Page 44 of Nothing to This

“Because he respects me,” she said.“Because I’m the mother of his children and our relationship is about the kids, not about sex.Sex complicates everything, there’s no way we’re compatible beyond that.If we tried to make ourselves be something we’re not, we’d only end up hating each other.”

“So you are attracted to him?”

“What?”she snapped.“Where did you get that?”

“You just said there’s no way you’re compatible beyond sex, that means you think you’re sexually compatible.”

Putting down her glass, she ran a hand through her hair.“Jesus, Baxter,” she exhaled his name, but he wasn’t appeased.“Was the sex good?Is that your question?”

“I want to know if you think about it now.Do you think about having sex with him?”

“No!”she said.The quiver in the back of her throat made her feel like a liar.“Look, sometimes JD and I have an… energy.”His mouth opened.“But it’s not something we’d ever act on.Honestly, ninety percent of the time we’re more interested in competing.We’re selfish together.We’d be too busy racing to our own orgasm to worry about pleasing each other.”His eyes widened.“Shit, Bax, I… what I mean is that we’re not interested in any kind of relationship.We’re not.We don’t care about each other that way.I care about what he means to my children, that’s it.Honestly, if you met him, you’d see, he’s just not husband material.”

“Why not?What’s wrong with him?Seems to me he’d be a perfect husband; he’s got the cash for it.”

“Cash?”she asked.“Funny, ‘cause that’s what JD used to think the world was all about too.You’d be sick if I told you how much he tried to pay me in child support before the twins were born.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“I have no idea why you don’t feel just fine,” she said.“So what if the father of my children has a few bucks?I don’t know why that changes anything.”

He leaned in.“It’s more than that,” he said, lowering his volume.“You work with him.You live with him.Shit, Ry, why are you living with him?The guy has enough money to rent a whole damn hotel if he wants.”

“The kids asked him to stay,” she said.“I told you that.It means something to them to have their father around every day.They’ve loved having him at the dinner table and cooking breakfast for them.”

Disbelief and some kind of resentment bubbled out of him.“He cooks?”

“He’s a better cook than me,” she said, slanting back when the server brought their food.

The man could clearly sense tension at the table, or maybe he’d heard the shouting.

“What else does Mr.Fantastic do?”

So much for looking forward to eating; her appetite had disappeared.

Baxter was heavy-handed in arranging his plate and adding more ketchup to his burger.

“What is wrong with you, Baxter?Since we got together you’ve wanted to know about the twins’ father.Now I’m being honest with you and you’re being… unreasonable.”

He stopped dealing with his food to glare at her.“You call this unreasonable?All this time you’ve had a brilliant billionaire in your back pocket, and you never thought to even so much as hint that—”

“Do you know something?I never thought about JD’s bank balance, never thought about it.I really didn’t.I used to think about how many weekends he failed to show up when he was supposed to have the kids.About the hours they spent with their grandmother wondering if Daddy was going to grace them with his appearance.I’m sure this is a shock to you, but I never considered JD brilliant either.I didn’t think about his business or wonder if he was any good at it.I thought about my children and if he’d disappoint them again.”

“Seems that’s all changed, huh?Now you’ve moved him in.”

“Yeah, and maybe that’s why,” she said.“Even if I hated the guy, I still have to recognize that he is the father of my offspring, Baxter.That’s something you’ll have to get used to if you want to continue this relationship.”In the silence that followed, she tried to read him, but he gave little away.“If you don’t, that’s your choice.”

SIXTEEN

“I want to meet him.”

Her head shook before she even thought to speak.“No.No way.”

“I have to meet him,” Baxter said.“Did you think you could keep us apart forever?”

“In time, maybe, once you’ve had the chance to get used to the idea.”

“Did he have the chance to get used to me?”he asked, sounding snide.“You told him my name, right?Does he know you have a boyfriend?”