“Why did you do that?” Cade asked Ophelia, who had been pacing the floor of the house for ten minutes since they arrived.
“Do what?” she asked, pretending not to understand what he was talking about.
“Do what is making you as worried as you are right now,” Cade replied.
“Worried?” she asked, coming to sit beside him. “I am not worried; why would I be?” she asked, tapping one leg to the ground as it shook violently.
“Tell that to your violent, shaky legs and wrung-up fingers.” His hands rested on her leg so gently that it stopped immediately.
She turned to him, and as if she were smiling, she bent her head and ran her hand through her hair multiple times; it was all over her head. “Why did I do that?” she whispered.
“Exactly why did you do that? I was okay with taking the heat. I guess with your promotion coming up I will have to answer the question more often than I thought.”
“Do you think so?” Ophelia raised her head to catch a glimpse of his face. The expression on his face was not encouraging at all. He looked like a child who had been robbed of a Christmas present because his younger brother had been crying for it, and he had to give it up just to be the older brother and not a child, even though he was still a child at heart.
“Of course, I will have to get used to it. It is no big deal. I am sure we will get around to it and get a way to get out of this soon.” Cade was more reassuring himself than he was to her. He had no clue how they were going to get out of the situation or if they were. As he spoke, he began to think of other ways to convince his grandfather that his not having children was not as bad as everyone would make it seem.
“It is a big deal to me; how do you think I will be able to get over the fact that our rank in two different companies would constantly be compared because we tied the knot?” Ophelia asked, trying to wrap her mind around it.
“That was why you were the best candidate for me. In the worst-case scenario, you would be the vice chairman of your own company, while I would have been the chairman of mine, and we would have been the power couple of the year. Grandfather was looking to pick someone who would be powerful but not so powerful that they outshone me,” Cade explained Ophelia nodded.
“And the only way to make sure that you get this position is to make children?” Ophelia had told both her father and his grandfather that she was going to make children but only because she was angry and challenged at that time. Now that she was thinking of the consequences, she was not sure if she wanted to do it.
“Yeah, I would tell you to think other ways, but Charles Vale is quite a stubborn man.”
“And so is my fad, why did I go blabber about holding off my appointment?” Ophelia whined as she hit herself in the face. “And what did I say? Three months? How can I think I can do that in three months? Why did I think I could do that at all?” She asked, looking at him as she scooted over to him, that there was almost no space between them. “Or should we…” she trailed off, looking at him, her eyes going from his eyes down to his lips and then his chest.
“Don’t try to seduce me,” Cade said, scooting over so there was a reasonable gap between them.
“Seduce you?” She asked, feeling blood rise up to her cheeks; she hoped it was not as red as it felt hot that she thought it would burn if she held it. She hoped that if she was blushing, he would be kind enough to ignore it and not make a big deal about it. She wanted to fan herself with her fingers because of how she felt, but she did not want him to begin to think that it was because of him.
“Yes, seduce me. You have been talking about having kids, and now you are scooting over while looking at me with those eyes. How can I not think that you want to?”
“If you say the word seduce one more time, I might be forced to try and do it,” she warned before throwing her face to the side and successfully using the tip of her fingers to fan it dramatically.
Cade wanted to say something smart or funny but he knew that this was not a good thing. “On Monday, after your big introduction to the staff, go beg your dad to give you your promotion with the original timeline, and I will find a way around it with grandfather,” Cade advised.
“Are you saying I go back and eat my words before my father?”
“Do you have a better plan?” Cade asked, and she shook her head.
“If you give me a few days, I am sure I can come up with a better one,” she said. Her confidence peaked as she became sure that she would find a solution. Maybe if she spoke with Diana, she would have some helpful tips.
“And if you do not find a solution to it by then, what happens?” Cade asked.
“I am sure that I will.”
“I am not doubting your ability just in case you are unable to find a solution; what happens?”
“Then we should try to make babies; it would be easier than trying to convince two old men who are rigid,” she said, flicking her lower lip.
Cade began to move closer to her with each movement she made back until her back touched the armrest of the sofa they sat on. “What are you doing?” she gulped as her throat moved up and down in some sort of fear.
“I told you already,” he said in a low voice, his brown eyes suddenly so golden she could see a reflection of her face in them. “You should not seduce me.”