Moonlighter (The Company, #1)(64)

I take the phone. “Uh oh. I’m sorry to say that your ex called again. No voice message.” I notice her caller ID reads: Asshole Tatum. “I’m afraid to ask how my number displays on your phone?”

“Well, you’re not in there at all.”

“Let’s fix that.” I open her contacts list and add my number myself. I title it Eric Babe-yer. Then I hand it back.

“Subtle.” She gives me a smile leave the elevator and head for the exit. “I can see the car waiting right outside.”

“Dude!” the young bodyguard says as he holds open the back door of a glossy BMW 5 Series. “It’s an honor, man.”

“Thanks.” I swear he makes me feel about a hundred years old. “I’m headed to Seventy-ninth and Broadway, if you wouldn’t mind. The Apthorp.”

“No way?” He squints at me. “Say, you’re not related to—”

“Carl Bayer? He’s my dad. Max is my brother.”

“Shut the front door! I knew you were cool.”

“Uh, thanks. I think.”

Luckily for my grumpy ass, Alex’s car has a partition between the driver and our seat. “Now tell me,” I ask as soon as we’re in motion. “How are you feeling?”

“Busy. Large. It’s a strange moment for me.”

“How so?”

“I have so much on the line at work. My whole career rides on this expensive project launch. But I also have a baby to plan for. I’m usually all about work. I feel guilty when my mind is on other things.”

“Ah.” I dig my fingers into the muscles at the sides of my knee again. “I’ve been all about work for just as long as you have. But it isn’t going that well right now, and I don’t know where that leaves me.”

“What’s the worst that can happen?” Alex asks. “I mean that literally.”

“My contract isn’t renewed in the spring, and nobody picks me up. I’ll be teamless. This isn’t my favorite subject.”

“Ouch,” Alex says. “I’m in the same boat, really.”

“What? You run the place.”

“For now. If my new product fails, the board could fire me. Dad’s vote isn’t enough to save me. That would be extreme, but my general counsel would love to make it happen,” she says.

“Whitbread, right?” I remember that dude from Hawaii.

“Nice memory. That’s the guy. He’s been plotting my destruction since the day I took over the C-Suite.”

We sit in silence for a moment. I reach a hand across the leather and take her smoother one in it. She lets me. Her hand feels so smooth against mine. “Listen, Engels. You’ll outmaneuver him. I have no doubt.”

“I probably will,” she says quietly. “But that isn’t even my biggest problem. What will I do if Tatum won’t relinquish? I can’t make him sign away his rights.”

“You’ll still be okay,” I promise. “Max and my dad are pretty resourceful. They won’t let you or your daughter feel unsafe.”

“I trust them. And I know better than to complain. I have nearly unlimited resources. Can you imagine what most women go through if they need to steer clear of a man?”

I shake my head. Because I can’t. I’m used to feeling strong and pretty much in control of everything around me. “I’m just glad you don’t have to find out.”

Her fingers close around mine. “Me too.”

We sit quietly while the car glides over the East River and into Manhattan. “Do me a favor?” I ask as the car approaches my dad’s neighborhood. “Return my call this time? I need to know what happens.”

“Okay. Absolutely,” Alex says.

I give her a sideways glance.

“No, I mean it this time.” She smiles at me in the glow of the streetlamps. The she pulls her hand from mine and places it on her belly, between the halves of her coat. “Good grief, kid. Take a break already.”

“There’s kicking?”

“So much kicking. Always at night, if I’m sitting down.”

Curious, I move my hand up to her belly. And sure enough, something—somebody—nudges my palm a moment later. I let out a hoot of surprise. “Okay, that’s wild. The baby could only be the size of a kitten, right?”

“The books always compare them to fruits and vegetables. I believe we’ve reached the butternut squash stage.”

She. A very small little girl just kicked me. “Did you paint her room pink?”

“No! Cornflower.”

“What’s cornflower? Is that yellow?”

Alex laughs. “It’s a shade of purply blue.”

“If you say so.” My hand is still on Alex’s belly. We turn at the same time and look into each other’s eyes.

The silence thickens. I need to kiss her. So badly. And she doesn’t hate the idea, either. I see it in her eyes. So I lean down and brush my lips against hers, asking permission.

Her chin tilts upward.

“Excuse me!” The glass partition descends as we jerk apart. “I’m gonna have to pass your corner, man. It’s not a good time to stop.” Duff’s voice sounds a little tight.

“Why’s that?” I ask.