Free His Brand of Passion by Kate Hewitt Page B

vulnerability creep across his face, soften those stern features if only for a moment. ‘Maybe the best solution is to make this…more permanent.’
    ‘More permanent?’ she repeated in disbelief. ‘How?’
    He took a breath, let it out. ‘You stay here, with me, for the duration of your pregnancy.’

CHAPTER FIVE
    Z OE DIDN ’ T SPEAK for a few seconds; she was still processing what Aaron had just said.
You stay here, with me, for the duration of your pregnancy
. Finally she said the first, the only, word she could.
    ‘No.’
    ‘Why not?’
    ‘Because…’ Her mind grasped at reasons he would understand, that she could admit to.
It’s impossible. Dangerous. I might fall in love with you
. ‘I just can’t.’
    ‘Can’t?’ he repeated. ‘Or won’t?’
    ‘Both.’
    ‘Why not?’ He sounded so reasonable, so unruffled, and she felt as if she were falling apart. Aaron’s suggestion, so calmly made, had rocked her to the core.
    ‘Why should I?’ she countered, knowing she sounded childish.
    ‘It’s not practical for you to live in some walk-up studio alone—climbing all those stairs.’
    ‘I’ll get a ground-floor apartment,’ Zoe said numbly.
    ‘Never mind that. What if something happened to you? Who would even know? As far as I can tell, you’ve lived a very independent, isolated existence.’
    ‘I like being independent,’ she snapped. She’d ignore the‘isolated’ bit. ‘Anyway, what about you? I think that’s the pot calling the kettle black.’
    ‘I don’t deny it,’ Aaron answered evenly. ‘But I’m not pregnant.’
    ‘Being pregnant doesn’t mean being ill,’ Zoe flung at him and his silence was eloquent. ‘You don’t want me here,’ she said, daring him to deny it.
I like having you here
. She forced the memory of his reluctant confession away. Not helpful now, when she was trying to be strong.
    ‘I just said I did,’ Aaron answered, his voice taut.
    ‘Just because you want to manage me.’
    ‘Do the reasons really matter?’
Yes
. She swallowed, said nothing. Aaron sighed impatiently. ‘Why are you so against it? It seems like an obvious and easy solution to me. You’ve already got your stuff here.’ He swept one arm out towards her paintings, the wilting ficus plant. ‘You still have your life. I’ve arranged a car for you to go to your little art sessions.’
    ‘My little art sessions,’ Zoe repeated numbly and Aaron sighed again.
    ‘You know what I mean.’
    ‘I know exactly what you mean. And that’s the problem, Aaron. That’s the prison.’
    His mouth turned down and his eyes flashed darkly. ‘What are you talking about?’
    ‘You’re the prison,’ she said hopelessly, because she knew it sounded melodramatic and he wouldn’t understand anyway.
    He didn’t. ‘That’s nonsense.’
    ‘It’s not. You have no idea what it’s like living here with someone who barely wants to talk to you.’
    ‘That’s not true.’
    ‘Who escapes at the first opportunity.’
    ‘I do not.’
    ‘And hides behind work.’
    ‘I’m not
hiding!’
he thundered, the sound of his voiceseeming to echo through the room and making Zoe fall silent. He let out an exasperated breath and raked a hand through his hair. ‘Just what do you want from me, Zoe? Because I don’t think it’s something I have to give.’
    ‘That’s a great way to open a conversation.’
    ‘I was trying to close it down,’ Aaron snapped and Zoe shook her head.
    ‘There’s no point, is there?’
    ‘Point to what?’
    He looked so exasperated, so impatient, impervious and
blank
, and she knew he didn’t get it at all. What was there even to get? What was she trying to prove here—that he didn’t like her, wasn’t interested in her other than as the mother of his unwanted child?
Obviously
.
    ‘I don’t know,’ she whispered, all her fight and spunk gone in an instant, leaving only a weary despair. ‘I don’t know anything. I don’t know why you want me here, what the future will