Page 11 of Calamity Rayne Knocked Up

“I can’t.”

He scowled. “Why the hell not?”

“The doctor said I’m not supposed to drink right now.”

“That’s not until you get pregnant, Meyers. Alcohol’s historically proven to help make that happen. Drink it.”

I took the cold glass from him, mostly because I didn’t feel like arguing. My gaze drifted over its cloudy contents to the clock on the wall as I sipped. Ten a.m.

Remington returned to his desk with a matching martini. “I never tried to get any of my wives pregnant.”

Remington got more than a few wives pregnant over the years. Although, technically, Jasmine—Hale’s beautiful-cheating-manipulative-ex-girlfriend and Elara’s biological mother—was now married to Remington as part of a legal hush settlement. But I was sure there were plenty of other accidentalwhoopsiesover the years. There seemed an endless line of gold diggers who looked at Remington Davenport like a retirement plan. His age never seemed to matter to any of them.

But for me, he was just a friend, a boss, and a father figure. “We don’t know if the issue’s with me or Hale.”

“That’s your problem, Meyers. Youworry too much.” He sipped and flinched. “What the hell kind of olives does she have stocked?” His finger punched into the receiver on his desk, and he barked, “Sophie, where did you get these olives?”

“At the Winn-Dixie, sir.”

He shook his head. “I order my olives from Southern Europe. Get on the computer and get me some …”

“Spanish Queens,” I provided, knowing far more about this man than anyone should.

“Spanish Queens,” he snapped, then disconnected the intercom. Fishing out his sad little olive, he examined it and tossed it back into his glass. “No one cares about the minor details anymore.”

I set my martini down and went back to slouching. There were no answers for me here, but Remington had comfortable furniture, and at the moment, I felt safe and hidden in his oversized chair. His office was my favorite place to procrastinate.

“Schedule the tests, Meyers. Then, when you see nothing’s wrong, you can unload that worry and get back to old-fashioned fucking.”

I winced. “Remington.”

“Are we pretending a stork’s going to bring the baby? Grow up. Babies come fromfucking. Just keep having sex, and you’ll get it right one of these times.”

Why did men simplify everything down to sex? “Well, you’ve been no help at all.”

“Last time I helped, I got in trouble. Something tells me your other half would prefer you not share these details with me.”

He was right. Hale was very private, especially where his intrusive father was concerned. “On that note…” I stood and waved a hand at the documents I brought in with me. “Your reports are finished and I emailed over the stats on the Highlander deal. I’m still waiting on the analytics for the new account, but everything else is done.”

“Don’t let that Davis fella push you around, Meyers. He told us we’d have the analytics by Tuesday, and it’s now Wednesday. We're taking our business elsewhere if he doesn’t have something in your inbox. Show him you have sharp teeth behind that smile. It’ll feel good to take your frustrations out by firing someone.”

I hated letting people go, so it was more likely to add to my stress than anything else. I had checked my emails while waiting at the doctor’s office that morning, and Ialready knew Davis hadn’t emailed the analytics report yet.

“Let’s just give him until?—”

“Meyers.” Remington met my stare with stern authority. “We don’t make exceptions. If people want to do business with us, they meet our deadlines. If the analytics aren’t there when you get back to your desk, fire him and hire someone more dependable.”

“Fine.” He knew I hated confrontation. “But aren’t you at least curious about his?—”

“No. I take no interest in incompetent people. Now, get to work.”

I pressed my lips into a flat line and stood, slugging back the rest of my chilled martini. “As always, this has been a real treat. Thanks for your help.”

“I gave you sound advice.”

“Thanks for that,” I mumbled as I left his office. Because without Remington’s revolutionary advice, I might have never concluded that sex could lead to pregnancy. Things would be much easier now that I figured that out.

When I got to my desk I spent twenty minutes avoiding my inbox and tidying up my work from yesterday. As expected, there was no email from Davis.

---