Caitlin's Choice Read Online Free PDF Page B

much time do you want?”
    A lifetime. “I have a proposition for you. I want you to come live in my house—only until he’s old enough to be on his own for a day at a time.”
    He wasn’t sure who was more surprised, Caitlin or himself. He hadn’t planned much beyond getting her to sit down and talk to him. What better way to spend time with his son—and Caitlin, too— than to have them both right there under his roof? The more he thought about it, the better the idea sounded, at least to him.
    Caitlin, on the other hand, seemed to be in shock. Her eyes widened to twice their size. “Are you serious? It could be eight or nine months before he’s weaned.”
    “You won’t be a prisoner. You can come and go as you please. I’ll have a studio set up so you can continue to work from home, as you do now.”
    She arched her eyebrow defiantly. “And if I refuse?”
    “We’ll let a judge decide.”
    Andrew followed her gaze and noticed she was eyeing the paperweight on his desk. She might not be a violent person by nature, but he had to wonder if she was considering cracking him over the head.
    He didn’t like to make threats, but she was so stubborn he had no other way to get her attention, and he wanted her undivided attention. Though she glared at him with bitter contempt, she was the most desirable woman he’d known.
    “If I say yes, I want it in writing that you’ll be entitled to no more than visitation rights when he’s ready. I don’t want you trying to get full custody later on.”
    “Caitlin, I’m not trying to take your baby away from you. But he’s my son, too. I need time to build a bond with him while he’s still an infant.”
    Tyler wasn’t the only one he wanted to build a relationship with, but his son would definitely be the easier one to get through to.
    Caitlin twisted her fingers nervously in her lap. He could almost see the wheels spinning in her brain. She was looking for a way out. “What’s your mother going to think?”
    “I don’t care what she thinks. It’s my house.”
    “I’m sure she’ll have a lot to say, regardless.”
    “I know my mother can be pushy and domineering, but so can I. You don’t seem to have a problem telling me where to go.”
    She rubbed her fingers against her temple. “Can I think about it?”
    “Take all the time you need.”
    “All right. I’ll let you know in eighteen years.”
    The minute she cracked a joke, he knew he’d won. He was wise enough to hide his elation and his relief. He hadn’t expected her to give in without a battle. Yes, she was hurt and angry, but she must still have some feelings for him. Otherwise why would she have had the child when there were other options she could have exercised? Why had she named him Tyler Andrew? And why had she caved in to his offer so easily?
    He lifted Tyler up into the air and jiggled him lightly. “What do you think, sport? Do you want to come live in your father’s house for a while?”
    Andrew got his answer in a line of drool on his suit.
    Caitlin laughed and raised a victorious fist. “Yes. That’s my boy. Shake him a few more times and maybe he’ll spit up on you, too.”
    He wiped a handkerchief across his jacket and grinned. “You’re spiteful.”
    “Me? You wrote the book, chapter and verse.”
    Spiteful? Was that how she saw him? He wasn’t motivated by spite. On the contrary, he was struggling to do the right thing. In his entire life, he had never given of himself. In his arrogance, he had never looked back to see the people he had hurt in his climb to the top. His treatment of Caitlin had forced him to take a long hard look at himself, and he didn’t like what he saw. He was thirty-six years old. Time to grow up. That meant taking care of his son and Caitlin, too, even if it was the last thing she wanted from him.
    His gaze slid over her, taking in the long dark hair that fell to her shoulders, the delicate swell of her breasts beneath her blouse, and the long lines of