Chapter Fourteen
LEXI HOVERED AT Stacey’s shoulder. “You have your meeting with Karl,” she said, reminding Stacey for the third time in as many minutes.
Reluctantly, Stacey pulled her attention away from her computer. She was in the lab all week, a rarity for her these days, and she hated to have that time interrupted for something as ridiculous as a meeting. But Karl had insisted.
“I’m going,” she said, slipping off her lab coat and reaching for her blazer. “Don’t let anyone touch anything. I have a system working here.”
Lexi grinned. “No one would dare touch anything, not even me, and you know I like to rearrange your desk for sport.”
Stacey walked down the hall. Her back hurt a little, no doubt from her center of gravity shifting as the baby grew. There were other changes. Her feet were starting to swell a little and she was having trouble concealing her condition. Kit was more delighted by the day, while she continued to wrestle with ambivalence.
When she reached Karl’s office, she was shown in by his assistant. He waved her to a chair.
“Good morning, Stacey. How are you feeling?”
Not a question he would have asked before she’d told him about her condition, she thought, trying not to be irritated. “Fine. Are you feeling well?”
He appeared slightly startled, before he answered. “Yes. Ah, thanks for asking.”
She offered a tight smile, then shifted in her chair, wishing they were already done. She had important work to do—something he was aware of, so she didn’t bother pointing out the obvious.
Karl pushed up his glasses, leaned back in his chair, then shifted forward. “I want to bring in someone to help you,” he said. “You have a lot of responsibility and with everything happening, that might not be a good thing. It wouldn’t be permanent, of course. Just for a couple of months while you’re dealing with...” His voice trailed off as he waved at her midsection.
“My pregnancy?” she asked, just to be clear.
He nodded without looking at her.
She slid to the front of her seat and squared her shoulders.
“What an interesting idea, Karl,” she said, careful to keep her voice low and controlled. “Confusing, of course, but interesting. After all, I’m ahead of schedule, my team is the most productive in my division and per my employment contract, I can’t be removed from my position, except for cause.” She paused. “Unless you’re telling me that pregnancy qualifies as cause.”
Karl stiffened, and then went pale. “No. No, of course not. I never said...”
“Good, because I know an excellent employment attorney and while I’m sure she would appreciate the business, neither of us want to take it that far, do we?”
“No,” he said, his voice slightly strangled.
“Let me be clear. If you take away any part of my project, I will sue you. If you demote me, I will sue you. Not just the company, Karl. You personally. And then I will go to the media. One of the reasons I was brought in was because I have an excellent reputation and the company had gone through some difficult times. Did you know it’s already a problem to find and hire women here? With the Federal contracts requiring diversification, do you really want the world to know you’re the kind of person who assumes a woman can’t do her job simply because she’s pregnant?”
“I didn’t say—”
“You didn’t have to.”
“But your maternity leave will be—”
“Three weeks. Judd took off that long to go to Europe last year and you were fine with it. So Europe is okay, but pregnancy is a problem? Oh, and while we’re discussing parity, I believe Ron took three weeks of paternity leave when he and his wife adopted their baby and you didn’t have a problem with that, either.”
She rose and stared down at him. “If I ever don’t perform my job at my current level, we should absolutely have this conversation, but until then, don’t ever bring it up again with me or any other woman in the company. Is that clear?”
She didn’t wait for an answer. Instead she swept out of his office and into the hall. Once she got there, she realized she was shaking and could barely stand. She managed to get back to her lab, where she collapsed in the closest chair.
Damn him, she thought as she did her best to slow her breathing. Damn him for acting like this. Karl wasn’t her manager but she still had to work with him. While they’d never exactly been friends, she’d assumed he respected her and her abilities. She’d assumed he saw her as an important member of the team. She’d never once thought the word woman in any way defined her.
She pressed her hands against her belly. Everyone tried to warn her that the baby would change everything. That having a child meant being different, but she hadn’t listened. She’d gone on as if she were nothing but the vessel, believing that if she saw herself as the same, so would everyone else. But she’d been wrong about all of it. And that wasn’t the worst of it. The worst was she still had to tell her mother.
* * *
Becca did her best to stay calm, at least on the outside. Calm and casual, because the last thing she wanted was for her mom to figure out she had a thing for Ashton. She didn’t think her mom would mind her going out with a boy—Becca was sixteen and considered responsible. No, her bigger concern was what her mother would say. Out loud!
Even though her mom was always busy with work, every now and then she noticed stuff and when she noticed, she spoke out. Sometimes it was funny, but when the subject was Ashton, Becca didn’t want to take a chance.
So she hovered by the front door and saw when he drove up. She had the door open before he’d climbed the porch steps. Jazz immediately came to investigate. Ashton let her sniff his fingers, then rubbed her ears, but his gaze was on Becca.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey, back.” She smiled, hoping it was a cool smile and not some goofy grin like she’d just been introduced to Ed Sheeran.
He walked with her into the family room and took a seat.
“I got the job,” he told her as they sat on opposite ends of the sofa. “At the farmers’ market. I stock produce.”
“Good for you.” She knew he wanted to save as much money as he could for college. Not to pay for tuition or board—he had a partial scholarship and Stacey and Kit would cover the rest—but for his own spending. He’d talked about not wanting to be a burden for them. A concept she’d had trouble with, but then she wasn’t depending on anyone but her parents and she was their responsibility.
Thinking about how different their lives were was a nice distraction from his hazel-gray eyes and handsome face. Just looking at him for too long was like staring up at the sky. She got dizzy and couldn’t keep her thoughts straight.
“I start at five in the morning,” he added.
She winced. “That’s no fun. At least it’s close.”
“Less than a five-minute drive. I figure I can shower the night before, sleep until four-thirty and eat a protein bar on the way.”
She laughed. “That is one serious plan.”
“Planning is the key to success.” His voice was teasing as he spoke.
“I have news, too,” she said, suddenly not sure where to put her hands. On her lap? They seemed too weird just resting on the sofa. Inspiration struck and she patted the cushion so Jazz jumped up and snuggled next to her.
“My mom wants my help with some videos for the city. Promotional stuff, you know, to remind people what they can do for free and maybe to attract tourists. They’ll be posted on the city’s website.”
He angled toward her, his eyes wide with interest. “You know how to do that? I can take a video on my phone, but they’re not website worthy.”
“I was in a summer program last year that focused on different kinds of media. We learned about filming and editing, so yeah, I can do something easy like a twenty-second video. Mom’s going to buy me a camera and I’ll take it from there.”
“Impressive.”
“Thanks. I was wondering if maybe you’d like to, um, help.”
She forced herself to keep looking at him when she really wanted to duck her head. But her aunt Stacey was always talking about how it was important for women to ask for what they wanted, otherwise they weren’t going to get it.
“Sure. What do you need? Me to carry your equipment and help you set up?”
“I thought maybe you’d be willing to host.” She swallowed. “I’d write up a whole script. You’d only have to memorize a few lines, but easy stuff about the POP or the dog park or whatever.”
His expression turned quizzical. “Me?”
She felt her cheeks burn. “I think you’d do well on camera.”
Her mom walked into the kitchen, saw them and came to a stop.
“Ashton, did I know you were stopping by?”
Becca did her best not to roll her eyes. “I told you this morning, Mom. Remember?”
“Oh, right. For the videos. I hope you’re willing to help Becca. I’ve seen her work from last summer and she’s really good. The city is one of my bigger clients, so the work’s important.”
Becca felt a flash of pride at her mom’s words. The flash was quickly followed by hurt and annoyance. Yes, she was being trusted with something that mattered, but shouldn’t she matter as much as a job? Why was her mom always too busy to talk to her? She still didn’t know about Jordan and the fight, not that Becca would tell her because that would mean explaining about Nathan and she didn’t want to go there, but still!
Ashton met Becca’s gaze. “I’m happy to help out, Mrs. S. Becca just has to tell me when and where and I’ll be there.”
“Oh, good. All right, you two, have fun figuring it all out. I have T-shirts to ship to Misty and gift bags to put together. Why aren’t the days longer?”
She filled her water bottle and hurried out of the room. Becca waited until she was gone to say, “Are you sure you want to be in the videos?”
“Are you kidding? This is LA, baby. Everyone wants to be in the movies.”
She laughed. “You’ve been here long enough to know that’s not true. Can you see Aunt Stacey in a movie?”
“Only if she got to play a scientist.” He looked at her. “Want to start this weekend? Are you going to be around or do you spend the weekends with your dad?”
An innocent question that had her stomach tying itself in knots that had nothing to do with the beauty of Ashton’s eyes.
“Nah,” she said, trying to sound casual. “He’s really busy. He’s getting married in a few weeks and he always has stuff to do with Alicia.”
He frowned. “He is? Stacey hasn’t said anything.”
The knots doubled in size. “I don’t know if he’s told my mom,” she admitted. “He said he would but the way she’s acting, I’m not sure she knows.”
“Do you think she’ll be upset? Is she still in love with him?”
“What? No. She’s not.” At least Becca didn’t think so. Sometimes she had no idea what her mother was thinking. “The divorce was really hard on both of us, but she’s gotten it together since then.”
“Is she dating?”
“No!”
Ashton’s expression turned quizzical. “Why do you say it like that? Your dad’s getting married again. Why wouldn’t your mom be dating?”
“Because she’s my mom.” Becca knew how childish that sounded...but honestly, her mom?
“You don’t think she wants to find someone and fall in love?”
“Can we please not talk about this?”
Her mom barely paid any attention to her now. What would it be like if there was a new boyfriend hanging out? Plus, if they had sex... She closed her eyes and groaned. She absolutely could not deal with that!
“Your mom is a person, too,” he said gently.
“Okay, then, that’s a no.” She looked at Ashton. “You are not as nice as you look.”
He laughed. “You’re right. I’ll stop.” He stood and held out his hand.
She wasn’t sure what to do, so she put hers in his and he gently pulled her to her feet.
“I should go,” he said, still holding her fingers. They were standing close. Really close, and she had to look up to meet his gaze. Her chest was tight and her heart felt all fluttery.
“W-why?”
“You have homework. You said Lucas was demanding good grades. Plus, you need to do well in school for yourself. So you can get into a good college. Life is all about having choices and taking advantage of opportunities.”
Because of what he’d been through, she thought, feeling young and small. He knew stuff, had experienced things, and she’d only ever lived in Mischief Bay.
Fear and sadness mingled with a sense of never exactly fitting in. She wanted to be happy and a part of something, but lately all that happened was she didn’t know where she belonged. First with Jordan and now with...
She didn’t get to finish the thought because without warning, Ashton leaned down and kissed her. He lightly brushed his mouth against hers before straightening.
She stared at him, not quite sure what had just happened. Had he really done that? Kissed her? Like a boy kissing a girl?
She’d had a few awkward kisses before—all at parties and as part of stupid games. But never had a guy stood in front of her like this and deliberately kissed her.
“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured before cupping her face in his free hand and kissing her again.
This time she was slightly more prepared. She didn’t know exactly how to stand or what to do, so she stayed still and tried not to act stupid.
His mouth was warm—not soft, exactly, but not hard, either. Tingles exploded everywhere in her body, like her entire bloodstream was suddenly carbonated. She thought she might be able to float, only she didn’t want to do anything to interfere with the moment.
She could hear the loud ticking of the clock on the wall and smell soap and something like maybe verbena on Ashton. She hoped her breath was okay and wished she knew what to do with her hands. The one holding his seemed lame and the other one just kind of trembled.
He released her fingers and put both his hands on top of hers. He raised her arms until they were at his waist, then went back to cupping her face. He tilted her head slightly and pressed a little harder on her mouth.
There were too many sensations. The way his T-shirt felt against her skin, the heat of his body beneath, his lips moving against hers, her body melting and shaking until she wasn’t sure she could stand or breathe or survive what was happening.
His tongue lightly stroked her bottom lip. Becca knew what that meant. She’d read about French kissing and talked about it and had seen it in movies, but she’d never had it happen. Oh, God, she was so dumb and ridiculous. A twelve-year-old would do better than her.
“Relax,” Ashton whispered.
Relax? Relax! He knew! He knew she was a pathetic, inexperienced virgin who—
She opened her mouth to tell him she had to go, or maybe scream out that the earth had to swallow her up right that second, or...
But it didn’t matter. None of it. Because at that exact second, Ashton brushed his tongue with hers and everything suddenly made a whole lot more sense.
She hadn’t known, she thought as every part of her turned around to pay attention to what was happening. She hadn’t known it could feel so good. No, so great. She’d had no idea that kissing anyone could be like touching stars.
Without thinking, she raised her hands to his shoulders and leaned into to him. He wrapped his arms around her and hung on as if he would never let go. He deepened the kiss and she reveled in the sensations sweeping her body.
She wasn’t sure how long they stood there, kissing and kissing until she’d learned every inch of his mouth only to discover she wanted to start at the beginning and do it all again forever. When he drew back and rested his forehead against hers, they were both breathing hard.
He gave her a smile. “I knew it would be like that with you.”
“You did?”
“Uh-huh.” He straightened and kissed her forehead. “You need to do homework and I need to spend some time thinking about anything but kissing you.” He grabbed her hand and kissed her palm. “See you soon?”
She nodded because she couldn’t speak, or maybe she didn’t want to. Far better to be quiet and allow the wonderful memories to sink into her brain so she could hold on to them forever.
She walked Ashton to the door. He kissed her again, lightly this time, then walked out of the house.
Becca had no idea how she got to her bedroom. Maybe she floated. Jazz joined her on the bed, where Becca snuggled close to her dog and sighed.
“I think I’m in love.”