He lived in his parents’ old house? The notion teased at her heart, thinking of him wanting to stay close to memories of his mother and father. If only he would show this softer side of himself to her more often.
It was his charge-ahead side she had to worry about. She forced her attention back to what he was saying.
“You can’t take care of yourself alone at your place, Brooke, you have to know that.
Do you want me to move into your pink palace? Or would you rather go home with someone in your family taking care of you?”
The thought of staying at the Garrison estate with her mother…”That’s dirty pool for a guy who swears he doesn’t want to piss me off.”
“I’m simply showing you the options.” His fingers tunneled through her hair to massage her neck, tease her senses. “Do you have a better idea?”
Brittany was getting ready for her wedding, even more so now that she wouldn’t have Brooke’s help. And she didn’t really know her sisters-in-law well enough to be comfortable living with them, even as nice as they were. All of her female friends worked full-time, living alone in a condo like she did. “I thought I could hire someone.”
“I’ve already got a full staff taking care of the house.” His thumb worked along her spine in muscle-melting strokes. “Think of it this way. Since our dates out on the town have been curbed for now, we can have the same sort of getting-to-know-each-other time at my home. More efficiently.”
She stared out the limo window as they drove deeper into South Beach with each palm tree that whipped past.Rollerbladers zipped along the sidewalks despite the cooler temperatures. Tourists filled crosswalks, the older contingent moving in for the winter months.
His argument had merit. Still, she wondered if he harbored further ulterior motives. “I can’t have sex until the doctor clears me.”
“She warned me again in the hall.” He winced. “Stringently.”
She grinned at just the thought of that conversation. “Not much privacy in this baby-birthing process, is there?”
“Apparently not.” He rested his head against the side of her forehead, nuzzling her hair. “I’ll miss being with you more than I can say. But if you can go without sex, so can I.”
No sex. Already she mourned the loss. With Jordan touching her, she couldn’t deny how uncomfortable holding back might get. “You’re really serious about us moving in together, temporarily anyway.”
She let the implications rain down around her, this new facet of Jordan ’s commitment to her. She had been watching him for any false moves, any sign that he was in this relationship with ulterior motives or to somehow bring down the Garrison empire. But his tenderness and thoughtful generosity now…She couldn’t deny that she was moved.
“Totally. And if you can’t consider your own health, think about the baby.”
Of course, Jordan being Jordan , now he was really playing dirty pool. Except he’d hit on the one argument guaranteed to sway her. “For the baby, but I need to set some ground rules.”
“Fair enough.” He stared at her with those boardroom blue eyes, his make-the-best-deal-possible eyes.
“And you have to promise to follow them.”
“You’re good at catching nuances.” He winked, humor easing his intensity. “I’ve heard you’re as tough as the rest of your family across the bargaining table.”
“Another dubious compliment.” Although she had to admit, while a peacemaker in personal relationships, she enjoyed releasing her suppressed aggressions in the workplace. “But on to those rules. Just because I gave in on this doesn’t mean I’m relenting on my reservations about marriage.”
The notion still scared her to pieces, and she didn’t plan on thinking about anything that would stress her out.
“Understood.”
“And I think it’s best if we don’t share a bed.” She figured she should cover all the nuances he may have tried to sneak past her.
His eyes crinkled at the corners as his smile increased. “Because you’re afraid you can’t resist me?”
“That’s quite an ego you’re sporting.”
“Or sense of humor.” He grazed her lips with his thumb. “I’m trying to make you smile back.”
His gentle touch stroked her scattered emotions.
“Sorry. I’m just…scared.”
All levity faded from his gaze, and he slid his hand to cup her face. “Ah, damn, of course you are.”
“I could handle it if this was just about my health, but worrying about the baby, that’s too much.” The concerns bubbling inside her were so much bigger than anything she’d ever faced.
“Worry is against doctor’s orders.” He smoothed his other hand over her stomach in a gesture of intimacy she couldn’t bring herself to stop. “Set your mind on something else.”
She blinked through the fears, accepting he was right, knowing she needed to try harder for their baby’s sake. “Such as?”
“Have you thought about names?”
The limo stopped at a light while hordes of pedestrian traffic crossed the street.
She let herself settle into the warmth of his touch and the butter-soft leather seats as they shared the moment, planning together for their child. “It would have helped if the little one had been more cooperative during all those ultrasounds.
Then we could have known whether to choose girl or boy names.”
“We?”
He’d doubted she would include him? Further proof he didn’t know her well if he thought she could be so small-minded as to cut him out of such a huge decision about their baby. “Of course, you should get a say in this, unless you come up with something horrid. What’s your mother’s name?”
“Victoria.”
“Your hotel’s name,” she murmured in surprise. How could she not have known that?
Yet another reminder of how far they needed to come before she could even consider tying her life—and the knot—with this man.
He shrugged.
“That’s really touching.” She wanted the same sort of closeness with her own child, something better than her relationship with Bonita. “I’m sorry about how my mother behaved earlier.”
His eyes took on that sharp look again. Predatory, unrelenting. “You have nothing to apologize for.”
She still felt guilty for not thinking through her actions more that night five months ago. “The first time I took you to dinner, my brother beat you up—”