G-Men: The Series (125 page)

“You’re probably ready for a break from me anyway,” I teased. He didn’t smile.

Okay. Maybe not.

“Have a nice evening,” he replied, coolly. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Dismissed.

He turned his back to me and started pecking away on his laptop. Okay. Whatever. Sometimes Easton Matthews could be a hot mess.

Dinner with Mom and Dad went well. First off, it was nice to have good ole Chinese take-out for a change. Easton and I were constantly eating at some high-priced, gourmet restaurant, or his butler was preparing gourmet meals for us in his suite. I’d actually packed on a few pounds I wasn’t real happy about. When I mentioned that to Easton, he’d actually tried to drag my ass out of bed at 4:30 a.m. to work out with him the following morning. Hells-bells, that wasn’t happening!

My parents had brought me an authentic Puka Shell necklace, a gorgeous pair of Birkenstock sandals, and a hand-embroidered silk caftan. I swore it seemed as if they were segueing back to their “hippie” days with the selections they’d purchased for me. Not that I didn’t love it all.

Once we’d finished eating and I’d looked at all of the digital pictures, Daddy asked how things were going at work. For some reason I felt tongue-tied.

“I got a promotion,” I said timidly.

“That’s fantastic,” they both said at once.

“Tell me, Darcy, how did this come about?” my father asked.

“Well, Lacee was promoted to the Transition Team Leader, so of course, that left her position open for an executive assistant to Easton. He approached me about it, basically saying that he’d personally groom me in operations management.

“Splendid,” my father said, beaming.

If only he knew…

“Dad, I guess your former assistant didn’t put in for the job for Easton. Why is that?”

I watched my father squirm, not knowing that I knew what I knew.

“She preferred a transfer to Finance,” he said hurriedly. “Since I’m only there periodically as a consultant, there wouldn’t have been much for her to do most of the time. She got a promotion as well.”

“I see,” I said. “Well, I guess it worked out for all concerned. I probably should be heading home. I’ve got laundry stacked up.” I picked up my handbag, digging for my car keys.

“Darcy, wait a sec,” my mom interrupted. “Is there a reason you haven’t put a change of address through since you’ve moved from here?”

“No, I guess I never saw the need,” I replied. “I mean, I don’t have credit card bills or anything. I set my billing up for utilities once I moved into the apartment. What’s left?”

“Well,” she said, going over to the kitchen counter where a stack of mail was piled. “We had the mail stopped a few days before we left on the cruise. I noticed there were several things for you when I returned. There’s a notice from your dentist that you’re overdue for a cleaning, some clothing catalogs, and then this postcard from Dr. Billingsley arrived right after we left, stating you missed a scheduled appointment and has instructions to call their office immediately to set another one up.”

Oh shit! My Depo shot is fucking past due…

“Honey, are you having any female problems? I mean, I know Dr. Billingsley’s a gynecologist.”

“Oh no, Mom. Nothing like that. I just missed my annual check-up is all.”

“Well good,” she replied, obviously relieved. “Make sure you call your dentist and gynecologist to get this taken care of. It’s important you keep up with your preventative treatments.”

No fucking shit!!

Eli was kicked back in the living room watching some freaking reality show with Cain when I got home.

“There she is, Maddox. I guess she
does
still live here, or at least makes the occasional pit stop.”

“Shut up,” I snapped, instantly regretting my mood.

I went upstairs and immediately started sorting through my clothes hamper in order to start the four loads of laundry it appeared I had. Eli tapped gently on my door.

“You okay?” he asked softly. “Did you have a fight with Easton?”

“No, no—nothing like that. My folks are back and I had dinner with them. I’m staying here tonight.”

“Why the mood?”

“It’s probably nothing,” I shrugged. “Sorry I was bitchy. Everything’s cool.”

Later, as I lay alone in my bed, hoping that sleep would overtake me, I had a gnawing suspicion that everything was not okay. My instincts were on high alert.

^{chapter 40}

I was pulling my paper gown tightly around me as Dr. Billingsley instructed me to scoot my tush down closer to the edge of the table, my socked feet firmly planted in the cold, steel stirrups of the exam table.

Lovely.

“When was your last period, Darcy?”

“Uh, before I had my last shot of Depo.”

“Umm hmm,” he mumbled, putting the warmed speculum in to “have a peek” as he put it.

“When did you get the piercing?” he asked, probing around with his instrument.

“A few weeks ago,” I replied, tensing up at the physical intrusion.

“It looks like it’s healing nicely. You understand we can’t give you another Depo shot until we get the results of the test back. It’ll be just another couple of minutes. I can tell your cervix has thickened up a bit.”

What the hell does that mean?

His nurse tapped on the door and then came in, handing him the test results.

“You can sit up now,” he said, extending his hand to assist me. I was still clutching the paper gown to my breasts, watching his face for some hint of the news.

He took a seat on his rolling stool and made a notation on my chart.

“Well, Darcy, I hope congratulations are in order. Both of your tests have come back positive. It appears you’re about five to six weeks pregnant.”

“I can’t be!” I hissed loudly at him. “Can’t you re-run the tests? I mean, I wasn’t that far past the date in getting my next shot. Certainly there’s some ‘carryover’ time, a buffer period or something, right?”

“I’m positive you’re pregnant. There’s no need to re-take the tests. You’ll be delivering a baby in mid-to-late January. I take it this isn’t good news?” He was looking at me with compassion.

“I don’t know what it is,” I said, my voice sounding foreign to me. “I’m still in shock, I guess.”

“Well, I’ll leave you to get dressed. You should consider your options. You’re still in the very early stage of your pregnancy. If you decide to terminate the pregnancy, you should do it soon. The longer you delay, the higher the risk. I’ll have my nurse provide you with some informational pamphlets of clinics and counseling centers as well.”

I didn’t remember getting dressed or driving back to the apartment. I was in a fog…a thick, confused fog. I’d made a follow-up appointment with the doctor, and was provided a prescription for pre-natal vitamins, should I decide to proceed with the pregnancy.

Oh. My. God. Easton’s going to kill me!

As soon as I got home, I ran up to my room and crawled into bed. Eli was still at work. Easton was in London. Thank God. There’s no way I could’ve masked my emotions from him, at least for now.

I picked up my phone and called Lindsey. We’d only talked once since the night Easton had hauled me out of Busbee’s. She knew we were still
whatever-we-were
to each other.

“Hey, you,” she greeted. “It’s about damn time you came up for air. Doesn’t Easton ever give you a breather?”

“Lindsey,” my voice cracked, “I’m in deep shit.”

Talking to Lindsey had helped like I knew it would. She was truthfully thrilled about the idea of Harper having a cousin.

“Half-cousin,” I’d corrected her.

“No, we’re not doing halves,” she argued.

“Then you think I should keep this baby?”

She shrieked loudly into the phone, causing me to pull it away from my ear.

“What the hell? Don’t you even consider the alternative, Darcy! I can’t believe that thought even crossed your mind!”

“I’m not sure I’d be a good single parent,” I admitted, shrugging. My mind immediately started re-playing scenes from the movie, “Juno.”

Can you hold on a sec, Linds? I’m on my hamburger phone.

“What makes you think Easton won’t take responsibility?” Lindsey asked, bringing me back to reality.

I felt my eyes widen. “Are you serious? Easton’s not a proponent of motherhood, trust me. I saw that firsthand in London.”

“Even so, Darcy, you should give him a chance.”

A chance to what? Fucking throttle me?

“Listen, I need you to promise me,
promise me,
you won’t say a word about this to anyone, including Taz.” The words fell like fallen soldiers from my lips.

“I’ll promise on one condition…”

“Which is?” I was mentally flipping my best friend off.

“No more thoughts about having a—you know…”

She couldn’t even bring herself to use the “A” word.

“No problem. I wasn’t considering that anyway, geesh.”

“You weren’t?”

“Hell no! I considered the fact that I’m likely deficient in maternal instincts, but there was never any question of me not
having
the baby. For Chrissake, I sort of love the arrogant prick, you know?”

I’d no sooner gotten off the phone with Lindsey than a call came in from Easton. It had to be around 10 p.m. in London.

“Are you feeling okay?” he asked, as soon as I answered.

Huh?

“Yeah, I’m fine. Are
you
feeling okay?” I replied, wondering why he’d greeted me with that to begin with.

“You went to the doctor today. I was concerned you were ill.”

“How did you know that?” I asked, putting my hand on my hip.

“The GPS in your car,” he replied very matter-of-factly, as if he had every right to stalk me electronically.

“You’re keeping tabs on me via my
car
?” I didn’t even want to see the expression on my face when I asked that. “Sounds like someone with a little too much time on their hands.”

“Answer my question, please.”

“I’m fine. I had an appointment with my doctor because it’s time for my Depo Provera shot—you know
birth control
?” I could feel my eyes bugging out as I carefully skirted the truth.

“Ah, yes, wouldn’t do to miss that. Good girl.”

Holy fuck!

I changed the subject, asking how things were going with the summit (as I called it teasingly). He said he was bored and ready to be back in D.C.

“Really?” I asked him. “I don’t understand your sudden love for the States these days, Mr. Matthews,” I said flirtatiously.

“I don’t understand it myself,” he replied. I could almost feel his smile over the phone. “Someone’s got my attention in a death grip, I’m afraid.”

“Yeah. I miss you too, Easy E.”

“I’ll see you after Paris, love. Behave yourself and I’ll be in touch.”

“By phone or GPS?” I asked, twisting a lock of my hair around my finger.

“Both,” he replied. “Miss you.”

I felt a warm tingle in the pit of my belly after he’d said that to me. The glow stayed with me until I heard Eli come in from work about an hour later.

What to do about Eli…

^{chapter 41}

The knowledge I was pregnant apparently signaled my body to start acting like it. I’d no sooner got up the following morning to get ready for work, when I made a mad dash to the bathroom to throw up.

Three times.

Eli heard me and, when I came out into the hall with a wet wash cloth dabbing at my mouth, he stood there, arms-crossed, leaning against the wall.

“Stomach flu?” he asked.

“No—I think those fish sticks that I had last night didn’t agree with me. I’ll be fine.”

“Uh huh,” he replied, giving me the once-over.

Later at work, I was in the middle of going over some figures with Lacee, when the nausea struck me again. I made a mad dash to the restroom and unceremoniously heaved again. Damn! This was going to be a bitch. By afternoon, I felt normal again. Hopefully this wouldn’t be an everyday thing. Of course that was only wishful thinking…