She's Having the Boss's Baby - By Kate Carlisle Page 0,41

her somewhere private. It took everything he had to keep from stalking across the floor, sweeping her up into his arms and carrying her off into the night.

Just then, one of the box boys said something that must’ve been funny because Ellie threw back her head and laughed. The sweet musical sound set off a shock wave of desire that shot straight to Aidan’s gut. And instantly turned him as hard as a brick.

Damn. He gripped his glass carefully as he struggled to maintain an outer calm. He gritted his teeth and mentally talked himself down, but it wasn’t easy because he couldn’t seem to tear his gaze away from Ellie, who was still smiling and chatting easily with the men. That was just one more reason why she was so perfect for this job. She was friendly and could get along with anyone.

But that wasn’t helping his erection disappear.

The music in the club pounded; laughter from the customers at the table seemed harsher, louder. Aidan kept his gaze fixed on Ellie with such intensity that she must have felt it. She turned her head, her gaze caught his and something wild and indefinable jumped into life between them.

He downed the last of his drink, set his empty glass on the bar, nodded to Sam the bartender, and headed straight toward the group of men who were vying for Ellie’s attention.

*

Ellie had felt Aidan’s presence within a nanosecond of him walking into the bar twenty minutes ago. Even with her back to the entrance, even surrounded by all these people, she knew he was here. So what did it say about her that she could sense the man’s presence from across a large, crowded room?

It worried her, frankly. Would it always be this way? Was it a good thing or a bad thing? Probably bad, if it meant that in a few years, she would be at home feeding her baby and suddenly realize instinctively that Aidan was out on a date with his latest “bikini babe.”

Yes, definitely a bad thing, she thought, as she recalled one night when she and her sister had watched their mother wander through the house, wondering and worrying aloud about the man she’d once been married to. What was he doing right now? Was he thinking of her?

Ellie mentally rolled her eyes. There was no way she would turn into that woman!

With a sigh, she tried to ignore all thoughts of Aidan and concentrate on the salesmen who were currently trying to impress her with all their best stories. She didn’t mind. They were nice guys, if a bit silly.

A few minutes later, they moved on from stories to jokes, and Ellie had to admit some of them were mildly amusing. Then out of the blue, one of the salesmen—was his name Larry?—told a knock-knock joke that was so funny, she laughed out loud.

“Hey, she liked that one,” Larry said, wiggling his eyebrows at his friends.

One of his buddies nudged him with his elbow. “Guess that means the next round of drinks is on you.”

She felt Aidan’s gaze on her and when she turned her head to meet that look head-on, her entire system jump-started into a frantic rhythm. Her heartbeat thundered in time with the pulsing music. Her stomach did a quick spin and at the very core of her, she went hot and damp.

She swallowed hard when he stalked toward her.

“Good evening, gentlemen,” Aidan said jovially. “Hope you don’t mind, but I’ve got to borrow our Ms. Sterling for a few minutes.”

She smiled her apologies. There was some good-natured grumbling as Aidan took Ellie’s arm and guided her out from the circle of men. He smiled cheerfully the entire time, although Ellie could sense his underlying tension.

“No worries, gentlemen,” he said. “You’ll see Ellie again tomorrow. Enjoy your evening.”

“Aidan, what’s wrong?” Ellie asked.

He kept a firm hold on her arm as they walked quickly through the bar and out into the bustling lobby. He paid no attention to the bell captain or the concierge director who both called out his name, just kept walking across the marble floor and into the carpeted hallway that led to his suite.

“You’re scaring me, Aidan,” she said, hurrying her steps to keep up with his much longer stride. “Is everything all right?”

“Sorry,” he muttered. “Everything’s fine. I’m just in kind of a hurry.”

“Okay,” she said, and practically jogged to keep up with him.

They reached his suite and without a word, he swiped his key card, pushed