Bear My Babies

Chapter 5

Thomas reclined in his office chair, putting his hands behind his head grinning widely. He had single-handedly landed one of the biggest clients McMillian ever had. For months, Hilary Dalton kept him and the company on the edge of insanity. She refused to give them her answer on which company she was leaning toward. Thomas had just hung up with her personal assistant telling him that Hilary had just signed the papers making McMillian and Company the chosen one to launch her new scent.

With Hilary Dalton as a client, McMillian and Company would be sky-rocketed into a whole new level of clients. Thomas’ grandfather, Bill, had built the company from the ground up. His grandfather had noticed so many good causes being ignored because they didn’t have the exposure they needed. With that very thought in mind, Bill created McMillian and Company to help get them the publicity they needed. Every year, their fundraising events became more lucrative and extravagant. People looked forward to what they would do next.

In the beginning, his grandfather only took on charities with worthy causes, but as their parties started to attract more high level celebrities at their events, the company expanded to take on other facets of the business. McMillian’s received a new slogan, We don’t just do parties; we throw extravaganzas, pushing the limits of what they could do. And they did.

They were now the most sought-after company, but with Hilary’s business, they would be able to grow the company even further by taking on celebrity-endorsed products. This was all Thomas needed to create another branch of the company. He thought once his father saw the numbers after her campaign was successful, he would come around and be okay with it. His father did everything from home and that was the only reason he was able to get something like this past him.

Janet walked into his office and surveyed Thomas’ posture. “I’m going to guess that was the phone call you’ve been waiting for.”

Thomas ran over to Janet and swung her around the office. She squealed and swatted him until he put her down.

“Hilary signed the papers today. They just faxed them in. We did it. This is exactly what I’ve wanted to do since I started.”

Janet patted him on the cheek and clucked her tongue. “Now that you’ve got the Dalton account, does this mean you’re going to stop stressing so much? The last time you ate this much junk food was when your parents came to stay with you while their house was remodeled.”

Thomas tensed. Sure, obtaining Hilary’s account was a big deal, but the stress wasn’t coming from the New York socialite. It centered around the curvy doctor that would be carrying his child in less than a month.

His parents were a constant stressor to him because they expected so much. Thomas and his dad butted heads on almost everything. When he told his dad about his plan to expand the family business to include product launches, his father vetoed the idea as soon as the proposal was finished. Thomas refused to let his father deter him from expanding. With the new branch focusing on product introductions, McMillian would be the biggest company in its field, and Thomas wanted to make that happen.

He had been secretly working on getting the branch started under his dad’s nose. Hilary’s account was the clincher. There was no way his father would be able to stop what Thomas had in motion. When Hilary’s newest scent hit the market, McMillian would have others clamoring for them to take on their product releases. Sorry, Dad.

Melissa coming into his life couldn’t have happened at a better time. He had been trying to have a child for so long, he was starting to feel defeated. That was the reason he made the appointment with Melissa in the first place. He was desperate. She was his last ditch effort.

His father was going to be furious when he found out what Thomas did without his knowledge. By having a child, it would smooth over some of the drama he just created. Well, maybe it would.

Not that he was having a child just to alleviate his family drama. Seeing his brother, AJ, and his kids pulled at his heart. He wanted to have someone to love, and help steer toward the right path as they grew up to be an adult. The thought of pushing a stroller put a smile on Thomas’ face. Melissa was just the icing on the cake. She was smart, beautiful, and would make an amazing mother to their child. He just needed to keep reminding himself that she was the mother of his child, and only the mother of his child.

They had both made it clear that their child was going to be their top priority. He had seen enough nasty custody battles that he was positive he never wanted to be a part of one. Not that he thought Melissa would ever do that to him. Melissa was also in the middle of an ugly divorce. A relationship was the last thing she needed. Thomas would have to keep his resolve strong when it came to the sexy Melissa.

He picked up the phone and dialed her before he realized what his fingers were doing. Her assistant, Tilly, answered on the second ring.

“Dr. Rancic’s office, how may I assist you?”

“Hey, Tilly, it’s Thomas. Is Melissa around?”

“Um, she’s indisposed at the moment.”

The hesitation in her voice was something new to him. Every time he spoke with her, she was one of two ways. And flirty or inquisitive was not at all what Tilly was giving him right now.

“What’s going on?” Thomas asked.

Tilly was quiet for a second and he was able to hear Melissa over the phone connection even though she tried to muffle it.

“Tilly, would you be able to move my appointments to the end of the week? Bruce will be here and we will be together all day.”

Thomas smile fell from his face. Bruce? Who was Bruce? He didn’t care, remember? That was what he’d just told himself.

“Will do. Thomas is on the phone. He was just asking for you.”

“Oh, I’ll get it in my office. Just send Bruce in when he gets here.”

Thomas waited on the phone while the two women had a conversation, ignoring him as he listened in. When he got the confirmation that Hilary was officially a client of McMillian and Company, his first thought was to call Melissa and tell her the good news. His parents were not going to be happy when they found out what he did behind their backs, even though it was going to bring in a massive amount of money. He wasn’t sure how AJ would react, so Melissa was the most sensible person to share the news with. Of course, she didn’t know much about the company so she might be indifferent.