Cal just looked at C.J. not saying anything after she outlined everything. They had met at that really nice restaurant with world famous crab cakes sitting in a corner booth, next to a large bay window looking out into the ocean.

For some reason, the crab cakes hadn't agreed with her so she had just had some salad with calamari and shrimp in it. He bit into his food just looking at her, and she wondered was that wariness she read in his eyes? She hoped not because they'd known each other forever, before and after he had tried to seduce her a couple of times but she wasn't biting. Once they got that straightened out, he'd been a good friend to her handing out advice to her whether she wanted it or not.

That's why she hadn't told him about being pregnant from her affair with Matt, and she didn't tell him that they'd even gotten together.

He put his fork and just looked at her.

"So you want me to take his ex-fiancée out?"

"You mean on a date?"

He sighed.

"No that's not what I meant…I mean out of action."

Her eyes widened and then she remembered there were a few details in his biography that had been a little sketchy. But no, as much as it tempted her, she couldn't go that route.

"No way Cal," she said, "You aren't suggesting."

He just shot her a look and she shook her head.

"Of course not," she said, "Now if you just wanted to take her out…on a date I could go for that but she'll need to come with a warning label attached."

He nodded thoughtfully before picking up his fork to eat again.

"Just thought we needed to get that clear up front."

She sipped her mineral water with a slice of lime. Not what she usually drank but the pregnancy had limited her drinking options.

"It's just that she couldn't even keep her hands off the stripper at her bachelorette party…"

He frowned.

"Isn't that customary for the bride to be to…do that, to get friendly with the stripper," he said, "Isn't that the point to get all that out of her system before walking down the aisle?"

C.J. sighed.

"Maybe…but they broke up not long after that and Matt…well it didn't keep him down for long."

Cal harrumphed.

"I don't imagine it would…the guy's a serious player."

Not words she wanted to hear especially from a friend but she just wanted to didn't let herself get distracted.

"She's the one who wants to treat marriage as some that has to be extorted from Houston," she said, "If he doesn't marry her, she'll take his company."

Cal leaned back in his seat.

"I'll do some digging but I'm not sure what I'll find," he said, "There's no guarantees in this business."

"I get that but I'll be damned if I'm going to let her get away with this," she said, "We both worked very hard to build our company."

Cal's brow furrowed.

"Are you sure that Matt's not okay with her deal," he said, "That he doesn't want to marry her."

She sighed, toying with her salad.

"He told me he has no intention of marrying her," she said, "that if she takes his company, we can build another but I know he's not happy that he might lose it."

"Like I said, I'll see what I can find out on her," Cal said, "I'll get back to you if anything shows up."

She nodded.

"Good, just call me on my cell…not at the office."

He gazed directly at her.

"You don't want Matt to know what you're doing."

She hesitated and nodded. He appeared to digest it and she waited for his answer, that of course he'd help her in any way he could do so. Instead he asked her a question.

"C.J.…how long have the two of you been together?"

She blinked her eyes and straightened in her seat.

"Say what?"

He didn't waver in his choice of words.

"How long have to the two of you been going at it…you know between the sheets?"

She still just stared at him, her fork frozen in her hand.

"I…."

"Oh don't give me that. It's Cal you're talking to…so when did you start…"

She held a hand up.

"It's none of your business Cal," she said, "and no, it didn't start when he was still engaged to Elizabeth."

He sighed.

"After he broke up with her then," he said, "I never saw you for someone who'd catch a guy on the rebound."

That ticked her off and she tensed in her seat, looking straight at him.

"How dare you say something like that," she said, "That's not what happened at all."

Cal took another bite of his crab cakes.

"So he told you he's hot for you and you jumped into bed with him just after he broke it off or did it take longer than that?"

She just glared at him. Leave it to Cal to make assumptions about her and Matt. But then she had told him before that she and Matt…they just didn't have sex because they were such close friends. Too close to complicate their relationship by slipping between the sheets.

So time had made a liar out of her. She wasn't going to apologize for that because she loved what they now shared.

Oh and a baby but she wasn't about to alert Cal to that, not while he was on a roll.

He just shook his head at her.

"I just hope the two of you are loading up on contraception because getting knocked up by a player is just going to hurt."

She felt the sting of his words but she forced a smile on her face and tried not to look like she cared.

"Cal…can we just get down to the business that we're here to discuss?"

He shrugged.

"We'll let the other rest for now but I'll go write up a dossier on Elizabeth and her life, her finances, her family, the last guy she saw because you know it wasn't Matt and everything down to her brand of toothpaste."

C.J. digested that believing that would be in depth and thorough enough.

"Thanks, Cal…you're a huge pain in the ass but you're good at your job."

He agreed with her happily and picked up the menu to order some dessert.

Matt sat in his office, still recovering from his conversation with the reporter. His broken engagement and the fate of his company had become fodder for news and everything would be plastered on the front page of the Daily Mirror. Not if he could do anything to stop it from hitting the presses.

He called up the business offices to inquire if the Mirror might be up for sale. The manager told him no in a very firm manner and then Matt started laying him some figures that he'd be willing to pay for the publication. Matt knew that the numbers he quoted would impress but the man had just responded politely by saying he needed to consult with the publisher and then he'd get back to Matt with an answer.

Fair enough, Matt thought as he hung up the phone. He had a feeling that he just might be owning the Daily Mirror by the end of the day. He didn't know how C.J. would feel about what he'd done but it had been necessary to protect her too. Now that she carried his child and didn't wear a wedding ring. Even though out of wedlock pregnancies and children were the norm in L.A., he'd been raised to believe that men who fathered children married their mothers, preferably before getting them pregnant.

What he needed to do to remedy that was to marry C.J. to give their child a name but he had to deal with Elizabeth's extortion threats first.

So he sat in his office and thought of a plan, though trying to purchase the Daily Mirror would be a step in the right direction.

Then he heard some footsteps and when he looked up, he saw Delilah dressed in a red dress with a feather boa around her neck and high heels in his doorway. He frowned at the apparition but she turned out to be real.

He knew that when she cleared her throat.

"Am I interrupting anything?"

He looked up at her and sighed. No, it was really her and he had to find a way to get her to leave quickly.

Instead she walked in and sat in a nearby chair, looking at him.

"You've been very busy this morning."

He nodded absently looking down at some paperwork.

"I'm always busy…It's called working for a living."

If she was supposed to feel the bite in his words, she didn't show it. She just fingered her boa while she smiled.

"I know…because I'm a businesswoman too, at least I've been one for several weeks now."

He hadn't heard that but then he didn't pay attention to her life. He just thought with all the energy and time she spent on advocating Elizabeth, she probably needed one.

"That's good…now I'm really quite busy here."

"So am I Matt," she said, "You see I'm here on business."

His brows arched up.

"What business? We've never done any business."

She smiled at his confusion and shifted her legs.

"Actually, no we haven't but I heard that you're trying to acquire my business…out from under me if necessary."

He frowned.

"I don't think so," he said, "I didn't even know you had one."

She smiled knowingly.

"Oh Matt, you've been a very naughty boy," she said, "This morning you tried to buy my newspaper."

Then it hit him suddenly. No it couldn't be true, she couldn't be…

"What newspaper?"

She smiled wider clearly enjoying herself.

"Oh don't play games with me," she said, "We both know you are after the Daily Mirror."

He shook his head.

"I merely called to ask if it were for sale."

"You did more than that," she said, "you offered a price for it but I'm here to tell you in person as its publisher that the answer is no."

He sighed leaning back in his chair.

"So you own the paper."

She nodded.

"I picked it up several weeks ago for a great price," she said, "I've been working hard with the staff to implement some…changes."

"You mean you're telling them what to write," he said, "and it just happens to be about me and my business."

She chuckled.

"Oh don't flatter yourself," she said, "I'm covering the business world and you're but one business."

He folded his arms.

"But they wanted to turn Elizabeth's extortion scheme into some romantic tale," he said, "Well I'm not biting and I'm not going to marry her."

Delilah shook her head.

"She's in love with you Matt, that's all and she'll be good for you. Just give her a chance to prove that."

"She's had enough chances," he said, "and the answer's still no and you can quote me on that."

She snarled at him beneath a smile.

"Okay then, if you won't marry her," she said, "You'd better pay close attention to the front page of the Mirror tomorrow."

He narrowed his eyes.

"You threatening a smear job, you'd better be careful about doing that."

She smiled at him again, her eyes gleaming.

"Matt…we'll be in touch again," she said, "I've got to go…got a newspaper to run."

She got up and walked out of his office leaving him there wondering what to do next. He'd be damned if he'd let her and Elizabeth win so he picked up the phone and made a call.

"So how's the sex been…you know since he found out?"

C.J. blinked her eyes and looked up at Elise who sat across from her at the coffee joint. She hadn't ordered her usual latte but had stuck to a mango banana smoothie while her friend ordered her cappuccino by the shot glass.

"Oh…it's been great," she said, "Actually Houston's been rather insatiable not that I'm complaining of course."

Elise nodded knowingly.

"Oh men always get like that when they know they've planted the flag in terra firma so to speak…"

C.J. had heard that about men but didn't think it applied to Matt. After all, he'd been quite active in the various social circles and had dated many women, bedding most of them. She'd always figured he had a high sex drive, that it had nothing to do with the pregnancy.

Still…

There were parts of her that ached…not in an uncomfortable way but in ways that reminded her how busy she'd been in the past couple of weeks especially while horizontal. Not that they didn't play vertically like when he took her hard while pressing her against the wall of her garage not too far away from where she had been working in her garden. Her blood still rushed at the memory of how he had looked at her while she'd gotten up, brushed the dirt on her faded jeans and said she needed to find her watering can.

She finally found it in the garage…a long while later, she remembered with a smile. But now at the coffee joint, Elise was pressing her for details about whatever it was she had with Matt.

"It's not like that with him," she said, "I know he's not upset about the baby but we're still working out the logistics."

Elise frowned at her from her coffee.

"The what?"

"You know what happens next," C.J. said, "Do we live together and raise our child…or do it separately…"

Elise yawned.

"You can always get married."

A shock of cold water rushed through C.J.'s vein just at the words. No, she didn't want to think about that right now…not if it came to a failure of birth control to get them to the altar. After all, his broken engagement with Elizabeth hadn't been too much in the past and with his ex and her accomplice declaring all out war now….no better to just exorcise those words from her vocabulary.

"No….that's not in the cards."

Elise arched a brow.

"What you doing tarot cards now?"

C.J. threw her an irritated look.

"No…I mean we've not planned that far," she said, "I just want to take this one day at a time…"

"Until you hit the delivery room and you're about to pop Matt jr…and need a minister to make it legal in between contractions…"

C.J. shook her head.

"No it's not going to be like that," she said, "We'll have some plan worked out…it's just that with Elizabeth trying to blackmail him to the altar and Delilah trying to smear him in that paper she owns now…I couldn't believe it when I saw it on the news."

Elise shook her head.

"Can't believe she went as far as to buy it…and then Matt tried to buy it himself?"

C.J. didn't know how to respond to that, everything had just gotten so complicated. What with all the drama that had erupted lately. But then Elise narrowed her eyes sipping her latest shot of java.

"Is it true that you asked Cal to take them out?"

C.J. shook her head quickly.

"No…No…not at all," she said, "Just to get some recognizance on them and what they're up to and why."

Elise shrugged.

"It's not rocket science C.J.," she said, "Clearly Elizabeth has second thoughts about breaking it off with Matt."

C.J. frowned.

"Maybe…that's what I thought at first but what if it's the capital she's after instead?"

Elise's eyes widened slightly.

"You mean she's after his money?"

C.J. nodded.

"I mean he is loaded after all," she said, "and maybe she's not as flush as she's led people to believe."

"That's possible but he would never let himself be blackmailed into marriage."

C.J. figured as much because Matt didn't much like being backed into a corner and had the deftness and experience to quickly turn the tables on any foolish person who tried to do that with him.

"No he wouldn't…but I don't like it that she's even trying to do it."

Elise chuckled.

"Don't like the other woman poaching in on your man, I got it."

C.J. looked seriously at her friend.

"It's not just that, I'd feel that way even if we weren't…together."

Elise nodded.

"Yeah I know that C.J., the two of you have always been close," she said, "not as close as you are now but close."

"He's still my closest friend," C.J. said, "even if he's giving me the best times of my life."

Elise chuckled again.

"That good…well don't knock them…and it's more than fair enough if you don't want anyone else taking him away…"

"Elise…."

"Hey I know I've been there," Elise said, "Only in my case, the guy turned out to be a lying SOB."

C.J. remembered those days when her friend had her heart brutally broken by a prince charming who had turned out to be a cad. She had grown more cynical since but always remained hopeful even if she wouldn't admit it.

"I just want to find some way to make it work."

Elise drank her shot down.

"Oh you will, I think the two of you make an incredible couple," she said, "You just can't let this drama get to you."

C.J. had no plans for that to happen. She hoped that Cal would come back to her with some useful information for her to use to convince Elizabeth and company to just get lost.

So their company would be safe and she and Matt could get back to the business of figuring out what to do next.

Matt climbed up the wall in the gym, one hand hold, one foot plant at a time while holding onto the rope. It wasn't even close to being as great as climbing real rock but he only had an hour to get his fix of climbing up to some high place and this wall was one of the tallest in this part of the state.

Climbing helped clear his head and that was what he needed more than anything right now. That and some sack time with C.J. like they had shared that morning.

He had met with Roy that morning and his uncle had told him that he had to jump while the iron was hot with Elizabeth to get her out of his company before she could really sink her hooks into it.

More like claws because she had tried to file more paperwork at him in court but so far his lawyers had told him not to worry about it. He hadn't informed C.J. not wanting to put more stress on her plate, now that she was pregnant she had to learn to take it easy. He had plans of his own to teach her that but he kept him to himself…for now. He didn't want her to bolt and drive away as far as her car could take her or worse take the company helicopter, she wanted to be in control of every relationship she engaged in but she was about to find out that wouldn't work for them.

"You two need to get away, take her to some tropical island in your jet," Roy suggested, "A week in paradise will soften up her resolve."

Matt sighed.

"She'll know what I'm up to and dig her feet in even more on the marriage issue."

Roy folded his arms.

"You can't blame her on that," he said, "Not with your last fiancée running around creating a hailstorm with her threats to take your company."

"She won't succeed and I have no plans to give in to her marriage ultimatum."

Roy nodded.

"Okay then…maybe you can just pay her off to go away."

Matt shook his head.

"I don't know if I have enough money even if I did do that," he said, "I'm not sure she's interested in my bank account…."

Roy shrugged.

"She might change her mind."

"I'm not paying her a dime," Matt said, "It's blackmail and I have no intention of giving in to that."

Roy nodded approvingly.

"That's my nephew….so what are you going to do to get rid of her?"

Matt hadn't been able to answer that question because he'd still been thinking about it and he needed to do some rock climbing to get that done. But so far, every thread of an idea that ran through his head, he rejected soon enough. He looked up the faux rock face and saw he had nearly reached the top. He had hoped he would have a plan in mind by then.

But what he thought about instead was C.J. in his bed that morning when he'd woken up next to her and she'd already been looking at him with her incredible eyes, the ones that could be either hazel or green depending on the light. The sheet spilling off of her body, baring one of her breasts….his foot almost slipped on the rock face.

Better to focus on what he was doing…but then he thought of what she would look like as her body blossomed from pregnancy. He had to concentrate on not reaching for the wrong facet of the faux rock in front of him while images of her hands resting on her swollen abdomen filled him, of her sitting in a chair, their baby resting in her arms.

He'd thought during times in his life that if a girlfriend he'd bedded failed a pregnancy test that he'd take off running…though he had always had a deeply embedded sense of responsibility…after all his father had raised him right. But when he thought of C.J. right now, a feeling of warmth filled him not to mention what it did to his libido which barely got a breather while she was in his thoughts.

Like right now…as he thought about it. There was no way he could even convince himself that rock climbing gave him a hard on. The only cure for it was working back at the office a few miles away, dressed up in one of her conservative no nonsense business suits.

Now if he could only get her to marry him. Because he had no intentions of having his child grow up without a father who could give him his name. He knew he'd get his way if he just planned his course of action carefully.

But all he could think of right now was how quickly he could get off of this damn rock face and back to the office where she wouldn't be expecting but maybe hoping that he'd close the office door behind him, clear the work off of her desk and they could both forget about work for a while. Yes, now there was a plan, he thought as he finally reached the top.

C.J. finished her coffee and her talk with Elise and headed back to the office, taking the elevator up to the penthouse. She thought about the work waiting on her desk for her attention and wondered if Matt would be in his office buried under a similar workload. Then she remembered what it had been like to ride him that morning, squeaking the bed springs before they both got up to get ready for work.

As the elevator opened, she hadn't been thinking about the women that had dropped back into his life. But standing there next to the secretary's desk was Delilah and she looked dressed to kill…even without the letter opener in her hand.