Romancing The Billionaire: The Billionaire's Club

8. Shaylee

It was finallytime to announce to our friends and family that I was pregnant. Baby number two would be here in March of next year. I was super excited and of course, scared.

After we’d found out on our trip to Tennessee, holding on to this secret had been the hardest thing to do in my life! We’d told no one. Not our parents, his sister Jessica. No one.

Though to be fair, Danni knew. She was the only one, and that was no fault of my own. She’d taken one look at me in the bathroom at work a few weeks after we’d gotten back; the green tint to my skin gave it away apparently. She’d started bouncing on her toes, and I swear, I’d thought she was going to go into labor with all of the excitement.

I made her promise to keep it a secret. For the time being at least.

I wasn’t ashamed to be pregnant. Not even a little. So James and I weren’t married? I didn’t need a ring or a new last name to let everyone know he was mine and I was his. I just didn’t want to jinx anything by telling everyone the moment it happened.

It could just be that I wanted to mentally prepare for the big news. Or I could just be over-worried and in panic mode, praying nothing bad happened but preparing in case.

Thankfully, our little bundle was perfectly fine. The sonograms we’d had this past week were in frames, ready for the special deliveries. They were in a gift bag along with a T-shirt that said, “Baby Whitman coming Spring of 2025.” There was a card for each person, and every bag had a cake pop in it. We were not only announcing the baby’s arrival, but doing a spontaneous gender reveal.

There was a big meeting at the new office; it was to discuss new clients and for everyone to get a handle on the coming expansion of Whitman Publishing. The building next door had been under renovations for the last few weeks to get it just how they wanted it.

My new office was twice the size of the current one. With a corner dedicated for Lola and the new baby, it also had a private bathroom. That would be a life saver. Danni’s new workspace was just as gorgeous. The open area that was the main lobby on the second floor was divided into three. Danni would share the open space with two others. Three agents in one space and then the old offices would be more of the in-house workers. Management on one side, the agents and publishing gurus on the other. We were also in talks with two more agents. Hopefully this expansion was what we all needed. And the best part of it all, there would be an in-house daycare that any of our employees could utilize. This would hopefully make us all a little more comfortable with working some of the crazy long hours we did.

The expansion had it all. More space, comfort, and a work environment that would put everyone at ease.

Gathering up the gift bags, I scooped up my water bottle and made my way out of the office. The walk down the stairs and across the alley went quickly. I pressed the button for the elevator and waited.

“Oh, Auntie Lee, you’re late. Your niece would like your attention.” Danni’s voice greeted me the moment the doors opened to the new office space. With a huge grin on my face, I moved to the desk and scooped the bundle in pink right out of her mama’s arms.

“Hey, sugar plum.” I pressed a kiss to her temple. The smell of ‘baby’ wafted over me, and I sighed. Baby powder and lotion. I loved it.

“Well, it’s good to see you, too, tramp.”

I snorted out a laugh and moved to hug my best friend. “Sorry, I saw her, and everything else disappeared. How is it going? Are you sleeping?”

“Yes, I’m great.”

I raised a brow.

“No, really. I’m good. This precious little monster sleeps through the night already.” She was whispering by the end of that sentence.

“Why are you whispering?”

“I don’t want to jinx it. Mama needs her sleep.”

I grinned, cuddling little Eva-Grace to me.

“Are you ready for this?”

I looked up and nodded. “I can’t wait. I just hope the transition from one to two doesn’t sink our battleships.”

“It will at first. New routines are killer, but you’ve got this. It’s not like you don’t know what to expect, for the most part anyway.”

“True. Lola is going to be an amazing big sister.”

“Well, duh.”

We stood there, me holding the baby and Danni looking into the bags, making sure I hadn’t forgotten anything. She was just being nosey really. She knew, but they didn’t know she did, so she too had a bag.

I was most nervous about the gender reveal. I wanted a boy; James wanted another girl… We were going to love this baby no matter its gender.

When everyone else came in, we moved to the conference room. The sleek room was so much bigger than the other. A long mahogany table sat in the middle. Danni set the bags on the end of the table, and I sat holding Eva. She was keeping me calm. If I got nervous, well, I wanted to keep my breakfast down today.

A few hours later, we had a new game plan. The newest employees of Whitman Publishing would be here in a few hours for a tour and the initial, how we do it. My afternoon was booked.

I had given Eva back to her mama a bit ago, and as I stood to make my announcement, my heart started to thunder.

“I know everyone is ready to go get lunch, but if I could have the floor for a few minutes.”

“Of course, dear. What is it?” Althea smiled down the table at me. James’ hand wrapped in mine as Danni, who had placed a sleeping Eva in her car seat, started passing out bags to the family and a cake pop with a card attached that said ‘eat me’ to everyone else.

“What is this?”

“Open it, Grandmother,” James chuckled.

The room was quiet until the first T-shirt came out. Carmen, James’ mother, jumped up out of her chair and gasped, looked at us, then gasped again. That was followed by Althea and Quentin tearing up.

“Surprise,” I said, my hand resting on the barely-there bump. In a few months, I would be huge. Just like before. I couldn’t wait.

“Oh, sweetheart!” The hugging started then. Everyone in the room was happy for us. This family, and yes, that was what we were, were going to be great additions to this baby’s life.

“Now, will everyone please take the cake pop and give it a bite? Someone has either a pink or blue center. Let’s see what this little nugget is going to be.” Danni clapped her hands.

She already knew the gender. She was the one who took the info to the bakery. I knew she would look. She just couldn’t help herself. I wasn’t even mad. I knew she would… But for once in her dang life, she’d kept the secret.

I was bouncing on my toes as I held my belly.

Everyone took bites, and it was Jessica who got the pink center. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I fought to get myself under control. More hugs and tears were shared as that news settled in. I was wiping my face when the room went quiet.

I was so overwhelmed at the news that it took me a minute to realize something else was happening. My gaze met James’ where he was down on one knee, a turquoise ring box sitting on his open palm.

“Shaylee McKnight. My love. My light. My heart. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife? I pledge, here and now, before our friends and family that I have loved you for so long. I know you don’t need a ring or a wedding to know what your heart knows, but I want us to have this. To be a family with our daughters—” His voice broke, and the tears he’d been trying to hide rolled down his cheeks to land in his unshaven scruff.

“Yes. I will marry you today, tomorrow, and in fifty years.”

He got to his feet, slid the ring on my finger, and bent me backwards. The kiss ignited a fire deep in my soul. This man really was my forever.

The cheering in the room grew to a fever pitch, and once again, I was engulfed in more hugs. Althea and Carmen were crying. Jessica was wiping tears as she too hugged us both. The amount of joy in my heart right now, I could burst from it.

“Are you ready, babe?” Danni called out as she walked into the bedroom.

“Almost. Dammit. I can’t get it… Oh, never mind.” I laughed at myself. No one ever said hooking those stocking garter things was easy. This was the third try. I would blame the baby belly, but I didn’t really have one yet.

It was my nerves.

Today was the day that I would stand before the altar at the church and pledge my love and life to the man who’d stolen my heart. We were not having a fancy wedding. It was going to be small, quaint, and non-stressful. Keeping it out of the newspapers had been a pain in the butt.

Why did people care who was doing what? If we were dirt poor, they’d not give a crap. But oh no, marry a billionaire and people come out of the woodwork.

That was also why we’d chosen to get married on a Thursday. People would already be out and about, commuting to different places, events, and no one would think twice seeing a woman in white riding by them.

I hoped so anyway.

My hands ran along the dress front. I’d chosen a white A-line, strapless dress that didn’t weigh fifty pounds. It had lace everywhere, but it was breathable. For nine in the morning, in the south, on the coast, that was a must. I was not a fancy girl, but this dress made me feel like a million bucks.

When we were talking about wedding spots, the beach was my first choice. James and I loved the beach. We had a favorite spot, and thankfully, Carmen and Quentin’s pastor had agreed to meet with us. We’d spent a couple of hours talking about life, what marriage meant to us, and discussing what we wanted and where we wanted to say our vows. With him on board to do the ceremony, everything became so real.

“You look gorgeous.” I turned at the sound of my mama’s voice.

“Don’t make me cry.” I smiled, moving to give her a hug.

“I make no promises. Now, come on, we don’t want to be late. Pastor Blake is waiting.”

I picked up my bag, slid my feet into a pair of dressy white sandals, and followed her out the door.

Carmen had Lola; Quentin was in charge of getting James there. Danni was with me. Seemed like we had all the ducklings, we just needed to get there without anyone catching on. We loaded into Danni’s minivan and slowly started making our way to our secret location.

There was no way I wanted to try and get married in downtown Charleston.

No way to hide in the middle of a hornets’ nest. So we were driving to one of the islands. A quick walk out into the sand, vows, and a dinner at one of the restaurants close by. We would be staying in the family’s beach house for the weekend, then back to work on Monday.

I—we—were getting married.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife. James, you may now kiss your bride.”

The whistles and cheering were the backdrop to the kiss of a lifetime. The man curled my toes and ignited something deep inside of me. My husband would be the death of me one day.

Husband.

“I love you, so much,” I said against his lips. My grin matched his.

“I love you, too, Mrs. Whitman.”

We posed for pictures with the family. Us with Lola. Us with Lola and the framed sonogram of our sweet baby girl. My eyes stung with unshed tears, my cheeks hurt from all of the smiling—this was heaven, and I didn’t want it to end.

I felt his lips on my cheek just before he scooped me up. I shrieked in laughter as he made a run for the water.

“James! Don’t you dare!”

It was too late. The jerk ran into the surf. The waves splashed up over us, and his mouth claimed mine in the ocean. Mother Nature swirling around us, and you know, it was absolute bliss.