Christmas Baby for the Billionaire (South Shore Billionaires 1)

“Don’t do it on my account.” Truthfully, her love of food amused him. The last few dates he’d been on, the women had barely tasted their food and then insisted they were full. It had never made sense to him. People needed to eat to survive. It was also an experience to be enjoyed. Seeing Tori’s grin as she bit down on a french fry made him happy for some reason.

“You’re probably used to nicer restaurants,” she said, pausing to take a drink of water. “Honestly, last summer I had no idea you were so rich. I would have recommended a few places. Particularly in Halifax.”

He met her gaze. “At the time I was happy with whatever filled my hunger.”

Her cheeks colored as she interpreted a double meaning he hadn’t intended. But it was true. He’d been hungry for her. He still was, if he were being honest with himself. Knowing she was carrying his child only made her more beautiful, if that were possible. He had no trouble remembering the taste of her lips or the softness of her skin, the scent of sunscreen filling the air and the tangle of her hair in his hands. It was what had driven him to come back here in the first place. Branson’s request had simply given him the excuse.

He shifted in his chair and dug into the fillet once more. Then he changed the conversation to safer topics, like the houses they’d already looked at. “You’re going to recommend the one on the bluff, aren’t you?” she asked.

“I think so, yes. I’ll show him all three and give him my impressions, but overall I think that’s what he’ll pick.”

“It was my favorite. I love how the ocean is so wild there, right on the point.”

They’d made it through their fish and half the fries when Tori pushed her plate back. “Okay, I really have to stop if I’m going to have dessert.”

He gawped. “Dessert?”

She laughed. “Yes. Because they make all their pies on-site and the coconut cream is my favorite.”

He wasn’t sure where he was going to put it, and he wouldn’t have to eat for the rest of the day, but when the waitress came back, they ordered pie—the coconut cream for her and butterscotch for him, something he’d never had before. He had another coffee and she ordered a decaf, an

d they lingered a long time, sipping and picking at their dessert.

“This was nice,” she said, absently fluffing her fork through some of the cream on top of her pie. “I think it bodes well for us getting along.”

“Me, too. Though we didn’t really talk about the future.”

Her face turned troubled, with her lips tightening and her lashes cast down. He wondered why she did that, because he’d noticed it a few times now when there was the potential for conflict.

“Hey,” he said softly, making her look up at him. “We’ll get there. I’ve got more time here. Another week, anyway. I’ve got to go up to Halifax for a few days, too. You can take some time, and I will, too, to see if we can come up with a plan.”

She nodded. “I know. It’s fine, really. I just realized that this really wasn’t how I’d planned to start a family. With his or her parents living in different countries.”

“It’s not ideal, but it’s the reality we have to work with.” At her downcast expression, he put his hand over hers. “Hey. Look on the bright side. I have the means to come visit, or have you come to New York. That sounds okay, right? We won’t have to stress over money.”

Her eyes brightened. “You mean you’d be okay with us staying here?”

He hadn’t meant to agree to that so readily. Truthfully, he’d thought about how great it would be to have her move to New York so he could see his kid whenever he wanted. But he didn’t want to get into that now, and mar the great day they’d been having. “There are a lot of options,” he deflected, pulling his hand away and reaching for the last of his coffee. “So maybe what we need to do is think about what we each want and then sit down and have a discussion about it. See if we can find some middle ground.”

“That sounds fair,” she agreed. “I mean, so far we’ve managed not to argue about anything, and that’s quite an achievement, considering.”

He nodded, but something felt a little bit off. Like they hadn’t argued...yet. And that something was going to come along and cause some friction, and he really didn’t want that to happen. He didn’t want to argue with her at all. Quite the contrary.

Jeremy frowned as he picked up the check. That was part of the problem, wasn’t it? He still desired her, and now that they were spending more time together, he was discovering he still liked her, too. The woman he’d met last summer was the real Tori—smiling and easygoing, easy to be with, and a knack for making him smile. He’d been drawn to her charm and easy laugh, and had felt like he could simply be himself.

The combination made her more dangerous than she could imagine. Because the last thing he wanted was a ready-made family. He didn’t know the first thing about how real families worked. His had always been dysfunctional. His most normal relationship had been with the gardener who had come around twice a week to look after the grounds and cut the grass.

Lord, what would Mr. Adley have to say about this predicament?

He’d tell him to do the right thing. The only trouble was, Jeremy had no idea what the right thing might be. It certainly wasn’t a slapped-together marriage for the sake of a baby. For a marriage, there needed to be love, and Jeremy was relatively certain that he wasn’t capable of that particular emotion.

They got in the car and headed back toward the hotel, where Tori would be able to pick up her car and head home. When they were maybe five minutes away, Tori sat up straight in her seat and pointed. “Slow down...there.” She looked over at him and then pointed again, right at a small for-sale sign on a stake at the roadside. “Turn in here, Jeremy. Please!”

She said it with such urgency that he immediately braked and turned into the side road. “What are you looking for?”

“There was a for-sale sign, and there are only a few houses in here. I’m curious.”

They’d finished their viewings, and it was still early, so he figured he might as well indulge her. “It’s definitely off the beaten path.”