Rolling my shoulders back, I walked deeper into the office, greeting the secretary. “Hello, Laura. I’m here to see Erik.”
I’d been visiting Bergamo and Brandt since earlier in the year as a little side project. They wanted to open an office in London and reached out to Wellington and Russo for assistance. Since we’d already helped them set up their current business almost eight years ago, they didn’t need a whole team like they had before. No, they needed me and what I wanted to offer. So, without really discussing it with my father, I supplied them with a marketing plan completely created by yours truly. A damn good one, if I said so myself.
Jake helped out a few times when I needed to run numbers and analytics, but he didn’t need to waste time away from other projects that needed his full attention. So, he signed when required, and we hadn’t brought my father on.
“Look at you.” Laura beamed, taking in my belly. “You’re radiant, Carina.”
“I’m sweating,” I deadpanned, making her laugh. “Why the hell is it so hot in September?”
“Because you’re pregnant. It’s the law that all things to make you uncomfortable will happen in the last trimester.”
I rolled my eyes but shared a laugh with the older woman. She’d had three kids of her own, so she was kind enough to listen to me whenever I came in.
“I’ll let him know you’re here,” she said, picking up the phone. A moment later, she let me know to go on in.
I opened the door, and my eyes first locked on Erik rounding his desk. I saw others in my periphery in the seating area around a coffee table and remembered today would be a full team meeting.
“Hey, Carina. Can we get you anything to drink?” Erik asked, placing a gentle kiss on my cheek. We’d become close over the past few months of working together—friends. I’d also become close to his girlfriend, Alexandra, who gave a smile and a wave on her way to the couch. At least, as close as I let people get these days.
I opened my mouth to accept some water when a voice had me choking on my words.
“Carina?” A deep voice croaked my name, pulling my eyes to the others on the couch.
Dark hair pushed back, and the most startling gray eyes I’d never forget, even if I tried.
Holy shit.
“Ian?”
What were the odds? What were the freaking odds?
“You two know each other?”
My gaze jerked to the petite brunette sitting pressed to Ian’s side. Hanna Brandt, Erik’s little sister who worked in another department on the floor below. Her eyes were wide and scanned my body, resting on my stomach. It wasn’t anything she hadn’t seen before, but as she looked between Ian and me, probably connecting the dots, it took on a hint of worry I’d never seen before.
I looked back to Ian to find his eyes widening as they took me in. My hand rested possessively on my stomach like I could hide the giant belly from his accusing eyes. If he looked shocked before, it was nothing compared to his jaw-dropping gawk now.
“What the hell is that?” he asked like he saw an alien poke out from under my dress.
The silence was deafening as I struggled for words. What did one say in a moment like this? Surprise? Congratulations? Adios?
I was saved from saying anything when someone else entered behind me. “What did I miss?” Jared, the lead IT analyst at the company, asked. He froze next to me and took in the sight of everyone frozen and slack-jawed.
Alexandra spoke up for the first time, her tone hinting at restrained humor. “I think Carina was just about to explain to Ian where babies come from.”
Jared’s face screwed up. “What?”
Ian scooted to the end of the couch, his eyes narrowed, not leaving my stomach like he was struggling to do the hardest math problem of his life.
It must have clicked for Jared because in the next instant he was laughing. “Oh, shit. This is good.”
Both Ian and I glared at Jared, who sobered quickly, coughing into his hand. “Sorry. It’s just…kind of funny.”
“Shut the fuck up,” Ian growled.
When Jared went to speak again, I cut him off before this could go any further. “Anyways, we can talk later,” I said with a forced jovial voice. I adjusted my jacket and gave my most authoritative tone, not allowing an inch for argument. “Let’s get this meeting started.”
“Always in control,” Ian muttered under his breath.
I was hit with a familiar feeling—annoyance at his constant need to have the last word. There I’d been fantasizing about finding him and sharing the pregnancy with him, romanticizing the looks in the pictures I had, and in less than ten minutes I was reminded of how much he annoyed me. Sure, it made me want to snap back, which kind of got me hot, but lately, my hormones had been swinging into horny territory, so I shoved it down and ignored his comment.