Mad In Love: A Billionaire Unexpected Baby Office Romance Read online

  I loved my new job. I didn’t want to fuck it up with my emotions and bad decisions. Women had a bad enough reputation in the business community for fucking and sucking their way to the top. I didn’t want to be one of those women.

  “You can’t fall for your boss, Sarah. Don’t be that person,” I murmured.

  The elevator doors opened, and I tore through the lobby. I couldn’t let my body rule my mind any longer. This had to stop tonight. I had to do the right thing from now on, no matter how hard it was.

  I burst into the cool Manhattan night and lifted my hand for a cab.

  I slid into the back seat just as my phone vibrated in my purse. I rattled off my address, then pulled my phone out of my purse. It was my work email, of all things. At midnight. I furrowed my brow as I tapped on my phone screen.

  Big mistake.

  “Really, Miller?” I asked.

  “What was that?” the driver asked.

  “Nothing,” I murmured.

  I opened the email and scanned it as a rock settled into my stomach. Ellie warned me that Miller knew of my jump to Sharpe Ads, but I didn’t think he’d reach out to me.

  Especially not with the proposal he had for me in the email.

  Sarah,

  I’m sorry for underestimating you. You’ve got some balls on you, I’ll admit it. And I could use that gumption in my company. I’ll pay you whatever you want to come back to Maelstrom. I’ll give you a better office. A better position on my team. All I ask is that you come with Sharpe’s secrets. Together, we could rule the advertising world.

  Think it over.

  Miller Kells

  When it rained, it poured.

  Chapter 11

  Ethan

  I shook my head. The damn pitch was impeccable. My eyes scanned the latest campaign pitch from Sarah’s team, and it was perfect. As always. I had to restrain myself from marching into her office and telling her so. I knew if I did, I wouldn’t be able to stop at merely telling her. It had been like that her entire first month on staff. Me keeping my distance because I couldn’t restrain myself.

  I pushed away from my desk. Ever since Sarah left my house in a dead sprint a month ago, she’d put space between us. And I hated it. I thought we were in the beginning stages of something serious. Something neither of us could deny. But, I was mistaken.

  Apparently, it was very easy for her to deny.

  It was for the best anyway. Seeing as I was her boss and it was nothing but a lawsuit waiting to happen. But I missed her. This past month had been torture. Pure, hellish torture without her. I missed it all. The scent of her hair. The feel of her lips. The swell of her curves. The sound of her voice in my ear.

  Fuck. I should have taken that woman out to dinner.

  “Sorry for the interruption, but I’ve got something you need to see,” Philip said.

  I opened my eyes and straightened up, paying attention to my CFO.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  All he did was hand me an envelope.

  I took it from him and flipped it over, opening it quickly. I found it had already been opened, though. I looked up at Philip, and his eyes seemed urgent. Which made me pull the sheet of paper out even quicker.

  And when my eyes scanned it, my jaw dropped open.

  “When the hell did you get this?” I asked.

  “It was slipped under my door when I got back from my meetings this morning,” Philip said.

  “Shit.”

  I tossed Sarah’s resignation letter down onto my desk. I placed my hands into my desk, then read the letter over again. And again. And yet again, to digest the words.

  Words that didn’t make sense.

  Ethan,

  Thank you for the opportunity to work with Sharpe Ads and to work with you. But I’m resigning to start the next phase of my life. I understand if you can’t give me a reference, and I’m sorry for the short notice. Today will be my last day.

  Thank you for all you’ve done for me.

  Sarah Matthews

  I moved before I thought. I crumbled up the letter and threw it into the trash can, then shoved past Philip. My mind came to a dead stop. My nostrils flared with fury and confusion. I stormed down the stairs and made my way for her office, tearing straight through the door.

  It was devoid of all her things. She had already packed them up into boxes. And I found her staring out at the snowy park beneath us.

  Like I’d found her on her second day working for me.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” I asked.

  Sarah slowly turned around. “I’m resigning.”

  “Why?”

  “I’m ready for the next step in my life.”

  “Bullshit. And you know it. Things have been going very well for you here. No one leaves like that without good reason.”

  Sarah snickered. “My life is a pretty good reason.”

  “If this is your way of asking for a raise, you’ve got it. Name your price.”

  “This isn’t about the money.”

  “Do you want a new office? On the top floor? You’ve got it. Better benefits? Got it. Stock options? Done and done,” I said.

  But all she did was shake her head.

  “It’s none of those things, Ethan. I’ve enjoyed working for you. But I’ve got some life changes coming. Changes that need to be made. I’m done with Madison Avenue. With all this,” she said.

  She held out her arms, as if the empty office somehow answered my question perfectly.

  “You have a natural talent, Sarah. This is absurd,” I said.

  “It’s not,” she whispered.

  “Why would you quit now when you’re rising to the top?”

  And that was when her eyes filled with tears.

  “You tell me what’s going on and you tell me now,” I said.

  “I have my reasons,” she breathed.

  “Is someone strong-arming you? Are you in trouble? Because if you are, I’ll do whatever—”

  “My reasons are private.”

  “Sarah—”

  “I’m sorry, Ethan. But my decision is final,” she said.

  “Then, I don’t accept your resignation.”

  “What?”

  “I have to accept it, and I don’t.”

  Sarah sighed, blinking away her tears. “Well, I stuck around to tell you in person. But I’m leaving now. Whether or not you accept my resignation.”

  She grabbed her purse and moved away from the window. Away from her desk. She picked up a box of things on the way out, but I grabbed her arm as she passed. I gripped her so tightly the box dropped to her feet. I pulled her into my arms, holding her while she struggled. I put my face into her hair. I shook my head no. I felt her hands grip my suit as she choked back her tears that still managed to fall onto my suit.

  “Don’t do this,” I whispered.

  “I have to,” she breathed.

  And with a push, she parted from my embrace and stormed out.

  I watched her walk down the hallway. I gazed around at the boxes in her office. It filled me with an anger I couldn’t control. I raced back up to my office. I slammed my fist onto Philip’s door. He opened it up with wide eyes, and I stepped into his office, my heart rate at an all-time high.

  “Figure out what happened,” I said.

  “To Sarah?” he asked.

  “No, to Jimmy Hoffa. Yes! To Sarah, Philip! She’s the best talent around. The best in this field. I want to know what the fuck made her resign. People like her don’t resign out of nowhere. I want you to check Maelstrom. I want you to check her doctor. I want you to check the hospitals. Her family. Everything. I want to know what the fuck triggered this, and I want to know now,” I said.

  Philip nodded as he jogged over to his office phone. He picked it up and punched in a few numbers. And as he did, I eased myself down onto his couch in the corner. I put my head in my hands. I felt my heart breaking in my chest. My mind kept reminiscing on those tears, the one thing that gave away h
er strong resolve.

  Something happened, and she didn’t respect me enough to tell me.

  How the hell had things gone so wrong so quickly?

  Chapter 12

  Sarah

  I slipped my things into boxes. I taped a few of them up. I walked out of my bedroom to give myself a break and gazed out the window. I loved my apartment in Midtown. It was way too small and much too expensive, but the view was fantastic. I loved a good view. I’d pay good money any day for a relaxing view I could wake up to. Plus, I could walk almost anywhere.

  Unfortunately, a small apartment in Midtown wasn’t a place to raise a child. And I had to keep that in mind.

  My hands drifted to my stomach. Only five weeks along right now, but soon it would be ten. Then twenty. Then thirty. Soon, I’d balloon with life. With a child.

  Ethan’s child.

  I shook my head. I still couldn’t believe it, but it happened. And resigning was the only way to move forward. I debated telling Ethan. Filling him in on what happened. But I didn’t want him thinking I was trying to trap him with a child. I was on birth control. The shot, to be exact. There was nothing I could do about it. No way to know my birth control had failed.

  It simply did.

  Which made me think of this child as special.

  I figured my resignation would help the both of us. I could move on, and he wouldn’t have to watch me get fat and lazy with my pregnancy. I wouldn’t be the talk of the company. The whore who got pregnant with her billionaire boss’s child. At least this way, I got to leave on my own terms. On my own time. In my own way.

  I wiped at a few tears as I closed my eyes.

  “This is the right decision,” I whispered.

  Part of me wanted to believe Ethan would have understood. Even after I put distance between us. Even after I dodged his calls. Even after I sent messengers to speak with him for me instead of me going myself. Part of me even dreamed that he might want the baby. Want me.

  Want this, for the long term.

  I turned away from the window, shaking the thought away. It wasn’t likely with a man like him. And I think what would devastate me more than anything was his hush money. Some bribe he wanted to give me to keep me silent on the fact that I was carrying his child. I knew it happened. All the time. Secret children. Women rich men were ashamed of.

  I didn’t want to be a billionaire-baby momma. I didn’t want to be branded as a gold digger. Or treated like a pariah.

  I figured this was the perfect moment for a fresh start in my life.

  New York was stifling. It had accepted me. Taken me in. But I didn’t love it, not like I loved Montana, my home. I missed the green. I missed the snow. I missed the peace and the quiet. There was no Ethan Sharpe in Montana. Hell, no one even knew who he was in Montana. I wouldn’t have to worry about anyone finding out it was his child I carried.

  I could live my life out in peace.

  I walked back into my bedroom. I refused to acknowledge the part of me that still missed him. That still missed work. How quickly I fell for Ethan was almost unheard of. Two encounters. Maybe two weeks. I laughed at myself. I was an idiot. A fool. An out-of-control, hormonal woman. I shook my head and continued packing. I blocked out the sound of his voice and the warmth it provided me. I ignored the phantom feeling of his lips on my neck and how it made me tingle inside. I pushed away the beauty of his smile and how it eased the pain in my heart.

  More tears slipped down my cheeks.

  I was ashamed to admit that I dreamed of him, almost every other night. Being in his arms. Pressed against those windows. Waking up next to him. Sharing our morning cup of coffee.

  “Stop being a fool, Sarah,” I murmured.

  I had to stop torturing myself.

  I had to stop thinking about a life I’d never have. A man I’d never have. Experiences we’d never share. I had to look toward the future. I had to plan out my life in the next few months. Money. A job. A permanent place to stay. I had someone else depending on me now—a small, helpless child that would be here in eight short months.

  “You always wanted to be a mother,” I said to myself.

  At least it was a child I wanted.

  Chapter 13

  Ethan

  After getting a phone call from Philip to check my email, I shoved everything else aside. Staring out the windows of my library on a Saturday morning reminiscing on the last time I was with Sarah wasn’t a productive use of my time anyway. I pulled my phone out and clicked on the email from Philip, opening up its contents.

  I quickly got him on the phone after I read it.

  “My secrets?” I asked.

  “I found it in her work email. It’s almost four weeks old,” Philip said.

  “You think she left us to go back to them?”

  “She could have. I haven’t gotten into Maelstrom’s hiring records yet. But if the price was right with us, it could have been right with them.”

  I grimaced. I didn’t think Sarah was that type of person. But the evidence was there. The email. The hook. I didn’t have an explanation from her, and it seemed like the only plausible scenario.

  Especially with how she was hired.

  “Thanks,” I murmured.

  “Ethan, what are you—?”

  I hung up the phone on Philip and went into my office. I tucked it away at the back of my penthouse so no one could disturb me while working. I printed out the email and shoved it into my pocket, then pulled up her employee record in my files.

  I had my penthouse laptop tethered to my work computer at all times.

  I plugged her address into my phone, then started for my car. She needed to woman up and tell me, face-to-face, whether or not she was about to sell me out. I pulled into a space right on the curb and got out, then found her name on the intercom outside.

  I pressed the button several times until she finally answered.

  “Who is it?” Sarah asked.

  “It’s Ethan. I need you to let me up,” I said.

  The pause made me fearful. I was worried she’d turn me away with no answers at all. But after a few beats of silence, I heard the door unlatch. I ripped it open and made my way across the lobby, then scaled the stairs to get to her floor. I drew in a deep breath to keep calm before I knocked on her door, and it swung open effortlessly.

  “I unlocked it for you,” Sarah said.

  Her beauty punched me in the gut. That wild curly hair, untamed by her methods and her dazzling blue eyes. The sun shining through the window outlined her sloping curves.

  She’s just as treacherous as she is beautiful. Focus.

  “Want to come in?” she asked.

  “Yes,” I said as I strode past her.

  “Then by all means,” she breathed.

  I pulled the email out of my pocket and handed it to her. She closed the door and took it from me, her eyes scanning it. They widened. Her lips parted in shock. I knew by that look on her face that she recognized it.

  “Are you working for them again?” I asked.

  “I—Ethan—it—wh—what?” Sarah asked.

  “Don’t stutter. Are you working for Maelstrom again?”

  “I—I never responded to this email. I wouldn’t do something like this. I’m not that kind of person,” she said.

  “You jumped ship very quickly with me. What would stop you from doing it again?”

  “I’m not working for Maelstrom. And how dare you throw your better job in my face as an excuse to throw me under the bus because of your paranoia.”

  She shoved the email into my chest and walked past me. And when my eyes followed her, I saw her things packed in boxes. Just like they had been in her office.

  “What? Did Miller give you a bigger place as part of your hiring package?” I asked.

  But Sarah only scoffed.

  “I would have put you in a better place, if that’s what you wanted,” I said.

  “I’m not working for Maelstrom,” she said.

  “If y
ou would have just come to me. Talked with me. But clearly, loyalty means nothing to you,” I said.

  “This isn’t about Miller, you asshole!” she exclaimed.

  The tone of her voice caught me off guard. I looked over at her, tucked into herself and leaning against the wall facing away from me. I heard her sniffle. Watched her brush a tear away.

  Sarah was crying, and my anger quickly faded.

  “I’m not working for Maelstrom,” she choked out.

  “Then, what are you doing?” I asked.

  “Not that it’s any of your business after you stormed in here, but I’m moving away from New York City.”

  “Why?”

  She shook her head, crying harder as she put her face in her hands. I dropped the email and walked over to her, allowing my gut to guide me. Allowing my heart to guide me. It killed me to listen to her cry. And I couldn’t prevent myself from pulling her into my arms. She turned into me, sobbing into my chest, shoulder-shaking sobs that tore at my heart.

  “Ssshhh… it’s okay,” I whispered.

  I pressed my nose into her wild strawberry-blonde hair, drawing in her scent again. How I’d missed it. How I’d missed this.

  How I’d missed her.

  “Please talk to me, Sarah. What the hell’s going on?” I asked.

  I’d never begged anyone in my life. I took pride in that. But in that moment, I’d do anything to get her to open up to me.

  “I’m sorry, Ethan,” she whispered.

  “Whatever it is, I can help. I promise you I can,” I said.

  “You can’t.”

  “Yes, I can. Just trust me, Sarah.”

  I cupped her cheeks and rose her gaze to mine.

  “Just trust me,” I said.

  Then, she hit me with an admission I never would have expected.

  “I’m pregnant,” she breathed.