AJ sighed, and fear replaced all the pride in her belly.
“We have to be more careful about seeing one another,” he said, handing her a photograph from his desk.
She frowned, taking the slippery paper from him. It was black and white and reminded her of something from a spy movie. It took her a moment, but she recognized herself leaving his house with a huge smile on her face. Anyone with two brain cells could imply why she was smiling.
“Where did you get this?” Kat asked, handing back the photograph. Her hand only shook a little bit, but AJ didn’t seem to notice.
“That’s not important.” AJ ripped the photo and dropped it into the trashcan under his desk. “It’s been taken care of.”
Kat nodded. This was the part where he would tell her they were over. “Does this mean that I can’t see you anymore?”
“What? No!” AJ shook his head and nearly jumped over the desk to get to her. He picked up both her hands in his. “I want to be with you. I want to shout it from the rooftops that I’m with you. It’s just...”
“You can’t,” she finished for him. “Because of your partner.”
His shoulders slumped as he nodded. “This isn’t how I want things to be.”
“I understand,” she said quietly, pulling her hands back.
“Kat... If it were just me, I would say to hell with the press. I would stand on the street corner and hand out newspapers saying I was dating you.” AJ’s blue eyes peered into hers. “But, it’s not just me. This company employees thousands of people. Every single one of them is depending on me to keep us out of the muck Paul put us in.”
AJ paused and Kat tried to think, but her thoughts were swirling with only AJ as her anchor. Kat didn’t know how the particular shade of blue of his eyes could enchant her so completely. It probably had to do with that she saw a good man in those eyes. A man she wanted to be with. A man she was falling in love with faster than she ever could have thought possible. He was trying to do the right thing for thousands of people. Who could possibly blame him for wanting her to be a little more careful when those lives were on the line?
“With our stock price plummeting, I can’t afford to keep some of our locations open. If our publicity doesn’t get better, I’m going to have to start letting people go.” AJ sighed. “I hate that I’m going to take people’s livelihoods.”
Kat thought of her own parents. When she was a child, her father had suddenly been let go from the company he had worked at. She still remembered the stress of him searching for a new job while her mother picked up odd jobs that she could do from home in order to keep them in their house.
“I understand, AJ,” Kat said, reaching for one of his hands and squeezing them reassuringly. “I really do. You have to take care of your employees.”
He nodded. “I don’t want to lose you in the process, though. We just need to be more careful. Once this sex scandal blows over, we won’t have to worry as much.”
“Of course,” she agreed, putting her free hand on her belly. She was going to wait to tell him. Today wasn’t the right timing.
“You’re allowed to be angry with me, Kat,” he said. “In fact, I wish you were. It would be easier than having you look at me with those sad eyes.”
“How can I be angry with you when you’re just making sure that families keep food on their tables?” She looked up at him and smiled. “I know you want to be with me, but the situation makes it hard. You’ll just have to find a way to make it up to me.”
“I will, Kat,” he assured her. “This company is my life. I don’t know anything else. I hate what’s happening to it right now. At least he didn’t get either of them pregnant. Who knows how bad that would have been.”
Kat’s heart went through the floor and down to the basement.
“Yeah..” she agreed, her voice cracking.
There was no way she was going to be able to tell him about the pregnancy. Not now.
AJ grinned and wrapped his arms around her. “Thank you,” he whispered, pulling her closer to him. He seemed to be taking solace in her embrace which just made her feel even more guilty. “I promise I’ll make it up to you.”
Kat pushed her face into his chest, breathing in the scent of him. It was strange, but the smell seemed to settle her stomach. However, it did nothing to ease the ache of guilt.
The beep of the intercom caused them both to pull back.
“Yes?” AJ asked, leaning over his desk and pressing the button.
“The lawyers are here, sir,” his secretary informed him.