Page 33 of Baby Bombshell for the Boss

Elliot watched her go, feeling in awe of what he had just seen. Somehow, he had run into someone who had told him exactly what he’d needed to hear. It felt almost irresponsible to not call Ivy now.

He didn’t know what he was going to say to her. He didn’t know what he was capable of offering her. But he did think he had to try.

Before he could pull up her number, though, the phone rang. It was an unknown number, and ordinarily he would have ignored a call like that, but he found himself wanting to answer it, if only because it would give him a bit of breathing room before he had to face speaking to Ivy and the fact that he still didn’t know what he was going to say when he did.

“Hello?” he said.

“Is this Elliot Livingston?”

“Yes, who am I speaking to?”

“My name is Ginger. I’m a nurse at Grace Memorial Hospital.”

Elliot frowned. The word hospital sent a shock of anxiety through him. “What’s this regarding?”

“I got your number from Ivy Archer,” Ginger said. “She’s a patient here. We wanted to call someone for her, and she eventually gave us your number.”

“Is she all right?” he demanded. “What’s the matter with her?” His mental wrestling over whether or not he was really in love was completely forgotten.

“She’s fine,” Ginger assured him. “We’re going to release her tonight, but she’s a little shaken up. She didn’t want me to contact you, but I insisted — I’d like someone to be with her tonight, if that’s something you’re able to do.”

“Of course I can,” Elliot said quickly. It wasn’t even a question. “I’m on my way there right now. I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes. I just need to catch a cab.”

“No rush,” Ginger assured him. “We’ll keep an eye on her until you arrive. And please don’t worry. I promise, everything is all right.”

Elliot knew she wouldn’t have lied to him, but at the same time, he had trouble trusting what he was hearing. He hailed the first cab he saw. “Grace Memorial,” he told the driver. “Quickly.”

The whole ride there, his heart was pounding. What could have happened to make her admit herself to the hospital? It had to be something to do with the baby. And Ginger had said she was all right, but she’d also said she was shaken up — she must have been worried. Had she been in pain? Was she still?

I should have been there for her. It was the one thought that kept running through his mind, riding a current of guilt and shame. He hadn’t been ready to embrace fatherhood. He had pushed her away, telling himself that his money was enough to fulfill his responsibilities to her. But tonight brought home to him in a dramatic way that money had never been enough, and never could be. Ivy was alone in a city where she knew no one. She had needed someone with her tonight, and that someone should have been him. He had made her feel as if she couldn’t turn to him for help when things went wrong, and for that, he was ashamed.

Regardless of how they felt about one another — regardless of the role he did or didn’t want in the baby’s life — he had to do better. The next time she needed something, he would make sure she had someone she knew she could turn to. She wouldn’t be alone like that. Not ever again.

CHAPTER 15

ELLIOT

“So it’s just heartburn?” Elliot asked. “You’re completely sure?”

“I’m embarrassed,” Ivy said quietly. She was sitting on the edge of her hospital bed avoiding eye contact with him. “I told them they didn’t need to call you over something so minor.”

“But it was bad enough that you felt like you needed to come to the hospital.”

“I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Of course you should have,” he said. “If you were in pain and it worried you…”

She sighed. “I only came in because the medical account you arranged was so robust and I knew I could afford it,” she admitted. “It didn’t feel smart to not get something checked out. I think if I hadn’t had that account in place, I probably would have stayed home and waited to see if it would settle on its own — which it did.”

“You did the right thing,” he told her. “That’s why I wanted that account to be there for you. I wanted you to get things like this checked out. It was nothing this time, but what if it had been something and you’d felt like you couldn’t come to the hospital? I can’t even imagine.”

She looked up at him. “So you’re not angry? Even though I spent money and it turned out I didn’t have to?”

“It’s just money,” he said. “We have more than enough of that. I don’t ever want you to hesitate when it comes to your health, or the health of the baby. If you get the hiccups and you feel uneasy about that, come get it checked out. Never worry that I’m going to be angry about it. I promise I never will.”

Ivy sighed. “I’m still embarrassed,” she said. “But thank you. I do appreciate that.”

“The nurse said I should stay with you tonight.”

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