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“Come in,” I call, expecting Levi.
Collins walks in instead. “Hey.”
“Hey,” I reply. “Figured you’d left by now.”
“Not yet.”
My inbox chimes with a reply to the email Ijustsent, stealing my attention. I grind my molars as I mentally uncross it off my to-do list. I likely won’t have time to respond before I need to leave for the dinner.
“Can I—can I talk to you?”
I close out of a few open windows on the screen. “Can it wait until Monday? I’ve got dinner with Beauté’s board at six.”
“Oh. That isn’t on your calendar for tonight.”
“I forgot to add it. Levi just let me know. Glenn is gloating, of course, but if this deal goes through, it’ll be worth it.”
When I glance up, Collins is still hovering halfway between me and the door. She normally strides over to my desk, and she rarelyasksif she can talk to me. She says whatever she needs to tell me and then returns to her desk.
My fingers slide off the keyboard. Now, I’m confused and curious. “It’s fine. I have a few minutes. What’s up?”
“Oh, um … well …” She doesn’t move, and she stops speaking, gnawing on her lower lip nervously.
I stand. “What?—”
“No. Sit.” She finally walks deeper into my office. “You should, um, sit.”
I frown at the waver in her voice. But I do sit since Collins follows her own advice and perches on the edge of one of the armchairs opposite my desk.Perches, like she’s prepared to flee at any second. She smooths the skirt of her dress repeatedly, avoiding eye contact.
I’ve never seen her like this. Fidgeting and pale and uncertain. It’s such a contrast from the woman who constantly challenges me.
My mind races with possible explanations. Is she having problems with another employee? Maybe one of them found out she knows Lili and is spreading rumors about how she got the job. Something with Perry? She hasn’t mentioned him since their date. Or maybe there’s an issue with a project that’s going to cause problems for me? Did something happen with her family? Is that why she’s going home this weekend? Is shenotgoing home this weekend anymore?
“You’re seriously freaking me out, Collins,” I finally state when she continues to say nothing.
She whispers something under her breath. I have to strain to hear, but I’m almost certain she says, “Just you wait.”
My frown deepens. Wait forwhat?
“Okay. Here it is.” Collins’s shoulders square like she’s stepping into a boxing ring to face an opponent. “I’m pregnant. And you’re the only person I’ve had sex with in the past five months, so …”
I’ve been surprised before. Or IthoughtI had been surprisedbefore.
Surprisesuddenly seems like a very small word to describe my brother showing up on my new penthouse’s doorstep with a request to stay with me for the summer. Or my sister dating a damn duke who allegedly lives in a castle. Or even my parents announcing they were moving to New York full-time. My dad deciding to work at Kensington Consolidated again.
Thisis a surprise. A cataclysmic shock that shakes me to my core.
All those theories swirling in my head? Gone.
All my plans for the rest of the day? Vanished.
I can’t feel the chair beneath me. I can’t move or think or breathe. I can only stare at Collins.
Collins, who’s pregnant. Pregnant with my kid.
Her lips are moving again, and I can’t hear a single word of what she’s saying. There’s a dull roar in my ears, like my head is being held underwater or I’m standing in a wind tunnel.
Everything’s muffled, all the emotions and thoughts I should be experiencing being held back by an invisible barrier.