It had been hard to leave Matt but both of them woke up and she showered before getting dressed. He had scrambled them both up some eggs and they had sat in her breakfast nook eating them.

He had some meetings to attend and she had some contracts to review and they would get together at the end of the day to go out to dinner.

"We can try that new barbecue place close to Chinatown," he suggested.

She nodded, nibbling her toast. When she woke up, she'd felt a little queasy but it had passed pretty quickly but she took it easy during breakfast just to be on the safe side. All she needed to do was have to utter a quick, excuse me and then rush off to the bathroom to throw up. Not before she told him her news, which after some girl talk with Elise could be as early as tonight.

Speaking of her friend, she had to meet her at the Tea Room later on for that counseling session. She didn't want to keep the truth hidden from Matt, she just felt she needed to work on her script. After all, he'd been one of L.A.'s hottest and most confirmed bachelors in between his engagements and now…he was about to be a father. She just didn't know how he was going to take it.

"So I'll see you tonight," he whispered in her ear saying goodbye.

He kissed her on the mouth enough to make her lightheaded and then headed out the door to run home to change into more appropriate attire before heading to the office. Damn, she missed him as soon as she closed the door behind him. She had awaken to his kiss and his lips had gone exploring, reaching the hollow of her collarbone before she'd come to her senses. It'd taken awhile for both of them to get moving with their days.

He had heard from her that she needed to shower alone or they'd never leave the house and had gone to the closet to dig out one of her sensible three-piece business suits. She hated wearing them, believing the office should have a casual day in the work week, but that might be a conversation to have with her business partner later.

She'd gone to the office separately, sitting in morning traffic, while the radio had been turned to classic rock and started singing within the confines of her car. That's what great loving did to her and by the time she reached the office, she felt completely energized.

Enough to think about redecorating her drab office but after getting off the elevator, she picked up some slips of messages from Chris.

"Anything critical," she asked.

Chris shrugged.

"Oh they stopped carrying the purple rabbits."

C.J. frowned.

"The what…?"

"You know like the green ducks?"

C.J. nodded understanding.

Chris just handed her more messages. Who were all these people who had called her? After all, she'd only taken off one day to do her gardening. She headed into her office and sat on her chair, picking up the phone. It would be her taskmaster for about the next three hours.

Matt had headed home to change into his business clothes but on impulse, decided to change and go running instead. The air had only begun to heat up, and the breeze hinted of salt and wild sage. He climbed over the tidal wall and started jogging over the densely packed sand. The beach in front of him saw little traffic until later in the afternoon this time of year so he had it to himself.

He just felt so energetic even after spending most of the past two weeks climbing mountains. Ten miles seemed like nothing to him, and he even added a couple sets of wind sprints which barely left him winded.

He untied his shoes after he got back into his house and went to take his shower, but all he could think about while soaping his body was how she had done that for him last night. But a pile of work at the office awaited him.

After navigating the city streets to get to the office, he held some conference call meetings which he had to struggle to participate in because his mind kept wandering. He listened for her footsteps outside his door but heard nothing. In fact, when he stepped outside in between to pour some juice at the wet bar, her office door had been closed.

He headed out to meet Elizabeth at the Tea Room just after noon. He'd never been there but heard the cuisine was top of the line and they had about 500 different types of teas steeped in all kinds of water at all different temperatures. Not that he was much into tea, being a coffee man himself. But he wondered what Elizabeth had to tell him, and what she was up to right now. After all, their engagement had crashed not long before the wedding date. They had gone their separate ways after inventorying the damage and he hadn't heard from her since.

Had she gotten pregnant during that last round they shared and was he the father? He shouldn't be jumping to conclusions but what else could she tell him that would change his life? His stomach felt like ice at the thought that she might be having his child. Not that he didn't ever want children, of course he did just not right now…and he never envisioned Elizabeth as their mother.

He hadn't thought much about the family he hoped to have some day, he just took it for granted that this part of his life would fall into place at the right time after he established his business as the best in its industry.

Until then he fully intended to have fun in his life, to climb every high summit on the planet at least once, travel to different places off the maps and to enjoy the most amazing sex with C.J..

Like he had just done that morning, what he intended to do by the end of today as soon as he got done with his work.

He turned into the parking lot of the restaurant and parked near the front, before walking inside. The waitress when she heard his name nodded and led him to go sit where Elizabeth already waited.

She smiled when she saw him dressed in an outfit straight off of some designer's blueprints. Flowery and trimmed with lace, it seemed more appropriate for a formal dinner party than a lunch meeting. But then she had always been more concerned with style than just about anything else.

The waitress poured them what looked like iced green tea and he sipped it carefully. Not bad, but he'd rather have a scotch, still he didn't want to risk not being on his toes when he heard what Elizabeth had to tell him. She gazed at him, and he knew she calculated the timing of her announcement down to the nth second.

So he wasn't hearing a word about it until they were finished with at least the main course.

C.J. felt like by the time she got to the Tea Room to meet Elise that she really needed to hit the bathroom again. Did her bladder shrink overnight or something? She saw Elise standing by the cashier and told her she'd be back in a minute. By the time she returned, Elise had chosen a booth for the both of them in the back of the restaurant. She sat down and sipped the tea that the waitress poured for them.

"Not bad…"

Elise smiled.

"I just finished sewing up the final points in a contract so I'm ready to celebrate."

C.J. nodded.

"That'll work," she said, "I know it's what you really wanted."

"Yeah well, I never thought I'd get it," Elise said, "but we sealed the deal at the Beverly Hyatt."

C.J. frowned.

"You mean the restaurant?"

Elise shook her head.

"No I mean room 1235," she said.

C.J. grimaced, too much information but then Elise had always been straight and to the point in her choice of words.

She reached to sip her water to cool off so she could give Elise her full attention but she couldn't believe what she just heard. Had her friend really seduced a guy to get business from him?

"Don't look at me like that C.J…"

C.J. felt like rolling her eyes but didn't want to offend Elise. After all, she still had to tell her news.

"So what's up with you C.J.," Elise said, sipping her tea, "Some guy knock you up or something?"

C.J. just stared bug eyed at her friend.

"How…how did you know?"

Elise shrugged.

"I was kidding…what…really…wow."

A lot in a few words only C.J. wasn't sure what.

"Can you be more specific?"

Elise grinned.

"Well, you slept with some guy you never told me about and then one of his swimmers slipped through all your defenses and hit its mark?"

"I'm on the Pill and I want my money back."

Elise sighed.

"Damn, I better get mine checked," she said, "but I thought you'd double up because weren't you so sure you didn't want to get pregnant?"

Yeah that had been true but when she had an opportunity to jump in the sack with Matt, caution had just gone out the window. Elise looked at her and then cleared her throat.

"Well I think your news just topped mine," she said, "So how did the lucky guy react when you told him?"

Matt looked across at Elizabeth who had pushed her teriyaki platter aside and put her hands clasped on the table.

"So what do you need to tell me or are you going to keep beating around the bush?"

She smiled at him.

"I didn't know how to tell you this," she said, "I've been thinking about it ever since I found out."

He just stared at her, the words sticking in his throat.

"That you were pregnant?"

She just stared at him a long moment and then she burst out laughing.

"You thought…oh honey that's just priceless," she said, "No, I'm not and that's not the news I had to tell you."

He sighed impatiently.

"Then what is it?"

She just smiled more widely at him.

"I just bought out your company."

Matt just looked at his ex-fiancée.

"You did what?"

She smiled at him broadly like she'd just swallowed the canary.

"I bought your company."

"That's impossible…"

She hedged, reaching for her iced green tea.

"Well, I haven't quite purchased it…yet but I've been busy while you just took off, getting my business manager to acquire stock shares."

Matt knew that was one way to get his company given that some of his own shareholders felt that he had taken his own company in what they considered the wrong direction. Sometimes he had wondered if he had made the right decision to go public so soon and right now was one of those moments.

"You can't get enough shares…"

She smiled again, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

"So you say," she said, "but within a month you might be saying something very different. I'll still leave you keys to the headquarters if you're nice to me."

Matt just looked at Elizabeth sitting across from him as she fiddled with her leftover sushi.

"Okay what do you want?"

She didn't break her stride.

"For us to get our engagement back on track and to get married," she said, "Oh Matt, we should never have let petty differences get in the way of our plans for happiness."

He sighed.

"I remember it being more than that," he said, "The answer is no."

She widened her eyes almost as in shock. He imagined she hadn't heard that word very much until she met him.

"But…"

"No Elizabeth, what you're trying to do is called extortion," he said, "and I'm going to do what you want."

"But Matt, what about your company," she asked.

His heart weighed heavily inside him because he had worked very hard for some years to translate his dreams into a business that he built from the ground up. But he hadn't done it alone. C.J. had been right there with him and she had kept him moving forward even at times he wanted to quit. Without her…he looked back at Elizabeth and shook his head again.

"You can keep it," he said, "And with your years of business experience and training, I'm sure you'll ensure it remains a success. Though it's going to cut into your party schedule a lot."

Her frown which had been a smile a moment ago, deepened. Clearly she hadn't thought that far.

"I'll do it…I'll take your company and I'll…hire someone to run it."

He considered that.

"That might work but it won't be easy and it won't be cheap," he said, "I hope you're bringing a lot of additional capital into this."

"But it's your company, the one you built…"

He cut her off.

"I know but I also know that I can always build myself another one," he said, "I do have the acumen, the work ethic to be a success, the connections in the industry and one hell of a business partner."

She made a face.

"You mean C.J.," she said, "that figures…you always did have a thing for that girl. Frankly I don't know why."

Despite the conversation, Matt had to bite back a smile at that because he didn't have a clue what he'd been missing when he'd been with Elizabeth.

"Elizabeth…I never cheated on you with her or anyone else," he said, "but any relationship with her or anyone else is my business not yours."

She widened her eyes again.

"I knew it, you are sleeping with her! Well, she can't give you what I just offered."

He shook his head at her.

"No Elizabeth, what you just took from me," he said, "My company if I don't agree to your blackmail marriage proposal."

Elizabeth leaned back in her seat, clearly not happy with the way this meeting was going.

C.J. listened to Elise's lecture about how if women had invented birth control, there would actually be a method that worked. But her mind wandered back to the night she had spent with Matt. Her body tingled when she thought about how he had been tireless in bed once he had gotten her there. She could never get enough of him, and most of her wanted to see him again soon.

"And you know…the pill is the worse…because it sucks you into believing its 99% effective but you're living proof that even that method can bite the dust…"

"Yeah…I guess…"

"So are you going to tell him with a dinner under candlelight," Elise asked, "You know that Perdinos has a special package for couples who are celebrating getting knocked up…complete with candlelight and music."

"Really…?"

That might work. She wondered if they also had a special cloak room where couples could slip into and discreetly celebrate in private. Because even though she didn't know how Matt would take the news, just thinking about meeting up with him again made her feel incredibly horny.

"You're going to have to tell him…"

C.J. nodded.

"I know but he just returned yesterday and we spent all night, you now catching up on things."

"I'll bet…is he really as hot as he looks?"

C.J. just shot her a glance.

"I had no idea how hot until that first time."

Elise smiled.

"So is this like a serious romance or a friends with benefits situation?"

C.J. thought about that not knowing for sure. Yes, she and Matt were the closest of friends and always had been even before starting up the business. But she couldn't deny that their recent interactions had been highly charged. Yeah, she still considered him her best friend but now when she saw him, she wanted to jump his bones in nothing flat.

Then again, if she were honest, she had always wanted to do that.

Matt just stared at Elizabeth not believing what she had been telling him, or rather threatening him with about his company. He had proposed to women before, and he had been proposed to, but he'd never had a woman hold his company hostage to get him to marry her.

Yet Elizabeth had just done that and this had been a woman who hadn't been as faithful to him as he'd been to her. Not that he had any proof but he suspected that she'd had some action on the side while engaged to him.

"I'll give you time to think about it," she said, folding her napkin back up.

"I don't need it," he said, "the answer's no…and that's final. I'd rather start from scratch to build a new company than be blackmailed into marriage."

She shrugged.

"We'll see I guess," she said, "Here's my new card."

She put it on the table in front of him, knowing he wouldn't take it.

"You can contact me there when you change your mind…"

But Matt knew he wouldn't do that, he'd never let anyone even a woman have that kind of control over him. He hadn't gotten this far by being someone who could be dominated or even manipulated. She'd fine out soon enough that he'd never agree to her terms and move on to her next extortion plot he guessed.

She looked intently past him for a moment and he looked in the same direction. His eyes widened as he saw C.J. sitting there with her friend, Elise. He knew they lunched together once or twice a week.

"It's…it's her…"

He nodded.

"Yeah that's C.J.," he said, "My business partner."

But even as he said that, he thought about how she had looked this morning when she had been indulging his morning erection and how she tortured him slowly by her movements, her pussy tightening and then releasing his cock. He reached for his water and sipped it.

Elizabeth just kept looking at her.

"She's not that bad looking," she said, "though she needs a better designer for her clothes."

Matt didn't' think so, he thought she looked damn sexy in anything…or nothing.

"She was so pushy during the wedding preparations," Elizabeth said, "I don't think she ever really liked me."

He sighed.

"Maybe she's a better judge of character than I am."

Elizabeth's jaw just dropped.

"Matt…how can you say that?"

He couldn't believe her attitude after she had just ran a number on him where if he didn't marry her, he'd lose his company. Hopefully that had been a bluff that he just called and she'd move on and away from him.

"Elizabeth…this conversation is done," he said, "You're not getting me and if you want my company, then give it your best shot."

She sighed, getting ready to stand up.

"You're so sure about that?"

"Yes I am, now I think this lunch is over…I'll pick up the tab on this one."

She smiled.

"Oh that's so sweet of you," she said, "but then you always wanted to be in control, on top so to speak."

He didn't respond to her cheap bait as both waited until the waiter gave them their ticket.

"Oh my god," Elise said suddenly, "Isn't this a small world?"

C.J. rubbed her mouth with her napkin.

"What?"

"Look over there," Elise said, "It's Matt and…Elizabeth."

C.J. turned around to look because she hadn't heard that name for a while. Well not since yesterday anyway when Delilah had tried to get her to help her friend get back with Matt.

"Did he tell you he was having lunch with her?"

No he hadn't, C.J. thought, not that he told her everything that he did. After all, they both had their personal lives but she thought that if he intended to hook up with the woman he had once intended to marry, he might have mentioned it at least in passing. She looked at the two of them and it appeared to be a very involved discussion. Maybe she had been right in the possibility that Matt had shown Elizabeth the pool table back at the office before driving through traffic to her house…no he wasn't that kind of guy. She knew that. Delilah had just been blowing smoke because she wanted Elizabeth to get back with Matt.

Yeah that had to be it, she thought as she watched the two of them together from her own table.