Page 1 of The Workaholic Down the Hall

CHAPTER ONE

Aubrey

Noah's head was bent, his eyes on his computer screen, his focus intense and total on his work. His dark hair was longer than I'd ever seen it, and it was mussed liked he'd been running his hands through it. It had been six months since I'd seen him and something that had been tight and hard in the center of my chest eased and relaxed at the sight of him.

His tie was loosened, his suit jacket hanging on the back of his chair, and his shoulders bunched as he frowned at what he read on his screen. I used to see him like this every day, and I'd been confident back then that he'd look up and smile, be glad to see me. He'd ask me to help him with some problem that was taunting him or he'd invite me to his place to watch a ball game. His fingers moved over the keys, quick and competent and I remembered how they'd moved over my skin, how they'd tangled with mine as he'd pressed hot kisses to my throat and thrust into me. A flash of heat washed over me at the memory, but the lust was mixed with sorrow, because one night of his hands on me had been the end of us. He sighed and mumbled something at the screen, still unaware of my presence. It was a side of him few people saw, the frustration, the worry, but I'd seen it. I'd seen him confident and sure in the board room and I'd seen him stressing over his family's business, wondering how he'd keep it afloat. I'd seen him on my couch, relaxed and rooting for our favorite teams.

Now, I was entirely unsure of my welcome. My heart pounded with nerves and my jaw tightened as though I could physically control the next several moments, as though I could bite down hard and hold onto something I knew was lost.

I felt the burp start in my belly as a bit of gassy discomfort and I shifted on my feet. I wasn't ready for him to look up, for him to see me. The burp rose into my throat and I knew I wouldn't be able to hold it back. It was too late to run from the room. My digestive system was nothing like it had once been. I pinched my lips shut tight and managed to keep the burp mostly quiet, but it made enough of a sound to get Noah's attention. He looked up and for a moment, just the hint of a moment, his frown lifted, his gray eyes lightened, and he rose to his feet. Just as quickly, his expression slammed shut and he sat. “Did you sneak past my assistant?” His tone was sharp, curt, nothing like the way he used to speak to me.

“She wasn't at her desk.” I took a step toward him. “Noah, I—”

“She's the third assistant I've had to hire since you left, Aubrey. Looks like I'll need to find another.”

“She probably just took a bathroom break. You do allow her to take bathroom breaks, don't you?” I teased him, hoping to get him to thaw a bit, hoping to get him to look at me, really look at me.

He dropped his eyes back to his computer. “I'm busy. What do you want?”

“I thought you might like to get lunch, so we could talk. You haven't returned my calls, Noah. I need—”

He looked up and raw anger flickered in his eyes. “I needed my assistant, my friend, and you left without a word of explanation. I don't owe you anything.”

“Noah, after what happened, you have to understand—”

“I don't have to understand anything. You made your choice and I've moved on.”

What did that mean? How had he moved on? Was he seeing someone? The thought shouldn't have bothered me, shouldn't have made my hands fist with the desire to fight, but I had as little control over my emotions lately as I had over my digestive system. “Noah, please. I want to explain, I just want—”

“You should go,” he said, his eyes back on the computer screen. “I don't have time for this.”

“Please.” I wasn't ashamed of begging. “Something's happened and I need—”

“You need to hear me when I ask you to leave.” His face was now expressionless, cold. His full lips were set in a tight line, his sculpted jaw tense. “I can't do this right now. I don't want to do this at all.”

I wanted to turn and walk out, but this wasn't just about me, not anymore. “There's something I have to tell you, Noah. Something you need to hear.”

That intense focus of his zeroed in on my face, and his mask, the one he wore for tense business meetings, settled firmly into place. I knew I wouldn't get through that mask. I'd never seen anyone manage it, not even his sister, Jill. He rose and stalked across the room until he was so close I could smell his cologne, so close that if he dropped his gaze, if he could see anything past his own rage, he'd see how my belly had grown. But he didn't look down. I wasn't sure he was even seeing me at all. “I'm only going to say this one time, so try and pay attention. I want you to turn around and walk out, and I don't ever want to see you again. I don't want to hear your name. There is nothing you could say or do that would change my mind about that.”

I swallowed hard. I'd suspected he wouldn't react well, but I hadn't expected him to kick me out before I'd told him about the baby. “Please, Noah, I'm just asking for five minutes of your time.”

His mask cracked a tiny bit around the eyes and some emotion I couldn't place flitted there. I thought he was going to give in, I thought he was going to give me another chance, but the mask moved back into place as quickly as it had faded. “No,” he said. He turned from me and walked back to sit behind his desk. “Leave now, or I'll call security and have you removed from my office.”

I swallowed hard and squared my shoulders, determined not to cry in front of him. “Noah, I'm—”

“Is this woman bothering you?” A woman with long, blond curls, a curvy body, and a really cute outfit shoved past me and stood between me and Noah's desk like she was going to physically hold me back if necessary.

“If you had been at your desk, Nina,” Noah said. “She wouldn't have gotten this far.”

Nina winced, but she didn't back down. Since when had Noah become such a colossal dick? She glared at me like it was my fault she was in trouble. “You need to turn around and leave, or I'm going to call security.”

I popped onto my tiptoes to peer over her head at Noah, but he wasn't even looking my way. He was focused on his computer screen, his fingers tapping at the keys like he'd already forgotten me.

I almost blurted out the truth, almost told him that I was carrying his child, but I doubted he would hear anything I said. I doubted even more he'd believe me and I…I knew if I told him and his mask didn't crack or fade, if I had to face his cold denial or worse his horror or disgust, I'd fall to pieces. I'd been so emotional lately, been feeling so alone. I'd always prided myself on being independent and strong, but lately I'd just been terrified. Terrified of raising our child alone, of finding a way to tell Noah, of his rejection. I'd tell him, but maybe I'd do it over email or voice mail. I knew that was the coward's way out, but my presence clearly disgusted him. Not to mention that I wasn't interested in announcing the news in front of a hostile audience.

I turned and I walked back out of his office, past the desk that used to be mine, and to the elevator. I bit my bottom lip not to cry, because I knew, once I started, I wouldn't stop. I pulled in deep breaths through my nose as people got on and off the elevator, until I was sure I wouldn't break down.

I stepped off the elevator and made my way to a public restroom that was a few feet from the front doors of the building. I locked myself in the first stall, rested my forehead against the cool metal door and I let it all go. I cried because it had hurt to see Noah's reaction to me. I knew I'd been wrong to disappear from his life after our night together, a night he was too drunk to remember, but I'd expected him to at least hear me out, to at least give me a chance to explain. He was done with me. He'd moved on and I was just an interruption to his day, a problem he didn't want to deal with. I cried for our baby who'd grow up without her father, without the happy family I longed to give her. I cried for myself because I had no idea how to raise a child and I was scared, I was scared that I'd hurt her, that I wouldn't be enough for her, that I wouldn't be able to provide for her the happy childhood I'd never had. I cried until I didn't have any tears left and then I pulled in a deep breath, wiped my eyes, straightened my spine, and left that bathroom stall because giving up and dissolving into a puddle of sorrow and fear was not an option.

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