Love You, Baby (Must Love Diamonds 3)

It could be as simple as he liked chocolate chip cookies instead of peanut butter, but her paranoid pregnancy brain would take her to the worst-case scenario and have her convinced he was a serial killer by the time quitting time rolled around.

“I don’t want to lie anymore.”

She arched her brows high and crossed her arms. “Anymore?”

His gaze met hers, then bounced away as he clenched his jaw while reaching up to rub the back of his neck with a grimace. “I lied when I told my dad I had a job.”

She stared at him for a long moment. “Which means you lied to me when you didn’t tell me you didn’t have a job.”

“I know, and I’m sorry.”

At least he looked guilty. She hugged her arms tighter as the chilled air started to really penetrate her robe. Inside her blue fuzzy socks, her toes were turning to ice cubes.

“I kept looking, but none of my interviews panned out. No one would hire me without experience. The longer it took, and the more people kept saying no, the harder it was to admit to you that I lied. I didn’t want you to think I was like Ian’s father.”

She frowned. “You’re nothing like him. You should already know that.”

“My family calls me Mooch, Mae.”

“I would’ve hired you—I will hire you.”

“Grayson told me to ask you, but I needed to do this on my own, not take a pity job from my pregnant girlfriend.”

“It wouldn’t be a pity job.”

“Close enough.”

Recalling his embarrassment after the scene with his dad and him not wanting her to think less of him, she could understand. She didn’t like the lying, but she understood. Then something else dawned on her, and she tilted her head slightly. “You keep using past tense. Is it need to, or needed to?”

“I finally got a job a couple of weeks ago doing construction cleanup.”

Which meant Senator Diamond’s son was doing menial labor washing windows and walls, vacuuming and mopping, and dusting counters and appliances. “What about your degree?”

“I told you, they don’t want me without experience.” He shrugged. “I’m paying my dues and I’m fine with that for now. My boss said if I made it through the probation period, he’d move me to a design team as an assistant after the ninety days.”

“That can’t pay much.” The moment the words were out, she wished for them back. “I don’t care how much you make for me, but can you afford this house? You should’ve said something sooner.”

“This place is paid for,” he assured her.

“It is?” Her voice rose with her astonishment.

“Why do you think I sold my other house?”

“Because you couldn’t make the payments.”

“I couldn’t afford the bills,” he corrected. “I bought that place outright, so, after I paid Asher cash for this place, the rest went in the bank.”

“Oh.” And wow. She didn’t even have to see exact numbers to know the price difference between the two properties was substantial. With that much left over… “Do you even need to work?”

“Not for the money.”

The low tone of his voice and his expression told her all she needed to know. He needed to work for himself. Her heart swelled in her chest. That was the difference between him and Ian’s father. He wasn’t an irresponsible, lazy jerk who took whatever he could get from others. Like he’d sheepishly admitted the night he’d gotten down on one knee to apologize, he’d just needed to grow up a little.

Lying aside, she was proud of him for not taking the easy road, especially if it meant taking a very entry level job to pay his dues. Merit grown up was pretty damn impressive.

She held out one hand. “Come on. Let’s go back to bed.”

He clasped her fingers with his, but hesitated when she pulled him toward the door. “You still want me to stay? Shouldn’t you be pissed off at me right now?”