by Leslie North
“If you’re not up for this, I’ll take you back home myself.” Archer’s eyes on Claire’s were urgent—almost too urgent. He motioned her to one side of the Preston lobby, out of the way of two men bringing in fresh water jugs for the office machines. She was going to be fine. In fact, she almost had a handle on being constantly nauseated. The new drugs Dr. Lindstrom had given her this week were beginning to take the edge off. “Just tell me, Claire.”
“Oh, stop.” She pressed her hands to her sleek bun at the nape of her neck and the front of her blazer. One good night of sex, and then everything had fallen apart again—she’d woken up the next morning sicker than ever and stayed that way. But not today. Today was going to be a good day, and she was going to do some work. Claire had thought, three weeks ago, that things were on an upswing. Of course that hadn’t panned out. Staying in bed had panned out, and she was sick of it. “You can’t keep rescheduling meetings.”
“I have to reschedule them if we don’t have an interpreter.” Archer shrugged, but she could see the tension singing in his baby blues. “And I’m not willing to pressure you if it’s too much.”
“And yet I am here,” she said, giving him a gentle nudge with her elbow. “I even got dressed up. How do I look?”
“Gorgeous.” His eyes flicked down the length of her, and a weird self-consciousness crept into her gut. Being constantly sick meant that she hadn’t put on much weight, but the pencil skirt she’d chosen was a little tighter than usual. Was it time to buy maternity clothes? Claire fought the urge to squirm underneath the tight waistband. “But Claire—”
“But Claire nothing. You’ve gone through two other people, haven’t you?”
“Three,” admitted Archer. “Mr. Li hasn’t taken to any of them. That doesn’t mean—”
“And you’ve told them I’m expecting, haven’t you?” They’d talked about this. She’d known that the Lis wouldn’t appreciate a lot of inconsistency with the translator—the elder Mr. Li didn’t strike her as the kind of person who just rolled with change. Claire had given Archer express permission to reveal her pregnancy to the Lis when she’d gotten so sick three weeks ago.
“Mr. Li,” Claire said brightly, her voice on the maximum edge of volume that she’d dare use with the men who’d just come in the lobby doors. She greeted them in Chinese, then spoke softly to Archer. “I can do this, okay? You hired me for a reason.”
Even if he’d wanted to argue with her, the Lis didn’t give him time for it. They started talking business practically before they’d fully straightened from their bows. Claire found herself slipping right back into the version of herself she’d been three months ago, when a baby hadn’t even been on the farthest horizon. She stood with her back straight and translated without missing a beat. Everything felt…normal. Except the waistband. The waistband drove her nuts.
She made it thirty minutes before she had to do something about it. When the Lis leaned their heads together to confer over a point Archer had made, she interjected gently. “Excuse me. I need a few minutes.” She said the same, quickly, to Archer.
“Our apologies,” he said, half-rising from his seat.
The moment she started translating the words, the elder Mr. Li held up a hand. “You should put your family first, Mr. Preston.”
Claire blinked. She had no idea that Archer had told him he was the father. She turned to him, the translation tumbling from her mouth. He looked as stunned as she felt.
Mr. Li was smiling, eyes crinkled. “It’s apparent from the way he’s been looking at you for this meeting. Congratulations, Mr. Preston.” Both the Lis stood up and shook hands with Archer, and Claire scrambled to translate their congratulations, her hands trembling.
Having her pregnancy out in the open was a way bigger rush than she’d anticipated. She hadn’t told Rebecca, or any of her old roommates, or...anyone, really, and it made her almost giddy.
Her stomach lurched.
She took a long breath in through her nose and let it out slowly through her mouth. “You’ll have to excuse me.”
“We’ll be all right in the meantime,” Mr. Li said carefully. “Mr. Preston, I have a granddaughter in China. It’s very exciting, welcoming a child into the world.”
“Two children,” blurted Archer, and Claire pressed her lips together. “We’re having twins.”
“Two children!” exclaimed Mr. Li, letting his hands fall to the table. “That’s very auspicious. Very auspicious.”
Claire hurried down the hall to the sound of their excited voices in the conference room. She’d worried that it was a little weird to disclose a pregnancy to a client, but what was her alternative? She hadn’t wanted to look like a flake, but now she knew they’d made the right decision. Twins, she knew from her time studying in China, were a sign of good fortune. If only they were a sign of not feeling nauseated all the time.
In the bathroom, she loosened the zipper on her skirt a few inches and checked herself out in the mirror. It looked all right. The men wouldn’t notice as long as she didn’t turn around in front of them, which would be easy enough to avoid. And—miracle of miracles—her stomach didn’t feel like garbage. Note to self: Buy some maternity business clothes. She gave herself a nervous smile in the mirror. Maternity business clothes meant comfort more than anything else, but they would be a clue to everyone else at Preston, Inc. Like Archer’s brothers. And that meant revealing the pregnancy to his family, and that—
That made her feel slightly sick. She hadn’t been formally introduced yet, but that was the next step, wasn’t it?
She put it out of her mind. Focus on translating, not any more grand announcements.
The mood in the room was entirely different when she got back. Archer was laughing with the Lis, and all of them had relaxed. Good. They’d passed one hurdle—the pregnancy hadn’t derailed Archer’s business deal. She knew how he felt about keeping up with his work. It wouldn’t bode well if things started crumbling now.
She sat down at the table, and Mr. Li gave a sigh of relief. He switched back to Yue immediately, carrying on the conversation as if she had never left.
“Do you think you’ll stay in California?” he asked.
“Yes. Is this a good place to raise children?” The younger Mr. Li leaned forward, eyes bright. “We thought about moving when Mei was born, but we stayed put.”
“I want them to have all the best opportunities,” Archer said, and the glance he gave Claire heated her from the base of her spine to the top of her head. “I think we’ll stay here. Unless Claire has a better idea.”
“The Prestons have strong ties to this area,” she said, quickly translating her own answer. “And I agree with Archer. We’ll stay here.”
“What about your family? Are they here in California?” It was a tentative question from the younger Mr. Li, who shot a quick glance at his father. They probably wanted to know if Claire’s family also had a business empire.
“No.” Claire’s heart twisted in her chest. “My mother still lives in Indiana. It’s where she works.” Her throat tightened at the thought of her mother, working three jobs in her hometown. Right now, she’d be at her first as a receptionist at a factory. Four nights a week she clerked at a local hotel, and on the weekends she cleaned office buildings.
“Let’s return to the partnership, shall we?” Archer was smooth, but she noticed his gaze lingering on her even after the conversation swung back to the deal at hand. He was still watching her carefully when the Lis left an hour later, the elder Mr. Li patting his son on the shoulder on the way out.
Archer rolled his chair toward Claire’s and put his arm around her shoulder, drawing her close. It was so simple, but tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. Hugging her like this—in the office, no less—it was different. What did it mean? “Thank you,” she said, hating the way her voice wobbled. “For saying what you said about the babies.”
“I meant it,” Archer said, his voice a low rumble that comforted her, even though
she wasn’t going to allow herself to rely on it. She wasn’t. “I want them to have the best of everything. I—I feel like I’m already a protective father, in some ways. I’d do anything for them. And you.”
Claire held her breath, as if she stood on the edge of a cliff. She wanted to let herself fall into his arms and stay there forever. It wasn’t the way of the world, though. Men left. They always did. Her own father did. And the gentle tone in Archer’s voice sent cold droplets down her spine—because she couldn’t help thinking about the day he’s stop speaking to her that way.
“I’m glad to hear it,” she murmured, and waited for him to pull away.
He didn’t.
Archer pulled her closer, pressing a kiss to her temple. “I mean it.”
“I know.” She racked her brain for a joke, a witty comment, anything to steer them back onto neutral ground. If she gave in to him, if she let herself get used to his kind voice and his kinder hands, if she really did let him give her everything...
Claire couldn’t do that. It was too risky. But her chest ached with how much she wanted to.
“Are you all right?” He rubbed his thumb absently down the side of her arm, and goose bumps rose on her skin.
I’m scared, she wanted to say. I feel like I’ve parachuted into a foreign land without a map, and all the languages I’ve learned aren’t enough. “Just tired.” A yawn conveniently overtook her. “I think it would be best if I headed home.”
“Your wish is my command.” He helped her to her feet, and Claire had to stop herself from swooning. Oh, it felt so good to have a knight in shining armor. She’d been with plenty of guys who paid lip service to the idea, only to disappear when things got tough. But things had never been so tough in her entire life, and here was Archer, guiding her out to the car, opening the door for her, and settling her inside. Her heart thrummed inside her chest, breaths coming shorter. Was she going to get all worked up about a man who treated her like actual royalty?
Yes. Yes, she was.
Archer climbed into the driver’s seat. “You should rest,” he said. “Your face is pink. Was the meeting too much for you?”
“You’re too much for me.”
He laughed, as if she’d been joking, and she played along. Better to have him think she was respecting the boundaries they’d set up. Sure, they could have sex on his luxurious leather sofa sometimes, but that did not mean they could fall in love. “Could you eat?” he asked, eyes still alight. “I could stop for something on the way home.”
Claire put a hand to her chest. It was so breathtakingly intimate, this stopping on the way home for food. It was something married couples did. Real couples. Not temporary roommates who happened to be having babies together. But her stomach rumbled, in a good way this time. “Yes.” A little thrill ran through her. “Stop for something on the way home. I would love that.”
7
“Welcome back.” Two weeks had gone by in a slip of time that baffled even Archer, who often lost days and evenings to work. The Lis shook his hand and sat down opposite him at the table. They were close. They were so close to finalizing this partnership. Claire took her seat nearby. He felt the pull toward her in the pit of his gut, accepted it, moved on from it. At this table, he needed to let those feelings be in the far background. Nameless. They would remain nameless. “I’m very happy with how far we’ve come in our negotiations. Are there any lingering issues for us to discuss?”
There was Claire’s smooth voice in the background. Archer had chafed at the other interpreters, who seemed too brash and loud and ham fisted. He’d never thought of himself as having so many opinions about interpreters. Her voice was calm and melodic and soft. The fact that it made his heart beat faster was only an added bonus.
“No,” she said on behalf of the elder Mr. Li. “We’re ready to talk about the closing process.”
“About that.” Archer sat up straight. “I’ll be selecting one of my team members to travel to China for the final closing. I won’t be able to travel.”
The air in the room snapped with tension, like the moment the power goes out. The Lis exchanged a glance, and Mr. Li said something quick and sharp.
“Your subordinates don’t have the same knowledge of our deal,” said Claire, her voice perfectly even. “We had planned on going through the final process with you and no one else.”
“I would bring them up to speed with everything, of course,” said Archer. “It would be no different than if I were there.”
“What’s the reason you can’t travel?” asked the younger Mr. Li. “My father and I don’t feel comfortable completing the process with another member of your team.”
“I need to be here for Ms. Baldwin.” The hairs on the back of his neck stood up at the thought of leaving her here while he went across the globe, but he couldn’t tell them how it set his teeth on edge. “As she progresses further into her pregnancy, I need to be available for any appointments or complications that might arise.”
The silence in the meeting room was so complete that Archer could hear Claire’s breathing. An insect tapped gently against the windowpane. The elder Mr. Li said something to his son just under his breath, and the younger spoke rapidly, not a hint of a smile on his face.
“We’re prepared to—No.” Claire’s no brought the conversation to a screeching halt. Archer could only imagine that he looked as confused as the Lis did. Claire shot him a look full of confidence—I’ve got this—and faced the Lis. Then she spoke, clear and smooth with a smile on her face that she seemed to have summoned from nowhere. This didn’t happen. Translators didn’t interject themselves into meetings. Claire had done it once before, but she hadn’t spoken for nearly as long.
“—explained to the Lis that you absolutely are available for travel, and we only had a small miscommunication.” His heartbeat had been so loud in his ears he’d missed the first part of her sentence. “Mr. Preston?”
“A small miscommunication,” he repeated. He’d bristled so hard his hair stood on end, he was sure of it. She couldn’t do this—insert herself in his business like this. This wasn’t part of the deal.
Claire’s dark eyes held a warning—I just fixed this. Don’t blow it. Here she was, trying to save the deal, and he was frozen in his seat, a useless mannequin.
“Mr. Li. Mr. Li.” He nodded to them both. “I want to put your minds at ease. We’ll figure out the travel arrangements, and I will be there to complete the closing process.” If Claire wanted him to travel despite her pregnancy, then he’d go. It was the best choice for the company, and the company had to be his first priority. That was part of what it meant to give her everything, wasn’t it? How could his children have the best of everything if he was constantly making choices that undermined his work?
The Lis visibly relaxed. “We’re happy to hear it.” The meeting rolled to its conclusion, and he and Claire walked them out.
“My office,” Archer said, as soon as the door shut behind them.
“I’m sorry for the overstep.” Claire matched his pace. She moved slightly differently—a little slower. Was that a new skirt? “I didn’t want you to tank the deal because of a rash decision.”
They passed Crystal, who gave them a professional nod, and went into his office. Archer closed the door behind them. As far as anyone knew, Claire was his translator and nothing more. “It’s not a rash decision to want to stay close for you.”
“Okay, fine. It’s an ill-advised decision.” She crossed her arms, and he couldn’t help but admire the shape of her—so curvy and wonderful with her hip cocked to one side. “I don’t want you to do anything that will make you resent me or the babies.”
“How could I possibly resent you for—”
“If you send somebody else and they screw up this partnership, you’ll always wonder how it would have turned out if you had been on the plane to China. It’s an easy step from there to I wish Claire hadn’t held me back. Well, I don’t want to hold you back. I want to build someth
ing with you. Not…not as your business partner, but a partner in life, since we’re going to have to work together. We should be able to compromise.”
He should have expected that. All this time, she’d agreed that whatever was going on between them shouldn’t come between him and his job. Now she was walking the walk.
Claire moved past him and plucked a candy out of a little jar she’d put on his desk a few meetings ago. She was already part of things, wasn’t she? That wasn’t good.
Or was it?
She sucked on the candy and leaned against his desk, looking like she owned the place. “So, let’s compromise.”
“I forgot what we were arguing about.”
She flashed him a smile so utterly charming that his body ached to dip her back on the desk and kiss her senseless. “You wanted to send someone else to China, and I disagreed.”
“How do we compromise on that? It’s not like I can only go halfway.”
“I think you should go all the way, and I’ll keep you updated on every little thing that happens. It’s mostly resting. Maybe an ultrasound, an appointment or two. I’ll put you on speakerphone if you want. But you can’t start making bad decisions for Preston, Inc. just because I’m pregnant.”
He studied her. The skirt was different in some subtle way he couldn’t quite put his finger on, and her top was looser. It was the twin of a top she’d hung in the coat closet of his office in case of a stomach emergency. She had the shirt in here, and the candies...she was here, in all of those things, and in her ideas.
“Anyway,” Claire said. “I think you should go. I can handle a few days of you traveling. I can’t handle you losing this deal.”
It stung a little, he had to admit. He’d thought Claire would want him by her side at all costs. But that had been a fantasy, hadn’t it? She didn’t need him. Not in the way she would if they were together. At the same time, he was impressed by the way she was putting the business first. That wasn’t part of her job description. She was doing it anyway.