* * *
Emma was fairly certain the interview was over. Jonah had managed to maintain as professional a face as he’d ever had, but the minute she slid the photo of his daughter across the desk to him, it was done.
Sitting there, she had the rare opportunity to actually watch a man fall in love with his child. It was something she thought she might never see before now, and she was so relieved she could almost cry. But she wouldn’t. She could already see the sheen of tears in Jonah’s eyes and the whole meeting would devolve into sobbing if she started.
Jonah stared at the picture for a few minutes before gently wiping at his eyes and setting it back down on his desk. “I am fairly certain we can accommodate whatever needs you may have to bring our daughter into the office. I’ll kick Noah out of his office and turn it into a nursery if you want me to.”
He smiled and stood up, walking slowly around his desk to her. He stopped just short of touching her, sitting down in the other guest chair beside her so they were at eye level. “I love you, Emma,” he said without the slightest hesitation. “I love you and I’ve missed you so badly. I’m so sorry that I hurt you. I never meant to do that.”
Emma reached out and covered his hand with her own. She gave it a gentle squeeze, reveling in the touch of his skin against hers once again. “I know. I love you, too. And I’m sorry, as well.”
Jonah frowned at her. “Sorry for what? You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Yes, I did,” she insisted. Emma had put a lot of thought into this the last few days and she wanted to make sure he knew how she felt now. “I let my worries about what other people think of me interfere with living my life and loving you the way I wanted to. I’ve spent my whole life more concerned with what other people thought than what I thought of myself. I didn’t like the uptight, boring woman I’d become, but I thought that’s who I should be.
“You loved the parts of me that I was ashamed of, and it helped me to realize that what other people think of me is none of my business. All that really matters is that I’m happy and living my life the way I want to live it. And I want to live it with you. I want to make a family with you, Jonah, however we decide to have it.”
Emma didn’t care if they got married with a big Plaza wedding, eloped at the courthouse or didn’t get married at all. The big wedding was her mother’s dream anyway, not hers. A wedding and a marriage was only important if they put importance on it. All Emma wanted was Jonah in her life, and in her baby’s life, every day. She wanted to love him and be with him. That was what would make her happy.
Jonah looked at her for a moment and she could swear there was a flicker of nervousness across his face. Before she could say anything else, he reached into his coat pocket and slipped out of his chair onto one knee.
He kept a tight grip on her left hand as he moved, so Emma had to clutch the arm of the chair with her right. Her entire body tensed up as she watched him and realized what he was doing. “Jonah...” she gasped, but he ignored her.
In his left hand, he held a Tiffany blue jewelry box. Before he opened it, he looked at her and said, “I know you said you didn’t want to marry me the last time I mentioned it. You said we hardly knew each other and that if, given time, I fell in love with you and wanted to get married, you would reconsider.” His thumb anxiously stroked the back of her hand as he spoke, making it hard for her to focus on his words.
Finally, he let go long enough to pull the black jewelry box out of its bright blue container and pry open the lid. He held the ring up for her to see it. Nestled in the velvet was the ring of her dreams. Emerald cut, surrounded in tiny diamonds and with a delicate band inset with even more. It picked up the morning sunlight in Jonah’s office, displaying a dazzling show of rainbow colors. It was simply breathtaking.
“I’m hoping that you’ve reconsidered, Emma. I know that not much time has really passed, but this week without you has felt like a lifetime. I couldn’t let another day, much less another week, go by without telling you how much I love you. And that I want to make you my wife.” Jonah paused for a second to look her in the eye and swallow hard. “Will you marry me, Emma?”
How had she gotten to this point in her life? From her lowest moment before that Mardi Gras party, to the thrill of romance with a stranger, to the crushing loss of everything she held dear... And now love. Marriage. A family.
“I will. Of course I will, Jonah,” Emma managed with tears filling her eyes.
With a cheer of satisfaction, Jonah leaned in and gave her a firm, soft kiss. Emma held his scruffy face with both hands to keep him close for as long as possible, but eventually he pulled away. Taking her hand in his, he plucked the ring out of its velvet bed and slid it onto her finger. It was perhaps half a size too big, but with her blooming pregnancy, she had no doubt it would be snug before too long.
Emma admired the glittering stone on her finger, then turned her attention back to her fiancé. “Thank you, Jonah,” she said. “You’re amazing and I’m so lucky to have found you.”
Jonah stood up and shook his head. He pulled Emma to her feet, then wrapped his arms around her waist. “I’m the lucky one, butterfly.”
They would have to agree to disagree. Emma put an end to the discussion by pressing her lips to his and losing herself in his kiss. Somehow, despite the odds being against her, everything had come together and she couldn’t be happier. Sometimes the scary decisions in life reaped the greatest rewards, and today, her reward was marrying the most amazing man she’d ever met.
A chime sounded over their shoulder from Jonah’s computer. “Crap,” he groaned as he broke away from her kiss and looked down at his watch.
Emma frowned at Jonah. “What’s the matter?”
“Well, to be honest,” he said with a sigh, “none of this was supposed to happen until tonight at your apartment. I wasn’t expecting to see you this morning until I saw your résumé.”
Emma wouldn’t tell him that she’d sworn everyone, from HR to Pam, to absolute secrecy about the interview. “So?”
“So, you were my first interview of the day. I’ve got two more lined up after this. Why didn’t they schedule you last? I want to take you home and make love to my fiancée.”
Emma laughed, pulling back from his snug grip on her body. “Well, that’s not going to happen right now, so you’d better get prepared, Mr. Flynn. Even if you marry me, you’ll still need a financial director.”
Jonah narrowed his blue gaze at her in surprise. “You mean you don’t want the job?”
“Of course I want the job!” Emma said. “But I want it fair and square. I told you before, I’m not letting anyone say I earned it on my back.”
At that, Jonah laughed. “You’re seriously going to make me interview all those people even though I have every intention of hiring you in the end?”
“Yes. I’m pretty sure your HR director would say the same thing. And if you hire me,” she said, poking him in the chest with her finger, “it better be because I’m the most qualified.” She might be marrying the boss, but Emma still had her pride. She’d worked hard to achieve a director-level position and she wanted it on merit alone.
Jonah studied her face for a moment and nodded. He took a step back and sucked in a deep lungful of air. Then he held his hand out to Emma. “Well, thank you for coming in today, Emma. Pam will see you back down to Human Resources. I’m sure they have some paperwork for you to fill out and they can answer any questions you have about the company and our total compensation package.”
Emma grinned as she shook his hand and picked up her leather portfolio. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Flynn. When should I expect to hear back from you about the position?”
With her hand still in his, he leaned in and whispered into her ear. “I’ll be at your place by six.”
* * * * *
If you liked thi
s story of pregnancy and passion,
pick up these other novels from
Andrea Laurence!
MORE THAN HE EXPECTED
HIS LOVER’S LITTLE SECRET
THIRTY DAYS TO WIN HIS WIFE
THE CEO’S UNEXPECTED CHILD
THE PREGNANCY PROPOSITION
Available now from Harlequin Desire!
***
And don’t miss the next LITTLE SECRETS story.
LITTLE SECRETS: HOLIDAY BABY BOMBSHELL
by Karen Booth.
Available November 2017!
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Fiancé in Name Only
by Maureen Child
One
“Sorry about this,” Micah Hunter said. “I really liked you a lot, but you had to die.”
Leaning back in his desk chair, Micah’s gaze scanned the last few lines of the scene he’d just finished writing. He gave a small sigh of satisfaction at the death of one of his more memorable characters, then closed the lid of the laptop.
He’d already been working for four hours and it was past time for a break. “Problem is,” he muttered, standing up and walking to the window overlooking the front of the house, “there’s nowhere to go.”
Idly he pulled out his cell phone, hit speed dial, then listened to the phone ring for a second or two. Finally a man came on the other line.
“How did I let you talk me into coming here for six months?”
Sam Hellman laughed. “Good to talk to you, too, man.”
“Yeah.” Of course his best friend was amused. Hell, if Micah wasn’t the one stranded here in small-town America, he might be amused, too. As it was, though, he didn’t see a damn thing funny about it. Micah pushed one hand through his hair and stared out at the so-called view. The house he was currently renting was an actual Victorian mansion set back from a wide street that was lined by gigantic, probably ancient, trees, now gold and red as their leaves changed and died. The sky was a brilliant blue, the autumn sun peeking out from behind thick white clouds. It was quiet, he thought. So quiet it was damn near creepy.
And since the suspense/horror novels Micah was known for routinely hit number one on the New York Times bestseller list, he knew a thing or two about creepy.
“Seriously, Sam, I’m stuck here for another four months because you talked me into signing the lease.”
Sam laughed. “You’re stuck there because you never could turn down a challenge.”
Harsh but true. Nobody knew that about Micah better than Sam. They’d met when they were both kids, serving on the same US Navy ship. Sam had run away from his wealthy family’s expectations, and Micah had been running from a past filled with foster homes, lies and broken promises. The two of them had connected and then stayed in touch when their enlistments were up.
Sam had returned to New York and the literary agency his grandfather had founded—discovering, after being away for a while, that he actually wanted to be a part of the family business. Micah had taken any construction job he could find while he spent every other waking moment working on a novel.
Even as a kid, Micah had known he wanted to write books. And when he finally started writing, it seemed the words couldn’t pour out of his mind fast enough. He typed long into the night, losing himself in the story developing on the screen. Finishing that first book, he’d felt like a champion runner—exhausted, satisfied and triumphant.
He’d sent that first novel to Sam, who’d had a few million suggestions to make it even better. Nobody liked being told to change something they thought was already great, but Micah had been so determined to reach his goal, he’d made most of the changes. And the book sold almost immediately for a modest advance that Micah was more proud of than anything he’d ever earned before.
That book was the precursor of things to come. With his second book, word-of-mouth advertising made it a viral sensation and had it rocketing up the bestseller lists. Before he knew it, Micah’s dreams were a reality. Sam and Micah had worked together ever since and they’d made a hell of a team. But because they were such good friends, Sam had known exactly how to set Micah up.
“This is payback because I beat you at downhill snowboarding last winter, isn’t it?”
“Would I do something that petty?” Sam asked, laughter in his voice.
“Yeah, you would.” Micah shook his head.
“Okay...yeah, probably,” Sam agreed. “But, you’re the one who took the bet. Live in a small town for six months.”
“True.” How bad could it be? He remembered asking himself that before signing the lease with his landlady, Kelly Flynn. Now, two months into his stay, Micah had the answer to that question.
“And, hey, research,” Sam pointed out. “The book you’re working on now is set in a small town. Good to know these things firsthand.”
“Ever heard of Google?” Micah laughed. “And the book I set in Atlantis, how’d I research that one?”
“Not the point,” Sam said. “The point is, Jenny and I loved that house you’re in when we were there a couple years ago. And, okay, Banner’s a small town, but they’ve got good pizza.”
Micah would admit to that. He had Pizza Bowl on speed dial.
“Like I said, in another month or so, you’ll feel differently,” Sam said. “You’ll be out enjoying all that fresh powder on the mountains and you won’t mind it so much.”
Micah wasn’t so sure about that. But he had to admit it was a great house. He glanced around the second-floor room he’d claimed as a temporary office. The ceilings were high, the rooms were big and the view of the mountains was beautiful. The whole house had a lot of character, which he appreciated, but damned if he didn’t feel like a phantom or something, wandering through the big place. He’d never had so much space all to himself and Micah could admit, at least to himself, that sometimes it creeped him out.
Hell, in the city—any city—there were lights. People. Noise. Here, the nights were darker than anything he’d ever known. Even in the navy, on board a ship, there were enough lights that the stars were muted in the night sky. But Banner, Utah, was listed on
the International Dark-Sky roster because it lay just beyond a ridge that wiped out the haze of light reflection from Salt Lake City.
Here, at night, you could look up and see the Milky Way and an explosion of stars that was as beautiful as it was humbling. He’d never seen skies like these before, and he was willing to acknowledge that the beauty of it took some of the sting out of being marooned at the back end of beyond.
“How’s the book coming?” Sam asked suddenly.
The change in subject threw him for a second, but Micah was grateful for the shift. “Good. Actually just killed the bakery guy.”
“That’s a shame. Love a good bakery guy.” Sam laughed. “How’d he buy it?”
“Pretty grisly,” Micah said, and began pacing the confines of his office. “The killer drowned him in the doughnut fryer vat of hot oil.”
“Damn, man...that is gross.” Sam took a breath and sighed it out. “You may have put me off doughnuts.”
Good to know the murder he’d just written was going to hit home for people.
“Not for long, I’ll bet,” Micah mused.
“The copy editor will probably get sick, but your fans will love it,” Sam assured him. “And speaking of fans, any of them show up in town yet?”
“Not yet, but it’s only a matter of time.” Frowning, he looked out the window and checked up and down the street, half expecting to see someone with a camera casing the house, hoping for a shot of him.
One of the reasons Micah never remained in one place too long was because his more devoted fans had a way of tracking him down. They would just show up at whatever hotel he was staying in, assuming he’d be happy to see them. Most were harmless, sure, but Micah knew “fan” could turn into “fanatic” in a flash.
He’d had a few talk their way into his hotel rooms, join him uninvited at dinner, acting as though they were either old friends or long-lost lovers. Thanks to social media, there was always someone reporting on where he had been seen last or where he was currently holed up. So he changed hotels after every book, always staying in big cities where he could get lost in the crowds and living in five-star hotels that promised security.
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