Teddy Bear Heir by Elda Minger Page B

times, was crying as she packed up her desk.
    "They fired you, too?" he asked as he came out of Michaela's empty office.
    "I can't stay," she sniffed. "Not after what they did to her. It was so... unfair!"
    "Why was she fired?"
    She gave him a look that clearly expressed she thought he knew.
    "You can't tell anyone. She didn't want anyone to know but I knew right away." The delicate blonde dissolved into a new fit of crying.
    His heart almost stopped beating at the thought that something might be seriously wrong with Michaela. And it would be just like that bastard, Joshua Burrell, to let her go when she was no longer of any use to his precious firm.
    He grasped her upper arms. "What's wrong with her?"
    Cassandra eyed him warily.
    "On my honor, I won't tell a soul. I just want to do what I can to help her—"
    "She's pregnant."
    He let go of the young woman, stepped back, steadied himself against her desk.
    Pregnant.
    Impossible.
    The suspicion growing in his mind was too incredible to contemplate. His mind flashed back, remembering.
    Chuck, in his office.
    Was there anyone else who might have been at the scene of the crime? What about the lawyer?
    Michaela, in his office, in a fine rage. And why couldn't it have been me?
    Julian, just before he left. She's in trouble, Cameron.
    Michaela, fainting in the hallway. Looking so very pale. Watching him, her blue eyes wary.
    Pregnant.
    "How long?" he whispered.
    "What?" Cassandra said.
    "How far along is she?"
    "Almost four months. She wasn't even showing but she was sick so often that Mr. Buriell started to get suspicious—"
    Almost four months... almost four months ago he'd been in a suite at the Four Seasons.
    Almost four months ago he'd been having the most erotic and fulfilling sexual experience of his life.
    Could it be...?
    Michaela, pregnant with my child.
    "Don't get mad at her, okay?"
    How like his Mike, to inspire such loyalty.
    "Here." He pulled out a business card and scribbled Mrs. Monahan's number on it. "Call tomorrow morning and ask for this woman. She'll see that we find you a comparable job."
    The look on her face was all the thanks he needed. Then he was out the door and heading toward Michaela's house.
     
    * * *
     
    He let himself in the back door, knowing where she kept the spare key.
    She wasn't home and he wondered at that. He would've thought home would be the first place she would head, having just been kicked in the teeth at work. Cameron was sure Joshua Burrell would've been absolutely ruthless in letting her go.
    He thought of her hurting and couldn't bear it.
    He thought of her trying to carry this secret all alone and his heart went out to her.
    He went up the stairs and saw the fully decorated nursery and felt such feelings of rage building inside him that he slammed his fist against the pale yellow wall.
    She hadn't just found out. You couldn't put together a nursery like this in a few weeks. There was a lot of love and time and effort that had gone into making this room what it was. What it reflected. Love. And hope.
    Why didn't she tell me?
. Directly on top of that thought, he wondered,
What is she trying to do?
    He'd never liked feeling out of control and he didn't like the feelings of despair that swept over him now. He walked over to the rocking chair, set the teddy bear on the floor and sat down. He watched the early summer sky darken into dusk. His mind had plenty of time to work through the various ramifications of what Michaela had done before he heard her key scrape in the lock downstairs.
    He didn't move, just sat in the dark nursery as she came inside and headed straight for the crib. She was carrying a stuffed duck and she set the toy inside the crib then turned around and saw him.
    She started, frightened for just an instant until she recognized him. Then, even in the dim light, he saw a new fear growing in her eyes. He decided at that exact moment he was never going to let this woman control his emotions.
    Neither of them said a