CEO'S Secret Baby: A Standalone Surprise Pregnancy Romance - Iona Rose (which ebook reader .txt) 📗

guts into the toilet. After I was done, I settled on the floor, unwilling to even peel myself off the tiles.

Both girls filed into the bathroom.

Anne stood by the door watching me, while Tracy came over to tie my hair on top of my head. “You need to see a doctor, Leah,” she fussed. “Thank God, you took the day off tomorrow.”

“I’ll be fine,” I said and lifted my gaze to Anne’s, but for some reason I couldn’t meet her eyes.

And then she asked, “Are you pregnant, Leah?

At that moment, it felt like my entire world stopped. And then anger suddenly surged inside of me. “Why the fuck would you say that?” I gave her a harsh look as Tracy helped me to rise.

Anne shrugged. “Well, you’ve thrown up twice in the last hour.”

“She told you there’s a bug going around in her office,” Tracy countered.

“That doesn’t mean that it has affected you,” she said. “When was your last period?”

I didn’t respond.

Tracy led me to the sink to rinse out my mouth, and afterwards we returned to the living room.

“Leah, when did you last have your period?” Anne asked again.

I gave her a hard look. “My boobs are swollen,” I said. “It’ll be here any day now. It’s usually irregular.”

“Your boobs also become swollen when you’re pregnant.”

“Anne, would you drop it?” Tracy snapped as she arranged a blanket over me on the couch.

“Why?” She refused to back down. “The earlier she finds out, then the faster she’ll be able to deal with it.”

“You’re making her anxious.”

“She should be anxious! Fine.” She said and left the matter alone.

I however, had been rattled to my very core.

Chapter 19

Carter

I strolled into the revolving doors of the building that housed Pivot Marketing, certain that on the outside, I looked calm and in total control.

But on the inside, my nerves were tied in knots and my chest had become severely constricted. All of this had absolutely nothing to do with this company that I had just acquired. The last time I had been this nervous, had been more than five years ago when I had gotten fired from my last job.

Today, I was going to find out if I had made a significant and potentially rewarding jump, or if I had made the biggest fool of myself.

What if she wants absolutely nothing to do with you? The question haunted me over and over again, along with the reminder that just calling her, rather than purchasing the company she worked for would have been just as significant a gesture.

But I didn’t want to give her a chance to run away, so I was putting everything on the line to show her that if she did reject me, then there would be no do overs or second chances with us like there was back in Turkey.

I was immediately met in the reception by half a dozen men in suits.

I immediately recognized Bradley Miller, the current CMO of the company, and the orchestrator thus far of the entire purchase on behalf of the company’s former owner.

Right from the beginning, he had seemed confused, and unable to understand why I was choosing to invest so much into the company, but when he saw how serious I was, he’d had no qualms handing it over to me to steer.

The team of executives introduced themselves to me then we were riding up to the three floors of the commercial high rise that the agency occupied. From the fourteenth to the eighteenth floors.

I was shown to the CEO’s office, which had been prepared for me on the top floor, and our handover meeting began.

The meeting was attended by all the major executives and directors in the agency with the needed introductions and announcements made.

I was already very familiar with the workings of the company, its business history and operational culture on paper, but had never bothered to take the trip down to inspect it on ground before my purchase. This was what my CFO back in Minnesota could not understand.

So when we returned back to my office, the CMO immediately offered to bring all seventy-two employees together, so I could officially be introduced to them.

I had a different request. “I’ll send out an official letter to the staff, and visit each of the departments and their heads today. Please tell them to ready the HR files of every employee in their department. Over the course of the coming days, I'll pick an appropriate time to invite them over for a light chat.”

He seemed even more surprised by the request, but approved of it. “I’ll get on that right now, sir,” he said and exited the office.

Leah

The next morning after both girls left, I took Cheryl to the vet.

A little while later, her doctor, Deepika came to me with the news. “Congratulations,” she said.

I stared at my poor dog, completely lacking her usual energy, and laying quietly by the corner. Why had it taken me so long to notice it?

My mind went to the previous night and Anne’s comment, and I began to shake.

We walked out of the clinic and on our way home, I stopped by the grocery store for some milk and berries. On my way to the counter, I passed by the pharmacy, and took a deep breath.

Cheryl looked up at me, and I sent her a shaky smile. “We’ve both been busy haven’t we?” I said. “Should I check myself too?”

She looked away from me, so I took that as her response and started to walk away, but I could only take a few steps. I turned back around, picked up the test kit and drove away from the store with a hundred pound gorilla in my bag.

When I returned home, I ignored the bag and spent my time making Cheryl’s little bed by the couch more comfortable. I changed the sheets of the cushions and even gave up one of my most comfortable blankets for her.

“Unlike you, I used protection,” I said as