The Boss's Surprise Son (10 page)

T
WO MONTHS LATER
Rick sat in a doctor’s office with Savannah and watched the screen as the doctor moved a ball in jelly across Savannah’s abdomen.

“See, here’s the baby’s head and the feet. And here—” the doctor, a white-haired man with wire-rimmed glasses, pointed at a blip on the screen “—you can see the heart beat.”

Rick squinted at the spot indicated and then he saw it, the pulsing beat of his child’s heart. And yes, there was the head, and the arms and legs and the tiny feet.

“Rick, do you see?” Savannah fumbled for his hand.

“Yeah.” Awe filled him to overflowing. Not taking his eyes from the small heartbeat, he wrapped his fingers around hers and squeezed. “Our baby. It’s beautiful.”

In an instant his world changed beyond anything he’d ever known. The sense of duty and responsibility increased a hundredfold, but added to that was an emotion so profound it filled his soul.

This was a love like nothing he’d ever known.

“No, not an
it
anymore.” Savannah stared at the
screen, turning her head this way and that to try and work out what she was seeing. “Dr. Wilcox, are we having a boy or a girl?”

Rick found himself holding his breath. Not that it mattered. Boy or girl, he just hoped for a healthy baby, knew Savannah felt the same.

“You are having a baby boy.”

A son. For the first time ever he had an inkling of what his father must have felt. Was it possible to feel six times this much love? Rick couldn’t imagine it.

“Ouch. Rick!” Savannah exclaimed.

He blinked at her and then looked down to where he felt a yanking on his hand to find he was crushing her fingers in his.

“Oh, sorry.” He immediately loosened his grip.

She grinned at him. “Pretty intense, huh, Daddy?”

“It’s the biggest thing I’ve ever done.”

“Me, too.” The look in her green eyes softened and when she turned back to the monitor and tears welled, he understood exactly how she felt.

He leaned down to kiss her just behind her left ear.

She smiled and turned her hand in his to thread their fingers together.

“Marry me,” he whispered. “Let’s be a family.”

She went totally still. When she came to life again she flicked him an unreadable look from the corner of her eye. A moment later she was focused on the screen again, even white teeth torturing her plump bottom lip.

But she just shook her head silently.

After the appointment Savannah sat at a traffic light tapping the steering wheel with nails painted in Pixie Dust Pink waiting for Claudia to answer her cell. Savannah’s mind churned with thoughts of the doctor’s appointment she’d just left. Of the second marriage proposal from Rick she’d turned down.

That did not get easier with practice.

“Hello.” Claudia finally picked up.

“It’s a boy,” Savannah announced to the hands-free kit attached to the dash. She grinned and patted her bulge, a boy.

“A nephew! Woohoo!” Claudia whooped. “I knew it. I told Daniel you were having a boy. Have you told Rick?”

“I didn’t have to. He was there. And yes, he’s thrilled.” Not that he’d made a big show of it, but she knew he was pleased.

Though, like her, he’d be happy whatever the gender as long as the baby was healthy. She always breathed easier after hearing the doctor say everything looked good.

“He showed up at your appointment again?”

“He wanted to drive me, but I have a meeting back at the school so I insisted on driving myself.”

The fact Rick had been at all her appointments still surprised her. She saw almost as much of him now as she had when she’d worked for him. Especially during those last couple of months when he’d been avoiding her.

Who knew that by quitting she’d be freeing him to
pursue her? On the days she didn’t have her college classes, he’d stop by her home bringing dinner with him or charming—okay, bullying—her to go out with him. A few times she hadn’t felt like going out, so she’d cooked.

She could tell he liked those times best, though he never expected it. And she realized that for all his bluster about staying single he was as much a family man at heart as any of his brothers.

No question she’d have more distance and privacy if she’d continued to work for him.

“Hey, I wanted to give you the news. Now I need to call and tell Daniel you were right. I’ll see you on Saturday.”

The light turned green, and Savannah pulled forward. The squeal of brakes gave her little warning. She looked up, saw an SUV barreling for her. Sheer instinct had her slamming both feet down on the brakes.

She screamed.

Claudia frantically called out her name.

And then everything went black.

Savannah lay in the hospital bed cradling the bulge that was her baby and fighting back tears. She was bleeding and the doctors were worried.

She was terrified. And alone.

She remembered talking to Claudia. Everything after the call blurred in a kaleidoscope of scary, painful events. The SUV had run a red light and hit the front of her sedan broadside. The police had told her if she
hadn’t stood on her brakes it would have hit her right in the driver’s-side door.

She could be dead right now.

Gulping back a sob she rubbed her belly. Instead her baby might die.

“Sir, you can’t go in there. You need to check in with admissions.
Sir!
”

A large, bronzed hand pushed the curtain aside and suddenly Rick was there. In the next instant he held her in his arms. He didn’t lift her but came down to her. She wrapped her arms around him, hung on tight and let the tears flow.

“I’m here, Savannah,” he crooned against her ear.

“Everything is going to be fine.”

Oh, he lied. But it was exactly what she needed to hear.

“The baby,” she choked out.

“Our boy is strong,” he assured her. “He’ll make it through this. How are you? Are you hurt? They wouldn’t tell me anything.”

“Shook up, a little bruised. The air bag saved me.

But it was like a punch to the gut, and the baby…”

She buried her face in his chest. “I’m bleeding. I’m so sorry.”

“Stop. It’s not your fault. None of this is your fault.”

He repeated it again and again until she almost believed it.

He stayed with her and eventually she calmed enough to tell him what she knew. A nurse came along to say the
doctor had ordered an ultrasound and they’d be moving her in a few minutes.

Through the next hours she clung to Rick’s hand. He stood by her side, his presence lending her strength, his touch giving her hope, especially when the doctors said they wanted to keep her and the baby under observation overnight and reevaluate the situation in the morning.

“Placental abruption is the separation of the placenta from the uterine lining,” Doctor Wilcox stated the next afternoon. “I believe you have a partial separation caused by the trauma to the abdomen.”

“That sounds serious.” Heart beating frantically, Savannah squeezed Rick’s hand.

“It is,” the doctor confirmed. “The placenta is part of your baby’s life-support system. When the placenta separates from your uterine lining, it can interrupt the transportation of oxygen and nutrients to your baby.”

“Rick.”

He circled her hand with both of his and held on tight. “Are you saying she’s going to lose the baby?” he asked.

“She hasn’t yet—that’s a good sign. Plus his heartbeat is strong, which is an excellent indication of his chances. But you have to be cautious. I’m going to order complete bed rest for the next month and then we’ll see. I want to monitor the baby carefully, at least once a week.”

He went on to outline the limitations of bed rest and to caution her against overdoing things. She wondered how she was going to manage, especially when he
mentioned she should have someone with her day and night.

A few minutes later Rett arrived and the doctor took his leave. Savannah tried to hold it together as family came and went through the evening, as the prognosis was repeated again and again.

Even her dad came by, which touched Savannah, but she was so emotionally overwrought she didn’t know how to act. Rick saw the toll it was all taking on her and chased everyone on their way.

And then he held her while she cried herself to sleep.

“Are you ready to marry me now?” Rick asked from where he stood by the window.

Head bowed, she frowned down at the serviceable blue blanket covering her to the waist. Stupid, rough, ugly blanket.

“You’re seriously taking advantage of a pregnant woman when she’s down?” she exclaimed.

“I’ll do whatever it takes.” He crossed his arms over his chest, the gesture a wordless statement of his determination. “It’s the practical solution to the situation.”

Flicking him an irritated glance she said, “You might want to try something more romantic next time.”

“Will that work?” Speculation lit up his eyes.

“No, but it’ll mix it up for me.”

Suddenly he was next to the bed, and she was framed by the magnificent columns of his muscular arms. And then his mouth was on hers, hard, hot, urgent, a demand
and a declaration. When he lifted his head, resolve burned in his gorgeous blue eyes.

“Be warned. I’m not going to stop asking until I get the answer I want.”

Savannah licked her lips as she stared up into all that heated intensity. Okay, what he lacked in romance, he definitely made up for in tenacity.

“You’re not supposed to rile the sick lady. Just because I’ve been ordered to undergo bed rest doesn’t mean I get to do anything interesting while I’m there.” Turning sullen again, she plucked at the ugly blanket. “Over four months in bed. I’m going to go nuts.”

Rick kissed her again, this time slow and sweet. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. Take it one day at a time. Plus I know you. You’ll find a way to fill the time.”

“That’ll be hard to do from a hospital room.” The doctor had ordered complete bed rest for the first month with a possible move to moderate bed rest for the rest of her term, depending on how the baby was doing at the end of the first month.

The problem was complete bed rest meant no cooking, no chores, no moving around her apartment. If she didn’t have someone to help her at home, they wanted to put her in a long-term facility. The thought of that made her want to cry.

But she wasn’t willing to marry Rick just to keep from being bored. And she told him so.

“I have a proposition,” he said, dropping into his customary chair beside the bed. “Come live with me. I talked to my housekeeper last night. She’s willing
to extend her hours and work from eight to four. That means you’ll only be alone a couple of hours a day.”

“Really?” It sounded perfect. Except it probably came with a ring attached. “Even though I’m not going to marry you?”

He lifted a dark brow. “My proposal stands. But, no, a marriage ceremony is not necessary for you to stay with me.”

She eyed him suspiciously. “What’s the catch?”

“You sleep with me.”

Oh, no, not a good idea. “The doctor said no sex.”

“Yeah, I was sitting here when he said it. This isn’t about that. I’m not going to do anything to hurt the baby.”

“Then why?” she asked.

“Because I won’t be able to sleep at night worrying about you.”

“Oh, come on.” She just kept herself from snorting.

“I’m serious. What if you start having pains or fall while going to the bathroom? Anything could happen and I might not hear you if you call out. I need you where I can see you, hear you, reach out and touch you.”

His intensity was back. Stronger, more stark. Yeah, he was serious. But could she do as he asked, sleep beside him every night for the next month, and probably more? Close enough to see, to hear, to touch.

What was the alternative? A sterile room with an antiseptic smell, and rough, ugly, blue blankets? And inevitable, eternal boredom? Sure, family and friends
would call and visit, but there were so many hours in the day, and too many during the night. Usually a positive person, Savannah felt lonely just thinking about it.

Inside her a tiny movement stirred. She caught her breath and went completely still.

“What is it?” Concerned, Rick returned to her bedside and reached for her hand. “Are you in pain? Is it the baby?”

The flutter came again and she grinned through the tears blooming in her eyes. Pushing aside the blanket, she moved his hand to her belly, covered only by her thin nightshirt. “It
is
the baby, but it’s all good. He’s moving.” She pressed her hand over Rick’s right where the tiny sensation stirred. “Do you feel him?”

He shook his head, and she saw that overwhelmed by emotion, words had failed him.

“I do. He’s moving. He’s going to be okay,” she said and believed it. For the first time since the accident, she felt encouraged, the small movement of her child the medicine she needed to look forward again.

Rick sank into the chair and laid his head in her lap. She wished she could see his face but he was turned away from her. Threading her fingers through his chocolate-brown hair, she gave him a moment. When she felt her nightshirt grow slightly damp, she swallowed the lump in her throat and made a decision.

“Do you promise not to harass me about getting married?”

“I won’t ask more than once a day.”

She shook her head. Stubborn man.

“Okay. I’ll come live with you.”

Savannah moved in on Saturday. Rick saw it as a triumph. Now if only she looked happy about it.

With great satisfaction he got her settled in his bed and then propped his hands on his hips and surveyed her.

A small frown puckering between her russet eyebrows, she looked around the room.

He followed her gaze, seeing his space through her eyes. His style ran to traditional comfort. A king-size black leather sleigh bed with a burnished nutmeg finish dominated the room with accompanying nightstands and bureau. Light flooded in through ceiling-to-floor multipaneled windows, reflecting off the beige suede comforter and showcasing the brown-and-beige medallion rug. Lush green plants added color and a sense of luxury.