How to Have Your Boss's Secret Baby - London Casey Page 0,94
lying. No more favors. No more bullshit.”
What if that’s what I wanted?
“Whatever you think is best,” I said. “You’re the boss, right?”
Cole stared at me.
He looked like hell.
That told me he had spent all night looking for his brother.
There was a sliver of me that wanted to know if he found Cody and how he was doing. But there was enough of me that didn’t care, so I didn’t ask.
Plus, it was apparent Cole and I were just boss and secretary again, right?
“Is there anything you need?” I asked. “Coffee? Paperwork?”
“No,” Cole said. “I’m just fielding phone calls left and right. Someone suggested I get a PR company involved to help manage the damage.”
“Damage,” I said as I touched my stomach. “Wow. So this is all just damage.”
“You know what I mean, Maya,” Cole said. “There’s a difference between work life and real life.”
“Just so you know, Cole, in real life, I’m really pregnant. And I’m really scared about it all. I don’t want to end up alone. I don’t want to be known as some secretary that fucked her boss and got pregnant.”
“Well, we can’t go back in time, can we?”
His words were cold enough to make me shiver.
I left his office, so he didn’t see me cry.
The phone didn’t stop ringing.
And most of the phone calls were for me.
“Is this Maya, the secretary? Listen, I’m Kate-”
“Is it true you set this up so Cole would pay your rent?”
“Are you certain the baby is your boss’s? Has he requested a paternity test?”
“What happens after the baby is born?”
It was just call after call…
It was like being a celebrity caught up in a scandal.
I didn’t realize the business world was like that.
Then again, Cole was a cocky playboy. A lot of people knew his name and what he did. The deal with Mr. Pickle was probably known too. Which put Cole in the front of everyone’s minds. Not to mention that the idea of getting your secretary pregnant was probably a fantasy yet taboo at the same time.
More calls came through.
Asking if I was going to sue the company. Or sue Cole.
Asking if I was going to get lawyers involved in any capacity.
One person asked if I was taking the payoff.
I had no idea what that meant.
It got to the point where I tried to fake an accent and use a deep voice, hoping to sound like a man. That way I could just transfer the calls to Cole’s office.
Somehow the hours did manage to tick by.
I didn’t get anything done work wise.
And just when I was thinking about leaving a few minutes early, Cole came into my office.
The second I saw him, I felt anger.
I stood up and pointed. “Someone called me about a payoff. What’s that about?”
Cole shook his head. “My brother told a few people that I was paying for your silence. And that I was working on a single sum to get you to go away.”
“Great. So I’m a whore with a price tag.”
“It’s not the worst idea,” Cole said. “I mean, if you just laid low. You have the apartment. You can write your books. I’ll take care of everything for you and the baby.”
I laughed. “Wow. So there it is. The offer. To make me go away. I’m your secret, Cole. I’m your regret. Your brother wasn’t all that crazy after all.”
“It’s not like that.”
“Yes, it is,” I said. I took a deep breath. “Hey, Cole? I have something to say. I’ve been wanting to say it for a long time.”
“And what’s that?”
“Fuck off.”
Chapter Forty-Two
Cole
When Maya didn’t show up to work the next day, I bolted from the office to find her.
The phones were still ringing.
Everyone that worked there avoided eye contact with me, for fear that I’d fire their ass for looking at me a certain way.
Which was true.
I wasn’t in the mood for anyone’s bullshit.
I understood the way it all looked.
Big, bad boss makes the moves on his secretary and gets her pregnant.
I didn’t like that Maya was painted as some naive cliché who didn’t know left from right.
It wasn’t like that at all.
But I wasn’t going to speak to that.
Anything I said to anyone would have been twisted and used against me.
That was the hard part to explain to Maya.
I went to the apartment, I just needed to know she was there and she was safe.
Instead of just barging in, I knocked.
A first for me.
When the door opened, Maya’s roommate from the other apartment stood there.