Read Tied To You for Free Online Page B

floor.
    “Oh,” she said softly, looking away from me.
    The way she drew her lower lip between her teeth to bite down as she considered something made my cock ache and my heart hurt. She seemed so uncertain, as though hurting and in desperate need of something that I didn’t know how to give. I would have done anything for her that I could, because I owed her that and because I wanted to do it, but I didn’t know what she needed. I was also too much of a coward to ask. “How have you been?” I asked in a husky voice.
    Her eyes widened slightly, and she suddenly looked down. I couldn’t see what she did behind the desk, but whatever it was made her body language change. There was fear and uncertainty clinging to her. “Could we have lunch together please, Mickey…Mykael?”
    I wanted to refuse, to discourage any further attachment between us, because I knew she deserved better. I couldn’t though, not in the face of her asking, her pleading eyes, and my own need to spend more time with her. “I’d like that. Why don’t you come up to my office, and we’ll eat there?”
    I guessed she wanted to talk to me, and my office would offer privacy. Privacy for all kinds of things besides talking, and I couldn’t suppress a surge of arousal at the idea that just maybe, our lunch meeting would end with no clothes. I didn’t deserve her, but if she was selfless enough to offer herself to me, I didn’t have enough strength to turn her away.
    ***

Gabriella
    I knocked softly on his door promptly at twelve-oh-one. I would have been right on time, but there had been a rush at the elevators, and I’d had to wait for the second round up. I was so nervous, and my stomach surged with nausea, but that was an everyday occurrence for me these days. I didn’t know how much was nerves, and how much was something else.
    A second later, he opened the door himself rather than just calling me in, and I slipped through the doorway, reassured when it closed behind me with a click. I was a little nervous when I heard the lock engage, but I didn’t know why. He certainly wasn’t going to hurt me, though I didn’t know how he would greet my news.
    I followed him across the office, admiring the size. This was just the junior partner suite, so I could only imagine how fancy the top floor offices were. I hadn’t been up there yet, and I had no reason to go as the lowly receptionist, so I would have to content myself with imagining. Not that I’d bothered to do so. I truly didn’t give a damn what the senior partners’ offices looked like.
    Chinese food waited for us on a low table near a couch, clearly set up to be a nonthreatening and welcoming place for business discussions or client meetings. I took one look at the food, and bile surged up my throat. I clamped a hand over my mouth. He seemed to realize I was about to throw up, because he steered me directly toward a small lavatory in the corner of his office. It was basic, just a sink and toilet, but it was just what I needed at the moment. I dropped to my knees and assumed the familiar position as I emptied the contents of my stomach. I hated throwing up, though I should be used to it by now.
    When I was done, I leaned back, feeling shaky, and was reassured by the solid presence of him kneeling behind me to keep me upright. A wet paper towel touched my forehead and my cheeks before he tenderly wiped my mouth and threw it away in the wicker wastebasket.
    He didn’t wait for me to get to my feet. Instead, Mykael lifted me into his arms and carried me out of the lavatory to the couch, where he laid me down gently. I was drained, limper than a wet dishrag, and I stared up at him with no energy. I don’t think I even had to tell him, because I’m sure he had worked it out for himself by then, but I still said the words softly. “I’m pregnant, Mykael.”
    I gave him points for not flinching. His expression tightened, and I was certain I saw fear in his eyes, but his voice was tender