overreacting to his grandmotherâs absurd demand. His grandmother was being manipulative. She was pushing his buttons. She was overstepping her bounds.
But he had a lifetime of practice ignoring his grandmother.
Besides, only a fool would completely ignore a trusted confidante. And as infuriating as Grandmother could be, she had raised him. She knew him better than any person in the entire world, better even than Zach. Ethan had seen the honest concern on his grandmotherâs face; he had recognized the heartsick worry that had softened her to tears when she spoke her mind about his womanizing. If she truly believed that his spending mindless time with a shifting parade of women made him a weaker businessmanâa lesser manâthen he had to give some credence to what she said. He had to accept the business argument.
And who better to settle down with than the woman who stood beside him? Sloane was real. She had true dreams, actual goals. If he closed his eyes, he could still feel her nestled beside him in bed at the Eastern, her body as spent as his but her mind still restless, still intent on sharing, on telling him what she wanted to build, how she wanted to make the world a better place.
Not one of them has been like you. He longed to emphasize his words with a touch. He could see the vulnerable curve of Sloaneâs jaw. Just trace it with a fingerâ¦turn her toward him, tilt her head, slant her lips beneath his own.
But he couldnât touch her now. This had to be about more than simply the lust of his body for hers.
He forced himself to swallow a raw mouthful of Scotch, to substitute one heat with another.
Sloane filled the silence that had stretched out for far too long, making herself say the painful words, the difficult admission that sheâd thought about for three straight days. âWe had a single night, Ethan. Iâm no different than those other women are. Iâm not going to hold you to some promise that you made on the spur of the moment. Iâm not going to use our baby to force you to do anything you donât really want to do.â There. Sheâd said it. Sheâd voiced her greatest fear. Whatever Ethan said now, she would know that she had been true to herself. True to her child.
As if in answer, he set his glass next to hers before reaching inside the pocket of his jacket. In the darknessof the terrace, it took a moment to decipher what he took out. The black velvet nearly disappeared into the night. He offered it to her on his open palm, his fingers extended as if he were trying to gentle a wild animal.
She plucked the box from his hand before she was fully aware of what it was. The hinge was stiff; one curious touch threw the box open to the moonlight and the stars. She caught her breath as she saw the most stunning diamond ring sheâd ever imagined. An emerald cut, perfect in its simplicity. A platinum band. Two carats, at least.
âEthan,â she breathed, half-afraid that the ring would disappear as she broke its magic spell.
When heâd blurted out his proposal on Tuesday, she hadnât really believed him. She couldnât. Things like that didnât happen to her, had never happened to her.
But a diamond ring was different. A diamond ring, offered to her here under the stars, meant that heâd thought this whole thing through. He meant it.
If she passed the paternity test, a nasty voice whispered at the back of her mind. But of course she would pass it. And heâd be a fool to take her word that the baby was his, without medical proof. Sheâd already seen the swarm of women waiting for his attention back there in the gallery. He had to protect himself.
The negative thought, though, fed her other insecurities. How could she be certain that he would stay with her? Sure, he said that she was different, that the night theyâd shared was special. And, in a way, it was. It had resulted in a child. But the baby was one