Naughty at 30 (Love Without Batteries #2)

by Cassandra Lawson

  “I suppose that’s good,” Brook admitted, sounding a little disappointed. “She’s not pregnant,” she told Tyler.

  “Rob’s pregnant girlfriend showed up at Luke’s apartment today,” I explained. “I suppose it would be more accurate to say she’s his ex-girlfriend since he seems to have ditched her.”

  “The poor woman,” Brook said sadly. “What did she want from Luke?”

  “When I came in, she was asking if he wanted the baby,” I replied. “It seems she’s not ready to be a parent, and she doesn’t want any involvement with the baby.”

  “Where is Luke?” Brook asked.

  “In his apartment with the pregnant woman,” I told her. “I’m heading home to take care of Tasha and give them some time to talk. I figured it would be easier that way.”

  “I see,” Brook said.

  “Fine,” I relented. “I’m also not entirely comfortable with all this. I know it sounds selfish. When I found out, I assured Luke he wasn’t alone, and I even pictured babysitting for him sometimes, but then he told me he loves me and talked about doing this together, and I freaked out.”

  “Understandable,” Brook agreed.

  “I feel like such a bitch,” I grumbled. “Luke needs me to support him, but I’m not sure I can be there as more than a friend. I don’t want to be a mom at this point in my life. Maybe not ever.”

  “While I would love for you to say you’ll be there for Luke no matter what and raise the baby with him, this is a big shocker,” she told me. “You weren’t expecting to be dating a single dad, and not just any single dad, one with a newborn. This is a huge deal, Chelsea. It would be a tough decision for anyone to make, even if they’d always dreamed of becoming a mother.”

  “What am I going to do?” I asked helplessly, even knowing there was no way Brook could answer that question for me.

  “Maybe you should just give yourself time to think about all this,” she suggested. “It’s not like you’re going to sever all ties with Luke if things don’t work out, so why worry about deciding today? Take a few days to think about everything.”

  “You’re right,” I agreed. “Even if we aren’t dating, I’m still going to be his friend. I meant what I said about helping him with the baby. I should let you get back to work.”

  “Do you want to talk to Ty?” she asked.

  “Not now. I’m just going to take some time to think about all this,” I replied.

  “Call me if you need anything,” Brook offered.

  “I will,” I promised her, surprised at how much more complicated things with Luke had suddenly become.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Luke

  Misty was a mess, and in the end, I could understand why she didn’t want to be a mom. She’d quit her job when she’d moved in with my dad, leaving her completely dependent on him for support. Until he’d been served with divorce papers in front of Misty, things had been going well, in her opinion, at least. She’d been told his wife would take half his estate if he divorced her, and she’d bought into all his lies about a wife who simply wouldn’t let things end. She’d been contemplating giving in to my dad’s request to have an abortion when she’d decided if his wife was finally divorcing him, he should marry her and start a family. My dad, being the irresponsible dick he is, left her and changed his number. She’d assumed he’d be back, because my dad is good at conning people into believing he’s a good person for short periods of time.

  I was still in shock about everything that happened that day. In less than three months, I was going to be a father. I’d stopped thinking of the baby as my sister, because I wasn’t just taking care of her for a few days; I was adopting her. Legally, she would be my daughter. We’d discussed everything, and that seemed to be the best solution. I had no clue how to go about doing that. I definitely needed an attorney. At this point, I wasn’t convinced my father wouldn’t be a problem, even though I couldn’t see him wanting to be involved with the baby. He was just an asshole who liked to control everything.

  As I walked up to Chelsea’s house, I wasn’t sure what kind of welcome I’d get when I arrived, but I needed to be near her. We’d planned to spend the day together, so I figured it wouldn’t be too weird when I rang her bell.

  Chelsea greeted me with a nervous smile. “How did it go?”

  I shrugged. “Misty gave me more proof my dad’s a dick, and it looks like I need to figure out how to adopt a baby.”

  “Come on in,” she offered with a warm smile. “I was waiting for you to get here to order pizza.”

  Chelsea’s warm welcome caused me to breathe a huge inner-sigh of relief as I stepped into her front room. When she tried to walk past me, I caught Chelsea around the waist and pulled her into my arms. “Would you laugh at me if I told you I was a little worried about the reception I’d receive from you?”

  “I don’t blame you for being worried,” she replied. “Earlier, I was shocked, so I didn’t react very well. I meant what I said about being here for you.”

  “But I shouldn’t assume that means you want to take on mommy duties,” I finished for her.

  Pulling away, she gave me a wobbly smile. “Exactly. How about if we stop talking about my involvement? We’ll order pizza, and you can tell me all about what happened. Then I’ll even let you watch Doctor Who.”

  “You are sexy as hell when you offer to watch Doctor Who,” I told her, thankful we were okay. Chelsea might not be sure of everything, but she seemed fine with us, and that was a start.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Luke

  I hadn’t hung out with Ty much recently. Between his relationship with Brook and both of us working, things had been hectic. The last time he’d asked me to hang out with him, it had been to out me and Chelsea to his parents. I’d been annoyed with him for interfering at the time, not that he could have guessed his mom was going to try to fix Chelsea up that night, but I still thought he should have let Chelsea handle things on her own. I’d been planning to express my irritation with him over that, but then I’d gotten waylaid by Misty, a situation I still hadn’t discussed with Ty.

  We’d decided to just hang out at my place since we were both tired. I answered the door to find Ty holding two pizzas. He’d offered to pick them up on the way since I was providing the beer.

  “I’m glad you didn’t do the half and half pizza thing,” I told him, having forgotten to remind him I didn’t want to share a pizza.

  “Brook doesn’t like it when I contaminate her side of the pizza with chicken and vegetables any more than you do,” he admitted.

  Growing up, I’d shared many pepperoni pizzas with Ty, but he’d decided a couple years ago that he was going to eat healthier. He’d not only given up nitrates and nitrites, he’d also given up red meat and pork. I was somewhat embarrassed to admit my best friend didn’t eat bacon. That seemed like an unforgivable sin, and he only made it worse with the fact that he seemed to think turkey bacon was an acceptable replacement. I didn’t get it.

  “I was worried you’d try to punish me for the fact that Tasha’s always at the studio,” I remarked. From what Chelsea had said, Ty was forever complaining about Tasha being in the studio, even though she suspected Ty really liked the kitten. Ty claimed it was my fault Chelsea decided to keep the cat, and he frequently threatened to do things like buy me a veggie burger to get even.

  “There is cat hair everywhere,” Ty grumbled. “Not to mention the noise that irritating fur ball makes. If she’s not begging for treats, she’s on my lap purring. It’s a pain in the ass.”

  “According to Chelsea, you bring Tasha treats all the time,” I stated, grabbing paper plates and beers.

  “It keeps the fur ball happy, which keeps her out of my way,” he insisted.

  “Whatever you say,” I told him. “Have a seat while I grab some napkins.”

  I went back into the kitchen to get napkins when I suddenly realized I’d left my little project sitting on the sofa, half-buried under a throw pi
llow. I usually worked on it while watching television. The night before, I’d been watching TV while waiting for Chelsea to finish up at her studio so we could grab dinner. Since we usually stayed at Chelsea’s place, I only put it away when she was coming over. I’d forgotten to hide it before Ty’s arrival.

  “What the fuck!” Ty called out.

  Grabbing the napkins, I walked back in, trying to look unaffected by what Ty had just discovered. “Here are the napkins. I’m starving. Let’s eat.”

  “Please tell me these aren’t my sister’s panties,” Ty said as he held up the rope I’d been making over the last few weeks.

  My only response was a shrug as I opened the pizza box and put a slice on my plate.

  “You stole my sister’s panties again?” he demanded, looking more confused than angry.

  “I may have taken a few of her panties, but it’s for a good reason,” I insisted. Although, I would admit Ty might not appreciate my reason.

  Ty looked at the rope I was making and then back at me. “This is not a few of Chelsea’s panties. You must have stolen at least a dozen of my sister’s panties.”

  I decided now was not the time to mention the rope I’d already completed, which consisted of exactly seventeen thongs.

  “What are you going to do with this?” he demanded, shaking my panty rope at me.

  “Tie your sister to my bed,” I admitted, since I couldn’t think of a response that wouldn’t sound completely perverted. I figured if I was going to look like a pervert, I might as well be honest. Besides, what other explanation did he think there could be?

  Rather than losing it, Ty regarded my rope with curiosity. “What kind of knot did you use?”

  “It’s just a simple square knot,” I replied. “I had to try a few things before I found something that worked.”

  “This could be interesting,” he mused. “Not what you’re doing to my sister,” he added quickly. “I still don’t want to know anything about that.”

  “You already know what I’m going to do with those,” I reminded him.

  “I meant beyond that. Remember, I never want to know about my sister’s sex life,” he added.

  I nodded. “Understandable. I don’t want to know anything about your sex life with Brook either, so how about if we change the subject?” I suggested.

  “Good idea,” Ty agreed, tossing the panties at me.

  I put them in my bedroom, hoping Ty wouldn’t tell Chelsea what I’d done. She’d find out soon enough, but I wanted it to be a surprise, and I was still enjoying our ongoing banter involving her accusations about me stealing her panties. I’d blamed it on her washing machine, saying it must be eating her panties. I’d even asked her to prove she knew how many panties she had. When she’d been unable to do that, I’d insisted she was falsely accusing me of panty pilfering. The whole game was like foreplay for me.

  “How are you handling this thing with Misty?” Ty asked.

  I let out a sigh. “As well as I can, I guess. We still need to get my dad to sign the adoption papers, but Misty is fine with it. I considered just claiming to be the father on the birth certificate, but I figure, this way, I won’t have to worry about my dad showing up and trying to claim Haley is his daughter later.”

  “Haley?” Ty asked.

  “That’s what I’m naming the baby,” I explained. “Misty doesn’t care what her name is, so I went on one of those baby name sites with Chelsea, and we both liked Haley. Since I already know it’s a girl, I figured it would be easier to decide on a name now. It’s really tough to decide.”

  “It’s nice that Chelsea helped you with the name. How does my sister fit in to all this?” Ty asked. “She’s managed to avoid the subject since we’ve been so busy with holiday photo sessions at the studio. Every time I ask her how things are going, she insists we’ll talk when thing slow down.”

  That was a good question, and one I didn’t have an answer for. Chelsea was being great about the whole thing. She hadn’t freaked out again, and she was helping me figure out things like childcare and where the baby would sleep, but we hadn’t talked much about her role. I was beginning to worry our time together would come to an end when Haley was born. “We just started dating, and I’m not sure where she fits in. This is a lot to ask her.”

  “It is a lot to ask,” Ty agreed. “Chelsea wasn’t even considering having kids before now, and she’s dating someone who will have a newborn very soon.”

  “She told me she didn’t want to be a mom,” I told him.

  “You didn’t want to be a dad, but sometimes things change,” Ty reminded me.

  “You’re right, but Haley is my family. Chelsea is awesome, and she’s really been helping me, but I don’t know if this is going to work once Haley is here,” I admitted. “It feels like I’m being unfair by asking her to take on this responsibility just because I am.”

  “It would be unfair if you expected her to do it just because you are,” Ty agreed. “But so is assuming she won’t want this. I think you need to talk to her.”

  When I didn’t respond, Ty continued. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  “The day I found out about Haley, Chelsea was at my apartment,” I began.

  “Yeah, I know,” Ty told me. “Chelsea called Brook right after she left. I answered Brook’s phone and thought she was pregnant.”

  “I use protection with you sister,” I insisted.

  “And it’s not one hundred percent effective,” he reminded me.

  “Good point,” I agreed. “You must have been ready to kick my ass when you thought I’d gotten Chelsea pregnant.”

  “To be totally honest, I was kind of excited about being an uncle, but I still get to play uncle to Haley, so I’m good,” he replied.

  “So, if you talked to Chelsea, you already know she freaked out,” I pointed out.

  “Brook snatched the phone out of my hand when we thought Chelsea was pregnant, so I only heard paraphrased details from Brook, and I got the impression she held stuff back.”

  “When I told her I loved her and I’m glad she’s in this with me, she essentially told me she’s not sure she wants to be in this with me,” I said with a sigh. “She also didn’t return my affections.”

  Ty flinched. “Ouch. For what it’s worth, I’m convinced Chelsea loves you.”

  “I know she loves me,” I told him. “And I’m fine with her not being ready to tell me. It just hurt when she did it at the same time as she told me we probably don’t have a future.”

  “Sorry, man,” Ty said, patting me on the back.

  “Don’t fucking hug me,” I warned. Ty had a tendency to be a little too into hugging. Except with Chelsea, I was not an affectionate person.

  Ty laughed. “I really thought my sister was helping you work through these intimacy issues.”

  “I don’t mind being intimate with your sister, but I’m not interested in being intimate with you.”

  “When you say it like that, it makes it sound like I’m asking for sex, not a hug,” he pointed out before continuing. “I had no clue things weren’t going well between you and Chelsea.”

  “That’s the thing making this more confusing,” I began. “They are going well. We’re getting along fine. I went over to her place after that uncomfortable talk, and she was sweet and supportive. She’s really been there for me. I’m just not sure if she’ll continue to be there for me as my girlfriend, or just as a friend.”

  “It sounds like you need to do the one thing you hate almost as much as hugging me,” Ty began. “You need to talk about your feelings.”

  I groaned. “Your advice sucks.”

  “You think I’m wrong?” he asked.

  “No,” I replied. “I was just hoping you’d come up with some shortcut to get around this.”

  “Don’t text her,” Ty warned.

  “I’m not going to text her with something this serious,” I insisted, which earned me a skeptical look from Ty. “Fine, texting about something serious is w
hat I would have done in the past, but I’m really trying with Chelsea.”

  “I know you are,” Ty agreed. “For what it’s worth, I really hope you work things out. I think you’re really good for my sister.”

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chelsea

  It was Friday night, and I was out with Brook and Delaney while Luke spent some time with Ty. Brook really needed the time with us because she was stressing about her meeting with Rob on Monday, and she was tired of having Ty tell her everything would work out fine. Rob had already postponed two court dates and refused to meet with her and their attorneys several other times. Brook was beyond frustrated with Rob’s attempts to delay their divorce. Rob, the dickhead, didn’t want a divorce.

  This meeting was going to be a huge shock for Rob, if he showed up, and we were all hoping it would finally get him to move forward with the divorce. The only reason Brook believed he might actually show up for that meeting was Brook’s attorney had threatened to ask for more in the divorce if he tried canceling. I knew Luke was just as stressed out since he planned to get Rob to agree to sign the adoption papers that day. While there were apparently some documents that couldn’t be signed until after the baby was born, Luke wanted to get his dad’s agreement early. They also hoped when Rob realized Misty wasn’t keeping the baby, he would allow the divorce to go forward. From what I understood, one of his big reasons for delaying the divorce was his desire to avoid taking responsibility for Haley.

  Despite the fact that we’d gotten together to listen to Brook vent, she hadn’t said one word about the meeting on Monday.

  “We’ve talked about everything from Delaney’s new book to my cat, so how are you feeling about Monday?” I finally asked Brook.

  Brook looked up from the nipple clamps she was examining and let out a sigh. Yes, we were having our conversation in our favorite sex shop. If Brook hadn’t been so hesitant to talk about it, we’d have been discussing it at the coffee shop in our favorite bookstore, but we’d finished up there and Brook still wasn’t ready to open up. They were used to us at the sex shop, and this was far from the most interesting conversation we’d had there. We spent enough money that they didn’t care if we wanted to talk about divorce, politics, or Delaney’s latest sexual obsession.