A Hard Man to Love Read online

  “Nothing, but—”

  “Let me guess, a father’s not as important as a mother, right?”

  “I never said that. I know how you feel because I never knew my father, either.” A common thread between the two of them, but whereas she’d seen it as a pain they could share, he never wanted to discuss it. “But a child needs its mother.”

  “And its father.”

  His implacable expression worried her, and she tried to mollify him. “And you’ll have all the access you want.”

  “I don’t want access.”

  “Well, if you think I’m going to hand my daughter over to you after she’s born, you are sadly mistaken.”

  He froze, staring at her. “Daughter? You know for sure it’s a girl?”

  Eva paused and nodded. “Yes. This week I found out I’m having a girl.” She’d chosen to get a 3-D ultrasound done to determine the gender of the baby.

  His gaze lowered to her stomach. “A girl.”

  He seemed stunned, as if hearing the sex of the baby really brought home the fact that a life was growing inside her. He ran his hand down the back of his head, across the black silk of his hair—hair she’d lovingly caressed with her own fingertips. She could almost feel the texture of it.

  Eva’s voice gentled. “Derrick, I know why you’re saying these things, but you never have to worry about me cutting you out of your daughter’s life. She’ll know you love her. The relationship you didn’t have with your biological father has no bearing on your relationship with our daughter.”

  He lifted his cool gaze to her face. “How much?” He pulled out his phone.

  She frowned. “How much what?”

  “How much will it take for you to give her up once she’s born? I can be very generous. I have my accountant on speed dial, and with one phone call, I can have any dollar amount you request transferred into the account you choose within minutes.”

  He couldn’t be serious. “Wait, what?” Eva shook her head in confusion. “Did I hear you correctly? Did you just offer to buy my baby?”

  Chapter Two

  He didn’t seem a bit perturbed, as if she’d overreacted—as if he’d offered to purchase a cup of coffee instead of a human being.

  “I wouldn’t use those words.”

  “What words would you use?”

  “I’m offering you another option, freeing you from the responsibility—”

  “Are you out of your mind? You think you can pay me off and I’ll walk away? My baby is not for sale.”

  “Calm down.”

  She tried, but couldn’t. Her head felt as if a five-piece band, made up entirely of percussionists, pounded out a constant beat inside her skull.

  “What kind of woman do you think I am? You can’t seriously think I would agree to something like that.”

  “Everything has a price, Eva.”

  His matter-of-fact tone pushed her toward hysteria again. “Not me, and not my child. You don’t have enough money to make me hand her over to someone like you!”

  His face hardened at the insult, the ensuing silence only disturbed by the sound of a few cars passing by. A small family with laughing children descended from an SUV to have breakfast at the restaurant across the street.

  “Do you really want to do this?” he asked quietly. Too quietly.

  Alarm bells sounded in her head at the determined set of his jaw. When she’d called him to tell him about her pregnancy, she had never considered he would want his child so much he would do anything to get her.

  “Do you really want to battle with me? Because I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get what I want.”

  Her heart raced at an alarming speed. This calmer Derrick frightened her more than the one who had withstood her hysterical outbursts moments before.

  “I didn’t want to do this,” he continued. “But you’ve left me no choice.” He reached inside his jacket and removed an envelope, thrusting it in her face.

  Eva took it. Apprehension caused goose pimples to spring up on her arms despite the morning’s warmth. “What is this?”

  “Open it.”

  Filled with nervous tension, she tore open the unmarked envelope. It contained a letter, typed on ornate tan stationery with the name of a well-known law firm in embossed letters across the top. Her fingers tightened on the paper as she scanned the contents.

  “If you don’t change your answer, you’ll receive a certified copy in the mail within the next day or two,” Derrick said. “I brought along a copy in case I needed it, and clearly I do.”

  The gist of the letter expressed the attorneys’ intention to file for sole custody of the unborn child on behalf of their client, Derrick Hoffman, as soon as the baby was born.

  Eva frowned, shaking her head emphatically. She suddenly felt ill. “No, no. You won’t get away with this.”

  “Try me.”

  “Courts don’t separate babies from their mothers.”

  “If you want to take the chance, go right ahead. But here’s something you should know. My father left everything to me. That means I have almost unlimited funds to fight you as long and as hard as I need to. How difficult do you think it would be for my attorneys to prove I’m the better option for our daughter, hmm?” He held up his thumb to start counting. “One, you haven’t had a full-time job since January. Two, at the job you have now, you only earn minimum wage, and you work part-time. Three, you don’t have insurance, so your access to adequate health care is questionable. Four—”

  “Enough!” Eva crushed the paper in her hand. She stared down at the sidewalk, fighting back the tears of helplessness. Her heart felt swollen and heavy in her chest. He couldn’t be this cruel. What had she ever seen in him? “Please don’t do this.”

  “I gave you two other options,” he said. “If you marry me, you’ll live a comfortable lifestyle, and we can raise our daughter together. If marriage to me is so unappealing, I’m willing to take on the responsibility of being a single parent. You can give her to me willingly, and I’ll compensate you for it.”

  She wrapped protective arms around her midsection. “I only have to choose, huh? Door A or door B. Or I’m stuck with door C.”

  “It doesn’t have to be this way.” An odd note in his voice caused her to lift her head, but his face didn’t show the same emotion she knew openly displayed on hers.

  “What about love, Derrick? Does that even matter to you?”

  “Why do you think I’m doing this? You expect me to walk away from my own flesh and blood?”

  “I thought we could come to a workable agreement. We need a middle ground. Our relationship is finished, but the only other real option you’ve given me is to pack up my life and come live with you.”

  His eyes glittered down at her. “Our relationship may have ended, but I wasn’t done with you.”

  The quietly spoken words rocked her. Her heart stuttered in her chest. “Is that what this is about?” she asked in a soft voice. “You’re angry because I ended the relationship?”

  She’d stopped seeing him as an act of self-preservation. Whenever the phone rang, she ran for it, her heart beating fast in the hope it was him saying he was on his way to see her. What was she supposed to do, with her feelings for him growing stronger and stronger, knowing when they weren’t together, other women slept in his bed? Knowing some other woman’s lips trailed kisses across his golden skin? If she could flip a switch and stop caring about him, life would be easier.

  She’d already grown disgusted with herself at the way she’d gladly accepted the open relationship he tossed at her. She couldn’t continue to see him when she knew she wanted more than he could give her. If there had been any doubt before, his actions today left no room for doubt that her feelings for him were completely one-sided.

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” he said scathingly. “I wouldn’t give up my freedom to get back at you, and if I only wanted sex, I could get it anytime of the day or night I want. But what I want is my child, with me, at al
l times.”

  The callously spoken words crushed her. Of course she knew he could have any woman anytime he wanted. He was wealthy, good-looking, and charming when he wanted to be. What woman could resist such a combination?

  She lifted her chin, refusing to be bullied. “Then I guess we’re deadlocked.”

  The muscle in his left cheek flexed as he tried to rein in his temper. “You’re making a mistake.”

  Tears stung her eyes, and she didn’t care if he saw them. “You’re making a mistake. Please leave. I don’t want to see you.”

  “Don’t be foolish and make an emotional decision. Think about what I’m offering you.”

  “Get out of here, Derrick, and don’t come back.”

  Unfazed, he continued to talk in the same calm voice. “I’m staying in the beach villa I always rented for us when I came here. I don’t leave until noon tomorrow. You know how to get in touch with me. If you give me your answer by noon, it’ll be like this conversation never took place.”

  “I already gave you my answer.”

  His emotionless eyes stared down into hers. “I’ll excuse your behavior because I realize your hormones are all messed up and you’re not thinking straight—”

  “Excuse my behavior?” She laughed, her tone shrill. “Don’t do me any favors!”

  “My offer is only good until tomorrow, so you need to spend the rest of the day thinking long and hard about this decision and everything you’re giving up. If you marry me, you’ll live a very comfortable life.”

  “Are you deaf? I don’t want to marry you, Derrick. I couldn’t care less about your money or your lifestyle. They mean nothing to me. I don’t care enough about any of it to want to put up with marriage to you.”

  She hated getting so riled up, so emotional, she didn’t even know herself. Her mother, originally from the South, had been a genteel woman and would turn over in her grave if she saw Eva’s behavior. But even her mother would have to understand how Derrick pushed her buttons. Derrick could test the patience of Job. His dogged determination to get his way may be a plus in business, but it was a less than admirable trait on a personal level.

  “Stop and think,” he said through clenched teeth.

  “No, you stop and think—about what you’re doing. You and your fancy Atlanta lawyers can go to hell.”

  She walked by him.

  “Eva!”

  She swung around and hurled the crumpled letter at him, watching it float to the ground. “I said go to hell!”

  Her voice quivered, and she hated herself for it. She could barely see through the cloudy screen of tears as she left him standing on the sidewalk. Before she broke down completely in front of him, she fumbled for the handle on the door. Once inside, she rushed to the back of the store and cried.

  Chapter Three

  “The art of intimidation, my boy, is to make your opponent believe every word you say. Look them dead in the eye and never flinch. Never let them see weakness.”

  Phineas’s words repeated in Derrick’s head as he eased the rented sports car into the line of traffic and headed toward the two-bedroom beach villa he’d rented. Phineas had always doled out advice, and it turned out much of it could be applied just as easily to personal relationships as to business ones.

  He hadn’t intended to make Eva angry. He didn’t know a whole lot about pregnant women, but he was pretty sure they shouldn’t get upset. Unfortunately, her reaction to his suggestion of marriage had stymied him and forced him to reveal his intention to take the baby if she didn’t go along with his plans.

  After he let himself in and dropped his overnight bag in one of the bedrooms, he stepped out onto the patio to look out at the Atlantic Ocean, stretched out to the horizon as far as the eye could see. He shouldn’t have come here, because of the memories of all the times he’d stayed here with her. He could have told his personal assistant to book him into another location, but old habits die hard.

  The soothing sound of the waves and familiar salty scent of the blue water didn’t have the same appeal this time. He pulled out his smartphone, trying not to think about her, but finding it impossible.

  Damn. He really should have picked somewhere else to stay, because there were too many memories here—buying groceries at the local store and cooking together in the kitchen, splashing around in the villa’s private pool, and, entwined in each other’s arms, making love until they grew exhausted.

  He turned on the ringer on the phone, which he’d switched off earlier so there would be no interruption during his conversation with Eva. He scrolled through the list of missed calls and saw one had come from the attorneys. Hopefully they had good news concerning the legal battle between him and his family. They’d pooled their resources and dragged him into court to contest Phineas’s will. The attorneys had warned him to expect a long and dirty fight.

  In the midst of all this, he had also become the CEO of Phineas’s international logistics firm, Hoffman Logistics Company, also known as HLC in the industry. At his father’s insistence, he’d worked at the company, in various positions, off and on over the years. Since his father’s death, his most important task had been to calm employees and business associates and reassure them the company remained a viable player in the industry, even though its beloved leader was no longer at the helm. All the more reason to get a quick answer from Eva, so he could head back to Atlanta and deal with the issues he’d left behind to come down here and talk to her in person.

  He spent every day and night reading reports, in meetings, doing everything he could to maintain a sense of order and keep the company from falling apart. Three senior executives had already bailed and gone over to the competition. Keeping up company morale was a priority to stop any further migrations.

  He thought about Eva again. Today she’d looked so fragile as he’d looked down at her slender frame. He’d wanted to pick her up and take her away from her low-paying job and give her the care she needed because she obviously wasn’t taking care of herself.

  To think she carried his child, and he’d almost missed out because of his pride. He’d still been angry and tending to a bruised ego over their breakup when she called to tell him the news. Despite his response, deep down he’d known the truth. Unlike some of the mercenary women he’d come to know over the years, she’d been one of the few who’d never asked for anything from him. Not once had she ever asked him to pay her bills or buy her an expensive piece of jewelry.

  What he couldn’t figure out was what he’d done to make her hate him so much. The anger in her eyes had been almost enough to laser him in two. Did she have any idea how many other women would love to be in her position—to be offered marriage? Instead of being appreciative, she acted as if she’d been offered an all-expenses-paid trip to the depths of hell.

  And why had she ended their relationship in the first place? He’d come to the island for his sister’s wedding, and even though they’d made plans to see each other, she’d refused to see him until he showed up at her job on Saturday morning and gave her no choice. Her only explanation for why she no longer wanted to see him had been that their relationship had run its course and she wanted to move on.

  He swore.

  Sauntering back into the room, he loosened his tie. He hadn’t been ready to move on. Women didn’t end relationships with him; it usually happened the other way around. Her rejection had bothered him for weeks as he pondered her words, trying to find some hidden meaning in the things she’d said, but couldn’t. Then, out of the blue, she’d called him to say she was pregnant.

  Maybe he hadn’t given her the best response, but he couldn’t be blamed. Their relationship hadn’t been exclusive. For all he knew, she could have broken up with him because of another man and was trying to trap him with that other man’s child. But he had to be truthful and admit his role in this. The last time they’d made love, he hadn’t used any protection. He’d been riled up by the thought of her seeing someone else.

  They had an agr
eement: don’t ask, don’t tell. But he’d asked. And she’d told.

  One day in April, he’d had to cancel his weekend plans to see her, and when he’d called a few days later to see what she was doing, she told him she planned to go out with a “friend”—a male friend. He’d been so jealous, he’d driven almost five hours straight without stopping because Phineas had taken the private plane out of town on business and he couldn’t get a commercial flight. When he’d shown up at her apartment, she’d been surprised to see him, and he’d made up something about his plans changing yet again. All he really cared about, though, was making sure she didn’t go out with this other guy.

  She canceled her plans, and he’d stayed until the middle of the following week like a simpering idiot. He had conducted his business from the villa and rearranged his appointments until later in the week. When he returned to Atlanta, he found a real estate agent to put a newly formulated plan into action. The agent found a condo for her a few miles from his own place downtown. He planned to move her in and pay for it to have her close by, and if she wanted to work, he’d get her a job at his father’s company.

  He decided to tell her about the condo the weekend of his sister’s wedding. He was ready to move their relationship to the next level and invite her up to see the place. But everything had changed. Their arrangement wasn’t working out. So she’d said. In the back of his mind, he’d wondered if her friend had anything to do with it.

  He never told a soul about his plans. Certainly not her. He wasn’t about to beg. If she wanted out of the relationship, she could have her freedom.

  When she’d told him about her pregnancy, he’d been purposely cold and cruel to her, but once he’d thought about it, he realized Eva would never tell him she carried his child if she wasn’t one hundred percent certain. Another woman, yes. Eva, no. Even now she made it plain she didn’t want anything from him.

  He tossed the tie on the bed and dialed the number for his attorneys.

  He’d given her until noon tomorrow, and now he would wait. He had rights, and he intended to exercise them, no matter how helpless she looked. This wasn’t only about him; this was about his daughter, too. His daughter would never experience what he had. His daughter would never have reason to doubt he loved her.