Page 97 of Forbidden Boss (Manhattan Billionaires)

“It was wonderful, but it’s good to be back in the city.”

I hummed in agreement. My heart was beating rapidly, all my carefully planned speeches fluttering out of my brain as the woman across from me read me like a book.

“You’re not going to work for me,” she guessed—correctly, “and you’re here to let me down easy.”

I let out a long breath that ended on a weak laugh. “No wonder Wilbur takes you along to all your social engagements.”

Roseanne laughed, then looked at me with such kindness that I nearly changed my mind.

But I’d had two months to think about this, and there was only one way forward. I liked Roseanne and Wilbur. I liked them a lot.

I couldn’t lie to them.

If I were to accept the job as Roseanne’s stylist, I’d have to come clean about my contract with Rome. And if I did that, I’d be breaking my NDA. Worse, though…

I’d be hurting Rome.

No matter what happened between us, our time together had been intense and full of so much joy that I was hardly able to contain it all. He was a complicated man who closed himself off when I wanted him to open.

But at the end of the day, I loved him. I loved him so much that thinking about him felt like a hundred daggers quivering in my chest. I loved him enough to give up my dream job, to sit here and politely turn down a future that would provide stability and growth for the price of hurting the man I loved. I couldn’t do it.

“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your offer, Roseanne,” I started, “but I have to refuse for personal reasons.”

“May I ask why?”

I took a deep breath. “Rome and I have gone our separate ways,” I admitted. “I think it’s best for my own sanity that I try to avoid the circles where he spends his time.”

“I didn’t take you for a coward.” Her gaze was sharp. She saw right through me.

I shrugged. “I guess you were wrong.”

“There’s something you’re not telling me, but I’m going to let it go for now. How’s the baby?”

I jerked back, and Roseanne laughed.

“Don’t look so shocked. I could tell when you came down to visit us before the holidays, darling. It’s more than obvious now.” She gave me a loaded look, and I leaned back in my chair, laughing.

“The baby is a gift,” I said simply. “I can’t wait to meet her.”

Roseanne smiled at me. We finished our drinks while we talked about fashion, and then she left me sitting there, feeling exhausted and wrung out.

I’d turned down the opportunity of a lifetime, and that was okay. The last opportunity of a lifetime had landed me pregnant and on my own, so I was happy to play it safe for a while.

“You!” a voice cut through the noise of my thoughts and drew my gaze to the café entrance. Penny stood there, red-haired and freckle-faced, a little boy on her hip, a furious expression on her face. “You’ve been avoiding us! I thought we talked about this when Layla was playing the ostrich with her head in the sand.” She stomped over to me and loomed over my table, as much as someone so short could. She pulled her phone out of her purse and, one-handed, tapped on it and put it to her ear. “Bonnie? I just found Nikki. Hurry up and get to the coffee shop, because I’m not letting her out of my sight, and I don’t know if she’s going to make a run for it.”

“There’s no need to be dramatic,” I said, trying to make it sound like a joke—but there was a weight in my chest that I didn’t want to look at too closely.

Penny stood beside my chair, boxing me in, while her boy wriggled his way out of her grasp and crawled onto the seat across from me.

“Hello, Tim,” I said to him.

“Hi.” He pulled a toy car out of his pocket and started making engine noises, driving the car along the strip of pale beige that ran along the edge of the table.

“Where have you been?” Penny accused. “We stopped by your place and heard you’d moved! And you’ve barely been answering our texts.”

“Well…I’ve been in hibernation,” I admitted. “Some might say I’ve been nesting.” I ran my hand down the front of my loose tunic dress, letting the fabric trace the outline of my tiny bump.

Penny’s eyes grew huge. Her jaw dropped. She widened her stance like she’d bodily block me if I tried to make a run for it and got her phone out once more. “Bonnie! Hurry! There’s an emergency here!”

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