A Little Bit Pregnant
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Susan Mallery
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16
Chapter One
“Nicki, I’m desperate. You have to help me.”
Nicole Beauman heard the impassioned plea over her headset. The words gave her a measure of satisfaction, but weren’t impressive enough to make her do much more than blink.
“I’m filing my nails, Zane,” she said. “Filing my nails and yawning. That’s how impressed I am.”
Swearing filled her ears. Despite the seven-hundred-plus miles between her and Zane Rankin, the sound was crystal clear. Modern technology was really amazing.
“My butt is hanging in the wind,” Zane told her. “Dammit, Nicki, do something.”
He wasn’t exactly begging, but it was close enough. Sighing softly, she set down her nail file and glanced at the half dozen monitors on the console.
She’d tapped into the impressive security system of the Silicon Valley computer firm Zane was currently trying to break into. Nearly sixty camera positions showed everything from the six entrances to the lobby to the “sensitive” areas. All Nicki has to do was push a couple of buttons to get the view of her choice.
She watched Zane type frantically on a small, portable keyboard that should have unlocked the side door. He knew the sequence of codes to enter, but sometimes these things were tricky, and required a woman’s touch.
“Hit clear,” she told him.
He nodded, pushing a single key, then waited.
She used her keyboard to reenter the codes. When nothing happened, she used a backdoor entry into the security system and unlocked it from the inside. Zane glanced toward the camera monitoring his position and gave her a thumbs-up.
“You’re the best,” he murmured.
“You say that now,” she told him. “But yesterday you carefully explained to me how you didn’t need my help on this job. You said you were perfectly capable of doing it all on your own.”
“I am.”
“Uh-huh.”
She switched camera positions and saw the security guards heading down the main corridor.
“Then you don’t need me to tell you that you’re about to have a close encounter with your hosts, right?”
Through the grainy security camera she saw Zane freeze. He glanced up and down the long hallway, then ducked into a room. Five seconds later, the security guards turned the corner and walked past the closed door.
“You’re clear,” she said when they were out of sight. “And if you have this covered, I’m going to head home.”
There was a heavy sigh that originated in the northern California storeroom and made its way to her headset in Seattle.
“What do you want from me?” he asked in resignation.
Nicki grinned at her victory. “Money, but as you’re not here to deliver, I’ll take an apology.”
Zane stepped into the hallway and faced the security camera. “You’re the best,” he said in a tone of long suffering. “I couldn’t do this without you.”
She smiled. “You left out the W word.”
“Wrong. I was wrong. Okay? Now will you get me into the research lab?”
“Of course.” She could afford to be gracious in her victory. “It’s on the second floor. Take the back stairs and wait on the landing until I give you the all clear.”
Five minutes later he was at the door to the research lab. Nicki coaxed the heavy double doors into releasing, then talked Zane through the laser sensors. The safe, hidden in the supply closet, wasn’t connected to the main computer system, so she couldn’t help with that, but she did temporarily disable the smoke detectors in the lab so the charred smell from the explosion wouldn’t set them off.
Zane ducked out of the supply closet and shut the door. Two seconds later there was a thud-bang and the door shuddered. He hurried back inside, only to reemerge with a small black box in his hand.
“Got it,” he said, slipping the unit into his backpack. “Now get me out of here.”
“I should let you get caught, just to teach you a lesson.”
He glanced at the camera and grinned. “But you won’t.”
He was right, she thought as she located the guards. “Okay. Take the north stairs to the main floor. I’ll unlock the front door before you get there. Just breeze on through.”
When he was safely speeding away from the building, she reset the security system, cleared the fire alarms and turned them back on, then disconnected from their computer. There was no way to disguise the fact that someone had broken in, but they wouldn’t trace the entry back to her. She’d made sure to cover her tracks.
Of course at about nine-fifteen the following morning Zane’s partner, Jeff Ritter, was going to review the computer logs for the previous twenty-four hours and find lots of unauthorized searches, entries and activity. To say he would be unamused was putting it mildly. Nicki wondered if there would be an actual explosion of tempers or just fireworks.
“I owe you big time.”
Zane’s voice came over her headset.
“I know,” she told him as she shut down her computer.
He chuckled. “Want me to bring in doughnuts in the morning?”
“That hardly makes up for it, but all right. Don’t eat all the glazed this time.”
“Promise.”
“Ha.”
She knew exactly what his doughnut promises meant. She would be lucky to have a glazed crumb to nibble on.
“I’m heading home,” she told him.
“Drive safely. And Nicki?”
“Yes?”
“You’re the best.”
“I know. Night, Zane.”
She smiled as she disconnected their call and dropped her headset onto her console.
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“I saved you one,” Zane said the following morning as he strolled into Nicki’s office and placed a glazed doughnut on her desk.
She glanced from it to him and wondered why she’d bothered with coffee. There was no need for caffeine to get her body jump-started—not when she could watch Zane’s easy stride and casual smile. The combination always sent her pulse to racing, her blood to boiling and her heart to fluttering. Embarrassing but true.
Being around Zane was nearly as much of a workout as an aerobics class. One of these days she would actually calculate the calorie burn rate. Now if only keeping her crush a secret was a form of strength training, she would be fit enough to kayak around the world.
“What time did you get back last night?” she asked.
“The flight was about ninety minutes. I was sliding into bed shortly before one.” He settled on the chair next to her desk and grinned. “Slept like a baby.”
“What? No new chickie keeping the sheets warm?”
“Not this week. I need to catch up on my beauty sleep.”
Nicki had seen Zane on zero sleep and happened to know he was still way too pretty for her comfort zone. Tall, lean, handsome, with dark hair and deep-set eyes that held too many secrets, he could have made his fortune on the soaps as the hunk of the month.
He was one of those men women found irresistible. While she prided herself on being unique, in this case she was just one of the crowd. The only difference between her and every other woman mooning over Zane’s broad shoulders and high, tight fanny was she kept her foolish dreams to herself. He didn’t date women with an IQ larger than their bust measurement and she’d been blessed with plenty of smarts. Unfortunately all the brains in the world didn’t seem to be an antidote for his particular brand of charm.
“What about you?” he asked, snagging her cup of coffee and taking a sip. “Did Brad wait up for you?”
She grabbed her mug back. “His name is Boyd and no, I didn’t see him last night.” She hadn’t been seeing much of Boyd at all, lately, but she wasn’t going to share that with Zane.
Zane raised his eyebrows. “Why not? All that computer jargon getting boring? Seriously, Nicki, don’t you get tired of the guy talking in binary code?”
“Boyd isn’t a programmer. He’s an electrical engineer who—” She broke off in midsentence and shook her head. “Why do I bother? You make fun of the men in my life because you’re embarrassed about the women you date. I mean what about Julie?”
Zane chuckled. “Embarrassed? Julie is a former Miss Apple Festival who is studying very hard to be a dental hygienist.”
“Right. She’s in year four of a nine-month program.”
“Math isn’t her thing.”
“She’s going to clean teeth. How much math could there be? What? She can’t count high enough to know how many teeth there actually are in someone’s mouth?”
“She’s gorgeous.”
“She’s an idiot. Don’t you ever want to have a conversation with these women? I mean when the sex is over for the evening, then what?”
He winked. “I go home and sleep. Besides, when I want to have a conversation with a woman, I come see you.”
“How flattering.” The good old female best friend, Nicki thought with a combination of chagrin and humor. That was her.
“I’m telling you, Nicki, let go of the smart guy thing,” he said. “Find some stud and let him have his way with you.”
“No, thanks.”
“Why not? You’re pretty enough.”
“How flattering. Pretty enough? Pretty enough to get a brainless fool who thinks with his biceps? Why would I want to?”
“For the fun.”
“I’m into substance, but thanks for the offer.”
She would never understand Zane’s casual attitude toward the opposite sex. Didn’t he want to settle down? But she already knew the answer to that question. In the two years she’d worked for him, she’d never seen Zane get involved with anyone for more than a few weeks. There was always a new airhead on his arm and he didn’t seem to care that they were interchangeable.
For her part, she gravitated toward serious men who used their brains. Unfortunately none of them had been appealing enough to get her over her Zane crush. Biceps-Man would be a change, if nothing else.
Oh, like that was going to happen.
“I need to like the guy before I have sex,” she said. “Call me old-fashioned, but it’s true.”
“Fascinating information,” Jeff Ritter said as he walked into her office. “Thanks for sharing, but we have more pressing matters.”
Nicki winced silently. If she could have picked some part of the conversation for her other boss to overhear, it wouldn’t have been that.
Jeff stalked into the glass-enclosed office and slammed the door shut behind him. Nicki braced herself for the explosion while Zane seemed singularly unimpressed. He remained slumped in the chair next to her desk.
“What’s up?” he asked.
Jeff tossed him a folder. “What the hell were you thinking? Dammit, Zane, you could have told me what you were going to do.”
Zane flipped through the pages of the computer activity report. “You would have told me not to. Technically we’re partners and you can’t order me around, but you would have tried to convince me it was a bad idea.”
Jeff glared at him. “It was a bad idea. Do you have any idea how many laws you broke last night.”
Nicki figured she might as well join the fray. “I have the actual count, if you’d like it.”
Jeff turned his laserlike stare on her. “You’re in enough trouble already.”
She sighed. “I know. But just for the breaking and entering, and turning off the security system. And the fire alarms.” She considered the number. “Okay, so it was a lot of laws.”
Zane shot her a grin. She held in a smile. Jeff wasn’t amused.
“I’m glad you two think this is so damn funny, but I don’t. Our company has a reputation to uphold. We don’t go around breaking the law for our own purposes.”
Zane raised his eyebrows. Jeff shoved his hands in his pockets. “Only under extreme circumstances,” he amended.
“I was helping out a friend,” Zane said.
Jeff’s gazed narrowed. “You should have told me what you were going to do.”
“I couldn’t. If it went bad, I didn’t want you or anyone in the company implicated.”
“Nicki knew,” Jeff said.
“Sure, but she’d never say anything.”
Zane’s casual acceptance of her loyalty was both gratifying and annoying. She felt like the faithful family retainer…or a favorite dog.
“You could have gotten her in a lot of trouble,” Jeff said.
For the first time since swaggering into her office, Zane actually squirmed.
“I couldn’t have done it without her,” he said.
“That’s right,” she told Jeff. “Zane’s pretty useless.”
Now they were both glaring at her. She shrugged.
Jeff started to speak, but Zane cut him off. “My friend had been working two years on the prototype. These guys stole it and he wanted it back. I said I’d help him. I had to, Jeff. I owed him.”
Nicki knew a few details about Zane’s background. He’d been in the Marines where he’d done a lot of things he didn’t talk about. Jeff had the same sort of background. Several years ago the two of them had met up and started the company.
Neither of them talked about their past, nor did they ever sit around telling war stories. But every now and then, something came out. A new piece of information, a whisper of a truth.
It was there now—in the tone of Zane’s voice as he said those three words.
I owed him.
She didn’t know what they meant, but Jeff did. Instead of complaining or continuing the questioning, he simply nodded.
“Next time, run it past me, okay?”
Zane rose and nodded. “Promise.”
He walked out of the office.
Nicki watched him go. How had Zane owed the guy? Had he saved his life or something? She knew there was no point in asking. Zane was a master at avoiding topics he didn’t want to talk about.
Jeff turned his attention back to her. “You could at least pretend to be worried that I’m going to fire you.”
“You can’t. Not over this. I work for Zane and he needed my help. My job is to provide backup, not to pass judgment on what he’s doing.”
Jeff sighed. “You’re too smart for your own good.”
“You like that I’m smart.”
“Yeah, well, you’re okay. When you’re not being a pain.”
She grinned. “Is Zane in trouble? Are you going to punish him? Can I watch?”
One corner of Jeff’s mouth twitched. “You two deserve each other. I have a meeting with a client. Someone who’s going to pay us for protecting him and his family.”
“Good luck.”
“Thanks.”
She turned back to her computer. Zane walked by and stuck his head in her office. “How about lunch? Mexican. You can buy.”
“I want Chinese and this one is on you, bucko.”
He shook his head. “All right. But only because you’re crabby. Brad must not be putting out this week.”
“His name is Boyd,” she yelled after him.
“Whatever,” he called as he headed down the hall.
She considered chasing after him, but then what? It wasn’t polite to run down her boss.
Nicki turned in her wheelchair and rolled over to the file cabinet under the window. As she flipped through the folders, she told herself that she simply had to get over her crush and pronto. Boyd was a perfectly nice guy, and if not for her weakness for Zane, she might have fallen in love with him. That was what she wanted—to have one great man in her life, to settle down, get married, do the kid thing.
But until she found a way to get over Zane, she was stuck in limbo—wanting what she couldn’t have and having what she didn’t want.
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“The Seahawks by three,” Zane said over a plate of Kung Pao Beef and rice.
Nicki grinned. “You lead with your chin. You should know better. I’ll take those three points, and listen to you whine come Monday morning.”
She noted the information on a sheet of paper that listed all the pro football games for the weekend.
Zane knew taking the Seahawks wasn’t smart, but he couldn’t help rooting for the home team. Nicki had no such loyalty. She studied stats, read the sports section and made her choices based on abilities, injuries and who was on a winning streak. Every now and then she took a team because she liked their uniforms, but not often. What killed him was even when she made her choices on something as stupid as team colors, she often won. They were only two weeks into the regulation season and she was already up by three games.
They didn’t bet money. Instead they keep a running total and whoever had the most wins at the end of the season owed the loser a day of slave labor. The previous season he’d had big plans to make her cook, stocking his freezer with homemade dinners. Instead he’d spent nearly eight hours washing and waxing her van. Afterwards, he’d been sore for three days.
“I’m going to have you paint my living room,” she said dreamily as she wrote down the rest of their picks. “I’m thinking of a color-wash treatment that’s going to take at least three coats of paint.”
He shook his head. “Not this time, sweet pea. You’re going to be cooking your heart out.”
“That’s what you said last year. Do we remember what happened instead?”
“I’d rather not.”
She grinned. “You’ve got to start listening to the experts, Zane. They usually know who’s going to win the games.”
“That’s cheating.”
“No, that’s beating your fanny.”
She grinned as she spoke. Laughter danced in her green eyes. He smiled back.
“You’re smart for a girl.”
She picked up her fork and leaned forward. “You left out pretty. Earlier you said I was pretty enough to get some macho, brainless guy with huge muscles.”
He studied her heart-shaped face. With big eyes and a full, sensual mouth, she was more than pretty. Long auburn curls cascaded down her back. Every swaying movement begged a man to run his fingers through them. Put all that on a body that, while not as lush as the women he dated, had all the right curves in exactly the right places and she was a serious contender.
“You’re okay,” he said.
She laughed. “Wait. I want to pause and savor this moment for as long as possible. The wildly extravagant compliment has gone to my head.”
He pointed his fork at her. “Come on, Nicki. You know you’re attractive. Half the guys in this place can’t take their eyes off you.”
“Only half?” She glanced around. “I suppose that’s something.”
He followed her gaze and saw a couple of businessmen in tailored suits giving her the once-over. There were three college guys in the corner. They practically had their mouths hanging open.
“I rest my case,” he said.
“Their attention will last for a long as it takes us to finish our meal and head for the door.”
He frowned. “Because of the chair?”
She shrugged. “Well, duh. What do you think?”
“That you’re crazy. They’re not going to care.”
Nicki being in a wheelchair meant that she was faster than him and more likely to run him over if she was annoyed. But it didn’t make her any less attractive.
“It doesn’t bother Brad,” he said.
“Boyd. And you’re right. It doesn’t. But he’s into substance.”
“I’m not and it doesn’t bother me.”
She rolled her eyes. “That’s because we’re friends. You wouldn’t date a woman in a wheelchair.”
He considered the statement. “I would if she had really big breasts.”
Nicki shook her head. “I don’t know if I should thank you or stab you with my knife.”
“Technically you work for me. If you tried to stab me it would reflect poorly on your next evaluation.”
“You drive me crazy.”
He grinned. “I know. Isn’t it great?”
When they’d finished lunch and she’d badgered him into paying, he stood and she pushed back from the table. Zane paused to watch the men in the restaurant.
None of them had noticed the sleek wheelchair. Nicki had hers specially made by a guy in California. It was lightweight, made to fit her slender body and more low-profile than most.
The college guys exchanged a look of surprise, shrugged and continued to stare. One of the businessmen turned away, but the other looked as if his eyes were about to fall out. Just as he’d thought. Most of them didn’t care.
He followed her into the parking lot. She hit the remote on her key chain, which activated the special motor installed in back. The rear doors of the van opened and a ramp lowered. Nicki rolled onto it and rose to level with the back of the vehicle. While he slid into the passenger side, she secured the back doors and moved in behind the steering wheel. Special grooves locked her chair into place and a custom-built harness acted as a seat belt. She started the engine.
“They were still looking,” he said conversationally.
“I’m not,” she told him.
“Brad isn’t all that.”
She sighed. “Boyd, Zane. His name is Boyd. You’ll be meeting him in a couple of nights at the Morgans’ party. Please try to remember his name by then.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“Who are you bringing? Miss Apple Festival?”
He shrugged. Currently he was between women. Oddly enough, he was in no hurry to find a new one, either. He glanced at Nicki. The two of them had never been uninvolved at the same time. Not that he would ask her out if they were. Nicki was…
He glanced out the window. Nicki was special. She mattered to him and he made it a rule to never get involved with anyone fitting that description. Not again.
