Page 46 of Rude Boss' Secret Baby
I grinned. “Same.”
“Okay, I gotta go now. Talk soon!”
“Talk soon.”
I hung up the phone and immediately got myself a third cup of coffee. If I were going to come up with a foolproof plan on how to woo both Aurora and Leslie to my side of life, I had to make sure I was at peak capacity. After all, the two best women I’d ever met in my life deserved the best version of me they could get.
I simply hoped my plan worked.
* * *
I murmured to myself.“Leslie, before I ask you something, I want to make sure you know that you can turn me down at any point in time. I just thought this would be a fun thing for Aurora and myself to go do, and of course, you can come if you’d like.”
I rehearsed my lunchtime speech in the mirror before I shook my head.
“That still sounds like she doesn’t have a choice. Come on, Trey, you’ve talked to several women before. You can do this.”
I drew in a deep breath as my watch counted down the minutes until my lunch break. Leslie and I had plans to share a sub from the deli up the road and talk about some things that were on my mind. Specifically, I wanted to ask her if I could whisk Aurora away for an evening and take her to an art gallery upstate for its grand opening.
I thought it would be a good way for the two of us to bond so I could show Aurora that she wasn’t only safe with me but that we could also create good memories together.
I cleared my throat. “Leslie, I want to ask you something, but just know that you always have the power to turn it down at any point in time. Okay?”
But, the door to my office burst open, and Leslie’s frantic voice sounded. “I have to leave during our lunch break.”
I turned to face her and registered the panic in her features. “What’s going on?”
She drew in a shaking breath. “It’s Rori. She’s struggling to breathe again. Her school just called. She’s headed to the hospital in an ambulance.”
Without hesitation, I strode for my desk and started shutting everything down. I reached for my wallet and my cell phone, texting away to let people know I’d be away from my desk until further notice. I rushed out into the hallway with Leslie on my heels, watching her scoop her things up and shut down her phone and laptop for the night.
And after she was done gathering everything in her computer bag, we started for the elevator.
“You know you don’t have to come, right?” she asked.
I jammed my hand into the button for the garage floor. “I’m aware, yes. Now, where are we headed? I’m driving.”
She didn’t skip a beat. “Same hospital, same doctor. They know we’re coming.”
I pulled my keys out of my suit coat pocket. “Good.”
When the elevator doors opened, dumping us out into the garage, I strode for my BMW I8 convertible. I opened the door for Leslie, and she slipped inside while I slid across the hood of the car and leaped in without so much as opening the damn door for myself. I cranked the engine without a moment to lose and kicked up burnt rubber, skidding onto the main road, then we took off toward the hospital.
Soaring as quickly as I could legally go so we didn’t get held up by an overzealous police officer.
“What kind of car is this?” she asked.
I grinned. “A BMW convertible. I8. One of the best on the market in terms of speed and practicality.”
She gripped the door handle tightly. “I would’ve sprung for a nice mid-size with a mid-price, but that’s just me.”
As I careened into the emergency room parking lot for the hospital, I tried to stuff my smile down. She was the only woman I’d ever come across who wasn’t impressed by my money. If anything, she always had a quip or a comment to bring my egotistical head out of the clouds and plant me back on planet Earth.
I enjoyed that about her.
But, once we got inside, the wolf inside of me kicked up. “I need someone to tell me where Aurora Popovich is!”
A nurse turned to look at me before she eyed me up and down. “And who are you?”
