The Billion Dollar Pact: Waking Up with the Boss (Billionaire Brothers Club) / Single Mom, Billionaire Boss / Paper Wedding, Best-Friend Bride
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“It makes me nervous.”
“I know.” His stomach was in knots. “But it’s better to just get it over with.” He didn’t want anyone figuring things out on their own or spreading gossip. “We’ll control it ourselves, if we can.”
“Will you handle that? I don’t think I have the strength to stand in a room in front of my peers and admit that I slept with you.”
“Yes, I’ll handle it. And don’t worry. I’m not going to go into the specifics. This is about the baby, not about what we did.”
She kept her hand on her stomach. “Kristen is going to be concerned about me. You know how she is.”
Kristen was the receptionist, a pixie-haired brunette in her early twenties who followed Carol around like a puppy. Jake had never really bonded with the girl. It was Carol she was loyal to. Kristen was filling in for Carol while she was out sick, doing what she could to assist Jake and make Carol proud. “She admires you.”
“I know. I like her, too. But I never expected to be in this position. It seems so surreal.”
“We’ll get through it,” he said, even if he didn’t have a clue how they were going to manage having a child together for the rest of their lives. “As soon as you’re ready to return to the office, I’ll call that meeting.”
“I’ll come back on Friday.”
That was two days away. “Then that’s when it’ll happen.” When Jake would announce that he and Carol were having a baby. When the news would be official. When their mixed-up future would begin.
* * *
The Friday meeting was awkward, but at least it was over. Carol wasn’t going to have to lie about why she wasn’t feeling well. Or hide her baby bump when it started to appear. Or stress about when to tell everyone at work. As of this morning, they already knew.
Jake had handled it like the boss he was, stating only the facts. He’d made it clear that he and Carol weren’t in a relationship. He explained that they would raise their child in separate households. He also pointed out that she would continue to work for him, so it would be business as usual.
Yeah, right, Carol thought. As if it was just that easy.
After the meeting ended, the other employees disbursed, silence looming in the air as they filed out of the conference room. Carol understood their discomfort. She was feeling out of sorts, too. But she suspected that Kristen was going to approach her privately, as soon as the eager receptionist was able to swing it.
Jake went to his office, and Carol headed to hers, glad to escape. She sat at her desk, trying to pull herself into work mode.
About an hour later, a light knock sounded at her open doorway. Sure enough, it was Kristen, with her trendy clothes, short, cutesy hair and big hoop earrings. Carol gestured for her to come inside.
Kristen entered the room and closed the door behind her. Then she widened her eyes and said, “Oh, my freaking God. You’re going to be Jake’s baby mama. You! The nicest, most normal woman on the planet. I can’t believe it.”
Carol could hardly believe it, either. “Things happen.”
“I’ll say.” Kristen sighed. “I always wondered if you had feelings for him, though.”
“You did?” And here Carol thought that she’d hidden her crush on Jake without anyone figuring it out.
The brunette nodded. She was a petite young woman who’d played Peter Pan in a community play. She toyed around with acting, but lots of people in LA dabbled in the arts. Kristen wasn’t overly ambitious about it. Mostly she was just a flighty girl who’d gone from one bad boyfriend to another. Carol had helped her through her last horrific relationship.
“At least Jake has lots of money,” Kristen said. “At least he can take care of the baby that way. But dang, it’s hard to envision him being an actual dad.”
Carol thought about what Jake had said about tucking the child in at night and how emotional it had made her feel. “I think he’s going to try to do his best.”
“That’s good. My parents weren’t married or anything, either. I hardly ever saw my dad when I was kid. I see him even less now.”
“I’m sorry your dad hasn’t taken a more active role in your life.” No doubt it had factored into Kristen’s terrible taste in men, too. “That wasn’t fair to you.”
“What happened to you and Jake when you were kids wasn’t fair, either. At least my parents are still alive. But it’s still so weird, with you and Jake having a baby together.”
“He offered to put me up in a house near his to make it easier for him to get involved. But this isn’t how I ever imagined raising a child.”
“I’m just glad it’s you and not one of his hoity-toity ex-girlfriends having his kid. You’re a genuine person, and you’ll be a great mom.”
“Thank you. Jake said the same thing.”
“About you being a good mom?”
“Yes. He thinks it’s in my DNA.” But regardless of what a natural mom she was going to be, Carol couldn’t bear the thought of Jake being with other women. Yet once the dust settled, she suspected that he would dive back into his playboy ways. He was making a commitment to their child, not to her. “I just hope I don’t break down before the baby is born.”
“You won’t. You’re too strong to fall apart.”
“I haven’t cried yet.” She’d gotten close, but she’d managed to keep from bursting into tears. “I’m trying to hold on.”
“Don’t worry. You’ll make it.” The receptionist sent her an encouraging smile. “But I better get back to work now.”
“Thank you for the support.”
“Sure. Should I leave the door open when I leave?”
Carol nodded, and once she was alone, she struggled to maintain her composure. Then she glanced up and saw Jake looming in the doorway. The hits just kept on coming, she thought.
“Are you okay?” he asked. “I noticed that Kristen was just here.” He moved forward and closed the door, just as Kristen had done.
She tried to reassure him. “Everything is fine. She just wanted to talk.”
“Did it help?”
Yes and no, Carol thought. Kristen’s belief in her felt good, but thinking about Jake with other women had only heightened her duress.
“It was fine,” she said again.
He didn’t look convinced. “You can go home early if you need to.”
“I’d rather stay.” She didn’t want to appear cowardly, skipping out on the first day.
Jake nodded and loosened his tie. He’d worn a proper suit to the meeting. His jacket was already gone, though. But he never remained in professional attire for too long, routinely discarding what he considered the stuffy portions of his wardrobe. Only, at the moment, his restless nature seemed even more pronounced.
He said, “No one has come to me to talk about it.”
“Why would they? You’re the boss.”
“Who knocked up his assistant? I’ll bet they think I took full advantage of you.” He frowned. “I didn’t do that, did I, Carol?”
The guilt in his eyes unnerved her. “No, you didn’t, and me getting pregnant doesn’t change the facts. I wanted you as badly as you wanted me.” She’d made him well aware of that when they were in the midst of it, and she wasn’t going to let him twist things up now. “Even Kristen said that she suspected I was attracted to you.”
“Really? I guess women are observant that way. Of course, with the way she admires you, she would notice, I guess.” He removed his tie and crammed it in his pants pocket. “I’m glad you’re back. I missed having you around here.”
“You’re probably going to be seeing a lot of me outside of the office, too.”
“Yeah.” He smiled a little. “I’ve been trying to picture you months from now.” He made a big-belly motion. “I’ve never touched a pregnant woman’s stomach before.”
Would he be touching hers? The thought made her weak. “I have. Lots of my girlfriends have kids.”
“Have you told any of them yet?”
She shook her head. “I wanted to wait until everyone at work knew. I wanted to get that over with first.” She questioned him. “Have you told Garrett or Max?”
“No. Max is still backpacking all over the country or whatever the hell he’s doing. And since he’s trying to stay off the grid, I’m going to wait to call him until the time feels right. But I’m going to tell Garrett this weekend. I already told him that you were sick, so now I can clarify why.”
“I wonder what he’ll think.”
“After he gets over the initial shock, he’ll probably want to kick my ass for not being more careful.”
“It could have happened to anyone.”
“Yeah, but it happened to me. The guy who plays around. That won’t go over well.” He shoved the tie deeper into his pocket. “Are you nervous about telling your friends?”
“Yes.” She couldn’t deny that her news was going to worry them, too. “They’re not going to like the idea of me being a single mom, not with how marriage-minded I’ve always been.”
“I’m sorry, Carol.”
For insisting that he couldn’t marry her? “It’s not a problem.” She’d agreed with his reasoning from the beginning. “I know better than to think that having a baby is going to turn us into a lifelong couple.”
“I wonder if it’s going to be a boy or a girl.”
“It’s too early to tell. But we can find out during a midpregnancy ultrasound, if we want to know. They can’t always tell for sure, though. It depends on the position the baby is in.”
He kept looking at her, almost as if she was still his warm and willing lover. “I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
She shuffled a stack of papers on her desk, wishing he would stop intensifying their chemistry, especially when she was struggling to ignore it. “We have a lot of bridges to cross.”
“Too many,” he said, before he moved toward the door. “Do you want me to grab you some lunch later?”
Normally she got his lunch, if he wasn’t dining out with clients. “No, thanks. But it was nice of you to ask.”
“Okay, well... I’ll see you.”
“You, too.” Was it crazy for her to wish that they were right for each other? That he was a different type of man than he was? Probably. But she couldn’t help it.
Somewhere in the pit of her dreamy soul, Carol wished that they were meant to be together like expectant parents should be.
Ten
Jake met with Garrett on the boardwalk located near the resort. They sat on a bright white bench, in front of a gourmet coffee shop that faced the ocean.
With as much strength as Jake could muster, he told his foster brother about the baby. As expected, the conversation wasn’t going in his favor.
“It just happened,” Jake said in his own defense.
“Earthquakes just happen. Tidal waves just happen.” Garrett gestured to the water as if it was going to rise up like a monster and swallow them whole. “But getting your assistant pregnant? That could’ve been prevented.”
Jake used the only excuse he could think of. “The condoms failed.”
“You know that wasn’t what I meant.”
“Yeah, I know.” Clearly, Garrett was suggesting that he should’ve never taken Carol to bed. “But I’m already a mess over it. So I’d prefer not to have you jumping all over me, too.”
“I’m sorry, bro. I don’t want to make this more difficult for you. But it’s just that you got yourself into something major here. And Carol is a nice girl who shouldn’t be left holding the bag.”
“I’m trying to do right by her and the baby. I’m going to set them up in a place in my neighborhood and be there when they need me.” Jake watched a family playing on the beach. The youngest kid was a fair-haired toddler, a rough-and-tumble boy squirming in his mom’s arms. “I don’t really know how, though. To be there, I mean.”
“Just give it some time. You’ll learn.”
“I hope so. I want to keep her and the baby safe.” He kept watching the family. The older kids were running toward the shore with their paddleboards, and the little one remained on his mom’s lap; only now, he was playing with a red plastic bucket his dad had given him.
Garrett said, “Life takes some strange turns.”
“Boy, does it ever.” Being at the beach was making Jake miss the romance he’d had with Carol. But getting reinvolved with her in that way would only complicate things further. “I wonder if I should invite her to stay with me until we find her a house. Not as my lover or anything,” he clarified. “But just so I can get more familiar with her pregnancy. So I can be part of it, too.”
Garrett encouraged him. “That sounds like a solid idea to me.”
“Maybe I’ll take her on a picnic or something tomorrow and we can talk about it then.” Unless she had plans on Sunday. He didn’t have a clue what Carol did with her free time. “It’s hard to say how she’ll feel about it, though.”
As Jake contemplated his all-too-grown-up life, a group of teenage girls walked by, checking out a cluster of boys who were seated on a brick wall. Typical of this generation, the girls were tapping away on their phones, probably announcing their flirtations on social media and sneaking in pictures of the boys, who were on their phones, too.
“So have you figured out what to do?” he asked Garrett.
“About what?”
“Offering Meagan Quinn a job.”
“No, I haven’t.” Garrett seemed oblivious to the teen antics. Or maybe he just didn’t care to notice them. “But there’s plenty of time to decide. Her parole eligibility date is still months away. Then once that rolls around, there’ll be a hearing. After that, her case will go into review. Her release isn’t going to happen overnight.”
“If she doesn’t have a job lined up, she won’t be released. The parole commission isn’t going to let that slide.”
“I know. I’m considering how much weight an offer from me would hold.” Garrett frowned. “Meagan has a child. A daughter, who’ll be around two by the time Meagan gets out.”
“She has a kid that age?” Jake was flabbergasted. “How is that even possible? She’s been behind bars longer than that.”
“She discovered that she was pregnant soon after she went to prison, by a guy who’d already walked out on her. She gave birth while she was incarcerated, and one of her brothers took care of the baby so it didn’t have to go into foster care.”
Jake hadn’t been aware of Meagan’s plight. “Have you been keeping tabs on her all this time?”
“No. I haven’t paid her any mind while she’s been locked up. I didn’t even know that she’d had a kid until Mom told me, just recently. She just found out, too, when she took an interest in Meagan’s parole.”
“Damn. Your mother is really vested in this thing.” Jake considered the circumstances. “I can’t imagine someone having a baby in prison.” The thought twisted his stomach, especially now that Carol was carrying his child.
Garrett squinted in the sun. “You know what else Mom discovered from poking around into Meagan’s life? That she and Meagan’s mother used to belong to the same Native American women’s group. It was a long time ago, and their paths only crossed for a short period, but there’s still a connection. Of course Mom thinks it’s a sign, even if she barely knew the other woman.”
“What happened to Meagan’s mom?”
“She died before any of this went down.”
“So she never saw her daughter get locked up? That’s good, I guess. But it’s sad, too, that she’s dead.” Jake knew what losing family was like. “Your resort would be a good place for Meagan to work, especially with the day care you built for your employees.”
“Are you suggesting I should hire her because of that? Her child isn’t my responsibility.”
No, but from the tone in Garret’s voice, Jake could tell that he was concerned about the kid. “With everything Meagan has been through, she may have been reformed.”
“And maybe she hasn’t changed a bit. She could be the same greedy little thief who ripped us off.”
“You won’t know unless you give her a chance. Besides, you don’t really know what prompted her to take the money.”
“Is there a good reason to steal?”
“No, but sometimes it’s not about being greedy. I started stealing to try to fill the hole where my heart used to be. Then later, I did it to impress the girls I was with. You remember how messed up I was then.”
“Yes, I remember. We were all a mess in those days.” Garrett blew out a breath. “I still don’t know what I’m going to do. But at least I have some time to think about it.”
“I’ve got a lot to think about, too.” Jake shifted his attention back to the family on the beach, where the toddler had been handed over to his dad, so his mom could pour apple juice in his tippy cup or sippy cup or whatever it was called.
Jake was definitely going to ask Carol to stay with him for a while and try to figure things out. But whether or not she accepted the invitation was a whole other matter.
* * *
On Sunday, Carol met with Jake at a park in her neighborhood. When he’d called to ask her to join him for a picnic, he’d told her that he wanted to discuss another aspect of the baby arrangement. She wasn’t sure what that meant exactly. But she understood that there was still plenty to talk about. So here she was, waiting to see what he had to say.
They shared a blanket beneath a big, shady tree, with a cooler of food that Jake’s chef had prepared.
“So what’s on your mind?” she asked.
He filled his plate. “Maybe we can relax a bit before we get into the specifics?”
“All right.” She allowed him the luxury he’d requested, even if she was impatient to know what had triggered this meeting. “It’s a nice park. I’ve never been here before.”
“Me, neither.” He glanced around. “It’s busy today.”
Carol nodded. There was even a group who’d gathered for a family reunion, with homemade signs leading to their get-together. “Lots of people are barbecuing.”
“My family used to grill in our backyard. The whole suburban weekend thing.”
“Did your dad do the cooking?”
“Yes. But Mom always got everything ready ahead of time, and then he would get credit for how good it was.”
Carol turned nostalgic. “It was like that at our house, too.” It was also the type of lifestyle she’d always envisioned having. But this wasn’t the time to think about that, not while she was pregnant with Jake’s baby.
He said, “I don’t like doing things my family used to do. It just makes me miss them more.”
She sighed. “It helps me to remember mine.”
“You and I are different in that way.”
“We’re different in lots of ways.” They’d known it from the day they’d met, and now they were bringing a child into the world.
He ate a handful of grapes. “How often are you supposed to see the doctor?”
She spread a dollop of Brie cheese on a sliced pear. “Once a month, until I’m further along. Then it’ll be every two weeks. After that, it’ll be every week until the baby comes.”
“I wonder if you’ll have any food cravings.”
She savored the pear. “If I do, I hope it’s for stuff like this. But knowing me, it’ll be a weird combination.”
“Like matzo balls dipped in chocolate or something?”
Carol summoned a smile. She even laughed a little. “Gosh, I hope not.”
He laughed, too. “I should warn my chef, just in case.”
She turned serious. “Why would your chef be making the food I crave?”
Jake went somber. “Because I was thinking that you could move in with me for a while. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. There’s plenty of room. You can have one of the guest wings all to yourself.”
Moving into his mansion was the last thing she’d expected him to suggest. “How long is a while?”
“I don’t know. Maybe five or six months. That’ll give us time to shop for a house where you and the baby can live later on, and it’ll give me the opportunity to be part of the pregnancy while you’re staying at my place.”
“But won’t that cramp your style, with me waddling around your big, glitzy bachelor pad in maternity dresses?”
“You make it sound like I live at the Playboy Mansion.” He made a tight face. “Or something equivalent to it.”
“It’s pretty darn close.”
“It is not. And even if it was, I’m going to have to clean up my act when the kid is around.”
“I know, but the baby isn’t even born yet.”
“You’re twisting this all up, Carol.”
Because she was afraid of moving in with him, of letting herself get that close. “I don’t see why I can’t stay at my apartment.”
“I already told you why. I want to be part of the pregnancy. I want to get comfortable with it. And quite frankly, it bothers me to think of you being alone in the apartment. What if something happens?”
“Everything will be fine.”
“But what if it isn’t? We both know that bad things can happen. At least if you’re staying with me, I can keep an eye on you. In fact, maybe you should just live at my house until the baby is born. That would be safer.”
He sounded wonderfully protective, like the kind of man she’d always wanted to have children with. Except for him being a wild-spirited billionaire, she reminded herself.
Could he really clean up his act? Or would he succumb to his old ways, even with her living there?
“I don’t know, Jake.” She just couldn’t fathom it. “I agree that becoming a parent is something you’ll have to get used to. But me being at your house until the baby is born? That isn’t necessary.” She tried to make him see things a little more clearly, to recognize the problems that could arise. “Having me around 24/7 might make you feel trapped.” She tore at her napkin, shredding the sides of it.
He watched her. “Looks to me like you’re the one feeling trapped.”
Yes, but she was also the one who might get attached, who might long for more than he was able to give. “I just don’t want to jump the gun.”
“Come on, give it a try. Let me keep you safe.” He motioned to her still-flat stomach. “You’ve got my blood in you now.”
His blood. His life force. “I couldn’t handle you dating anyone while I was living there.” She pushed it a step further, being as brutally honest as she could. “Or bringing women home to your bed.”
“Is that what you think I’d do? With everything that’s going on, that’s the last thing on my mind.” He crinkled his forehead. “Are you going to go back to online dating?”
“Now?” How could he even ask her such a ridiculous question? “Of course not. I’m having a baby.”
He stared her down. “So am I.”
“But you’re not the one who’s pregnant.”
“So just imagine that I am.”
She almost laughed at the image he presented. Yet she was touched by his daddy-like determination, too. Heaven help her, but she wanted him to keep her and their child safe, to be warm and attentive.
“Okay, then, we’ll try it,” she said, warning her fluttery heart to be still. “But if it gets too complicated, I need the option of moving out before the baby comes.”
“Deal.” He softened his voice. The look in his eyes gentled, too. “Only, it’s already complicated, Carol.”
“I know.” But with how romantic he was making her feel, she was concerned that it could get much, much worse.
* * *
Carol should have listened to Jake and allowed him to hire the movers to pack for her. But she’d insisted that she was perfectly capable of boxing up her own belongings.
Of course Jake had offered to help, and he’d been watching her like a hawk, squawking every time he thought she was lifting something too heavy. She’d packed everything extralight, but that wasn’t the problem. Carol was battling waves of nausea, and she didn’t want Jake to know.
She glanced across the kitchen at him. He was wrapping glassware in paper, just as she was.
He looked up at her and frowned. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” she lied.
“You’re as white as a sheet.”
“I’m okay.”
“Then why do you look like you’re about to topple over?” He abandoned the glassware and came over to her. “You need to get off your feet.”
“Maybe for a few minutes.” She let him escort her to the couch, where she sat down and admitted the truth. “I’m dizzy, but I’ve got morning sickness, too.”
He looked confused. “But it’s afternoon.”