Nerves a tangled mess, Emily stepped from the elevator into Blake Industries.
Beaming, Gavin’s secretary stood from her desk. “Hey, Emily!” she chirped, gathering her into a hug. When she pulled back, her smile widened as she gave Emily a once-over. “Not too much longer.”
“Yeah. Not much at all.” Emily shifted in her heels, wondering why she was wearing them. Her swollen belly had nothing on her feet at that point. “I’m ready to be done with this pregnancy.”
“I bet. The last few weeks can be brutal, but it’s so worth it at the end. Before you know it, you’ll have a little life in your arms. You’ll forget each second of discomfort. You and Mr. Blake won’t be able to contain your excitement.” Emily gave her a weak smile. Natalie was on the long list of people who didn’t know the real scenario. With trepidation in her brown eyes, Natalie tilted her head. “Can I… feel?”
“Of course.” Emily took her hand and placed it on her stomach. “He’s very active this afternoon.” And he was. Emily swore her little man was doing cartwheels. Under the silk of her sundress, her flesh rolled in waves with his squirming movements.
“God, I remember this,” Natalie sighed. “Well, enjoy it. There will come a time in your life when you realize this was one of the best parts.”
Emily gave another weak smile and glanced toward Gavin’s office. “Is he available?”
Natalie nodded. “Yep. He just finished up a meeting, so you caught him at a good time.”
“Thanks, Natalie. I’ll catch up with you on my way out.”
“Sounds good,” she said, reclaiming her seat, her attention focused on the ringing phone.
Nerves instantly spiking again, Emily headed for Gavin’s office. With a quick knock, she pushed open the door. Her heart clenched the moment her eyes landed on Gavin’s smiling face. Little did he know she was about to throw a corkscrew in his day. Phone in one hand, he signaled for her to wait with the other. She sighed, taking in his relaxed demeanor. Suit jacket off and tie loose around his neck, he lazily rocked in his leather chair, talking business. Dropping her purse onto his desk, Emily settled on his lap, hoping she wasn’t crushing him. He slid his arm around her waist, his hand massaging her belly. Trying to calm her anxiety, she ran her fingers through his soft black hair. God, she loved this man, but she couldn’t help but feel as though she was the devil about to deliver bad news.
“That’s exactly what I want to hear, Bruce. We’ll be in touch.” On that note, he hung up, his grin contagious as he gazed into Emily’s eyes. “A midday surprise.” He brushed his lips along her jaw. “Are you presenting yourself as lunch to me?”
Emily pulled in a breath, her mind telling her to just come out and say it. No skirting around. No hesitation. Just say it. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she pressed her forehead to his. Her eyes locked on those mystifying baby blues. “There’s a blood paternity test. It has no risks, and we can have the results in days. I know we’re almost at the end of this road, but we could find out a few weeks early. We can finally be done with this… this waiting.” Emily watched his face pale. Watched those beautiful eyes cloud over, desolation replacing the playfulness they’d held less than a minute ago. She felt his strong, hard body sag.
His hand dropped from her stomach as he looked away… then his whispered words sank her, gutted her open. “I’ve known about the test for a couple of months.” He brought his eyes back to hers.
His statement bounced around in Emily’s head. Staring at his face, bleeding something parallel to shame, she tried to swallow. She felt dizzy as she stood, resting her hand on his desk for balance. “You’ve known?” she breathed, her eyes misting over with tears and confusion. “You’ve known about it and didn’t say anything to me?”
Gavin rose and brought his hand to her cheek, but she flinched away. For a second, he found his voice trapped, felt his heart sink. He knew the lie he was harboring would upset her, but hell, her reaction was tearing him apart. He nodded, stepping back. “I have.”
“For how long?” she asked, her voice cracking.
“After we found out it was a boy.” Gavin looked at the floor, remembering the day he couldn’t keep his curious fingers from clicking around the internet. A son. His possible son had fueled a need so deep within him to see if there were other options, he’d thought he was going crazy. He spent half the day online. Once he found out they could have the answer so fast, fear shot through him. Frozen in front of his computer, Gavin realized the answer may not be what he wanted to hear, what he needed to hear. It also brought on a slew of fucked up emotions he wasn’t prepared to handle. For the most part, he felt Emily was carrying his child, but as he stared at the screen, his faith vanished.