Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 56217 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 187(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56217 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 187(@300wpm)
“What do you mean?” Maybe I hit my head because I couldn’t make sense of what she was saying.
“Honey, you’re pregnant.”
My breath caught in my throat. “What?”
“Pregnant. It’s not that uncommon to faint during early pregnancy, especially if you stand up quickly.”
I finally took a breath and another and another until I was nearly hyperventilating.
The nurse frowned. “Ms. Hanson.” She said my name harshly and caused me to jerk. “Take a slow, deep breath.”
I did as she said, once and then twice and again until my breathing was normal, even as my heart thundered in my chest.
“I take it this isn’t planned?” she said.
I shook my head. How did this happen? Well, I knew how it happened. And I knew when. We’d used birth control every time except once. The first time. The old wives tale that you can’t get pregnant the first time wasn’t true. I’d just proven that. I’d also proved that no time in your cycle was safe.
I felt like an idiot. I was a smart woman. A smart woman who let love and lust get the best of her. Now I was pregnant by a man who didn’t love me and never would.
I swallowed as the magnitude of my predicament set in. From this moment on, my life was going to change.
“Do you want to see your boss?” the nurse asked with an expression that suggested she knew he wasn’t just my boss.
I had to tell him. He’d probably hyperventilate too. Then self-flagellate for betraying his wife. He was the type of man who’d make sure the baby was financially cared for, but that wasn’t the life I’d wanted for myself or my child. I understood that fairy tales weren’t real, but I knew true love existed. That’s what I wanted. My problem was that I loved a man who couldn’t return my love.
A wave of despair rushed through me, and I started to cry. Oh God, what was I going to do now?
Six Weeks Earlier
Bella
I never believed in love at first sight or understood why people were obsessed with sex. How could you love someone you didn’t know? What could someone do to your body that a vibrator couldn’t?
Then I walked into Blake Alexander’s office at JoXander Cosmetics to interview for a position as his executive assistant and everything I thought I knew about love and sex changed. Well, maybe not sex, but definitely lust.
He stood at the head of the table during a board meeting. He wore a dark suit that showcased his broad shoulders. His dark hair, with a speckle of gray on the temples, was combed back. He exuded money and power. He spoke with authority. He commanded respect. And for reasons I didn’t understand, I’d wanted him from the moment he shook my hand and offered me the job.
But Cupid’s arrow wasn’t misplaced. It wasn’t just lust that I felt for my boss. Over the six months that I’d worked as his assistant, I discovered a man who wasn’t just a powerhouse in business. He was smart and kind. He demanded the best from me and everyone who worked for him, but he led with kindness and rewarded hard work.
He was a devoted single-father after his beloved wife died. He hired a nanny, but that didn’t stop him from attending all doctors’ appointments, school meetings, soccer games, and dance recitals. I knew because I was the one who made sure his schedule prioritized his daughter and arranged his transportation.
My admiration for him was one-sided. He was kind to me, but he saw me as his assistant. He never imagined me naked. He never wondered what it would be like to kiss me. I had no doubt he didn’t fantasize about touching me or taking the one thing no man had yet to take: my virginity.
Me, on the other hand, I often imagined him naked, kissing me, touching me, and taking my virginity. Every orgasm I’d had in the last six months involved imagining him sliding inside me. Or using his fantastic lips on me. Or his long fingers stroking me. Just because I was a virgin, didn’t mean I didn’t have sexual needs, or that I wasn’t aware of the many ways a man could please a woman.
“Ms. Hanson?”
“Huh?” Crap, he was saying something to me.
“Do you have the financials from the Barton Department store sales?”
“Oh, yes sir.” I pulled out the marked file and handed it to him, briefly scanning the conference room to see if any of the executive staff in the meeting noticed I was off in La La Land fantasizing about my boss. They all appeared to have their eyes on Mr. Alexander. Whew!
Mr. Alexander opened the file I’d just handed him, scanned it and asked the VP of sales a question about the sales volume from the store.