finally found her voice. “What are you doing?”
“Hmm?”
“Are you crazy?”
“What?” When he put his hand over the mouthpiece and glared at her like she was some sort of annoying irritation, Ava saw red.
“You can’t force me to marry you!” She jammed her hands on her hips and shouted the last word, anger surging up to scorch her throat.
Slowly, Cal hung up, forcing restraint into every muscle of his body. Her hands fisted on her hips, hips that curved into the worn denim and came this close to being indecent. His eyes travelled upwards, past the ratty shirt that skimmed her waist, the rolled-up sleeves over tanned forearms, to the low neckline that revealed a smooth expanse of throat.
He finally fixed on her face, a face he’d seen in his dreams, deep in the throes of passion. Her silken black hair was half up, half down, the remnants of a ponytail feathering her jaw. A stubborn jaw that was now rigid with fury.
It was the offer of a lifetime, marrying into the Prescott wealth. He may have preempted her blackmail attempt but she’d still be well compensated. What the hell was she ticked off about? Thrown, he glanced at her mouth.
It did him in, seeing that lush mouth again. Gentle creases around her lips denoted a lifetime in the sun, but all he could think about was the softness of that flesh when it had teased and tempted him. How she’d placed hot, searing kisses across his chest, trailed her tongue over his belly before—
With a silent curse, he scowled, which only seemed to anger her.
“I am not marrying you.” She enunciated the words as if he was missing a few brain cells.
He scowled. “Why not?”
Her eyes rounded in incredulity. “Because for one, you don’t tell someone you’re marrying them, you ask them. Second, we don’t even know each other. And third, I don’t want to marry you.”
“I know you need money to save this place. I’m making you an offer.” When she remained silent, he turned the screw a little more. “You get your money and I get a wife.”
Her breath sucked in. “I don’t need your money.”
“Because you’ve got so many other offers, right? Your neighbor…Sawyer?” He lifted his eyebrows mockingly. “He’s mortgaged to the hilt.” As he watched her face drain of color he said flatly, “What, you didn’t know?”
She said nothing, just stared at him with those bright blue eyes full of recrimination.
“The way I see it, you don’t have a choice,” he said now. “I’ll give you until tomorrow to think it through, but we both know your answer.”
Ava was speechless, floored by the depth of his arrogance. “If you care so much, then why not just sue for custody?” she finally whispered. “Why marriage?”
“Because I do not ignore my responsibilities.” His voice tightened in the spacious kitchen. “Did you intend to tell me about this baby at all?”
She quickly drew a hand over her stomach as the blood rushed from her face. She couldn’t think, couldn’t even breathe with his ever-watchful eyes, the lingering scent of his warm skin, the aftermath of his luscious voice in the air all around her. “I…didn’t think you’d want to know. You’re Cal Prescott and—”
“You don’t know what I want.” Fury flickered, working his jaw. “You walked into my life, spent the night, then walked right out again.”
“So this is your way of getting back at me?”
“This is not about you. It’s about a child.” His eyes dropped to her belly, then up again, his expression unreadable. “My child.”
He effectively ended their conversation with a flick of his hand, a white business card between his two fingers. When she didn’t take it he slammed it down on the counter. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Almost as if he couldn’t stand to remain in her presence a second longer, he turned and stalked out the door.
Chapter Two
Ava was still standing in the kitchen, Cal’s card clutched in her cold fingers, when her Aunt Jillian walked in with a handful of grocery bags, a warm smile on her weathered face. “Ava, darling, I thought we could have chicken for—”
“Cal Prescott was just here.”
Jillian put the bags on the table. “The man you met in Sydney?”
“The same.”
Jillian opened the fridge and shoved a block of cheese inside. “Really? Is he interested in staying at Jindalee?”
Ava swallowed. Even though she’d given Jillian the sanitised version, her aunt was a perceptive woman. “Not exactly. Apparently he thinks I’m trying to blackmail him—and with this place teetering on the verge, I can’t say I blame him.”
Jillian whirled, her lined face a mask of shock. “Oh, my. That’s not good.”
Ava sank into a kitchen chair and put her face in her hands. “I don’t believe this. And now he…” She sighed. “Jillian, I have to tell you something. Sit down.”
Jillian kept right on putting away the groceries. “If it’s about you being pregnant, I already guessed.”
Lord, did the whole world know? Ava’s jaw sagged until she snapped it shut with a click. “How? When?”
“You can’t hide a sudden craving for cheese-and-pickle sandwiches. Plus,” she gently reached out and smoothed Ava’s hair, “your hair went curly. Your grandma and I were exactly the same. It’s a Reilly thing.” Jillian quickly enveloped her in a hug. “Darling, are you okay with this?”
“Yes.” With a relieved sigh, Ava let herself sink into the embrace even as her head spun with the last hour’s events. “You’re not upset I’m not married?”
“It’s not the Middle Ages, darling. And I’m not your father,” she added pointedly.
Ava just squeezed Jillian harder. “Cal thinks I did it on purpose,” she muffled against the woman’s soft shoulder. When Jillian pulled back, Ava avoided her aunt’s eyes, unable to face the questions there. “And now he’s demanding we get married.”
Jillian went back to unpacking. “That’s very chivalrous of him, especially in this day and age.”
“No, it’s not! I can’t even begin to list the things wrong with this—we’re complete strangers, we live separate lives, have careers, not to mention what the town would say—”
“Oh, my giddy aunt!” Jillian slammed a can of tomatoes down on the counter. “Your business is about to go under, you’re pregnant by a rich, attractive, single man—a man who wants to do the right thing and marry you—and you’re worried about what a bunch of old busybodies would say?”
Ava
