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“Mm, I think they are really hot,” he grinned, his eyes taking on a devilish sheen making her laugh.
“No, Archer, I mean teddy bears,” she said. “For the baby’s room.”
“Oh,” he said with a blush. “I think they’re great. But so are the other kind, too. You should totally get some of those to wear after you give birth to the little dear.”
“Do teddies come with breastfeeding flaps?” Kady wondered with a flash of inspiration, already imaging a line of post pregnancy lingerie geared at making women feel sexy and being practical at the same time. “Maybe I could design something like that, too!”
“Yeah, those classes are most definitely your idea,” Archer chuckled warmly. “God, you’re beautiful when you’re ready to draw. Go ahead, I miss watching you.”
“They don’t let pencils or pens come in,” she reminded him. “I’ll do it during the break.”
They talked for the next fifteen minutes, keeping the conversation light and laughing often until the officer buzzed in, telling her that her visiting time was up for now. She went to the break room with ideas swirling in her head, already itching to get the drawings down on paper.
And so that’s exactly what she did, and by the time she returned the third time, she already had created an entire line of clothes for the mother and infant and was just itching to color them in. “Your mother will love these, don’t you think?”
“Don’t give them to her,” he grumped. “You could start your own line.”
“Think, Archer,” Kady scoffed. “Your mother has the resources for fabric, sewing machines, models and warehousing already in position. Why would I want to waste that much of a good thing like that? That would be like you telling me not to buy shares in a growth industry because they won’t print their stocks with recycled paper.”
“Damn,” he laughed. “You’re even sexier when you figure out the best way to convince me that you’re right. You have no idea how desperately I want to kiss you right now.”
“Well, it has been a while,” she smirked, desperately aching for the exact same thing. She missed his kiss, his touch, being wrapped in his strong arms and feeling completely safe and protected from anything the world could throw at her.
“When I get out of here you’d better have a teddy and a bottle waiting.”
Kady snickered at this. “Okay, I will.”
“I don’t mean a teddy bear and a baby feeding, Kady,” he smirked as well.
“Okay everyone, time’s up,” the guard announced.
“Damn,” Kady said as she hung up the receiver. Then she kissed her fingers and set them on the glass. Archer pretended to take the kiss and put it onto his lips, then waved good-bye as she backed away for the last time that da
y. Kady had to wipe a tear from the corner of her eye.
Chapter 29
Kady had not returned to Dazzle since the day of the interview that she had walked out on. The place was a lot less crowded this time, and the décor was just as nice. Also, Athena or perhaps her secretaries had added a few more personal touches here and there. She walked over to the bulletin board and had a strange urge to run her hand over the spot she’d found the ad that had brought her and Archer together that day.
Unfortunately, the place was usurped by a carelessly placed copy of a newspaper clipping about Mia and Archer’s expected bundle of joy. Angry beyond words, Kady grabbed the paper and ripped the offensive article off the wall and threw it into the nearest waste bin. “I hate her! Mia has seriously got to get committed for some kind of psychiatric evaluation, I swear!”
“Miss?” the secretary called when she saw this, giving Kady a strange look as she watched her complaining to herself in the middle of the expensive lobby.
“Oh, sorry,” said Kady as she turned to look at her at last.
“Hey, you’re that girl!” she gasped. “The one Athena’s been looking for.”
“Yes, well, she’s found me,” Kady replied with a smirk, thinking of all the many coincidences that led to them being thrown in one another’s paths. “She wants me to do a pregnancy shoot for her.”
“Uh, wait,” said the secretary, scrunching her nose in confusion. “Athena said that I should be watching out for Archer’s girlfriend. Isn’t that the one whose picture you just tossed into the trash?”
Angry all over again, Kady bit her lip and rolled her eyes. She read the woman’s name tag, and in a carefully calm voice she said, “Ellen, let me tell you something. Mia is not, nor has she ever been, Archer’s girlfriend. If she comes in here again, you should make her leave immediately. She has no place anywhere near Archer, Athena, or myself.”
“Seriously?” she gasped, her face going red. “Because I’ve seen her come here practically every day for weeks now. If she hasn’t been meeting with Athena, then who in this building does she actually know?”
“I’m not sure,” Kady said, her mind whirling with the new information. “But I think it would be a really good idea to find out.”
The secretary led her behind the giant front desk, and reached for the little white button that connected all the rooms with a speaker system.
