“I’m sorry,” she said, struggling to keep her voice steady. “Brady’s already asleep. He was just worn out.”
“It’s all right. I wanted to talk to you anyway.”
Too much to hope he wouldn’t make one last push to change her mind. A man like him wouldn’t be as successful as he was without a dynamic personality, a stubborn streak as wide as the Grand Canyon. Probably it worked for him with women, too. And she might even have changed her mind if her acute response to him just now hadn’t convinced her she’d be safer away from him and Brady.
The thought of that sweet little boy punched a hole in the dam of her feelings and the tears she’d barely managed to hold back trickled out.
“There’s nothing left to say, Jason.” This time her voice broke.
“Are you crying?” He moved close and put his hands on her arms.
“No.”
“If I haven’t said it already, I will now. You’re a lousy liar.”
“It’s not full-on crying. Just a tear or two.” She sniffled and tried to step away.
His grip tightened and he turned her, pulling her into his arms and against his broad chest. Wrapped in his comforting embrace was probably the safest she’d ever felt in her life. How could that be when the things he made her feel were big and scary? The emotions swimming inside made her want to both run and stay.
He rubbed a hand up and down her back. “Don’t cry, Maggie. Everything will be fine.”
“I know. It’s just—” A giant knot of emotion cut off her words.
“You’re sad.”
She nodded against his chest.
“You want to stay.”
She nodded again.
“So don’t go.”
She shook her head, then permitted herself one last moment to savor the sweet, solid feel of him before stepping away. “I have to. Everything is all arranged.”
“It can be unarranged. I’ll call Ginger and cancel your replacement.”
Brushing the moisture from her cheeks, she blew out a long breath. “Then what?”
“We go back to business as usual.”
“And what happens two months from now if you change your mind? You find Ms. Right and don’t need a nanny and kick me to the curb.” She looked at him, the fiercely determined expression in his eyes. “What about me? That sounds incredibly selfish, but I—”
“I’ll have a contract drawn up for any length of time you want. If my situation changes, I’ll pay it out, no questions asked. I’ll even add a rider for a bonus, proportional to time employed versus the amount of time left on the contract.”
She realized he didn’t get the emotional toll this was taking on her. “You think money can solve any problem?”
Without hesitation he said, “Yes.”
“You’re wrong, Jason. Money isn’t the solution to everything.”
“It doesn’t necessarily buy happiness, but it can buy a way out of problems. And that may be as close to happy as a person can get.”
“Money doesn’t keep your heart from breaking,” she protested.
“Do you love Brady?” He nudged her chin up with his knuckle, forcing her gaze to his. “Don’t lie to me, Maggie. I’ll know if you do. You’re exceptionally bad at it.”
“I guess I missed Deception 101 when I was in the convent.”
“You’re stalling. Do you love my son?”
Judging by the way her heart was breaking, the answer to that question was easy. “Yes.”
“Then don’t go. Stay and help him grow into the best person he can be.”
She shook her head. “My mind is made up. There’s nothing you can say to change it.”
“There must be.” A muscle in his jaw moved as his dark eyes turned almost black with frustration. “What if I asked you to marry me?”
She stared at him for several moments, not realizing she’d been holding her breath until she dragged air into her lungs. “That’s a joke, and I’m not even going to dignify it with a response.”
“Why not? I’m dead serious.”
“Oh, please.”
He rested his hands on lean hips, a challenging stance, as he met her gaze. There was a glitter in his eyes, as if he’d hit on the right button. “Marriage is a serious contract. It would protect your rights, something you never had in the past.”
Her heart was pounding, yet it felt like all the blood had drained from her head. She couldn’t think straight. He must be kidding, toying with her. And yet he looked completely determined.
“Marriage?” She held out her hands, a helpless gesture. “I don’t even know how to respond to that.”
“You need to come up with an answer, Maggie, because I still need one.” They stared at each other and tension rolled off him in waves. “How much will it take? When you showed up, I couldn’t help thinking I’d hit the jackpot. Nothing you’ve done has changed my opinion. I want to keep you. Name your price. How much will it take to convince you that I’ve never been more serious in my life? You’re the answer to my prayers.”
Prayer. She remembered another motherless child at Good Shepherd Home who prayed for a mother. That home was the only permanent one Maggie had ever known and it was still a haven for children. But not much longer unless Sister Margaret’s prayers were getting results. She’d told Lyssa that God gives you what you need at the appropriate time.
The home needed money. A lot of it.
“Answer me, Maggie. What will it cost for you to marry me?”
She said the first thing that popped into her mind. “A million dollars.”
“Done,” he said without hesitation.
Chapter Five
“I don’t believe you’d give me a million dollars to marry you,” Maggie said.
“You don’t know me very well.” He stared her down. “Believe it.”
When he calculated a nine-month pregnancy as opposed to raising the child for an indefinite length of time, Jason figured it was a bargain. He’d paid Catherine as much just to bring Brady into the world and she’d been giddy at the number of zeros on the bonus check simply for staying out of their lives.
Not that he wanted that greedy, grasping, self-centered woman anywhere near his son, but when he’d made the deal, he hadn’t counted on the complications of caring for and bringing up a child.
Maggie’s protective instincts had kicked in before she even saw Brady. She’d refused to talk until the baby was comforted and content. After Brady’s first nannies, her presence these last few weeks had been like a cooling weather system from the north taking the heat off a desert summer.
Not until Maggie had walked into his life had he understood what a difference the right woman could make, in terms of child rearing. It would be stupid to let her get away, and he hadn’t taken the family company to a whole new level of success by being stupid.
Maggie stared at him as if he had two heads. “I don’t know whether to laugh or be afraid.”
“Why?”
“Why?” she