Maybe Baby Lite (62 page)

“
Mr. Sinclair is the
youngest attorney ever to make partner here,” she said, “let
alone
senior
partner. He'll certainly make a great catch for some lucky
girl.”

I finished with the lunch
order and faxed it over, requesting delivery at 1 p.m. as
instructed. Just to be safe, I called the deli 10 minutes later to
make sure that they received the order and instructed them the P.B.
& J required
strawberry
jelly.

Leah told me to take my
lunch from 11:30 to 12:30; she would cover the phones and respond
to any requests from the conference room. I retrieved my purse and
went to the kitchen, getting a yogurt and juice from the vending
machine. I sat at one of the tables and checked my phone. Trey had
texted again.

“
That asshole Littleton
will be lucky if my size 11 shoe doesn’t end up lodged in his colon
before the afternoon's over! You look great by the way. I’m going
to fuck you when I get home. Then we'll discuss your office attire,
Ms. Preston. Are you taking
good care of
our baby?”

I hit reply,

“
Chill about Littleton,
okay? I look forward to the fuck-fest! My office attire is fine!
I’ve received several compliments on it! And yes, taking good care
of our baby! Having yogurt and juice like a good girl.”

I finished my yogurt and
went back to the vending machine for an apple. When I returned to
the table, I had another text from Trey. Damn! He's texting me
during the settlement conference?

“
I’m sure you have, Ms.
Preston."

The tables had turned. It
was Trey’s turn to be jealous about the attention I drew. I hit
reply:

“
How can you be paying
attention to this very important conference while texting
me???”

I finished my apple and
downed the rest of my juice before I heard my phone beep
again.

“
It’s called
multi-tasking, Tylar. I do it all the time when we’re fucking or
haven't you noticed?"

I giggled while reading
his text at the same time Debbie walked in to refill her coffee
mug. She looked around to see if anyone else was in the kitchen. I
picked up my phone and purse and headed to the restroom. Once
inside the stall, I replied to Trey’s text:

“
I've noticed with great
pleasure baby! I'm heading back to our office to relieve Leah for
lunch. I'll be serving you your P.B. & J. soon.”

I texted Gina while I was
in there asking her if she had any clothes she wanted to get rid
of. She responded quickly, saying she would dig through her closet
and drop anything off before she went to the club with Ian
tonight.

Leah left to take her
lunch when I returned to my desk. She said she would cut it short
if I needed her back at 1 p.m. to help serve lunch. I assured her
that I could handle it. She gave me a stack of messages. Trey’s
personal assistant, Tonya, had brought over several messages for
him. She asked Leah to make sure that Trey got them when lunch was
delivered. I was glad I was out when Tonya came by because she
might suspect my relationship with Trey; P.A.s were privy to a lot
of information concerning their bosses.

I leafed through Trey’s
messages. Greg Sims from Sim’s Private Investigation Services had
requested a call back to update progress. There were several
messages from in-house attorneys. Then, I saw the last message:
Tess Flannery had called this morning
at
10:30.

What the fuck?

Why would she call Trey?
She must've heard from Landon about our “situation.” Christ, even I
was referring to it now as a situation. I put Tess’s message atop
Trey’s stack so he saw it first.

At 12:50, the boxed
lunches were delivered to Harmon’s wing by Josh from the mailroom.
I filled another ice bucket and met Josh, who wheeled the sandwich
cart. I set the ice bucket on it, grabbed the phone messages, and
knocked firmly on the conference room door.

“
Come in,” one of the
attorneys barked. It had to be Harmon or Richardson; I knew it
wasn’t Trey. I opened the door tentatively, holding it for Josh to
come through with the cart.

“
Gentlemen,” Barry
Richardson said, nodding for Josh to put the boxes on the credenza,
“we will take a restroom and lunch break now. We will resume our
discussion in 20 minutes.”

I helped Josh unload the
cart and I restocked the credenza. I turned away from the credenza
just as Mr. Littleton brushed against my backside.

Fuck! I hope Trey didn't
see that!

When I looked over and saw
the pure anger in Trey’s eyes, I knew that he'd seen it. I tried my
best to flash him a “no-big-deal” look, but he was having none of
it. He abruptly stood and followed Littleton to the door, taking
long, angry strides. I cut him off at the pass.

“
Mr. Sinclair,” I called
out, waving the pink message slips.

“
What?” he snapped,
turning to me, and his face softened when he caught my intent. I
knew that he hadn’t meant to snap at me.

“
Your messages, sir,” I
replied, handing him the stack.

He took them, his eyes
still locked on mine. I nodded at the messages, turning as he read
the one on top. I went over to Mr. Harmon, handing him his
messages, then to Richardson. I departed the conference room and
welcomed the sight of my desk. Leah returned about 15 minutes later
and asked how everything had gone.

“
No problems at all,” I
lied.

I awoke with a start from
my nap. I looked at the clock on the nightstand. It read 7:12 p.m.
The room was dark, the sun had obviously set. I couldn’t believe
that my after-work cat nap got away from me. Why wasn’t Trey home
from work yet? I heard rustling and the sound of ice clinking in
crystal. I looked over to the corner of the room and saw Trey in
the sitting area. His left arm was draped over the back of the
chair, a glass with ice and a couple of shots of amber liquor in
the other. I sat up abruptly and switched on the lamp.

“
I didn’t hear you come in
Trey,” I said. “I didn’t mean to take such a long nap. I wanted to
start dinner for you.”

He stood up and came over
to the bed. He wore a white dress shirt with his tie loose around
his neck. His five o’clock shadow looked sexy and he was in his
stocking feet. He sat down on the bed beside me. “Tylar,” he sighed
heavily, “I’m not sure that it’s going to work out having you
working at the firm.”

“
Why?” I asked, puzzled.
“Did I do something wrong?”

“
No, actually it’s me. You
drive me to distraction. Do you know how much I wanted to throttle
Littleton?” He took a long swig of his drink, slamming the empty
glass on the nightstand. I pulled the quilt off me and climbed over
to where he sat. I sat down next to him, taking his hand in
mine.

“
Please know that I didn’t
do anything to encourage Littleton.”

“
I know Tylar,” he said,
circling his arms around me, rocking me back and forth. We sat in
silence. He tugged on my ponytail, tilting my head back to kiss my
forehead.

“
I had to tell my partners
about our relationship.”

“
What? I thought you
insisted we keep it quiet?”

“
Tylar, you know as well
as I do that wasn’t realistic. Hell, both Richardson and Harmon
knew something was amiss today in the conference room. They said I
acted like a ‘rutting stag’. They were right.”

Okay, I've no clue what a
rutting stag is but it doesn’t sound as if it belongs in a law
firm.

“
Why would they say that?”
I pressed.

“
Jesus Christ, they know
me well enough to see how I acted whenever you came around and when
another man brushed against your ass!”

“
Let me ask you something
Trey. Would you’ve been concerned had Littleton done the same thing
to Leah or Tonya instead of me?”

“
It’s inappropriate no
matter who’s at the receiving end of it. The fact that it was you
enraged me.”

“
I’m really glad to hear
that, Trey,” I replied, “I think that you had every right to call
Littleton on it because none of your female employees deserve that
type of harassment. Was anything said to him?”

“
Oh yes,” he answered,
nodding his head, “Harmon saw what happened too and he called him
on it. That’s why I decided to tell the rest of the senior partners
about us.”

“
What do you
mean?”

“
The partners saw what
Littleton did, and they wanted Janice Landrick to talk to you and
make sure you understood that it was being handled. They also saw
my reaction and are aware that I called Janice on your behalf for
the job. I needed to let them know the extent of our
relationship.”

“
Do they know I’m
pregnant, that we live together?”

He nodded.

“
Do they want me out of
there? Is it a conflict of interest?”

“
Actually our company
handbook does not have a policy regarding fraternization. There are
a few married couples who are associates at the firm. Given our
relationship, you can never work directly for me. It's also
customary for you to sign a statement indicating you won’t hold the
firm liable for sexual harassment claims in the future involving
me.”

“
What?”

“
It’s just a precaution,
and the only way you can continue to work there.”

“
I’ve got no issue with
signing that Trey, but what about everyone else knowing about us,
you know?”

“
No, this is definitely
not going outside the senior partners, at least for now. If our
status changes, then I’ll want everyone to know you're mine.
However, that’s still your call.”

Tears of anger sprang to
my eyes. I was shocked at how territorial Trey had become. I'd only
worked at his firm for a day. The idea of living the rest of my
life with a jealous, controlling husband infuriated me. Before I
could comment, the doorman buzzed the intercom. I pressed the
button to respond.

“
Yes?”

“
Gina is here for Ms.
Preston.”

“
Send her up,” I
replied.

The doorbell chimed. I
opened the door to Gina, who held a large plastic bag full of
clothes. “Where do you want this, in your bedroom?”

“
No, Trey’s in there; just
leave it here,” I replied, hurrying back to the kitchen before she
noticed I was upset. “I have to stir my soup, Gina.”

She came around to the
doorway of the kitchen, leaning against it with her arms folded,
watching me. “Okay, spill. What's the Hot Nazi done this time?” As
usual, Gina’s timing left something to be desired. Trey turned the
corner to the kitchen just as the words left her mouth. He threw
her a nasty look.

“
Gina,” he nodded,
grabbing a beer from the fridge.

“
Trey,” she replied, her
tone borderline accusatory. Gina had balls, I gave her that. “Would
you mind stirring Tylar’s soup so that I can see what the fuck
she's so upset about?” she snapped. Before Trey had a chance to
reply, Gina took me by the hand, pulling me down the massive
hallway into the master suite. She went into the bathroom,
returning with a damp washcloth.

“
Here,” she held it out,
“your mascara's running.” I took it and wiped my cheeks. “So? What
happened? Did the Nazi fire you on your first day?”

I provided Gina with the
‘Reader’s Digest’ version of the day’s events.

“
So essentially what
you're telling me is that Trey got his nose out of joint because
some visiting lawyer brushed against your ass and he felt like
kicking his? Ty, that's what boyfriends, husbands, lovers do—get
it?”

“
I know,” I said, stifling
a mini-sob, “but he also sort of thought I liked the
attention.”

“
Well, did
you?”

“
No, but—”

“
But what?”

“
I liked that it bothered
Trey I guess.”

“
I see,” Gina replied,
smiling.

“
It’s not funny, Gina. Now
Trey and I are in a fight sort of. He had to tell the other senior
partners. Eventually the whole office will find out that I’m
pregnant. I’m sure I'll be regarded as some gold digger that wanted
to trap the handsome, rich attorney, using the oldest trick in the
book.”

“
Maybe they will think
that Trey took advantage of an innocent virgin and now won’t take
responsibility,” she mused.

“
How can you say that,
Gina?” I jumped to Trey’s defense.

“
Well for starters, I
don’t see a ring on your finger.”

“
Trey wants to be married.
He said so over Thanksgiving.”

“
What? Why didn’t you tell
me that part Tylar? So what’s the problem?”

“
Because it was more along
the lines of ‘We love each other, we’re having a baby, I think we
should be married,’ type of thing.”

Gina rolled her eyes, “So
you didn’t like the proposal? That’s the only reason?”