Reunited...and Pregnant

by Joss Wood

  From this vantage point Cady could see more decoration on the wall to the left of the front door. A series of enlarged black-and-white photographs. Immediately she recognized the stunningly beautiful bay, encircled by huge cliffs. Looking at the photographs, she could almost feel the silky soft white sand and feel the tropical warmth of the exceptionally clear water.

  “I remember you taking these pictures. You got up at some ridiculous hour so that the beach would be empty of people,” Cady commented, pleased to hear that her voice was steady. “Later that morning I decided to keep traveling with you and the next day I was on a plane home, my life turned upside down.”

  Beck gripped the edges of the counter and looked at her, his face expressionless. “That was always the plan, Cady. I never asked you to stay.”

  “You’re right. You didn’t and I assumed too much.” Cady shrugged. “My bad.”

  She perched on a very uncomfortable, stainless-steel bar stool on the dining room side of the sleek counter.

  “We were young, Cady, and crazy attracted to each other. It couldn’t last,” Beck said slowly, his voice emotionless.

  Lust didn’t explain why her world stopped turning, why she’d cried for three months straight and felt hollow for another six. It was fear of trusting and being hurt again that had her avoiding men and relationships for years, dating occasionally but never inviting a man back into her bed and her life. Tom had been the only one she’d taken a risk on, and that decision just reinforced her belief that her choice in men wasn’t to be trusted.

  Beck filled her cup with hot water and pushed it toward her. He leaned against the counter. “I’m sorry if I hurt you, Cady.”

  “You did hurt me.”

  Beck stepped forward and touched her hand with the tips of his fingers. “I really am sorry but I wasn’t ready for a relationship with you then.”

  Then? What did that mean? Was he ready for one now?

  Beck shook his head in answer to the question he must’ve read in her eyes. “I’m not relationship material, Cady. I don’t do relationships and I don’t do long-term.”

  Cady made herself ask the question. “What do you do?”

  “Sex.” Beck’s answer was as blunt as her question.

  After Tom’s lies, his honesty was refreshing. “Fair enough.”

  “And you, what are you looking for?” Beck asked, his lips thin and his eyes wary.

  Cady stared down at the hot tea, inhaling the ginger aroma and praying it would settle her stomach. Once upon a time she wanted to be married, have a family, be happy. Her teenage dreams were all so airy fairy, so intangible. She was older now and a lot more practical. She wanted to reemploy the handful of staff she’d had to let go, renew her office lease, put some money in the bank and stop feeling like she was constantly fighting nausea and losing.

  Having a relationship, falling for someone—Beck—was out of the question. Apart from the fact that she’d just ended one relationship, she couldn’t forget that Beck had emotionally slaughtered her heart and then tossed the pieces into what felt like a cold, dark, continuous blizzard. Cady felt a shiver run through her and remembered what it felt like to have ice in her veins.

  Not again. Never again.

  “I’m not looking for anything, Beck. From you or from anyone else,” Cady stated, her eyes meeting his. One heartbreak a lifetime was more than enough.

  Beck nodded once, abruptly, but his shoulders dropped a notch and she thought she saw him exhale a relieved sigh. Cady wanted to roll her eyes but resisted.

  It’s okay, Beck. I’m not here to complicate your life.

  Oh, wait, she was.

  “Congratulations,” she said without any preamble, “we are, apparently, engaged.”

  Cady smiled at the panic that hit his eyes. “I haven’t had any caffeine yet, so I’m a bit slow. Would you like to explain that?”

  She supposed she should. Beck pushed a button on the state-of-the-art machine and Cady heard the sound of beans grinding and then the distinctive smell of coffee wafted over to her. Once again, her stomach twisted and her throat closed. Oh, God, morning sickness, go away!

  Cady took a sip of her hot tea and breathed through her mouth. “I woke early and I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d get a jump on my day. When I started working on this campaign, I set up numerous internet alerts on Ballantyne’s, because I wanted to know what was being said about the company. I had fifty messages in my inbox this morning, directing me to websites with breaking news.”

  Cady rested her elbows on the granite counter and placed her chin in the palm of her hand. “Sam’s is a favorite hangout for the paparazzi to find photos of celebs. Yesterday one of those bottom feeders caught the exact moment when you handed over the copy of your mom’s ring and I—”

  Beckett put down his coffee cup and groaned. “You put the ring on the ring finger of your left hand and held your hand up to look at it. And the photographer assumed he saw an engagement.”

  Well, nobody could ever accuse Beckett of being slow on the uptake.

  “Essentially,” she said. “A little research added the details to that scenario. Your mom’s ring was well documented and it was immediately assumed that you were giving her ring to me.”

  Beck gripped the edge of the counter and let loose with a curse.

  “Adding depth to the story, they know exactly who I am and that we spent two months traveling together years ago,” Cady told him.

  Beck’s head jerked up. “How the hell would they know that?”

  “We were kids. We used the social media sites, and those photos of us together are probably still out there,” Cady said, trying to keep calm. One of them had to.

  “We need to decide how we’re going to manage this,” she added, switching into PR mode.

  “What do you suggest?” Beck asked. “Are we going to deny it, run with it, ignore it?”

  He was a smart guy and Cady wanted to know how he would manage this crisis. “What would you do?”

  Beck sipped his coffee and took some time to answer her. “I’m usually pretty decisive but I’m actually not sure. If we deny that we’re seeing each other, then we’d have to explain why we were meeting at Sam’s, why I was showing a PR person my mom’s ring. That would raise questions about why Ballantyne’s needs PR. The press might start speculating about whether the brand is as strong as it once was. That, in turn, might have an impact on the price of Ballantyne shares. That’s something we don’t need, especially since we have concerns about someone who’s snapping up large blocks of Ballantyne shares.”

  Beck’s expression indicated that he wasn’t going to discuss that any further, so Cady returned to the original problem.

  “An astute journalist might ask those questions. I’d prefer to keep the rebranding a secret until the last possible moment. The campaign has more impact that way,” Cady said.

  Beck pinned her to her seat with a hard look. “Are you suggesting that we stay engaged and keep the rebranding a secret?”

  Oh, hell... Cady closed her eyes and hauled in a long, deep breath. “It’s not that simple.”

  “Oh, God, what now?” Beck demanded. He held up his hands, gesturing her not to answer. “Wait, I need more coffee to continue this conversation.”

  Cady was happy to delay the inevitable, to take a moment to gather her courage. She had to tell Beck that she was pregnant, that if they pretended to be engaged, the world would assume that he was the father of her child. Pretending to be engaged was one thing but his assuming responsibility for her pregnancy was another.

  Beck placed his refilled cup of coffee next to her tea, and the smell of coffee traveled up her nose and hit the back of her throat. Cady felt her stomach lurch. She slapped her hand across her mouth and swallowed it back. She wasn’t going to be sick. She wasn’t.

&
nbsp; Cady felt a strong hand on her back and opened her eyes to see Beck holding a small trash bin below her. She grabbed the stainless-steel bin with both hands, ducked her head and threw up.

  Cady sat up and took the napkin Beck held out to her and wiped her mouth. Mortified, she hugged the bin to her side and looked at him through teary eyes.

  “So, there’s a reaction to getting engaged I hadn’t expected,” Beck said. “Trust me, Cades. It would be a fake engagement. I’m the last person in the world who intends to marry.”

  “I know that!” Cady told him. “There’s just one complication...”

  “What?”

  “I’m pregnant. And you, obviously, are not the father.”

  “Oh, crap.”

  * * *

  Beck stared at himself in the bathroom mirror, his eyes bleak and his face a shade paler than normal. His hands gripped the edges of the vanity as he tried to assimilate the news he’d just heard.

  Cady. Pregnant. Which, the last time he’d heard, meant that she was going to have a freakin’ baby.

  Dear God in heaven.

  Beck lifted his hand up and saw that it was trembling. He shook his head and had to wonder why he was feeling so gob-smacked and sideswiped. He hadn’t seen her for nearly a decade and they’d shared a couple of hot kisses so he wasn’t entitled to feel pissed off, disappointed or judgmental.

  He had a relationship with her almost ten years ago and, whether he was attracted to her or not, he had no right to feel... Exactly how did he feel? Jealous. The thought of someone else loving her, touching her, tasting her fabulous skin, kissing her luscious mouth, made the content of his stomach bubble and boil.

  Jealously was not an emotion he was familiar with.

  They’d been apart for almost a decade and he’d had other women, lots of women, so he had to accept that she would’ve had other men in her life. He could accept it...but he didn’t have to like it.

  Stop emoting and start thinking, Ballantyne!

  Forcing his emotions aside, Beck started to think. Before he excused himself to take a shower, she’d briefly explained that she’d been in a relationship, that her ex had no interest in being a father and she no longer wanted to be with him. Getting pregnant hadn’t been her intention. It just happened.

  Beck picked up his toothbrush to brush his teeth for the second time that morning, needing any excuse to stay in the bathroom for a little longer. Cady’s face, her big eyes and her sexy mouth popped up in his brain, and his junk stirred to life. Huh. So the news that she was carrying someone else’s kid didn’t affect his attraction to her. He still wanted her in the worst way possible.

  Beck rinsed, spat and admitted that if this was any other woman handing him the same news, there would be skid marks from him running out of her life at a hundred miles an hour. He would not, for one second, be able to be with, sleep with or date a pregnant woman. It was a perfect recipe for disaster—too many hormones and emotions and physical changes. It was also natural for a woman to look for a mate when she was pregnant, to look for someone to hold her hand, to feel a little less alone. To have someone to nest with.

  He wasn’t a nesting type of guy.

  But this was Cady, who was unlike every other woman he’d ever met.

  When he pushed away his jealousy at the thought of some cretin making love to her, he realized that her being pregnant didn’t fundamentally change his opinion of her. He didn’t want to bolt out of her life and, yeah, he still wanted to sleep with her.

  He tested his forehead to check if he didn’t have a fever.

  Beck left his bathroom and walked into his closet, pulling out the first hanger he laid his hand on. Dropping his towel, he quickly dressed and ran his hands and then a brush through his wet hair. How should he handle her surprise announcement?

  With the truth, he thought, as he knotted his tie. Nothing, really, had changed. He still didn’t want a relationship with her, or anyone else, but her being pregnant didn’t change his desire for her.

  Sure, sleeping together was complicated. She was just out of a relationship, she was pregnant, he was her client, after all. But she was still a woman and he was still a man and they were still attracted to each other.

  Desire didn’t stop to read the warning labels.

  He’d play this by ear, Beck decided, stepping out of his bedroom. He’d take it day by day, week by week, if he had to. But he was adult enough and experienced enough to know that pregnant or not, Cady would, at some point, be in his bed again.

  Seven

  While Beck took a shower, Cady sat on his couch, clutching the cup of ginger tea. Thankful for some time alone, she thought back to his expression when she’d made her announcement. To say he looked shocked was an understatement, but she couldn’t blame him for the string of curses he’d let fly.

  He was a guy who wasn’t into commitment or relationships, only quick flings, and she was damn sure that having a quick fling with a pregnant woman was not on his bucket list. Even if they did share a history and were madly attracted to each other.

  Beck was too into control to be caught up in such an unstable, potentially highly dramatic situation. As for her, she was borderline nuts to be even thinking about Beck in this way. She had enough emotional, physical and financial problems without adding the complication of sleeping with that delicious slab of muscle.

  Man, her life was so messed up. For someone who’d always tried so hard to do the right thing, who pursued perfection, she was surrounded by chaos.

  Cady stared at her fingers and wished that Beck would come down from his room. Sitting here, wondering what he was thinking, hoping that he wasn’t judging her too harshly, had her palms sweating. Cady knew that she shouldn’t care what he thought of her. She was an adult and she should be over wanting anyone’s approval. But Beck wasn’t just anyone. He was an important part of her life.

  She still respected him and he was her client. And, dammit, when she pushed her lust away, she still liked him. He was, and always had been, a good man.

  Cady heard his footsteps and watched Beck walk down the spiral stairs, freshly shaved and his hair damp from his shower. She watched as he shoved his arms into a navy blazer, perfectly complementing his white dress shirt worn under a thin berry-colored sweater. Slim-fit wool pants in dark gray covered his long legs, and his trendy sneakers added a hip touch to his outfit. Between Thailand and now, T-shirt-and-cargo-shorts-wearing Beck had morphed into a clotheshorse, Cady thought. She looked down at her baggy sweatshirt and thought that she really had to up her game.

  Beck walked over to her and sat on the backless leather chair facing her. “So, pregnant, huh?”

  Cady couldn’t see any judgment in his eyes or distaste on his face.

  She nodded glumly. “Yep.”

  “Are you okay? Any problems?”

  “Apart from the puking and the tiredness that I understand is normal, no.” Cady gripped her teacup with both hands. Thinking that he might think she was whining, Cady straightened her back. “I’m perfectly able to manage this campaign, Beck.”

  “I never doubted that for a second,” Beck replied, his voice steady. “I just need to know that you’re healthy.”

  Cady nodded, touched by his concern. “I’m fine. I haven’t seen a doctor yet but I will.”

  Beck nodded and stood up. He walked over to the window and leaned into the red brick wall. “And the father? Is he out of the picture?”

  “Very. I was going to break up with him before I found out about the baby, but his insistence that I have an abortion nailed that coffin closed.”

  “Is he an utter moron? You’re a pastor’s kid.”

  Cady smiled at his understanding. “My decision to keep my baby goes deeper than that.” Should she tell him about Will? Would he understand? “Do you remember that I h
ad a brother?”

  A small frown appeared above Beck’s nose. “Yeah, he died when you were fifteen, right? From something... Sorry, I can’t remember that part.”

  “I’m touched that you remember that much. Yeah, he had Lupus and he got pneumonia. The virus attacked his lungs and he passed away.”

  “I’m sorry, Cady.”

  Her smile just touched the corners of her mouth. “What I never told you is that he was autistic and disabled. I adored him, and he was my best friend, despite his limitations. When I was ten, I came home from school and my grandmother was there instead of Will and my mom. She told me that they’d taken Will to live in a residential home and that it was best for Will that there weren’t any long, drawn-out goodbyes. He was, as my grandmother put it, becoming ‘difficult to handle.’”

  “What did she mean by that?”

  “I have no idea. The Will I knew was funny and kind and...good.”

  Beck looked empathetic and interested, unlike Tom who’d just yawned his way through her story. “I was devastated. I’ve never understood why my parents shipped him off, but that’s another story.” Cady placed her hand on her stomach. “This child didn’t do anything wrong and he or she shouldn’t be disposed of because it’s more convenient for me.”

  “Is that what you believe your parents did? Made life more convenient for themselves by sending your brother away?”

  Cady stared at him, his words rolling around her head and then crystallizing. That was exactly what she thought and never been able to verbalize. Unwelcome tears burned her eyes. Trust Beck to put his finger on the essence of the problem.

  And that was why his words at the airport in Thailand scoured her soul. Sending her away had been so convenient for him.

  Beck sat down next to her and, with the pad of his thumb, wiped a tear from under her eye. “Then good for you, for keeping this baby, for taking the harder, less convenient path.”

  Cady gripped his wrist, holding on to his strength, his warmth. “I’m scared, Beck.”

  “Raising a kid is a scary thing. But you should also remember that you are bright and capable and so much stronger than you think you are.” Beck tipped her chin up. “You can do this, Cades. I promise.”