Bennett (On the Line Book 2)(30)

A smile spread all the way across my face. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” She yawned and I realized my plan to do her in every position I’d seen on the pregnant-sex site wasn’t going to work. At least not tonight.

But in the morning, it was on again. I was hooked on the way she moaned my name, and I wanted to hear it again as soon as possible.





Charlotte

Wren’s brows arched as she pointed to something on the conference room’s dry-erase board.

“And they’ll back everything up . . .”

The sound of her voice faded from my consciousness. I was thinking about the feel of Bennett’s scruff on my bare thighs. The sound of him groaning against my neck, his whole body tensing as he came and then relaxing against mine. The way he’d traced his fingertips lightly down my side as I fell asleep in his arms.

I’d heard the highlights of Wren’s talk about the reorganization of old files in the office, but it was hard for me to get through a full hour without my mind wandering to my night with Bennett. Though it had been three days since then, I still broke out in goose bumps when I thought about it.

“Anyone have anything else?” Wren asked, looking around at the faces of her staff.

There was a moment of silence before I spoke up on impulse.

“I’d like to share some news,” I said, tucking a stray curl behind my ear. “I’m pregnant. My baby is due in June.”

There was an audible gasp next to me. That was Sara. Riley was just staring at me, dumbfounded.

“Wow,” Sara said. “That’s amazing, Charlotte. Congratulations.”

“Congratulations, Charlotte,” Wren said, smiling warmly.

Everyone started to get up and leave. It was just Riley and me in the room, and I’d almost made it to the door when his hand wrapped around my wrist.

“Charlotte,” he hissed, “what the hell was that?”

“What?”

He looked down at my bump. Not that he could see it, since I wore big cardigans and sweaters every day to conceal it.

“You don’t think you should have told me in private? I deserved to hear that in a staff meeting? You’re something else, you know that?”

“Um . . . sorry. I don’t understand why it’s such a big deal.”

His eyes bulged. “You don’t . . .” He laughed bitterly and tightened his grip on my wrist. “I deserved to know a hell of a lot sooner than this. I assume you deliberately waited until it was too late to terminate?”

I jerked my wrist out of his grasp, realization dawning. “Maybe you should have the decency to ask if it’s yours first, you *.”

“Is it?”

“No.” I glared at him.

He stepped back, looking bewildered. “It’s not . . . and it’s due in June?”

“Yes.”

“Jesus, you didn’t wait long after we broke up, did you?”

That was an understatement, but I wasn’t about to tell him how long I’d waited. It was none of his damn business.

“Are you sure?” he asked in a low tone. “I mean, it could be mine.”

I shook my head. “My doctor pinpointed the conception, and it had been three weeks since you and I had been together.”

He gave me a disgusted look. “Three weeks? Christ, Charlotte . . . whore around much?”

My urge to slap him was so strong my hand shook. “Don’t you ever speak to me like that again,” I said, my calm belying the storm of anger inside me.

“So you’re with this guy now? I haven’t even dated anyone else, and you’ve found a guy and gotten knocked up already?”

“Turns out I’ve got a thing for big dicks,” I said, shrugging.

“This is not a joke. I loved you.”

“Past tense, Riley. I’ve moved on and you should, too.”

His gaze was hard and cold. “Clearly,” he said, brushing past me to leave the room.

I sighed deeply as I went out to the common area of the office. Sara gave me a sympathetic look. I smiled at her and headed for my office, stopping when a Flyers sweater caught my attention in a photo on the Sports page of the local paper that was lying on the coffee table in our client waiting area.

It was Bennett and Killian, both smiling and holding their sticks in the air on the ice after a home game win. Seeing Bennett’s million-dollar smile made me warm all over. He’d done a lot more than just scratch my itch for sex the other night. I’d felt just like I remembered feeling our first night together—sexy. Seeing a big, powerful man like him worked up over me was a heady feeling.

He’d stayed for breakfast the morning after our night together, kissed me good-bye, and left. I’d thought of him constantly since. My bedsheets had his leather and cologne smell now, and I wouldn’t be washing them anytime soon.

I folded the Sports section in half and took it into my office with me. As soon as I logged back on to my computer, there was an email waiting from Riley. I rolled my eyes and opened it.



Charlotte,

I’m sorry. I didn’t mean the things I said to you in the conference room. That was my hurt talking more than anything. Please forgive me and give me another chance to talk to you about this.

Riley