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“Mr. Bradford,” Paige says, snapping me from my thoughts.
With the way her brow is raised, I have a feeling this isn’t the first time she’s called my name to get my attention.
“Nate,” I remind her. “And everything sounds great. If you can send over the numbers, we can go over them and get back to you later this week with any questions.”
“Speaking of which,” Paige says, “out of curiosity, is there a reason why you came instead of…”
She glances down to find his name, but I answer before she has a chance.
“Carmine Bradford.” I grin when her brows furrow. “He’s the head of marketing. And my brother Dustin handles the finances. Our dad is the CEO, and I’m second in charge. I know it gets a little confusing since all four of us share the same last name.”
“Right,” Paige says. “So, will we be working with you or with Carmine?”
“You’ll be working with both of us,” I tell her, knowing this isn’t standard procedure. “Carmine wasn’t available to come, so I came in his place. I’ll be in town until we finalize the deal and get it all worked out. And then he’ll take over from there.”
Paige’s eyes go wide. “You’re…staying in town?” she chokes out. “A partnership like this can take weeks to finalize.”
Everyone’s gaze volleys from hers to mine, and I assume they’re confused as to why she’s questioning me because they don’t know what we know—she doesn’t give a shit about who’s handling the deal. She wants to know why I’m here when the COO doesn’t handle shit like this. Why I wasn’t shocked to see her when I walked in. Why I’m insisting on staying for as longas I am.
“That’s okay,” I tell her. “I’ve booked a room at the Bradford Hotel in Houston.” I stand and drag my gaze away from her to Cathy. “You have all my information. Once you email my assistant everything, we’ll look it over and discuss it, and then we can schedule to meet again.”
“Perfect,” Cathy says. “I’ll show you out.”
“Actually,” I say, “I have a couple of things I’d like to discuss with Miss Abrams.”
I meet Paige’s nervous gaze.
“Of course.” She forces a smile onto her face and rounds the table. “Why don’t we discuss it in my office?”
“Perfect.” I give the other associates a smile. “It was wonderful to meet all of you, and I look forward to working with you on this partnership.”
I follow Paige out of the conference room and down the hall. She stops at the receptionist’s desk and asks her to cancel her lunch appointment.
The receptionist looks like she wants to ask why, but Paige doesn’t give her a chance to before she heads down the hall with me following.
When we get to her office, she stands at the door for me to go in first, and then she closes the door behind her.
Once we’re both alone, I bring up the elephant in the room, not wanting to beat around the bush. “You’re pregnant.”
Her eyes bulge, and her hand goes to her stomach. “How did you…”
“Your assistant. When you ran out, she said you had morning sickness.”
Paige sighs. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to lie…”
“It’s okay,” I tell her, removing the space between us. “I came here, hoping to see you, but I was too late. I spent two months fighting with myself to respect your wishes for me not to contact you and then another two preparing the deal with Kingston so I could have a reason to see you. I should’ve just messaged or called. But I didn’t, and you moved on.”
“You did all this just to see me?” She crosses her arms across her chest, and I can’t help but glance at the way her breasts rise slightly, straining against her top. “So, the partnership with Kingston, it’s all a ruse?”
She purses her lips, and I shake my head, gesturing for her to have a seat on the sofa. She does so reluctantly, and I sit across from her, itching to touch her but keeping my distance because she’s not mine to touch.
“The deal is legit,” I tell her. “My brothers bid on it because we genuinely wanted to work with Kingston. But once you reached out, because they knew who you were to me, they gave me the option to handle it so I could come see you in person…”
“And then you could say it was business,” she finishes, a small smile curving in the corners of her mouth. “I was wondering why you requested me personally when my team generally handles these types of partnerships.”
“I thought I had it all figured out,” I say with ahumorless chuckle. “But I was so focused on seeing you that I didn’t even consider that you might’ve moved on.”
“What?” She looks at me in confusion. “Moved on? What are you talking about?”