Tristan stared at his phone, then put it down on the side table beside him, picking up the remote control instead. He reclined the chair he was sitting on and settled himself in to watch some TV.

He tuned in to a sports channel and picked up his phone again. He might as well check his email, or the stock market app, or read the news. But he opened up his text messages—and there was still nothing from Paige.

He rolled his eyes at himself. It had only been half a day since he’d sent a text to Paige to see how she was doing and to ask if she’d received the baby gender test result. So what if she hadn’t responded yet? She was probably busy with friends, or even resting at home, away from her devices. It was Sunday night, after all, and she must have been tired from her return from Canberra.

Paige’s name suddenly flashed on the screen as his device vibrated in his hand. His heart skipped.

“Hey, Paige. I was just thinking about you.”

“Hi, Tristan. Do you mind if we meet tonight, please?”

He frowned at her nervous tone. “Sure. Everything okay?”

“Um, yeah. Can we meet somewhere private?”

“Where? Do you want me to go to your place?” He wouldn’t mind knowing where Paige lived since he’d be visiting her a lot in the future—to pick up and drop off his kid.

“No. Perhaps we could meet in one of your clubs? In a private room?”

“Unfortunately, they’re all booked out for tonight. I know because I just logged in to my management portal a few minutes ago. What about in a restaurant? Have you had dinner?”

“I’d prefer somewhere more private than that. Can I… go to your place?”

“Of course!”

“Thanks. What’s your address?”

He gave it to her, feeling buoyant that she’d be around. “Do you know the baby’s sex already?”

Paige’s long silence had his heart racing with concern. “What’s wrong, Paige?”

“I’ll be there soon, okay?”

“How far away are you?”

“Less than twenty minutes.”

“Okay. Drive safely.”

“I will. Bye.”

“See ya,” he said, stopping himself from prying further. Paige would be arriving soon enough. But, damn it, he was scared that something wasn’t right.

Please let the baby be okay.

Fear threatened to take over, so he took a long, deep breath.

Maybe the anxiety he’d heard in Paige’s voice was due to Larry talking to her, not because there was something wrong with the baby.

Yeah, it had to be that. After his altercation with Larry a couple of days ago, that was the most obvious reason.

Phew. At least Paige was coming to have a conversation with him. They could compromise—the two of them, not him and her parents.

He rang his apartment building’s concierge and informed him of Paige Shipton’s arrival, then he went to the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator, drumming his fingers on the door as he checked the contents for what he could offer Paige. There were the pre-made gourmet meals cooked by his favourite employee chef. Or some yoghurt or cheese. He also had chocolates and crisps in the pantry, and fruits sitting in a bowl on the countertop. He’d let her decide.

He walked over to the wine fridge—

Oops, nope. Paige couldn’t have alcohol.

Hm. He could only offer her water, then. Or herbal tea. She could have some herbal tea, right? Did he actually have some of those left? Only his female friends drank them, and he wasn’t sure if his housekeeper had replenished the supply.

He snickered loudly. What was he doing? Preparing for a date?

Well, there was nothing wrong with wanting to be hospitable to the woman carrying his baby, was there?

And, yeah, okay, he was looking forward to seeing Paige again.

He rubbed his jaw and went back to the living room. He couldn’t find a TV program that interested him, so he settled on a replay of a rugby league game between two teams he didn’t care about. Argh, he couldn’t stand this mixture of worry and excitement. He wished now that he’d pressed Paige for her news before he’d hung up the phone.

Finally, his elevator pinged and he was before it in a flash.

Tristan’s breath hitched at the sight of Paige, looking her usual gorgeous self even with the barest of makeup. She had a smile on her face, but the strain around her eyes betrayed her.

“Hi,” he said, leaning in to give her a kiss on the cheek.

“Hi. Thanks for agreeing to see me at such short notice. I’m sorry if I interrupted something.”

“Don’t be silly. You can bug me any time.” He let her in and escorted her to the living room. “Are you hungry? I have some yummy meals that I can heat up.”

“I’m fine, thanks. Maybe just water?”

“Sure. How about some hot tea? I think I have some of those caffeine-free herbal ones.”

“Oh, that’ll be nice. Do you have something fruity?”

“Come with me to the kitchen and you can choose.” Surprising even himself, he took her hand.

Heck, it was too easy to forget himself around Paige. He had to literally be conscious of being wary, or he simply wouldn’t be. How could he maintain such a focus when simply being with her made his barriers retract?

But Paige’s hand was cold and clammy, and his concern notched up another level. “You okay?”

Paige smiled, but her eyes started to moisten.

He stopped and faced her, his heart pounding hard in his chest. “Paige… what’s wrong?” Please don’t let it be bad news about the baby.

Paige bit her lip and blinked rapidly. Then she walked towards a bar stool and sat down, taking deep breaths to control her emotions.

Tristan stared at her, trying to keep fear at bay. One thing came into sharp focus.

He already loved his baby with his whole being and he’d be utterly devastated if something had happened to it.

“Tristan…” Paige said, sitting up straight and gazing at him with a brave look.

His breathing shallowed and he willed her with his eyes to say that everything was fine with their child.

Paige’s face crumpled and she covered it with her hands. “I can’t do this,” she breathed.

Tristan hastened to her. With fierce protectiveness he hadn’t seen coming, he pulled Paige to him and held her tight.

Paige shivered and sniffed softly.

“Did we lose the baby?” he asked gently, rubbing her back comfortingly even as his chest constricted.

Paige sighed and looked at him with a watery smile. “No. We didn’t.”

Relief flowed through him like a tidal wave and he cupped her face, kissing her mouth. “God, you scared me,” he said against her lips.

Paige let out a chuckle, and the sudden lightness in her demeanour made him ridiculously happy. He pulled back to gaze at her. “What’s wrong then? Is it your dad?”

Paige’s smile instantly vanished.

“What did he tell you?” he asked in a low voice.

“I don’t know what to do, Tristan,” she said helplessly.

Her tone tugged at his heart. “Tell me. We’ll work something out.”

She gave him a dubious look.

He planted himself on the stool next to her and squeezed her hand. “This has to do with your parents, right? I can’t promise you that I’ll forget about launching a legal action against them, but I give you my word that I’ll at least try to negotiate—see how we can resolve things.”

“Thank you,” Paige said, chocked. “But it’s something else. Something… worse. Will you promise not to get angry and help me work it out?”

His brows furrowed. “Okay.”

“And will you promise to keep what I’m about to tell you within the walls of this place?”

Whoa, he was highly intrigued now.

“Promise me, Tristan. Promise me, for Tanner’s sake, that you will keep what I tell you to yourself.”

“Tanner? Who’s Tanner?”

Paige blushed. “It’s, uh, the name I want our baby to have.”

A huge grin split Tristan’s face. “It’s a boy?”

Paige’s lips tugged up. “Yes, it’s a boy.”

Tristan’s chest expanded as Paige’s news sank in. “It’s a boy,” he repeated with wonder.

“Do you like the name Tanner?”

“Yes, I love it,” he said, overwhelmingly touched.

Paige chuckled with relief. “You should thank Julian. It was his ‘Kel Tan’ that gave me the idea.”

He laughed, then sobered. “Okay, getting back to what we were talking about…”

Paige’s features clouded once again. “So will you promise to keep what I’m about to tell you a secret? You’re the last person I should be trusting with this right now. But because of our baby, and because I trust you, I’ll tell you. And I need you to be helpful and fair and understanding. Please?”

“Yes, I promise.” Most of all, he just found himself wanting to take away Paige’s anxiety and stress.

“I already mentioned to you that Shipton Enterprise is having some cash flow problems. But it seems that the problem is much bigger than I imagined. We need a big cash injection to ensure the day-to-day operation of the business, and to keep the creditors from taking unwanted action.”

“Let me guess,” Tristan said dryly. “Your parents want me to stop threatening to sue them so the other interested buyers of the club won’t get scared off.”

“No. They’ve already sold another club very recently.”

“Really? I didn’t even know they were selling another venue. Goes to show how much they don’t want me getting my hands on a Shipton property.”

“And they don’t want me talking to you at all. But your threatened legal action is not their main worry. The cash flow problem is. The recent sale wasn’t enough to get the company out of trouble. Now, they want me to help out by lending them a few million dollars so they can pay off some creditors and steer Shipton back to profitability.”

“O-kay,” Tristan said slowly when Paige paused for too long. “So you don’t want to lend them the money?”

Paige snickered. “I don’t have millions to lend them, Tristan. I get paid a good salary, but it’s nowhere near the vicinity of millions. But there’s the family trust fund set up by my Shipton grandparents. I’m not meant to get anything from it until I turn forty, but, apparently, I can get five million dollars immediately if I fulfil a couple of conditions. That’s where I come in.”

“What conditions?”

Paige stared at her hands. “My grandparents wanted their heirs to get an early gift from the fund if they start a family. I can get five million dollars before I’m forty if I get pregnant and married.”

Tristan’s brows rose, his heart suddenly pounding hard and fast. Was Paige going to propose to him?

“So my parents want me to marry Curtis—the son of their best friends.”

“What?” He couldn’t have heard that right.

“They want me to marry Curtis, and we have to pretend to be in love—because the trustees need to be convinced I got married for love and not for the trust fund money.”

Anger brewed inside Tristan. “I suppose Curtis will also be pretending to be the baby’s father.”

“He has to, which, apparently, he doesn’t have a problem with.”

“How much are your parents paying this Curtis guy?” he asked in disbelief.

“Nothing. His parents and my parents are very close. And Curtis is… he’s been interested in me for a long time.”

Tristan’s face heated up. “No way you’re marrying him so he can be daddy to my baby. How dare your parents even come up with this stupidity?”

Paige’s eyes welled up. “I don’t agree either, Tristan. I don’t want Tanner ever growing up and thinking you’re not his dad.”

Tristan’s fury abated somewhat at Paige’s words. “I can’t believe your parents are asking you to do this,” he muttered.

“To be fair, I don’t have to be married to Curtis for the rest of my life. We can start the ball rolling on a divorce as soon as I get handed the money.”

“Still, it’s ridiculous!”

“I know,” Paige said sadly. “But my parents wouldn’t have asked if they weren’t so desperate. I’ve never seen my dad beg for anything before, Tristan. But he begged me while he sobbed his heart out. I can’t not help them. I don’t know how else, though.”

Tristan stared at Paige, his mind whirling. This was clearly hard for her and, as much as he hated to give any leeway to Larry and Debbie, he had to do something for their daughter. Paige was stuck. He couldn’t just stand there and not help her out. All this stress couldn’t be good for the baby.

Besides, if he helped, the Shiptons might be more amenable to patching things ups. Frankly, he had better things to do than waste his time and money on going to court to settle their differences. He just hated being accused of lying, especially when he was sure he’d done nothing wrong.

“I’ll lend them the money,” he said.

Paige let out a mirthless laugh. “I don’t think they’ll agree to that at all. I’ve already tried asking them to sit down with you and have a conversation, but they’re strongly against it. They believe you’re going to try to crush Shipton Enterprise if they show any weakness against you.”

“That’s ridiculous! Why would I want to do that? I’m starting to wonder if there’s anything wrong with your parents’ brains.”

Paige shrugged helplessly. “My dad is renowned for his pride. It serves him well, but sometimes it’s a big detriment.”

“So then he asks you to make the sacrifice so he can keep his pride?” he asked angrily.

Tears cascaded down Paige’s cheeks.

Tristan felt a pinch in his heart. “Hey, come here.” He reached for her and enfolded her in his arms once again.

Paige sniffed softly on his shoulder.

“Are your parents aware that you’ve already told me about the baby?”

“Yes,” Paige said in a muffled voice. “They want me to tell you that I made a mistake, and that Curtis is the real father.”

He pulled away to gape at her in shock. “Are you kidding me?”

“No.”

“How can your parents…?” He shook his head, lost for words.

“They’re not usually like that,” Paige insisted. “This is the first time they’ve asked me for something like this. They’re obviously beyond desperate. And I do want to help them, but not in the exact way they want. I’m still willing to marry Curtis, since it’ll only be a three-month sacrifice on my part, but I’ll have to insist that there’ll be no lies regarding the paternity of my baby.”

Tristan’s breath shallowed. No, he didn’t like that idea either.

“I know,” Paige said, straightening suddenly. “We can say I had a one-night stand with you when I had a fight with Curtis. That will explain you getting me pregnant. Then Curtis and I reconciled and he’s okay with my pregnancy because he’s so in love with me. I think that can work. Bottom line is, people have to believe that even though I’m having your baby, I’m in love with—and marrying—Curtis.”

Tristan raked his hair.

“Tristan, please remember you promised to keep this to yourself—for Tanner’s sake, so he doesn’t grow up in a family in complete tatters. You can’t use this knowledge against my parents—please.”

Tristan hid a sigh. Paige looked so scared and hopeless that he didn’t want to add to her anxiety. “I won’t breathe a word about this to anyone. Are you and Curtis close?”

Paige snickered. “No. We’re not even friends. I try to avoid him when I can because he tends to be intense in showing his interest in me.”

“Then if your aim is to get the trustees to release the money early, I’m not sure that saying you’re pregnant with my child but marrying Curtis will give you what you want. If I were the trustee, I’d be suspicious, especially when you and Curtis don’t even have a long history of dating each other. I’d be inclined to wait and see if you and Curtis stick it out as an in-love married couple before handing you the money. So even though your idea is good and fair, it might not result in the trustees releasing the funds in time to save Shipton Enterprise.”

“Then what do I do?” Paige asked miserably, looking like the world was on her shoulders.

Tristan’s heart went out to her, and the words were out of his mouth before he could even consider them. “I’ll marry you.”

Paige gaped at him. “What?”

“It’ll be the same deal—a fake marriage for the benefit of the trustees. Larry and Debbie won’t be happy, but I’m sure they’ll get over it once they have your trust fund money in their hands.”

“Why would you want to do that?”

Tristan inhaled deeply. Why indeed? Well, he simply couldn’t stand Paige looking like this. “How much stress have you been under lately?”

“A hell of a lot,” Paige said in a small voice.

“I can imagine,” he said sympathetically. “I’ve heard that high levels of stress—especially ongoing stress—can affect a baby’s development in the womb. I don’t want anything bad to happen to our baby, Paige, and I know that my conflict with your parents is a big cause of that stress. So I’m willing to do this for you and Tanner. All I ask is that you convince your parents to chuck their pride out the window and admit they did the wrong thing by me. Or if they believe they’re in the right, then communicate with me so I can understand what happened. I actually would have walked away from all that if they hadn’t started spreading destructive rumours about me. If they apologise for the badmouthing and set the record straight, I’m willing to forgive and forget. I have better things to do with my time than wallow in this time-sucking issue.”

Paige’s eyes watered. “Thank you, Tristan. You don’t know how much I appreciate this. And, yes, I’m more than happy to help you settle things with my parents. But are you sure you’re up for a fake marriage? It won’t be just a legal thing; we’ll also have to act in love. That means we can’t ever be seen dating other people while we’re together. That won’t be a problem for me, but it might be for you.”

Arguments for and against this unexpected plan ran through Tristan’s mind. The easy thing would be to leave the Shiptons to their own devices. Problem was, he couldn’t completely extricate himself because of the baby. Besides, it wasn’t a bad idea to insert himself into this fake marriage scheme. Larry and Debbie wouldn’t have much choice but to swallow their blasted pride and negotiate with him so they could all move on from the contract saga.

But above all else, he had to admit that he simply wanted to do it for Paige. From what he could sense, she wouldn’t stop finding ways to help her parents keep Shipton Enterprise. Might as well make things easy for her. “It’s fine with me,” he assured her.

“Thank you.” Paige gaped at him for a long moment, her eyes grateful, vulnerable and… captivating.

“I better make that tea for you, hey?” he said hoarsely, looking away before he drowned in her beautiful eyes completely. “The teas are all in here.” He opened the pantry and showed her the selection.

“This one’s good,” Paige said, picking one.

He put the kettle on. “Do you want anything to eat?”

“No, thanks. I’ll need to go soon. I have to wake up at an ungodly hour of four in the morning to catch my six o’clock flight to Melbourne to attend a ten-thirty meeting with our managers there.”

“Why’s your flight so early?”

Paige sighed. “I don’t know if it’s the pregnancy or the stress, but I totally forgot to book earlier for it. If I hadn’t gotten a reminder notice on my phone this afternoon to get ready for the trip tomorrow, I wouldn’t have remembered. Anyway, that’s the only flight I was able to book that will get me there on time.”

Tristan pursed his lips. “How about I see if Alexander Jets can arrange a charter flight for you at a later time?”

Paige looked horrified. “Tristan, I just told you Shipton Enterprise is having cash flow problems. The cost of a private jet is not in the budget.”

“Don’t worry about the cost. Consider it part of my support for the mother of my unborn child, because I don’t want you getting up at an ungodly hour and getting any more tired and stressed than you already are.”

“But… a private jet is so expensive. It’s not necessary.”

He didn’t answer. He poured boiling water in a mug and dunked her chosen tea bag in it. Then he speed-dialled Elle Milton at Alexander Jets. With everything Paige was going through, this was the least he could do for her.

“Hey, Tristan!” Elle said in greeting. “Is this about work, or are you calling to say hi?”

He chuckled. Elle wasn’t merely an efficient staff member at Alexander Jets, she was also Simon’s cousin and a good friend of his. “It’s about work. Hope you don’t mind.”

“Of course not. Need to fly again on short notice, huh?”

“Yes. Charge it to my account, but it’s a friend of mine who’s flying. She needs to arrive in Melbourne at…” He raised his eyebrows at Paige.

Paige’s eyes watered and she blinked rapidly.

Oh, God, he wished she wouldn’t do that. Every time she got teary, he wanted to hug her tight. And kiss her. He pressed his lips together to alleviate his need.

“Ten in the morning would be great,” Paige finally said with a shy smile.

“Ten in the morning,” he repeated to Elle.

“Let me check,” Elle said with some doubt in her voice. “We’re extraordinarily busy these last couple of days because of the World Cup.”

“Aw, you know you can always find an available plane for me,” he said teasingly. “Besides, Simon still has to make up for bumping me off my booked plane to fly someone else. Remember that? Maybe you can bump someone off for me.”

Elle chuckled. “That was a year ago! And, hey, by giving up your plane, you contributed to his meeting the love of his life.”

He laughed. “True. I better remind him of that.”

“Well, you can keep that up your sleeve for now. We still have one of the A-planes available. Want me to book that for you?”

“Yes,” he said without hesitation. The A-plane was a nickname for the most luxuriously appointed planes in the Alexander Jets fleet. Paige would love it. She could even have a quick nap in the comfortable bedroom on her way to Melbourne.

“Excellent,” Elle said. “Where should we pick her up?”

“Hang on.” He put the phone on speaker and pointed it towards Paige. “Elle wants to know where to send the complimentary pickup car to take you to the airport.”

“Oh.” Paige recited her address.

Good. Now he knew where she lived.

“Great!” Elle said. “Thank you, Ms. Shipton. Is a seven-thirty pickup okay?”

“Yes, that’s perfect.”

“It’s all set, then,” Elle said. “Our driver will see you tomorrow at seven-thirty.”

“Thank you,” Paige said.

“You’re welcome.”

“Thanks, Elle,” Tristan interjected. “And sorry for interrupting your Sunday night.”

“No worries. I’m just watching TV.”

“Well, you’ll get another five-star feedback from me.”

“Why, thanks! I expect nothing less for all I do for you, Tristan Grant,” Elle said, laughing. “See ya.”

“Bye, Elle.” He hung up and faced Paige, who had a dismayed look on her face. He frowned. “Everything okay?”

Paige flushed. “Yes, of course. Um…” She put on a neutral look, sipping from her tea mug. “You must be a frequent flyer with Alexander Jets. You were quite friendly with… Elle.”

He raised a brow. Was that jealousy he detected? He smothered a grin. “Elle’s my account manager there, but she’s also a friend. She’s Simon’s cousin.”

“Simon? Is that the guy who called you for me when your security wouldn’t let me in?”

“Yup. He owns Alexander Jets.”

Paige smiled, eyes shining with gratitude. “Thank you, Tristan. You have no idea how grateful I am for all that you’re doing for me.”

“Don’t mention it.” God, he so wanted to kiss her again. But his intrusive brain was sounding an alarm, warning him from complicating things further.

Paige stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder. Then she tiptoed to give him a peck on his cheek.

Unbidden, he cupped her face and searched it for the answer to his dilemma.

“Tristan,” Paige whispered, eyes wide and mouth parted. Then she licked her lips.

That did it. He captured her mouth with his and pressed her close against him.

Paige let out a small moan and snaked her arms around his neck, kissing him back avidly.

His body reacted with speed. The first time he’d spent a night with Paige, he’d been surprised at her ability to turn him on to full horniness in no time flat. Well, that special talent of hers hadn’t disappeared.

“I better go,” Paige said, stepping back.

He hid his disappointment. “Sorry. So it’s a no, huh?”

Paige bit back a smile. “It’s not a no. But I’m exhausted. Maybe I can come back here and have more tea on Tuesday? After we get our samples collected for the paternity test?” she asked hopefully, her eyes betraying her desire.

He grinned. “Okay.”

“Great. Goodnight, Tristan.”

“Goodnight, Paige.” He looked down at her belly and touched it. “Goodnight, Tanner.”

Paige inhaled sharply, her eyes watering.

Oh, no. Not those tears again.

He couldn’t help himself. He pulled her to him and kissed her tenderly, then wiped her cheeks with his thumbs.

“It’s the hormones, you know,” Paige said, sniffling and giggling.

He chuckled and walked her to the lifts. “Goodnight again. Have a safe flight tomorrow morning.”

“I will. Thanks again.” Paige waved as the elevator doors closed.

“Don’t mention it,” he called out, grinning like a loon.

Well, it looked like he’d soon be in a fake marriage with benefits.

And he didn’t mind the thought one bit.