Yours Truly(62)

She wanted to keep watching, but her phone rang. Renee’s picture popped up on her screen. Kat sighed, but she knew if she didn’t answer it, Renee would just keep calling.

“Hello,” she said, picking up the phone.

“Are you watching this?” Renee asked. “You spend time with him. Do you think he’s sleeping with an employee?”

Kat nearly dropped the phone. Kat had no idea that the employee was her.

“I, uh...” She didn’t want to lie to her friend, but she had no idea what to tell her.

“I think he is, but he’s just trying to be classy. He seemed so classy at my wedding,” Renee continued. “If I had known he was dating employees, I would have thrown myself at him. I think I deserve a billionaire.”

“What about Bob?” Kat asked, shaking her head.

“He’d survive just fine without me,” Renee assured her. “Maybe you should try getting with him. You do know him better than I do, since you guys always have meetings together.”

Kat had to bite her tongue. “Sure, Renee. I’ll work on seducing my billionaire boss.”

“Anyway, I just wanted to see if you were feeling better,” Renee said. “I saw that Mr. Jacobson was taking an employee to the hospital and I remembered that you’ve been sick all week. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m fine,” Kat told her with a smile. Despite all her flaws, Renee did try to be a friend occasionally. “I think I’m actually on the mend.”

“Good. Bob made this amazing soup for dinner tonight, so I’ll bring you some tomorrow,” Renee promised. “I’m going to go see if anyone has any idea who this mystery employee might be. See you tomorrow.”

Kat stared at her phone. If Renee had no idea it was Kat in the hospital, then that meant that the hospital was doing an amazing job of keeping her identity secret. Perhaps there was a reason for those annoying medical privacy laws after all.

Kat looked back up at the TV just in time to catch the last little bit of AJ’s press conference.

“Thank you all for your concern for my employee. I hope that the rest of my employees can feel as safe with their health in the future. Thank you and goodnight.” AJ smiled for the camera and then stepped away.

Kat shook her head at the TV. AJ had somehow managed to make this whole thing about healthcare instead of her. She was grateful. While Renee would have loved to be in that limelight, she did not. She knew she would eventually have to get used to it, but she was glad that day wasn’t today.





31





Kat



The hospital didn’t have an executive suite. Instead, Kat was placed in the best room on the Women’s Care unit. It was far enough away from the labor and delivery rooms that she couldn’t hear anything, and as far from the elevators as possible so that the staff could catch any reporters trying to sneak up on her.

Kat looked around the room, trying to memorize it for later. There was the traditional hospital bed with white blanket, a water color painting of a mother with her child on the wall, and a pale blue plastic couch and matching chair. In about eight months or so, she would be back here in a room just like this one having a baby. Eight months seemed a long way away and yet terribly close at the same time.

“The nurse is going to bring me some more pillows,” AJ said, pulling the visitor couch out into a bed. He had his suit jacket tossed over on the chair and the sleeves of his white dress shirt rolled up.

“You really don’t have to stay the night with me,” Kat told him, eyeing the unforgiving plastic material. “That couch looks incredibly uncomfortable.”

“I’m not leaving you.” AJ turned and faced her, crossing his arms and darkening his gaze. “So stop asking.”

“I’m glad you’re staying,” she replied with a smile. “I just don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

AJ motioned to the plastic couch. “I think I’ll be just fine. The nurse promised me at least three pillows and I found the blanket warmer. I think I might purchase one of those blanket warmers for the house.”

“Then I’llprobably come live with you in winter because those things are amazing,” Kat told him. She blushed a deep red as soon as the words were out. They hadn’t had a chance to talk about the future yet, but here she was telling him she was going to move in with him.

“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that,” AJ said, shifting his feet.

“I didn’t really mean that I was going to move in with you,” Kat said quickly. “I mean, I would never assume that I could because it’s your house and I have my apartment and now I’m rambling.”