LITMIR.BIZ

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But they’d been discreet. And after two years of hard work, losing her dad and feeling alone, she’d given herself permission to enjoy this one thing.

      She hadn’t thought there’d be these kinds of consequences.

      The power dynamic hadn’t mattered during those few weeks. But it mattered now. Jeremy was a rich, powerful man, and she was…well, not nobody. She had enough self-esteem to give herself that much. But she certainly didn’t have the same clout and resources at her disposal, and it made for a very uneven balance between them.

      She shook her head and pushed her plate aside, eager to get to work. The hotel manager, Thomas, was on vacation this week, so it was up to Tori to steer the ship. She spent the morning at her desk, then met with the housekeeping manager and the catering manager about requirements for a holiday function scheduled for mid-December. There was a Christmas wedding planned for the weekend before the twenty-fifth, and another on New Year’s Eve, where the ceremony would actually begin just before midnight so the bride and groom would be the first married couple of the new year. They were making a number of special accommodations for that event, from late checkout the next day to food service at one in the morning. The couple was willing to pay, so the hotel was willing to take their business.

      It was mid-afternoon when she got up to do a walk-around, to get out of her office and to talk to staff and see what was happening. It was her favorite time of the day, actually, chatting with the staff, wandering through her second home, caring for it with love and affection. She made a note of a ding in a corner wall that would need to be touched up with paint, and gave a mental check mark to whoever had cleaned the public bathrooms on the lobby level. They sparkled and smelled like the hotel’s custom lemongrass-and-ginger scent. She greeted staff by name and made a few more notes about additional Christmas decorations that could be added to the dining room and small on-site gift shop. Maybe business was slower this time of year, but for those who did arrive for an escape or a special dinner, the hotel would show to best advantage.

      She was just returning to the administration offices when the front door blew open, bringing in a smattering of brown leaves and rain; a man was propelled in with them, shaking his arms to rid his coat of water droplets.

      She turned to the sound…and froze.

      “Tori?”

      She’d never known that a person could feel blood rush out of their face, but she felt it now.

       No.

       No, no, no, no, no.

      He couldn’t be here. This was all wrong.

      “Jeremy.”

      He grinned widely, his thousand-watt smile hitting her right in the solar plexus. Why did he have to be so handsome? “I hoped you’d be here. What’s it been? Four months?”

      Four months, three weeks, and five days, she wanted to answer, but nothing came out of her mouth. What was he doing here? And could she escape without him noticing the obvious?

      No such luck. At her silence, his gaze swept down, then back up, and his eyes were filled with questions and confusion. Of course, she’d chosen today to unveil her new maternity wardrobe. Her condition was perfectly plain for all to see.

      “Why don’t you step into my office?” she asked, pulling herself together. “We can catch up. What brings you back to the Sandpiper?” Her voice came out smooth and steady, thankfully. It wouldn’t do for him to see her discomposed.

      She turned her back and started toward the offices, her body trembling. Not just because of the lie of omission he’d caught her in, but because just the sight of him still had the power to turn her knees to jelly.

      It had been a very good few weeks, after all. Too good.

      She heard his steps behind her and once they were in her office, she shut the door. Staff might be family, but they didn’t need to hear every conversation, and no one here knew the identity of her baby’s father. She and Jeremy had tried to be discreet.

      Her office was small, and felt smaller still with him in it. She turned around and faced him, finally, attempting to put up an emotional wall so she could maintain her objectivity. It was harder than she’d imagined. Jeremy had a presence about him that was magnetic. Today he was dressed in a charcoal-gray suit with a precisely knotted tie, and an overcoat that protected him from the cold Atlantic wind. His hair was tousled, as though the ocean breeze had fingers it had run through the strands, making them seem carelessly styled, and tiny drops of rain sparkled on the top. And his eyes… Right now his eyes were the same steel gray as the white-capped waves along the shore. Cold and unhappy. Her tummy turned over with anxiety.

      “What brings you back to the area?” she asked, feigning a smile, skirting around him to sit behind her desk. Her tummy was hidden that way…

      “Real estate. And I thought I’d look you up again while I was here. I didn’t expect to find you pregnant.”

      The blunt statement hit her like a slap. So much for the hope of him not cluing in. It had been a long shot but she’d held out a smidgen of hope that her top might have camouflaged her bump.

      She shrugged. “To be honest, it was a surprise to me, too.”

      “Is it mine?”

      Her stomach plummeted. There was no beating around the bush with him. Never had been. Right from the start, he’d been up front about his attraction to her. He’d been staying in their best suite and she’d checked in on him on the first day to make sure everything was okay. They’d ended up chatting for a long time, about the area and about how different it was from his life in the Big Apple. When he’d invited her out for a drink she’d said yes, and it had been over a pomegranate martini that he’d told her she had the most intriguing eyes of anyone he’d ever met. She’d been charmed…and wooed.

      She’d admired his confidence and honesty then, though she wasn’t such a big fan of it at this moment.

      For the briefest time, she considered saying no. It would solve a lot. But that simple answer was complicated by the small matter of her conscience. She had already been struggling with the fact that she hadn’t yet told him about the pregnancy. Then there was a certain amount of integrity at stake. There had been no one else. He’d been the only one.

      “Of course it is. I don’t…make a habit of what happened between us.”

      He regarded her dispassionately. “How was I to know that? And were you ever going to tell me?”

      Curse her and her honesty. She held his gaze, determined not to cower. “Eventually. And thanks for that wonderful endorsement of my character. It’s always pleasant to be shamed by your baby’s father.”

      He let out a breath and turned away for a moment, before turning back again. His gray eyes were contrite. “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for. It’s just… This is a hell of a surprise, Tori.”

      “Yes,” she said, “I’m sure it is.”

      “When…how…?”

      Tori picked up a pen and played with it, resolving to keep up her appearance of strength. “We both know the answer to that question. Early July, and presumably one of the times we had sex.”

      She did not call it making love, though it had certainly felt like that at the time. Her cheeks heated as a memory swept through her. As hokey as it sounded, she had a feeling that she knew exactly when it had happened. They’d spent the day at the beach, splashing about in the water and having a picnic on the sand. And then in the late afternoon they’d gone back to her place and had finished off the day by taking their sweet time with each other.

      He’d been a fantastic lover. Gentle, attentive, passionate.

      Now, with him standing in her office, at the very least unhappy and very likely angry, those sweet memories were somehow tarnished.

      He let out a huge breath. “May I sit?”

      She

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