Baby Comes First Read Online Free PDF Page B

wasn’t there, and she didn’t see any note listing
his whereabouts. He walked into the office fifteen minutes later,
carrying a large vase filled with a dozen yellow roses.
    He set the vase down on her desk. “How
lovely,” she said. “Do you want me to send these to someone?”
    He frowned. “No, they’re for you.”
    “For me?” Her voice sounded high.
    “Yes. I’m very sorry I upset you yesterday.
My questions were completely out of line, and I apologize.”
    Luke Jamison apologizing? She knew how
rare that was. “I’m sorry, too,” she said quietly. “I shouldn’t
have lost my temper.”
    He nodded as if accepting her apology, and
then stood silent, as if not knowing what to say next.
    Hannah reached out to touch one of the
velvety petals. Other than a dozen red roses for her sixteenth
birthday from her father, she had never received a dozen roses
before.
    “Do you like them?” He sounded uncertain.
    “How could anyone not like them? They are so
big and beautiful.” She took a deep breath. “And they smell
divine.”
    “My wife used to say that the only way to
apologize to a woman was with flowers or diamonds.”
    “You can bring me diamonds next time,” Hannah
said wryly, and at the startled expression on his face, she added
quickly, “I’m kidding. These are beautiful. Thank you.”
    “I’m glad you like them,” he said stiffly,
and walked back to his office.
    That was an odd conversation, Hannah thought
with amusement. Luke Jamison giving her flowers? It was completely
out of character, but it showed that underneath that gruff
exterior, he was human, after all.
    Too bad he didn’t have much of a sense of
humor.
    With a sigh, she returned to the document she
was typing.
    When Hannah went to the break room to warm up
a frozen dinner for lunch, she met Ms. Dulane, who was pouring
herself a cup of coffee.
    “I hear you’re taming the beast,” Ms. Dulane
said.
    “I beg your pardon?”
    “The yellow roses. I think everyone at
Thompson, Baker, and Meyers knew about it within twenty minutes of
his walking through the front door.”
    Hannah froze. She should have known that the
office grapevine would be intrigued. Mr. Jamison and his work
habits were a favorite topic of conversation already. How much did
her co-workers know, and how much did they guess? Had anyone heard
their argument the day before? Hannah said, “Mr. Jamison and I had
a difference of opinion yesterday. The conversation got a little
heated, and the roses were his apology.”
    “A dozen roses? That must have been some
difference of opinion,” the director mused. “Mr. Jamison has never
given any of his secretaries flowers before. Not even on
Secretary’s day.”
    Hannah felt the baby kick and automatically
put her hand on her stomach.
    “Do you know if it’s a girl or a boy?” Ms.
Dulane asked.
    Hannah was grateful that the conversation had
shifted to a safer topic. “No, I had an ultrasound a few months
ago, but I asked the technician not to tell me. I want to be
surprised.”
    “That makes it a little difficult buying
gifts for the office baby shower, but I guess we could have the
shower after the baby’s born.”
    Hannah was hoping not to be with the firm
after the baby was born, but she’d cross that bridge later. She
smiled. “That’s a great idea.”
    #
    For the next few days, Mr. Jamison seemed to
be avoiding her. He filled his days with meetings and went out of
town for a deposition that he normally would have scheduled at the
office. But Hannah didn’t mind. She appreciated the reprieve. She
wanted them to get back to their prior calm, emotionless work
relationship.
    She thought they had succeeded, until he
called her into his office to give her his travel expense receipts.
She put the receipts in the appropriate envelope to be scanned
later. “Will that be all?” she asked.
    “No, there’s one more thing.”
    She waited.
    “I wasn’t going to say anything. I was going
to respect your privacy, but