The Heiress's Pregnancy Surprise (Heirs to an Empire 2)

“You set?”

She scowled. To be honest, she felt pretty good, now that she’d gotten moving, but she wouldn’t say as much to him. “I’m ready.”

They went back up in the elevator without saying a word. Once they got back to the apartment, he opened the door and let her in first, then followed and locked it again. “I’m going to shower. What time do we need to leave?”

She looked at her phone. It wasn’t even six thirty yet. Normally she would sleep for another hour. “Nine. Different venue today. But I’m sure you know that. It must be on your itinerary.”

“Of course. Make sure you eat something before we go. I don’t want you fainting away today.”

“Yes, master,” she said darkly. He was really enjoying bossing her around, wasn’t he?

But when she got under the hot spray of the shower all she could think about was him, and his crazy-hard body, and how he’d lost his speech when she’d opened the door to her bedroom this morning. She had the reckless and insane thought that she’d love to walk into his room right now, and step into his shower, with all the steam and soap and skin.

Oh, for Pete’s sake. She was fantasizing about her bodyguard now, and how dumb was that? It was Sunday; on Saturday they’d be packing up and heading back to Heathrow. She would never see him again. Last night they’d got a little too personal, but it didn’t have to happen again.

She dried off and went to search her spreadsheet for today’s wardrobe choice. As she was finding the app she used, she realized how very boring and predictable that sounded. She’d planned her wardrobe two weeks ago. Whatever happened to wearing what you felt like?

The app popped up with today’s choices: matching bra and panty set, dress, shoes, accessories. The dress was white with a vertical black stripe straight down the middle, ending just above the knee, blending class and sex appeal with the fitted shape. Black stilettos rounded out the ensemble, but as she looked at the items laid out on her bed, she thought back to last night and Jacob’s comment that the black and white was somehow boring.

It was on brand. It said Aurora... But it didn’t say Charlotte.

She dressed, but the whole time her mind was working. She’d spent years trying to never cause ripples. She’d fallen in love with the wrong kind of person and had broken it off to save the family—and herself—the embarrassment. She never, ever created waves. But in all that... The woman she’d become was buried underneath the company image. Until recently, it hadn’t felt constricting. But it did now.

By the time she’d finished her hair and makeup, she was ready for some breakfast and she’d come up with a plan to shake things up a little.

And if it knocked Jacob’s eyeballs out of his head, so much the better. That would teach him for dragging her to the gym before 6:00 a.m.!

* * *

Jacob was still in awe of Charlotte’s work ethic. She put on her “work” face the moment she entered the public and it never faltered. Even when she was seated and watching, he could tell her mind was turning. She stared so intently and never moved, almost as if cataloging things in her head. Every time they got in the car she wilted a little, had a bottle of water and, if time, a snack. He didn’t try to make conversation. He simply let her recharge in the silence.

He wondered if she knew how intimidating she was. And not in a scary, bad way, but in a “she’s so capable and put together” way. It was as if she was determined no one ever see a weakness or chink in her armor. Even last night, with Mark, she’d been remarkably composed.

He’d been surprised that she’d shared something so personal with him. And it made her seem less of a client and more of...

Nope. He couldn’t let his mind go there. It was bad enough he kept seeing her in that tiny nightie, her eyes flashing. Thank God she’d slammed the door in his face. And then watching her trim figure on the elliptical... He’d punished himself with the weights to keep himself distracted.

She had a conference call later in the afternoon, so he was surprised when they got into the car after yet another show that had bored him to tears, and she asked the driver to take her to the Aurora store on Fifth Avenue.

“This isn’t on your itinerary.”

“No, it’s not. I want to pick up a few things. Besides, it makes sense for me to stop into the New York store. The general manager is a new hire, just last year.”

“Fine... But I’m going in with you.”

In fact, it was bothering him that things had been so quiet. Other than the incident at the party last night, there hadn’t been a peep from whoever had been sending the threatening emails. He wondered if that meant the perpetrator was based in Paris or London, which was highly likely. But a pattern of emails every few weeks and then nothing didn’t sit well with him. It was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

The Aurora store was unbelievably elegant. Everything was white, black, or chrome, and the employees dressed all in black. Charlotte looked around and Jacob looked at her. She couldn’t have had more than five hours of sleep last night and she was fresh and energetic, or at least doing a reasonable impression of it. She gave an associate a genuine smile as she approached, and said, “Hello, I’m Charlotte Pemberton.”

“Of course. Good afternoon, Ms. Pemberton. What a pleasure to have you in the store today.”

He’d give the associate credit; she maintained impeccable composure when faced with one of the Pemberton family.

“I’m actually here to do some shopping and say hello to Ms. Walker-Barnes.”

“Let me call up to let her assistant know you’re here, and then I can assist you, if you like.”

“That would be lovely, thank you...” She looked at the silver-plated name tag. “Donatella.” She laughed. “What a great name for working in fashion.”