Pregnant By The Billionaire - Karen Booth

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let Wanda go.” She turned to Kendall, her glossy chestnut-brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, probably so everyone could admire the chunky diamond studs in her ears. Jillian had worked her way up in the world and she wasn’t afraid to remind people of it. “It was an unfortunate situation, but it’s time for us all to move on.”

      Kendall wasn’t about to ask for details. She could dig the truth out of one of her coworkers later. “Yes, of course.”

      “This could be a big opportunity for you. There’s no question you’re a rising star. You work hard, you have innovative ideas and you’re keenly focused on our clients. You could stand to be on time more often, but we won’t get into that right now.”

      Kendall cleared her throat and shifted her weight. “Thank you.”

      “Now that we’ve lost Wanda, you’re next in line for the VP position.”

      Kendall stopped herself from blurting I am? “That’s great news. Thank you.”

      “Don’t get too excited. I’m also considering Wes. He’s right behind you in the pecking order.”

      The bottom of Kendall’s stomach dropped out. Ugh. Wes was her most annoying colleague, as enjoyable as a bowl of soggy cereal. He’d raised sucking up to the boss to an art form, and took so much joy in interfering with Kendall at work that she half expected him to show up one day with a villain’s handlebar mustache just so he could twirl the ends. “I see.”

      “Show me that you’re right for this job. You can start right now. I have a very important potential client waiting in the conference room. I can’t tell you what the project is, though. I had to sign a nondisclosure agreement just to take the meeting. We can’t say a thing, even if he doesn’t hire us.”

      Nondisclosure? Must be a big fish. “Sure. Great. What can I do?”

      “Win the account. I’ll be there, but you’ll do the heavy lifting. He doesn’t want a dog and pony show. He wants to speak directly to whomever would be handling his project. He wants ideas. He wants brilliance.”

      “What about Wes?”

      “You get our only shot.” Jillian stepped out from behind her desk, clasping Kendall’s shoulder. “You’ve earned it. Now don’t let me down.”

      Kendall tried to swallow, but her throat wouldn’t cooperate. Nothing like walking into a pressure cooker first thing Monday morning. “I’m ready.” Just to sell it, she gave Jillian two thumbs-up.

      Jillian pointed to her left hand. “Are you engaged? I don’t remember that ring.”

      Kendall hadn’t fully formulated her story, but she sure as heck wasn’t going to tell her boss she’d gotten the idea from a TV movie. “It was my mother’s. I found it and thought I’d wear it.”

      “On your left ring finger?”

      “Do you ever get hit on by men who you’d prefer just left you alone?”

      “All the time,” Jillian answered. “It can get really annoying.”

      “Precisely. If a man takes the time to really know me, I can tell him it’s just a fashion choice. Until then, it’s a great way to keep them at bay and focus on my job.”

      A sly smile crossed Jillian’s face. “I like the way you think.”

      Kendall followed Jillian into the conference room, her mind a jumble...her aspirations, her career goals, being on her A game, trying to win an account she knew nothing about. She fiddled with the ring on her finger. You’ve got this.

      The minute she crossed the threshold and closed the door behind her, Kendall’s stomach, already unsettled like she’d chugged a bubbly soda, did a verifiable somersault. There at the end of the conference table, in a charcoal-gray suit that made her want to bite her knuckle, sat quite possibly the most handsome man she’d ever seen—precisely the man she’d been hoping to forget by putting on her mother’s ring that morning. Sawyer Locke.

       Two

      Kendall always prepared well for meetings, but knowledge of how amazing a potential client looked without clothes was not the normal intel. Did Sawyer know she worked there? Was he up to something? And then there was the question she wished hadn’t popped into her head at all, one she’d never ask, mostly because she wouldn’t like it if he turned the tables and asked her the same thing: Why hadn’t he called?

      “Mr. Locke.” Jillian shook hands with Sawyer. “This is Kendall Ross. She’s our top PR person. If you hire us, she’ll be handling the details.”

      Eyes trained on her, Sawyer reached for Kendall, his warm brown eyes transporting her to the not-so-distant past—a time and place where she knew every inch of his glorious body and he knew the same of her. She should’ve had her mind trained on wooing Sawyer as a client, not thinking about what a fantastic kisser he was. This was such unfamiliar territory, she hardly knew what to do. She only knew that she couldn’t allow herself to be distracted by things like his shoulders in that suit or the neatly trimmed five-o’clock shadow along his angular jaw.

      “Actually, Ms. Ross and I already know each other.” Sawyer gripped her hand, all business, but it felt like he was trying to suck her in.

      Kendall nearly clutched her chest with her free hand to keep her heart from failing. The handshake was far too intimate. Too much heat transferred from his big, firm, naked hand to hers. Stupid rules of polite society—touching him was putting her off her game.

      “Oh, uh, yes. We do know each other.” She tittered, something she would never do, especially not in a meeting. Get it together. “We met at a mutual friend’s wedding.” Kendall scanned Sawyer’s face if only to figure out what in the hell he was hoping to accomplish by admitting they knew each other. Silently confronting him in this manner only created more problems, as he unflinchingly returned her gaze, eyes singularly trained on her, making her heart beat like a fish trying to flop out of a bucket to save its own life.

      “We had a wonderful time. Ms. Ross showed me some of her moves.” He bounced his dark brows. The corners of his mouth twitched arrogantly. “On the dance floor.”

      So he was just messing with her. Jerk. First he didn’t call her now he was dropping innuendo in a business meeting? Easy enough for him—the handsome billionaire who didn’t have his career on the line. Of course he hadn’t called her after the wedding. Guys like Sawyer Locke were too cavalier with the hearts and minds of others, especially women. He probably had them lined up around the block.

      “Please, Mr. Locke. Have a seat. What can we do for you today?” Kendall was desperate to steer the conversation to the professional. She sat across the table from him, turning to a fresh page on her legal pad. When she looked up, his sights were locked on her left hand. The ring. Good. Let him look. Kendall glanced at the setting of shimmering stones. “Oh, goodness.” She straightened it.

      Jillian remained standing. “I won’t stay long, Mr. Locke. I know you want to talk strategy and in that instance, Kendall is your woman.”

      “Is that so?” Sawyer leaned back in his chair and slowly thrummed his fingers on the table.

      Your woman. Why was she having such a hard time swallowing today? And had someone cranked the thermostat? “I’m good at my job, if that’s what you’re asking.”

      Sawyer flashed his killer smile—a self-assured grin to remind her that he was not only a man who knew what he wanted, he had absolutely no problem getting it. Probably the reason he hadn’t called her after the wedding. She was just another in an endless string of women. “Perfect. I need to make a change with my PR. The last firm we worked with had a hard time following my lead. I’m too busy to spend my day butting heads.”

      Kendall shifted in her seat. Of course. Men like Sawyer didn’t like it when anyone disagreed with them.

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