But in this case, whoever was hired had to be willing to go along with the plans for the murals and portraits. They had to stick to the creative brief that Jenny was still finishing and not waste time arguing over the direction of the project.
She yawned and scrolled through the bio of a Nevada artist who specialized in fantasy paintings. His work was stellar but the smugness of his bio convinced Jenny he wasn’t a team player.
“Next,” she muttered and closed the page before moving on to another name on her list. She only needed to find one more artist and then she could get moving on the actual painting on-site.
“Hey, Jen—”
She looked up and smiled at Casey Williams. New to the company, Casey was a talented intern. She’d only worked at Celtic Knot for a couple of months, but she’d slid right into the mix as if she’d always been there. About twenty-five, Casey was married with a baby son. She had long dark hair that lay in a single braid across her shoulder. Her T-shirt was bright red, her jeans were a faded gray and her flip-flops revealed the green polish on her toes.
“What’s up, Casey?” Jenny smothered another yawn behind her hand.
“Dave wants to know if you’ve finished tweaking the Wise Woman—”
“Yes, just a few minutes ago. I’ll email the file to him.”
“Cool. And I just want to say, I love your vision of her.” Casey’s hands were gripped together at her waist. “I saw the prelim sketches and they’re amazing. It was a great idea to include her as a surprise for gamers. But the images are what really grabbed me. She’s powerful and beautiful and— You don’t look so hot.”
Jenny laughed shortly. And here she thought she’d been so good about covering up how miserable she felt. “Thanks.”
“No.” Casey backtracked fast. “No, I mean, you look like you still don’t feel well.”
“Actually, I really don’t,” Jenny said, shaking her head, then regretting the abrupt motion because it wobbled her already unsteady stomach a little. For days, she’d been dragging around the office, trying to concentrate on the work even while her body continually reminded her she should be home in bed.
“Um...” Casey glanced around her, as if checking to make sure no one could overhear them. Then she sat down on the edge of a chair and leaned in closer. “I know we don’t know each other very well yet, so this is probably out of line. But you’ve been feeling sick for a week or more now, right?”
“Yes...” Jenny said, wondering where this was going.
“I know this is none of my business.” Casey took a breath and then let it go. “But I know the signs because I lived them myself a year ago.”
Confused, Jenny asked, “What’re you talking about? What signs?”
“Is it possible,” Casey asked gently, “that this isn’t the flu? That maybe you’re pregnant?”
Shock held Jenny in place for a slow count of ten. Her mind, however, was racing. Thinking. Counting.
“Oh, my God.” Panic rose up and choked off the nausea in the pit of her stomach. She did some fast calculating again, running through the numbers, the weeks, the possibilities. And ended up wheezing for air.
“Yeah,” Casey whispered, nodding in understanding, “that’s what I thought.”
Oh, God, how far out of it was she that another woman was the one who had to tell her she was pregnant? How had she missed this? But even as she asked herself that, she knew the answer. She hadn’t figured it out because she hadn’t wanted to. Her relationship with Mike was so...tricky, a pregnancy was going to change everything.
Casey was still talking; excited, comforting, worried, Jenny couldn’t be sure. All she really heard was a buzz of sound from the other woman. It was as if Jenny’s head were filled with cotton, muffling everything but the pounding of her own heart.
Pregnant? By her boss?
It was more than possible, she knew. Instantly, her mind dragged up images from over the past few weeks. Incredible sex, sharing moments with Mike that she wouldn’t trade for anything. They’d used protection of course, but no contraception worked 100 percent guaranteed. Would Mike believe that, though? No, he wouldn’t.
Oh, God.
She blinked and the office came back into focus. She looked at Casey, and saw the woman’s encouraging smile. All around her, life went on as usual, with no one but Casey aware that Jenny’s world had just taken a major shift. She took a breath, tried to calm down, but that wasn’t going to happen. Not until she knew, for sure. She could suspect she was pregnant, but until she knew without a doubt, she wouldn’t be able to think clearly. Wouldn’t be able to face Mike, with this suspicion simmering in her bloodstream. She had to know. Now. Suddenly, she couldn’t sit there a moment longer.