More Than Need You (More Than Words 2)

for. Then I hear something that sounds like a crash. A metallic gong sounds next. I spin around and see her trash can wobbling. What the hell?

I’ll get to the bottom of that after the end of this discussion. If she thinks she’s going to derail me with some stunt, she’s damn wrong.

I close the distance between us with single-minded determination. She looks up as I approach, her gaze chilly. “Griff, I really don’t have time for—”

I slap the paper I retrieved on the desk between us. “You’re not the only one who can see an attorney, angel.”

I watch her face as she scans the document. VOLUNTARY ESTABLISHMENT OF PATERNITY BY PARENTS.

She turns chalky white. “What’s this?”

“You’ve got two choices where Jamie is concerned: Either you and I can find a notary public and sign this right now, establishing the fact that I’m Jamie’s father. Or I can take you to court, demand a DNA test, and prove I’m his father. Either way, I wind up with rights—a whole slew of them. And I will have your ass in court every minute necessary until I get every one coming to me.”

Britta looks stricken, then turns her face up to me with rage. “Goddamn it, you son of a bitch! Jamie is mine. I birthed him. I’m raising him. I love him. You took so much from me, and now you want to take him, too.”

“I want to share him with you,” I correct. “I want him to have the love of two parents.”

Bolting out of her seat, she paces the office. She looks like she has daggers on the tip of her tongue, but she knows I have her cornered. Either way, I’m going to be Jamie’s father legally. She’s going to have to let me visit, spend nights, weekends, holidays with him. She’ll have to relinquish the boy to me for days, sometimes weeks.

Frankly, this is not my first choice. In fact, it’s my worst-case scenario. It’s the one in which Britta winds up married to Makaio, and I’m reduced to seeing my son when the courts allow. But I have to start somewhere.

Now that I’ve put this out between us, I have a bargaining chip. I have an outcome she’d like to avoid, which I can make possible…for a price.

She shoots me a glare, then runs into the restroom, slamming the door and locking it. I don’t think for one minute that she suddenly needs to tinkle. Britta is pissed, and this is her exercising her power over me—to put a door between us. It’s temporary, and I’m not sweating it.

I turn to head toward the coffee bar, then glance into her trash can to see what she dumped so loudly and unceremoniously.

It looks like every single edition of her bridal magazines and the stack of tape flags. I frown as I lift one out of the bin. This can’t possibly be something she doesn’t want anymore. It’s chock-full of marked and bent pages, even a few with colorful notes in the margin.

Something is up with this. For now, I quietly slip the booklet back into the canister and grab a cup of coffee.

My hand is shaking. I’ve played cool, but I seriously have no idea what she’s going to say or do when she comes out of that bathroom. Whatever is making her different today is also making her unpredictable. I wonder if the magazines are tied in. Is it possible there’s trouble in paradise?

That thought gives me comfort as I brew a mug.

When I turn back, Britta is coming out of the bathroom. Her eyes are swollen. Her nose is red. She looks pissed as hell as she struts across the office toward me.

“If you do this, I will hate you.”

It’s a hefty threat, but I’ve already thought of this one.

“You’ll hate me because I don’t want to be an absentee father?” I saunter closer until we meet in the middle of the room. “Isn’t that part of why you’ve been furious with me for the last three years?”

She grits her teeth. “I needed you then. I don’t need you now.”

“After the incident at the park a week ago last Friday, I’m going to disagree. I will understand that boy in a way that you can’t since you’ve never been a reckless, testosterone-driven creature.”

“Makaio can handle that part,” she insists.

“Really?” Okay, so I shove a little condescending note in there. It’s not intended to make her feel stupid. I just want her to think about what she’s saying…and to stop overestimating her Hawaiian calendar boy’s abilities.

“I will handle it. I’m his mother.”

“I’ll be there, too, because I’m his father. There’s only one thing you can possibly do to change that.”

Britta scans my face. I see her thoughts racing. I know the moment the realization dawns.

“That’s why you suggested I move in with you until I get married?” She looks aghast.

“Bingo. You and Jamie live with me for fifty-two days. At the end of that period, if you can look me in the eye and tell me you don’t love me and that you would rather marry Makaio Kale…” I drag in a deep breath. I can hardly say these words. I don’t know what the fuck I’m going to do if I lose this giant gamble and actually have to do what I’m about to promise. “Then I’ll sign the papers you gave me and let you both go. But I’m going to make you spend every one of those fifty-two days—and nights—with me.”

She looks at me, shocked. “You can’t force me to have sex with you for the next eight weeks.”

I shake my head. “Of course I can’t. You just have to cohabitate with me.”

“But…but I’m engaged to another man.”

One who’s about to find out that nice guys finish last in my world.

“I don’t need the reminder.” I clench my fists at my sides. “But if the sex happens between us”—when, as far as I’m concerned—“I want you every bit as willing and ready and wet for me as you used to be. I want you to kiss me good morning before I satisfy you into a pretty blush. I want you to tell me you love me before I lay you down in our bed at night and fuck you senseless. But if the sex never happens…” I shrug as if that possibility is so slim it’s ridiculous. “Well, then we’ll have spent those eight weeks co-parenting. And if you still don’t think I pass muster, I’ll let you and Jamie go. Acknowledge me as Jamie’s father now or take a gamble that may pay off later. Your choice.”

She gapes at me. I see her blink, breathe hard, stare at me as if I’m insane. Hell, maybe I am. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been accused of that.

“I can’t just…move in with you. What would I tell Makaio?”

“That this is your one chance to get me out of your lives forever. He must want that. He simply needs to understand this is a take-it-or-leave-it opportunity.”

“He’ll never agree.” She shakes her head.

“Why?” I lean closer. “Do you think he’d worry your love for him won’t survive fifty-two days with me?” I walk behind Britta, so close I can feel the heat of her body rising. I can see her shoulders square as she breathes. I circle back around and ease even closer, until my face is mere inches from hers. “Are you worried it wouldn’t?”

Her eyes narrow as she backs away. “I’ve always known you were an underhanded bastard. It wasn’t enough to seduce me out of my virginity. It wasn’t enough to turn me upside down by getting me pregnant and walking away. Now you have to pull shit like this?”

“You didn’t answer my question,” I point out.

When she stiffens, it’s all I can do not to put my hands on her, but now isn’t the time. And if she agrees to my plan, what’s between us is going to get a shitload uglier before it gets better.

If she doesn’t agree, we’ll have nothing more than a coldly polite child exchange in a fast-food parking lot every two weeks.

That makes me so fucking sad, and I can’t think of it right now. I’ve got game. I’m playing.

“I’m not going to,” she spits back. “Your question is absurd.”

Or too accurate. But I let it slide for the moment. I have a more important point to make.

“What’s it going to be?”

“Jamie c-can’t live in your condo building. Do your grounds even have an ar

ea for kids to play? I’ll bet your unit overlooks the ocean and has a balcony. How can we stop him from climbing the railing? The outlets aren’t kid proofed and—”

“Valid points.” But she’s talking about us living together. That makes me smile. “I’ll make alternate arrangements.”

“No. My house is familiar to him and—”

“It’s an hour from both our work and his school.” I shake my head. It’s also a place where she can find comfortable places to retreat from me. That’s not acceptable. That’s not my only objection, however. “Have you ever had sex with Makaio in that house?”