Page 71 of Faith

“Hmm.”

“So, what did they want?”

“What?”

“You said they asked you something. I heard you say it to your mother.”

She shifted in her seat. “I don’t want you to lose your temper over this.”

“I knew it,” he said, anger coursing through his blood. “You will call them right now and tell them you are not on the market. You work for me. You’re mine.”

“Excuse me?”

“I will not allow it.”

“First of all, I didn’t ask. Second of all, they did not want me working for them. They want me to be a surrogate.”

He frowned and settled his hands on his hips. “A surrogate? For what?”

She rolled her eyes. “For them. They want to have a baby.”

For a brief moment, his brain ceased to work. The image of Nicola’s belly swollen with his child flashed through his thoughts. He couldn’t shake it loose.

“Why are you staring at me like that?”

He shook his head but not the picture of a pregnant Nicola. “No reason.”

The image still wouldn’t get out of his head. He had never thought to have children. It wasn’t something he yearned for—until now. He wanted them, and he wanted them with Nicola.

“That’s what the guys wanted. They weren’t interested in stealing me away from you.”

“But they are.” The idea that another man would have a child with her was unacceptable. Even through in vitro he would not stand for it.

“What?”

“You’re going to be my PA while pregnant with their child? I don’t think so.”

Nicola’s eyes narrowed as her spine straightened. In the four years he had known her, Jensen had learned that was not a look you wanted from Nicola. It usually ended with someone on the floor in a fetal position.

“First, I wasn’t thinking about it. I told them I would because they wouldn’t take no for an answer today. My plan was to let them down gently.”

“Oh. Good.”

“Although, if I decided to do it, I would do whatever the hell I wanted. There is nothing in my contract about having children. If there had been, I wouldn’t have signed it.”

She stood and walked past him. He knew he had made another faux pas when talking about pregnancies. It wasn’t something he was accustomed to. Not with anyone, well, maybe except Nicola. He always seemed to make mistakes with her. Of course, she could be just the only person who pointed them out.

And that made him love her even more.

He grabbed her hand before she could escape. She stopped.

“I’m not in the mood now, Jensen.”

He heard the irritation in her voice, but there was something else. Something that sounded a lot like hurt. It was the last thing he had wanted. But, just like their first morning after her dinner with Serenity, Jensen had said something that hurt her. Nicola wasn’t a woman who was overly sensitive.

“Jensen, just let me go be mad.”

“I’m okay with that. Except you aren’t just mad. I’m sorry I hurt you.”