She's Having the Boss's Baby - By Kate Carlisle Page 0,12
child.
Sadly though, her biggest problem had nothing to do with the fact that Aidan was her boss. It had to do with the fact that she had wanted the man for years. Secretly, of course. She hadn’t dwelled on her feelings for him in a long time, and she blamed their discussion about babies and sex for making her think of it now. Except for that conversation, she considered her crush on him mainly shallow and, well, sexual. Nothing wrong with that, right? The man had a great body! He was smart and funny and nice, too. God help her if she ever began to obsess over him, because if her feelings deepened, she would be in big trouble. Hadn’t her mother gone through life pining over a man, worshiping him from afar and losing herself in the process?
No, Ellie would never become dependent on a man. She liked Aidan, thought he was sexy, but that was it, thank goodness. There was no way she would ever turn into her mother.
“Hell, no,” she muttered defiantly as her hands rolled into fists at the very idea. She tossed her lightweight bathrobe on the bed and climbed under the covers. But as she fluffed her pillow, she wondered what it said about her when, despite the fact that Aidan would never make the offer to get her pregnant, she knew that if he did, she would have a hard time rejecting the offer. No matter how hard she had tried to avoid the attraction she felt for him, a direct proposition would be too tempting to pass up.
“Because you are crazy,” she said aloud. But that didn’t seem to matter as she continued to reflect on the joys of giving birth to a baby boy whose father was Aidan Sutherland. Her child would grow up to be handsome, rugged, gregarious, smart and athletic, just like his daddy.
She sighed. And even though it would never happen, the thought was so pleasant that she continued to dwell on it as she drifted off to sleep.
*
Two days later, Aidan held his regular weekly meeting with the resort managers to go over the schedule for the weekend and discuss any problems that might follow them into the next week.
Once the meeting ended, Serena, his catering manager, and Marianne, the head of housekeeping, met at the coffee machine. Aidan waited behind them as the two women filled their mugs and chatted.
“I’ll bet she’s already packed,” Marianne said. She kept her voice low, but she couldn’t disguise her excitement. “You know how she is.”
“Yes, organized to the teeth,” Serena said as she poured a dollop of cream into her cup. “God, I’m going to miss her so much.”
“She’ll only be gone for three weeks.”
“Oh, come on,” Serena said quietly. “Once she gets pregnant, do you really think she’ll stay?”
“She promised she would.”
“But she’ll have a baby to take care of.”
“Duh,” Marianne said. “But she loves it here.”
“Of course, who doesn’t? But come on, what kind of life will she have trying to raise a child on Alleria?”
“Hello?” Marianne said. “I have two kids and I live here quite nicely, thank you.”
Serena slapped her arm lightly. “I know, goofball, but you got yourself a husband first.”
Her friend frowned. “True. Hmm.”
“If Ellie’s determined to have a baby, she’ll want a husband eventually and she’s sure not going to find one here.”
Marianne sighed. “I have to agree with you there. The men who come to Alleria are only looking for short-term action.”
Serena gazed at her. “And yet you found Hector here.”
“Sure did,” Marianne said, winking as she rolled her shoulder seductively. “He came here looking for one hot mama and he found her.”
They both giggled and Serena said, “You got lucky and so did Hector. But the last thing most men come here for is a mama, no matter how hot she is.”
“I guess you’re right,” Marianne said. “It breaks my heart.”
“Mine, too, but Ellie will soon realize her child needs a father.” Serena leaned closer. “Remember I told you about my sister being a single mother? She’s struggled for years just to get by. It’s not right.”
Marianne sighed. “Alleria is no place for a single mother to go looking for a father for her child.”
The two women continued to chat as they walked away, never looking back to notice Aidan’s stricken look. He gazed at their backs until they disappeared into the hall. Then he sat down and thought about what he’d heard.
Those women were two of Ellie’s best friends