Page 139 of Tangled up in You

Two months later.

She stared at herself in the mirror, turning one way, then the other. The long blazer she wore today would somewhat conceal her condition. She didn’t want people focusing on that—it was the science that mattered.

That’s when the baby kicked for the first time. It startled her and she gasped, her hand coming to rest on the swell of her belly.

Oh, boy.

Or…girl.

Or…nonbinary child.

This made it…

Real.

Part of her wanted to seek out the men.

Part of her didn’t want to see them at all, knowing she couldn’t handle their rejection and still keep her mask in place. And this presentation would be stressful enough as it was. Especially with her helicopter father hovering.

Why did I agree to doing this? Oh, yeah. Because I’m an idiot.

Her dad and Josie had taken the hint when she broke the news to them and added that she really didn’t want to discuss how she got pregnant, or who the father was. She invoked life being short, thinking it was perfect timing, and that she was happy.

Maybe Mom doesn’t believe me, but at least she helped keep Dad off my back.

That’s when she realized that although she hadn’t called Josie “Mom” yet, she was thinking about her as that.

She startled again at the knock on her hotel room door. “Sweetheart? Are you ready?”

“Hold on, Daddy.”

She grabbed her computer backpack and soon the three of them—and baby Brandt—were riding in the back of an SUV with one of their security team driving, heading toward the conference center. Another SUV with the rest of the security team followed.

“This is so exciting!” Josie said as she watched the landscape passing outside the windows. “It’s beautiful!”

“We’ll come back next spring,” her dad said. “Family trip. Right, Jesse?”

Jesse hoped her smile remained plastered to her face. “Yeah, sure. Family trip.”

She’d make sure to schedule important projects during that timeframe to make taking leave impossible.

“But no backwoods trails this time,” Josie said, her smile fading as she met Jesse’s gaze. “Right? I don’t want to lose you again.”

“Right,” Jesse agreed, now fighting back a prickle of tears.

She understood it was hormones, but it didn’t change the fact that it annoyed the snot out of her.

And Josie still carefully watched her, only changing her focus when Jesse’s dad asked Jesse questions about the presentation.

When they reached the conference center, Josie reached out and gently caught Jesse’s wrist after her dad climbed out first. “You can talk to me aboutanything,” Josie whispered. “You know that, right? I won’t tell him. I promise.”

Oh, crap.She blinked back another round of tears and nodded. “Thanks,” she whispered, easing her hand from Josie’s grip.

The private presentation was scheduled first, with the big-money companies receiving a private preview of the equipment and software with hopes of bidding their way into her dad’s heart and partnership. As a park employee escorted them to the private conference room, Jesse glanced around, hoping and dreading to spot either man.

And this wasn’t a secret event, so they’d likely know about it.

Right?

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