Annette shook her head. "You have to know you don't have to blackmail me into your bed."
"You've ignored my every text and phone call for the last three months," he pointed out.
"Didn't like that much, huh?"
"No."
"I didn't like it when you did the same to me."
"Was it payback?"
"No. I was furious with you for ignoring the serious issues here and listening to my father about me."
"What is the deal with your parents?" He was sure she already realized that Carlo had had the wrong end of the stick during that conversation, so he didn't belabor the point.
"Maybe someday I'll tell you."
In other words, she didn’t trust him enough to do it now. Could he blame her? He'd just tried to blackmail her into his bed. And she'd said it wasn't necessary.
"So, you intended to call me again?"
"I did, but I meant to offer you my own bargain."
"Oh?" Intrigued and growing increasingly uncomfortable withhisbargain as stated, he was more than willing to entertain hers.
"Strings. I want strings."
"Shared guardianship," Carlo reminded her.
"What does that mean, exactly?"
"We will live here, together, with Jo-Jo, for the present."
"Only we share a bedroom."
Said like that, it sounded way less messy and even less ugly than the thoughts that had entertained him the night before. "Exactly. I am not promising a lifetime. In fact, it is my plan to get you out of my system. I want what my brother had, even if it ended badly. A wife who adores me, children. A family."
As he said the words, that same small voice he'd done such a good job ignoring so far asked why she couldn't be that woman? He'd changed in five years, maybe she had too. Maybe she regretted jilting him.
"And you have to get me out of your system for that to happen?" she asked, her tone odd and her expression unreadable.
"Apparently." But he was seriously beginning to doubt if he wouldeverget this woman entirely out of his system.
"Only you do expect our liaison to end sooner than later?"
"I do not know how long it will last," he replied truthfully. More honest than he'd been to this point.
But then if she knew him as well as he'd believed she had at one time, Annette was perfectly aware that he would never refuse her help with Jo-Jo. Their niece's welfare came first.
She sighed and put down her fork, finished with her lunch. "All right," she said, almost to herself, her focus on the table. Then she looked up and met his eyes. "Yes."
"Yes, what?" Was she agreeing to his ludicrous proposal?
"Yes, I'll be your lover for the foreseeable future."
"But…"
"Do we have to discuss terms right now?"