Knocked Up By The Boss: A Secret Baby Romance

by Lauren Wood

  There was a knock at the door, and I looked over at her, quietly asking her to answer the door. I wasn't ready yet. I needed a minute, although I wasn't quite sure what else there was to do. For all intents and purposes, I should be ready. But in reality, I wasn't. This was the guy that had some kind of special hold on me and every time we were around each other for too long, the consequences caused me a lot of challenges in my life. I don't know if I was ready for them again and I knew for certain that I didn't want all the emotions that was going to come with seeing him again. He wasn’t mine and would never be mine after all. He was married to somebody else now.

  I went to the door after a few minutes and he was chatting with my mom. It felt weird all the way around and I was quick to get us both out of there. This was already awkward enough without my mother in the middle of it. She made everything else a little bit more uncomfortable.

  “I got it from here, Mom. Thanks.”

  “Well, you two have a good time. Me and Emily will be here waiting for you when you get back.”

  I shot her a dirty look because I knew that she couldn't help but bring up Emily. This was already an awkward situation. I didn't need her to make it worse. It's not like Emily wasn't going to come up. Obviously, she was going to, but it didn't have to be right away.

  Before Chris could get pulled into a conversation that was never going to end, I grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the house. I was not above physically making him leave. My mom was true to form and I wasn't going to let her make it worse. We didn't need help making it all complicated.

  26

  Chris

  It was actually good to see Madeline's mother. A woman’s mother could show a man what a woman was going to age like and I have to say that I was pretty confident about how it was going to turn out in the future. That was a good thing, because I was thinking about me and Madeline for the long term.

  When we got out to the car, I asked her if everything was okay, because she was just so quiet.

  “Why do you ask?”

  “Because you practically pushed me out the door back there.”

  “Trust me, it was for your own good. My mother will run her mouth until we're both bored to tears. This was the only way to get out. She will have a lot of questions that neither one of us want to answer.”

  “I don't like the sound of that.”

  Madeline agreed. “You shouldn't. I have been hearing nothing but nonsense since you showed up. She was the reason that I called you back. She wouldn't have let me live it down if I wouldn't have changed my mind and met with you.”

  I didn't exactly want to hear that. While I was glad that her mother was making her give me a chance, I didn't like that she needed somebody to make her do anything. I was silly enough to think that she would actually want me. I wanted her. Why was it so hard to imagine that she would want me too?

  “Well, however you got here, I'm glad you came. I think we got a lot to talk about.”

  “We had a lot to talk about a month ago. I'm not sure if I want to talk about it anymore.”

  “It's one of those things that we really don't have a choice, do we, Madeline? You have my child and Emily doesn't have a father. Obviously, you don't want that to stay that way, do you?”

  “Of course, I don't.”

  “Then why didn't you tell me before?”

  “When I first found out, I didn't even know how to get ahold of you. Then as you can imagine, it's kind of hard to do it all by myself. Emily took up most of my time for a while.”

  “So, what about you coming to my work? You had to have known that that was my business.”

  She got defensive and told me that she didn't know that I worked there. I'm not sure if I believed her or not, but she was emphatic enough that I didn't ask for any kind of proof.

  “And who are you to ask all these questions about timing? I sent you an email over a month ago telling you who I was and telling you about Emily. You just now come after you sicced your fiancée/wife on me. So, I really don't think you have much to say.”

  “First off, I never would have put the two of you in the same room together, let alone sicced anybody on you. Cynthia found the email, erased it from my other ones, and the only reason I found out about it was because she was so obsessed with you, that she had it printed out and read it often. I went to see her the day of our wedding and I found the letter instead. I came here as soon as I found out, but you didn't want to see me.”

  Her face melted a little bit, softening up, and that gave me hope that she would forgive me. I wasn't completely in the clear. I had of course not even remembered her from before. I'm sure that she wasn't very happy about it.

  “I'm sorry that I didn't recognize you. I remembered you, but I didn't remember your face.”

  She snorted and scoffed. “Well, that makes me feel a whole lot better.”

  “Don't take it that way. I was going through a bad time in my life and I had a lot on my plate. That meant that I drunk a lot and I did a lot of things that I don't remember particularly well. I'm sorry that you were one of those things in the middle of it all. You were the bright spot though. After I couldn't find you, because I did look for you, I realized that I needed to sober up or I was going to miss another great opportunity. You are one of the main reasons that I straightened my life up, Madeline, whether you can believe it or not.”

  “I don't know if I do or not, Chris. You have a tendency to say all the right things, but I don't know if I can believe any of them. And it really doesn't matter what I think of you anymore or what I believe. The fact of the matter is, you're married and it's not to me, so none of that matters. What matters is Emily. We have a daughter together, she's about to be two, and I would like you to be in her life.”

  “I'm not married. I never went through with it. I told you that I found the letter the day of the wedding. Did you really think that I would go down the aisle after discovering that?”

  She shrugged. “I really don't know. I really don't know you and from the way Cynthia was talking, you guys are definitely married. She called to basically rub it in my face.”

  “You know that she's jealous of you.”

  “I don't know why. She has no reason to be jealous of me.”

  “Yes, she does. We have a child together and she knows that I love you. Why wouldn't she be jealous of you?”

  I don't know if I was quite ready to say the last part. It had just kind of rolled off of the tongue and now I almost wished I could take it back. I wasn't ready for that part of the conversation. This was the first ten minutes of it. I needed to pace myself, because we weren't going to even get to the restaurant before she was having me take her home.

  I couldn’t ruin this. I had to go slow, for both of our sakes.

  We got to the restaurant and I did my best to accommodate her in any way that I could. Our romance was not the best. It always seemed like we only got a few stolen moments together and while those moments were wonderful, I was looking for something more. Hell, I wasn't looking for anything but now I knew that if I wanted her, it needed to be the proper way.

  After ordering drinks and appetizers, the waiter took off and I asked Madeline what she wanted to do from here.

  She shrugged. “I really don't know. My big plan was to move to the city and get this great job. Which I did have a pretty good job, but now I’ve got to start all over again. How did the PR department handle the kerfluffle with the wedding?”

  I shrugged. “Can you believe that I haven't even asked about it?”

  “No, not really. That was the whole reason that you hired me and the other three. You're telling me that you just let it go?”

  I agreed and she asked me how mad my dad was. I liked that she remembered that about me. There was just something about Madeline that made a person feel special. This moment was no different.

  “My dad isn't going to talk to me for a very long time. He's pissed off because I wouldn't marry Cynthia. There was a lot of cursing and
threats, but I just kind of hung up on him. I'm sure he'll calm down in a few days.”

  “I'm sorry if I made everything complicated.”

  “You didn't.”

  “It seems like I did, because as soon as you got that email from me, everything changed. I upended your whole life, Chris.”

  “Because I realized that you and our daughter is my real life. My whole life. There's always been something missing and after that night we had together, that memorable night, I always thought about you in the back of my mind. I kept going on with my day, doing the business deals and dating women that just didn't do it for me. I guess I was just waiting for you to come back to me.”

  I don't know why I did it. She had this sweet smile on her face and I must have forgotten for a moment that we weren't together. I must have forgotten how important this moment was, because I leaned in and took her chin in my hand pulling it closer. My lips were fast on hers, licking and nibbling the bottom before she opened her mouth and let me in. It was the waitress clearing her throat a moment later to bring our drinks and get our attention, that made me pull away.

  I didn't even see the waitress or hear her words. I was now only focused on Madeline. The same feeling that I had was coming over me all over again. This woman, right here, was the one I was supposed to be with. The rest of the world be damned.

  27

  Madeline

  Chris was saying all the right things, but it didn't seem real. I almost pinched myself because it had to be a dream. There was no way that it was all going to work out so perfectly. Now, all of a sudden, he wanted to be with me. He wanted us to be a family. Everything that I had ever wanted Chris to say, was suddenly tumbling out of his mouth with such ease that I knew it had to be falsehoods. There was no way that this was real.

  I pinched myself a couple of times and after the third time, I kind of winced because it was starting to hurt. If this was a dream, it was a pretty damn strong one that had pulled me away from reality. But I still had my senses, so that didn't make any sense.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Nothing.”

  “So, are you going to say something? You’re just kind of leaving me hanging.”

  I shrugged my shoulders because I was at a loss for words. He was talking about us being together and being a family, but we didn't even know each other. Every time we were together, it was quick and hot and romantic, but then there was this long time in between. That was when the worry and the doubt and everything else came to pass. That was the part that I was having trouble with, and I don't know how he was going to make it any better.

  “I don't know what to say, Chris. I would love for you to meet Emily and for you to have a relationship with her. But that doesn't mean that we're going to be together.”

  “Why wouldn't it? We're good together and I love you. Why wouldn't you want to be together?”

  “You love me?”

  “Why do you say it like that? Of course, I do. Why do you think I'm here?”

  It was a good question, because honestly, I didn't know why he was here. He had money and he came from a good family and he co-owned a company with his father. Why had he come to tiny little Hartville to find little ole me? It didn't make any sense, and I don't know if I was able to believe the fact of him saying that he loved me. How could he love me?

  “I don't know why you're here, Chris. I really don't.”

  “I'm here for you. I can't stop thinking about you. A couple of years ago it was just as bad, but now you're here and we can finally be together. I am here for you. Why do we have to make it more complicated than it needs to be? This works, we work.”

  I sighed and shook my head. Was that what he thought this was, complication?

  “I just don't know what to say, Chris. I'm sorry if it isn't working out the way you wanted it to.”

  He chuckled. “It's still going to work out the way I want it to. I am just waiting for you to come to the same conclusion that I have come to. I'm sure you will. And if not, there are ways to help you along.”

  He had this look in his eyes and because I did remember very clearly the last time we were together, it started to make me nervous. The man knew what he was doing. He had done wonders to my body before, so how was I supposed to stand my ground when he was talking like that? He made my knees weak, and other parts of me were suddenly wet. It was one hell of a combination.

  The dinner progressed ridiculously slowly. Every time I thought that the waitress was bringing our food, it was for somebody else, and she would pass right by the table. He must have thought that I was hungry because he called her over and had her bring another basket of bread. I had absentmindedly eaten a couple of them, just because I didn't want to talk. Everything that came out of my mouth seemed to be a problem, and all of the innuendos coming out of his was making matters worse. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. So, of course, I chose bread.

  When the food did finally come, I ate slowly and my companion had to wait a while for me. I know that in a way I was being childish and I was just elongating the inevitable, but I couldn't help it. I knew as soon as we left that restaurant, he was going to put his hands on me and his mouth on me and I wasn't going to be able to fight back anymore. I wouldn't have the will to fight back anymore.

  The waitress came back and she brought the check, but then I asked about the desserts.

  “I don't think we're going to do desserts tonight. You can just go ahead and bring the check.”

  The waitress looked confused and she looked from me to him and then I just kind of waved it off. It was no big deal. Besides the fact that I was completely full, I had a feeling that he was on to me. He knew what I was doing and instead of letting me play along anymore, he stopped it from happening.

  “You know that it's never a good idea to take dessert away from a woman, right? It could have been chocolate.”

  “I also know when someone is stalling. It happens a lot in my business.”

  “Why do you think I'm stalling?”

  “Because you know what's going to happen as soon as we leave here.”

  “And what is that?”

  At this point, I was really just asking for it. Of course, I knew what he was talking about. He had been talking about getting his hands on me for a while now. Nothing changed. His motivation was still just as straight and narrow as it had been.

  “I'm going to take you to a hotel around here and I'm going to make you remember why we're so great together. Then, I'm going to make you scream until your hoarse the next day. Then, you won't be able to argue with me when I tell you that you and Emily are coming back to the city with me. Your mother can come, too, if she wants, but that's not what you were afraid of. You're afraid of how I'm going to change your mind.”

  If he didn't have such a cocky grin on his face, I probably would have gone along with it. I would have agreed with him and stood up and left. Just like that. But he was so sure of himself, so confident, that it kind of irked me a little bit. Chris was acting like I didn't have a choice, but I did. I could refuse him if I wanted to. I could. Really, I could.

  “That's what you think, huh? What if I told you that I was already with somebody else? That I waited for you for over a month and you never called, you didn't do anything. So, I moved on.”

  His face changed completely and for once, the confidence was gone. That was actually the best part of the whole scenario. He had so been so damn cocky about it, that he had just irked me so much that I wanted to wipe that smile off of his face. I did that. But it felt like I did too much. He almost deflated right in front of me.

  “Are you serious?”

  “What if I was?”

  He had a deadpan look on his face. “I need to know. Are you being serious right now? Have you already moved on?”

  I wanted to tell him yes, so damn bad, because not even but a few minutes ago he was acting like the world and every woman in it would not be able to tell him no. I don't know why that pissed me of
f so much, because it was probably closer to the truth than I wanted to imagine. I doubted many women could tell him no. And I sure the hell couldn't. I wanted him now more than ever before.

  “No, but I could have.”

  He disagreed. “No, you couldn't have. We were meant to be together and no one else will feel right. Trust me on this.”

  Before I could stop him, he was leaning in to kiss me and all of the promises that he had made were in his kiss. I knew that it was going to be like the first time, belligerent and wild. Maybe that's what I needed, someone to pull me out of my comfort zone. When it came to Chris, I was so far out of it, that I didn't know if I'd ever be able to come back. More so, I didn't know if I'd want to.

  28

  Madeline

  Everything that Chris said was true. He took me to a hotel that was the next town over because Hartville wasn’t big enough to have its own hotel. It was rather nice, and he had the best room in the place, but it was nothing compared to where he lived. I asked him why he was staying in a hotel and he told me that it was because he was waiting for me.

  “You were that sure that I would agree to this?”

  “Of course. I wasn't going to leave until you came with me. There was no other option, so I had every intention on staying as long as I needed to.”

  I just shook my head. He was so sure of everything, so convinced, and I didn't like it. He must have known that I had something in my mind, because the next thing I know, he's pulling me in for another kiss. We had just gotten into the room and my mind and eyes were already focused on the bed that took up most of it. I only asked myself once what I was doing there. It felt like I was begging for trouble and maybe I was.