The Expectant Executive

The timing was right and the fact that they’d failed to use any kind of protection that night in his barn left him with only one conclusion. Taking one deep breath, then another, Travis felt light-headed and just a little queasy himself.

“Fin, I think there’s a damned good possibility that you’re pregnant with my baby.”

Chapter 4

When the gravity of the situation finally began to settle in, Travis’s words were as effective as a dose of smelling salts to Fin’s cloudy brain. For the past week, she had purposely denied the telltale symptoms of pregnancy, but it was past time that she faced the facts.

She’d rationalized the occasional light-headedness and morning nausea as the result of stress from the competition and working grueling hours to win. But apparently that wasn’t the case. It appeared that history was repeating itself and she was pregnant again after only one incidence of unprotected sex.

“This can’t be happening,” she moaned, burying her head in her hands. “Not again.”

“It’s going to be all right, Fin. Until you take a pregnancy test, we won’t know for sure,” Travis said, his voice gentle as he lifted her to his wide chest and carried her back into the bedroom. When he placed her on the bed, he sat down beside her and took her hands in his. “If you’ll tell me where the nearest drug

store is located, I’ll run out and buy one of those home tests. Once we get the results, we’ll know what we’re facing and figure out how to handle it.”

She raised her gaze to meet his. “We?”

He nodded without so much as a moment’s hesitation. “If you are carrying my baby, you’re not going to face the music alone. I’ll be there with you every step of the way and whatever decisions have to be made, we’ll make them together.”

His vow to lend his moral support was very much appreciated, but until the stick turned blue, she had every intention of holding out hope that she wasn’t pregnant. “Let’s get that test kit and find out for certain one way or the other.”

Giving Travis her key to let himself back in and directions to a pharmacy close by, she waited until he left before she allowed her tears to fall.

What on earth had she gotten herself into this time? And could the timing have been any worse?

She was in a fierce competition with her family, and especially her twin, Shane, to be named CEO of Elliott Publication Holdings when Patrick retired in a couple of months. Even if Charisma’s growth pushed it over the top and she became the clear winner of the contest, she seriously doubted that her self-righteous father would turn over the reins of his magazine empire to the daughter who made a habit of disgracing him with grandchildren born out of wedlock. And although times were different than they’d been twenty-three years ago and it was perfectly acceptable for a single woman to bear and raise her children alone, Patrick was from a different generation. There was no way he’d hand over his precious company to a woman he considered unable to manage her own life.

Her breath caught on a sob and she squeezed her eyes shut as she thought of all she stood to lose. “J-Jessie,” she said aloud.

What would this do to her fledgling relationship with her daughter? They’d just found each other. How would Jessica react to the news that her biological mother and adoptive father had been unable to control themselves and now she was going to have a baby brother or sister?

Leaning back against her pillows, Fin tried not to think of the fallout an unplanned pregnancy would cause if what she and Travis suspected was true. The implications were endless and just thinking about them made her temples throb and a heavy feeling of dread fill her chest.

When she heard Travis unlock her apartment door, she sat up and wiped the moisture from her cheeks. She was no longer that frightened fifteen-year-old girl who’d had no recourse but to go along with whatever decision her parents made for her. She was a woman now and no matter what results the test showed, she would handle the situation with dignity, grace and a strength of will that she hadn’t possessed twenty-three years ago.

“Is it showing anything yet?” Travis asked as he paced outside of Fin’s bathroom door.

The pharmacist he’d talked to had assured him that the pregnancy test kit he purchased was the easiest, most accurate over-the-counter indicator on the market. If the digital display spelled out “pregnant,” then he and Fin were going to have a baby together.

His heart thudded in his chest like an out of control jackhammer every time he thought of Fin being pregnant. He never in his wildest imaginings would have thought that at the ripe old age of forty-nine, he’d be anxiously awaiting test results to see if he’d gotten a woman “in trouble.”