Page 105 of Playing It Forward

I squeeze my eyes shut and force those thoughts away. Nolan has proven he’s here to stay. He’s constantly doing sweet things for me, such as bringing me Chinese food or making sure my fridge is stocked. He even cancelled his March obligations to make sure he’s available when the baby arrives.

I can’t keep second guessing him. It’s not fair to him.

My phone beeps again. Nolan squeezes my middle. “Answer your phone, sweetheart. It might be important. What if it’s your dad?”

His words have me flying toward my phone. “Dad?”

Hudson chuckles. “Don’t think I’m old enough to be your dad.”

“Sorry,” I apologize to my boss. “What do you need?” I check the time. “At eight in the morning.”

“We need to meet. I thought we could do a breakfast meeting.”

My stomach drops. Meet? Why would I need to meet Hudson? Usually, he stops by my office whenever he needs to talk.

Shit on a smuggler. He’s firing me. He found out I’m pregnant and doesn’t think I can handle the job anymore. You fall asleep at work one time. Okay, two. But whatever.

I won’t make this easy for him. Firing someone for being pregnant is against the law.

I clear my throat. “When and where?”

“I booked a private room for nine.”

“See you then.”

I hang up the phone and throw it on the bed. “Drowning pirates!”

“What’s wrong? Is it the baby? What do you need?” Nolan jumps out of bed and pulls on his jeans. “I’m ready. Where are we going?”

I blink up at him. “Ready? You’re wearing jeans but no shoes or shirt. No shoes. No shirt. No service.”

“This isn’t a time to joke. What’s happening?” He pulls on his shoes.

“Slow down. This doesn’t involve you.”

He growls. “I thought we were past this. You and this baby involve me. End of discussion.”

“It’s about my job. Hudson’s going to fire me.”

“Fire you for what?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Breaking his rule about having a relationship with a guest of the resort? Getting pregnant? Falling asleep at my desk twice? Take your pick.”

He scowls. “None of those things is reason enough to fire you.”

I lift an eyebrow. “I broke a rule. A rule he is very serious about.”

“This is my fault. I’ll talk to him. I’ll smooth it out. I was planning to talk to him anyway.”

“No. This is my job. This has nothing to do with you.”

“Except you literally just said you’re getting fired because of me.”

I wag a finger at him. “This is not about you. It’s about me breaking the rules.”

He blows out a breath. “You broke the rule for me.”

“It was still my choice.”