She looked at him uncomprehendingly for a moment, before she came back to reality with a thump. She shivered in automatic reaction to the loss of contact with the warmth radiating from him, and wrapped her arms around herself.
Well, of course she'd thought about it! For years she'd thought about it. Imagined it. But it was useless. Right now they could offer each other nothing—except the truce they'd called the other night at the charity event. Just as it had always been, their timing was off.
Her chin came up. “What if I did think about it? It doesn't mean anything. We want different things, Quentin.”
His jaw tightened. “Not really.”
“What?”
He raked his hand through his hair. “I've been thinking about what you said. You know, about needing to find someone fast and that being impractical, so artificial insemination being the next best thing.”
“Yes?”
He slanted her a look she couldn't read. “You said four dates, one month, was the minimum amount of time before you'd consider marriage.” He paused. “I can deal with that time frame.”
Her breath caught. “What do you mean?”
“Surprised that you don't have a lock on shock value, Elizabeth?”
“No, it's just… I mean…” She gave up on trying to form a complete sentence and wrung out a strangled “I don't understand.”
“Let's just say I think Allison may have hit on something.”
“That may be a first. You and Allison agreeing.”
He gave her a surprised look, nodded and then grinned for a second. “Just don't ever let her know. She'll never let me live it down.” He sobered and his gray eyes connected with hers. “I want kids. You want kids. We're both prepared to do some unorthodox things to get them.”
“But…”
He took a few steps away from her and then turned back to face her. His charcoal suit, obviously custom-made, did nothing to disguise the male power beneath.
“I know what I said the day of the barbecue. What I meant was I had no intention of producing grandkids just so my mother can play grandma. I haven't been looking to become a father.” His gaze raked her. “But I'm a businessman and I'd be a fool to turn down a good deal.”
A good deal. That's what she'd been reduced to. A little flame died inside of her. She hated herself when she heard herself say, “What sort of deal?”
He shoved his hands in his trouser pockets again. “Have you thought about how you're going to manage with this baby? You've got a new business that needs all of your attention. That's a full-time job in itself.”
“I'll manage. This is the twenty-first century.”
“Precious Bundles has been in business, what? Two or three years? My guess is that your balance sheet is still not looking rosy—” he paused “—or rather, that it is.”
Liz flushed. “That's about to change.” Precious Bundles was still operating in the red. Most new businesses, she knew, failed within two years, unable to make the critical leap to ongoing profitability.
“What? With the construction of the day-care center at Whittaker Enterprises? Then what? The baby'll be due right around the time you'll need to land another big project. And who is going to hire a business whose sole creative power will be about to give birth, and will be out of commission for a while?”
Much as she hated to admit it, even to herself, he was right. She was so close to making the business a success, and paying off her small business loan. She just needed a little more time—time she didn't have now.
Quentin was regarding her intently, seemingly able to read the flitting emotions on her face.
He walked over to her rose print couch and sat on the back of it, his legs stretched out ahead of him. “Look, I don't want to depress or scare you.”
She gave him a skeptical look. “Really?” she said with a sarcasm that would have made Allison proud.
“Yes, Elizabeth,” he said quietly.
Why did he have to call her Elizabeth in that quiet way just when she was building defenses against him?
“We're two adults who are attracted to each other. You want a baby.” He blew out a breath. “And I eventually want kids, too.”
“Eventually?”
“Yeah, it's not something that's been on my mind a whole lot. I haven't been planning on getting married. At least, not the traditional love-and-happily-ever-after variety.”
“Because of Vanessa?”
His eyes narrowed at the mention of his ex-fiancee. “You could say that.”
Quentin's engagement had been called off seven years ago just before the wedding. Quentin had remained closemouthed about it all. Not even Allison knew what really had happened.
Liz had been guiltily relieved when the wedding was cancelled. Although she'd met Vanessa at several social occasions, she hadn't really known her.
She forced herself to point out the obvious. “You don't have to be married to have kids.”
“In my book you do.”
He was making her insides clench nervously. “What are you saying, Quentin?”
“I'm saying, let's give it a shot. Four dates. At the end of it, we decide whether we like each other enough to get married and have a kid together. Right away.”
The suggestion was shocking. Clinical, businesslike, devoid of emotion, but shocking nonetheless. “Don't you want to marry someone you love?” she blurted.
“I told you, I'm done with that. Elizabeth, I'm a very wealthy man. I don't have any illusions about how the vast majority of women see me.”
She looked at him sitting on the back of her sofa, six-foot-two of prime manhood with looks that would make even her oldest clients swoon. Was the man crazy? “And how do you think the vast majority of women see you?”
“As a checkbook,” he said curtly, then went on, “what I'm offering here is not the love-and-romance stuff, but something better.”
“Better?” she echoed.
He pushed away from the sofa and started pacing. “Yes, better. You get peace of mind and the baby you want. Financial support to make sure the baby is always well cared for and to make sure Precious Bundles stays afloat until you can focus on it again. As for me, my parents will get the grandchild they've been pining for, and which they think it's my duty to produce. Legitimately.”
“What happens after the baby is born?”
“That'll be up to us. We could stay married.” He shrugged. “Our arrangement wouldn't be so different from those of lots of other couples at the country club.”