus, Raina!

“You want to do this because you like my DNA?” she asked skeptically.
 

 
“You are without a doubt one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen,” he stated. “Clearly you’re smart, your career trajectory proves that, and you seem healthy, fertility issues notwithstanding. I want children and I want them to have the best mother possible. Why shouldn’t it be you?” 

He said it so matter-of-factly, as if he picked out the mother of his children every day.
 

“Nick, are you serious? Please don’t toy with me about something like this.” 

At that, his face softened. “With all that you know about me, have I ever been cruel? A little too persistent, perhaps, but never mean.” He looked tense despite his relaxed pose, the lines around his eyes and mouth more prominent.
 

“No, you haven’t. That label probably applies more to me than you.”
 

“Well, I’m guessing you had your reasons.” Nick regarded her from beneath lowered lashes. “I bet you never expected this. Contemplating carrying the child of a man you hate.”
 

She squirmed. Was there any tactful way to respond? Even though he drove her crazy and she didn’t really want to get emotionally attached to him, it didn’t mean she wanted to hurt him. She was just trying to keep her own emotions in check so she wouldn’t grow to depend on him.
 

“I don’t hate you, Nick. I could never hate you.”

“Well, then, what is it? Tell me what it is that’s keeping you from saying yes.”

“I’m trying to understand why you want to do this.”

“Raina, men are wired differently than women. I think we only have three levers. Food, money, and sex. Most men don’t have a biological clock. We have children when we feel it’s time to settle down. This is a little earlier than I’d planned, but if I wait I might not find anyone as well-suited to me as you are. Especially sexually.”

“That makes sense but, Nick, let’s be real. You’re used to having a lot of women. Getting pregnant can be a lengthy process. It’s going to screw up your game if you’re spending so much time with me.”

He curled his hand around her neck, tangling his fingers in her long curls. His thumb stroked her bottom lip. “You’ve already screwed up my game because I can’t get the night we spent together out of my mind. I can’t sleep without reliving it. I can’t focus on anything without screwing it up. I can’t
breath
e because all I want is the one thing I can’t have.”

“That doesn’t mean you have to father my child.”

“It does if I don’t want you with anyone else.” His fingers tightened against her skin. The little bite of pain was unbelievably arousing.
 

“You’re jealous,” she breathed.
 

“Hell yes, I’m jealous. Just the thought of you with someone else…”

It was startling to realize he wanted her so much that he was willing to go this far to keep her from turning to another man. Part of her was alarmed. This level of intensity was exactly the kind of thing she avoided. Emotions ran too high when jealousy was involved. But she was honest enough to admit that what he was offering was too good to turn down.
 

“Well, I guess we could have a lawyer draw up one of those contracts. So you’ll know I’m not after your money and visitation is clearly spelled out.”

 "We won’t need that.” Nick’s hand trailed down her back, drawing slow circles on the small of her back.

She bit her lip to hold in a moan. His hand felt so good it should be illegal. “Aren’t you worried about me trying to keep the baby from you later?”

He looked her deeply in the eyes. “No, I’m not. I don’t think you’d want to keep a loving father away.”

Raina looked away. “Well, what about finances? You’re a little older, so I’m sure you’ve accumulated more wealth than I have.”

He shrugged. “Money is my business, so yeah. Probably.”

“Aren’t you worried that I’ll try to get my hands on your money?”

“Nope. I’m actually expecting that you will.” He smirked and tapped her on the end of the nose. “Which means I’ll just have to work harder and earn more.”
 

Raina gaped at him. “You’re being awfully cavalier about this. You really don’t care if I take the baby anywhere and spend all your money?”

“That’s what wives do, isn’t it? At least according to most of my married friends.”

“Married?” Her mouth fell open.

“Oh, hell. I’m making a mess of this, aren’t I? Raina, I’m not just giving you my DNA and then walking away. I have conditions. If you want my baby, then this isn’t going to be a turkey-baster job. You’ll get it the good old-fashioned way. And I promise you, we’ll both enjoy it.” He leaned down until their eyes met. She shivered when he held her gaze. “But you also have to give me something I want just as much.” 

He leaned down even farther until their lips were just a breath apart and then said, “You.”

*
 
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NICK KNEW HE was walking a fine line. Raina looked like she was shell-shocked, her brown eyes slightly unfocused as she swayed against him. It probably wasn’t fair to expect her to make a decision about something this monumental right away, but a huge part of him wanted to pressure her for an immediate response.
 

The caveman in him wanted to get her answer, marry her, and get her pregnant before she had a chance to reconsider.

“So you’re blackmailing me?” Raina said. She didn’t sound angry as much as confused. As if she couldn’t understand why he’d want to do it.
 

“No. I’m not holding anything over your head. I’m not going to go running to the press with this story if you say no. I would never hurt you like that. I’m just telling you my conditions for helping you. You want something from me. Something huge. But you have to give me something I want just as much.”

“Me,” she whispered. “That’s really all you want?”

“Yes.” Talk about the understatement of the century. His obsession with her was on the verge of taking over his life. He had to have her. It didn’t even matter if she didn’t love him.
If you only knew, pretty girl. I’ll take you any way I can get you.
 

“What happens when you wake up and realize the infatuation is over? Aren’t you going to feel trapped?”

“What was it you said earlier? Oh yes, marriages built on commonalities have a higher success rate than ones based on emotions. Let’s look at our common traits. We’re both intelligent, hardworking, driven, and value family. If you know nothing else about me, you know how much family means to me. I had the best possible role models for a successful marriage. My parents have always been a team. I think we could have that kind of partnership, too. Like I said, this is a little earlier than I’d planned, but I knew I’d want kids eventually. If we start now, our kids won’t be too much younger than their cousins.”

He pulled her to the chair he’d been sitting in and knelt at her feet, his eyes holding hers. Her hand covered her mouth.
 

“This is all just crazy. I don’t know what to say.”

“At the core of all this, what do you want most? A baby?”

“Yeah.”

“Then let me make that happen for you.”

Raina looked into his eyes and he let her, hoping she could see his certainty, his absolute determination to give her what she wanted. It wasn’t just that he wanted her more than his next breath. It wasn’t just that this was the only woman he’d ever wanted to give his last name to.
 

It was the fact that he could give her the thing she wanted most.
 

“Come on.” He tugged her up and before she could protest, picked her up, and cradled her against his chest.
 

“Where are we going?” Raina squirmed in his arms.
 

He didn’t answer, just walked down the hallway leading toward his bedroom. He set Raina carefully on her feet and turned on the small lamp on his bedside table.
 

She stood still, looking as vulnerable as a child as he stripped her tiny excuse for a dress from her body. He gritted his teeth as every inch of her honey-colored skin was revealed. Finally she stood before him in nothing more than a heart-attack-inducing black lace bra and panty set. He didn’t even want to contemplate if the panties had a thong back.
 

“
Jesus.
We have to find something for you to wear.” His goal was for her to rest, which wouldn’t be happening if he had to look at her in those scraps of black lace much longer. He turned blindly to his closet and yanked the first shirt his fingers touched off the hanger.