The Baby Bump
Tara Wylde
Contents
I. The Baby Bump
1. Ronan
2. Ronan
3. Cassie
4. Cassie
5. Cassie
6. Ronan
7. Cassie
8. Cassie
9. Cassie
10. Cassie
11. Cassie
12. Ronan
13. Ronan
14. Cassie
15. Cassie
16. Ronan
17. Cassie
18. Cassie
19. Ronan
20. Cassie
21. Cassie
22. Cassie
23. Ronan
24. Ronan
25. Ronan
26. Cassie
27. Ronan
28. Ronan
29. Cassie
30. Ronan
31. Cassie
32. Ronan
33. Ronan
34. Ronan
35. Ronan
36. Cassie
37. Cassie
38. Cassie
39. Cassie
40. Ronan
41. Cassie
42. Cassie
43. Cassie
44. Ronan
45. Cassie
46. Cassie
47. Cassie
48. Cassie
49. Ronan
50. Cassie
51. Ronan
Epilogue
II. The O Coach
Prologue
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Chapter 90
Chapter 91
Chapter 92
Chapter 93
Chapter 94
Chapter 95
Chapter 96
Chapter 97
Epilogue
III. Wedding Crasher
98. Lucy
99. Ryan
100. Lucy
101. Ryan
102. Lucy
103. Ryan
104. Ryan
105. Ryan
106. Ryan
107. Lucy
108. Lucy
109. Lucy
110. Lucy
111. Ryan
112. Ryan
113. Lucy
114. Lucy
115. Ryan
116. Ryan
117. Lucy
118. Lucy
119. Lucy
120. Ryan
121. Lucy
122. Lucy
123. Lucy
124. Lucy
125. Ryan
126. Ryan
127. Lucy
128. Ryan
129. Ryan
130. Ryan
131. Ryan
132. Ryan
133. Ryan
134. Lucy
135. Ryan
136. Ryan
137. Lucy
138. Lucy
139. Ryan
140. Ryan
Epilogue
Part I
The Baby Bump
She gave me her body, all I gave her was a lie.
My secrets are hurting us, and I have to tell.
I don't care if I'm her boss.
I'm making her employee of the month.
My billions buy whatever I want.
And right now I want Cassie.
If she finds out I'm her undercover boss, I could lose my company.
But maybe she's worth it.
An airline pilot and a single mom,
Her hot curves and sassy mouth drive me crazy.
We got bumped on our flight back and spent a hot night together.
Touching... tasting... submitting.
Now she's pregnant with my twins.
I have to stay away, but everything is pushing me close.
F*ck the money. I won't let my family go.
I've already marked Cassie as mine,
Now I just need to show her who's really boss.
I'd rather lose my company than lose my family.
Ronan
“Well, everything is in order.” Craig Buchanan, Northwest Airline’s director of human, resources, shuffles through the stack of papers on his desk one last time before standing up. He smiles warmly at me and extends a hand over the desk. “Welcome to the team.”
“Thank you.” I shake his hand and will the nerves dancing in my belly to relax. I never would have guessed that interviewing for a job was so stressful. And it’s not like I even need it. I can’t imagine how much worse things would be if I was depending on the outcome of the interview to keep a roof over my head and food in the fridge.
“So, before we go our separate ways do you have any last questions for me?”
“Yeah,” I say. “When do I start?”
It’s been six or seven weeks since I last flew a plane, and that was a short trip to transfer a little Cessna I recently bought from Austin to my private hangar just outside of San Antonio. I’m itching to get back in a cockpit.
Craig shrugs. “I guess that depends on you. When do you want to start flying for us?”
It’s my choice? That seems strange. I mean, this is the first time I’ve ever been gainfully employed so I’m not an expert or anything, but I could have sworn that most companies know when they want you to start working.
“I’m ready to start flying as soon as you need me.”
My words have me wincing inwardly. The last thing I want is to appear too eager. No one, not Craig, not anyone else connected to Northwest, can know my real identity or the real reason I want this job. As far as they’re concerned, I’m just a normal guy who’s properly licensed to fly international passenger jets.
Craig laughs. “Ready to go, are you? I like that about you.” He leans down and taps on his computer keyboard. “If you want, we could use a co-pilot for a flight from here to Atlanta next Saturday. From there you’ll switch to a different plane that is going to Italy and will be gone for about two weeks before it comes back to the United States. It’s actually scheduled to come to San Antonio. You up for it?”
Two weeks of being on someone else’s schedule? Of not being able to do exactly what I want, when I want to do it. For the first time since I applied for the job as a Northwest pilot, the reality of having an honest to goodness job, with bosses, sinks in. For the foreseeable future, a large chunk of my time belongs to them. Scary.
I’m not about to let Craig know about my sudden onset of cold feet. As far as he’s concerned, I desperately need this job and I’m not about to give him any reason to think differently. “Sure.”
“Great.” Craig’s eyes scan the information on his computer screen and he chuckles. “You’ll be flying with Cassie Mayers.”
The way he says the name causes my stomach to twist. “What’s she like?”
Craig shrugs. “It’s kind of hard to describe her. I’m told she’s a good pilot but that she has a chip on her shoulder. Seems to hate the world and really can’t stand men.” He pauses a moment, considering his words, probably trying to figure out just how much he should tell me. “I hired her about three years ago and haven’t ever had an issue with her, but I’ve heard some complaints. Most of the guys who have flown with her aren’t big fans. They tell me she’s a real ball buster. If you want to wait a few more days before taking your first Northwest jet up, I can pair you with a different … better liked, pilot.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I tell Craig. “I want to start as soon as possible and I’m not picky about who I work with. Besides, this Cassie chick sounds like a challenge, and there’s nothing I like better than a good challenge.”
Ronan
“You must be my newest co-pilot.”
The sharp, disdainful words startle me out of my thoughts. Keeping one hand wrapped around the cheap paper cup that’s half full of fowl- tasting coffee, I lean back in my chair and glance up.
My gaze connects with gorgeous brown eyes. Unable to help myself, my own eyes slide lower, taking in the unpainted, Cupid’s bow lips, long, elegant neck, dark hair scraped back into a severe bun, and some of the most mouthwatering curves I’ve ever seen, each one covered in a navy-blue uniform that fits them just right.
I lick my lips and swallow the instinctive wolf whistle. Damn! I’ve never been the kind of guy who gets turned on by a woman wearing a uniform, but in this case, I’m willing to make an exception.
I don’t know who this woman is, but she’s built like a 1940’s pinup girl, not at all like the stick- thin models I’ve spent the better part of my life dating.
Finally, a woman I could really wrap my hands around without worrying she’s going to break apart. It’s like a one-two punch to my heart. Like my entire world has been turned upside down. It’s both terrifying and exhilarating.
One of the woman’s dark brows drifts towards her hairline. “Well?” she demands. “Are you?”
My mind goes blank, probably because all the blood has drained from it and pooled in my cock, which presses painfully against my fly. “Am I what?”
She sucks in a deep breath. “Are you,” she carefully enunciates each word, “my new co-pilot?” She glances at the smartphone in her hand, reading something off the screen. “Ronan Smith?”
I swallow and struggle to remember how to form sensible words. “That’s me. And you’re?” Okay, so not the suavest of responses, certainly not up to my normal performance, but it could have been worse. I think.
“Cassie Mayers,” she snaps.
“Cassie, can I ask you a question?”
Cassie slides the phone into her uniform’s breast pocket and studies me with cool eyes. Since she hasn’t actually said the word no, I decide to assume it means she doesn’t mind answering questions.
“Do you believe in love at first sight?” My insides clench nervously while I wait for her answer.
For the first time since I’ve laid eyes on her, Cassie’s icy expression melts away, replaced by one of shock. “Excuse me?”
“Love at first sight,” I repeat. “Do you think it’s a real thing? Or just something that happens in fairytales?”
“Are you insane?”
“Not at all.” I shake my head and grin up at her. It’s the same grin that has caused at least a thousand different women to swoon at my feet, but Cassie doesn’t react.
I’ve heard of ice princesses before, but this is the first one I’ve met. A challenge. Another one. I’m liking her more and more by the second. Which is strange. I’ve always hooked up with women who say yes to every little suggestion I make, which was great back when I was in high school and only interested in sex, but lately, I’ve wanted something, I don’t know, different. And Cassie fits that bill. She has my engine revving faster and harder than any of the supermodels, celebrities, and spoiled heiresses I’ve encountered throughout my life.
I slap a hand over my heart and keep my gaze locked with hers. “’Truthfully, I’ve always thought the whole love at first sight thing was a myth, something only found in fairytales and bad chick flicks.” My grin widens. “But now that I’m looking at you, I’m beginning to think that it’s a real thing.”
“Listen, buddy.” Cassie leans forward and slaps both her hands flat on the table. Her deep dark brown eyes bore straight into mine. It’s like looking at a basilisk. I can’t break eye contact, I can’t even move. My heart slams into my sternum and my palms sweat. One way or another, I’ve got to have this woman. “If you think you can come in here and be all flirty and good looking and that I’ll just lap it up, you can think again. I’m fed up with cocky pilots who seem to think that every single woman who flies a plane is desperate to be laid. The only thing I’m interested in is flying. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes.” No one has ever spoken to me like that. It’s hot. I wait a beat before continuing. “You think I’m good looking?”
I wouldn’t have thought it possible, but Cassie’s expression becomes even more pinched and withdrawn. “Please tell me you know something about flying? That you’re familiar with passenger jets?”
This catches me off guard. “I’m fully qualified to fly anything with wings.” Maybe, there are a few military aircrafts my pilot’s license doesn’t cover, but there’s no need to tell this woman that. Flying has been my passion, my one true love so to speak, for as long as I can remember. There’s not a single aspect of airplanes, from flying them to repairing them, I’m not capable of handling. “If I wasn’t, Northwest wouldn’t have hired me.”
Of course, the company thinks they hired just an average, run-of-the-mill pilot in need of a job. They don’t have the faintest idea who I really am.
Cassie rolls her eyes. “This company would happily hire an untrained chimp if the opportunity presented itself.” She turns away. “C’mon. I’ll show you the plane.”
Because I’ve always been a glutton for punishment, particularly when it’s being doled out by a beautiful woman with a sultry voice, I follow, even though I have the distinct impression that what she really meant to say was that she’d stuff me into the nearest suitcase before throwing it over the nearest cliff.
Cassie
Raindrops stick to the passenger jet’s giant windshield, catching the night lights illuminating the airport so that each raindrop looks like a delicate and rare jewel.
I guide the plane into the terminal and smoothly park it. I unwrap my hands from around the controls and release the breath I always seem to hold whenever I have to land one of the jumbo jets. As much as I love flying, I’ve never been able to completely quell the nervous tension that settles over me whenever it comes to the landing. Too many painful and scary memories.
I lean back against my seat and close my eyes, focusing on my breathing while the head flight attendant’s calm voice outlines the rules for exiting the plane.
“You look tired,” Ronan says in a wickedly smooth voice.
My shoulder muscles bunch beneath my severe Northwest captain’s uniform. I had a bad feeling about Ronan since the minute I was informed I was getting a new co-pilot for the Atlanta to Italy leg of my two-week run, and meeting him didn’t change anything. He’s cocky, arrogant, and flat-out pisses me off.
The fact that he started our association together off by asking about love didn’t earn him any points in my book.
I actually spent the entire flight hoping he’d make a mistake, that he’d do something that wouldn’t jeopardize the flight, but that would result in him being fired, or at the very least transferred to another plane, but he didn’t. In fact, he was a remarkably calm and efficient pilot.
And, even though I anticipated him spending the entire flight making one cheap pass after another at me, he’d actually kept his mouth shut and his thoughts to himself.
“Should I handle the captain’s farewell, Captain?” Ronan askes, pulling me from my
thoughts.
I should let him. Far as I know, Northwest doesn’t have any rules about the co-pilot addressing the passengers, and even if they did, Northwest’s execs won’t care if I break that rule. It’s not like they ever take an interest in anything related to the company.