be resting and stable to take care of yourself, Elizabeth. It’s a pregnancy, not a head cold.”
My father, approaching this with an icy amount of logical thought and lack of actual emotion, continues without any concern for my feelings. “I’ll go ahead and have my assistant call Eileen at our Miami hotel and tell her to clear and prepare your suite. Or, of course, you could always stay with us on Star Island.”
“Hotel, please,” I blurt, a little too quickly.
“Fine enough. You’ll live there.” The initial shock in his voice is calming, turning back into stone-cold business. His default mode.
“What about my job? I can’t do my job if I’m…grounded.”
He scratches his head, then quickly points a finger at me and almost cracks a smile at whatever his own amazing idea is. “Actually, I know the perfect position for you here.”
I lean forward in anticipation. If it doesn’t involve travel, it can’t be that perfect for me.
“You’ll work with Noah on the management of the South Florida Riders.”
My stomach drops so hard I swear he must have heard it. “The Riders?” Panic ripples through me at a terrifying speed.
“I’ve been looking to hire a PR agent to work on the marketing and branding of the team,” he says, matter-of-fact, completely unaware of the horror crashing over me.
“Isn’t the team already branded? I’m sure they have an entire marketing staff,” I say slowly, carefully choosing each word.
“Sure. But as the owners, the Vice family, specifically your brother Noah, who’s heading up team ownership duties, can implement a new marketing strategy.” He takes his glasses off again and points them at me. “And I know just the powerful and brilliant Vice woman to run it. Here. In South Florida.”
My breathing starts to get shaky as my heart pounds harder. “You want me to work for the team?”
The team that Matt Unknown Last Name is on.
My insanely hot hookup from a couple of weeks ago that I now know contributed the other half of the tiny human growing inside me.
“Yes, Ellie.” He narrows his eyes, and his tone gets short. “I know you’re not a sports fan, but please, it’s a great option, considering the…” He gestures vaguely at me and tries to stifle a look of disgust and disappointment. “Situation.”
I’ve learned a great deal about my father over the last twenty-five years, and Don’t Ever Try To Argue With Him is lesson number one.
“All right.” I brush back my hair and nod, aching to be boarding our jet and dreaming of authentic pad Thai, like I was supposed to be right now. “I’ll go now.”
“Very well, then.” My dad walks me over to the glass door and gives an affirming nod.
I let my gaze linger on his cold and rigid expression for an extra second as I pass through the doorway. “Bye, Dad.”
“Elizabeth,” he says softly.
I look back over my shoulder. “Yeah?”
“It’s all going to be fine, you know. We’ll take care of you and…whoever you’re bringing into the world.”
I resent the tears that swell in my eyes.
No weakness.
I know the next thing that needs to happen. No matter how much it physically pains me to admit it to myself, I have to do the right thing. I’m gonna have to tell Matt, like, ASAP. My original, and not very well-thought-out plan, was to tell him after a little time had passed and I had really ironed out the details of how I’m going to handle being a single mother. That way, he wouldn’t have to even concern himself at all with the entire thing. Telling him would be purely ethical, and I could let him off the hook and ease his mind right away. But with all these new developments and Dad’s brilliant little idea for my work situation, I’m gonna have to spill the beans and fast.
Damn those two red lines.
Four
Ellie
“You know, in a way, you’re kind of working for me now.” Noah sips his coffee and gives me a teasing look.
“Shut up. Nine months of being a PR manager for the Riders, and then I’m back off to living all over the world.” I scoot forward in the chair across from him. “I am not working for you. Jerk.”
He half smiles and rolls his eyes. “Do you have a plan?”
“Mom and Dad and I have already talked extensively. Of course, I’ll have to cut down on my travel at first, but they’ll hire a world-class nanny while I’m on business trips, and once the baby is old enough, he