Not the Boss's Baby

by Sarah M. Anderson

  She was so thin he could almost see through her, like she was a shadow instead of an actual woman. She wore a high-waisted skirt that clung to her frame, and a silk blouse topped with a fur stole. Diamonds—ones he’d paid for—covered her fingers and ears. She wasn’t the same woman he’d married eight years before.

  He looked at Serena, who was as white as notebook paper. Serena gave him a panicked little shrug. So she didn’t have any idea what Helen was doing there, either.

  “Helen.” In good faith, he couldn’t say it was nice to see her. So he didn’t. “Shall we talk in my office?”

  She pivoted on her five-inch heels and tried to kill him with a glare. “Chadwick.” Her eyes cut to Serena. “I don’t concern myself with what servants might hear.”

  Chadwick tried his best not to show a reaction. “Fine. To what do I owe the honor of a visit?”

  “Don’t be snide, Chadwick. It doesn’t suit you.” She looked down her nose at him, which was quite a feat given that she was a good eight inches shorter than he was. “My lawyer said you were going to make a new offer—the kind of offer you’ve refused to make for the last year.”

  Damn it. His lawyers were going to find themselves short one influential client for jumping the gun. Floating a trial balloon was different than telling Helen he had an offer. He hadn’t even had the time to contact AllBev’s negotiating team yet, for crying out loud. There was no offer until the company was sold.

  He couldn’t take control of his life—get the company he wanted, live the way he wanted—until Beaumont Brewery and AllBev reached a legally binding agreement. And what’s more, none of this was going to happen overnight or even that week. Even if things moved quickly, negotiations would take months.

  Plus, he hadn’t told Serena about the plan to sell Beaumont but keep Percheron. God, he’d wanted to keep this all quiet until he had everything set—no more ugly surprises like this one.

  “There’s a difference between ‘refused’ and ‘been unable’ to make.”

  “Is there? Are you trying to get rid of me, Chadwick?” She managed to say it with a pout, as if he were trying to hurt her feelings.

  “I’ve been trying to end our relationship since the month after you filed for divorce. Remember? You refused to go to marriage counseling with me. You made your position clear. You didn’t want me anymore. But here we are, closing in on fourteen months later, and you insist on dragging out the proceedings.”

  She tilted her head to the side as she fluttered her eyelashes. “I’m not dragging anything out. I’m just...trying to get you to notice me.”

  “What? If you want to be noticed, suing a man is a piss-poor way of going about it.”

  Something about her face changed. For a moment he almost saw the woman who’d stood beside him in a church, making vows about love and honor.

  “You never noticed me. Our honeymoon was only six days long because you had to get back early for a meeting. I always woke up alone because you left for the office by six every morning and then you wouldn’t come back until ten or eleven at night. I guess I could have lived with that if I’d gotten to see you on the weekends, but you worked every Saturday and always had calls and interviews on Sunday. It was like...it was like being married to a ghost.”

  For the first time in years, Chadwick felt sympathy for Helen. She was right—he’d left her all alone in that big house with nothing to do but spend money. “But you knew this was my job when you married me.”

  “I—” Her voice cracked.

  Was she on the verge of crying? She’d cried some, back when they would actually fight about...well, about how much he worked and how much money she spent. But it’d always been a play on his sympathies then. Was this a real emotion—or an old-fashioned attempt at manipulation?

  “I thought I might be able to make you love me more than you loved this company. But I was wrong. You had no intention of ever loving me. And now I can never have those years back. I lost them to this damn brewery.” She brightened, anything honest about her suddenly gone. He was looking at the woman who glared at him from across the lawyers’ conference room table. “Here we are. I’m just getting what I deserve.”

  “We were married for less than ten years, Helen. What is it you think you deserve?”

  She gave him a simpering smile and he knew the answer. Everything. She was going to take the one thing that had always mattered to him—the company—and she wouldn’t stop until it was gone.

  Until he had nothing left.

  The phone rang on Serena’s desk, causing him to jump. She answered it in something that sounded like her normal voice. “I’m sorry, but Mr. Beaumont is in a...meeting. Yes, I can access that information. One moment, please.”

  “My office,” he said under his breath. “Now. We don’t need to continue this conversation in front of Ms. Chase.”

  Helen’s eyes narrowed until she looked like a viper mid-strike. “Oh? Or is it that you don’t want to have Ms. Chase in front of me?”

  Oh, no. He’d finally done something he wanted—taken Serena out, spent a night in her arms—and he was going to pay for it. Damn it all, why hadn’t he kept his hands off her?

  Because he wanted Serena. Because she wanted him.

  It’d all seemed so simple two days before. But now?

  “I beg your pardon,” Serena said in an offended tone as she hung up the phone.

  Helen’s mouth twisted into a smirk. “You should. Sleeping with other people’s husbands is never a good career move for a secretary.”

  “You can’t talk to me like that,” Serena said, sounding more shocked than angry.

  Helen continued to stare at her, fully aware she held the upper hand in this situation. “How could you, Chadwick? Dressing up this dumpy secretary and parading her about as if she was worth something? I heard it was a pitiable sight.”

  Damn it all. He’d forgotten about Therese Hunt, Helen’s best friend. Serena’s face went a blotchy shade of purplish red, and she actually seemed to sway in her seat, like she might faint.

  If Helen wanted his attention, she had it now. He was possessed with a crazy urge to throw himself between Serena and Helen—to protect Serena from Helen’s wrath. He didn’t do that, but he did take a step toward Helen, trying to draw her attention back to him.

  “You will watch your mouth or I will have security escort you out of this building and, if you ever set foot on brewery property again, I’ll file a restraining order so fast your head will spin. And if you think I’m not making a big enough offer now, just wait until the cops get involved. You will get nothing.”

  “After what you put me through, you owe me,” she screeched.

  Keeping his cool was turning out to be a lot of work. “I already offered you terms that are in line with what I owe you. You’re the one who won’t let this end. I’d like to move on with my life, Helen. Usually, when someone files for divorce, they’re indicating that they, too, would like to move on with their lives—separately.”

  “You’ve been sleeping with her, haven’t you?” Her voice was too shrill to be shouting, but loud enough to carry down the halls. Office doors opened and heads cautiously peeked out. “For how long?”

  This whole situation was spiraling out of control. “Helen—”

  “How long? It’s been years, right? Were you banging her before we got married? Were you?”

  Once, Helen had seemed sweet and lovely. But it had all been so long ago. The vengeful harpy before him was not the woman he had married.

  It took everything he had to keep his voice calm. “I was faithful to you, Helen. Even after you moved out of our bedroom. But you’re not my wife anymore. I don’t owe you an explanation for what I do or who I love.”

  “The hell I’m not your wife—I haven’t signed off!”

  Anger roared through his body. “You are not my wife. You can’t cling to the refuge of that technicality anymore, Helen. I’ve moved on with my life. For the love of God, move on with yours. My la
wyers will be in contact with yours.”

  “You lying bastard! You stand here and take it like a man!”

  “I’m not doing this, Helen. Ms. Chase, if you could join me in my office.”

  Serena gathered her tablet and all but sprinted through his open office door.

  “You can’t ignore me. I’ll take everything. Everything!”

  He positioned himself between her and the doorway to his office. “Helen, I apologize that I wasn’t the man you needed me to be. I’m sorry you weren’t the woman I thought you were. We both made mistakes. But move on. Take my next offer. Start dating. Find the man who will notice you. Because it’s not me. Goodbye, Helen.”

  Then, over the hysterical sound of her calling him every name in the book, he shut the door.

  Serena hunched in her normal chair, her head near her knees.

  Chadwick picked up his phone and dialed the security office. “Len? I have a situation outside my office—I need you to make sure my ex-wife makes it out of the building as quietly as possible without you laying a hand on her. Whatever you do, don’t provoke her. Thanks.”

  Then he turned his attention to Serena. Her color was not improving. “Breathe, honey.”

  Nothing happened. He crouched down in front of her and raised her face until he could see that her eyes were glazed over.

  “Breathe,” he ordered her. Then, because he couldn’t think of anything else to shock her back into herself, he kissed her. Hard.

  When he pulled back, her chest heaved as she sucked in air. He leaned her head against his shoulder and rubbed her back. “Good, hon. Do it again.”

  Serena gulped down air as he held her. What a mess. This was all his fault.

  Well, his and his lawyers’. Former lawyers.

  Outside the office, the raging stopped. Neither he nor Serena moved until his phone rang some minutes later. Chadwick answered it. “Yes?”

  “She’s sitting in her car, crying. What do you want me to do?”

  “Keep an eye on her. If she gets back out of the car, call the police. Otherwise, just leave her alone.”

  “Chadwick,” Serena whispered so quietly that he almost didn’t hear her.

  “Yes?”

  “What she said...”

  “Don’t think about what she said. She’s just bitter that I took you to the gala.” The blow about Serena being a dumpy secretary had been a low one.

  “No.” Serena pushed herself off his shoulder and looked him in the eye. Her color was better, but her eyes were watery. “About her being alone all the time. Because you work all the time.”

  “I did.”

  But that wasn’t the truth, and they both knew it. He still worked that much.

  She touched her fingertips to his cheek. “You do. I know you. I know your schedule. You left my apartment on Sunday exactly for the reason she said—because you had an interview.”

  All of his plans—plans that had seemed so great twenty-four hours before—felt like whispers drifting into the void.

  “Things are going to change,” he promised her. She didn’t look like she believed him. “I’m working on it. I won’t work a hundred hours a week. Because Helen was right about something else, too—I didn’t love her more than I loved the company. But that’s...” His voice choked up. “But that’s different now. I’m different now, because of you.”

  Her lip trembled as two matching tears raced down either cheek. “Don’t you see the impossible situation we’re in? I can’t be with you while I work for you—but if I don’t work for you, will I ever see you?”

  “Yes,” he said. She flinched. It must have come out more harshly than he’d meant it to, but he was feeling desperate. “You will. I’ll make it happen.”

  Her mouth twisted into the saddest smile he’d ever seen. “I’ve made your life so much harder.”

  “Helen did—not you. You are making it better. You always have.”

  She stroked his face, tears still silently dripping down her cheeks. “Everything’s changed. If it were just you and me...but it’s not anymore. I’m going to have a baby and I have to put that baby first. I can’t live with the fear of Helen or even Neil popping up whenever they want to wreak a little havoc.”

  The bottom of his stomach dropped out. “I’m going to sell the company, but it’ll take months. You’ll be able to keep your benefits, probably until the baby’s born. It doesn’t have to change right now, Serena. You can stay with me.”

  Tears streaming, she shook her head. “I can’t. You understand, don’t you? I can’t be your dumpy secretary and your weekend lover at the same time. I can’t live that way, and I won’t raise my child torn between two worlds like that. I don’t belong in your world, and you—you can’t fit in mine. It just won’t work.”

  “It will,” he insisted.

  “And this company,” she went on. “It’s what you were raised to do. I can’t ask you to give that up.”

  “Don’t do this,” he begged. The taste of fear was so strong in the back of his mouth that it almost choked him. “I’ll take care of you, I promise.”

  Helen had left him, of course. But underneath the drama, he’d been relieved she was gone. It meant no more fights, no more pain. He could get on with the business of running his company without having to gauge everything against what Helen would do.

  This? This meant no more seeing Serena first thing every morning and last thing every night. No more Serena encouraging him to get out of the office, reminding him that he didn’t have to run the world just so his siblings could spend even more money.

  The loss of Helen had barely registered on his radar. But the loss of Serena?

  It would be devastating.

  “I can’t function without you.” Even as he said it, he knew it was truer than he’d realized. “Don’t leave me.”

  She leaned forward, pressing her wet lips to his cheek. “You can. You will. I have to take care of myself. It’s the only way.” She stood, letting her fingers trail off his skin. “I hereby resign my position of executive assistant, effective immediately.”

  Then, after a final tear-stained look that took his heart and left it lying in the middle of his office, she turned and walked out the door.

  He watched her go.

  So this was a broken heart.

  He didn’t like it.

  Thirteen

  The door to Lou’s Diner jangled as Serena pulled it open. Things had been so crazy that she hadn’t even had time to tell her mom and dad that she was pregnant. Or that she had quit her great job because she was in love with her great boss.

  Mom and Dad had an old landline phone number that didn’t have voice mail or even an answering machine, if it worked at all. The likelihood of her getting a “this number is out of service” message when Serena called was about fifty percent. Catching her mom at work was pretty much the only guaranteed way to talk to her parents.

  She’d put off going there for a few nights. Seeing her parents always made her feel uncomfortable. She’d tried to help them out through the years—got them into that apartment, helped make the payments on her dad’s car—and there’d been the disastrous experiment with prepaid cell phones. It always ended with them not being able to keep up with payments, no matter how much Serena put toward them. She was sure it had something to do with sheer, stubborn pride—they would not rely on their daughter, thank you very much. It drove Serena nuts. Why wouldn’t they work a little harder to improve their situation?

  Why hadn’t they worked harder for her? Sure, if they wanted to be stubborn and barely scrape by, she couldn’t stop them. But what about her?

  Yes, she loved her parents and yes, they were always glad to see her. But she wanted better than a minimum wage job for the rest of her life, pouring coffee until the day she died because retirement was something for rich people. And what’s more, she wanted better for her baby, too.

  Still, there was something that felt like a homecoming, walking into Lou’s Diner. Shelia Chase h
ad worked here for the better part of thirty years, pulling whatever shift she could get. Lou had died and the diner had changed hands a few times, but her mom had always stuck with it. Serena didn’t think she knew how to do anything else.

  Either that, or she was afraid to try.

  It’d been nine days since Serena had walked out of Chadwick’s office. Nine long, anxious days that she’d tried to fill by keeping busy planning her new life.

  She’d given her notice to her landlord. In two weeks, she was going to be moving into a new place out in Aurora, a good forty minutes away from the brewery. It wasn’t a radically different apartment—two bedrooms, because she was sure she would need the space once the baby started crawling—but it wasn’t infused with reminders of Neil. Or of Chadwick, for that matter. The rent was almost double what she was paying now, but if she bought her baby things used and continued to clip coupons, she had enough to live on for a year, maybe more.

  She’d applied for ten jobs—office manager at an insurance firm, administrative assistant at a hospital, that sort of thing. She’d even sent her resume to the food bank. She knew the director had been pleased with her work and that the bank was newly flush with Beaumont cash. They could afford to pay her a modest salary—but health insurance...well, she was covered by a federal insurance extension plan. It wasn’t cheap, but it would do. She couldn’t go without.

  She hadn’t had any calls for interviews yet, but it was still early. At least, that’s what she kept telling herself. Now was not the time to panic.

  Except that, as she slid into a booth that was older than she was, the plastic crackling under her growing weight, the old fear of being reduced to grocery shopping in food pantries gripped her.

  Breathe, she heard Chadwick say in her head. Even though she knew he wasn’t here, it still felt...comforting.

  Flo, another old-timer waitress with a smoker’s voice, came by. “’Rena, honey, you look good,” she said in a voice so gravelly it was practically a baritone. She poured Serena a cup of coffee. “Shelia’s waiting on that big table. She’ll be over in a bit.”