Christmas Baby For The Billionaire. Donna Alward

hand stilled halfway to the table, the glass trembling in her fingers. “Moving? As in…”

      “Nearer to me. So our baby could be close to both parents.”

      “Not with you.”

      His eyes widened. Did she think he was going to ask her to move in with him? Or “do the right thing” and propose? Their affair had been amazing, but there wasn’t love between them.

      “This isn’t the fifties. We don’t have to get married to parent this child. But I did wonder if you’d consider moving somewhere closer to, well, me. Of course, I’d look after everything financially.”

      Her throat worked for several seconds while she studied her fingers, then looked up. Her eyes were clear and there was no censure on her face, either. “It’s a generous offer, Jeremy. But my life is here, as you just heard. I’m truly glad you want to be a part of his or her life, but I’m not prepared to completely uproot mine to make that happen, any more than you’re willing to uproot yours.”

      She was right. If the shoe were on the other foot, he’d never agree to leaving his life behind and moving to small-town Nova Scotia. They were from totally different worlds.

      “I respect that,” he said, putting down his knife and fork. “I really do. But I thought I should at least put the possibility on the table.”

      “Of course.”

      “We don’t have to decide right away, right? You’ve got a few more months to go.”

      She nodded. Then her expression softened. “About today… I’m sorry if I picked at a sore spot. Was your childhood awful? Is that why you don’t talk about your family?”

      He sliced into the steak and considered. She was going to find out at some point, wasn’t she? All she had to do was get on the internet and do a bit of digging and she’d find out who he was. “My older sister works on Wall Street. And my big brother moved to California straight out of MIT. He worked for a few start-ups right out of college and then started his own. Now he’s CEO of a Fortune 500 tech company.”

      “Wow.”

      “Yeah. Being in property, I’m kind of the underachiever of the family.”

      “But property is a huge investment,” she contradicted, and he was amused and a bit flattered that she jumped to his defense. “And you don’t sell average houses. Your clientele are all rich, right?”

      “Yeah. Dropping a few mil on a house is no big deal for them.” He realized she had no idea exactly how wealthy he was, and it both amused and pleased him.

      “It’s a whole other world.”

      He looked at her and held her gaze. “They’re people, just like anyone else. They have their own pressures, insecurities, heartache. It’s true that money can’t buy happiness, you know.”

      “But it sure can help take some of the stress off,” she remarked, leaning back in her chair. “So how much are you worth, Jeremy?”

      She said it lightly, teasing even, but he figured now was the time to be honest.

      “One point two billion,” he replied.

      She burst out laughing, then stopped abruptly as he merely kept watching her. He knew it was a crazy sum of money. Some days he didn’t believe it himself.

      “Wait. You’re not joking.”

      “No, I’m not.”

      “You’ve made that much money in realty?” Her lips dropped open in disbelief.

      “Hardly.” He pushed his plate away, leaving a few little potatoes, and reached for the beer. “But I had a big trust fund—the one thing my dad left me. And I have a sister on Wall Street who manages my money for me. Add all my assets together…and you get that number.”

      She breathed out a couple of curse words that made him grin. “I always knew you had money, but…holy—”

      “Our child won’t have to worry about a thing, and neither will you.” On impulse, he leaned over and took her hand. “I don’t know what this is going to look like, but I do know this. I promise that I will never abandon you or our kid. If that means we’re just friendly and we co-parent, then that’s how it’ll be. But if you need anything at all, you just have to pick up the phone. I’ll be there for you.”

      He meant every word. He also knew that what he’d just said had essentially tied him to her for the rest of his life.

      What had he just done?