Free A Sweet Deal (Crimson Romance) by Monica Tillery Page B

hand frozen in midair above the phone. For a moment, time stopped, and he was chilled to his toes. Realizing that his mouth was agape and his hand was hovering over his desk, he relaxed and took a beat to compose himself. “Congratulations.”
    “It’s yours.” She sat back in her chair and watched for his reaction.
    “What?” He sputtered. “I used a condom!” Not many things ruffled or even surprised him, but this was a first. The news coupled with her potent effect on him shifted his balance and disrupted his usual calm competency.
    “Sure, the first time, but not after that. Listen, I know that this is a shock. It was for me too, so I don’t expect you to process this immediately. I certainly didn’t.”
    “Didn’t you tell me you can’t get pregnant? How do you know it’s mine? How can you even be sure this soon?” He heard his voice climb by at least an octave, and he knew he sounded as panicky as he felt. With great effort, Richard calmed himself down. He would handle this news like he handled everything else, with authority.
    “I haven’t been with anyone else, that’s how I know. You’re the father, and there’s no doubt about it. Until it happened, I truly thought that I couldn’t get pregnant after my radiation. I thought that motherhood was the one dream I’d have to let go, and I thought that I had, but then—” she paused. “I was having all these symptoms, and it started adding up once I checked the calendar. I finally decided to take the pregnancy test just to rule it out, even though I didn’t think anything would come of it. If I hadn’t caught it early it could have been weeks before I noticed, since that was the last thing I expected. The possibility of pregnancy wasn’t even on my radar. I honestly was as surprised as you are, and quite frankly, this is nothing short of a miracle as far as I’m concerned.” Her eyes shone under the office fluorescents, and her hands were clasped tightly in her lap, her knuckles white.
    “Well, what do you need? Do you need money?” He scraped a hand across his chin, realizing too late how heartless he sounded. He needed to put an end to his spiral towards panic, but his tone was bordering on cruel, and that was wrong. This was a surprise, but he wasn’t the kind of man who treated news of this gravity with such callousness. Richard gave himself a mental shake and cleared his head. He was not this kind of man. Her lip quivered almost imperceptibly, and he regretted the casual dismissal in his tone even more. She was a corporate threat, but if he were honest with himself, she wasn’t the seductive danger that he previously assumed her to be. She wasn’t an actual enemy; it was just in his best interest to stay far away from her. He rose and walked around his desk to take the seat next to her.
    “I’m sorry.” His voice was softer, more relaxed now that he was placing himself in familiar territory. Fixing problems was what he did best. “I spoke before processing the news. Just tell me what you need, and it’s yours. I want to help however I can. If it’s money, consider it done.”
    Yvette leaned away from him and stiffened, eyes blazing. “I don’t want your money. I don’t need anything from you.” Her voice dripped with disdain. “I’m keeping the baby, regardless of how it will break my parents’ hearts that I’m going to be an unwed mother. It’ll kill them when I tell them what’s happened, but it’s better than the alternative.”
    “Again, I apologize. I just assumed … ”
    “You assumed because you think you know me, but you don’t. You assumed because you think I’m something that I’m not. I’m not interested in your money, and I’m not trying to use the baby to get anything from you. I didn’t come to you for help in getting rid of my problem.” She practically spit the words at him. “I came to you because you have the right to know that you’re going to be a father, and what you do with that