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.“What?”“Last night you were telling me about all the new construction possibilities in the Decatur area, about how now more than ever before, your firm had a chance to bid on projects right here at home.” She took a bite out of the banana.He liked being able to discuss business with Blythe.Most of the women he’d dated hadn’t had a head for business and found any discussions about his firm terribly boring.Maybe because she owned and managed a business herself, Blythe understood his devotion to his work, his excitement in undertaking a new project.The first time she had made a couple of suggestions, he had ignored her.But after giving her ideas some thought, he realized his wife was a pretty smart businesswoman.“Construction is fast becoming big business around here,” Adam said.“Not just with the River Walk project, but with the new water treatment plant, the new bridge over the Tennessee River, and future plans to build a civic center as well as rebuild the old marina.”“That’s certainly more work than one firm could handle,” Blythe said.“You know, if you do bid on the River Walk project and win the bid, would you consider using me as one of your subcontractors?”“You? For what?”“For landscape design,” she told him.“There isn’t much I don’t know about plants, flowers, shrubs, trees, grass.And I’ve always wanted to expand, to own and operate a nursery as well as my downtown florist shop.”“How will you have time to run two businesses and raise a child?”She felt as if he’d reached across the table and slapped her.She had never shared her dreams with anyone except Joy.Now she’d shared them with Adam.She’d been foolish to think he’d understand, that he might actually encourage her.What had she expected him to say? “Why, honey, that’s a great idea.What can I do to help you? And of course, I’ll consider you for a subcontracting job if Wyatt Construction wins the River Walk bid.”He knew by the expression on her face that he’d said the wrong thing.What surprised him was that she hadn’t already blasted him with that little viper tongue of hers.But no, she just sat there staring at him, her jaw tight, her lips closed, her breathing quickening with every breath.He had found out from living with her for two months now that Blythe was far more dangerous when she was quiet than when she was vocal.“How are you killing me this time?” he asked.“Boiling me in oil? Tossing me into shark-infested waters? Or perhaps feeding me to a man-eating plant?”“What are you talking about?”“Don’t think you can fool me.Every time you get that look on your face, I know you’re fantasizing about ways to murder me.”Blythe’s lips twitched ever so slightly as she tried not to smile.Damn the man! He had a knack for making her angry, but an even greater talent for making her laugh.“You really don’t want to know the answer to your question.It’s better for you not to know my fantasies.” And it was better for her if he didn’t know them, because more often than not, she wasn’t plotting his demise, but daydreaming about making love to him.He reached across the table and took her hand.She stiffened at his touch, but didn’t try to pull away from him.His big hand completely encompassed her smaller one.“I’d like to know all your dreams, all your fantasies, especially if they involve me.” He stroked the top of her hand with his thumb, loving the feel of her soft skin.She was soft like that all over, even softer and more delicate in some places.Places he wished he could touch right now.“I tried to share one of my dreams with you, but you—”“Questioned your ability to be a mother and a businesswoman.” He lifted her hand to his lips, kissing her sweet flesh with tender passion.“I try damn hard not to be such a chauvinist, babe, but sometimes I fail.”She couldn’t bear the way his lips burned into her skin, hot and damp and exciting.“If you can run a multimillion-dollar business and be a good father, why couldn’t I run a florist and a nursery and be a good mother?”He inserted his tongue between her index and middle fingers, moving it slowly in and out.Blythe jerked her hand away, stunned by the sensuality of his caress.Smiling, knowing damn well how he’d made her feel, Adam looked at her with his piercing black eyes, and Blythe tingled from head to toe.How was she going to be able to resist this man for six more months, when every time he came near her, she wanted to throw herself into his arms?“You’re right,” he said.“I am? You mean you agree with me?”“Sure.In order to be good parents, both of us will have to make concessions, and there will be times when we will have to put our child’s needs before our business concerns.Me—” he pointed to himself, and then to her “—as well as you.”“We haven’t really discussed exactly how we’re going to go about sharing custody of—” The baby moved again.Blythe forced herself not to cover her stomach with her hand.“I mean, well.How can we possibly have equal custody the first six months to a year if I plan on breast-feeding?”Breast-feed? Had he heard her correctly? She hadn’t said anything about breast-feeding.Adam glanced at her high, round breasts and swallowed hard.The night he’d made love to her in his condo, he had caressed her beautiful little breasts.He had teased her tight pink nipples and tormented them with his mouth until she had cried out for mercy.Since their wedding night he had wanted to see her breasts, to feel them, taste them.“You’re going to breast-feed our baby?” he asked.“Yes, I am.Dr.Meyers says it’s much healthier for me and the baby, and it’s something I really want to do.”“I think that’s wonderful.But I never thought you would.I mean, most women don’t.Not anymore.Do they?”“Some women do, and not always the sweet, docile, old-fashioned type you might expect.” Blythe scooted back her chair and stood.“Independent, intelligent women breast-feed their babies, too, you know.Just because I have a mind of my own, a business of my own and ideals of my own, doesn’t mean I’m not capable of being maternal.”Before she exited the kitchen, he grabbed her shoulder
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