by Gail Hart
“I’m trying to take a breather from drinking so much coffee. I think the caffeine’s digging a hole in my stomach.”
Her assistant’s look of horror was downright comical. Kathryn couldn’t blame her. The idea of Wonder Woman trying to get through a major project without coffee was appalling. It was possible neither of them would survive.
Kathryn spent the next several hours parked in front of her computer screen, and by the time the meeting rolled around, her confidence was high. She knew B&W’s proposal was solid, as were her slides. The morning’s work had gone well, despite the fact that her second cup of coffee had tasted like dishwater. Next time she’d think twice about humoring Amanda.
Everyone at B&W knew that not only the firm, but St. John and Whitley personally had a lot riding on her presentation to the Navy, so the conference room was packed. Aside from the project team, both Brubaker and Whitley were there. Brubaker to reassure himself that Kathryn had everything under control, and Whitley to snipe at her. Well, let him. The more he nitpicked her outstanding work, the more he’d look like the jealous moron he was.
She breezed through her slides, easily answering questions from her team, addressing Brubaker’s concerns, and deflecting Whitley’s low blows. She was three slides from the end when her stomach did a somersault and the contents threatened to rise up her throat.
She fought back the nausea and moved on to the next slide.
Her stomach heaved again, this time more insistently.
Oh, God! If she didn’t make it to the ladies room, and soon, she was going to throw up. Right here. In front of all these people.
She flipped to the last slide. “Seeing no questions, I’m afraid I need to leave to take care of a pressing matter.” Ignoring her colleagues’ curious stares, she strode from the room, walking briskly, but with a calm she didn’t feel.
Once she was safely out the door and out of sight, she broke into an all-out run, banged open the door to the ladies’ room, and dashed into a stall. The second the stall door was latched shut, she knelt on the floor and heaved into the toilet until her stomach was empty.
Kathryn felt like slamming her fist against the metal wall. This embarrassing incident had to be Amanda’s fault. Surely it was the power of suggestion, and nothing else, that had made her toss her cookies. Logic told her so. After all, even if she were pregnant—which wasn’t possible—it was too early for morning sickness.
Wasn’t it?
She wanted to strangle Amanda. Right now she should be in the conference room, accepting congratulations on her brilliant presentation. Instead, she was in this stall worshiping the porcelain god.
After washing her face, she returned to her outer office, nearly running into Whitley on his way out. She shot Janelle an ominous look. “What was he doing here?”
“He wanted to know what happened to you at the end of the meeting.”
Kathryn’s stomach did another flip-flop. “What did you tell him?”
“Nothing. Not one little thing.” The jut of Janelle’s chin matched Kathryn’s own. As always, they were a team.
“Good. The miserable SOB is looking for dirt on me.”
“Let him look. He won’t find anything. You have nothing to hide.”
Her assistant’s loyalty was touching—Kathryn just hoped it wasn’t misplaced. What if Amanda was right, and Kathryn had come home from her vacation with the mother of all souvenirs? Okay, it couldn’t be true... but what if?
She knew what if. If Whitley picked up any hint of what Amanda believed, he’d have a field day spreading the news—with or without confirmation. She didn’t want to think about Brubaker’s reaction to being told that his protégé, who he thought of as a daughter, was about to become an unwed mother.
Damn Amanda! Kathryn would have to come up with some truly fiendish revenge to pay her friend back for putting her through this torture.
* * *
Amanda flopped down on Kathryn’s sofa and stashed a brown paper bag under the coffee table. “Man, I’m beat. Bring me a glass of wine, will you?”
“Sure.” Kathryn went to the kitchen and took two wine glasses from the cupboard and a bottle of white zinfandel from the fridge. “Tough day?”
“Yeah. My last client is a nut job. She insisted on hanging an antique mirror in the bedroom.”
“How tragic.” Kathryn returned to the living room with the wine glasses full.
“As a matter of fact, it is. It’s basic bedroom feng shui. Mirrors in the bedroom cause trouble sleeping and encourage cheating. So there.” Amanda stuck out her tongue.
“If you say so.”
Amanda picked up a glass. “I do say so. I also say we won’t be needing two glasses of wine. I’m not that thirsty.”
“The hell we won’t. I can’t wait to down that glass, as soon as I take the test and it comes back negative.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe I let you talk me into not drinking this week.”
“It means a lot to me that you agreed. It’ll mean a lot to your baby, too.”
Kathryn rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. Sipping this white zin is going to be sweet, but not as sweet as sipping the primo twenty-one-year-old Glenlivet you’re going to have to buy me. Oooh, that’s gonna go down smooth. I can taste it already.”
“You’re not going to be tasting any alcohol for another nine months.” Amanda retrieved the bag and pulled out a pink box. “I brought the test. Did you do what I said?”
“Yeah. I haven’t peed in four hours. But you didn’t have to buy the test. I should have been the one to embarrass myself.”
“I wanted to make sure we had the right one. And I wasn’t embarrassed. I pretended it was for me, and I was happy.”
Kathryn patted Amanda’s shoulder. “I’m sorry if thinking I’m knocked up is making you feel bad.”
“No. You were right. Ben’s like you; he’s a planner. He’ll be happier scheduling a baby, instead of letting a pregnancy just happen.” Amanda shuddered. “Ugh.”
“Plan isn’t a four letter word. Well technically it is, but you know what I mean.” Kathryn reached for the box. “Give me that. Let’s get this over with.” She shook the box to get at the instructions, and two test sticks fell out. She looked at Amanda. “Why are there two?”
“Sometimes if you take the test early, you’ll get a false negative, so if the first test comes back negative, you take the second test a week or so later to be sure.”
“By then I’ll have gotten my period, so I won’t have to bother. What about false positives?”
“They don’t happen. The test detects a hormone that’s only given off during pregnancy. You can’t detect something that isn’t there.”
“So bad news is definite, but good news is conditional? Well, that sucks.”
Amanda shot her a sharp look. “I wish you’d stop talking that way. You’re sending your baby negative vibes.”
Kathryn rose, a test stick in hand. “Enough already about this fictional baby. I’m putting an end to this nonsense.”
She walked into the bathroom and closed the door. After following the directions, she set the test stick on the sink and returned to the sofa. “We’ll have the results in three minutes. One sweet line, for not pregnant.”
Out of nowhere, a blast of panic hit her. She rested her elbows on her knees and hunched her shoulders forward. What was wrong with her, letting Amanda’s whacked-out notions get her all rattled? Thank God, in another two minutes they’d have the results. She’d be massively relieved to banish her friend’s new age mumbo jumbo with scientific proof.
Amanda peered at Kathryn over the rim of her wine glass. “I hope you’ll be okay with this either way.”
Kathryn lifted her head and made an attempt at a smile. “Sure, I’ll be okay. I’m always okay. I just need to get through the longest minute of my life.”
Amanda rose from the couch. “Tell you what, I’ll go get the test and bring it out here. You’re looking a little shaky. I think you should get t
he news sitting down.”
“And have you find out before me? Not a chance. This is my life we’re talking about.” Kathryn pushed herself up in slow motion and stood next to Amanda. “If I didn’t love you so much, I’d kill you for scaring me out of my wits.”
Amanda draped an arm across Kathryn’s shoulder. “You need your answer. Let’s go.”
Kathryn’s confident posture returned as they walked to the bathroom. In a few seconds she’d get her life back. They crossed onto the tile floor and then were at the sink. She picked up the test stick and raised it to eye level.
Two pink lines.
What? That was impossible. She shook the stick and looked again.
Still two lines.
This couldn’t be happening—but it was. “Oh my God, Amanda, there are two lines.”
“I know.”
“It’s true. I’m pregnant.” The test stick slipped from Kathryn’s hand and landed in the sink with a clatter. Suddenly she couldn’t get any air in her lungs. She grabbed the edge of the sink for support.
Amanda’s hands came around her waist, guided her to sit on the toilet lid, and pushed her head between her knees. “Breath slowly. You’re hyperventilating.”
When she could breathe again, Kathryn sat up and shot Amanda a helpless look. “This was so not part of my plan. How could this happen?”
Amanda handed her a glass of water. “Didn’t you take sex ed?”
“Not funny. God, Amanda, when I screw up, I really screw up.”
“Yeah, you never do anything halfway.”
Kathryn scowled. “You’re taking my crisis awfully calmly.”
“I already knew, remember?” Amanda gave Kathryn’s shoulder a squeeze. “Don’t worry, everything will work out. I think this was the universe’s way of telling you something was missing in you life.”
Kathryn shook her head. “This is a disaster. What am I going to do?”
“You have a lot of options. The first thing you need to do is tell Steve, so you can decide together.”
“How am I supposed to face him with news like this?”
“It’s not like this is all your fault. As the saying goes, it takes two to tango. Besides, has it ever occurred to you that he might be happy about becoming a father?”
“Not likely. He’s just getting established in his career. The last thing he needs is a baby.”
“Maybe you should let him decide what he needs.”
“Funny, he told me the same thing recently.”
“Well, then.”
The phone rang, and Amanda took off toward the living room. “I’ll get that.”
Kathryn stood and followed in slow motion, her feet feeling like blocks of concrete.
Amanda lifted the receiver. “Hello? Really? What interesting timing. Send him up.” She put the receiver back and sat down on the couch next to Kathryn. “Steve’s on his way.”
Kathryn jerked back. “Oh God. I can’t talk to him now. I’m not ready.”
“Good. You won’t have time to obsess. You can spit out the news and move straight to dealing with it.” Amanda picked up the wine glasses and headed for the kitchen. “Did you know Steve was coming over tonight?”
“Not really. I figured he’d drop by sometime this weekend, but I didn’t know when. He likes to surprise me.” Kathryn ran her fingers through her hair. “I really hate that about him.”
The doorbell rang, and Amanda went to answer it, Kathryn at her heels. Amanda opened the door. “Hello, Steve. I’m Amanda.” She looked him up and down with searching eyes.
Steve seemed unperturbed by her scrutiny, but then, he must be used to women staring at him. He stuck out his hand. “Steve Tyler. It’s great to meet you, Amanda. I want to get to know all Kathryn’s friends.”
Amanda held onto his hand for a few extra seconds, examining his face, before she let go. “I want to get to know you too, but I have to run, and you and Kathryn need to talk.”
“Amanda,” Kathryn’s voice squeaked out.
Amanda grabbed her coat from the closet next to the door. “Talk to him,” she said, and was gone.
CHAPTER NINE
“Alone at last.” Steve gave Kathryn that sexy little smile that ordinarily made her melt and stepped inside, taking off his bomber jacket. His sweater matched his deep blue eyes. Light from the overhead fixture reflected off his shining blond hair. His jeans fit just right, tight enough to show off his world-class ass, but not tight enough to show his religion. The whole Steve package had been lethal to Kathryn’s self-control, and now she was paying the price.
He stepped closer. The smell of his aftershave set off a minor rebellion in her newly sensitive stomach. He’d shaved for her. She wanted to touch him, but then, she always wanted to touch him. Too bad she hadn’t resisted the urge, or at least confined it to parts of him that were safe.
He looked into her eyes. “What’s up, Kathryn? What do you need to tell me?”
She wasn’t ready for this conversation. She hadn’t had time to plan, to write a script. Overcome by panic, she took a step backward.
Steve frowned. “You look freaked out. What’s wrong?”
“Amanda’s right. We need to talk. But not right now. I’ve had a lousy day.”
He tossed the bomber jacket over the doorknob, slid his hands around her waist and pulled her against him. “Okay, Katie, we don’t have to talk.”
Feeling a burst of anger she knew was irrational, she pushed him away. “Damn it, Steve, don’t you ever think about anything but sex?”
His face reddened. “After all the times you’ve told me you’re only interested in my body, that was a major league cheap shot.”
She fought to keep her self-control and not do something embarrassing, like breaking down in tears. “You’re right. That was unfair. Like I said, I’ve had a lousy day. Can we get together tomorrow night and talk? Unless you have a date.”
His jaw muscles tightened. “Christ, Kathryn, are you trying to piss me off? You know I’m not dating anyone else. I told you how I feel about you. What kind of an asshole do you think I am?”
He was right. Whatever his history, he hadn’t given her any reason to distrust him. Not that he’d had much chance. With an effort, she kept her voice from shaking. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it.” She knew her response was lame, but it was the best she could do.
He stepped forward, looming over her. “If you don’t want to talk and you don’t want to get laid, what do you want?”
“I want you to go away. Just for now. Please.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.
He stepped back again. “Fine, you got it,” he said, but instead of turning around, he walked past her into the unit.
She put her hands on her hips. “The door’s the other way, Steve.”
“I need to use the john first. If that’s all right with you.”
His sarcastic tone, and the look on his face, a mix of hurt and anger, ripped at her gut. Unless that was morning sickness. She didn’t want to be bitchy, and she didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but she wasn’t ready to deal with him. She needed time alone to process her new situation. Thank God he’d agreed to go. “Of course. You know where it is.”
Steve stomped to the bathroom and slammed the door. She followed as far as the living room. Sinking onto the couch, she rested her elbows on her knees and buried her face in her hands.
“Damn you, Kathryn.” The sound of Steve’s voice made her look up. He stood in the doorway to the bathroom, his face red and his jaw muscles rigid. The intensity of his expression scared her. “Who the hell do you think you are? You didn’t have any right to keep this from me!” He held the pink box up in one hand and the test strip in the other.
Oh shit. So much for buying time. She glared at him. “Yeah? Well, you had no right to go snooping through my trash.”
“Right. The best defense is a good offense.” He waved the stick. “I went to wash my hands and this was in plain sight in the sink. So yes, I d
ug the box out of the trash. I had to make sure I understood the results. Since apparently you were planning to throw me out of your house without telling me you’re pregnant with my baby.”
She made her voice gentle. “Steve, I never intended to keep this from you. I only just found out myself. I was going to tell you later, after I had some time to decide what to do.”
“Well excuse the hell out of me, but how did this get to be all your decision?” He strode to the couch with his eyes locked on hers. She shivered and crossed her arms over her chest. He sat beside her, placing the box and test strip on the coffee table. “We made the baby together, we make the decisions together. End of story. Not that there’s anything to decide. We’re getting married.”
She rolled her eyes, touched but exasperated. “Married? You have to be joking. That was about the most unromantic proposal I’ve ever heard. Besides, we barely know each other, except in the biblical sense. I’m not marrying you.”
“Sure you are. With a baby on the way, you have to.”
She shook her head. “Have to? What century are you living in? The concept of ‘having to’ get married went out with the hula hoop.”
He grabbed her forearm, gently but firmly. “Not with men of honor it didn’t. My child will have my last name, and a real family.” He let go of her arm and tilted her chin up with his index finger, forcing her to look at his face. “You’re used to winning, but if you fight me on this, you’ll get more than you bargained for.”
It was true, she hadn’t bargained on him being so eager to take on this new responsibility. The idea that he was ready to fight to form a family with her sent happy shivers through her. But he wasn’t being realistic. She tried to reason with him. “You haven’t thought this all the way through. We’re not ready for marriage and a baby. We should at least consider the other options.”
“What other options?” His eyes narrowed and his expression turned cold. He grabbed her by both forearms. “You are not going to have an abortion. Do you hear me? You are not throwing away our child like yesterday’s garbage.”
“Let go of me.” She struggled without success to escape from his grasp. “You have no right to bully me. It’s my choice.”
