The Boss's Baby Mistake

So glad you approve, she wanted to say, spiced with plenty of sarcasm. But she bit back the retort and found herself saying instead, “I call him Mikey right now.”

Jack grinned, and she frowned, wishing she’d kept that to herself. He rose from his position against the door and she put the car in reverse.

“Thank you for lunch,” she said formally, backing out of her parking space. “Talk to you soon.”

“You can bet on it,” he told her, standing with his hands in his pockets and watching her from under dark brows.

With a wave of her hand, she drove off and left him gazing after her.

There was still part of the afternoon left, but it was useless trying to get anything done. Gayle couldn’t bend over well enough to work on her gardening. She couldn’t read or listen to music or watch television. Her mind was stuck in overdrive, thinking about nothing but the situation she’d found herself thrust into. And the baby seemed to be running on a treadmill. She’d never known him to be so active.

In the evening, she thought of calling Chareen Wolf, her one good friend who had children. She’d been talking to Chareen a lot over the last few months. Gayle’d often needed advice and some morale boosting. Chareen’s blunt attitude struck just the right note for her. Yes, she would call Chareen, tell her about what had happened, get her down-to-earth advice. She went to the phone with a feeling of relief, dialing quickly. But no one answered the telephone, and then she remembered that Chareen was out of town on a business trip.

Suddenly Gayle felt even more isolated than she had before. There was no one she could call, no one she could talk to. Her other friends had never been pregnant. Only one of them was even married. They really couldn’t understand what she was going through. She had no one she could tell about what had happened, about the situation she was in…about Jack Marin and his powerful effect on her. She had never felt so alone.

She was dealing with so many things that she felt like a swimmer going down for the third time. Besides the issues with the baby, there was something else. Why had she reacted so strongly to the man? Why had she wanted him to kiss her?

Because she had wanted exactly that. She wanted it now, when she thought about him, about his handsome face, his strong mouth. It was as though she’d found out something she hadn’t known about before, as though she’d awakened to a need that had been slumbering inside her all these years. She’d never had real passion with a man.

But even thinking about it felt wrong. After all, she was beyond that, wasn’t she? She’d been married. She was pregnant. This wasn’t the right time. And Jack Marin definitely wasn’t the right man.

She sat in the living room for the next hour and flipped through a magazine, but a new thought was tormenting her like a pesky fly. Was this the way it was going to be? Was she really going to be alone with every decision, every new worry about her baby once he was born? She had no family to fall back on. She couldn’t bother Chareen all the time. As the night got later, her mood grew darker, and she began to see the future as a deep, black emptiness yawning before her, filled with demands and decisions.

The only thing she could think of to lift her spirits was to call someone. Maybe Kyra Symington was home. Gayle called the number her friend shared with her new husband, but she only got the answering machine. She tried Ann Marie Hope’s, and then Tracy Martin’s, with the same result. She began to wonder if all her friends had gone somewhere together, forgetting all about her.

Suddenly the phone rang while her hand was still on the receiver, making her jump. Quickly she answered, grateful for the promise of human contact.

“Hello?”

“Hi.”

It was him. She knew his voice immediately, and for some crazy reason, her pulse began to race.

“Hi,” she said. “Is something wrong?”

“No. I just wanted to check if this number was correct.”

There was a hint of amusement in his voice, but she wasn’t sure what that meant. “Why would I give you a wrong number?” she asked, feeling a bit defensive.

“To avoid hearing from me?”

She hesitated, still not sure if he were goading her or laughing.

“How are you feeling?” he asked casually, before she had time to think of something to say.

It would be nice to think he cared about her, but she knew he only cared about the baby. And she couldn’t blame him. It was only natural and logical. Still…

“Fine,” she said, but again she knew she sounded defensive. And she really didn’t mean to.

“Good.” He paused, then continued. “I’d like to see you tomorrow.”

She shook her head, even though he couldn’t see that. “No, impossible. I’m busy tomorrow.”

“All day?”

“Well…” The truth was, she was only hoping to be busy. “I told you, I’ve signed up with Top Techs. I’m expecting a call first thing in the morning, and then I’ll be working all day.”

“Top Techs, huh?” His voice sounded ironic, but perhaps that was just her being overly sensitive. “They’re a good agency. I’ve used them in the past.”

“How interesting.” There wasn’t anything else to say, was there? She tensed, hoping he wasn’t going to start in again on how she should give up her baby to him. But he didn’t do that.

“Okay,” he said. “I just want to let you know I’m here if you need me. Really. Any time of day or night. I will make sure you can always get hold of me.”

For the baby’s sake, of course. “I’m not sure if I feel comforted or threatened by that,” she said dryly, then immediately regretted sounding churlish. After all, he was being very nice. And that was a good thing, even if it was for an ulterior motive.

He was silent so long, she wondered if he’d hung up and she’d missed it. “Gayle,” he said at last. “Are you sure you’re okay?’

She sighed. “Yes. Yes, I’m fine. It’s just…well, it’s been a rough day.”

He was silent for another minute, then he said, “Gayle, I’ve got a question for you.”

Her fingers tightened on the receiver. “What’s that?” she asked him, trying not to let him hear the apprehension in her voice.

“How do you know when an elephant’s been in your refrigerator?”

She blinked. “What?”

“You can see the footprint on your pizza,” he said, his voice impassively earnest. “How can you tell that an elephant’s getting ready to charge?”

She shook her head in wonder. “Jack…”

“Your first clue is when he takes out his credit card.”

Jokes. He was telling elephant jokes. She gaped in astonishment.

“What did Tarzan say when he saw the elephant working in the coffee bar?”

He didn’t wait for her to answer. Putting on a gruff voice, he said, “I didn’t know the hippo had sold the place.”

She laughed. She couldn’t help it. She put her hand over her mouth to try to mask it, but she was laughing nonetheless.

“You smiling yet?” he asked her. “Or do I need to torture you some more?”

“I’m smiling,” she admitted, and the laughter was still in her voice.

“Good,” he said. “See you tomorrow.”

“All right.”

She hung up and stared at the telephone. His strategy had worked, she realized. There was a sense of warmth where a few moments before there had only been emptiness.

“He’s just trying to charm me into doing things his way,” she reminded herself out loud. But it didn’t dim the warmth. Still smiling, she went to bed. She needed rest. Tomorrow she would be starting a new job, if there was any luck left in the world. And once she had that foundation of security, she would feel stronger. Maybe even strong enough to tell Jack Marin that he had to stay out of her life.

Chapter Four

“Oh Mikey, baby, please. Not now.”

Wincing, Gayle gently patted the bulge where her baby was stretching his legs. She was sitting stiffly at the computer in a glass-enclosed room on the third floor of Earth Matters, Incorporated, trying to get a feel for the job Top Techs had sent her on. They hadn’t given her much to go on, but the firm seemed to be involved in environmental impact research or something close to it. There were about twenty employees, including three software engineers and a pool of five secretaries. The rest were mainly scientists and lab workers. The building was beautifully landscaped and modern, of dark brick and tinted glass. The people she’d met so far were perfectly nice and friendly, and the entire situation seemed promising, but it was always a little nerve-wracking getting used to a new job.

Top Techs had called her first thing in the morning and given her the information about this temporary opening, and she’d hurried over after a quick breakfast. Rio de Oro wasn’t a very large town and there weren’t likely to be too many temporary opportunities for the sort of work she did, so she had jumped at it. Phyllis Vernon, a warm older woman who was head of human resources for the company, had greeted her and showed her to the office she would be using.

“The boss wants to meet with you at ten-thirty. I’ll show you to his office then.” She glanced at her watch. “Can I get you anything? Do you have everything you need to get started?”

Gayle nodded. “I’ll go over some of your most recent pamphlets to get a feel for what you value most in your work here—the sort of image you’re trying to project. Then I can get some input from Mr….” She frowned, realizing she didn’t know the boss’s name, but Phyllis had already taken off in a new direction.

“The biggest thing on our agenda right now is the contract we’re bidding on with TriTerraCorp. If we get that, we’ll be secure for a good two years.”

“TriTerraCorp?” Gayle said brightly. “I used to work there.”

“No kidding? I hear they are a great place to work.”

Gayle nodded. “They are. A lot of deadline pressure, but the people are great… So, what’s he like?” she asked.

“The boss?” Phyllis shrugged, then grinned. “He’s a sweetie. You’ll like him.” She started out the door, then had a thought and looked back in. “He may seem a little goofy at first. He’s into elephant jokes this week. But if you can get beyond that, he’s super. I’ll come back to get you at ten-thirty and take you to meet the big guy.”

And she disappeared into the hallway.

Gayle sat very still, staring after her. Elephant jokes? No. It couldn’t be.

But she knew right away that it was, and her heart started to thump loudly in her chest.

“Jack Marin.” She said the name with involuntary acidity. Grabbing one of the company pamphlets, she flipped it open and searched the title page. There it was: Jack Marin, company president. “Oh!”

She sat very still, a feeling of doom settling over her. She knew this was no coincidence. Jack had planned this and pulled it off at a few hours notice. He’d contacted the temp agency and set it up. He probably knew people there, just as he knew people at the fertility lab. And whom did she know? She bit her lip. No one much. Suddenly she felt very vulnerable.

She rose unsteadily, feeling slightly dizzy. She was going to leave before Jack found out she knew about his trap. Steadying herself, she took a deep breath and started for the lobby.

“Hey,” said a voice from down the hall. “Where do you think you’re going?”

She didn’t have to turn to know who it was, but she did anyway. She spun and glared at Jack as he came strolling toward her, looking very sure of himself.

“Home,” she said defiantly as he came to a stop a few feet from her. But at the same time, she couldn’t help but think that spurning him and his job would be much easier if he weren’t so handsome, standing there in his crisp tan suit with a smile that reminded her of a certain cocky film star. She set her jaw and put more effort into it. “This won’t work, Jack.” Turning on her heel, she set off toward the glass doorway to the parking lot. “I need a real job,” she called back over her shoulder.

He managed to beat her to the corner, blocking her way. “And I need a real Web designer. We’re a perfect match.”

She took another look at that devastating smile and suddenly felt paralyzed. “No,” she said, shaking her head. “We’re not. I’m not…” She looked toward the glass door, but it was no use. Her knees were buckling and her head was spinning.

“Gayle!”

He caught her in his arms before she fell, looking down into her face with real concern. She blinked up at him. The room was still slightly askew.

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