* * *
Seven hours later, Justin woke up alone in bed. There was a small memo on the bedside table, and he reached for it.
Thanks for everything.
– V
He didn’t have to get up to make sure she was gone. It was a typical Vanessa post-coital good-bye. A fist over his eyes, he cursed. He really needed to get a woman who was better for him. This gut twisting feeling Vanessa gave him simply wasn’t good. And he was getting tired of the whole messed up hot-and-cold thing they had going, no matter how irresistible it was.
If a business associate had treated him like this, he would’ve cut the person out of his life instantly. Personal affairs weren’t exactly like business, but maybe he should make an exception for Vanessa. After all, hadn’t he learned that nothing was absolute, how there was an exception to everything?
Decision made, he sat up and scrolled through the huge list of women on his phone. Then he found the number and dialed.
* * *
Vanessa stuffed the panic away as she returned to her office from the bathroom. Still no period, and she wasn’t feeling even the slightest bit of premenstrual cramp.
The most she’d ever been late was one week. It had been five weeks since she’d left Justin’s bed.
“Are you all right?” her secretary Zoe said, looking up from her laptop screen with a newsfeed scrolling on the bottom. Something about some reality TV show star getting pregnant. “You look a little pale.”
“I’m fine.”
Zoe’s middle-aged face pinched, deepening the wrinkles around her eyes and mouth. “They’re working you too hard. A hundred and twenty is much too much.”
Vanessa flashed the smile she always gave people who worried about her working too much. “Don’t let the partners hear you say that.”
She closed the door to her office and sat behind her desk. A mountain of documents related to Solaris Med demanded her attention, but she couldn’t focus on anything. She hadn’t been sleeping well, and she’d been busy. Like Zoe had said, a hundred and twenty hours might actually be too much, and that would explain why she hadn’t had a period in five weeks.
Instead of trying to come up with wishful reasons why she wasn’t having her period—menopause was not a plausible explanation—she picked up her purse. She had to know. “Zoe, I’ll be gone for an hour or so.”
“But you have a conference with Felix,” she said.
Oh crap. That was right. They were supposed to discuss the sexual harassment case and strategy. “Can you reschedule? Tell him I’m sorry.”
“Okay.” Zoe frowned, her dark eyes owlish behind rimless glasses.
There was a drug store not too far from the office. She bought a pregnancy test and went into the bathroom at the back of the store. After following the instructions, she stared at her slim watch as the seconds ticked by. She couldn’t be pregnant…she just couldn’t…
She glanced at the result box on the stick, and all the air whooshed out of her. She put a hand on the stall door for support as her knees turned to pudding.
She was.
Chapter Four
“Have you heard? Kerri’s pregnant.”
Justin looked up from a pile of documents as his great-uncle Barron walked into his living room on a Saturday. “What? No. Congratulations.”
“I imagine it’s a boy.”
Barron took a seat without waiting for an invitation and pulled out a box of sugar cookies and a tumbler full of Earl Gray tea. They were his favorite, but he knew Justin didn’t keep any at home.
Despite his age, Barron looked as solid as ever, glowing with good health. If Justin hadn’t known better, he might’ve thought Barron had found an elixir of eternal youth. As usual, he wore a bespoke suit, hand-tailored in Europe. The dark navy of the silk looked good on him. His watch flashed on his wrist. It was an old, inexpensive piece, but he’d never thrown away any of his late wife’s presents.
Justin was happy for his cousin, but at the same time a sharp envy formed in his gut. It seemed like everyone was with the one they wanted to be with except him. And he hated this pathetic, lousy feeling of jealousy and self-pity. Neither was like him. Damn you, Vanessa.
“How far along is she?” Justin asked, forcing a small smile. Nobody needed to know about his personal problems. He’d already made up his mind to move on.
“Only six weeks.” He held up an index finger. “But I have a hunch about this child.”
Justin nodded, leaning back in his seat. “What can I do for you, Barron?”
His great-uncle wouldn’t have flown all the way to Chicago just to talk about Kerri’s pregnancy. As much as Barron adored his granddaughter, he was a busy man, busier now with a new-found love. Shocking that he actually felt something for another human being. More shocking that a woman actually genuinely liked him. Most of the women who’d buzzed around him did so because they wanted his money and influence.