Rob was hanging up his phone when she knocked on his open door. He looked at her curiously. “Mandy, isn’t it? Come on in.”
“Thanks.” Feeling a bit ridiculous, she slapped the envelope with the tickets in her hand. “I was wondering if you’re busy Saturday. I’ve got tickets for the Yankees game and I thought you might like to go.”
His eyebrows shot straight up. “Does Damien know? Because I kind of thought you and he…”
Mandy stared at him for a second, not sure what he meant. Then she felt her face flush. “Oh, God! I didn’t mean you and me. I meant you and Damien.”
Rob laughed, but she wasn’t feeling very funny at the moment.
“Oh, okay. But what a disappointment for me.” He grinned at her.
Embarrassed, she rambled on. “If I give the tickets to Damien, he won’t go. He’ll just come up with some excuse and work the whole day. So I thought if you dragged him there, at least he’d get out a bit.”
That little speech had been way too revealing, given the fact that Rob’s grin fell right off his handsome face. “It sounds like you know Damien pretty well.”
She shrugged.
“Why don’t you go with him? Given the way he talks about you, he’d rather be with you than me.”
She would not ask, she would not ask...
“He talks about me?”
Rob nodded. “He’s mentioned you quite a bit. And though he hasn’t said anything specific, I get the feeling something happened between the two of you in Punta Cana. And if that’s the case, I’m happy for both of you. Damien needs someone in his life.”
Rob leaned back, tipping his whole chair off the ground. He had a stress ball in his hand, and he tossed it up in the air.
“I’m pregnant,” she blurted, because sooner or later people were going to figure it out, and given the whispers she’d heard from some of the other staff, they were already wise to her situation. It was getting hard to hide. And she wanted Rob to stop his thoughts there, because she didn’t want any rumors swirling about her and Damien. Nor did she want Rob suggesting to Damien that they could have a future together.
Rob’s stress ball plummeted to his desk. His feet hit the floor hard. “Are you serious?” He glanced at her stomach. “Well, hell, that’s the best damn thing that could have happened to Damien.”
Mandy clenched her teeth. Damn it, she was making a complete muck of this. “It’s not his.”
His eyes narrowed. “Come again?”
“Damien isn’t the father.” And for the first time, she was willing to admit that she almost wished he were.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes!” She knew how to do math, for fuck’s sake.
Rob sighed. “Oh. All right. I’ll take the tickets then.” He held out his hand. “It’s a damn shame though. I thought you might be the woman who could finally get through to Damien.”
“He doesn’t see me that way.” She was still hurt and seething over that. “He thinks I’m a good assistant, and he’s curious about the baby. That’s all there is between us.”
His hand closed around one end of the envelope she held out to him. “You’re wrong. He’s attracted to you and trying topretend he isn’t. You’re the first woman I’ve seen him have any interest in since Jess.”
Mandy dropped the envelope with the tickets. “You care about him.”
Rob nodded. “I’ve known Damien all my life. You should have seen him before. He was a great guy. ”
“He still is,” she whispered.
And she meant it.
Chapter Eighteen
Damien had walked all over the eighteenth floor looking for Mandy and couldn’t find her. He paused in front of the reception desk and clenched his fists. He wasn’t going back to his office until he found her.
