Page 46 of Defying Her Arrogant Boss

Her blood turned to ice. He wasn’t looking at all happy. In fact, he wasn’t looking at her at all. He stared at the box he held, drumming his fingers on the top of it. All her fear came rushing to her. Every reaction she’d imagined came to her—all of them bad. Did he think she’d done it on purpose? That she’d lied to him about being on the pill? Would he hate her? Would he walk away?

‘No.’ She couldn’t do it.

‘Lissa, it’ll probably be negative; you said you were on the pill. Why not take the test, just to eliminate it?’

‘I don’t want to.’ She turned away from him, unwilling to watch the scorn she knew would flash in his face. Her hands twisted together and she tried to grow courage.

‘Why not?’

She bent her head. ‘I don’t need to. I already know.’

His sharp inhalation spiked her adrenaline higher. ‘Know what?’

She turned back to him, like the condemned refusing the blindfold, unable to resist witnessing her own execution. Her words dropped heavily between them. ‘I’m pregnant.’

He stood stock-still, staring at her. She could hardly meet his gaze but was determined to, bracing herself for the explosion.

‘How long have you known?’ Soft, so soft it hurt more than if he’d yelled. A whisper of disbelief.

‘A few days.’

‘How many?’ Not quite so soft now.

She coughed. ‘I’m not sure; a few.’

He stared at her and she knew he saw through her, knew she’d known for a while. ‘And when—’ he stopped and cleared his throat ‘—when were you going to tell me?’

She couldn’t answer that one. She didn’t know. ‘Wereyou going to tell me?’

‘Y-yes.’ Even to her own ears it sounded hesitant.

‘Or not! What were you going to do—just skip the country and have my child thousands of miles away without ever telling me?’ She watched as his anger grew. Knowing he was wrong but not knowing how to fix it. He stepped closer and his voice dropped. ‘That’s assuming you were planning to have it.’

‘What? Yes, of course!’ Tears, never far away, flashed in her eyes and out of defence her own anger was stoked. ‘Of course I am having this baby.’

‘So are you going to start taking care of yourself, then?’ He swore loud and long and paced the tiny room. ‘Are you going to let me in on this? Are you going to let me help you?’

He turned on his heel and dug his cell phone out of his pocket. Flicking it open, he pressed a couple of buttons. She watched him, unnerved, and wondering what on earth he was up to. His body spoke volumes. He was livid. She knotted her fingers together and waited.

‘Doc? It’s Rory. Sorry to bother you again... yeah...fine. Look, who’s the best obstetrician you know?... Okay... No chance you’ve got the number?... Great, got it.’

He pressed a button and, open-mouthed, Lissa, watched as he immediately punched in another number. A minute later and it appeared he’d made an appointment for her with some obstetrician for ten the next morning. His high-handedness galled her. He swung back to face her and, heedless of the storm in his eyes, she struck out at him.

‘You have no right to do that. You have no right to tell me what to do.’

She had never imagined this.

He stepped up to her, speaking quickly. ‘And you have no right to keep the news of my child from me. I don’t think you’re in much of a position to say no right now, Lissa.’

Silently she took that one on the chin. Fair enough, and secretly she acknowledged a feeling of relief. She did want to see a doctor, talk to one. She had been feeling so awful and she wasn’t sure if it was normal morning sickness or not and, after all, it wasn’t as if she could ask her mother. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of arranging it herself. She hadn’t been thinking straight. She hadn’t really been thinking at all.

He seemed to read her mind and his stance softened. ‘You’re not alone, Lissa. We’re in this together.’

But that she knew to be wrong. She turned away from him. ‘I’ll go to the appointment.’

She sensed him also turn away to stand against the window bracing his arms against the frame, staring out across the basketball court below. ‘We’ll get married as soon as it can be arranged.’

‘What?’ She jerked her head to look at him full on.

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