Brides, Babies And Billionaires. Rebecca Winters
No, his child would not go without—neither emotionally nor materially.
“Can I go back to work now?” Sally asked the doctor, interrupting Kirk’s train of thought.
“Of course. Pregnancy isn’t an illness, but I’d like you to reduce stress and get into a good routine ensuring you eat properly and regularly, take prenatal vitamins, and fit a little exercise into each day if you don’t already.”
“Surely you don’t want to go back to work today,” Kirk stepped in before Sally could respond. “Your body has had a shock. Take the day to recover fully.”
She gave him a scathing look. “You heard the doctor. I’m pregnant, not sick. Besides, I need to get back to my team and find out the result of the Q and A after the presentation.”
Kirk knew when to pick his battles, and this definitely wasn’t one he’d be able to win. Better to give in gracefully rather than cause a scene in front of the medical center staff.
“Fine, we’ll head back.”
“Thank you.”
Although she’d said the words with every nuance of good manners, he could sense the sarcasm beneath them. She was used to making her own decisions, and she wasn’t going to accept him telling her what to do. He was going to have to become inventive if he was going to achieve his objectives with respect to being there for her and their baby. That was fine. He was nothing if not inventive.
They took a cab back to the office, barely speaking. Clearly Sally was still digesting the news about the baby, but this would be the last time she’d be doing any of it on her own—he’d make certain of that. Still, it wasn’t the kind of discussion he wanted to have in the back of a cab, so he’d have to shelve it until they could be alone together again.
While he took care of paying the cab driver, Sally made her way into the building, and he managed to catch up with her by the elevators.
“In such a hurry to get back to work?”
“This is important to me, Kirk. It might have escaped your notice, but I’m the boss’s daughter. As such, people either treat me as if I’m their best friend because they think being nice to me will advance their career, or I’m their archenemy because they think I’ll run back to Dad and narc on them for any minor transgression—or you, now, since Dad’s still recuperating. Many think I shouldn’t be here at all. I have to work twice as hard and twice as long as anyone here for people to take me seriously, and all my hard work is probably ruined now thanks to fainting during the presentation today.”
“I’m sure you’re exaggerating.”
“You think? Aside from my team and Marilyn, there are very few people here who believe I’m capable of doing the job I was hired to do. Yes, hired. I applied for that position just like anyone else, and that was after interning here during my summer and semester breaks as often as my father would let me.”
“If it’s all so hard, why bother? Why not go elsewhere? You are eminently employable. You have a sharp mind and great ideas. Any company would be lucky to have you,” Kirk hastened to assure her.
He already knew a lot of what she’d just told him about her credentials and experience, but he’d had no idea that she was a pariah to so many, as well.
“Because my father started this business. It’s in my blood, and as such I feel invested in it, too. And while I’ll probably never be good enough to take over the company when he’s ready to retire, like I always dreamed of when I was younger, the company and my father deserve my best—not some other nameless, faceless corporation.”
The elevator doors opened onto Sally’s floor, and she stepped out.
“Sally, wait. We need to talk about this.”
“Thank you for your help today,” she said, holding the elevator door open. “Call me and make an appointment if you want to talk. Right now it’s—”
Her voice broke off, as if she couldn’t even bring herself to discuss the child now growing in her belly.
“It’s just too complicated,” she continued, her cheeks flushing.
With that, she let the door close, and he caught a last glimpse of her walking away. Kirk wanted to refute her statement. It wasn’t complicated as far as he was concerned. She was pregnant with his baby, and that meant they had a future together whether she realized it or not.
With the chemistry they shared, being together would be no hardship. But it seemed he had to convince her of that. He’d let her think she’d had the last word on the subject, that she had the upper hand. And then he’d try to change her mind.
* * *
Sally fielded the multitude of queries about her health in a convincing facade of good humor as her team gathered around her.
“I’m fine. I’d just been burning the candle at both ends and skipping a few too many meals. You know how important this project was to all of us. Everything else went on the back burner for me when it came to this. So, Nick, how did it go?”
“The presentation went really well. I’d say the majority of the managers there seemed very interested in exploring the concept further and starting to implement the changes. Everyone could see that it was a time-and money-saver in the long-term, even though initial outlay in replacing what we’re already using, especially the motor fleet, will be costly.”
There was something in Nick’s tone that made Sally’s stomach clench.
“And did they vote on implementation?”
Nick fell silent, and one of the other members of Sally’s team filled the silence.
“Before they could vote, Mr. Rogers spoke up.”
“I see.” A ripple of frustration cascaded through her mind, but she couldn’t let her people know how the news upset her. “I take it he’s not a fan of the suggested changes, then?”
Her staff looked at her with the same disappointed expression she was certain was on her own face and, as a group, shook their heads. Some things just didn’t bear saying out loud.
“So we need to work harder, then. Tackle this from another perspective.”
“That won’t be necessary.”
Sally wheeled around to find Kirk standing behind her, fistfuls of takeout bags clutched in his hands. Couldn’t he leave her alone for a second?
“And why not?” she challenged, ready to do battle.
“Because there’s nothing wrong with the perspective you presented. Here,” he said, putting the takeout bags on the meeting table in front of them. “I heard you guys haven’t had a break for lunch yet, so it’s on me. From what I saw you’ve put a great deal of planning into this project, and I’d like to see it developed further.”
“And Silas Rogers?”
“Is not the chairman of HTT, nor is he interim chairman of HTT.”
“He’s still the CEO, and what he says carries weight,” Sally argued.
“That’s true,” Kirk admitted and pulled up a chair to sit beside her. He ripped open a takeout bag and passed her a sub filled with salad fixings and well-done hot roast beef. “Eat, then we’ll discuss this some more.”
Sally bristled at his high-handedness, but her mouth began to water at the smell of the sub, and hunger won the war over pride. She reluctantly took it from him and sank her teeth into the fresh bread, groaning in appreciation as the flavors of the fillings burst on her tongue. She hadn’t realized she was quite so hungry.
Next to her, she felt Kirk stiffen and shift in his chair. He tugged at the front of his trousers and pulled a napkin across his lap, but not before she saw evidence of a hint of arousal pressing against the fine Italian wool