I smiled up at her before she gave a little wave and went back to her desk. I watched as she winced again as she sat down. Reaching for my phone, I opened my period tracking app to see when my own misery would arrive. I looked at the current month and quickly swiped to the previous month. I furrowed mybrows as I swiped again. Back and forth I went, my eyes scouring for the little red dots. But there weren’t any.
My stomach dropped as the realization hit me. I was late. Over two weeks late, to be exact. I wasneverlate. My cycle was like clockwork. I checked the app again as if somehow my missing period would magically load and relieve the sinking feeling that was creeping over me.
Calm down.
Maybe I was late because of all the stress lately. With my sky-high debt and the pressure of my job, there had to be an explanation for it. I was desperate for an explanation besides the one that was staring me right in the face.
There was only one way to find out. I checked the time on my phone. It was nearly lunchtime. I quickly grabbed my purse and strode to where Tanya sat at her desk looking miserable.
“I’m going to cut out early for lunch. Do you need anything?” I asked.
“A new uterus,” she groaned.
I laughed lightly before looking down the hall toward Jeremiah’s office.
“Cover for me, will you? In case he decides to come out.”
“You’ve got it.” She gave me a little salute.
Outside on the busy sidewalk, I breathed in the fresh air to try to slow my head that was spinning with worries and what if’s. I spotted a drugstore at the end of the block and made a beeline for it. I yanked open the door, the bell above me ringing wildly, alerting the counter attendant. He looked at me curiously and I gave him the best smile I could muster before searching for the aisle I needed.
Once I found it, my eyes scanned the various boxes all lined up in a row. With a shaky hand, I pulled a pink and white box from the shelf and took it up to the register. The attendant eyed the box and me, silently putting together the panic so clearly written on my face. I quickly paid and rushed out the door, not bothering to ask if he had a restroom I could use. I was too mortified.
Instead, I scanned the streets for a coffee shop. I walked across the street to a nearby Starbucks where I found the bathroom thankfully empty. I ripped open the box and pulled out the test. I found the instructions and read them over. It seemed simple enough, yet the outcome could complicate my life entirely.
After balancing over the toilet, being careful to not miss, I set the test on the box on the sink. The instructions said it would take three minutes for the results to show up. To avoid any confusion, I chose the test that clearly readpregnantornot pregnant, not trusting my eyes when it came to the pink lines of the other tests. I wanted something that screamed at me.
I set a timer on my phone and began pacing the bathroom. My heart pounded in my chest as I willed myself to not pass out. The minutes ticked by like hours as I waited impatiently to see if my life was about to change forever.
This cannot be happening.
Chapter 26
Jeremiah
Idrummed my fingers on the surface of my desk, staring at the door that remained closed. I had been holed up in here all morning, avoiding the possibility of seeing Sadie. I had assigned her busywork to keep her from coming in here. I glanced at our shared calendar, seeing that she had already marked off about more than half of the to-do list. She was nothing if not efficient. I would have to think up some more tasks.
I leaned back in my chair and sighed. I knew I couldn’t stay in here forever. I was bored as hell in here, especially when I knew who sat just outside the door. So easily accessible. One glance of an invitation could have her in here and I would be on her in seconds, no one in the office the wiser. But no. I had told myself that ended after Dallas.
Despite that, I had spent the rest of the weekend forcing myself not to think of her. Taking to the shower again to relieve myselfof the thoughts I had of our time together, instead of simply calling her up to my apartment. I was trying to commit to the plan of getting back to a solely business relationship between her and me. But had iteverjust been that? Hell, I had slept with her before even knowing she was my personal assistant, already making the waters murky between us.
Maybe Kevin had been right in doubting that I could do this. In not craving what I couldn’t have, but I was intent on proving him wrong.
As I passed by Sadie’s desk this morning, I could feel her mood shift at my coldness. I felt her expectations of me drop to the bottom of the building, shattering. It took everything in me not to look at her, inhaling the familiar vanilla scent and feeling her green eyes on me. I was glad to avoid the hurt I knew was inevitable on her face, though it was hard to know I was the one who put it there.
Shaking my head, I let out a breathy laugh. This wasn’t me. I was Jeremiah Mason. I didn’t care about hurting anyone’s feelings, whether they were a woman I was sleeping with or an employee. Sadie just happened to be both.
Being that she was my personal assistant, though, I couldn’t avoid her forever. If I wanted to be her boss, then that was what I needed to be. I couldn’t hide behind my computer screen giving her typed out tasks. I would have to face her. I would have to get used to her being around and not wanting to fuck her in every corner of my office.
In fact, as I glanced at the clock on the wall, she should be here by now for our beginning of the week calendar review. Wasshethe one avoiding me now? I felt a flicker of irritation.
I stood up determined, and strode for my door, opening it to find her desk empty. I frowned at her absence and looked down either side of the hall. There was no sign of her, and her purse was gone, too. I could feel my irritation growing. I strode toward the front desk, aware of how Tanya sat up a little straighter at the sound of my footsteps. She apparently didn’t have to look my way to know I was coming. No one in the office did. I smoothed the lapel of my suit and cleared my throat.
“Where is Sadie?” I asked, placing my palms on Tanya’s cluttered desk, not caring what I knocked over.
“I-I…she…” She looked up at me, her brown eyes wary.
“She what?” My gaze narrowed.
