He smiled as he stepped into his boxer shorts. He was looking forward to his upcoming rendezvous with the lady in question.
***
Good grief. I look like a tart. Melanie grabbed a tissue and wiped the crimson stain from her lips. She hated this – dressing up, putting on make-up, dolling up to go meet a man. Once she stepped out of her business suit she was much more comfortable in sweatpants and a T-shirt. She was definitely not a ‘going-out’ person. As she stared at herself in the mirror she shook her head. Maybe that was why she hadn’t been able to keep a man.
Suddenly pensive, she got up and crossed the room and plucked her black and gold scarf from the back of the armchair. Tonight she wasn’t trying to keep or catch a man. She just wanted her baby. She knew some might judge her for being too matter-of-fact about the whole thing. Some might even call her selfish, saying she was putting her own desires before the best interest of the child. But she wanted to be a mom. Did that make her an evil person?
Tightening her lips she picked up her purse then turned to go.
When Melanie got to the restaurant Sloane was already there, looking striking in a dark suit and shirt open at the collar, his raven hair glistening under the light cast by the chandeliers in the lobby. He looked relaxed and cool, the total opposite of what she was feeling right then. Surreptitiously, she patted her palms against her hips. It definitely would not do to shake hands when her palms were damp with nervous perspiration. Come on. Get a grip. She stifled a sigh of frustration.
“Melanie.”
He’d seen her and was coming over. Slow down, heart. He’s not the bogeyman. She lifted her chin and pasted a smile on her lips.
“Very nice,” he said, looking her up and down, his eyes appreciative.
Melanie felt the blush rising up her neck and she almost dropped her eyes. Now why did he have to go and do that? She hated compliments. They were nice, of course, but also kind of embarrassing. It meant she was being noticed.
“Thank you,” she managed, her throat tight. “And you, too.”
He smiled and took her arm and, to her relief, there was no more talk about looking nice. Right then she had other, more pressing matters on her mind and she wanted to get it over and done with. She’d psyched herself up for this meeting and she wanted to say what she had to say before she had a chance to chicken out.
After a surprisingly pleasant meal, one in which her dinner companion made light conversation which eventually put her at ease, Sloane leaned back in his chair and turned his gray eyes on her. “So, Melanie, what did you want to talk about?”
Her mellow mood immediately disappeared. Here it was, the moment of truth. And dare. Because she would dare to be bold…and sleep with Sloane Quest.
She cleared her throat. “I thought about what you said.” She kept her voice deliberately low and even. This was not the time to sound shaky. “I’ve decided…to accept your counterproposal. This is…extremely important to me so I’ll proceed as you recommended.”
“You’ll proceed as I recommended.” Sloane chuckled as he regarded her with obvious amusement. “You make it sound so cold, so businesslike.”
She flushed. “Well, it is sort of a business arrangement.”
“And that’s something I’d want to change, Melanie. After all, there’ll be a child involved.” He leaned forward and reached for her hand and suddenly he didn’t seem so relaxed anymore. “And no matter how you may want to deny it, we will be involved.”
Now what the heck did that mean? Melanie frowned as she looked at him but his gray eyes were unreadable. And he was holding her hand in his big, warm one and if he didn’t let go soon her palm would begin to perspire. Goodness, why did it always have to go damp when she got nervous? She gave her hand a little tug, nothing too obvious, just a small attempt to break contact. It didn’t work.
“So…wh…when can we start?” Melanie dropped her eyes again. This was so hard. She could be a killer negotiator in a business meeting but when it came to discussing personal – worse, intimate – matters she was pathetic.
He gave her an even broader smile and squeezed her hand. “Call me old fashioned, but seeing that I don’t plan to have a child out of wedlock, we can start as soon as we get married.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Now where had that come from? Sloane had never been impulsive but somehow, at that moment, it seemed that that had been the right thing to say. The only thing. Because it was what he believed.
Okay, so he’d always been a rover, never staying very long with any one woman. But, like his friend said, maybe it was time he grew up. After all, he was not that far from forty, and if he planned to have a family he might as well start now. He wanted to at least have enough energy to play ball with the kid.
And now, to his own surprise, he’d thrown another ingredient into the mix. Melanie had made her initial proposal because that was who she was – practical. And now he’d thrown marriage into the deal because that was who he was – surprising to admit but maybe, deep inside, he was a romantic at heart.
“Get married?” Melanie looked like he’d suddenly grown a third eye. Her expression was a mixture of shock and horror. “Are you serious?”
“Very serious. I’m from a traditional family with traditional values and starting a family is something I do not take lightly.” He sat back and folded his arms across his chest. "No marriage, no deal.”
“B…but you hardly even know me. Why would you want to marry me?”
Sloane almost laughed. “This, from the woman who asked me to give her a child. So it’s okay for virtual strangers to have a kid but weird for them to get married?”
That shut her up. Her face fell visibly as his point sank in. “But marriage…”
“Think of it as an arranged marriage. A marriage of convenience, if you will.” He shrugged.
“I…I don’t know what to say.” And she really did look flabbergasted, like the thought had never even crossed her mind. “But what about your lady…friends? I mean-” She stopped abruptly and her face reddened.