On that, she broke from his magnetic beam and stood.
She could, surprisingly, cope with him being a jerk (just barely) but his fake concern was something she couldn’t bear.
He stood with her and she walked around him to the basin saying, “I’m fine.”
She leaned into the basin and rinsed her mouth, hoping he’d leave, something he did not do.
When she was done, she grabbed a towel and wiped her mouth. Then she pulled the now ever present roll of mints from her back pocket and put two in her mouth before returning the pack to her pocket.
Then she moved toward the door.
James brought her up short with a hand on her arm.
She looked at his hand then at him. “We should join the others.”
He ignored her remark, didn’t remove his hand (which felt, by the way, like it was burning her skin) and said, “You’re too thin.”
“I’m told that happens,” she informed him.
“It’s my understanding women gain weight while pregnant,” he replied.
“Not in the first trimester.”
“You’re completing the first trimester,” he reminded her.
“This will pass,” she assured him.
“I’d like to attend an appointment with you and your obstetrician.”
“I’ll arrange that,” she agreed but she’d agree to anything to get away from him. She tried to pull her arm from his grasp to get out of the close confines of the bathroom as soon as humanly possible but he didn’t let go.
“Next week,” he demanded and her eyes flew to his.
“Dr. Flanagan is very busy,” Belle told him.
“I’m sure I can convince her to find an appointment for us in her diary,” James returned.
With the way he said it, who he was and the mountains of money he had, Belle was sure too.
“Fine,” she gritted between her teeth and looked away.
“Belle,” he called and her eyes snapped back to him. “I want you moving to The Point.”
“You’ve made that clear,” Belle assured him.
“I want your verbal agreement, right now.”
She shook her head and pulled at her arm but he still didn’t let go so she gave up.
“Belle, we’re agreeing this now,” he demanded.
She looked at his ear. “Give me some time to think about it.”
“No.”
Her eyes moved back to his and she asked on a whisper, “Why?”
“You know why.”
“No,” she said with complete honesty. “I don’t.”
He regarded her a moment as if to assess her truthfulness then he moved closer even though he was already close.
Belle backed away but she had nowhere to retreat and came up against the door.
When she did, he put his hand not on already her to the door by her waist and got even closer.
“You want to know why?” he asked quietly and she nodded, at his proximity unable to speak. Feeling the heat from his body, feeling overwhelmed by his large frame in a way she’d not felt when she was with him before and he continued, “All right, I’ll tell you why.”
The way he said that made her think she didn’t actually want to know why.
She didn’t get a chance to stop him.
“Because, three months ago, you walked away from me without looking back. Now you’re carrying my child and therefore, out of necessity as we’re sharing parentage of that child, I’m not giving you the opportunity to do it again. Because you found out you were pregnant and you didn’t intend to tell me. Because you’re obviously having a difficult pregnancy and I intend to make certain it goes as smoothly as possible and ends successfully.”
There was a lot there, most of it Belle had no intention of addressing.
So she addressed the only thing she could.
“I’m not having a difficult pregnancy. I’m told what I’m experiencing is entirely natural,” she told him.
“I’d like to be assured of that by a qualified doctor,” he replied.
“My mother went through the same thing with me,” Belle pushed.
“That may be but I still want an expert opinion.”
Belle looked away, not willing to fight it. Especially when he was that close and muttered again, “Fine.”
“You’ll move in?” he asked and her eyes darted back to his.
“That’s not what I meant,” she answered.
“That’s what we’re talking about.”
She swallowed then took in a deep breath, looked at his nose and admitted, “I don’t want to live here. I don’t feel safe here. I feel safe at home. I want to stay there. I promise to keep you informed and involved however you like that to be.”
“If you don’t feel safe here then I’ll move in with you at your home.”
At these words, Belle’s body locked and her gaze jerked from his nose to his eyes.
“You can’t move in with me,” she breathed.
“Why not?” he enquired.
“Because I own a two bedroom cottage. With Mom and Gram there, I have a full house. Mom’s already sleeping on the couch. There’s nowhere for you to sleep.”
“I’ll sleep with you.”
Belle felt her lips part and her eyes went wide as shock reverberated through her system.
“You are mad,” she said on a barely there whisper.
“I’ll do what I have to do to be close to this child,” he replied on a not at all barely there decree.
“I’ll move to The Point,” she blurted, then thought better of it immediately and was about to take it back but he saw his advantage and he was a heck of a lot quicker.
He pushed in closer, so close her head had to tilt back but she was against the door. She felt the wood against her head and had to move toward him to give it room to move so she could look up at him. She felt his chest brushing her breasts and even his hips brushing her belly.
Her mind blanked of everything but his nearness which suffused her senses.
“So, we’re agreed, you’re moving in,” he declared, his voice low and rumbly.
She blinked, trying to catch a thought and stall for time so she murmured, “James –”
“We’re agreed,” he pressed ruthlessly, dipping his head further so his face was an inch away and all she could see were his beautiful eyes.
“Yes,” she whispered.
“You won’t renege?” he demanded.
“No.”
“Make that a promise, Belle,” he ordered and she blinked again.
“What?”
“Promise me, right here, you’ll move in and you won’t renege.”
Belatedly she realised her heart was hammering in her chest and she was finding it difficult to breathe.
Something about this cleared her mind and she was able to focus.
Therefore, with some effort, she plucked up the courage to negotiate.
“I’ll promise you I’ll move in if you promise never to fight for custody. We’ll determine arrangements that will be best for the baby, just you and I, without dragging him or her through that kind of mess.”
“Agreed,” he said instantly.
At this, she relaxed which was a mistake because it pressed her body closer to the heat and hardness of his.
She tensed again and looked at his ear. “Move back.”
She felt him hesitate then he did as he was asked.
The moment he did, Belle turned to the door and put her hand on the knob but she stopped and was forced to look at him again when he spoke.
“I need to ask something more.”
Belle didn’t speak. She just kept looking at him.
He continued, “Mum is excited about this. She wants to be involved and she –”
Belle cut him off, “I’m happy for Joy to be as involved as she wants. She’s a lovely woman and she’s the baby’s Grandma.”
The air in the room changed. It turned unpleasant and Belle saw his face had again grown hard.
“You seem to have forgotten that when you decided to keep this from me,” he told her, his voice as hard as his face.