Brett shrugged his shoulders. “I am fierce. You just haven’t seen it yet. I expect a lot from my employees. I pay them well and want them to deliver for me.”
“What about me?” she asked.
“You deliver,” he leered.
Antonia laughed. “No, really. What if I don’t ‘deliver’?”
He looked at her face, understanding that she was worried. “You will.”
Antonia looked down at the floor. He had such faith in her. But even that faith terrified her. She didn’t want to let him down. It was more than just proving something to her brothers. Now she wanted to impress him.
The elevator arrived and broke the tension. Antonia stepped onto the elevator, then almost fell against the side of the cab, holding onto the wall in an attempt to wait out the dizzy spell. She didn’t want Brett to notice, so she pretended like nothing was wrong. But she felt his arm go around her and was grateful for his strength.
“Is everything ok?” he asked, looking down into her eyes.
Antonia smiled. “I guess I’m just hungrier than I thought,” she lied. This was the second time she’d felt this type of dizziness. The last time was during the middle of the day, right after she’d had lunch. At least she hadn’t had morning sickness….
Antonia went completely still. Morning sickness? Dizzy spells? It wasn’t possible.
She counted back to the first night she and Brett had slept together. Then recounted. She was two weeks late.
It wasn’t possible, she thought again. She couldn’t be pregnant. It was way too early to have symptoms like this, wasn’t it?
But Jennifer didn’t have any symptoms. No morning sickness, no cravings, nothing. Marsha, on the other hand, had spent practically every moment of the first three months of her first pregnancy in bed, but during her second pregnancy, she’d been happy as a clam. Antonia had heard that all pregnancies are different, but could they be this dramatically different?
She could only be about three weeks pregnant. If she was pregnant at all, which might not be the case, she reminded herself.
“Antonia?” Brett asked, looking at her strangely.
“What?”
“Do you want to get off the elevator?” he asked, keeping his finger on the “open” button to hold the doors for her.
“Oh,” she said, then blushed as she stepped into the parking lot. “Sorry,” she said.
“No problem,” he replied. “My car’s over here.”
“I’ll just head home, if you don’t mind. I’m not all that hungry anymore.” Antonia wanted to hurry home and think this latest revelation through.
“No way. I’m going to make sure you eat something,” he said and took her arm to head her in the direction of his car. Holding open the door, he said, “Get in. I’ll drive you home later and pick you up tomorrow morning.”
“Brett, there’s no need,” she said but was cut off by the door closing on her. She waited until he got in beside her. “Brett, there’s no need to take me out to dinner. I really want to go through those files again.”
Brett ignored her and started the engine, backing out of the parking space. “After dinner,” he said.
He drove to a small Italian restaurant close by the office and they were quickly seated since it was a Monday night. Antonia was determined to remain angry with him over his brutish tactics, first at dragging her out of her office, then when he forced her into his car and practically kidnapped her to the restaurant. But her will couldn’t hold up against the fantastic plate of fettuccini alfredo and Brett’s humor. He told her stories about some of the vice presidents that had her laughing so hard her stomach hurt.
It was ten o’clock when he dropped her off in front of the house. The front lights were on, but the rest of the house was dark. Antonia suspected that Sal was still working. Probably where she’d be right now if it hadn’t been for Brett.
But she couldn’t be mad at him now. Especially when he was leaning down to kiss her good night. And Antonia kissed him right back, feelings of tenderness overwhelming her at the thought that she might be carrying his child. She completely forgot about her promise to try and break off this relationship.
The next morning, she walked into the kitchen feeling awful. She tried to smile when she saw Brett, but she was afraid it came out more as a grimace. Walking to the sink, she poured herself a cool glass of water and sipped it, hoping her stomach would calm down. She was almost positive that she was pregnant. And right now, she wasn’t feeling very tender towards Brett, who’d shown up at the house this morning before she was ready. He was standing in the kitchen, sipping coffee looking fresh and alive, reading something in a file folder.
“Long night?” he asked.
Antonia shook her head. “No. I slept like a log.”
Brett smiled and pulled her close. “Wish I’d been there,” he said, kissing her neck, her ear. She resisted for only a moment. But her stomach rebelled and she stood still, hoping it would get back onto a normal keel again.
Antonia shivered. How could he make her want him, even when she felt this awful. She moaned softly when he found a spot behind her ear, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“Want to skip work today?” he asked. “We could stay in bed all day and make love.”
Antonia’s body was already reacting to his nearness. But she resisted. “I don’t think that would make a very good impression.”
“I’ll clear it with your boss,” he said and slid his hand down her spine, sending shivers through her body.
“Brett…” Antonia pleaded.
He took a deep breath, then sighed. “Ok. You win. We work. But no more nights alone. You’re leaving at six tonight and we’re heading to my house for dinner.”
“I don’t think that would be a very good idea,” she started, only to be interrupted by Brett kissing her.
“Come on. You’ll be late for work,” he said and he took her hand, pulling her behind him to his car.
For the rest of the week, Antonia worked hard on avoiding him. She made sure she had left the office before he came to pick her up. And when she got home at night, she was already asleep when he called so Sal had an easy excuse for why she wouldn’t talk to him on the phone.
That worked for only a week. By Friday Brett trumped her by ordering her into his office late in the afternoon. When she received the summons, she was irritated but reminded herself that he was now her boss.