Page 15 of Billionaire's Baby Mistake

Everyone scrabbles around me while I remain still, gripping Zaya for dear life, willing her to wake up. She doesn’t, though. She’s still passed out when the ambulance arrives, and the paramedics whip her away, leaving me hollow and alone.

“Wrap this up,” I tell Steve quickly. “I’m going to go to the hospital. There isn’t time for one of the HR girls to check on her emergency contact, and I don’t want her to wake up alone.”

“Sure, of course…”

But I don’t wait for him to answer, not when my head is messed up. So instead, I dive into my car and drive away, moving as quickly toward the hospital as possible. It makes me feel bad that I know so little about Zaya… does she have a family I could call? Does she have some underlying illness that I know about? Is there something else I should be doing here? I have to get to the hospital and hope she’s okay…

“Shewillbe fine,” the doctor says, doing her best to reassure me. “She’s just severely dehydrated, so the IV drip will help her.”

“When do you think that she’ll come back around?” I ask in a panicked state. “Is it normal to be out this long?”

“We will keep her for the night so I wouldn’t worry too much about that. All her vital stats look good, but I would rather watch her for now. You can go home if you like. We’ll call you if anything changes.”

I shake my head quickly, already knowing that isn’t the case. There is no way that I can leave Zaya alone in this cold, soulless building, knowing that she will wake up confused and alone. I don’t care how long it takes… I’ll be here whatever. “No, I want to stay.”

“And who are you to her if you don’t mind me asking? Someone mentioned you’re her boss, but this seems a little too… kind.”

I stare at Zaya sleeping, wanting to unload just a bit, and this kind stranger seems like the best way to do that. “We’re more than that,” I whisper. “I like her a lot. She likes me too… at least, I think she does.”

“Oh well, that’s lovely,” she smiles, patting my arm. “I’m sure she does feel the same way about you. And even if she doesn’t, she will see when she wakes up your smiling face looking down at her.”

As soon as she’s left me behind, I slide into the chair and gaze down at Zaya, just looking at her and studying her face carefully. She might not know it, and it might have taken me a long time to see it, but she’s changed me a lot. Never before would I watch someone sleep. Never before would I have cared about how one of my conquests was doing. Never before would I have felt my heart fluttering over someone like this.

Maybe I like Zaya more than I admit, even to myself. But, on the other hand, perhaps I’m falling deeply in love. Oh God, I don’t even know what to do about it. I don’t know how I’m supposed to act, so I pull my phone out of my pocket and dial the number of the only woman I know who can help me.

“Alex, are you okay?” She always panics whenever I ring, making me feel bad for not calling more often. “Has something happened?”

I can’t see any point in holding back. She already suspects, so I might as well tell her everything. “Mom, I think I’m falling for someone.”

“You are?” she gasps out happily. “Oh wow, that’s great news. Who is she? When did you meet her? When do I get to meet her?”

“Well, actually, she works at the company….” I know she won’t like that part, but luckily she doesn’t comment. “And I will introduce her to you soon enough.”

“Tell me everything about her….”

As I talk, looking down at Zaya, I feel like everything might be okay. With just a few words, Mom has already made me feel a little better, which can only be good.

Zaya

“Ugh,”IgrumbleasI slowly come back around, wondering what the hell is happening. “Where am I?”

The last thing I can remember is feeling sick on team building day, and now I seem to be in a white room. It is piercing white with strange yellowing lights above me. This definitely isn’t somewhere I know. I force myself to sit up, even though my body feels achy all over. I want to look around, and as I try to move my arm, the needle attached to a drip tugs painfully; the mystery is solved. Whatever has happened to me - however sick I got - I somehow ended up in the hospital, which worries me. Apart from the aching, I feel mostly okay, but who can be sure?

I reach for the button to call the nurse to explain everything to me when my eyes fall on a sleeping Alex. My heart is skipping a beat. What the hell is he doing here in the hospital with me? He could have just piled me into the ambulance and sent me on my way… this is too much for an employee. This is too much for even someone he’s seeing. We aren’t together; we never will be because of how things are, so this is intense. But my chest swells with warmth and adoration for this man. I can’t believe how much he cares.

I move slowly out of bed, taking the drip with me, and I edge nearer to his sleeping face, drinking in everything about him. Now I don’t just see the rugged handsomeness that the rest of the world does; I can see the sweet man underneath. The guy who cares more about everyone else than himself, the man I like even though I can’t. I can clearly see now that he isn’t my enemy, even if he is, and that makes it difficult. But I have to plow on and continue. I can find someone else; I won’t have another Dad, and I won’t ever be able to get my revenge again. God this sucks. When I started this plan, I had no idea how much it was going to suck.

Then, as my eyes fall down his body, I notice something I don’t usually see because he has it hidden under his tie. It’s key to his office, giving me one chance to get this done: the mold that will solve all my problems.

I don’t want to, not right now when he’s been so good to me, but I have to, don’t I? If I don’t, I’ll never get a chance like this again. I will always regret it. So it’s a head versus heart situation, and that’s a killer. With a racing heart, I grab the pile of clothes next to the bed when forced into a horrible hospital gown, and I quickly find the casting material. I’ve always kept it with me, just in case, but I don’t think I ever expected it to come about. But now that it’s here and I have the opportunity to do this, everything feels conflicted.

You have to do this,I scold myself.Think of Dad and everything he’s done for you. Remember that this is the only chance you’ll ever get.So with a pang of heavy, cold guilt in my heart, I gently slide the key upward and make the print. It feelssowrong and makes me feel like the worst person in the world in the midst of such kindness, but I know I have to do it. This isn’t about Alex and me; it has never been/ That’s what I need to remember. As soon as I can move on with my life, chances are I will forget everything about this whole affair, anyway, and I’ll be able to move on and fall in love. At least I’ve proved that I can fall for someone decent. This might be the one thing to prove that I am attracted to more than just bad boys...

I hope I haven’t become the bad girl along the way.

I wanted Alex to fall for me so I could break his heart, but now I get the sense that I might be on the way doing that, especially with this key cast, and it doesn’t feel as good as I expected.

As soon as I have the cast, I make my way back into bed and grab hold of my phone to text Van. If I don’t do this now, I risk the opportunity to talk myself out of it, which I’m already so dangerously close to doing. I still don’t want to involve this man, not when I don’t trust him, but I need someone to turn this print into a key, and I can’t exactly do that while stuck here.

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