9 Month’s Notice

9 Month’s Notice (2007)
Harlequin Books

Jeff Wright never saw it coming. One minute he was in the midst of a white-hot office fling and the next the lady was over him and leaving for Kansas City. He had no idea what went wrong.

Tori Adams wanted it all. Two years with Jeff had been long on passion but short on commitment, which is why she’d planned on a new start. But she hadn’t intended to get pregnant, and that was about to complicate her life in ways she hadn’t foreseen. Because the man who’d been a good boss and amazingly passionate lover would pull out all the stops over the next nine months to show what a doting dad and devoted husband he could be!

Returning soon…

• Publisher: ‎ Harlequin American Romance; Original edition (April 10, 2007)
• Language: ‎ English
• Mass Market Paperback: ‎ 224 pages
• ISBN-10: ‎ 0373751621
• ISBN-13: ‎ 978-0373751624
• Item Weight: ‎ 4 ounces
• Dimensions: ‎ 4.22 x 0.59 x 6.61 inches

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Chapter One

There were two pink lines on the plastic stick. Tori stared at the pregnancy test she was holding in her right hand as if willing it to change. Even though she had a master’s degree in computer science, she held the test up to the back of the box to make sure she’d read the results correctly.

Two lines. Pregnant.

The box gleefully proclaimed that it was 99.9 percent accurate, but Tori read the wording again. The odds she was pregnant were pretty good; this was the second test she’d taken—the first one she’d wrapped in layers of toilet paper and stuffed back inside the box about five minutes ago.

That test had also been positive, which meant she wasn’t just missing her period because of stress as she had done a few times before in her life. As she’d thought had happened at the end of May. No, two months of missed cycles and two positive tests meant one thing.

She was having Jeff Wright’s baby.

Tori wrapped the second stick in toilet paper and shoved it into the box before placing the whole package back into the plain brown bag the drugstore had thoughtfully provided. She tossed the sack in the trash can, making sure to hide it at the bottom.

She hadn’t planned on taking the test, especially not at work. She’d run by the drugstore at lunch to get some headache medicine and, worried about having missed her period twice in a row, had picked up the test after she’d passed it in the aisle. Then the box had sat in her purse like a homing beacon. Finally, at about four o’clock, she hadn’t been able to take the suspense any more. She had to know the results.

And now she did.

She straightened and took a long, hard look at herself in the mirror. She was about to be a mother. While a woman had reproductive choices today, Tori had known the moment she’d bought the test what her decision would be if the results were positive.

She gazed into her own brown eyes. While this wasn’t quite how she’d planned it, she knew she would be a wonderful single mom. She was turning thirty December first; she had a good job with excellent benefits; and, as a fantastic “aunt” to her friend Joann’s kids, Tori knew she could handle diapers and feedings. Besides, her whole family lived near Kansas City, where she had recently moved, giving her a great support system to draw on. And she knew that her best friends from college, the Roses, would agree with her and support her decision.

Still, the irony mocked. While she’d been trying to change her life by moving to Kansas City and breaking up with Jeff at the end of May, she certainly hadn’t intended this.

Tori blinked and shook her head. She’d recently shed her long, dark hair, chopping off six inches so that the locks now bobbed just below her chin. She wasn’t quite used to not having the weight and the strands tickled her chin.

She sighed. Taking the test was probably going to be the easiest part. Despite all her book smarts, she had little idea how to proceed. Did one just call up and announce, Guess what? I’m pregnant? Was there a chain-of-command of people you were supposed to tell first, such as your own parents or the father? Did it even matter?

Even the decision to accept the promotion and transfer to Kansas City had been easier to make than facing the situation now looming on the horizon.

She thought about her new job a moment. Her career had always been a top priority in her life, and relocating had let her leave Jeff behind. She hadn’t seen him since leaving St. Louis, and time had been a healing balm, giving her much-needed space and perspective. Oh, she still loved him—part of her always would—but she wasn’t moping anymore. She’d put the past behind her and was ready to start a new life. She’d joined some of the women in the office in their Internet dating adventures. While she hadn’t found anyone, at least she was back on the market.

Although not for long. She was going to have a baby.

How would Jeff take the news? Would he be excited? Or would he feel inconvenienced, trapped? She’d been on the Pill and they’d never discussed the possibility of kids.

Tori swallowed the hurt that often rose when she thought of both Jeff and her past failure in not accepting the hopelessness of her situation earlier. Deep down she knew that his first love was his job; he focused on work and the endless travel that came with it. He and his brothers, Jared and Justin, had founded Wright Solutions, a technology company that did everything from designing and installing high-end networks to selling software to hardware recycling and disposal. Jeff and his brothers had made Wright Solutions a one-stop shop for business computing needs.

Of the three brothers, Jeff was the problem solver, which was the trait that had first attracted Tori. He stopped hackers, recovered data, and strengthened firewalls. He was focused—like her.