A SEAL's Secret (16 page)

She opened her mouth to tell Mitch the whole story.

“Your manager is actually your mother?” he said before she got her first word out.

Why did he keep interrupting her?

“So?” Frustrated, Livi pulled the hairband out so she could shove her fingers through her loosened hair to try and relieve some of the building tension.

“This would be the same mother who was abandoned by your father in his attempt to become a SEAL. The same mother who hates all military men and of whom you said would have a fit if she knew about us.”

Why was he picking on her mother? Irritation overtaking confusion, anger starting to drown out hurt, Livi shifted to her full height and met his hard look with one of her own.

“I don’t know what you want me to say,” she admitted. “I’m not denying my parental issues. But I don’t see why you have a problem with them.”

“The problem is that one way or another, you, your mother or both went behind my back and used the information you gleaned from spending time with me to manipulate your way into a deal with the Navy to make a fitness video!”

If he’d punched her in the belly, Livi couldn’t have been more hurt. Trying to breathe through the shocking pain of his words, she could only shake her head.

“You believe that of me? That I would lie to you, manipulate our relationship, use you for my own profit?”

Mitch didn’t say a word. But his silence spoke volumes.

And Livi heard every decibel.

She gave up standing up to him toe to toe because her knees simply wouldn’t support her. Instead, she sank onto her desk, holding it with both hands against the wave of dizzy horror. Not just at his words, but at the ugly message beneath them.

“I was told that filming begins next Monday. Filming with your company.” He waited a beat. “Tell me, are you bringing strippers for backup or are you going to ask the SEAL team to bump and grind?”

Livi waited for the room to stop spinning and took a deep breath. Then another.

But none of that changed what she was hearing.

Still, hoping she was wrong, she clarified, “Are you angry because of the workout video itself? Or are you angry because the workout video is with me, in particular?”

Despite the buzzing in her ears, she forced herself to focus on Mitch’s face. Looking into his eyes—the eyes she’d fallen in love with—she didn’t need to hear his answer. Because it was right there.

“Do you have any idea the damage you’ve caused with this?” he sidestepped. “How this association has lost me the respect of half the support staff, and most likely my own SEAL team.”

Right. Respect.

Promising herself she could fall into a puddle of misery as soon as this was over, Livi pulled herself together, stood on her feet and faced her heartbreak head-on.

“The issue isn’t so much that you feel I manipulated you by luring you into my bed in order to connive the US Navy into boosting my career. The issue is that you’re a snob.”

“The hell I am.”

“The problem isn’t that you didn’t know about the video, because we both know that you did,” she continued hoarsely. Livi cleared her throat, refusing to give in to the pain. “But because somehow, an association with me is humiliating to your reputation. You’re being razzed by your buddies, judged by your peers. Suddenly everything else you’ve done doesn’t matter because this one single thing puts an ugly spotlight on you. And you don’t like it.”

“Would you?”

“No, actually I don’t like it at all. It’s always been the crux of my issue with performing in public. But I had no idea how much worse it would be when it came from someone I—” She broke off and took a breath before finishing. “By someone I cared about. Someone who should know better.”

Despite her best intentions, Livi’s eyes welled up and her lower lip trembled. She bit into it.

“Don’t cry,” he ordered.

“Oh, don’t worry,” she told him after taking a very worrisome, shaky breath. “I’m not about to put you in the position of having to overcome your distaste for my feelings.”

“That’s not what I’d said, nor what I’d meant.” Mitch scowled. “You’re twisting my words.”

“And you twisted actions I didn’t make into an attack on your career.”

His scowl deepened, but he didn’t bother denying it.

“You’ve told me to stop putting other people’s wants ahead of my own feelings. Well, I’m taking your advice.” She swallowed hard, hurting like she’d never imagined she could. Then she pointed to the door. “I want you to leave. I won’t discuss this right now, and I don’t want to hear anything else you have to say.”

“This can’t be resolved without discussion,” he pointed out.

“What’s to resolve?” she wondered through the pain. Terrified she’d humiliate herself, Livi drew on strength she hadn’t realized she had as she stepped around Mitch to open the door.

She waited, hanging on to the doorknob as if it were a lifeline.

Frowning, Mitch looked as if he wasn’t sure if he wanted to argue or check her temperature.

Since that was even more humiliating, Livi said, “Please. I’d like you to go.”

“I’ll give you a call,” he told her before walking out without a backward glance.

Why? He’d already broken her heart.

And then she burst into tears.

* * *

“P
REGNANT
?” S
HOCK
MINGLING
with the pain of the impossible, Livi shook her head. “I can’t be.”

“To have a nickel for every time I’ve heard that,” Dr. Heath said, her eyes dancing behind round glasses. “The tests are conclusive, Olivia. You’re definitely pregnant.”

“But I have PCOS. You said the odds of my conceiving were virtually nonexistent.” She tried to think, but the buzzing was so loud in her ears. “We used a condom.”

“The odds of conceiving with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome are slim, and the odds of protection against pregnancy with a condom are high.” Dr. Heath paused and then gave Livi a bright smile. “There’s a reason they call this a miracle, though. Sometimes, the odds simply don’t matter.”

Somehow, Livi got through the rest of her appointment.

Then she did what any girl would do when faced with this kind of news. The only thing she could do.

She went to see her mother.

“Olivia,” Pauline greeted coolly when her secretary quietly shut the door behind them. “I told you the attorneys were handling the SEAL workout. Are you here to complain about something else?”

“No,” Livi said faintly, crossing the plush gold carpet to sink into one of the wide chairs in front of her mother’s antique desk. Pauline’s home was modern and edgy. But with its purples, golds, antiques and leather, her office was fit for a queen. “I spoke with the attorney this morning. They’ve assured me we’re under no obligation. Actually the Navy isn’t happy with the agreement, either, so there will be no issue cancelling the contract. Everything is fine.”

“Fine?” Pauline tapped her nails against her desk for a moment. “Well, I’m glad ending your chances at a lucrative deal turned out fine, then.”

Her back automatically going up at her mother’s disdainful tone, Livi was about to point out that the Navy had nixed the deal, too. Then she stopped. She wasn’t here to argue. And, she realized, her mother was right. It would have been a lucrative deal. Just like all of the ones Pauline had pulled together. Because no matter what else could be said, Pauline had always put Livi first.

“Mother, I’m grateful for everything you’ve done over the last couple of years for Stripped Down Fitness. You put aside so much to save this company, and my reputation. I really do appreciate it,” Livi told her sincerely, glad her voice didn’t shake.

“You made your feelings about my management perfectly clear last week,” Pauline reminded her with a chilly arch of her brow. “Is this the follow-up where you ask me to step down?”

Like she did before lifting a heavy weight, Livi puffed out a breath, braced herself and mentally stepped up.

“My behavior last week was petty and childish,” Livi admitted. “I was upset about the SEAL video because I thought Mitch would be angry. I didn’t admit that, though, because I was trying to hide my relationship with him from you.”

From the look on her mother’s face, she’d been silly to think she’d hidden anything.

“You said those were your reasons last week,” Pauline reminded her in a tone that suggested Livi better hurry up.

“Right.” Another deep breath. Livi opened her mouth. No words came out, so she tried again. “I’m pregnant.”

Livi steeled herself for the slew of recriminations, “I told you so”s and well-deserved anger. She met her mother’s gaze without flinching.

“I beg your pardon?”

In complete empathy with that stunned reaction, Livi repeated, “I’m pregnant, Mother. The doctor just confirmed it.”

And watched Pauline’s brown eyes—so like her own—fill with tears.

“Please, no,” Livi begged as she jumped to her feet. “I thought you’d yell at or lecture me. Don’t cry.”

“I’m sorry.” Pauline waved her fingers under her eyes to dry them, then took a deep breath and offered a shaky smile. “It’s just...well, my little girl is having a baby? It’s emotional.”

“And now someone will be calling you Grandmother,” Livi said with a wet laugh.

“Oh.” The tears slid over. Livi honestly wasn’t sure if it was sentiment, or if Pauline was facing the idea that she was old enough to own that particular title. Either way, she rose and met her mom halfway for a hug.

She was shocked to feel her mother’s fingers clutching her back in return, holding her close while Pauline buried her face in Livi’s hair for a moment.

And then the older woman flipped the control switch back on.

“I thought you’d be angry,” Livi admitted as her mother released her.

“Angry?” Pauline shot her an incredulous look as she moved to her desk to find tissues. “That would be rather hypocritical of me, wouldn’t it?”

Livi blinked. She hadn’t even thought of it that way.

“I thought you agreed with Derrick,” she said quietly. “That I was better off without children, and that they’d get in the way of my career.”

“I repeat, that’d be rather hypocritical of me, as I’ve built a wonderful career and raised a daughter while doing so.” Looking as baffled as Livi felt, Pauline shook her head. “And please, why would you compare me to that man? He was an ass.”

And she, apparently, was an idiot. Why had she never asked her mother about any of this before? Instead, she’d always been afraid to speak up, figuring her mother would shut her out as she had about her father. So she’d never tried.

“Did the doctor clear you to exercise?” Pauline asked, worry clear in her eyes. That Livi was pregnant was its own little miracle. They both knew staying so would be another one. “I can contact your clients, make other arrangements if necessary.”

Livi swallowed hard to clear the tears from her throat and shook her head.

“The doctor gave me a list of precautions. I’ll have to be careful. I can do personal training, but nothing as intensive as what I’m known for,” she said. She puffed out a breath and once again laid her career at her mother’s feet with the request for help. This time, though, it wasn’t out of desperation. It was because she truly wanted her mother on her team. “What do I do? I can’t pay my debts as well as support myself and a baby on just my income from the gym and my coaching fees.”

“I’ll call your accountant and attorney and set up a meeting for later this week,” Pauline said. “We’ll assess the situation, get their input and look at the various opportunities available.”

“And in the meantime?” Livi wondered, feeling lost.

“In the meantime, you figure out what you want from your career,” Pauline instructed, getting to her feet.

“How?” Overwhelmed by the idea, Livi shook her head. “I don’t even know where to start.”

“You look at what’s profitable and what has potential. You weigh your options—benefits versus costs.”

“Then what?”

“Then
you
decide,” Pauline said.

Livi laughed at the extra emphasis on the “you,” appreciating that despite the ugly way she’d complained, her mother had still listened.

“This time, consider everything you enjoy, everything you hate, as well,” Pauline said. “Really think it through. If it’s something that makes you miserable, it’s not worth doing.”

“Why didn’t you suggest that before when I was unhappy?” Livi wondered.

“Because you never told me how you felt in such stridently specific terms before,” Pauline pointed out.

Nope. She’d been too busy keeping her feelings to herself. Livi vowed then and there to never do that again. Whatever her feelings were, they were worthy of being shared. Even if the other person didn’t want to hear them.

“Of course, even if you had, I was so focused on ensuring your security that I probably wouldn’t have listened,” her mother admitted.

Probably?

But how could she blame her mother for taking control when Livi had been so determined not to?

“Will you still manage me?” Livi asked softly.

Pauline gave her a long look then angled her head in a gesture of agreement.

“For now I want you to go home and take a nice, long nap,” Pauline instructed. “Do you have dinner plans? Would you like me to bring something by?”

On cue, her phone signaled an incoming text. Livi glanced at the display, feeling numb when she saw it was from Mitch.

“Is everything okay?”

“I suppose.” Livi puffed out a breath, then tucked her phone away. “Mitch wants to talk with me.”

“You’ll tell him about the baby.”

Brows tight, Livi glanced up at her mother. She didn’t want to tell him. If she’d thought he was furious with her for screwing up his career the other day, she couldn’t even imagine how he’d react when she told him she’d screwed up his life, too.

“Olivia?” Pauline prompted in a stern tone.

“Does that mom voice come with childbirth?” Livi hoped, still a little giddy at the idea of actually becoming a mom and finding out.

“No. It comes from years of raising a child and knowing when she’s considering doing something stupid.”