Negotiation Tactics (12 page)

***

Jennie laughed as she watched Chad go under and come up with a mouthful of water. Of course her mind flashed to their time in Florida but she pushed those thoughts away.

Jennie knew she couldn’t love Chad. Her heart belonged to Kyle. And, honestly, she really valued her friendship with Chad. She wanted to keep that. If she gave in to what her body wanted again, she’d lose Chad for good and hurt him in the process. That wasn’t something she was willing to do. From now on, she needed to stay in control of her body’s response to him, no matter how strong the attraction was.

Jennie turned away and took little Maddy in her arms. Losing herself in the baby’s little coos and tiny smiles that were more likely caused by gas than genuine emotion, was just what Jennie needed.

Chapter Twenty

A month later, Jennie stared blankly at the screen on her computer. She wasn’t actually seeing anything. She focused only on the mind-numbing reality of her situation as she blinked back tears. She was still in a state of shock.

Pregnant.

When she discovered last week that she had come home from Florida pregnant, she wanted to do nothing more than curl up in a ball and will it all away. Not the baby. But the last four years. And the way she felt about what she’d done. She knew she had hurt Chad even though he tried to pretend she hadn’t. And, she’d betrayed Kyle in the worst way possible.

Jennie had wanted to have Kyle’s baby so incredibly desperately when he was alive. She had hoped for a baby with his sandy-blond hair and warm blue eyes. She’d wanted a baby that had Kyle’s smile and the dimple that came out when he really grinned.

Jennie watched Kelly and Jack welcome Maddy into the world. She’d held her often and saw how quickly she was growing and changing – all in only two months. And seeing that was much harder than Jennie wanted to admit.

She knew she needed to tell Chad about the baby, but how could she do that? Saying it out loud would make it real. If she said it out loud, she’d have to really face it. She didn’t even have the guts to tell Kelly yet. Right now, Zeke was the only one who knew her secret. He spent every moment shadowing her as if he knew something had changed and she’d spent several hours crying with her head buried in his soft fur.

Add in the fact that she was so exhausted she could barely function and she’d begun to cry at the drop of a hat, and Jennie was officially an absolute basket case. A basket case with a baby she wanted, yet didn’t want. With a friend who would be a wonderful father to her baby. If only she wanted him to be. Which she didn’t.

Jennie lost the fight with the tears in that moment and had to make a dash for the bathroom. How could she hurt Chad this way? What would she tell her parents? Kyle’s parents? How would she take care of a baby on her own when she was an emotional disaster?

This can’t be happening.

But Jennie knew it was happening. She just didn’t know what to do about it.

Taking a few deep breaths, she went back to her desk and tried to focus as if her world wasn’t falling down around her. Again.

***

Chad sat at his desk and looked out the window but his eyes weren’t seeing anything. As he had so many times in the past two months, he let his mind travel back to Florida, reliving every minute of his time with Jennie. He tortured himself again and again, recalling the way she’d felt in his arms. How it felt to be able to reach over and hold her hand or pull her into his arms as they pretended to be newlyweds. How it felt to make her fall apart in his hands, with his mouth and when he’d finally fulfilled every fantasy, sinking deep into Jennie’s sweet depths.

He even relived the moment on the plane ride home when she’d looked at him with those beautiful, guileless eyes and told him she was sorry she couldn’t give him what he wanted. He’d told her it was okay. That he'd always be there for her and love her as a friend, no matter what. And, he’d meant it. He
would
always be there for Jennie. But, he knew the price he was going to pay for that.

It was tearing him to pieces, seeing her day in and day out at work. Seeing her on the weekends when they got together with friends. Watching her hold Jack and Kelly’s baby girl. Fantasizing about her having his baby someday. About building a family with her. About things that would never come to be.

Chad spun in his chair and let his gaze fall on Jennie where she sat at her desk. She looked exhausted as he watched her in front of her computer. Chad had the strongest urge to walk over and pull her into his arms. To carry her home and tuck her into bed.

Those thoughts were interrupted by his phone.

“Yeah,” Chad answered, pulling his eyes off Jennie.

“Chad, it’s Jack.”

Chad laughed. “You couldn’t walk down the hall to talk to me? You had to call me?”

“Wise ass. I’m not in the building. I’m on my way to meet with the investors for the Paulsen project again. They need a little hand holding.”

Chad grunted. He was glad Jack got to deal with the investors, not him.

“I’m just calling to let you know I heard from Jonathan Masters. The FBI did exactly what you predicted. They sent the Masters brothers back in to gather info. They said they’d only cut them a deal if they collected enough information to indict the rest of the officials in the money laundering scheme,” Jack said.

“Okay. Let’s hope that means Jennie doesn’t need to testify at all, or at least not for a long time,” Chad said.

“I hope you’re right about that, too. I’ll see you this weekend at Jill and Andrew’s, right?” Jack asked.

“Sure, I’ll be there,” Chad said, knowing it probably meant he’d see Jennie, too. He was beginning to dread seeing her at work
and
every weekend. Seeing Jennie hurt like hell.

Chad crossed to his door and stuck his head out.

“Jennie? Can I talk to you?” Chad called out across the room.

As he watched her approach, he couldn’t help but notice how shaky she looked. Something wasn’t right with Jennie. Chad was positive. Only he didn’t know what it was or why she wasn’t telling him.  

They’d been fine for the last month. Sure, the tension that surrounded them was still there, but Chad knew it always would be. But in the last week or two something had changed. Jennie wasn’t herself.

“Shut the door,” he said quietly when she walked in.

Jennie shut the door and sat in one of the chairs in front of Chad’s desk. Instead of going around to the chair behind his desk, he sat beside her in the second guest chair. He studied her face but all he could see was exhaustion.

“You feel okay, Jennie? You look pretty pale.”

“Mmm hmm.”
Jennie nodded. “I think I’ve caught a little bug, but I’m okay. Just a little drained.”

Chad didn’t let up his stare as he assessed her. She was more than a little drained. Finally, he spoke.

“I wanted to fill you in on the investigation in Florida, but I want you to go home and rest after that. We don’t need you for the rest of the day.”

“I’m okay, Chad. I don’t need to go home,” Jennie said.

“Yeah, you do. You look like hell. I want you to go home.”

Jennie nodded and Chad continued. The fact that she didn’t fight him too hard or have a wise-ass response told him how crappy she was feeling.

“It looks like you’re off the hook for giving an official statement for the moment, but I think they’ll ask for one sooner or later. For now, the FBI has sent the Masters brothers back in to gather evidence for them. Apparently, Rick Bandon has been on their radar for some time, but they’ve never been able to build a case. They had a guy come forward once after Bandon tried to extort money to make some problems on the guy’s building site disappear, but the guy died in a suspicious accident a week later. I’m hoping you won’t have to make a statement on the record yet, but I won’t take any chances with you if it does come to that.” Chad glanced to the door but then continued, leaning toward Jennie. “If it gets to that point, I want you to come stay at my place and let me protect you until you testify.”

“Chad. No. I can’t do that. You said yourself, it could take years for this to come to trial. I can’t move in with you for years.”

Chad almost had to laugh at the fear that crossed Jennie’s face and stayed there at the idea of living with him. He probably would have laughed if it wasn’t so damn sad. If his life hadn’t become such a laughable joke. He loved a woman who couldn’t possibly love him back and he’d managed to put her in danger. She wanted so little to do with him that she wouldn’t even let him protect her.

Before she could argue any further, Jennie blanched and became even more pale, if that were possible, and Chad could swear she was about to pass out.

“Okay, I’m taking you home. Time for bed, Jen.”

Chad was surprised when Jennie didn’t try her usual negotiation with him. She let him lead her out of the office. He grabbed her purse and helped her out to his truck. She didn’t even try to fight him when he left her car at the office or during the car ride to her house – he could see how worn out she was. He got her settled in bed with her Labrador, Zeke, babysitting her, and was walking down her front porch when it hit him. Something had been digging at Chad’s brain for weeks. He froze as he realized what it was.

He knew Jennie’s body like he knew his own. And her breasts were larger than they used to be.

Chad’s mind flipped back to the Sutton Capital softball team’s last game. Jennie drank water instead of beer when they all went for pizza after the game. He remembered starting to pour her a beer, but she shook her head and pointed to her water. She’d shrugged it off when he raised an eyebrow.

Oh, Christ Jen.

Chad closed his eyes against the pain of knowing what Jennie was hiding from him. Such a handful of details shouldn’t be enough to tell him the truth, but he knew in his gut, he was right. Knew with certainty that Jennie was pregnant.

And, she hadn’t come to him. Hadn’t told him.

Oh, Jennie.

Chad sank down on the porch steps, head in his hands. Part of him wanted to storm back into the house and demand that she marry him. But, he couldn’t do that. Not to Jennie. Chad knew even the suggestion of marriage to someone other than Kyle would kill Jennie. Somehow, someway, Chad was going to have to come to grips with the fact that he wasn’t going to be able to be with the woman who was having his baby.

Chapter Twenty-one

Chad packed the last of the items in the extended cab of his truck. He was now ready to run with Jennie on a moment’s notice with everything they needed to stay off the grid for months. He had called some old friends and arranged for fake IDs for both of them. If anything came of this, and it looked like she was in danger, he’d keep her safe until she was ready to take the stand. If he had to, he’d relocate his whole life with her to keep her and the baby safe, both before and after the trial.

He hoped like hell he was overreacting. In fact, there was nothing more than his gut telling him he needed to be ready. As far as they knew, the Masters brothers were feeding the FBI evidence and would continue to do so until all of the people involved could be arrested. There was no reason to think Jennie would be in much danger from this.

But Chad trusted his gut. Listening to the creeping-finger feeling that walked up and down his spine had gotten him through a lot of tight scrapes in the military. He sure as hell wouldn’t ignore that feeling where Jennie was concerned.

At this point, Chad loved Jennie more than he could have ever imagined loving someone other than his family. But he also hated her for keeping his child a secret from him. No, that wasn’t true. It wasn’t hate. It was an anger that coursed through his veins like poison.

When he was away from her, he seethed with anger. How could she be pregnant with his child and not tell him about it? He trusted that she would never do what Andrew’s ex-girlfriend had done to him. She would never abort the baby without telling him. He knew Jennie and knew she didn’t have that in her to do. But as the week dragged on, and Jennie didn’t come to him, his fury built.

Until he saw her. Whenever he saw Jennie, the anger drained away. She looked so lost. She was hurting more than he could imagine. Whenever he saw her, he realized that it must be killing her to be having a child with a man who wasn’t her husband. The husband he knew in his heart she still loved.

And, so he waited. She would come to him eventually. He knew that. She just needed time.

In the meantime, he planned. He had cash ready to go. Burn phones. Clothes for both of them. Dog food and a crate for Zeke. And a remote cabin. If the time came, Chad wouldn’t trust Jennie’s safety to anyone other than himself.

***

The call came three days later. The FBI had lost track of the Masters brothers. They had missed their last two check-ins with their handler and hadn’t been spotted since then. They were missing in the wind and no one had any idea where Rick Bandon had gone either.

Something suddenly felt very wrong to Chad.

Chapter Twenty-two

Jennie opened the door to a very intense-looking Chad. He didn’t wait for an invitation or even for her to step out of his way. He pushed his way into her house and dropped his duffle bag on the floor. Zeke didn’t bat an eye at Chad’s entrance. He knew Chad and didn’t consider him an intruder.

Jennie eyed her ‘faithful’ dog with raised brow.

Traitor.

“Gee, Chad. Please, come in.
Mi casa
is apparently
su casa
,” Jennie said with her typical bite of sarcasm.

All she wanted to do was crawl into bed. It might only be nine o’clock at night but her body was done. She needed sleep. Jennie couldn’t get over how tired this pregnancy was making her. Kelly had told her how tired she was when she was pregnant with Maddy but Jennie had no idea it could be this bad. She walked around in a constant fog.