“Brenda, this is a big deal!”
“What happened?” Hunter came out of his office. I wasn’t even annoyed that now he had Brenda message him so he could come out and get his own coffee to prevent me walking. My comment on that absurdity could wait.
I pointed the screen at him. “We’re number one!”
He took a few steps, squinted at the screen, and then straightened up with those delicious, twinkling eyes. “Great job.”
“This is ridiculous. You two are killing my mood.” I called Bruce, half bouncing in anticipation.
“Yallo?”
“Hey. We did it! We’re number one!” I braced with my hands out, waiting for the reaction.
A couple of seconds later, probably the amount of time it took him to look it up on his own computer, he said, “O-kay. Excellent. Now we’re in business!”
I smiled like a fool and took a deep breath. This was huge. Our first game. Our first time. There were so many apps and games, so many freebies, both big and small. We were nobodies with one game within the thousands, and we’d hit number one. I was so excited I didn’t know what to do with myself.
“Now the real work begins,” Bruce said.
I felt my smile wither. “You couldn’t let me enjoy that a little longer?”
“We have to cash in on this momentum, Livy. Tonight I’ll run the update to limit how much we give away for free. I’ll also check to see how fast people are getting through the levels. We might need to make them harder.”
“The ones toward the end are difficult enough.”
“There are some smart people out there with no lives. If all they do is play, we need to stay ahead of them.”
I glanced at my computer, thought of the huge list of things I had to do for Hunter, and then the even longer list for the game. My whole body tightened up, immediately overwhelmed. I took a deep breath. I could do this. I could stay balanced and stress-free. “Okay, I’ll—”
The phone left my hand. I glanced up as Hunter put it to his head. “Bruce, she has to go… Yup… Sure.”
Hunted tapped it off and handed the phone back. His expression was not at all apologetic. “Send me your to-do list for both this position and for Bruce. That is top priority.”
“Here we go…” Brenda murmured, setting her cup down and bracing her chin on her fist.
I felt my ire raise without warning. Frustration and anger turned into a lethal soup that zinged through my body. Then came fear of what those emotions might do to my baby. Finally came tears, because my hormones were so jacked up I didn’t even know which way was up anymore. “Damn it, Hunter!” I yelled. I didn’t know what else to do. He was right in taking the phone, and the stress, away from me, and we both knew it.
I hated admitting that, though. Yelling seemed like a better reaction.
Hunter’s eyes lit on fire. “Come into my office.”
“Please,” I said through clenched teeth as I stomped after him.
As soon as we were both sitting, Hunter said, “You know very well that if I hadn’t ended that call, you would’ve spiraled. I remember the same look on your face from yesterday, Livy, right before you bent over my desk holding your stomach. I’ve said before that my job is to protect you and that baby. If I have to save you from yourself, so be it. I make no excuses, no apologies. You need to choose, Olivia. No more delays.”
Tears of frustration came to my eyes. “Look. If I don’t do this stuff for Bruce, he’ll replace me. I really don’t want that, Hunter. I love doing that stuff.”
Hunter’s eyes softened. “So why don’t you do it full-time?”
I scrubbed my palm against my knee. “What about you? You’d have to replace me.”
“I can fill your role here much easier than Bruce can replace you should you quit. You need to do what you love, Olivia. We both know that administrative duties give you no satisfaction.”
“But…” I looked around. My gaze snagged on the couch, and then slid by the desk. “What about the personal contract?”
“Is that what has you worried?” Hunter crossed his ankle over his knee. “And here I thought you were worried about me working more hours.” A smile dusted his lips. “I have everything I need in you.”
“Sometimes you forget, though. At least, when I started you did. You tried to call me in for a faceless screw, remember?”
His eyes lit on fire. I could read the desire in his look. “I don’t look for mindless fulfillment now. I look for you.”
The fear eased, but didn’t totally disappear. “I don’t know. If I didn’t work here I’d never see you. There must be some way this can work.”
“I’ll see you every evening and you can visit me here. You can even come in and work at my table.” He pointed to the round table in his office. “Or you can use the conference rooms. Or my couch. You shut everything out when you work and I find your presence comforting—I think that would be a great arrangement.”
I bit my lip in indecision. This was all happening so fast.
In a last-ditch effort, leaning on my stubbornness, I said, “You can’t force me to choose, Hunter.”
“I can fire you. And I will. What you do after that would be your choice, but it also doesn’t take a genius to know how relieved you’ll be to work on your code without my duties nagging at you.”
I frowned harder. “You sure think you know everything.”
He grinned and pushed forward. “I do. Think it over.”
I walked out of his office shaking my head. I hadn’t stood a chance.
“Did you get reamed out or what?” Brenda asked as I sat at my desk.
“No. He offered to help me out by firing me.”
“You two have a messed-up relationship, have I mentioned that?”
I snorted. “You didn’t have to.”
At the end of the day I left the office with a strange sinking feeling. I didn’t really want to quit working for Hunter. It was how I’d met him. It was how he’d more or less browbeaten me into loving him. Everything had started for us with my first yes in the park. I was reluctant to let that go.
Truth be told, I was also a little worried. I lived with him, and I was having this baby, but we hadn’t talked about forever. The crazy-woman part of me didn’t want to give him more space for fear he’d realize I wasn’t nearly as great as he thought. I was a plain Jane next to him. Not forcing my presence on him every day might break whatever spell he was under. After that, kicking me out and arranging custody rules would be a cinch.
I needed to take my mind off this.
I took out my phone as I waited for the car service. It was seven o’clock. Hunter said he had another couple of hours to do before he’d meet me at home. While I should go home and work on the game, which was still number one, I wanted to chat with a friend. I wanted to take my mind off the big decision I had weighing on me.
I called Kimberly.
“Hi!” she said on the second ring. “You have ESP. I was just going to call you. How are you?”
I smiled at the peppiness in her voice. “Good. Want to meet for a coffee?”
“Definitely. I’m in the financial district. Where are you?”
“Same. I’m just leaving work.”
“Dumb question, right?” She laughed. “Okay, I’ll make my way toward you.”
The black car pulled up next to the curb. As the man got out, I took a couple steps toward him. “Sorry—false alarm. I won’t need the car for a couple hours.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He didn’t even look put out. For some reason, that made me feel guiltier about wasting his time.
Ten minutes later I caught sight of the shining red hair bouncing with each of Kimberly’s steps. Her smile was bright and her hug warm when she reached me. “Hi!”
“Hey. Where to?”
“Jen and Rick are at a little café a few blocks from here. Want to go meet them? They’re back together and fighting all the time.” She rolled her eyes.
I hesitated. Jen and Rick
would probably be drinking, as it was happy hour. Since I’d never refrained from drinking in their presence, they would immediately realize that something was up. I couldn’t very well tell Kimberly no, though. Then she’d ask why.
Trying to cover up a pregnancy was not going to be easy.
“That sounds…fun,” I said sarcastically.
She laughed and looped her arm around mine. “They usually cut it out when someone else shows up. What have you been up to? I saw that your app is at number one. How excited are you right now?”
“Super. Super excited! I should be working on it at the moment, but I just don’t want to.”
“How do you do it all? You’re going to crash.”
“I know. Hunter is making me choose.”
She loudly sucked in a breath. “No! What did he say?”
I went over our meeting, what I was doing, and what it would amount to.
“And you’re worried it’ll be out of sight, out of mind, huh?” Kimberly surmised when I was done.
“It’s crazy, I know.”
“It is, but I totally get it. I’d think the same thing. Because, you know, you got the job because of the personal thing. He won’t, though. The man is head over heels. Everyone talks about the smart girl who reeled in Hunter Carlisle. You’re a legend.”
“Smart girl, huh? Usually I’d be proud of that, but Hunter is so gorgeous. People should be talking about the pretty girl who reeled him in.”
Kimberly scoffed and playfully hit my arm. “You’re beautiful. But beauty is a dime a dozen. Hunter has always had beautiful girls around him. He chose the genius girl.”
“Genius?” I laughed.
“Not like I’d set them straight.” Kimberly stuck her tongue out at me before pulling my arm toward the door. “This is it.”
She entered before me and hesitated in the entryway.
“Two?” a hostess asked, reaching for menus.
“No. We’re here to meet—oh, there they are.” Kimberly pointed at a table in the back surrounded by four people. She turned to me with wide eyes.
I groaned. Jonathan, my ex-boyfriend, was one of the four, along with Tera, who was a snob at the best of times.
“It’s fine,” Kimberly said as she pulled me toward the table. “He knows you’ve moved in with Hunter. You’re out of his reach.”
“It doesn’t prevent him from trying to be buddy-buddy with me to get closer to Hunter. He’d push over his mother to get a job in Hunter’s company.”
“Hey! Olivia!” Rick stood up as we approached and brought me into a tight hug. “Long time no see.”
“Hunter Carlisle works you too hard,” Jen said with a smile, standing up to hug me too. She then organized the chairs so we could fit at the table.
Tera gave me a smug smile before firmly putting her hand high on Jonathan’s thigh. “Hi, Olivia. Hey, Kimmie.”
Kimberly’s fingertips dug into my arm. She’d realized the same thing I just had. Tera was dating Jonathan. He’d dumped me because I wasn’t good enough and here he was, letting Tera rub his upper thigh while she sent me gloating glances.
If she thought that I’d be jealous, she was delusional. “Hey, everyone.”
“I heard you have a game out. How cool is that?” Jen beamed at me.
“Kimmie was really pushy about getting us to download it,” Rick said. “Now I’m addicted.” He gave me a comic frown. “Not cool!”
“What’s this now?” Tera asked. Her hand ran over the swell of Jonathan’s bulge. Her eyes twinkled as she looked at me.
I barely prevented myself from rolling my eyes. “I helped design a game. It’s doing pretty good so far.”
“Pretty good? That thing is rocking.” Rick tapped his phone and then pointed the screen at Jonathan. Tera leaned close to him so she could see better, and to smear her body against his.
I didn’t have to refrain from rolling my eyes that time—I just joined Kimmie and Jen as they did it.
The waitress stopped beside our table. She looked at Kimberly and then me. “Can I get you guys anything?”
“We need to celebrate,” Kimberly said as she fingered the small menu. “Beer or shot?”
I tried not to groan. Here we go.
“I’ll just have a Sprite,” I said to the waitress. “My stomach isn’t feeling the best. I might be getting sick.”
“A Sprite? Nah. We’re celebrating! Have a beer.” Kimberly looked at the waitress. “We’ll have beers.”
“No, really—” I cut off as I felt a warm hand on my arm. I looked over at Jonathan, who was making Tera sit farther back so he could lean across her to touch me.
“Hey,” he said with a warm smile. “You really designed that game?”
Confused at his touch and his tone, I stuttered out a “Yes.”
Jonathan took his hand back but continued to lean against the table, his full focus on me. “That’s pretty remarkable. And how about Hunter Carlisle? Do you still work for him?”
“Yes. For now.”
“I can’t believe you moved in with him,” Jen said with stars in her eyes. “When Kimberly told me I flat-out refused to believe it. Hunter Carlisle! I didn’t think he could be caught.”
“Are you saying you’d dump me to get a piece of him?” Rick said with an annoyed expression.
“Does everything need to be about you?” Jen shot him a glower. “I’m trying to talk to Livy.”
“What do you mean, for now?” Tera asked.
The waitress showed up with a round of beers and distributed them before asking if we wanted any food.
I leaned back, away from it. “That game is a lot of work,” I told Tera. “I’ll need to choose which company I work for.”
“No-brainer,” Jonathan said. “Hunter Carlisle.”
“Well…” I shrugged. “That’s just admin work. I’d really rather do coding.”
Jonathan gave me a placating kind of smile then, in a condescending voice, said, “You get to learn business from a genius. I think that is worth the price of admission. He can open doors others can’t. You’d be a simpleton to walk away from that.”
“She lives with him,” Kimberly said with spice in her voice. “She’s not walking away from him; she’s doing something she’s obviously better at. She can still learn from him.”
“Dude, you’re full of shit.” Rick waved Jonathan away as he took a swig of his beer. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Here, Livy.” Kimberly moved my beer closer to me as she picked up hers.
“No, I’m okay.” I lightly touched the bottle, nudging it away a little.
“You’re really not drinking?” she asked, hesitating with her own bottle.
Most people hated peer pressure. Kimberly thrived on it.
“Why aren’t you drinking?” Tera squinted at me.
The table fell into silence, all eyes on me.
“I have to work after this,” I hastened to say. “Beer makes me drowsy.”
“You still have to work?” Rick said. Tera was still staring at me, suspicion in her eyes. Her gaze dipped to my stomach.
Suddenly, I knew exactly what she was thinking. I’d trapped Hunter with a baby. He was the unattainable bachelor. No one had ever been able to land him. Except for me, a girl without money and without awe-inspiring beauty. And suddenly I was pregnant.
It did look bad.
“Excuse me,” I said as I stood. Tera squinted again as she looked at my belly.
In a strange sort of panic, I made my way to the bathroom. This was silly. Who cared what people thought? I knew that Hunter loved me. I’d known it before the baby. In fact, he’d been the cause of this. He was the one who’d tried to get me without protection as often as possible. I certainly hadn’t trapped him.
But man, it sure did look like I had.
I washed up and analyzed myself in the mirror. I had a tiny paunch. Not at all noticeable. Most people would assume it was chub. I took a deep breath and made my way back out.
I was all sorts of off balance with life. I needed to get a grip!
“Livy.”
I started and then stumbled into Jonathan. He caught me by the shoulders and directed me toward the wall so people could get by. “Careful,” he said with a smile.
“What’s up?” I asked, taking a step away. He was standing much too close.
“Hey, you know, we don’t talk anymore. I miss that.”
“Yeah, well, you broke up with me. It kind of put a damper on our nonexistent friendship.”
He chuckled and placed his hand on my shoulder. “We were friends. I had a great time with you. We should hang out sometime.”
“Um…” I was sure my smile screamed out my discomfort. I dipped and shifted like some weird dance, hoping to dislodge that hand. “Maybe.”
“Yeah. You know, I have some great ideas that Hunter Carlisle might be keen to hear. I mean, I have a job, but I’d entertain making a change if the money was right.”
“A job, right.” I dipped again before stepping away. His hand slid off. “You’d probably be better off seeing what openings there are in the company. I don’t think there is much right now.”
“Well, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Or him, if you thought to bring him around. I could—”
“Olivia.” The power and command in that tone had a delicious shiver dripping down my back. I looked up as Hunter came to stand beside me. His arm worked around my waist before pulling me in possessively against his side. His sexy, smoldering eyes trained on me for a moment before swinging to Jonathan. He didn’t utter a word, but the question was obvious. What was my ex-boyfriend talking to me about in the back of the restaurant, away from everyone else?
This also looked bad.
“Hello, sir.” Jonathan smiled, oblivious to the aggression radiating from the man beside me. “I was just mentioning to Livy that we should get together for a chat.”
“I told you to stay away from her,” Hunter said in a low tone.
I looked up at him in surprise. When?
“Yes, sir, I realize that. I wasn’t thinking to meet her alone. I’d hoped you—”
Forever, Please (Please #4) Page 5