Bennett (On the Line Book 2)(10)

“I didn’t come here because I want something from you . . . No one even has to know it’s yours . . . I’ll just leave here and you can forget I even came.”

“Charlotte?”

“Hmm?”

“I’m here for you. I want to be here. You have to let me, though.”

She didn’t respond. A few minutes later, her soft, even breathing told me she was asleep. I wasn’t even close, though. My mind swam with worries that always circled back to Liam ending me when he found out I’d knocked up his baby sister.

Somehow, I had to focus on hockey this weekend and not let on to Liam that anything was amiss. And hope like hell that Charlotte had meant what she said about not telling him.





Charlotte

I ate the M&M’s in my hand one at a time, thinking as I slowly chewed.

It was time to tell Wren. I’d put it off, but I couldn’t do that anymore. She was my mentor and I respected her tremendously. She’d given me such a break when she’d hired me, passing up applicants with experience for a recent law school grad. I’d been hoping against hope for the job since it was in the very city where my brother lived and it would mean working under Wren Amandre.

My mom had taken the news well. She’d gotten pregnant with Liam as a teenager, so she knew these things didn’t always go according to plan.

But Wren was a woman of high standards. My hesitation about telling her stemmed from not wanting to disappoint her.

I finished the last M&M and got up from my office chair. It would feel better to get this over with.

“Is she free?” I asked Sara, whose desk was out in a common area between all the offices.

“She’s in with Riley, but—”

The door to Wren’s office opened and Riley stepped out, meeting my gaze. His expression softened as he approached me.

“Hey, Charlotte.”

“Hi. Are you finished? I need to see Wren.”

“Yeah.” He furrowed his brow with worry and spoke in a low tone. “Will you please stop shutting me out? It’s been two months. I know we can work things out if you’ll just let me in.”

I shook my head. “I don’t want to talk about this. I need to see Wren.”

“What about dinner later?”

“I can’t.”

He sighed with aggravation. “Are you seeing someone else?”

“No. I don’t want to see anyone right now.”

“Is this still about the job? If I’d known it would cost me our relationship—”

Sara was trying to look like she was reading something on her computer screen as she took in every word of our conversation. I glared at Riley.

“I don’t want to talk about it anymore. It’s over.”

I left him and went to Wren’s door, knocking twice before I heard the muffled sound of her voice telling me to come in.

“Hey,” I said, closing the door behind me.

“Charlotte.” She smiled and took off her reading glasses. “I haven’t gotten more than a quick word in passing with you in so long. Please, sit down.”

I sat down in a wood chair in front of her desk, my heart pounding with nervous anticipation. Wren’s opinion of me mattered. I wanted to be just like her someday. She was polished, hardworking, and compassionate.

“I’m so pleased with your work on the Matthews case,” Wren said. “That was some great negotiating on your part.”

“Oh. Thank you.” I looked down at my hands in my lap.

“What’s up, Charlotte? You can tell me.”

I took a deep breath. “I’d like this to stay between us for now, but since you’re my boss, I feel like I need to tell you that . . . I’m pregnant.”

Wren nodded slightly. “I figured.”

“You what? How?”

“You had some bad morning sickness.”

I laughed lightly. “Yeah, what’s up with that term, anyway? It’s so not just in the morning.”

“Has it gotten better, then?”

“A little. And I’ve gotten more used to it. If I keep myself well-rested, that seems to help.”

“Good. I wanted to reach out to you several times and remind you that you have sick time and medical leave, but I didn’t want to intrude.”

I studied the way her red suit coat looked against her cocoa skin, not wanting to think about her knowing this whole time. It mortified me.

“Does Riley know?” she asked softly.

“No.”

She nodded. “I’d never bring something like that up with him, but I’ve been hoping maybe the two of you would be able to work things out, in light of this . . . development.”

My lips parted and I forced them closed. “In light of . . . ? Oh. It’s not his baby.”

Wren’s expression shifted then and I saw it. Judgment. Humiliation complete.

“Oh. I’m sorry for assuming, Charlotte. That was thoughtless of me.”

“No, not at all.” My cheeks burned as I tried to think of what to say. “This was . . . unplanned, obviously. Riley and I had broken up.”

About three hours before it happened, I thought but didn’t say.

“And the father is . . . in your life? If you don’t mind my asking?”