by Erin Bevan
Doubtful.
And how could she expect him to? As her friend, she had no reservation he would remain in her life, but as a husband? His election would be over. Her job would be safe. Their arrangement would be fulfilled. No need for the legalities anymore. They could just go back to being friends. Technically.
In reality…they’d be ruined.
Her phone rang and she tensed.
Shelby.
Good. The one person she didn’t have to pretend with.
“Hey, Shelbs, what’s up?”
“Hey Alex.” A loud air sound buzzed in the background.
“You on your car phone?”
“Hands free. Best way to be. Anyway, listen. I did some digging for you on club boy.”
Great. Just one more reality she had to face.
“Yeah?” Alex took a seat on her bed. “Did you find anything?”
“Yep. I made nice with the bartender, Elroy, last night.”
With Shelby’s long blonde hair and dancer-lean legs, it wasn’t hard for her to make nice with anyone she wanted to. All her friend had to do was crook a finger and the men came running. Problem was they ran away as fast as they could catch her.
“Elroy? For real? That’s his name?”
“It’s the one he told me.”
“Sounds like dog food.”
“He did have a cute face…you know…kind of like a puppy.”
It was only a matter of time before Shelby would be crying on her shoulder about Elroy next.
“Anyway, they had some surveillance he let me look at of that night, and I saw you with the guy. Not your finest hour, by the way.”
As if she didn’t know that.
“Thanks for rubbing that in.”
“Turns out lover boy’s name is Barry Barts.”
Barry. That wasn’t any better than Elroy. Where did these guys get their names from? Their parents must have hated them.
“Barry. You mean, I had sex with a guy named Barry with a hairy penis? Hairy Barry? I had sex with Hairy Barry?” Alex’s stomach rolled again. “I think I’m going to be sick.” She lay back on her bed and closed her eyes.
“Well, suck a peppermint because there’s more. A lot more. Are you sitting down?”
“Lying, actually.” Alex clutched the phone tighter. At least she already had the peppermint. “What is it?”
“From my Facebook prowess, it looks like Barry is…well…”
“Is what?”
“Well…he’s uh…”
“Shellllbbbyyy.” Alex drew out her friend’s name. “You can’t just leave me hanging like that. Tell me.”
“Oh, how I wish I could just leave you hanging. This is bad, Alex.” Shelby sighed a sigh so loud she heard it through the hum of the speaker phone.
“What is he? Is he gay?”
“Gay? No! Why would he be gay? He had sex with you.”
Surely crazier things have happened.
“Well, what is he then? What’s so bad about him?” She already knew he didn’t have an STD, thank God.
“Married,” Shelby said the word and it sounded like she cringed as she said it.
And that’s exactly what Alex did. Cringe.
Married.
Married?
“Married!” Alex shot back up to a sitting position, her head woozy from the rush as the weight of the word hit her. “I had sex with a married man? I’m having a baby by a married man? I’m a…I’m a home wrecker?” Alex’s chest heaved. Air rushed in and out of her lungs, but there was a delay, like the oxygen had to push through sludge before it hit her blood stream.
“Calm down, Alex. Head down! Head down!” Shelby hollered, but her phone cut out so it sounded like she said he down, he down.
“Head down…Oh…okay.” Alex pushed the words out as she spread her legs and lowered her head between them, surely messing up her freshly fixed hair in the process. “Gay would have been so much better. How could I have been so stupid?” she said with the phone still pressed to her ear. “How could I have done such a thing?”
“Shh…It’s okay,” Shelby cooed, or at least Alex thought she cooed but with the crackling of the phone and the reception cutting in and out, she couldn’t be sure.
“You didn’t know. How were you supposed to know? He didn’t tell you.”
“Still…” Alex squeaked. “I should have used better judgment.” Or any judgment for that matter. Geez, she was proving a real winner lately. First Chris, then Barry and now Max. All of them liars. Complete, big fat liars, and two of the three slept with Tawana. For all she knew Barry could have as well.
“Alex…there’s more,” Shelby’s voice did that cringe thing again.
“More?” Alex shot upright again. “What do you mean there’s more?” White lights dotted her vision.
“Turns out Hairy Barry also has a family.”
The phone came in loud and clear that time.
“A family?” Alex shrieked.
Why couldn’t her phone have cut out right then? Why did she have to hear that?
“Dear God, I really am a home wrecker.”
Her stomach rolled again, and she raced to the bathroom, gripping the commode as she squatted to the floor. A wife. Kids. What would happen if this all came to light? There was a special place in hell for girls like her.
“Alex, don’t panic,” Shelby assured on the other end. “It’s all going to be okay.”
“How can you tell me not to panic?” Alex leaned over the toilet. “I just ruined a family. I’m just like Tawana.” She and Tawana…they were one in the same, both sleeping with taken men.
“You are nothing like Tawana,” Shelby said. “And you might not have ruined this family. You said Max has plans to adopt this baby, right?”
“Yeah.” Alex held a hand to her mouth, her head spinning in the same fast motion as her stomach.
“I know how badly you want the real father to know about his child because that’s the right thing to do. I think you should meet this man. See if he gives Max permission to adopt this baby.”
Permission? Max had to have Barry’s permission?
“And what if he doesn’t? Or what if Barry wants custody? Max will be crushed.” Despite her own feelings and how Max had crushed her, she didn’t want to do the same to him. Two wrongs never made a right.
“Don’t jump to conclusions. Not at least until you meet with Barry and see what he has to say.”
Meeting him sounded worse than being pregnant by him. How screwed up was that?
“So…what? I’m just supposed to message him on Facebook and say, ‘Hey, remember me. We slept together, and now I’m pregnant with your child. Want to grab a coffee and talk it out?’”
“No. You aren’t going to do that because I already did it for you. You have a meeting with him Wednesday at the coffee shop in Newport. The one next to the Holiday Inn.”
The same coffee shop where Max had come to rescue her.
“Wednesday? I have to work Wednesday.”
“It was the only day he could meet. He said his wife was going out of town on business. Take a personal day and go meet the guy. See what he says. At least you can get his medical history.”
True but meet behind his wife’s back? What if she found out and turned out to be some kind of crazy stalker? This whole thing had daytime soap opera written all over it.
“Yeah, but meet with him. Again? Oh, God, Shelby, come with me. I can’t do this alone.”
“I’ve already thought about that. There is a cute boutique store in the same shopping center as the coffee shop. I need to do some shopping for a client, so while you’re meeting, I’ll just be one shop over. We will drive over there together, and you can text me an SOS at any time, but I think the conversation needs to happen alone. Don’t you?”
Her friend was right. This was her problem to fix.
Alex placed a hand on her stomach. Her baby had half-siblings, and cousins, and family. A whole other family it may never know about.
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“Shelby, this has to be our secret. If Max finds out I am doing this without him, he’ll be crushed, but I’m afraid if Max goes, this Barry guy might get scared from meeting with me—or worse, try to fight for custody or something. I don’t want Max knowing anything about this.”
“Okay, I respect that, but are you sure you don’t want to mention to Max you found Barry?”
“Yes. I’m sure. Besides, Max and I…”
“Max and you what?”
How much to tell Shelby. Everything or nothing? She wanted to tell her friend everything, but at the same time she wanted to figure her emotions out on her own before she spilled any of Max’s transgressions.
“We just aren’t seeing eye to eye on a few things right now, and I don’t want to over complicate things. Please just tell me you will keep this between us?”
“Okay. Sure. But you can tell me anything, you know that, right?” Shelby’s voice went soft.
“I know, but not yet, okay.”
“Okay then. I’m going to send you Barry’s profile information when I come to a stop, but Alex, just wait before you look at it.”
“Why’s that?”
“You have a lot on your plate right now. Maybe give yourself a few hours to let the news about Barry sink in before you stalk his profile page.”
Alex stood, her stomach steadily finding a sense of normalcy again. Whatever that meant. She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Her face was ghostly white while her hair looked fresh from a tumble in the sheets, but not a fun tumble. A my-life-is-sucking tumble. Note to self: stop looking in mirrors. They hadn’t proved very prudent for her lately.
“Thank you, Shelby. You’re right. I’ll give it a little while. Besides, Max will be here any second for our date, so I can’t look now anyway.”
“Oh! You have a date? Good,” Shelby’s voice rose in pitch. “I’m glad you won’t be alone today. You’re going to need his support, even if he doesn’t know what’s really going on, and hopefully whatever problems you guys are having you can work it out tonight.”
Doubtful. Their problems would take longer than one date to sort through.
“I’m surprised to hear you speak so well of Max right now.”
“What choice do I have? He’s my new boss. I just wish he wouldn’t have dumped me what that buffoon contractor friend of his Dane or Dean. Whatever his name is.”
“Dane.” Alex corrected.
“Yeah him. He’s a real piece. Have you met him?”
“A time or two.” Dane and Max seemed to have hit it off sometime while she and Chris were dating. Other than spending brief amounts of time with him while at Max’s office, she didn’t know him well.
“And have you seen that office building of his? It’s hideous,” Shelby stated.
“Yes, I’ve seen it.” She’d been the one to help him pick it. And Shelby was right. It was atrocious.
“Besides, he’s always been your friend, and you’re my best. I don’t want to lose you completely. I already feel like he’s won the most of you.” Sorrow hung in Shelby’s voice.
“Shelbs, you haven’t lost me. Besides, I can have two best friends.”
“Yeah, but one will give you booty while the other will just give you lip. I think the booty friend wins. Speaking of booty, have you guys, ya know? Done it yet?” Shelby’s voice lowered into a conspiratorial tone.
Boy, have we. But only one day, and he’d never tried again.
She couldn’t read too much into that. Besides, it was for the best. After last night’s news…the last thing they needed to mix was pleasure with their issues.
“That’s private.”
“Oh my God, you have!” Shelby squealed.
Alex pulled the phone away from her ear.
“Tell me, what was Mr. Hot Sauce King like in the sheets. Was it hot?”
Too hot.
“Yeah…” Alex hesitated. “It was good and as much as it pains me to say this, Max’s experience makes for a pleasurable time.”
“Oh my Lord, what has gotten into my Alex? My goody-two-shoes never lets her hair loose, Alex. You’re becoming a regular wild child. Tell me, where did you do it? On the counter? In a dressing room?”
“A dressing room? Shelby, get real.”
“Well, I don’t know. You’re living footloose and fancy free now-a-days. So tell me, where? I’m single. I need my kicks.”
“I’m not that wild, besides…who knows if it will happen again.” Alex walked into her bedroom. Her rumpled bed stared back at her. The place where Max told her he was in love with her.
“Umm…Alex, you’re getting married. That’s what married people are supposed to do. Have sex. A lot of it actually.”
“Yeah, I guess, but we might not get married.” Tears prickled her eyes. These pregnancy hormones really sucked.
“What in the world are you talking about? You just said that Max plans on adopting this baby, right?”
“Well yeah, I did, but…”
And he does or did. She didn’t know anymore. Which was all more the reason he didn’t need to know about Barry. Who knew how much longer Max would be in her life?
“But what? I know you said you aren’t seeing eye to eye right now but he’s coming to pick you up for a date, right?”
“Right.” Alex turned the light off and stepped into the living room.
“Then what’s the problem?”
“I found out Max slept with Tawana before we got engaged and he lied to me about it. He flat out lied to me to my face then right after he did that he swore to me he’d never lie to me just so he could sleep with me. All the while knowing he was lying about Tawana.”
“That bastard!” Shelby shrieked. “How could he have slept with her after he knows what Chris did with her? And lying to you. That dirty, dirty bastard. Now I hate him again. Screw his office building. Screw him. I don’t need the money that much.”
That was as much of a lie as Max lying to her about Tawana. Shelby worked job to job and had a mother who could never seem to make ends meet and a little brother she bought things for all the time, even though she tried to hide it all from Alex. If anyone had to keep a straight head about this, it was Shelby.
“Calm down, friend. In Max’s defense, he didn’t know. Chris always called Tawana, Beth, so that’s the name I used when I told Max. I didn’t want to talk about her much and Max respected that, so we didn’t. He didn’t know the two were the same…but still. It’s like Tawana always wins, and I can’t help but think after a few weeks or months of us being married, he’s going to want to roam back to her.”
“No! Stop it right there. Chris may have been a butthead and Max Buchanan may not be my favorite person in the world, especially right now, but one thing he is, is loyal to you. He slept with Tawana before you. You can’t hold his past against him.”
“Maybe not, but we saw her last week, and I mentioned how I could never marry him if he’d slept with her. He didn’t come clean then like he should have. Why? Why didn’t he tell me?”
“Because, you big idiot—and I mean that with love—he is terrified of losing you. I have never seen Max Buchanan act the way he does when he’s with you. It’s like everything and everyone just disappears. He loves you, you big dope, and you said he’s coming over to be with you.”
“Okay. So?” Alex shrugged.
“Okay then! There you go. He isn’t taking any other girl out. He’s taking you, Alexandra Mills, his best friend, who is pregnant with another man’s child. Why? Because he loves you. Honey, I know Max’s reputation, but I truthfully don’t think you have to worry about that. He wants to settle down with you.”
Settle down. With her.
“You really think so?”
Could she have blown this whole thing out of proportion? No. The lying part was terrible…but the Tawana part…was an unfortunate coincidence.
“I know so. Now, pucker up and finish getting ready for your date. And do him somewhere wild and
crazy and then call me and tell me about it. These dime store smuts aren’t doing it for me anymore. If I have to read one more time how he penetrated her loins, I’m going to penetrate the book with my dildo.”
“Oh my God.” Alex smiled. Leave it to Shelby to make her feel better. “That’s a mental image I’ll never get out of my mind. Thanks, Shelby. I love you.”
“Back at ya, sis. Have fun on your date.”
Alex hung up as a knock sounded from her door. She stared at her phone. Ten on the dot.
Have fun.
She always had fun with Max.
And Shelby was right. Tawana was before her. He didn’t deserve to have his past held over his head. Just like he hadn’t held hers over hers. He was here. For her. Time for her to be fully here, with him. No worries of Tawana or Barry.
Just Max.
And her.
As it should be. At least for tonight.
She walked to the door and took a deep breath before she opened it.
Here goes nothing.
19
Max stood on the other side of the threshold, his brown hair combed and gelled to the left. His green eyes danced as he leaned against her doorway, wearing a button-down collared shirt. His brown belt cinched his toned waist and matched his bomber jacket perfectly as if he’d had the two special-made for each other—probably had—and hip-hugging blue jeans that made her remember everything underneath.
She’d seen Max every way possible: in his pajamas, in suits, even his birthday suit, but none of those compared to this. It wasn’t his clothes, but the way he looked at her, holding a giant bouquet of pink roses in his hands. His expression was as if love and worry wore away inside him, and all she wanted to do was fall into his arms.
Instead, she stood her ground.
“Hey,” he said, tentatively. “Are you ready to go?” He hooked a thumb behind him. “I have something pretty special planned.” His voice grew in excitement, as if he needed the line to convince her to go with him.