Nothing to Lose by Angela Winters Read Free Book Online Page B

just looked at other.
    â€œDo you really think?” she asked.
    He shrugged. “I’m sure it’s not, though.”
    â€œBut . . . what if it is?” she asked.
    Justin leaned up from the bed and looked straight ahead.
    Sherise watched his reaction and wondered what was going on in that mind of his. Over a year ago, they had been trying so hard to have a second child, but it wasn’t working. While Sherise wanted to spend a couple more years focusing on her career, Justin seemed adamant that they continue growing their young family.
    After the disaster with Jonah Nolan, Sherise refocused herself on her family and did everything she could to get pregnant. It just wasn’t happening. It scared Sherise to death because it fed into her worst fear: Cady, who had been conceived around the same time she’d had a one-night stand with Ryan Hodgkins, might not be Justin’s. She was afraid they would find out that Justin was shooting blanks and then everything would fall apart. Finding out Cady was, in fact, his solved so many problems.
    But there were a million problems left; and while they worked on their marital issues, they agreed to put having another baby on hold. Well, actually Justin suggested putting the baby making on hold. Sherise had thought it would be a great way to regain the closeness they once had, but Justin wanted to focus on other things. So she went back on the Pill.
    â€œJustin?” Sherise reached out and placed her hand on his chest, looking up at him.
    He looked down at her and sighed heavily. “It’s . . . It’s probably not that.”
    He didn’t answer her question, and that was a problem. The man who had been hell-bent on having another baby with her looked scared to death of that prospect now. What did that mean about how he felt about her, about their marriage? Were things worse than she’d thought?
    Â 
    Lane Redmond arrived in the lobby of Agencis with an excited look on his face. He retrieved Billie from an attentive receptionist and led her to the elevators.
    Once inside, he said, “I’m excited that you’re here. We really need the help.”
    She laughed. “You sound like I’m starting today. I’m just here to sign my employment papers. I won’t be starting for another week.”
    â€œI know,” he assented. “It just feels official, now that you’re here. The workload has been brutal. I feel like I’m a big law associate logging all these hours.”
    â€œWell, hold on for another week,” she said. “I’ll come and save the day then.”
    â€œThis will be quick.” Lane stepped out of the elevator on their floor. “It’ll take less than twenty minutes to go through all this stuff.”
    Billie followed him down the hallway. “I’ve brought copies of my passport and everything else you wanted. Do I need to talk to anyone?”
    Lane looked at her for a moment and cleared his throat. “Okay, this is the thing.”
    â€œOh no.” Billie didn’t like the sound of that.
    â€œYou don’t have to interview with anyone,” he said. “Everyone down here is in human resources and they know you’ve already been working for us because they process your consulting fees.”
    â€œBut—”
    â€œMichael Johnson,” Lane said. “He’s not employed here. He works for himself. He’s our headhunter on retainer. He usually finds all our people and he’s very close to the CEO. He’s been working for us since we formed almost ten years ago.”
    â€œLet me guess,” Billie said, pulling from her experience working with headhunters in the past. “He doesn’t like that you went around him to hire me.”
    â€œNot at all.” Lane laughed sarcastically. “He was pretty pissed, actually. In addition to the retainer, he gets a nice fee for every hire we make that he sends our