Practice Makes Pregnant. Lois Dyer Faye

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СКАЧАТЬ the polished mahogany. While he waited for it to boot up, he opened the water bottle and drank as he picked up messages from the fax machine. Halfway through the small stack of paper, he halted, his attention captured by the distinctive letterhead of the Bretton Detective Agency. He dropped the rest of the papers back into the fax machine tray, a fierce surge of anticipation flooding him as he quickly read the body of the message.

      The Bretton detective had found her. The black-and-white copy of the faxed photo attached to the letter was grainy, but there was no question that the woman glancing over her shoulder as she entered a shop was Allison Baker. And she not only lived across town, she worked in the city.

      Jorge glanced at the clock and muttered a curse. It was too late to appear on her doorstep.

      But he had her work address. He’d see her tomorrow.

      “Manhattan Multiples.” He wondered briefly what the company did. The detective’s report listed the company name and Allison’s job title as personal assistant, but there was no indication as to what type of business Manhattan Multiples was engaged in.

      He jotted a quick note to the detective agency confirming that the photo was indeed the Allison Baker he wanted to find and requested a final bill.

      He knew the search was going to be expensive, but finding Allison was worth whatever it cost. He could have asked the police detective assigned to the district attorney’s office to run a search for her, but to do so would have required him to explain why he wanted her located. And he wasn’t willing to tell anyone that spending one night with the elusive redhead had left him craving her so badly that he was willing to turn the city upside down in order to see her again.

      And when I see her, he thought grimly, she’s going to explain why she ran away and left me alone in that damn hotel room without saying goodbye or leaving me a note. How the hell did she think he was going to see her again?

      Probably because she didn’t want to see me again.

      The knowledge ate at him, corrosive as acid. Despite the likelihood that Allison hadn’t planned to ever contact him, Jorge couldn’t let it go. He’d felt something rare and powerful that night. Until she told him face-to-face that she hadn’t felt it, too, he wasn’t giving up.

      Chapter Two

      The morning after her positive pregnancy test, Allison was at her desk at the usual hour. Instead of downing her customary mug of coffee, however, she frowned at the steaming black brew and slowly returned the mug to her desk, untouched.

      Was it safe for the baby if she drank coffee with caffeine?

      She had no idea.

      She’d buy some books at lunch and research prenatal care. She moved the mug of coffee to the far corner of her desk, gave it one last, longing glance and flipped open a personnel file.

      “Good morning, Allison.”

      Allison looked up. Eloise stood in the doorway, a steaming cup in one hand and a sheaf of papers in the other.

      “Good morning, Eloise.” She watched her boss glance up and down the hallway before moving quickly to the chair opposite her desk. The older woman’s air of suppressed excitement roused Allison’s curiosity. “What is it?”

      “Someone on my staff is pregnant.”

      Allison felt her eyes widen. She was incapable of speech. For a long, fraught moment, all she could do was stare at Eloise.

      “Pregnant?” she finally managed. “What makes you think one of the staff is pregnant?”

      Eloise leaned forward, her excitement palpable. “I found a used pregnancy kit in the staff bathroom this morning and the stick had a positive reading.”

      “Oh.” Frantically, Allison tried to remember if she’d forgotten anything else in the ladies rest room besides the pregnancy kit. How could she have been so careless? Had she left anything else that would lead Eloise to her?

      “I can’t imagine who it could be, can you?”

      Fortunately for Allison, Eloise didn’t pause long enough for an answer.

      “It can’t be Leah, because she’s already pregnant.” Her lips pursed as she paused, clearly considering the rest of her staff. “Where to start, that’s the question. We must have nearly twenty employees at the moment, don’t we?”

      “Yes, if we count part-time as well as full-time staff.”

      “Hmmm.” Eloise tapped the tip of one elegant, manicured nail against her chin. “I’m determined to find out who among us is pregnant.”

      “I’m sure you’ll know soon. It’s not likely that a pregnancy can be concealed for long, is it?” Allison asked.

      “That’s true. Still, it’s a mystery, and you know how I feel about mysteries.”

      “Yes, I do.” Despite her worry, Allison couldn’t help smiling with affection at Eloise, who was animated with curiosity. I need a diversion, something to refocus Eloise’s attention. She glanced at the file on her desk. “Speaking of mysteries, are my eyes deceiving me, or did you hire twins as our new security guards?”

      “I did.”

      “How did you find them? And however are we going to tell them apart?”

      Eloise laughed. She stood and leaned across the desk to look at the photos clipped to the two new personnel files that Allison was assembling. “I suppose we’ll have to make name tags so we can tell which one is Tony Martino and which is his brother, Frank. They’re great-looking guys, aren’t they?”

      “Yes, they are.” Allison thought that “great-looking” didn’t adequately do justice to the pair of well-muscled, black-haired, brown-eyed brothers. They looked like definite heartbreakers. “Which brother is working day shift?”

      “Tony. And Frank will work nights. Actually, that will help solve the problem of knowing which brother we’re talking to, since they won’t be working during the same hours.”

      “True.” The phone rang and Allison answered it, listened a moment, then held the receiver out to Eloise. “It’s for you. Leah says it’s the federal grant writer you’ve been trying to reach.”

      “At last! The file is on my desk, ask Leah to transfer the call, will you please?” Eloise barely waited for Allison’s nod before she turned and hurried out the door.

      Allison relayed her request to the receptionist and drew a deep breath of relief as the door closed behind her boss.

      That was a close call. How could she have been so careless as to leave the test kit in the bathroom? She propped her elbows on the desktop and covered her face with her hands. Thank goodness her boss didn’t seem to give a thought to the possibility that she might be the mysterious pregnant person.

      The quick rap of knuckles on her office door startled her, and Allison sat bolt upright, running a quick, smoothing hand over her hair.

      “Yes?”

      The door opened and Leah Simpson appeared, her very round, СКАЧАТЬ