Page 45 of Baby Bombshell for the Boss

“You still will be,” Ivy said. “If I live in the building, it’ll be the perfect solution for us, don’t you think? You’ll be able to come visit whenever you want. And as for the nursery…” She sighed. “I’m really sorry about that. I know that space was your office. I know I should have thought harder about what I wanted in the long term before I let you turn it into a nursery.”

“You don’t need to apologize,” Elliot said quickly. “I don’t care about that. I’ll still need a nursery. I’m still going to be a father.”

The look he gave her shook her resolve. It was almost pleading — as if he was afraid she was going to take fatherhood away from him too.

“That’s right,” she said quickly. “You will be. And I’m sure you’ll have the baby here some nights.” It was hard to imagine that, actually. The idea of letting her baby out of her own sight shook her to the core. Maybe it was a mistake to leave. She wrapped her arms around her belly, trying not to think too hard about a future moment when she would have to hand her baby to someone else — even his father, who she loved and trusted — and go back home alone.

The idea was anguish. No. She couldn’t move out. She had to stay here. Even if she could bring herself to leave Elliot behind, which she hardly could — how could she stand to share custody of her child? And what was the alternative — to try to keep the baby away from his or her father? She’d never do something like that.

But if she stayed, things would only get worse. She felt as if their sleeping together last night had broken a seal that she’d been fighting to hold intact. There was no repairing it now. They couldn’t undo what they had done. They couldn’t go back to living as just platonic coparents. Those days were over.

And she couldn’t stay here and allow her feelings for him to ruin their relationship. Things just weren’t steady enough between the two of them to take the risk. Not with so much at stake.

“Are you sure you have to do this?” Elliot asked, looking crushed. “Why don’t we take a few days and think about it?”

“No,” she said. “I didn’t come to this decision lightly, Elliot. I’ve been thinking about it. This is what I have to do. I’m sorry.”

It wasn’t quite true, of course. She’d only started thinking about this today — at least, she had started thinking seriously about it today. But it had been in the back of her mind for a whole lot longer, and maybe that was enough to justify what she was saying.

Elliot sighed and nodded. “If this is what you want, there’s an available unit a few floors down that I can let you have,” he said. “Do you want to go take a look at it?”

“There’s no need. I’m sure it’s fine,” she said. “When can I move in?”

“You’re in such a hurry?”

“There’s no point in dragging it out, right? I might as well go now that we’ve decided.” She hesitated. “I know this is weird. But we’re still going to see each other all the time. We still work together. And we’ll still be living in the same building.”

He nodded. “I know,” he said.

But things wouldn’t be the same. They were drawing a line here, whether they said it out loud or not. Ivy knew that was true. The easy relationship the two of them had fallen into was going to be dissolved as of today. It made perfect sense that this felt like a breakup. In a very real way, it was one.

Elliot drained his coffee mug. “I have to get to work,” he said. “But I’ll hire some movers to come get your things and take them to the other apartment.”

“You don’t have to hire anyone.” She’d counted on having his help, but she guessed that wasn’t a thing she should be relying on anymore. “I can move myself.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re eight months pregnant,” he said. “You’re not going to move anything.”

She nodded. He was right. And what he was saying made sense. He could afford to hire movers, and she understood why he wanted to get some distance from her right now. It wasn’t any different from what she was doing herself by moving out. “Okay,” she said. “That’s fine. You can hire someone. Do you think they’ll be able to come today?”

“I’m sure I can arrange it.” He got up from the table. “So I guess you’ll be moved out by the time I get home from work?”

Ivy felt sick to her stomach. This was happening so fast. A part of her longed to tell him no, to beg him to let her take it back. She wanted to stay.

But she couldn’t. The decision was made, and Ivy knew it was the right one. She owed it to herself now to stick with it, to see it through.

She owed it to her baby.

“Yeah,” she said. “If the movers can come today — I don’t have that many things here. I’ll need them to go over to my place, since I still have some stuff there. My old apartment, I mean. I don’t see any reason to keep it if I’m getting a place of my own in this building. I’ll have to pay a penalty for breaking my lease, but…”

“I’ll pay that,” Elliot said.

Ivy nodded. She’d grown accustomed to letting him pay for things, even though it had been so uncomfortable at the start. The fact of the matter was that he had the money, and there was no reason to refuse his offer when everything he paid for would eventually benefit their child. That was what this was all about, really.

“I appreciate that,” she said. “It’ll be good to cut ties with the past and get ready for the future. This is a good building, and I’m sure we’ll be happy here.”

“I think you will,” he agreed quietly. “But I’d better get to work. I’ll have the building manager bring up the key to the unit — it’s number one twenty-two. If you run into any problems, feel free to give me a call.”

“I will.” She wouldn’t. If Elliot wanted to help, he would stay home and help. He’d made it clear that he wanted her to handle this without him. That was the way things were going to be between the two of them from now on, and she was the one who’d initiated the change, so she knew she couldn’t complain about it. This was what she had wanted. This was what she had asked for, and now she was getting it. She had to take it in stride. It was the only appropriate thing to do.

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