Page 55 of Boss's Baby: A Fake Fiance Romance

Chapter 24

CASSIDY

I barely had time to process the conversation before a wave of nausea hit me hard. At first I thought it might be the food not digesting well, but whatever it was, I needed to run to the bathroom, and fast. I burst from my chair and rushed out of the room. Of course, the house was so damn big that I couldn’t find the nearest bathroom right away. But after some doing, I finally opened the right door and was soon inside.

This time, the nausea didn’t fade as it had before. It was intense and overwhelming, and I turned on the faucet before dropping to my knees in front of what had to be the fanciest-looking toilet I’d ever seen in my life and let it rip. Every bite of what I’d just eaten came out into the basin, and when I was done, my stomach ached and my face felt hot.

I took a few moments to compose myself before finally feeling like I could get up. When I did, I stepped in front of the mirror and looked at my reflection. The color had drained completely from my face—I was white as a sheet. Between the vomiting and the conversation with Sam, I looked like I’d gotten the fright of my life.

After washing my face, I went through the bathroom drawers, eventually finding an unopened travel toothbrush and a small container of toothpaste. I did what needed to be done, taking one last look at my reflection and heading out of the bathroom.

The conversation had shaken me, but at that moment I was more focused on the nausea. Not only was it not going away but it was getting worse. I needed to find out what was wrong with me—as much as I wanted to ignore and hope it would go away, it wasn’t. Katie was right, and I needed to make an appointment with Dr. Shaw.

But later. For now, I had to get back with the rest of the family and not look like I was nervous as hell at the idea of being around Sam after what we’d talked about.

After a little poking around I found the study, Josh and his brother and dad there already. The three of the were enjoying some after-lunch drinks, and every pair of eyes fell on me as I entered. For a moment, I worried they all suspected what I’d been doing in the bathroom. But no way—how could they know?

Walter spoke first. “There she is. Come on in, Cassidy. Join us.”

I stepped into the room almost as though I wasn’t welcome. Hell, after the conversation I’d had with Sam, it wasn’t the most farfetched thing to think. But the sliver-smile was gone from Sam’s face—he was doing some acting as surely as Josh and I were.

“Something to drink?” asked Walter. “Wine, a cocktail? Plenty of beer too.”

The booze thing, the nausea. More to hide, more to lie about.

“Some sparkling water with lime would be great.”

Walter smiled and clapped his hands down on his knees. “Your wish is my command. Joshua, why don’t you tell Cassidy about what we have going on tonight.”

With that, Walter was off to the bar on the other side of the room.

“We’re doing something tonight?”

“We are. You’re familiar with Jonas Victor?”

I sure was. “You mean the other richest guy in town?” I scolded myself as soon as the words came out of my mouth, betraying my working-class fixation on money once again.

Walter laughed from the other side of the room. “One way to put it.” His deep voice easily carried.

“He’s a close family friend,” said Sam.

I imagined Dad being in the room, making some crack about how it made sense all of the rich guys in town knew each other—that’s how they stay so rich, you see. But I put that out of my mind.

“And like us,” said Josh, “he throws a Christmas party every year. We’re all invited, of course.”

Walter returned with a highball glass filled with my drink. I took a long sip, happy to be able to not have to pretend to enjoy something with alcohol. And the lime made it all the more refreshing.

“Another fancy party,” I said. “You guys sure know how to do the holidays right.”

Walter sat back down and picked up his cocktail glass. “We like to think so. But don’t worry—it’s not exactly a winter formal sort of thing. Wear something nice, but keep your best for our Christmas Eve party.”

Parties and parties and parties. So many eyes on me and Josh and my ring. I worried for a moment whether or not I’d be able to survive the next few days.

“It’ll be fun,” said Josh. “You’ll get to know some of the other wives—maybe make a friend or two. And plenty live in New York like us, so you’ll be able to easily keep in touch.”

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