should have told him by now. She’d meant to. But she just hadn’t found the right words. Once he knew she was going to have a baby, she had a feeling things would change drastically—not only professionally, but personally.
Nervously, she pushed a stray strand of golden-blond hair back into the twist at the nape of her neck and tried to concentrate on what she was doing, but thoughts and regrets were straying as well. Once he found out, she had no idea what he might say or do. What if he decided he needed someone he could depend on over the next few months? What if he asked her to transfer to another department so he could begin training someone new?
She valued her job as his administrative assistant, but more than that, she really needed it. The money was much better than for any other position she could qualify for in the company. And finances were turning out to be much tighter than she’d expected. She had no one to depend on but herself. Having a baby cost so much money!
The letter was finished and sliding slowly out of the printer. Ordinarily, she would go right in and have him sign it, but she was hesitating, worrying about what he might be thinking. Was he framing the question right now? Was he wondering why she hadn’t told him?
Maggie! Get a grip!
She scolded herself and rose from her ergonomically correct chair, being very careful not to move in any way that might emphasize her pregnancy, grabbed the letter and marched right into his office.
“Mr. Haley, if you’ll sign this, I’ll get it out right away.”
“Hmm?” He gazed at her blankly.
As always when her eyes met his, there was a little frisson of excitement that scattered along her nerve endings. Just one of the hazards of working for a man who looked like a cross between a young U.S. senator and a cowboy—smoothly handsome grace leavened by a core toughness that defined masculinity at its best, as far as she was concerned.
“Oh,” he said as he realized what she was there for. Picking up a pen, he held out his other hand for the page. “Sure.”
She waited apprehensively for his gaze to make a quick trip down toward her slightly protruding stomach, for his eyes to narrow and his brows to furl, but it didn’t happen. He signed the paper, tossed the pen down and stared into space again, ignoring her completely, his mind obviously captivated by some puzzle that wouldn’t let him be.
She frowned, turning her head to see what he was looking at, then turned back again, muffling a sigh of relief. Thank goodness. He hadn’t been staring at her at all. He was staring into space, and the space he was staring into just happened to be in her direction. He hadn’t noticed a thing. Her heart lightened.
Still, something about all this staring did bother her. She cleared her throat, and when that didn’t conjure up a response, she added crisply, “Do you have those notes on the new estimates ready for me to incorporate into the contract for the Bellingham people?”
“Contract?” His dark eyes flashed her way, and then he seemed to shake himself back to the present. “Oh, the notes for the contract. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of them.” He glanced at the cluttered surface of his desk and made a vague gesture. “They’re around here somewhere.”
“It’s got to be in the mail by five,” she reminded him.
He gave her a long-suffering look. “I know that. And I’ll have them ready for you.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Sure you will,” she said, lightly mocking him in a way that she’d become accustomed to and he usually enjoyed. “By four fifty-seven, no doubt.”
But he’d already forgotten she was standing alongside his desk. His dark-eyed gaze had glazed over and taken on a faraway look again.
She watched him, frowning, her gaze sliding from his handsome face to his wide shoulders to his strong but idle hands. This was not good, and it wasn’t like him. His mind wasn’t on his work. She’d been noticing that more and more often lately. What was going on?
Walking back toward her desk, she carefully closed the door to his office, then went over possibilities of disaster as she slid into her seat. What if he was thinking about changing his life in some way? What if he was bored and wanted to start a new business in some other place? What if he was about to quit his position and sail around the world on a catamaran? He’d talked about doing that once—gone on and on about the romance of the high seas.
“Just man against the ocean,” he’d told her, striking a pose, as though he had the mast at his back and a headwind before him. “What could be more thrilling?”
A steady paycheck, that was what. She didn’t want him to go anywhere. Not only would she lose her job, she would lose…him. Her cheeks reddened even though there was no one there to see them. She had to stop thinking about him like that.
Of course, there was no use pretending she hadn’t had a low-level crush on him from the beginning. What red-blooded woman wouldn’t find a man like Kane Haley attractive? But she’d never for a moment held out any hope that he might look at her in a romantic way. She was a person of common sense, and her instincts told her she wasn’t the sort of woman a man like Kane fell for.
And that was okay. She had her own life to live—a life that had become a little more lonely since her husband Tom had died in a car accident coming home from a deer-hunting trip two years ago. Glancing down at her left hand, she was startled to realize it had been almost six months since she’d taken off her wedding and engagement rings. It still surprised her whenever she noticed they weren’t there. She’d been a new widow when she’d been promoted to cover for Kane’s assistant who’d been out on maternity leave, and she’d thrown her heart into her work. When the woman had decided to stay home with her baby, Maggie had already fit in so well, Kane had asked her to stay on permanently. It was a dream of a job and he was a dream of a boss. She adored him.
What he thought of her was a little more ambiguous. Did he think about her at all? Sadly, evidence suggested he didn’t pay much attention to her in any way except as an efficient manager of his time and business affairs.
Even more annoying, sometimes she actually had a feeling that Kane Haley thought she was still married. He’d said something in passing about her husband a couple of times, and she’d let it go, thinking it really didn’t matter. After all, their relationship was totally work-related. But a little part of her had wondered if she should make it clear to him that she was free, just in case….
But that was going nowhere. He was a terrific boss. Their relationship was very special to her. She wouldn’t do anything to ruin it if she could help it. She only hoped he wasn’t planning anything that would do exactly that.
Of course, her decision to go ahead and have a baby might be enough to put a damper on things. It had all seemed so easy back when she’d begun. Lately, she’d had second thoughts. Not about the baby—but about her timing. Things just weren’t falling into place the way she’d hoped.
With a sigh, she went back to work at her computer, resolving to think of a way to tell him she was pregnant.
“Gotta do it today,” she promised the empty air. “No more excuses.”
Kane watched Maggie walk away and close the door behind her and he groaned with envy. There went a woman without a worry in the world. She was the most efficient assistant he’d ever had, always on top of every situation, always ready with a calm smile and a quick retort when he
