by London Casey
My cell phone vibrated against my desk.
Maya again.
Cole? He won’t stop calling. I’m sorry.
I grabbed my phone to text her back.
Put the call through and get out of your office right now. Hurry to the elevators and go get a coffee or something. ASAP.
The phone rang and I grabbed it.
I tried to take a deep breath.
I was used to having a lot on my plate at once.
But definitely not a pregnant secretary I was feeling things for.
Cody was a mess.
He was drunk, high, or a combination of both.
He told me he woke up in a car that wasn’t his and he had no idea how he got there or what happened the night before.
So what did he do?
He got out of the car and hitchhiked home.
Because the car was on some road he didn’t know.
My brother needed help, and he needed it soon.
If that meant fucking up the deal with Mr. Pickle…
I gritted my teeth.
I couldn’t let that happen.
If Cody ruined this… I would never forgive him. I would never talk to him again.
And if I did that, he would go so far off the edge, our next meeting would be me identifying his body at a morgue.
It was a losing position no matter what I did.
I stormed out of my office and went to check on Maya.
She stood next to her desk with her bag over her shoulder.
Her baby bump getting that well defined roundness. Her cheeks were the same, but I knew better than to tell her that.
“Well that guy is just an asshole,” she said.
“Who?”
“Mr. Pickle.”
“When did you see him?”
“He came into my office,” she said. “I was sitting down and stayed that way. I didn’t need some sexual comments about me being pregnant.”
“I told you to get out of here,” I said.
“I didn’t have a chance.”
“No, you did. You just decided not to listen. And don’t tell me my brother is calling. You don’t know who that is on the phone. Ever. Got it?”
Stop snapping at her, Cole.
“Oh, so Dr. Vulvafuck is real?” Maya asked. “What does he do for a living? Is he a dentist? An eye doctor?”
“Watch your mouth,” I said.
“I’m leaving.”
“We’re not done here today.”
Maya touched her stomach. “We are. I need to go home and rest.”
“Is the baby okay?” I asked.
“Oh, look, there’s Cole,” Maya said. “Good to see you for a second.”
“Give me five minutes and I’ll leave with you,” I said.
“You stay. You have a lot to do.”
I sighed. “I’m sorry I snapped, Maya. Mr. Pickle was making comments about your… chest… and I didn’t want him to see you again…”
“Jealous?” Maya asked. “Protective? Why?”
Because I’m fucking falling in love with you. And if I tell you that, you won’t believe me. You’ll think it’s because of the baby. You’ll fight back because you’re strong and stubborn. You’ll drive me nuts and challenge me…
“Just go,” I said.
“Don’t come over tonight,” Maya said. “I don’t need this version of you near me right now. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Maya left the office.
I could have grabbed her. I could have hugged her. I could have kissed her.
But I let her leave.
She was always my Plan A. To go home with her and pretend to play house together in the apartment.
Now I had to go Plan B.
Which was to get drunk.
“Who the fuck did you get pregnant?”
I was drunk, holding an ultrasound picture, in Liam’s apartment.
“Cole?” Liam asked.
I just stared at him.
“Earth to Cole…”
Liam had no choice.
He had to punch me in the jaw to snap me out of my trance.
I groaned and stepped back, grabbing my jaw.
“Liam! Did you just hit Cole?”
I rubbed my jaw and looked at Emily as she shuffled out of the bedroom.
“Oh, fuck,” I said. “I’m sorry.”
“He’s drunk,” Liam said. “And emotional. Give us a minute?”
“You okay, Cole?” Emily asked me.
“I’m great,” I said. “I was coming here to look for you. Wanted to see if you’d run away with me.”
“What?” Emily asked.
“Nothing,” I said. “It was a bad joke. I was going to say I asked Callie too… just… a bad joke…”
“Em,” Liam said. “He’ll be fine.”
Liam grabbed my shirt and walked me outside the apartment.
He slammed me against the wall and smacked the ultrasound picture to my chest.
“Start talking,” he growled.
“I got her pregnant.”
“Who?”
“Maya.”
“Maya?”
“My secretary.”
“Holy shit,” Liam said. He stepped back. “You fucked your secretary?”
“Liam… you can’t imagine how pregnant she is right now. Look at the date on the ultrasound.”
Liam looked at the date and I readied myself for the next punch.
He cracked me in the same spot on the jaw.
I turned and groaned.
I didn’t feel much pain then, but I would in the morning.
“This is months old,” Liam growled. “You’ve been hiding this?”
“I’ve been hiding her,” I said. “It’s a fucking mess, Liam.”
“What are you doing here now then?”
I looked at Liam and rubbed my jaw. “I don’t know how to be a father. I never had one.”
“Cole…”
“And I’m in love with her.”
“What?”
“I love her. I love Maya. I love her being pregnant. I love being with her. I just… the work stuff and the out of work stuff…”
Liam grabbed my shoulder and sighed. “Fuck, Cole. You really dug in deep this time.”
“Yeah.”
“I need a drink now,” Liam said.
“I could use another one myself.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Maya
I couldn’t get comfortable.
I tossed and turned.
I touched my stomach.
I tried using different pillows.
But it wasn’t physical discomfort.
It was because Cole wasn’t in bed with me.
My emotions and those damn pregnancy hormones got the best of me around midnight when I sat up and pictured Cole fucking some woman he met at a bar.
Going to her swanky apartment.
Her skinny, long legs. Her perfect stomach. Her comfortable breasts.
The opposite of me.
My stomach was pushing out so far that my belly button was starting to do the same. My breasts were big, but they weren’t sexy big. They were full big. Even if Cole liked to play with them, it wasn’t… sexy.
I had chipmunks coming on. My second chin was growing.
And I knew if I looked hard enough, I’d find more than a few stretch marks.
And Cole was out fucking someone else?
With his perfect body and worship worthy cock.
I hated him.
I tried to fall asleep after getting angry and it wasn’t easy to do.
Around two in the morning, my emotions got the best of me and I buried my face into a pillow and cried.
At the same time, my brain decided to get back at Cole for something he didn’t do.
My heart believed he wasn’t fucking some other woman.
But my brain believed it had to have been true.
So, what did I do?
With tears streaming down my cheeks, I reac
hed down between my legs and touched myself.
I tried to come but… nope.
I needed Cole.
Fuck, I needed Cole.
My alarm began to beep and then it stopped.
Almost instantly.
I rolled over and when I reached for my phone, someone touched my hand.
I screamed and pulled the covers over my head.
“Don’t kill me!” I yelled.
“Maya, it’s me.”
I eased the covers down below my eyes to see Cole standing at the side of the bed.
Dressed in black pants, a white shirt, and a tie undone around his neck.
My heart fluttered.
And my inner thighs trembled.
Why weren’t they trembling last night when I needed them to?
“I brought you some breakfast,” Cole said. “Coffee. And your favorite sandwich.”
“From the office?” I asked.
“Yeah. I went down there and came back here.”
“Why?”
Cole slipped his hands into his pockets. “I’m sorry about yesterday. About getting pissed and taking it out on you.”
“That’s what you always do.”
“I know. I have to stop doing that. Secretary, pregnant, with me… whatever it is… it’s not fair.”
“Oh, fuck,” I said. I dropped the cover down to my lap. “You fucked someone else last night, didn’t you?”
“What?” Cole asked.
“You asshole. You’re feeling guilty now so you’re going to be nice to me.”
“Whoa, Maya, no,” he said. “I didn’t… no.”
“You swear?”
“I swear,” Cole said. “I’m just trying to apologize. I, uh, I got drunk and went to Liam’s. I told him and then I talked to Jackson and Lincoln.”
“Why does your jaw look bruised?” I asked.
“A few well-earned punches came my way,” he said. “I shouldn’t have hid your pregnancy from my best friends. The same way you shouldn’t from yours. I put us in this position and it’s not good. Take a day or two off, Maya. Fully paid. Go visit your friends.”
“And tell them what?”
“Whatever you want to tell them,” Cole said. “The truth? Go for it.”
“What is the truth, Cole? Are you just my boss?”
We stared at each other far too long to make this the romantic moment I secretly hoped it would become.
That was my answer.
I reached for the coffee. “Forget that last part. I’ll just tell them what I want. I met someone. We had a fun night. Now I’m pregnant. Is the guy an asshole? Yeah, he’s an asshole. But he didn’t abandon me.” I looked at Cole again. “And that I appreciate.”
Cole nodded. He reached for my face and stroked my cheek. “I will never abandon you, love. I swear on my life. You and the baby will be taken care of.”
Cole leaned down and I smiled.
He kissed my forehead.
And that was it.
I groaned under my breath.
Can’t a girl have an orgasm with her coffee?
Cole arranged for a car to drive me home.
A nice car too.
A big backseat, complete with food and drink.
Plenty of room for me to keep working on my book.
The asshole boss story that needed to be told.
Except for the last little bit it had been hard to write about the asshole boss. Because the asshole boss was the man in my bed and the man I was starting to really fall for.
Of course, the book I was writing was fiction, but all fiction came from something that was real.
There was no way I could suddenly just have the asshole in my book turn nice.
What would be the point of it?
At least in my case, like in real life, I was pregnant.
Cole had incentive to be nice.
Incentive…
I looked down at my belly and frowned.
Was that all it was?
He was being nice so I didn’t go crazy and come after his money?
Why was he shipping me away?
Was he fucking other woman again?
I shut my eyes.
When the pregnancy brain decided to go wild, it went wild.
I swallowed hard and chased my thoughts away.
I had to face my mother. I had to face my old friends.
There was no way I could lie, tell them I didn’t know I was pregnant.
Oh, well, I went to this taco truck festival and just ate for like months on end and thought I had a taco belly!
My phone buzzed on the seat next to me.
I was on a text message thread with Connie and Jen.
Connie: Can’t wait to see you!
Jen: She’s finally coming home. Let’s keep her here!
Connie: You can’t get her out of the city. The men there are endless and hot and rich.
Jen: Oh, good idea. Maya - can you bag a rich guy?
Connie: One with two well hung brothers, please? ;)
Jen: Ugh. Don’t say that. If Ed reads my messages, he’ll get pissed.
Connie: :(
I didn’t reply right away.
Jen got involved with Ed against mine and Connie’s wishes. Then she got pregnant with Eddie and that was it. No matter what Ed did to her, she could never leave him. I knew there were times when he put his hands on her, but Jen never talked about it.
As for Connie, she had Ben and Brooke and then decided Rich wasn’t good enough for her. She kicked him out and he left for Florida where he promised to get a good job, send money back, and then eventually move them all down there.
Last I asked Connie, she never received a dime from Rich, and she prayed he would get eaten by an alligator.
That was my old hometown.
Small and full of drama.
And I was on my way back with my own version of drama.
The car stopped outside Connie’s house.
It was a small cape cod with two dormers, looking much like all the other houses on the street.
Connie was outside on the small front porch.
Ben stood at her side.
He was getting really tall.
He was going to be ten and was almost as tall as Connie.
Brooke poked her head out from the open door.
Little Brooke was eight.
And I was pregnant.
Hiding in the back of the car.
The windows were tinted.
Nobody could see me.
I had to get out of the car.
“I’ll open the door for you, ma’am,” the driver announced.
“No, you won’t,” I said.
I slowly started to open the door when I heard the sound of a growling muffler.
I looked back and saw Jen pulling up behind the car.
My heart raced even more.
I came here to see Connie and Jen.
Now they were both here.
Jen jumped out of her car and ran to my car.
“Oh, shit,” I whispered.
It was too late.
She ripped open the door. “Look at you. Little Miss Fucking Fancy. Getting a ride like this from the…”
Jen looked down at my stomach.
I moved my feet from the car and stood up.
“Maya,” Jen said.
I ignored Jen and looked at Connie.
Even from her distance she could see that I was pregnant.
Her eyes went very wide.
Ben pointed and I heard him ask, “Whoa, is Maya pregnant?”
Connie swatted at Ben’s shoulder and told him to go inside.
I looked at Jen and I smiled. “How are things here?”
“Maya… you’re pregnant…”
“Oh, this?” I asked. I touched my stomach. “I just had a really big lunch today.”
Connie tossed some real and fake sugar packets to the table.
The kitchen was small and smelled like last night’s spaghetti sauce.
“Is half and half okay?” she asked me.
“Of course it is,” I said.
“She thinks you drink some fancy nut milk or something,” Jen said.
“No. I’m not that bad yet. And how do you milk a nut?”
I smiled.
Jen raised her eyebrow and pointed to my stomach. “Looks like you figured that out.”
I gasped.
Connie snorted. “Oh, jeez…”
“What?” Jen asked. “Are we going to sit here in suspense all day? You’re fucking pregnant, Maya. Talk about milking a nut or two…”
“I said I would explain everything,” I said.
“So, explain,” Connie said.
She slid a box of grocery store donuts across the table and sat down next to Jen.
She moved a stack of crooked mail out of the way.
Everything about the house screamed home even though it wasn’t my home. And this town wasn’t my hometown anymore.
“So, I kind of met someone and… you know…”
“Oh, no, no, no,” Connie said. She waved a finger at me. “You’re not going to beat around the bush here. Not after what Jen and I have been through with pregnancies. We want the truth.”
“Okay,” I said. “Fine.” I had a chance to tell the actual truth. Finally. “I went on a trip with my boss and we both got drunk and decided to fuck. I got pregnant. Here I am.”
“What?” Jen asked.
“Say that again,” Connie said.
“Cole… my asshole boss? I went on a business trip with him. To this cabin on a mountain. He’s been trying to close this big deal with the company. We got drunk and we went after each other. It had been building for a long time. He fucked me in front of the fireplace in the cabin. And I got pregnant.”
“Your boss,” Jen said.
“In front of a fireplace?” Connie asked.
“That’s the part you pick up on?” I asked.
“What?” Connie asked. “I’ve been pregnant before. I’ve never had sex in front of a fireplace though.”
“Maya, you got pregnant by your boss?” Jen asked.
I touched my stomach. “Correct.”
“You can take the girl out of this town,” Connie said, “but you can’t take the town out of this girl. Welcome home, Maya.”
They both started to laugh.
But I didn’t think it was funny at all.
I wasn’t supposed to end up like them.
Pregnant. Alone. No direction.