Page 29 of Baby Bombshell for the Boss

Don’t you bother me again, in other words.

Ivy probably wasn’t being fair. That probably wasn’t quite how he meant it. Still, it did hurt to be so quickly and easily dismissed by Elliot. After everything they’d been through together, and especially now that she was carrying his child, she had never imagined he would find it this easy to turn away from her. She had anticipated that they would eventually go their separate ways, but she had figured he would find it just as difficult as she had known she would.

That didn’t seem to be the case. Instead, it seemed like he was having no trouble at all ending their relationship. If anything, Ivy thought he seemed relieved to have more distance between them.

Well, that was fine, she told herself. If anything, that made it easier for her to say goodbye to him, because it allowed her to replace her memories of the good times they had shared with new ones. Now, when she thought of him, she would think about how cold he had been to her this week, how it had felt almost as if he didn’t even want to know her anymore after discovering her pregnancy.

It was impossible, under the circumstances, to wish that he had wanted to be more involved with her. How could she want that when it was so obvious that her presence was intolerable to him? All she wanted now was to be away from him, to leave him behind and start her life with her baby. She wanted to forget all about him. At least, that was what she told herself. And yet, she kept coming into this office, trying to persuade him to abandon his solitude, to come out and speak to her. She kept trying to make things normal between them again.

It was never going to happen. She had to admit that and move on.

“I don’t think there’s anything you need to sign,” she said, looking away from him. It was too hard to keep her eyes on him — there were too many memories there, and too many hopes that would never come true. “If there is, I’ll let them know to come speak to you. But I thought I would go home early today, if that’s all right with you.”

Now he did look at her. “Are you all right? You’re not sick, are you?”

She didn’t know why he pretended to care. Maybe he was just worried about medical bills if something went seriously wrong with her. He wasn’t worried about the baby, she knew that much. “No,” she said. “I’m not sick. I just don’t think I’m needed here for the rest of the day, so I might as well head home. Unless you feel like you need me here while they install the window treatments — but I wouldn’t think you would, since there’s not much help I can be.”

“No, you don’t have to stay,” Elliot agreed. “It’s fine with me if you’d like to leave early. Will you be coming in tomorrow?”

Ivy had the distinct feeling that he didn’t much care what answer she gave. It was all the same to him either way. “Maybe I’ll take tomorrow to myself,” she said, putting that theory to the test. “We do have a few decisions left to discuss, but maybe they can wait until Monday.”

“That’ll be fine.” Elliot looked down at the paperwork in front of him, and Ivy felt, as clearly as if he had said it aloud, that she had been dismissed.

How could this be so easy for him? It was painful for her even to be around him in the wake of what they had once had and what she had now lost. She was still so attracted to him, and every time she saw him she ached for the way it had felt to have him in her arms. She wanted to reach out for him. It almost felt as if — if she could only touch him again — she could bring him back to her somehow.

He was buried in his work, already ignoring her. There was no chance of it.

She turned and left the office. For a moment she lingered beside the contractors who were putting up the window treatments, tempted to stay even though she had said she was leaving. Maybe he would change his mind and come out of the office. Maybe he would…

What? What was she hoping for here, exactly? Nothing was going to change. Even if he did come out and talk to her, he wasn't going to transform into someone who wanted to be involved in the baby’s life. That ship had sailed. There was nothing more to be done about it.

Elliot was determined that the two of them should break things off — and Ivy knew that the right thing to do was to allow that to happen. She had to distance herself from him, just as he was doing with her. She couldn’t allow him to control what happened now.

So she straightened her spine and left the building. As much as it pained her to do so, it was the right thing. She had to get away from him on her own. She couldn’t let him be responsible for pushing her away altogether.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket as she stepped outside. She answered the call without looking at the screen. “Hello?”

“Has the idiot changed his mind yet?” Janelle asked, foregoing a greeting.

Ivy laughed, despite her inner turmoil. Her sister could always be counted upon to lighten the tension. “He’s not an idiot,” she chastised.

“Oh, yes he is.” Janelle was firm. “What kind of man thinks the answer to ‘I’m having your baby’ is ‘Here’s a bank account for your expenses’?”

“Well, it’s better than no bank account,” Ivy pointed out. “Babies are expensive.”

“But any fool would know that wasn’t what you wanted from him,” Janelle said.

“Yes, but he isn’t obligated to give me what I want.” Ivy had discovered that having these conversations with her sister was helpful. It allowed her to distance herself from her own hopes and disappointments. It served as a good way of reminding herself that Elliot hadn’t actually done anything wrong just because he had disappointed her, and that was a good thing to remember. “I didn’t ask him for his opinion when I decided I was going to go through with this pregnancy. He doesn’t have to want to be a parent just because I wanted to.”

“I guess not,” Janelle said. “Personally, I think he should get on board. What kind of man is he?”

“We know what kind of man he is,” Ivy said. “We’ve known all along because of all the pictures of him with models and other women. He’s a player. He’s a commitment-phobe. He’s not a family man. He never gave me any reason to suspect he might be, so I can’t exactly justify feeling all betrayed now that it turns out he’s exactly what it said on the label.”

“How’s it been going with him?” Janelle asked. “Being in the office with him, I mean. That can’t be much fun.”

“No, it’s been pretty terrible,” Ivy admitted. “He doesn’t seem to want anything to do with me these days. He shuts himself in his office and never comes out, and if I have something I need to discuss with him, he acts like it’s some kind of major inconvenience.”

“That’s annoying.”

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