Her Festive Baby Bombshell

Right then her stomach totally revolted. She dashed to the bathroom. Thankfully her cabin wasn’t that big. She was quite certain she wouldn’t have made it another step. She dropped to her knees, sick as a dog. What in the world? She hadn’t even eaten that morning.

Once her stomach calmed, she heard the sink turn on. Finn? He was here? He’d witnessed her at her worst. She would have groaned, but she feared doing anything that might upset her stomach again.

“Here. Take this.” He handed her a cold cloth.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

“And leave you alone when you obviously don’t feel well?”

No matter what she said, he wasn’t leaving. And at that moment she didn’t have the energy to argue. Once she’d cleaned up, she walked back to the bedroom. Her stomach wasn’t totally right, but it did feel somewhat better.

“I’m sorry about that.” Her gaze didn’t fully meet his. “You...you were quite the gentleman. Thank you.”

“Do you know what’s bothering you? Is it something you ate?”

“I think it’s seasickness.”

“I’m sure it doesn’t help that we hit some rough water this morning. Are you sure that’s all it is?”

She nodded, certain it had to be the constant roll of the boat.

“You should lie down.”

“I don’t have time.”

“Sure you do.” He guided her back to the king-size bed. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

She did as he asked, hoping she’d soon feel like herself. He disappeared out the door like a man on a mission. As she lay there, her mind strayed to her plan for Project Santa. Perhaps she should run it by Finn first. She didn’t want to do anything to embarrass either of them in front of those powerful men.

A few minutes later Finn came rushing back into the room. “How are you feeling now?”

“Better.” It wasn’t a lie.

“I grabbed some ginger ale and toast. Hopefully you’ll be able to keep that down. And I grabbed some medicine for the motion sickness.”

“Thank you.” She sat up in bed and accepted the glass of soda. She tentatively took a sip, not sure what to expect when it hit her stomach. Thankfully, it remained calm.

“I also talked with the captain and he’s set course for what he hopes is smoother water.”

Finn was changing his trip just for her? She didn’t know what to think, except that Finn was a lot more Santa-like than Grinchy.

She took another drink of the soda. So far, so good. Anxious to get on with her day, she got to her feet. She glanced over to find Finn staring at her. “What?”

“The look on your face. Something is bothering you. Is it your stomach again?”

She shook her head. “I told you I’m feeling better.”

He sighed. “You’re sure? You’re not just telling me this to get rid of me?”

“I’m certain. I’ll just get showered and be up to the meeting soon.”

“I could use your help, but I don’t want you pushing yourself.” His gaze searched her face and then he moved to the door. “I should be going.”

“Finn?”

“Yes.”

“There is something I wanted to talk to you about.”

His brow arched. “Is it about your health?”

“No. It’s nothing like that. It’s just an idea I wanted to run past you.”

He glanced at his Rolex. “I’d be happy to hear you out, but not right now. I’m late.” He opened the door. “I’ll see you on deck.” He rushed out the door.

“But—”

The door closed. Her words had been cut off. A frown pulled at her lips. She knew how to help him with Project Santa if he’d just slow down and listen to her. She refused to give up now. There had to be a way to get his attention.

* * *

Had he made a mistake?

Finn sat uncomfortably at the end of the table, knowing if they didn’t come up with a reasonable resolution to their transportation problem today that they would have to cut their losses and scrap the idea of Project Santa. The thought deeply troubled him.

He glanced at his watch for the third time in ten minutes. Where was Holly? Had she been struck with another bout of sickness?