She sighed and walked away, then turned around to face him. “I’m not sick. I promise. And nothing is wrong. I’m…” she sighed, rubbing her forehead. “I’m pregnant, Pierce.”
He stood there staring at her, trying to absorb the words. “Pregnant.” He tossed it around in his mind. “Pregnant?”
“Yes. About eleven weeks along.”
Mentally, he counted backwards, his mind going through the dates. “Eleven weeks was the night we were first…!”
“Yes. I’m pregnant with our baby,” she confirmed.
A surge of happiness poured through him and he wanted to pull her into his arms. But something was still wrong. She didn’t look happy. “You weren’t going to…?” he asked, his throat tightening at the idea of her aborting their child.
Immediately, her eyes widened. “No!” she answered. “No way! No! I’m not going to…no, I would never.” Her shoulders stiffened and she glared up at him. “I’m keeping the baby, Pierce. I know that you’re a busy man and…” she swallowed. “We had a good time,” she continued, her voice cracking. “I’m not asking you for anything. And I’ll sign papers dissolving you of your responsibility. But I’m not getting rid of her. You can go on with your life. I don’t need anything from you.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “Is this why you’ve become so distant over the past few weeks?”
Her mouth fell open. “Me? I’ve been distant? You’re the one who had to fly half way around the world!”
He took a step closer, not sure if he should be excited or furious. “I called you! You didn’t have time to talk, Naya.”’
She blinked at him for a long moment, and shook her head slightly. “I was working! You called me in the middle of a meeting. I would think that you’d appreciate my work ethic, since I work for you!”
“Yes, you work for me. So you’d think you could take the time to get out of your meeting to talk with me! You were warm and wonderful in Aruba. But then I left and everything changed. You didn’t give me the time of day.”
She gasped and moved closer, poking him in the chest. “I would have given you the time of day if you’d called me!”
“I called!”
“While I was working!”
“Phones work both ways, Naya.”
She opened her mouth to reply, but there was no response. She just continued to glare at him and he shook his head. “No way, honey. I was working too.” He moved closer, starting to fully realize what she might have gone through…and how that would impact their relationship. “And you could have called me, but you’re so afraid of people leaving you that you wouldn’t even try. You were abandoned by the people who should have been there for you, now you assume everyone is going to leave you.”
She bristled. “How do you know about my past?” she snapped.
“I talked to your mother. Not a stellar example of parental love, but at least she explained why you are always so quick to vanish from my bed.”
He watched the outrage morph onto her lovely features and wanted to laugh. Or pull her into his arms. Either would work at the moment, he thought. “You had no right to snoop into my life, Pierce!”
He shook his head. “I wasn’t snooping. I was jealous.”
Naya’s eyes widened with that. “Jealous? Of me?” she whispered.
He took another step towards her. “Yeah! You wouldn’t talk to me, Naya. Then you left your apartment looking upset, went into someone else’s apartment, and came out looking happy again. So I wanted to know why.”
“You followed me?”
He nodded, but spoke carefully. “Yep. And I’m not going to apologize for it either. You were trying to get away from me, so I took matters into my own hands. I figured it out. And now I understand why you’re afraid, but that’s not gonna fly anymore Naya. You can’t run away from me.”
Her chin jutted out slightly, defiance making her whole body tremble. “I don’t run away! My parents ran away. I face my responsibilities!”
“You run! Every time we were together, you ran away from me except when we were in Aruba.” He leaned closer. “Admit it, if you could have gotten away from me then, you would have.”
She didn’t reply and he had his answer.
“You’re going to have to change that, Naya. You’re pregnant. We’re getting married. No more running!”
The harsh intake of her breath was his first clue that the battle wasn’t over. “Married? What are you talking about?”
He pulled the ring out of his pocket, grabbed her finger and slid the diamond ring on. “There! We’re engaged.” He felt a surge of pride as he looked at his diamond ring on her delicate finger. It looked beautiful and right. “And now I want to know about this baby we are going to have together!”
She stared down at the ring. For a long moment, she didn’t say anything.
Naya didn’t know what to say. Marriage. It had taken her a while to come to terms with the idea of being pregnant. But marriage? He wanted to marry her?
Something else occurred to her. “You had this ring before you found out that I was pregnant,” she whispered.
His eyes were angry, but with her comment, they softened. “Yes. I bought it in Aruba. But…”
She continued to stare at the diamond, her forefinger delicately tracing over it. “But a work crisis happened and you had to leave.”
He moved closer to her. “I left Aruba, Naya. I didn’t leave you.”
She held her breath, trying to make sense of it all. “You had work to do.”
“It wasn’t more important than you, love,” he told her. “I had to go, but I wanted you with me. I didn’t think you’d want to come though.”
She wasn’t sure either. Travel with him? “I can’t give up my job.”
He sighed. “I know. I love you though. And I want you with me, always.”
His words were amazing. But could she believe him?
“What do you want from me?”
He took her hand and pulled her closer. “Everything. I want you. I want to marry you and be with you for the rest of my life.” He lifted her hands to his lips and kissed her fingers. “I want this baby,” he continued, touching her stomach. “I want to know you and be with you and convince you that I’m never leaving you.”
She sobbed, a tear trailing down her cheek. “You can’t promise me that.”
He sighed and pulled her into his arms. “I can’t promise never to die, Naya. But for as long as I’m alive, I won’t leave you. From the first moment I saw you, I knew that you were different. And being with you over the past few weeks, traveling without you last week, I’ve learned that I don’t want to be without you.”
With that, he pulled her into his arms and held her close, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “Do you think you could take a risk on me? We can make it, love. I know we can. I won’t be like your father. I won’t leave you.”
Her slender figure shivered in his arms and he tightened his embrace around her. “How do you know?”
He hugged her closer. “Because I need you. I need you like I need food and oxygen. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I need to feel you and see you. I need to hear you talk to me about your day.” He kissed her again. “And I want to know our child. I didn’t know about this baby a half hour ago,” he pulled her closer still, “But now that I know about it, I want to know our child.”
“Really?”
He laughed and kissed her again. “The only way I can show you is to prove it to you. Every day. Every night.” He kissed her again. “And I will. I will prove it in so many ways, Naya.” He sighed. “But you have to believe in me. You have to believe in yourself, too. And I think that’s the real issue isn’t it? You don’t believe you’re lovable.”
Naya looked away, trying to hide her face. “No,” she whispered, a tear sliding down her cheek.
“You are. You’re sweet and generous. You’re passionate about things that I don’t understand, but I don’t care. I want you. I need you in my
life, honey.”
“Okay,” she finally replied.
He stilled and Naya smiled against his chest.
“Do you mean it?”
“Yes. I’ll try. But it’s going to take me a while.”
He laughed and lifted her into his arms. “I can work with that. I’ll start by showing you how much I need you now.”
Naya laughed. “I’m going to need a lot of convincing,” she warned and he laughed, pushing through to her bedroom and kicking the door closed behind them. “I’m fully on board with convincing you, love.”
Epilogue
“Let’s go!” Naya called up the stairs. “She’s waiting!” A moment later, there was a stampede of movement and she stepped back in anticipation. Sure enough, seconds later, four boys ranging in ages from five to twelve raced down the stairs.
“Gramma won’t leave without us,” Jeremy announced. As the oldest, he had a confidence about him that the other three tried to mimic. They were getting there, but he’d had a couple of extra years with their father, who they all tried to emulate.
“You never know,” Naya replied, opening the door so that they could rush outside.
“Gramma wouldn’t do that,” Bryce decided, shaking his head as if their grandmother leaving without them was the craziest suggestion in the world.
Pierce was last, but he came from his office and growled as he scooped up five year old David. “I think I should get your share of Gramma’s cookies,” he told his youngest.
David laughed, grabbing onto his father’s hair when he was set on Pierce’s shoulders. “Gramma hides some cookies just for me,” he announced, feeling special.
Naya laughed, shaking her head. Her mother had hiding places for each of her grandkids. It was a cute way to make each of them feel extra special, as if she were looking out for each of them.
“Yeah, she might have a secret stash of cookies for you, but there will be no cookies until after her presentation.”
Pierce groaned as he released their youngest and followed at a slower pace, wrapping his arm around Naya’s shoulders. “We don’t have to sit through all of it, do we?” he asked.
Naya looped her arm around his waist and frowned at him sternly. “Yes. She’s created a good, solid business selling her sewing projects. And she’s honored to be doing this presentation and sharing her knowledge of how others can start their own businesses. So yes, we’re sitting through the whole thing.”
They were at the car now and her three other sons were already buckled in. For a moment, Pierce watched David try and climb into the SUV, but in the end, he lifted their youngest son up and set him into the despised booster seat. He hated the safety seat, but until he turned six, he was required to sit in it and not even the ribbing from his older brothers could gain him enough compassion to avoid the contraption.
Pierce strapped him in, and checked the others to make sure that their safety belts were securely fastened before he closed the door and turned to look at Naya. “Have I mentioned that you’re looking exceptionally beautiful today?”
Naya rolled her eyes. “You’re just saying that because the doctor told us that this one is a girl,” she said, patting her round, pregnant tummy.
He put his hands on her stomach as well, rubbing lightly. “True, but it’s not because we’re finally having a girl.” He kissed her lightly. “I still think you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
She grinned up at him, leaning into him, which wasn’t very easy since she was seven months’ pregnant. “Thank you!” she whispered, still needing to hear things like that from Pierce. And then she burst out laughing groans and barfing noises emanated from the backseat. Her boys were experts on making gagging noises whenever she and Pierce became a bit too amorous, but Naya ignored her brood and lifted onto her toes. “I love you,” she whispered.
“I love you too!”
Excerpt to Unexpectedly Expecting the Sheik’s Baby
Coming June 19, 2020
Get Cassy’s Story HERE!
“Please don’t look in my office,” Cassandra Finnegan whispered as she tried to balance the heavy case files she’d brought home last night. She was late for work. Again!
“Please be too busy to look in my office!” Cassy prayed under her breath as she hurried down the long hallway, ignoring the pinch in her shoes and the tight band around her waist since she’d accidentally pulled on the suit that she’d banished to the back of her closet after she’d gained too much weight to comfortably wear it. Unfortunately, she hadn’t gotten her other suits to the drycleaners over the past two weeks, so this suit was all that was clean.
Juggling several files, her computer, a gym bag, and the extra-large tote bag that served as her purse, she hurried through the maze of hallways to her tiny office, keeping her eyes forward so she didn’t have to acknowledge those already at their desks, heads down and working diligently. She wasn’t extremely late. But even five minutes after the stroke of eight o’clock in the morning would cause her boss to issue a demoralizing reprimand. Usually, those admonishments happened in front of her co-workers, which made the scolding ten times worse.
It didn’t matter that that Cassy was late because she’d only gotten two hours of sleep last night. It didn’t matter that she’d e-mailed a very important brief to her boss at four o’clock this morning, a brief that had been dumped on her desk yesterday after five o’clock. After finishing that assignment, Cassy had leaned back in her uncomfortable kitchen chair to rest her eyes “just for a moment” before heading to bed – which caused her to fall asleep in said chair. And since she’d fallen asleep in the kitchen, she hadn’t heard her alarm go off in her bedroom at six o’clock this morning.
Hence, why she was late.
Unfortunately, the fact that she’d worked twenty-one hours the day before had little bearing on the fact that she was fifteen minutes late today.
“Ms. Finnegan,” a condescending and clearly irritated male voice barked barely a fraction of a second after she’d entered her office. Thankfully, Cassy had already put both of her cumbersome bags down and turned around, still clutching the file folders.
“Mr. Hanover!” she exclaimed as if she were eager to see the man. She took the top file folder off of her stack. “The Osaka briefing is right here, although I also e-mailed it to you last night.” He opened his mouth to say something, but Cassy didn’t give him a chance. “The argument I compiled is powerful and I’ve found several cases to back up the defense.” He glanced down at the file, his mouth still open, but Cassy wasn’t going to take the tardiness reprimand! Instead of waiting for him to speak, she handed him the next file, explaining rapidly. “I won the Simms case yesterday, but I wrote a follow up summary with all the issues we confronted during the trial, as well as a list of problems we might want to e-mail our clients in similar situations. The problems this defendant faced during court will come up again in several of the cases we are working right now. I’ve summarized the problems and how I solved them, then e-mailed them to each of the lawyers, as well as copying you so you’re fully up to date.”
She handed him the last file, which was the biggest, and continued, “This was the most interesting case and I cited several problems with the treaty. And let me say thank you so much for letting me review it. International law is the area I’d like to specialize in.”
Ian Hanover was obviously flustered as he accepted the case files, trying to balance each of them as Cassy handed them over while still listening to her explanations. “Ms. Finnegan!” he finally interrupted. It only worked because Cassy was finished.
“Yes?” she asked, proud of the work she’d done during the previous twenty-four hours, despite her current exhaustion. Those briefs weren’t written by a bimbo. She’d worked long hours and done a huge amount of tedious, exhaustive research. Everything was summarized with exemplary writing and she hadn’t relaxed until each bullet point was succinct and powerful. No superfluous wording in her briefs. Everything was straight t
o the point. Just like her.
Cassy might struggle with timeliness, especially when she had to work until the wee hours of the morning, but she was a darn good lawyer!
With a sigh, Mr. Hanover waved the files in his hands to interrupt her. “You are needed in conference room six,” he said, tucking the files under his arm and frowning at her, his voice lowering in an attempt to convey the relevance of this news. “This is a very important client. As such, you will stay with the members of this meeting for the whole day, advising them on any international issues that come up. Darren Meyers will also be in the room. He has more experience, but these are,” he paused to close her office door and dropped his voice to continue, “extremely sensitive meetings. I must remind you of the non-disclosure agreement you signed when you joined this firm, as well as your absolute adherence to the lawyer-client privilege. Nothing, and I mean nothing, can be discussed outside of that conference room. Any conversations you have with the participants of that room must remain confidential as well. All information concerning these meetings will be kept in a secure location, known only to the participants of that room and this law office. Do I make myself clear?”
Cassy straightened, feeling excitement bubble up inside her. This was her break! This was her chance to show the world she was worthy of respect. “Yes sir,” she replied. She self-consciously tugged her black suit jacket down.
Mr. Hanover peered at her through his thick glasses for a moment before accepting her assurance. “Good. Then get in there. The participants should be arriving shortly. The conference room is ready for you.”
Cassy grabbed a new pad of legal paper and several pens, and hurried down the hallway. She slipped through the door and nodded to the other lawyers that were milling about. Darren, one of the other lawyers working his way through the sometimes confusing maze towards a coveted partnership with the firm, was already there. As usual, his smug, entitled expression was present as he watched her walk through the conference room doors, his red suspenders and blue striped shirt showing off his pretentious and self-important nature.
Pregnant with the Tycoon's Heir (The Ladies of The Burling School Book 5) Page 15
