She was a thorn in his side. Didn’t he have enough unhappiness every day without his son to hold in his arms? How could she go away too? What kind of woman would break a man’s heart, when it was already torn in two?
His thoughts were so disturbed that he barely heard the soft rap on his door.
“Go away,” he muttered. The knock sounded again.
He heard the door open and close. Somebody had the audacity to enter? “Didn’t you hear me?”
“I heard you, but I can’t go away.”
Oh, my God! His heart thundered. She was back. He smelled the subtle fragrance of her favorite perfume. He clenched and unclenched his fist. He cleared his throat. Blinked several times. Mist obscured his vision so that he couldn’t see properly. Or breathe as usual. “Why are you here?”
“I work here, remember?” She had the balls to step closer.
He didn’t want to turn his chair and gaze into her beautiful green eyes. He’d be lost if he did. He had to tell her she was fired. He couldn’t stand the thought of her working here anymore.
“I figured you had resigned.” He barely recognized his own voice. Gruff. Irritable.
“Nope. I just took a few personal days.”
He swung his chair around and glared at her. “It was more than a few. Damn near a week.” She was back, she was back. His chest lightened—a ten pound weight had been removed. “That will come out of your vacation time.”
“So you’re not firing me?” she asked softly, taking one more step.
“I’m thinking of it. Matter-of-fact, I would have if I’d known where the hell you were to let you know.”
She smiled, her rosy lips twitching with amusement. “Could have just sent it by email. I got all your others.”
“You think this is amusing? When your boss calls, texts, and emails, you damn well answer.” His voice shook which made him even madder. “I should fire you.” He pounded the desk, hurt igniting to fury. “I have every reason.”
“No, you don’t.” She flipped her damn hair. “I will explain everything later. Not here. Not now. I just wanted you to know that I’m back. And I’m staying. You can’t fire me.” Her matter-of-fact tone set him over the edge.
“Oh, yeah? We will see about that!” He jumped out of his chair and leaned across his desk. His skin crawled and flushed. His face was probably purple, and he was breathing hard.
She didn’t flinch. “Don’t threaten me. At least not until you hear what I have to say. It’s almost closing time. Come to my condo. We can discuss it then.”
“I’m not coming to your place. Whatever we had going is not going on anymore. That ended when you left.”
Her eyes lost some of their luster and she put a hand up to her chest. Her mouth trembled.
Good! So she did have some feelings, the heartless wretch.
“I’m sorry,” she said in a small voice. “Sorry I left you up in the air. Not knowing anything.”
His resolve to hate her forever caved at her sincere apology. Could he blame her, really? Being the butt of office gossip wasn’t professional, something she strived to be. It was true that she had more to lose, more at stake, than he did.
He waited for a few minutes, gaining control of his emotions. “I’m sorry too. It never should have happened. My fault. I take full responsibility.”
“Only half.” Her chin lifted. “I take fifty percent of the blame.”
“If I want to take all of it, the least you can damn well do is let me. Why do you have to challenge me on everything?” He wanted her to be happy. With him.
Her eyes reddened and she took a step back. “Forget it. You can have my resignation after all. I made a mistake thinking I might still be welcome. You don’t want me here.”
“You have no idea how much I don’t want you here.” He took two steps forward and gripped her arm. “How could you have left me like that?” His jaw clenched and he whispered, “You wouldn’t talk to me. You wouldn’t answer my calls. Do you have any idea how that felt?”
“I couldn’t.” She tried to break his grasp, but he pulled her closer and tightened his hold. Her eyes widened and she whipped her head around as if to see if anyone was watching.
Who cared if they were? He shouldn’t have cared from the beginning. His jaw ticked. In. Out. In. Out. “You don’t answer. Then you just prance back in here, thinking everything is all right?”
“No, I don’t think everything is all right. I said we have something to discuss.” She tossed her head and pulled back to look him in the eyes. “If not my place, anywhere but here. Please?”
“This is the office. We’re talking about your job.” He kept his voice hard, wanting her to hurt as much as she’d hurt him. “Why should I keep you employed when you obviously have no respect for authority?”
“Because you can’t fire me.” Her chest heaved and she released a long shaky breath. “You really want to do this right now? Fine! I’m pregnant.”
His hands dropped and he fell back against the desk. “Say that again?” Emotions flowed through him. Shock, disbelief, anger that she had held this back from him. Wonder, and excitement too.
“You heard me.” She looked at the floor and clasped her hands in front of her. Suddenly a scared, beautiful woman and not a cruel heart-breaker.
Pregnant? What about the pill? Had she not taken it on purpose? Did it matter? Would he love her any less?
There was a loud ringing in his ears—a cacophony of sound. His heart was beating like a sparrow trapped in his chest. What it true? Could it be?
“Jennifer. I’m not sure that I heard right.” She kept her face lowered, so he tilted his head and lifted her chin.
“Tell me again.” His anger was gone. Light-headed, his chest nearly ready to explode. Not hate. Love. He hadn’t wanted it. But she’d made him feel again. He was in love!
“I’m pregnant,” she whispered. “I took the pill like I mentioned, but it might have been too late. It’s not fool proof anyway. Ninety-five percent safe if you take it within twenty-four hours. I think it was more like thirty.”
“It doesn’t matter,” he said softly, his eyes holding hers. “I like babies.”
She acted like she didn’t hear him. She shook her head and folded her arms around her tummy. “First I hoped my period was just late. Then I took that little test. You know the one.” She winced. “You buy them at the pharmacy. I tested twice. Positive. I…we are having a baby.”
“That’s wonderful,” he said, meaning it.
She straightened her shoulders, piercing his gaze with hers. “You don’t have to be involved. I don’t expect anything from you. I will raise the baby myself. If you like we can keep the child’s father unknown on the birth certificate. I won’t embarrass you, and if you want me to leave I will, but I need health insurance.”
“You’re not leaving.” His insides were jumping around like the sparrow in his chest was on crack. “Matter-of-fact, I don’t want you going anywhere.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her close. He kissed her cheek. “I’ll follow you home after all. As you said, we have plenty to discuss.”
“No. I understand you want me to keep the baby, and at first I didn’t think I could do this, but now I know I can. It’s okay, Hunter. I’ll be fine. I don’t need you.”
Her words were a kick in the guts. He’d been a jerk, he got that, but he would bet the farm that she loved him as much as he did her. No way in hell was he going to let her slip away from him and take the baby with her. “You’re the one who doesn’t understand. I need you.”
He cupped the back of her neck and pulled her forward. He kissed her softly, then deepened the kiss. After a few minutes he felt her body surrender. He murmured, “I’m in love with you. I want this baby, but I want you more. Baby or no baby, you’re the one I want to spend the rest of my life with.”
“Oh, Hunter.” Her stubborn chin trembled. “I was afraid you’d say that. I know you don’t want this. You told me as much in Vegas. You have a son. He�
��s the love of your life.”
“That’s changed.” He smiled through the tears blurring his vision. He’d been lost after his divorce, but Jennifer was giving him his life back. “He’s one of the loves of my life. Only now I have two more.” His eyes danced and he couldn’t stop the big grin from spreading over his face.
“Really?” She put her hand over her flat stomach. “You’re not just saying that?”
“I love you. Why do you think I was so mad? I was worried sick and afraid that I’d lost you forever.” He cleared the emotion from his throat. “I don’t want to lose you. Not ever.” He gently covered her hand with his. “You’ve made me a very proud and happy man.”
“I was afraid that you’d want to do the right thing and ask me to marry you. But that’s not what you want.” Her tone wavered, revealing her vulnerability, the hope behind her brave words. “Is it?”
“’Fraid so.” He answered with a kiss, then swooped her into his arms, swinging her around his office space. When he stopped and put her down, a dozen employees were standing outside his glassed-in office, cheering like they were spectators at a football game. He gave them the thumbs up, and Jennifer blushed, pressing her face against his shoulder.
“Shall we tell the others we’re getting married?” He put an arm around her waist and gave her a hug. “And I think the sooner the better.”
“Yes, and yes. But before we share our news I have something to tell you.”
“What? We’re having twins?” Everything seemed possible now that she’d given him this gift.
“No, silly. I wanted to tell you that I’m in love with my boss.” She put her arms around his neck. “I love you, Hunter Carson. Since Vegas.”
“And I love you, Jennifer Martin. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?” He never thought he’d ask that question again. Now he couldn’t imagine why he hadn’t the second he’d seen her sip her scotch.
She tilted her head back and laughed, her arm entwined with his. “I thought you’d never ask.”
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
Thank you for reading DOUBLE TROUBLE, and please take a moment to check out my other titles.
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OTHER BOOKS BY PATRICE WILTON
REPLACING BARNIE
book 1 in the Candy Bar series
WHERE WISHES COME TRUE
book 2 in the Candy Bar series
NIGHT MUSIC
book 3 in the Candy Bar series
REVENGE IS SWEET
single title Women’s Fiction
CHAMPAGNE FOR TWO
single title Contemporary Romance
ALL OF ME
single title Women’s Fiction
CATERED AFFAIR
single title Women’s Fiction
A HERO LIES WITHIN
Contemporary Romance
HANDLE WITH CARE
Contemporary Romance
AT FIRST SIGHT
Contemporary Romance
SERENDIPITY FALLS
Romantic-comedy–book 1 in the Serendipity Falls series
WEDDING FEVER
Romantic-comedy–book 2 in the Serendipity Falls series
LOVE STRUCK
Romantic comedy–book 3 in the Serendipity Falls series
TROUBLE IN VEGAS
Romantic comedy–book 1 in the Vegas series
A HOT NIGHT IN VEGAS
Romantic comedy–book 2 in the Vegas series
KISS ME SANTA
Holiday romance
A HEAVENLY CHRISTMAS
Holiday romance
PARADISE COVE
first book in my new series
READERS – As an added bonus, I have given you the first chapter of A MAN FOR HIRE. Read on and enjoy. This book is available on Kindle Unlimited.
### BONUS ###
Excerpt from
A MAN FOR HIRE
by Patrice Wilton
CHAPTER ONE
“Kari—I have a confession to make.” Jordon Marshall paused for a second, delaying the moment of truth. Her sister wouldn’t judge her harshly, but she’d be ticked off that Jordan hadn’t told her before.
“I hope it’s a good one,” Kari said. “You’ve been acting mysterious about this whole weekend, and I’m dying to know why.”
Jordon propped her elbows on the wooden table, and glanced around at the other patrons in the small, dark tavern. No one within hearing distance, but still she lowered her voice. “I’ve slept with him.”
“Slept with who?”
“With him. You know. Bradley Langford. The guy who’s my date for the weekend.”
“But how could you? You haven’t even met him!”
“Actually I have.”
“Okay, okay! Backtrack here.” Kari lowered her voice. “Exactly when did you meet him and sleep with him, and all that good stuff? And why am I just hearing about this now?”
“Well, it wasn’t important before.” It had been an incredible night she’d kept close to the chest. “But now it is. You don’t tell me about every guy you hook up with, do you?”
“No, but you wouldn’t want to know. You, on the other hand, have had one boyfriend in the past two years.”
“True. But, Kari, we weren’t even on a date!” Jordon felt her cheeks warm, just saying the words. How could she ever have done such a thing? She wasn’t a party girl. Her sister…but this was not about Kari. It was Jordan’s moment of truth. “I didn’t even know him,” she said in a final rush, fanning her flushed face. She would be so happy to get this conversation over with.
“Holy crap! That is so not you. You never go for cheap hook-ups. You’ve never slept with someone that you weren’t in love with.” Kari laughed. “As your sister, I know every guy you’ve had a crush on since you were nine years old!” She snorted. “Until now.”
“The whole situation was really messed up. So was I.” She put one hand over her chest and the remembered pain. “You know the day I found out about Tom getting married? Well I went out with Cindy. Some new hot shot bar in mid-town where we met after she got off work.”
“Cindy? The one you worked with at the PR office—before you made the biggest mistake of your life and took the job at the winery?” Kari didn’t hide her dislike of all things related to Tom, including the family business.
“Yeah, that Cindy. And it wasn’t the biggest mistake of my life. Sleeping with a total stranger tops that by a mile. Anyway, let me finish.” Jordan sighed and took a sip of the wine she’d ordered, hoping it might ease her nerves. What would he say when he saw her again?
“Go on. I’m all ears.”
“Yeah, well, it was happy hour. Cindy and I were having martinis and I was telling her the whole ugly story. She’d met Tom several times, and we’d gone out together as couples. So, she couldn’t believe it when I told her he’d met someone in Italy, and was bringing her home as his bride.” She inched the wine glass away before she drained it.
“I know, honey. I couldn’t believe it, either. Mom and Dad are still in shock. They loved him. We all did. The two-faced jerk.”
Jordon’s throat closed, and she shut her eyes for a moment to hold back another round of tears. She’d shed enough. Tom was not going to get one more drop out of her. “Yes, wel
l, I guess he just didn’t love me. I thought he did, but how could he leave for a few months and fall in love with someone else so fast? After two years of dating he never asked me to marry him.” She sniffed. “And after only a few months he decides he’s met the person he wants to spend the rest of his life with?”
After a moment’s silence, Kari spoke gently. “Oh, Jordon, I’m sorry that this still hurts, but you never seemed anxious to get married. Maybe he wanted that, and sensed you were more focused on your career than starting a family.”
“That’s not true. Or fair. I loved him.” Jordan ran her finger through the condensation on her wine glass, thinking about her relationship with Tom. They had loved each other. Not like a romantic movie where people were crazy in love. She and Tom were just really good together—compatible in every way. Sex between them hadn’t set off any fireworks, but it was very satisfying. She’d rate it a B+, or maybe a good solid B. Not like sex with Bradley Langford. That had been extraordinary. Off the charts. Probably because she’d had too much to drink, or because it had been naughty when she was usually nice.
Ashamed of where her thoughts had taken her, Jordon added in her defense, “We had a good relationship. We were both so busy trying to put his family’s winery on the map that romance took a back seat.”
“Maybe if you’d gone to Italy with him?”
DOUBLE TROUBLE: TROUBLE IN VEGAS series Page 21