Reunited...and Pregnant

by Joss Wood

  She was Cady 2.0, fascinating and so sexy that his breath caught in his throat every time he looked at her. He wanted her.

  In his bed.

  But not, per se, in his life.

  Cady was dangerous, he reminded himself. She had a way of crawling under his skin and digging in. He couldn’t allow that, couldn’t lose control of this situation. He’d sent her away because she’d become a threat to his self-sufficient, lone-wolf lifestyle, because she made him dream of things he had no right to have. A love of a good woman, happiness, a family, kids. All the stuff he was not entitled to.

  He had no intention of allowing Cady Collins to slide under his skin again. He was smarter than that.

  And the best way to do that was to keep his distance...especially physically. If he touched her, kissed her, then he’d want to make love to her. So he’d just have to stay at least six feet away from her at all times.

  Play it safe, dude.

  But damn, he really wanted sex. And sleep.

  Five

  On Monday, clutching a pile of folders and her tablet to her chest, Cady made her way down the hall to her appointment with Beck. A few feet from Amy’s office she stopped when, through the glass walls, she noticed Sage Ballantyne perched on the corner of Amy’s desk. The two women were deep in conversation. Not wanting to intrude she turned away, thinking that, since she was ten minutes early, she’d wait at Reception.

  “Cady!”

  Damn. She couldn’t exactly ignore Sage Ballantyne, who was as much her boss as Beck. Cady retraced her steps and stood in the open doorway to Amy’s office, feeling uncomfortable.

  “I can come back in ten,” she stated as she flicked a look at Beck’s office and saw that his glass walls were opaque.

  “No, come on in,” Sage said on a welcoming smile. “Amy and I were just about to have coffee. My brothers are still in there,” she said with a nod to Beck’s office. “We’ve just had a quick partners meeting.”

  Sage pushed her hands into the back pockets of her faded jeans. She wore a gypsy top and her dark hair was pulled into a messy knot on top of her head. Sage wore no makeup—not that she needed it with such expressive eyes and flawless skin—and she looked nothing like the polished woman who’d politely grilled her at her presentation yesterday.

  “That was director Sage, this is artist Sage,” Amy said, seeming to read her mind.

  “How do you do that?” Cady demanded, placing her tablet and folders on Amy’s desk as Sage picked up her desk phone and quickly ordered coffee to be delivered to Amy’s office.

  “You have a very expressive face.” Amy shrugged before pushing her chair back from her desk and crossing her legs. She gestured to the chair on the other side of her desk. “Take a seat. Sage has a million questions.”

  Oh, God. Cady lifted an eyebrow at Sage. “You do?” she asked, hoping that her cool tone would make her reconsider that decision.

  “Honey, I have three older brothers. You need more than an unfriendly look to deflect me,” Sage replied with a grin. “So, question one... You are the girl Beck went to Thailand with.”

  Cady shrugged. “That’s not a question, but yes...”

  Sage’s eyes narrowed. “And you were the one who broke his heart.”

  Now that was a crazy statement. She wasn’t even sure Beck had a heart.

  “I went to Thailand with Beck, but Beck sent me home. He broke my heart. Besides,” she said as she sent Amy a measured look, “I’m presuming he found some willing company as soon as I left.”

  Amy grinned. “He did. Me.”

  Yeah, she got it. Beck moved on quickly, proving that he didn’t give a fig about her leaving and that his heart hadn’t been affected by her departure.

  Sage frowned at Amy. “But you said he was miserable for months after she left.”

  “He was,” Amy answered. She flashed a mischievous grin. “But Cady thinks that I comforted him in the tried and tested way.”

  Sage’s eyes widened as laughter crossed her face. “No! Really?”

  Cady didn’t think any part of this conversation was amusing and she sent a longing look at the door. “Can we talk about something else?”

  “She thinks you slept together?” Sage asked Amy, totally ignoring Cady’s question. “She doesn’t know?”

  “Apparently not.” Amy’s eyes met hers and she smiled. “I’m gay, Cady. Julia is going to be my wife. We’ve been together for nearly seven years.”

  What?

  Amy exchanged a quick look with Sage and the naughty expression reappeared on her face. “Actually, you caught my eye in Thailand, not Beck.”

  Again...what?

  “Stop it, Amy,” Sage said. Then she turned to Cady. “Ignore her. She’s a chronic flirt. And a world-class troublemaker.”

  “I am not,” Amy protested, placing her hand on her heart in protest. Sage frowned at her and she lowered her hand and shrugged. “Okay, I am. And I was, sort of, joking about eyeing you in Thailand.”

  Cady stared at her. “But I thought he moved on from me to you.”

  “Nope. I’m not saying that he didn’t move on eventually, but I was his buddy. I still am.”

  Okay, well... Wow. Cady shook her head, trying to assimilate what she’d just heard. She stared down at her hands, totally confused. If Beck hadn’t wanted to move on to a new relationship, then why did he force her to leave?

  “Why did you leave Thailand, Cady? You were good together. Anyone could see that.” Amy gestured to the intern who entered her office. Once he put down the tray holding a coffee carafe and they were alone again, she looked at Cady. “Well?”

  “I didn’t leave. He sent me away. He bought me a ticket back home and said it was time for me to go.”

  “That doesn’t make sense,” Sage said, frowning.

  “Of course it does,” Amy scoffed. “It’s classic Beck behavior.” Amy looked at Sage. “He pulls back when—”

  Amy stopped abruptly and she shared a long look with Sage. Cady caught the flash of warning that arced between them. Cady mentally begged one of them to finish that sentence but Sage busied herself with pouring coffee, and Amy glanced at her computer monitor.

  Cady knew that they felt like they’d said too much, that they were being disloyal to Beck by discussing him.

  They were and always would be protective of him and she was not, and never would be, part of their inner circle. She was just someone they’d hired and, speaking of, maybe it was time to do that job.

  What happened so long ago had absolutely no bearing on her work with Ballantyne International, and she was wrong to discuss the past with Beck’s sister, and his employee and friend. It didn’t matter that they were being as unprofessional as she was. Sage was a director and Amy a long-trusted employee. It was up to her to apologize. “I’m sorry. That was unprofessional of me, and I shouldn’t have brought up the past.”

  “You didn’t. We did,” Sage said, flicking a glance over her shoulder. “And we really shouldn’t have, either. Beck would skin us alive if he knew.”

  He would. Beck had no time for office gossip. “Yeah, maybe we can forget this conversation,” Cady replied.

  “Done,” Amy said. “I’m really glad you got the job, Cady. Sage said your presentation was fantastic.”

  “I’m glad you liked it.” Cady took her cup of coffee from Sage and took a sip.

  “I love the idea of trying to meld Ballantyne tradition with something new and hip and cool.”

  Cady looked down at her lap, took a breath and looked Amy in the eye. “Thank you. I am very conscious of how much I owe you.”

  Amy pulled a face. “No worries. As I said, if Julia hadn’t said you were any good, I wouldn’t have suggested you pitch. The fact that Beck lights up like a Christmas tree whenever you are aro
und is just an added bonus.”

  Before she could utter a denial, Beck’s voice rumbled out of the intercom on Amy’s desk. “Sage, get back to work. Cady, get your ass in here. Amy, is there any point in telling you to do anything?”

  Cady’s jaw dropped and the cup in her hand wobbled. She sent an anxious look at the still-opaque walls.

  Amy grinned as she hit the intercom button to speak. “Nope, you can try, though, boss. You might get lucky.”

  “Did he hear us?” Cady demanded, not realizing that Sage took her cup from her hand.

  Amy shrugged and grinned. “I hope not. I’m going to the ladies’ room.” She stood up and gestured to the door leading to Beck’s office. “Go on in when you’re ready.”

  Cady nodded but stayed in the chair, fighting her urge to bolt.

  She couldn’t face Beck right now. She needed time to assimilate the fact that Amy wasn’t anything more than his friend, that both Sage and she seemed to think that he’d been miserable when she left.

  If that was true, then why did he send her away?

  Cady shook her head. It didn’t matter; none of this mattered. What was important was that she did a sterling, professional job for Ballantyne International, so that she would be able to parlay this one job into more. This was her way to resuscitate her company. And to put cash in the bank.

  She was not going to jeopardize that by taking a fruitless stroll down memory lane.

  Cady stood up and touched the knot at the back of her hair, conscious that Amy and Sage were staring at her.

  “It’ll be okay, Cady, I promise.” Amy walked out of her office and tossed Cady a sincere smile over her shoulder. “I’m glad you’re here. Welcome to Ballantyne International.”

  Amy closed the door behind her, and Cady turned at Sage’s low chuckle. “Sometimes I think that Amy should just change her name to Ballantyne and be done with it.”

  “And you don’t mind that?”

  Sage smiled. “Being a Ballantyne is about heart, not name. We became a family when Connor adopted the four of us. We don’t get hung up on DNA around here.” Sage placed her elegant hand on Cady’s forearm and squeezed. “But from me, welcome to our world. I’m glad you’re back.”

  Cady watched Sage walk away and reminded herself that she was just a visitor to their world. Despite her previous relationship with Beck, she wasn’t part of their inner circle, and there was no chance that she ever would be.

  What she and Beck had was possible in Thailand, a million miles away, where he was just Beck and she was just a girl he’d met at a party. But things were different now. Despite their raging chemistry, the ridiculous physical attraction and the fact that they both didn’t want to work together, they had no choice.

  He was her client, the man who paid her invoices, her boss.

  Nothing remained of the backpackers they once were. This was business.

  And that was all it could ever be.

  * * *

  Cady walked over to Beck’s door, lifted her hand up to knock and lowered it again. She hadn’t seen or spoken to Beck since she’d fallen asleep on him Friday night. It was now Monday and she was still embarrassed that her boss had picked her up from her chair, tucked her into her bed, and washed and dried the dishes she’d used to make him supper before leaving her apartment. And she had just snored on. She knew she snored because he’d left her a note, penned in his strong hand on a bright pink Post-it note from her desk.

  You still snore.

  Thanks for supper.

  —Beck.

  Cady didn’t think she could be any more embarrassed.

  But she had to face Beck right now. And she had to open the door to do it.

  Cady knocked and when Beck told her to enter, she did, smiling at Linc and Jaeger. Linc was lounging in Beck’s leather chair and Jaeger stood across the room, his shoulder pressed into the wall. She turned to look at Beck and her heart bounced off her rib cage. He stood by the window, the weak sun turning his dark blond hair to gold. A baby boy, who looked to be about a year old, was slapping his hand against Beck’s mouth, yanking it away when Beck tried to nibble his fingers. Both of them, man and baby, were laughing.

  Cady had to remind herself to breathe. She hadn’t seen Beck smile like that, that heart-stopping, heartbreaking smile, since Thailand. It changed his entire face and he looked both ten years younger and ten times sexier.

  It was sensory overload, Cady thought. Looking at him was like looking into the sun. If she didn’t stop soon, her eyes would melt.

  But try as she might, she couldn’t pull her eyes away. Watching Beck play with a baby turned her heart to mush. All those years ago, her teenage heart had imagined a scenario like this, Beck playing with his baby, the baby she carried for him. Her life had taken a three-sixty from then. She was back in Beck’s life, as his PR person, and she was carrying a baby. But it wasn’t his.

  It was Tom’s... Actually, no. Cady straightened her spine. This baby was hers.

  A masculine cough broke the silence and yanked her back into the here and now. She blinked and she was in Beck’s office with Linc and Jaeger and a baby who could only be Jaeger’s newly discovered son, Ty. Amy had filled her in on the Ballantyne family dynamics and Cady had listened, astonished. Jaeger had recently reunited with Piper, who he’d had a fling with in Milan eighteen months ago. Piper got pregnant then but Jaeger only heard about, and met his son a few months before. Jaeger and Piper, Amy gleefully told her, had wasted no time in expanding their family and Piper was newly pregnant. Linc was a single dad of a four-year-old, having raised Shaw since his mom, Kari, abandoned both of them when Shaw was six weeks old. And, Amy divulged, Kari had done it again and dumped her baby daughter with her sister, Tate, and run off again. Tate was currently living in The Den, working temporarily as Shaw’s nanny, but Amy was certain that there was a lot more to that story!

  Lives of the rich and famous, Cady thought, intrigued.

  “Hand my boy over, Beck,” Jaeger said after she’d said a general hello. “We’re keeping you and Cady from working.”

  Beck held Ty like a football and shook his head. “No worries. We’re going to discuss the PR campaign and I’d welcome your input.”

  Linc looked at his watch and shook his head. “Sorry, I have a conference call in five.”

  Jaeger looked at his own watch and crossed the room to take Ty from Beck. “And Piper just sent me a message that she’s downstairs and she’s taking Ty home.”

  Cady smiled as Ty shouted his displeasure at being removed from his uncle’s arms. Beck didn’t look that happy about it, either. “Are you enjoying living in Park Slope?” Cady asked him, Ty wiggling in his arms.

  “Love it.” Jaeger flashed his heartthrob smile. “But I’d live in a tent in Prospect Park if that’s where Piper and Ty were.”

  Aw. Sweet guy.

  “You are such a sap,” Beck muttered, but Cady heard the affection in his voice. He looked at Ty and gently pulled his foot. “Remember our deal, little man. Your first word is going to be Beck.”

  “Like hell,” Jaeger muttered and Cady laughed.

  Linc, on his way to the door, bent his knees to look into Ty’s face. “Better yet, make it Linc. Anything but Dad, okay?”

  “You guys suck,” Jaeger muttered as they left the room. Cady heard the door click closed behind them and looked at Beck, who was still standing by the window, sunlight glinting off his hair and his two-day stubble.

  “Take a seat,” Beck said, walking over to his desk and pulling back his chair so he could sit down. He pushed it away from his desk and placed his ankle on his opposite knee. Cady sat down, crossed her legs, linked her hands around her knee and tried not to squirm under his direct and penetrating gaze. “You still look tired.”

  Cady felt the heat in her cheeks. “I’m sorry I
fell asleep. That was so rude.”

  “It’s not like you fell asleep at the boardroom table, Cady. It was late, and I was in your place, so relax.”

  “You should’ve just left me there or shaken me awake. You didn’t need to put me to bed.” She saw the heat flare in his eyes so she jumped off that subject. “And you definitely didn’t need to do the dishes. Though that was probably a novelty for you,” she added, teasing him.

  Beck’s mouth tipped up in a half smile. “For your information, I washed dishes last Sunday night, after our family dinner at The Den.”

  She knew that was how they referred to their family brownstone. “Have you Ballantynes not heard of a wonderful invention called a dishwasher?”

  “Oh, Jo has one, but she doesn’t see why we should waste power using it when she has minions to do it for her,” Beck stated.

  “I always liked her,” Cady said, looking at her hands. “Is she still the housekeeper at The Den?”

  “No, she retired after Connor died. She stills lives at The Den and she helps Linc with Shaw, his four-year-old.”

  “Although I only met them once, I liked both her and Connor.”

  “He liked you,” Beck replied, his voice gruff and growly. Their eyes clashed and memories whirled and swirled between them.

  Don’t do this, Cady told herself. Don’t get sucked in.

  Whatever it was that existed between her and Beck, it was over and if it wasn’t, then it should be. He’d pushed her away once; he’d do it again. Beck was, possibly, more unavailable than he’d been at twenty-three. And there were two of them in the game now. Beck wouldn’t want to start anything—even an affair—with a pregnant woman just out of a relationship with her married, ex-client boyfriend.

  “We should work.” Cady dropped her hot, desperate words into the charged silence between them.

  Beck blinked, looked down at his desk, and his shoulders rose and fell. When he lifted his head again, his face was blank and his eyes emotionless. Her old lover was gone and the Ballantyne CFO was back.