Men weren’t always as bright as they could be, Maggie thought humorously. “She wants to make sure you like cats, too.”

“Yeah, I got that later. It was kind of cool, you know, that my opinion mattered that much.”

“Is she getting the cat?”

“We’re going to pick one out over the weekend.”

“I’m glad.”

Maggie said the words, then braced herself for a twinge. She and Jon had never gotten to the pet-sharing stage. But all she felt was pleasure for him.

“Sounds like things are getting serious,” she said. “That’s good. I hope you two are really happy together.”

“Maggie, I…”

“Jon, don’t worry about me. I’m fine. We’re over. We were over a long time before we ended things. I wish we could have seen that. I know we stayed together because of my dad and while I’m sure he appreciated the gesture, we weren’t doing ourselves any favors.”

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I’m not hurt. We had a great few years and I’ll always be grateful but we’re growing in different directions.” She knew he liked taking care of people and hoped Elaine enjoyed being taken care of by him.

Unfortunately things were not going to get easier for any of them.

“I want to talk to you about that last time we were together,” she said, hating that she had to bring it up.

“Maggie, don’t. We’re both to blame.”

“Me a little more than you.”

“I didn’t have to come over.”

“I made a pass at you,” she said, wishing it wasn’t true. “I seduced you.”

“I let myself be seduced. I guess we both wanted that one last time. My only regret is if it hurt you. Otherwise I’m glad we were together.”

Maybe he had been, but all that was about to change.

“You’re beating yourself up over nothing,” he continued. “Maggie, you have to let it go.”

“I wish I could,” she said softly. “But it’s not that simple.” She drew in a breath. “I’m pregnant, Jon. After we stopped seeing each other, I went off the pill. I wasn’t expecting anything to happen, so why bother? I just never thought about it.”

She paused to give him a chance to speak but there was only silence on the other end of the phone. She knew him well enough to imagine the shocked look on his face.

She decided to say the little speech she’d prepared while he was trying to figure out what the hell had just gone wrong with his life.

“I know this is totally unexpected,” she said. “Neither of us ever imagined this happening. But it did. I also know that you’re a total good guy and you’ll feel responsible. Jon, you’re not. I’m the one to blame and I’m the one who is going to deal with this.”

Now came the hard part. “I don’t want anything from you. I mean that. You have a life, a great woman and a future. Having a baby with me will only mess that up. I told you about the baby because you have the right to know, but that’s the only reason. I have no expectations. What I’m really hoping is that you’ll walk away and live your life. You don’t have to be involved. We can find a lawyer to write up some papers. You sign away all your rights and I promise to never come after you for money. Considering what has happened between us, it’s really the best decision.”

She paused again and there was still silence. She couldn’t figure out what that meant.

“I know you need time to think about all this. You’ve been blindsided by something really huge. Fortunately we have time.” She sighed. “I’m so sorry. I never meant for this to happen. I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“I know that,” he said at last, his voice low and thick with emotion. “Dammit, Maggie, are you sure?”

She winced. “I took three different pregnancy tests. They all came out positive. I’m sure.”

“I’m not blaming you,” he said. “Either of us could have walked away. I meant what I said before. I wanted that last time with you.”

“Just not the consequences.”

“I didn’t say that.”

He didn’t have to. In his position, she would be angry and confused. What to do? Where to go? What about Elaine?

“You need to think about what I said,” she told him. “About just walking away. I know it won’t be your first instinct, but it’s the right thing to do. I’m perfectly capable of raising a child on my own.”

“You need to come home.”

Uh-oh. Was he going to get all parental on her? “I’m fine. I’m perfectly healthy. If you’re worried about the baby, I can find a doctor here.”

“You need to come home,” he repeated. “Not for the doctor, but so we can get married.”

Chapter Ten

Qadir walked into the usually quiet garage and watched as Maggie threw tools into the large open box on the floor.

“Just so damn stupid,” she muttered. “Does anyone care about my opinion? Noooo. I just want to beat him with a stick.”

She threw more tools as she grumbled, her expression tight with annoyance, her movements jerky. She was on fire and he found himself attracted to her temper.

“Someone has annoyed you,” he said.

She turned and glared at him. “Yes, someone has. A man. You probably don’t want to be here today, what with you being a man and all. I’m angry enough not to be picky about who I yell at.”

He laughed. “You do not frighten me.”

“Because I’m a woman, right? What is it with you men that you think you know better?” She pointed to his crotch. “It’s just excess flesh, you know. It’s not the great repository for all knowledge. Since when did being a man make you an oracle?”

She was all fire and rage. Both her passion and beauty excited him.

“I did not claim to be an oracle,” he told her. “I said I am not afraid of you.”

“You should be.” She picked up a large wrench. “I could do a lot of damage with that.”

“Yes, you could.” He walked over and removed it from her grasp, then set it on the desk. Still holding her hand in his, he rubbed her fingers. “What happened?”

“I talked to Jon.”

Qadir did not respond. Better for Maggie to tell him in her own way.

She drew in a breath. “He’s just so annoying. His stupid superior attitude. Like he has all the answers. I hate that.”

“And him?”

“I don’t hate him, but I want to smack him upside the head. He’s convinced he knows best. Since when does he get to be in charge of my life? Hello, it’s my life. Mine. Not his. But will he accept that? I’ll give you one guess on that question.”

Qadir had not been pleased to know that Maggie would have to tell the other man about the baby, but there was little choice in the matter.

She looked at him. “He wants to marry me.”

“He is an honorable man,” he told her, enjoying a brief image of crushing Jon like a bug. “That should please you.”

“Well, it doesn’t. It really pisses me off. Okay, fine. I’ll accept he wants to be a part of his child’s life. Knowing him, I shouldn’t be surprised. I still think it would be better if he walked away, but he won’t. That’s just so him. But marriage? Did he notice the new-century thing, because here we are. It’s a shiny new world and by God, no man is going to marry me just because I’m pregnant with his child.”

The marriage proposal did not come as a surprise, but Qadir did not like it.

“He doesn’t even care that it’s not what I want,” Maggie continued, still fuming. “No. It’s all about him and the baby and what’s right.” She turned on Qadir. “How is this right? How is two people making themselves miserable right? Wait. It’s not two people. It’s three. What about Elaine? I think they’re falling in love and he’s going to toss that away because of the baby? This is just so typical. Do you know he doesn’t think I’m capable? I never got that before, but he just about said I couldn’t do this on my own. That really, really annoys me.”

She jerked free of his touch and stalked around the car. “It’s a guy thing, right? The need to assume women are just a little bit less? Why is that? Do we threaten you so damn much? Oh, I’m just so mad I could spit.”

Despite potential risk to his person, Qadir chuckled. She turned on him.

“You think this is funny?”

“I think you are beautiful and full of life. Jon is a fool for ever letting you go, but that is his loss. He must deal with it now.”

Her eyes widened. “That was good,” she breathed. “Seriously. I feel almost disarmed.”

“How unfortunate, as I like you armed. Go to your office and get changed. I will take you to lunch and then shopping. You will feel better when we are finished.”

She rolled her eyes. “And here I was starting to like you. Do you get that I’m not the shopping type?”

“I haven’t said what we’re shopping for.”

“Oh. Well, if it’s cars, I’m so there.”

He smiled. “Go get changed.”

“Okay. It would probably be better for me to get out than to stay here.”

“Agreed. I do not want you taking out your temper on my Rolls.”

She laughed, then closed the door behind her. Qadir stayed where he was, careful not to move because if he did, he would join her in her office and this time when he touched her, he would not stop.

An impossible situation, he told himself. At first Maggie had intrigued him with her humor and lack of pretension. He had enjoyed her company, but nothing more. Recently, though, he thought they might become lovers. The chemistry between them would make their time together pass very quickly. He had considered discussing that with her, but now everything was different.

She was pregnant and the father of her child wanted to marry her. Qadir knew he could not stand between them, even when his gut told him Jon was not the one for her. Jon had let her get away. What had the other man been thinking, to prefer another woman over Maggie? Impossible.

Not that he would be having that conversation with Jon anytime soon. But it gave Qadir pleasure to imagine the other man’s fear when faced with a powerful sheik.