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“What about you?” Jim asked. “What do you do? Or should I say did you do?”

“Oh, I’m still working,” Heather told him. “I do assembly in a factory in the West Valley.” She wrinkled her nose. “I know it’s not glamorous, but the benefits are great and I’ve been getting bonus pay for working the swing shift. No one likes that one because you lose your evenings. I plan to work up to the very last day so I can have a longer paid maternity leave.”

She thought about having to report to her job later that evening and nearly groaned out loud. The burst of energy that had sustained her for the past few days had faded. She shifted again as the pain moved lower, from her belly into her legs.

“I also have a home bookkeeping business,” Heather continued. “I’ve been going to college part-time. I’m just two classes shy of my bachelor’s degree in accounting, so I’m able to do books for small businesses.”

She rubbed her belly. “The timing of my pregnancy is great. I have savings and the pay from my maternity leave. Between that and my business, I probably won’t have to go back to the factory job for at least a year, which means I can be home with my baby. In the meantime, I’ll look for something in bookkeeping. While factory work pays the bills, it isn’t the most interesting job on the planet.” She covered her mouth with her fingers. “Sorry, I’m telling you way more than you wanted to know.”

“No, I’m enjoying hearing about your plans.”

At five feet seven inches, Heather was fairly tall for a woman, but Jim dwarfed her. Even sitting down, he looked big and strong.

“It sounds like you work a lot of hours. Is that okay?” He tilted his head slightly to indicate her stomach.

“Yes. I’m very healthy.”

He didn’t look convinced. “Even so, your long days must make your husband worry about you.”

She resisted the urge to stick her finger down her throat and make gagging noises. “I’m not married, so that’s not a problem.”

“Oh.” Jim looked a little embarrassed. “Well, the father of your baby, then.”

Heather leaned her head against the wall of the elevator and closed her eyes. “The father of my baby is a no-good rat,” she said, her voice calm. “And I’m a fool.” She opened her eyes and shrugged. “He told me he was divorced and I believed him. Even when he seemed to ‘travel’ all the time.”

“He was lying?”

“With every single word. It turned out that he and his wife were just separated. While he was seeing me, he was considering a reconciliation with his wife. Not that he ever told me.”

Heather tried to force those thoughts from her mind. There was no point in rehashing the past. Luke had been a low spot in her life, but she’d gotten over him. The good news was that she was about to have a baby and she’d always wanted children. As her mother used to tell her, even the darkest cloud had a silver lining.

“He was seeing both of you at the same time?” Jim asked, outraged.

She’d forgotten there were still a few good men left on the planet. “Imagine how I felt,” she said. “The day I told him I was pregnant, he left me to return to her. It turns out she was pregnant, too.” Heather realized what she’d said and pressed her lips together. “This is crazy. I’ve just told you something incredibly personal and I don’t even know you. I’m really sorry. I don’t usually babble like this. It must be the hormones.”

“No. It’s the elevator. I’ve heard they have this effect on people.”

“It must only be on women,” she grumbled. “I don’t hear you spilling your guts.”

“I don’t have anything interesting to share, otherwise I would.”

“Maybe you could make up something. You know, just to make me feel better.”

He thought for a moment. “How about if I confess that I used to be a woman?”

Heather smiled. She eyed his long, lean frame and the masculine shape of his head. “Not likely. Is that the best you can come up with?”

“Sorry, yes.”

They both laughed.

“I could beat him up for you,” Jim suddenly said.

Not sure she’d understood the statement, Heather blinked, then had to figure out who the “him” was. “Luke?”

“The father of your baby. I’m assuming if he went back to his wife, he’s not interested in his kid.”

She nodded slowly. Luke had warned her he was going to deny paternity. “He doesn’t want his wife to know about the affair,” she admitted. “Acknowledging the baby would mean telling her the truth. I decided that rather than having someone with his defective character around my child, I would prefer that he never know him or her.” She touched her belly in a protective gesture. “We had a lawyer draw up the paperwork. He signed away his rights to the child, and I agreed to never contact him or pursue child support.”