Daddy by December (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Series) (12 page)

They made it to the
class with five minutes to spare, thank goodness.  While Jessie went to music
room number three to plunk away at the piano, Meg settled herself in the most
comfortable seat in the parents’ waiting area, a big fat armchair, and pulled
out her Kindle ereader.  She hadn’t finished that romance novel she’d started
so long ago.  Right now at least she could squeeze in the half hour Jessie’s
piano lesson would last.

For the last three
weeks she’d been working hard on Drake’s project, determined to finish within
the deadline she’d set herself.  The contract said up to six months but she
wanted to prove to herself that she could do it in four.  And besides, she
didn’t want to prolong her professional relationship with Drake.  She was dying
to make love to him again but they’d both agreed that they should postpone any
further intimate contact until they could openly start seeing each other. 
Before that could happen the project would have to end.  And the wait was
killing her…or at least it felt like it.  Thank goodness she was on the last
lap.  She’d already submitted her second draft and was now doing the final pass
before presenting Drake with the official manuscript.

Yes, for the good of
her sanity, this project would have to wrap up very soon.  Because how could
you concentrate on something so mundane as a business memoir when your breath
caught in your throat every time those gorgeous gray eyes rested on you?  And
how could you take notes when all you wanted to do was flick the pen away and
reach over and slide your fingers through that thick, dark-blond hair?  And how
in heaven’s name could you act cool and collected when the secretary came in to
offer you tea, when all you wanted was to shove her boss back onto the sofa and
kiss him till he begged for mercy?

Meg shook her head,
bringing herself back to the present.  She glanced at the clock.  Jessie’s half
hour was almost up and she hadn't got past the page she’d started on.  It
looked like she was destined never to finish this novel.  Oh, well…

The following week
there was a stall in Meg’s plan.  She and Drake were to have had a final
meeting before she prepared her complete package – hard and soft copies of the
memoir and a return of the tape recordings and notes.  Where and when it was
published was up to Drake.  Once Meg submitted her package she would be free.

She’d been counting on
catching an April fifteen date but it was not to be.  Drake ended up having to
leave for a week on business, delaying the project past her four month mark. 
There was nothing to do but wait.

But that weekend, days
before Drake was to return, Meg was at the department store shopping with
Jessie when a thought crossed her mind.  When was the last time she’d had her
period?

Her heart jerked.  She
started digging in her bag for her pocket agenda and flipped immediately to the
calendar at the back.  She’d always been regular, had never been more than a
day or two late.  But now?  She rubbed her forehead as she checked the days.  
Dear
Lord, let her be wrong.
  Maybe it had come last month and she’d been so
busy she’d forgotten?

“Mommy, can I get this
baby bubble bath?  It smells like strawberries.”  Jessie held up a teddy bear
shaped bottle, cutting into Meg’s thoughts.

“Not now, Jessie.”  Meg
ran her fingers along the little boxes on the page, counting the days.  Then
she looked up and her eyes glazed over as she stared straight ahead.  Holy
goodness.  Holy Jeez.  She was late by all of sixteen days.  How the heck had
she missed that?

“Mommy, I’m hungry.”

Jessie’s plaintive wail
brought Meg back to the present.  Hands trembling, she returned the tiny book
to her bag and took her daughter’s hand.  “I’m sorry, honey.  Mommy…was just a
little distracted.  Let’s go pay for our stuff and then we’ll get something to
eat.”

“Okay, Mommy.”  Jessie
looked up at her with huge eyes, almost as if she knew something had gone
wrong.

And a lot had.  Because
there was no way she could tell Drake Duncan he was going to be a daddy.

******

What the hell was going
on?  This was the third message Drake had left on Meg’s cell phone and still
she had not returned his call.  Could she be out of town?  He glanced at the
clock on the nightstand.  Eleven thirty-seven.  No, he could not call again. 
Definitely not at this hour. 

He’d been back in
Chicago one day now but it felt like a week because he'd been in the same city
with Meg a whole day and still had not seen her.  She’d become so important in
his life that he would be with her every day if he could.

He lay back in the
pillows and folded his arms behind his head.  He would just have to be
patient.  They had their final meeting scheduled for tomorrow and, feeling like
a schoolboy with a crush, he could hardly wait.

But the next day ended
up being one of the strangest of Drake’s life.  One o’clock finally came and
Meg walked into his office looking elegant and composed as she always did.  But
this time there was something different about her.  She’d greeted him warmly,
giving him a smile and a nod but she seemed distant, even cool.  It was as if
that night they’d shared had never happened.

When she handed him his
final package he’d expected jubilation, maybe a celebration, but not this
aloofness that had him frowning and practically scratching his head.  Then when
she got up to leave and he walked her to the door as he’d done so many times
before, she dropped her eyes and dipped her head, hiding her face from view but
not before he’d seen an expression that made him pause.  She’d almost looked
like she wanted to cry.

“Meg, are you all right?” 
The door he was holding was half open but he refused to let her through.  He
needed answers. 

It was only then that
she lifted her head and looked him in the eyes.  “I’m fine,” she said quietly
and then she smiled.  And as beautiful as that smile was, it was tinged with a
sadness that squeezed his heart.

But he could see that
she didn’t want to talk.  Now was not the time.  Somehow, although he didn’t
know in what way, he knew that he’d hurt her…again.

For today he would leave
things be and give her some space but next time he saw her he would expect
answers.

******

December fifteen.  On
that day Meg was due to become a mother for the second time.  But this
situation was so different from the first.  How could she tell Drake he was
going to be a father when she’d assured him she wouldn’t get pregnant?  I’ve
been on the pill a month, she’d said, so everything will be fine.  Drake had
trusted her and then she’d gone and messed up by getting pregnant with his
child.

What made it worse,
he’d already been deceived by a woman who’d used pregnancy as her weapon of
choice.  And, she knew, that was exactly what he would think of her.  To him
she would be nothing more than a seductress who he’d probably think was after
his money.

Meg sighed.  She would
have to tell him, of course.  But not now.  Not until she was strong enough to
deal with the condemnation in his eyes and the reproach she knew would come. 
Until then she would stay away from him for as long as she could.

******

Two days was enough
space, right?  It had been hard but, not wanting to crowd her, Drake had
deliberately held back from calling Meg.  But it was Saturday morning now so
she should be more relaxed, probably back to her normal self.  He would take
the chance.

Drake dialled Meg’s
home number and waited.  Three rings, four rings, five rings.  It was probably
going to switch to the answering machine next.  He was just about to hang up
when he heard a click and then a tiny voice on the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Jessie, it’s
Drake.  How are you?”

“I’m fine, thank you,”
came the faint reply.

“May I speak to your
mommy, please?”

“Mommy can’t come to
the phone.  She’s not feelin’ too good.  She’s in the bathroom bein’ sick
again.”

“Being sick?”  A
feeling of alarm shot up Drake’s spine.  Something was wrong with Meg.  That
was why she’d been behaving strangely.  Then a thought came to him.  Nausea. 
Jessie had said she was being sick.  Holy…was Meg doing chemotherapy?

“Who’s helping her,
Jessie?”

“I am.  I took her a
towel.”

“I mean, is there
another adult in the house?”

“No, just Mommy.”

“Okay, tell Meg…your mom…I’m
coming right over.”

Within half an hour of
the phone call Drake was at Meg’s door.  As soon as Jessie opened the door he
stooped to her eye level and smiled.  Not wanting to scare her, he said, “I’m
here to help your mommy, Jessie.  Can you take me to her, please?”

She nodded and the
worried look on her face began to disappear.  She gave him a little smile, not
her usual bright smile, but it was a start.  She reached out and took his hand
then began to pull him into the house.  He barely had time to push the front
door shut behind him before she was pulling him down the hallway and toward the
stairs.

But as anxious as she
was, she was still not moving fast enough for Drake.  He lifted the little girl
into his arms and took the stairs two at a time.

When they got to the
landing she pointed to the first door.  “That’s Mommy’s room.”

Drake set Jessie gently
on her feet then stepped toward the door, which was slightly ajar.  He gave a
quick tap and was listening for Meg’s response when Jessie bounded forward and
flung the door open.  “Mommy, Drake’s here,” she yelled and ran toward the bed
which was now visible to Drake as he stood in the doorway.

There, propped up on
the pillows, was Meg.  And although she gave him a brave smile he could see she
was exhausted.  When Jessie ran up and bounced onto the bed she winced and put
a hand to her forehead, in obvious discomfort.  Immediately he went to her, the
icy fingers of fear encircling his heart
.  Oh, God, please don’t let it be
what I think it is.

As he went to stand by
the bed Drake saw how flushed Meg was, but while her face was pink there was a
paleness to her lips that was not normal for her.  Those lips were the first
things he’d admired about her, full and ruby red.  Now all that color was
gone.  The dark shadows around her eyes told him she hadn’t been sleeping well.

“Meg,” he said, his
voice sharp with reproach, “why didn’t you call me?  Why are you here, sick and
all alone?”  He leaned toward her.  “I would have come.  You know that.”

“I’m fine, Drake. It’s
no big deal.”  But her tired eyes made a lie of what she’d just said.

“No, it’s not fine. 
You’re not fine.”  He folded his arms across his chest.  “I’m disappointed in
you, Meg.”

She’d looked sick
before but now she also looked defiant.  “Disappointed about what?”

“That you didn’t feel
that you could trust me enough with your secret."

She gasped.  “What
secret?”

He glanced over at
Jessie who wasn’t paying too much attention to their conversation.   She was playing
with her doll and seemed absorbed in that for the moment.  He cleared his
throat.  “May I talk to you in private, Meg?”

She stared up at him,
her eyes full of suspicion.  Then, never taking her eyes off him, she said,
“Jessie, honey, can you go down and get me a glass of water, please?”

“Okay, Mommy.”  The
child hopped off the bed and ran toward the door.

As soon as she was
through it Drake turned his attention back to Meg.  “I…didn’t want to ask this
in front of Jessie but I have to know.  Meg, please be honest with me.  Are you
on chemo?”

“Chemo?”  Her eyes
widened in obvious shock as she said the words. 

“Yes.”  His shoulders
slumped and he shoved his hands deep into his pockets.  He shook his head. 
There was no gentle way to say this.  “Do you have cancer, Meg?”

“Cancer?”  Her voice
came out indignant and strong, not what he’d expected.  “Why would you ask such
a thing?”

He frowned, confused. 
“The nausea, being sick in the bathroom.  Jessie told me about it and I
thought-”

“Well, you thought
wrong.”  She was glaring at him now.

“But…what’s wrong,
then.  Was it something you ate?”

“No, Drake, it wasn’t
something I ate.”  Her voice was exasperated now.  Then she fixed him with a
withering look.  “You hear that I’m nauseous and sick to my stomach and the
first thing that comes to your mind is cancer?”

Nauseous.  Sick to her
stomach.  Drake’s jaw went slack and his brows shot up as he stared at Meg. 
“Are you…pregnant?”

She gave him a look
that said, “Finally, you idiot,” then she pursed her lips and looked away, not
seeming at all pleased.  Didn’t she want his baby?

But in the middle of
that thought, realizing that Meg was in fact cancer-free, relief washed over
him.  He’d never in his life been so happy to be wrong.

“Meg,” he whispered, “you’re
expecting my child?” He had to hear it from her mouth.