She's Having the Boss's Baby (14 page)

*

Two days later, Ellie stared in astonishment as a little
pink cross appeared in the screen of the testing stick.

“Oh, my,” she whispered. No wonder she’d been so ridiculously
emotional lately. Was it any surprise that she’d been behaving like a nutcase,
drowning herself in work until she couldn’t see straight? She’d been a maniac
for weeks now. And no wonder.

“I’m pregnant!” she exclaimed. She rose from the chair and
twirled around her kitchen. She could feel her heart thumping wildly in her
chest. “Wait ’til I tell Aidan. He’s going to be so…”

She stopped, inhaled and exhaled a few times to catch her
breath, and wondered. Aidan was going to be…what? Thrilled? Blissful?
Indifferent?

“Thrilled, definitely,” she said firmly, and danced around
again. But her steps faltered immediately. She was going to be a mother, so now
wasn’t the time to dwell on foolish dreams of a family that included Aidan. Yes,
he had insisted on supporting her and the baby. He’d written it into the
contract. But that didn’t mean he would be falling in love, moving in and
starting a life together.

But that wasn’t fair, she told herself. Of course Aidan would
be thrilled about the baby. He was a good man and he cared about her a lot, she
knew he did. He just didn’t love her.

Or maybe he did love her, as Logan seemed to have indicated the
night he came to her house. He seemed to believe that Aidan simply wasn’t
willing or able to say the words or act on his feelings. And that was fine, she
thought resolutely, trying to convince herself of the lie.

“So much for telling the truth,” she muttered, then quickly
shook away the words. This wasn’t the time to be thinking unhappy thoughts. She
was pregnant and happy about it. This is what she’d wanted for so long; a man
had never been a part of the equation.

But oh, now she wanted a man to be a part of her life. One man
in particular. She couldn’t imagine living without Aidan’s warm arms around her
and his ruggedly beautiful body snuggled up to hers. The thought of his skin
rubbing up against hers, his amazing hands, and mouth and… Hmm.

There was a time when Ellie would’ve been embarrassed by her
sexy thoughts, but not anymore. She had discovered the sensual side of herself,
thanks to Aidan. And she wasn’t ready to deny that part of her life, even with a
child on the way. In fact, she was anxious to explore that side of herself even
more now, and she wanted to do it with Aidan.

She wrapped her arms around her stomach and said a little
prayer of thanks and hope that she and the little life growing inside her would
be healthy and together they would make a happy little family some day soon.

But more than anything else, she hoped that Aidan would open
his eyes and realize that this was right where he belonged.

With resolve, she left her house and crossed the coco palm
grove to find Aidan and share the news. As she rounded the terrace, she saw
Aidan walking toward a table of guests. Her heart gave a little jolt at the
sight of him looking so handsome in a crisp white shirt tucked into beige linen
trousers. So simple, yet so swoon-worthy, she thought with a smile.

She raised her arm to wave at him, but just then, one of the
women jumped up from the table and wrapped her arms around his neck. Her
curvaceous bikini-clad bottom barely covered her butt as she wiggled against
him.

Ellie could hear the woman’s shrieks of excitement all the way
across the expansive terrace.

“Squeee! Aidan! Squeee!”

Those probably weren’t her exact words, but it was something
along those lines. The three women seated at the table chattered loud enough for
Ellie to hear that the woman hugging Aidan had been here before and had been
telling them about the hot guy who owned the resort.

Well, she was right about that. He was hot.

Ellie’s vision blurred. Had Squeee Woman been with Aidan
before? Had she been one of his bikini babes?

Without another clear thought, Ellie spun around and headed
back to her cottage.

She felt faintly nauseated and it had nothing to do with being
pregnant. No, this feeling had everything to do with her being dumb enough to
fall in love with a man who had only been trying to finagle a way to keep her
working on the island and give her child two caring parents instead of just one.
To accomplish that, he had offered her a baby and the partnership she had always
wanted.

As she walked through the palm grove, she conceded that she
should be grateful. After all, Aidan had lived up to his part of their bargain.
She couldn’t fault him for that. Ellie had the partnership she had always
wanted, and more importantly, she would soon have the baby she’d always dreamed
of. Their bargain had been met. Now Aidan could return to his carefree,
commitment-free lifestyle.

The only question in Ellie’s mind now was, how could she
continue to live here and work with Aidan, knowing she was in love with him and
knowing he didn’t love her back?

She had really thought she could do it, but just now, seeing
that woman throw herself at Aidan, had changed her mind in an instant. She
simply couldn’t imagine herself caring for a newborn baby while Aidan went back
to flirting with the bikini babes. That woman snuggling up to him just now had
brought that painful fact into clear focus.

But that didn’t mean she would run off like a coward with her
tail between her legs. Ellie wasn’t that person. There was no way she would quit
her beloved job. She had signed a partnership contract. She was a full junior
partner in Sutherland Corporation. She was a damned fine businesswoman and she
would never walk away from that. And she refused to give up her wonderful life
and all her good friends on the island. She loved it here. So no, leaving was
absolutely not an option.

Besides, Ellie would never deny her child a fulfilling
relationship with its father, even if Aidan refused to have anything to do with
the baby—which he wouldn’t do, she hastened to add. He wasn’t that kind of man.
Even though he had vowed never to get married, he was too good a person to turn
his back on any child he’d fathered.

So she was in a quandary. There was no question about whether
she would stay on the island or not. She was staying. But she could no longer
live here at the resort, not with Aidan so close yet so unavailable. And that
was another painful realization, because she loved her little cottage on the
resort grounds. She wondered absently if she would be able to find a small house
on the south shore. Or maybe something closer to town. It was only a short drive
away.

“Oh, God.” It was all too confusing to sort out right away. And
it was downright heartbreaking, if she was being honest.

What she needed to do right now was go somewhere, get away and
think. Somewhere quiet. Somewhere off the island so she wouldn’t be tempted to
run to Aidan and beg him to take her in his arms, touch her, love her. Which she
would never do, for goodness sake.

Don’t even think about doing something so
beyond idiotic,
she scolded herself. She would never try and cling to
a man who didn’t love her. That was exactly what her mother had done and look
where it had gotten her. Ellie would never do to her own child what her mother
had done to Ellie and Brenna.

With resolve, she ran into her house and pulled her overnight
bag down from the closet. She tossed several casual outfits into it, added some
underwear and toiletries, a few books and a pair of pajamas. She zipped the bag
shut and went out to the kitchen to make four quick phone calls.

After that, she sent Aidan a quick text message to let him know
she had to leave the island for a few days. An emergency, she said. But this
time, she would be gone before he could do anything about it.

She grabbed her bag and locked up her house, then headed for
the hotel. She detoured through the kitchen to avoid seeing Aidan with his
guests on the terrace. Serena stood at a counter writing notes, but looked up
from her clipboard to greet her. “Hey, you. Don’t forget girls’ night next
Thursday.”

“I won’t,” Ellie assured her. As she crossed the lobby, the
assistant concierge said hello and two of the bartenders shouted her name. She
smiled and waved to all of them but kept walking toward the hotel entry to meet
the limo driver she’d called.

She called out a greeting to Marianne as they passed each
other. That’s when Ellie slowed her pace a little as she realized that here was
one more thing to cheer about. Ellie was no longer the overachieving, anchorless
girl she’d been as a teenager. She had a home here on Alleria, and she had a
life, and friends, and she was a normal, healthy woman with a heart filled to
the brim with love to share with the right man. And she deserved that man to
love her back equally. And soon she would have a baby, and her child deserved
all of those things, too.

And she was no longer willing to settle for less.

“Ellie!”

Ellie turned and saw Grace jogging toward her, just as her
limousine pulled up.

“Hi, I saw you from the lobby and I…” Grace noticed her
suitcase. “Are you going somewhere?”

The driver stepped out of the car and took her bag.

“I’m going to visit my sister for a couple of days.”

Grace gave her a hug. “I’ll miss you.”

Ellie felt her throat close up.

Grace frowned. “Is everything all right?”

“Yes. No. Yes. Oh, God.” Ellie burst into tears.

“Oh, honey.” Grace pulled her into her arms and hugged her.
“What did Aidan do to hurt you?”

“Aidan? No. Nothing. He’s happy. I’m fine.” Ellie hiccupped and
quickly dried her tears. “This is silly,” she muttered and straightened her
shoulders in an attempt to be an adult about things. “Good heavens, I’ll only be
gone for a few days, but saying goodbye always chokes me up a little. Like
weddings. Pay no attention to me.”

“They do that to me, too,” Grace said, nodding in sympathy.

Ellie knew she hadn’t tricked Grace, but her friend was sweet
to give her a pass.

“Please call me if you want to talk,” Grace added. “And hurry
back. You know everyone here loves you, Ellie.”

“I do.” She sniffed, in danger of spilling more tears but
determined not to. “Thank you, Grace. I’m so lucky to have you for my
friend.”

“I’m the lucky one, Ellie. I need all the friends I can get.”
She squeezed Ellie’s arm. “And so does Aidan. Believe me, he needs you more than
you’ll ever know.”

“We’ll see,” she said, and pasted a cheery smile on her face.
She had a feeling she looked demented, but smiling was the only thing she could
think to do to stop the onslaught of more wretched tears. “I’d better go now. I
have to make my plane.”

“Bye, Ellie,” Grace said softly. “See you soon.”

*

“What do you mean, she’s gone? Where the hell is
she?”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Sutherland,” Ellie’s efficient secretary said.
“All she said was that she had to leave the island for a few days.”

Aidan stormed out of Ellie’s office suite and returned to his
own. Where the hell had she disappeared to? What “emergency” did she have to run
off to?

He’d seen her dashing away from the terrace over an hour ago
and would’ve gone after her, but he’d been waylaid by some returning guests
who’d insisted on talking his ear off.

Not that he would ever complain about the resort’s guests since
they provided a portion of the hefty income that kept Sutherland Corporation in
business. But frankly, he’d had his fill of all those overly made-up,
bikini-clad socialites whose only job was to spend money jetting from one
destination point to the next, according to the season.

And another thing. He didn’t understand any woman who piled on
makeup and perfume just to sit and sweat by a pool in the tropics, but that was
a question for another day.

He knew Ellie had seen him on the terrace, but she hadn’t
stopped and waited for him. He’d figured she was in a hurry to get somewhere and
he would find her later. The minute he’d seen her on the terrace, he’d concocted
a plan to whisk her away to the rain forest for a sultry afternoon of lovemaking
under the waterfall. He missed having her in his arms.

But when he’d gotten back to his office, he’d found her text
message saying she was leaving the island. That’s what he got for forgetting his
phone in the office. That was another thing he blamed entirely on Ellie. He’d
been so discombobulated by her behavior lately that he was forgetting to tie his
own shoelaces. Yesterday, he’d almost missed their weekly conference call with
the New York investors. Logan had been forced to send out a search party for
him.

“Not important right now,” he muttered. He needed to figure out
where Ellie had gone and go after her. He tried calling her cell phone, but she
didn’t answer. Where in hell had she gone?

“I hope you’re happy.”

He turned and saw Grace standing at his doorway. “Why? What do
you know?”

“I just know that Ellie is the best thing that ever happened to
you and you’re going to lose her.”

“No, I’m not,” he said a bit desperately. “You know where she’s
gone. Tell me so I can go after her.”

“Why?”

Aidan stared at her, wondering if Grace was losing her grip on
reality.

“What do you mean, why? Because I need her here, that’s
why.”

“Yes, but why do you need her?” Grace folded her arms over her
chest, tipped her head to one side and narrowed her gaze on him. “Did she forget
to sign an important contract? Did she neglect to make a phone call to a new
client?”

Logan walked up and stood behind Grace. Aidan glared at his
brother, but Logan just smiled and wrapped his arm around Grace.

“I don’t have time for this,” Aidan said. He checked his phone
for the tenth time in two minutes, but there were no new messages from
Ellie.

With an abrupt huff of frustration, Grace stomped her foot.
“Aidan, why do you want to go after Ellie?”