carolina
Four months later
The office lookeda lot different from four months ago. There were fewer piles of paper everywhere, fewer filing cabinets, and I had more or less transferred everything to an electronic system that could be accessed from tablets or phones while on the job.
All the feedback I’d received from the boys so far suggested that they loved the changes. I’d made their lives so much easier with these new updates.
I was in the middle of automating the payroll system, hoping to have everything set up by the end of the week in time for the next pay week. But I was having a lot of trouble concentrating. The morning sickness was nearing unbearable, long evolved from a “morning” type of sickness and now more like “all-day” sickness.
My ginger tea was doing nothing, nor were ginger candies or ginger ale. Nothing “ginger” was doing the trick, and as another wave of nausea washed over me, it built to a breaking point as I practically tripped over the rolling computer chair to make my way to the small, attached bathroom.
Landing on my knees, just in time to push the lid of the seat up, I expelled the ginger tea from my stomach, dry heaving because there was nothing else left at this point.
“Carolina?” The creaky front door signaled Owen’s arrival as his voice drifted through the trailer to me. I heaved again, drowning out the sounds of him walking toward the desk and seeing that I was here but currently occupied. “Carolina, are you okay?”
His broad, muscular form filled the small doorway, casting a shadow across me and the toilet, which had become my best friend lately.
“Are you sick?” He knelt beside me, his thick thighs rubbing against my leg as his warm, rough hand rolled across my back. His touch turned my stomach in a new kind of way, sending flutters of desire through me. My much-younger boss shouldn’t turn me on, but I couldn’t help it. He was handsome, in a rugged and charming way that made it hard to look away from him.
It didn’t help that the pregnancy hormones that had been running through my body left my nipples hard and aching every time I so much as heard him. Too often, I’d awoken from a sweet, filthy dream of what it would feel like to have him between my thighs, taking me on every surface my mind could conjure. To have him so close while I was so vulnerable was unbearable.
And if he noticed how painful my arousal for him was, he didn’t care.
God, I hope he didn’t notice.
“I’m—” I heaved again, and his hand left my back as his fingers stroked the sides of my face, gathering my hair and holding it back while my stomach tried to expel nothingness from its cavities.
“Shh, don’t talk, just get it out.” His other hand smoothed slow circles across my back that, honestly, were very soothing. My eyes drooped as I resisted the urge to just fall asleep against the toilet, yet another lovely side effect to this pregnancy nonsense.
After a few moments had gone by without me breaking the silence with another gag, I tried to sit up, not realizing how close Owen had gotten in that time. My back slid against his chest, and his hand fell away from my back to hold my waist as he kept me tight against him.
“How are you feeling?” His mouth was right against my ear, saying nothing sexual, but the growling timbre of his voice zipped right through me straight to my pussy, making it ache in response.
“Dizzy,” I answered honestly, and he responded in kind by shifting himself against the wall before pulling me further into his lap.
“Relax. Get your bearings back.” He clearly wasn’t concerned about contagion, even though I knew this wasn’t the kind of sickness he could catch.
He stroked my hair gently, trailing his fingers slowly down my arm in an intimate gesture that should’ve repelled me, but I only wanted more. I wanted to feel his hands all over me, fulfilling those secret, deep desires I’d let linger since they first reared their head.
“How are you feeling now, Carolina? Do you want me to get you some water?”
His questions brought me back to Earth as I pulled away from him, turning to face him. This is my boss.
What the hell are you doing?
“Better, but yes, water would be good.”
He nodded and immediately pushed himself up onto his feet, carefully walking around me to head for the fridge. While he was gone, I grabbed some toilet paper and wiped my mouth, flushing the whole mess away before rising and making my way to the desk.
“Maybe you should go home for the rest of the day. There’s no need for you to stay if you’re feeling bad. Bed and Netflix are what any good doctor would prescribe.” He cracked the plastic lid open and held the bottle out to me.
“Thank you.” Taking a sip, the coolness rushed through my body and settled in my stomach with a dull ache. I needed something more substantial, but I was tired of everything coming back up.
“I mean it, Carolina. I don’t want you pushing yourself. We’ll live for a couple of days if you need to take care of yourself.”
“Are you sure?”
He smiled at me, the sight warming me right through. “I’ll drive you home myself if I have to.”