Page 57 of Final Chance At Love (Chance At Love Duet 2)

My hand went to my little bump on my lower belly. I started to show although it was hard to spot it and could easily be mistaken for a little belly fat. I made a habit of wearing loose and light summer dresses which covered my little bump perfectly.

My thoughts would hit a roadblock each time I thought about how to explain this to my girls. They asked a few times about Kristoff since we arrived, but I just brushed off their questions. I told them he had a company to run and lots of work. I should have never let them meet him. By taking the job, I should have kept a distance. Instead, I let all lines get blurred, and everything got out of hand.

I felt a churning in my gut, and I wasn’t sure if it was the babies moving or me just feeling knots thinking about Kristoff. I found myself looking for his features in other men but nobody compared to him.

My U.S. phone buzzed and snapped me out of my thoughts.

I checked the caller ID and was surprised to see that it was Samuel Jr. The first day I arrived I sent him all my notes on projects that his dad was responsible for and that I was assisting them with. We agreed I’d take ten days to draft up our agreement for our new company so I had no idea why he’d be calling already.

“Hello.” I wasn’t sure why I decided to answer against my better judgement.

“Gemma,” Samuel exclaimed. “How are you?”

“Fine,” I answered. “You?”

“I was worried about you,” Samuel’s voice was sincere and worried. “I haven’t seen a single email from you and my dad tried to email you a few times without a reply. Kristoff has been acting like a caveman this whole week.” I knew he couldn’t resist putting a jab into Kristoff.

I laughed at his words. “Samuel, you should really stop teasing the man. Anyway, I am fine. I just resigned. I decided I’ll throw my full attention to building the business we talked about and truthfully, administrative work was never my strong suit.”

“And Kristoff was ok with you resigning?” he asked with disbelief

“Oh, yeah. He was totally fine with it.”

“I am surprised,” he commented. “But thrilled you are committed to building our business. I should take a page out of your book and we should just focus on that. What do you think?”

“I don’t know if you should leave Kristoff and your dad hanging like that,” I answered. “My job was just admin. You have a more important role in the company.”

“Don’t be so sure,” he snickered. “Where are you?” Samuel asked curiously.

“The girls and I took a vacation.” I realized my answer was curt, so I tried to change the subject. “How are your dad’s projects going?”

I was happy to switch the subject from my lame lies to him and his dad. He reluctantly started talking about the project he was trying to finish with his father for Kristoff’s company. I listened as he summarized the project and issues still remaining, happy to jump in with my suggestions, and still feeling as a semi-part of the project. He jotted down a few notes, glad to take my recommendations.

“You are brilliant, Gemma,” he said. “Those are great suggestions. See, that’s why we are going to be excellent business partners.”

I chuckled. “I think so too, Samuel. And thank you for picking me for it. ”

“You know, Kristoff is in a foul mood all the time now. I liked it better when you were around because then he was only in a bad mood when he saw you with me. You might want to consider coming back… for the rest of our sakes.”

I chuckled at Samuel’s exaggeration. “Not a chance. Stop exaggerating, it’s only been a few days! You should stop ruffling his feathers all the time, and you’d see him in a better mood, Samuel.”

“C’mon, Gemma. If you don’t feel sorry for him, at least do it for us.”

I knew he was teasing me and Kristoff had moved on even before I left. Maybe he was just stressed out, and idiot me feels sorry for him.

“I’m having a great time here so I’d rather not come back to deal with the bad moods of Kristoff Baldwin,” I said jokingly.

“Why do I have a feeling there is something you are not saying, Gemma?” His tone lapsed into serious. I’d come to appreciate Samuel’s perception in business but I disliked it when it came to me.

“If there is something I am not saying, Samuel, it is because I do not want to say it. And you should respect that.”

“Ah, I see,” he said, his voice fully understanding now. “Ah, speak of the devil. Here comes caveman Kristoff.”

“Don’t say anything!” I almost shouted out into the phone too quickly. So much for me keeping calm.

“Just a second,” Samuel said, although I wasn’t sure if he was talking to me. I could hear Kristoff’s voice speaking to Samuel but I couldn’t quite distinguish what he was saying. He certainly sounded agitated, but that was nothing new. Kristoff was always agitated around Samuel.

I debated whether I should just hang up. I could always tell Samuel later we lost the connection. After all, it was a cell phone.

---