Lucky Stars (Ghosts and Reincarnation #5)(36)

The way he said that made her think she didn’t actually want to know why.

She didn’t get a chance to stop him.

“Because, three months ago, you walked away from me without looking back. Now you’re carrying my child and therefore, out of necessity as we’re sharing parentage of that child, I’m not giving you the opportunity to do it again. Because you found out you were pregnant and you didn’t intend to tell me. Because you’re obviously having a difficult pregnancy and I intend to make certain it goes as smoothly as possible and ends successfully.”

There was a lot there, most of it Belle had no intention of addressing.

So she addressed the only thing she could.

“I’m not having a difficult pregnancy. I’m told what I’m experiencing is entirely natural,” she told him.

“I’d like to be assured of that by a qualified doctor,” he replied.

“My mother went through the same thing with me,” Belle pushed.

“That may be but I still want an expert opinion.”

Belle looked away, not willing to fight it. Especially when he was that close and muttered again, “Fine.”

“You’ll move in?” he asked and her eyes darted back to his.

“That’s not what I meant,” she answered.

“That’s what we’re talking about.”

She swallowed then took in a deep breath, looked at his nose and admitted, “I don’t want to live here. I don’t feel safe here. I feel safe at home. I want to stay there. I promise to keep you informed and involved however you like that to be.”

“If you don’t feel safe here then I’ll move in with you at your home.”

At these words, Belle’s body locked and her gaze jerked from his nose to his eyes.

“You can’t move in with me,” she breathed.

“Why not?” he enquired.

“Because I own a two bedroom cottage. With Mom and Gram there, I have a full house. Mom’s already sleeping on the couch. There’s nowhere for you to sleep.”

“I’ll sleep with you.”

Belle felt her lips part and her eyes went wide as shock reverberated through her system.

“You are mad,” she said on a barely there whisper.

“I’ll do what I have to do to be close to this child,” he replied on a not at all barely there decree.

“I’ll move to The Point,” she blurted, then thought better of it immediately and was about to take it back but he saw his advantage and he was a heck of a lot quicker.

He pushed in closer, so close her head had to tilt back but she was against the door. She felt the wood against her head and had to move toward him to give it room to move so she could look up at him. She felt his chest brushing her br**sts and even his h*ps brushing her belly.

Her mind blanked of everything but his nearness which suffused her senses.

“So, we’re agreed, you’re moving in,” he declared, his voice low and rumbly.

She blinked, trying to catch a thought and stall for time so she murmured, “James –”

“We’re agreed,” he pressed ruthlessly, dipping his head further so his face was an inch away and all she could see were his beautiful eyes.

“Yes,” she whispered.

“You won’t renege?” he demanded.

“No.”

“Make that a promise, Belle,” he ordered and she blinked again.

“What?”

“Promise me, right here, you’ll move in and you won’t renege.”

Belatedly she realised her heart was hammering in her chest and she was finding it difficult to breathe.

Something about this cleared her mind and she was able to focus.

Therefore, with some effort, she plucked up the courage to negotiate.

“I’ll promise you I’ll move in if you promise never to fight for custody. We’ll determine arrangements that will be best for the baby, just you and I, without dragging him or her through that kind of mess.”

“Agreed,” he said instantly.

At this, she relaxed which was a mistake because it pressed her body closer to the heat and hardness of his.

She tensed again and looked at his ear. “Move back.”

She felt him hesitate then he did as he was asked.

The moment he did, Belle turned to the door and put her hand on the knob but she stopped and was forced to look at him again when he spoke.

“I need to ask something more.”

Belle didn’t speak. She just kept looking at him.

He continued, “Mum is excited about this. She wants to be involved and she –”

Belle cut him off, “I’m happy for Joy to be as involved as she wants. She’s a lovely woman and she’s the baby’s Grandma.”

The air in the room changed. It turned unpleasant and Belle saw his face had again grown hard.

“You seem to have forgotten that when you decided to keep this from me,” he told her, his voice as hard as his face.

Something inside her, a bit of her grandmother coming out for once, made her lift her chin, look him in the eye and defend herself.

Mainly because, she thought, she had every bloody right to do what she did.

“You’re absolutely correct,” she agreed. “I did. I completely forgot about Joy and the fact that she’s a lovely woman. My only thought was to stay well away from you and your brother.” She watched his jaw tense. It frightened her a little bit but she sallied forth anyway because this was her child she was talking about and when you had a child, you had no choice but to develop a backbone. “And James, as the years pass, if I get even a suspicion our child is learning to behave in the ways demonstrated during my encounters with you and Miles then we have a problem.”