Damage Control (16 page)

He hadn't even bothered to call her since. It was her fault, of course. She'd told him in pretty plain terms that the partnership was more important than their personal relationship. She hadn't believed the words, even as she'd been saying them, but apparently he had.

What an idiot she was. She hadn't meant what she'd said. She'd been trying to come to terms with her shifting priorities. Trying to cling on to what was familiar. Instead, she'd managed to ruin everything.

And now, if she was carrying his child, things were about to get a whole lot messier. As a single mother—and she harbored no illusions otherwise—she could kiss any future promotion goodbye. When would she have time to work extra hours if she had an infant to take care of?

And how was she supposed to go it alone, without him? Damn it, she loved him, even though she'd fought against it from the very start.

“Do you want me to go buy you a test at the pharmacy?”

Andrea started to say no, but a sob stuck in her throat. She sniffled and nodded. If she was pregnant, it would explain why she'd been so weepy lately. She wasn't usually a woman who gave in to tears. As much as she dreaded it, she needed to find out the truth.

Twenty minutes later, she had her answer.

As soon as Claire had returned with the test kit, Andrea had grabbed it and locked herself in the bathroom. In the two minutes she had to wait, she'd convinced herself that the results would be negative. She and Brian had always been very careful. They'd used condoms every single time. The nausea could be attributed to her skyrocketing stress level, and the weepiness was probably because she'd just walked out on the only man she'd ever loved. Buying the test kit had been a waste of money and a waste of time, and she and Claire had been worried for nothing.

Except then she saw the two pink lines on the kit and the bottom fell out of her world.

 

 

 

“Is there something you're not telling me?” Jake asked Brian as soon as he picked up the phone.

“What is this about? I don't have time for riddles.” He had a business to finish setting up and furniture to buy for his house. And, with any luck, a woman to win back.

The past week had been freeing. For a long while now, he'd been toying off and on with the idea of opening his own ad agency right in Lilton, but had never had the motivation to try it. The mess with Andrea had pushed him to take the chance. For the past month he'd been working to set the place up. He hadn't mentioned it to her because he wanted it to be a surprise. But then he'd left and he'd never gotten the chance to tell her.

His whole life was different now. No longer was he complacent, just skating by. He was a homeowner. A business owner, though the new agency hadn't opened yet. He was only missing one thing, and he just hoped like hell she would give him another chance.

Jake's voice broke into his thoughts. “Amber was in Carson, meeting with Lena Ray about wedding plans. She ran into Claire at the pharmacy a little while ago.”

“And?”

“And she was buying a pregnancy test.”

Brian shook his head. He had no time for gossip. He had more important things to deal with at the moment. “So what? Claire's having a baby? Good for her.”

“The test wasn't for her.”

It took a few seconds for Jake's words to sink in, and when they did, the pencil fell from Brian's hand and hit the blotter with a soft thump. “What?” he asked quietly, sure he must be reading more into what Jake said than what was actually there.

“She let it slip that the test was for someone else, though she swore Amber to secrecy.”

He tensed, sitting up ramrod straight. “Remind me never to tell Amber anything I don't want made public knowledge. Who did she say it was for?”

“Who do you think?”

Brian's blood went cold. For about two seconds. Then a slow smile spread over his face. Andrea was pregnant?
Wow.
But that wasn't good. She'd told him before she didn't even know if she wanted children. Then again, he might be getting worked up over nothing. He didn't know the results yet.

“You okay?” Jake asked.

“Yeah. Fine. Shocked, but fine.” How was she feeling? Was she upset? Angry?

There was only one way to find out.

He opened the top right desk drawer and glanced at the black velvet box he'd put in there. He'd been planning to wait a little longer, to get his business and new home set up before he started calling her again, but he had to have perfect timing if he wanted this to go his way. If Andrea thought he was proposing because she was pregnant, she'd turn him down flat. Then again, the test might turn out negative. He had to keep that in mind.

“I have to go.”

“Hold on. How would you feel about this?”

“About being a father? You know how I feel about it.”

“No. I mean about possibly being a single father. I thought you told me before that Andrea didn't even want kids.”

That's so not going to happen, buddy.
And if she decided she didn't want the child, he'd be more than happy to raise it all on his own. “I'd be fine with it. I'd deal. It's all we can do, you know? I'll talk to you later.”

After a few minutes of staring at the phone, he finally had the nerve to call Andrea.

“How are you?” she asked when she picked up the phone.

“I need to talk to you. It's important. Are you busy?”

“No. Do you want to come over?”

“I can't right now. I'm in the middle of something pretty big. Actually, it's kind of a cool surprise. At least I hope so. Meet me in Lilton as soon as you can.” He gave her the address of his new office and disconnected the call. Now all he had to do was wait. And hope.

 

 

 

Andrea shut off the car and climbed out from behind the wheel, staring at the building in front of her. The small but neat three-story building was one Brian's parents owned. Jake's law office was on the first floor and Amber's business was on the second. The third floor had been an apartment Amber had rented until she'd married Jake and moved into his house. Had Brian given up his old place and moved in here?

She headed for the stairs when a sign on the side of the building caught her attention. Storm Advertising? A little thrill shot through her at the sight. It looked like Brian had finally moved out of his comfort zone. Actually, they both had. For so long, she'd been buried in her work, and she hadn't realized she'd lost who she was. Funny how it had taken the pregnancy to show her that she'd been following in her father's footsteps, no doubt working herself into an early grave. The thought of being responsible for another life, a child who would depend completely on her, had shaken her entire world. At first, she'd been worried that she would no longer be able to put in the hours she'd been working, but then she'd slowly come to realize she didn't want to. There were too many important firsts in a child's life, and she didn't want to miss any of them.

Now she needed to find out of Brian would feel the same. Andrea rushed up the stairs.

When she got to the landing at the top, she pressed her hand to her stomach. “Well, little guy, let's go inside and break the news to Daddy. Hopefully he'll be happy. If not, we'll just have to work something out.”

She stepped into the office to find Brian leaning against the wall. He smiled when he saw her and held out his arms. Having missed him way too much, she wanted to rush right into them, but she shook her head. “We need to talk first.”

“Let me go first.”

“No, Brian. This is really important. It could change everything.”

He walked over to where she stood, pulled her into his arms and kissed her. The kiss went on and on, and she was clawing at his back by the time he finished. Lord, the man could still kiss like a dream.

Once he broke the kiss, he leaned in to whisper in her ear. “I want you to be my partner.”

His offer was the second one she'd heard in the past week. Gerald had surprised her by offering her what she'd wanted since she started working at Regal, and for a while she'd thought about accepting it. In the end, she'd turned it down. She hadn't realized how stressful her job was until Brian had shown her what it was like to have a life outside of work. No way would she end up dead at fifty—or younger—because of a
job
. There were so many more important things in life to enjoy. “In your business?”

“Yeah. And I want you to marry me, too.”

Oh.
She hadn't been expecting this. Tears clouded her vision and she sniffled. He was offering her everything she'd always wanted—a partnership in an ad firm—and everything she hadn't realized she needed until he'd walked away. “You've been setting this up in secret.”

“Yeah. For the past month. I wanted it to be a surprise for you. I love you. I want you with me always.” He dropped to one knee in front of her, a black velvet jeweler's box in his hand. When he opened the top and she glimpsed the diamond sparkling inside, her tears started flowing freely. “I was planning to wait to do this, but suddenly now seemed like the right time. Can you forgive me for keeping this a secret? Will you join me here at the agency?”

Once she'd managed to dry the stupid tears, she swallowed hard and swiped her hand across her eyes. “Yes. And yes.”

“Will you marry me, Andrea?”

Unable to form the word, she nodded. Brian stood and slipped the ring onto her finger. It shocked her that it was a perfect fit.

“I asked Lena what your ring size was,” he answered her unspoken question.

“She didn't say a word to me about it.”

“She's so busy with that lavish wedding she's trying to plan, I don't think it even occurred to her why I was asking.” Brian smiled, and the effect it had on her was devastating. “So…are you having my baby or not?”

“How did you know about that?”

He shrugged. “Sorry. Can't reveal my sources. Someone I know happened to run into someone you know at the pharmacy. Yes or no, Andrea? The suspense is killing me.”

She was going to kill Claire when she saw her sister again. “Yes. I'm pregnant. Are you okay with that?”

“Are you kidding? Of course I am.”

She searched his face, but didn't find anything to contradict his statement. He truly was genuinely happy about this.

“Are
you
okay with it?” he asked, concern darkening his eyes.

“I am. I wasn't sure, at first, but I've had a little while to get used to the idea and I think I really do want this. I'm going to be a mother. What could be more important than that? I won't be able to do a lot of extra work here, though. After I have the baby, I'm going to want to spend my nights doing other things besides projects. But I don't want to stop working all together. And we'll have to get a bigger place. Neither of our apartments has the extra space for a baby.”

“You can even work from home if you want to. We'll work out a schedule that suits both of us. We won't make as much money as we did at Regal, at least not right away, but we'll do fine. And about the living space…”

She crossed her arms over her chest.
Another secret, Brian?
“What did you do?”

“I bought my parents' house. I signed the papers last week.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah. Four bedrooms and a huge back yard. The perfect place to raise a family.”

“Why didn't you say anything to me about it earlier?”

“We weren't exactly talking, were we?”

“No, I guess not.”

“I'd decided to buy the house before any of this happened. Even before I'd decided to leave Regal,” he told her, pulling her into his arms. “My parents move into their condo in two weeks, and I'll be moving into the house then. Will you come with me or do you want to wait until we're married?”

“We might have a slight problem there. I've been dealing with the wedding process with Lena. No offense to Amber, but it's really not a fun thing. I don't think I want to go through that.”

“We don't have to. We can go to a justice of the peace. Just the two of us. Something quick and quiet. Next week, maybe?”

Oh, yeah. That would go over well. Up until Amber had joined the family, Miriam Storm had planned all the weddings. “Your mother would kill you.”

“So what? I want to make you happy. One of these days, you're going to understand that. I love you, Andrea.”

“I love you, too.” She always had, it had just taken her a few years to realize it.

 

About the Author

Born in Gloucester, Massachusetts, Elisa Adams has lived most of her life on the east coast. Formerly a nursing assistant and phlebotomist, writing has been a longtime hobby. Now a full-time writer, she lives on the New Hampshire border with her three children.

If you would like to learn more about Elisa and her work, visit her website at
www.elisaadams.com
or send an email to
[email protected]
.

Look for these titles by Elisa Adams

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Settling the Score

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© 2007 Kim Rees

Available now at Samhain Publishing

 

Anna Shrewsbury is trapped.

The whims of her sister control her life. She wants to be free…and she thought her brother-in-law had helped her find freedom with his last act. But instead, she seems to be the butt of one of his infamous jokes.

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