Jackie Braun - Boardroom Baby Surprise

“Britney,” he called as he stalked to her desk. “Not a word of this leaves the building. If anyone in the conference room has questions about who this young woman is or why she came here looking for me today, you direct them to me. Understand?”

“Of course, Mr. Caliborn. You know you can count on me…for anything.” Her smile was a just a little too personal for his liking, but he ignored it. In all other aspects, Britney was an efficient and loyal employee. Her apparent crush on him would wane in time, especially if he kept doing nothing to encourage it.

When he turned around, the EMTs were wheeling Morgan out of his office on the gurney. Her head was elevated. Her face was as white as a sheet.

“Will you be coming with us?” the older EMT asked. “We have room in the ambulance if you want to accompany your wife to the hospital.”

Wife? He heard Britney gasp and gritted his teeth. Another rumor to dispel.

“She’s not my wife,” he bit out as the old bitterness returned. He glanced at his ring finger, recalling the gold band he’d once worn. To him, it had been a symbol of his love and fidelity. It wasn’t until Camilla had asked for a divorce that he’d learned neither had been returned.

Whatever the EMT thought of Bryan’s blunt denial, he masked with his professionalism. “Maybe you could make some calls for her then. It would be nice for her to have some support in labor and delivery, even if it doesn’t look like she’ll be in there long.”

Bryan nodded and glanced at Morgan. In a gentler tone, he asked, “Who should I contact for you?”

Her eyes remained closed and though she was no longer panting; her voice was a breathy whisper when she replied, “No one.”

“What about your family, your parents? Give me their number and I’ll have Britney call them. They’ll want to know.”

Moisture had gathered at the corners of her closed eyes. It leaked down her temples now, blending into her perspiration-dampened hair. Weakness, he thought, once again drawn by her vulnerability. Before he realized what he was doing, he reached out and dried her tears.

Morgan’s eyes flicked open at the contact. Green, he realized. A rich and vivid green. Like precious twin emeralds. He pulled back his hand and cleared his throat. “Your parents’ number?”

“They’re gone.”

“Where can we reach them?” he asked.

“You can’t.” Bryan experienced an unfamiliar ache in his chest when Morgan whispered brokenly, “I have no one. No one at all.”

CHAPTER TWO

SEVEN hours later, Bryan paced the length of the waiting room, sipping tepid coffee from a disposable cup while his gaze strayed to the large clock on the wall. It was after six, but Morgan remained in labor. So much for the EMT’s assertion that the delivery would be accomplished quickly.

What was he doing at the hospital? He didn’t have an exact answer, though duty ranked high on his list of choices. Given Morgan’s claims, he felt a certain sense of obligation to follow up on the situation. Of course, that didn’t explain why the minute the EMTs had wheeled her into the elevator he’d told Britney to clear his schedule for the afternoon, then he’d hopped in his Lexus, arriving at the hospital in record time. The entire way, he’d recalled Morgan’s pinched features and heart-tugging vulnerability.

She needed someone. Bryan was the only someone available.

He finished the remainder of the coffee and tossed the cup into the receptacle. If he’d known the birth was going to take this long, he would have lingered at the office or at the very least brought his laptop with him. Duty, he thought again. As Windy City Industries’ Vice President of Operations and soon to be CEO, he had plenty of work to keep him busy.

“Mr. Caliborn?”

He turned expectantly at the sound of the nurse’s voice. The woman stood in the doorway, a smile lurking around her lips, which he took as a good sign. He hadn’t realized he was holding his breath until she said, “The baby is a boy.”

Another Caliborn boy. Was this one the real thing? He pushed aside that question and asked, “Is everything…okay?”

“Fine. The baby is perfectly healthy and a respectable seven pounds, eleven ounces.”

He cleared his throat. “And Morgan?”

“She’s doing well, all things considered. It was a difficult labor, especially toward the end. For a while the doctor thought he might have to take the baby by caesarean section, but it all worked out.”

Because he didn’t know what else to say—a rare occurrence for him and not an entirely pleasant one—he offered a curt nod. Then he went to collect his suit coat from the back of one of the chairs. If he hurried, he could catch a couple of members of his management team before they left their offices for the day and maybe go over some of the plans for the company’s overseas expansion. But even as he was shoving his arm into a coat sleeve, he was changing his mind. Leaving seemed wrong.

“Excuse me!” he called out to stop the nurse. “I know it’s late, but would it be possible for me to see…the baby?”

That’s all he wanted, a glimpse at this child who might very well be his brother’s legacy and the sole Caliborn heir, as Bryan certainly had no desire to put his heart on the line ever again. For him, marriage and fatherhood were a closed chapter.

“I think that can be arranged.” The nurse smiled again before slipping out of the room.

Unfortunately, seeing the baby wasn’t as simple as taking a quick peek in a nursery window so Bryan could assuage his curiosity while maintaining his distance. The newborn was with its mother, the nurse told him when, forty-five minutes later, she led him down the corridor to Morgan’s room.

“Don’t stay too long,” she advised. “Morgan really needs her rest.”

He raised his hand to knock. Even as his knuckles grazed the door he wondered what he would say. In a business setting he could hold his own, but he’d never been good at casual conversation with virtual strangers. That had been Dill’s specialty.

After his knock, he waited for Morgan to call for him to come in. Instead, the door was flung wide by a bleary-eyed man decked out in wrinkled green scrubs and wearing a sappy grin.

“Have a cigar,” the man said, thrusting a cellophane-wrapped stogie into Bryan’s hand.

Bryan pegged him to be about thirty, and, given his attire, he’d been at the hospital for some time. So much for Morgan’s Oscar-worthy claim that she had “no one.” Disgusted with himself for falling once again for a woman’s lies, he turned to leave.

“Hey, wait!” The man grabbed his arm. “I take it you’re here to see the other new mom.”

Other new mom? Bryan shifted back and glanced into the room. A brunette, presumably the man’s wife, was holding a blanket-wrapped infant in the first bed. Beyond her, a drawn curtain partitioned the room.

“Maybe I should come back,” Bryan said. He already felt awkward and now he was going to have an audience.

“Nah. Come in,” the man coaxed, tugging on Bryan’s arm. Lowering his voice, he added, “I think she could use some company. The nurses said she went through labor alone and I overheard them say she doesn’t have a husband or anything.” His cheeks turned red. “You’re not the baby’s—”

“No.”

Bryan shook off the man’s hand and walked to the far end of the room. When he peeked around the curtain, Morgan’s eyes were closed. He used the opportunity to study her in a way that would have been rude if she were awake. Matted blond hair and a blotchy complexion offered proof of the hours she’d spent in labor…all alone. It wasn’t guilt he felt. He had no reason for that. But something else nudged him. Admiration? She’d certainly shown a lot of grit when she’d burst into the conference room, demanding to see him. As she slept, her brow wrinkled and what he was experiencing shifted, softened. Once again he felt the odd desire to touch her and offer comfort.