by Quinn, Taryn
I flushed. “Thanks. I do those. We’ll be sure to get orders for baked goods too, just as soon as Clara and Jodi and—”
“Could I get a sandwich instead, please? I missed lunch. I worked a double today.” A woman who I recognized as a waitress at the diner leaned down to rub her foot. She’d kicked off her shoes the second she’d taken a seat.
Since I knew all too well what long hours on my feet were like, I winced in sympathy. “Sure thing. We’ll get dinner orders too for anyone who wants something more substantial.”
“Well, I think we all want something more substantial, right?” A woman with a high red ponytail glanced at the brunette woman beside her and laughed. “At least for a couple of hours. Then bye.”
I laughed awkwardly, though inside I wasn’t all that amused. Sure, I’d made jokes like that too. It was natural when you were on the search for some extra seasoning in your egg salad. I just didn’t think it was necessarily right to treat the guys we were talking to as a commodity. We wouldn’t appreciate such treatment ourselves.
But I’d leave that discussion for later. Right now, I was pretty sure we had attracted some gawkers and drive-by types, so a few minutes of discussion about the realities of searching for a man to have a child with should weed out the ones who weren’t serious.
I turned toward Jodi as she and Clara approached, pads in hand. “Thanks, ladies. I really appreciate your help with this.”
“No problem.” Jodi bit her lip and glanced around. “These are all your friends?”
“Not exactly. We’re just working together on a common problem.”
I didn’t really want to advertise what we were doing, since this was a place of business and people in town tended to gossip early and often. Though it would come out soon enough if this meeting took off. Everything seemed to rapidly become common knowledge.
Jodi nodded, her pencil poised over her pad. “What would you like to eat and drink?”
I pressed a hand to my jumpy belly. “Oh, I couldn’t eat a thing. I’m all—”
“Oh my God, you’re pregnant already?” Jodi’s voice carried far more than I wished. “Wow, girl, you work fast. Go you!”
Before I knew what had happened, seventeen women and a good segment of the café patrons swarmed around me, talking and laughing excitedly. More than one of them groped my not flat belly as if they were probing for aliens.
It wasn’t fun.
“Hey now, personal space, please.” I tried to laugh and found it got caught in my throat. “I hate to break it to all of you, but I’m not pregnant yet. The only thing in my belly right now is what’s left of a quesadilla bowl I had at lunch.”
I should’ve been surprised Murphy picked that moment to stroll in. I mean, why not? It had only happened multiple times at the worst possible instant. That this was later than he normally showed up didn’t seem to matter. Somehow when I said awkward things, he got the message to arrive.
This time, he didn’t even pretend not to stare at me across the café. And at the women still clustered around me, focused on my belly as if they didn’t quite believe what I’d said.
For God’s sake, it had only been a little more than two weeks since I’d posted on Facebook. How fast did they think I worked?
“Just a second,” I muttered, breaking free of the crowd to run to Murphy like he was a lifeline.
It didn’t make sense. I’d practically driven him out of here a few days ago and he’d been scarce since. Why should I think he’d help save me in this situation? And what did I have to be saved from anyway, except the weight of everyone’s expectations? Ones I’d helped put in place.
That of course I’d find someone who wanted to knock me up.
That of course we’d have good chemistry and sex would happen easily and naturally.
That of course I’d get pregnant first try.
As if it was all that easy. And maybe I’d been naïve enough to not really think it all through and think something similar.
I was getting schooled in reality now.
“Save me,” I said in an undertone as I reached Murphy and grabbed his arm. Such a solid, sturdy arm. One that would make the woman lucky enough to have them around her feel so safe and protected.
And possibly more than a little turned on, if that woman was me.
“You’re pregnant.” His voice was utterly flat. “Congratulations.”
“No. God, no.” The laugh that left me was dazed and on the verge of hysteria. “I haven’t even been with any—there’s no one—holy corn!” I let out a yelp as something furry poked out of Murphy’s hoodie pocket and swiped his tongue over my wrist, right above my tattoo of two crossed whisks.
It might’ve been the insanity of the moment, but those big brown eyes locked onto mine and I fell deeply, irrevocably in love.
“You were supposed to stay hidden while we were in here, bud.”
The puppy paid Murphy no mind. Right then, I didn’t either. All my focus was for the tiny ball of excited fur.
“Who are you?” I cooed, shifting to hold out my hands to the little brown darling in Murphy’s pocket. His pocket, for heaven’s sake. “Oh, you’re just a baby. A wee one. Aww, come here.” The puppy was already trying to do just that, his little legs pumping as he scrambled into my hands.
“Guess all men find you irresistible,” Murphy said in a voice almost too low for me to hear.
Almost.
“Where did you find him? Ah, he’s so sweet.” I tried to hold on to the squirmy puppy while he climbed up my chest and burrowed into the space between my neck and shoulder.
“Picked up him and his siblings on a construction site. I took the others to the shelter—”
“What? Oh, no, no. We can’t give him to no stinkin’ shelter. Right, Latte?”
“Latte?” Murphy smiled. “Did you just name my dog?”
“I’m sorry, I kind of did, didn’t I?” I let out a little self-conscious laugh. “He’s just the perfect color of one, and he’s so warm.” I shifted the puppy so that we were nose-to-nose. He licked mine and I laughed again, the panicky feeling from being fondled by a bunch of strangers fading as if it had never existed.
Thank God.
Thank Latte.
My gaze connected with Murphy as he watched me cuddle with his dog.
Thank Murphy.
“Hey there, Vee, can we get this meeting going, please? Some of us have places to be,” the ponytailed redhead from the group called out.
“Right. Lord. I have to go back over there.” Reluctantly, I started to hand the puppy back to Murphy, then had the brightest idea of my life.
Maybe.
Possibly.
“Hey, do you have anywhere to be?”
Murphy’s expression got a little cagey as he eyed the cluster of restless women behind me. “Depends.”
“On what?”
“If you need me or not.”
Oh, God. It was a damn miracle I didn’t melt into a puddle right there on his boots. This man didn’t say much, but when he did speak, I swore every one of my girly parts did a freaking cheer.
“I do. I do need you.” Desperately. I wasn’t even sure how much and all the reasons why, but right then? I was positive I vitally needed Murphy Masterson in my life.
His hazel eyes softened. “Really?”
“Absolutely. I ran to you, didn’t I?”
He smiled and I wanted to grab his arm again, except this time I’d slide a little south and slip my fingers between his.
My gaze dropped. He had such big hands.
Such big feet.
Did that mean…?
Sweet mercy, I’d been thinking about babies too much. Now I was strictly focused on the process.
With him. Just with him.
“These women contacted me because they want to have babies too.”
Murphy frowned. “So, what, you’re like their spokesperson now?”
It made me laugh. “No. Well, not exactly. More like they want to
get up the nerve to have a baby by themselves too. Or they want help finding someone to have a baby with. Or someone to talk to who understands.”
“Hmm. Like a matchmaking service for women and men willing to share their sperm.”
“No, not that—” I pursed my lips and shifted the now snoozing puppy to my other side. “Huh, maybe. That’s an idea. I mean, there’s sperm donors of course, but that’s even more impersonal and expensive to boot.”
“You wouldn’t charge that much.”
“No.” Wait, what was I charging for, exactly? I couldn’t keep up with this conversation along with the hormonal ping-pong match going on below my waist. “But it would’ve helped me a lot if I could’ve used something like that, rather than embarrassing myself in front of my whole town. If it was a private site, that would’ve been a lot more convenient.” My mind was starting to buzz.
“Let’s go talk to them, see what they’re really looking for. Some may be just attention seekers. Or nosy.”
I tried not to gawk at him. This was officially the longest conversation we’d ever had. “You’d be willing to do that with me?”
“Sure.” He shifted from foot to foot. “Plus, you’ve stolen my dog.”
I smiled and buried my face in Latte’s downy soft fur. “Are you sure he didn’t already have a name?”
“Yeah, he did.”
I couldn’t help feeling a little dismayed. Silly. The puppy wasn’t even mine. “Oh, yeah? What is it?”
Murphy nudged me back toward the reading nook. “Latte.”
I slid him a sidelong glance and grinned like a besotted idiot as we rejoined the group. Oh, yeah, I was totally in a spot to be calm and cool and help these women. It wasn’t as if I wanted to lay down in front of the fire and point my toes to the ceiling and tell him to take me.
Nah. Definitely not.
I knew someone else who’d offered to make my dreams come true in front of a fireplace. Actually, that was wrong. Cabin Fortress might be the real deal and Murphy was just a nice guy I had a hopeless crush on. He didn’t want to give me a baby. Until tonight, he hadn’t even wanted to be in a conversation with me.
So, what had changed?
I stopped dead beside my chair—which was now taken.
“Vee?” He patted the arm of the chair he’d snagged. Some of the women must’ve moved aside to make room for him. Maybe they figured he was here to do a public service?
I let out a giggle and Latte licked my cheek.
“Thanks.” I’d no sooner perched on the arm—nice and close to him—that he rose and gently pushed me onto the seat. “Cheater.”
“Sorry about before. We got the wrong idea.” The brunette with the redheaded friend grimaced and sipped from her mug. At least they’d been served while Murphy and I were chatting. “I guess we were so excited for you that we got ahead of ourselves.”
“That’s okay.” I smiled at everyone and stroked the contentedly sleeping puppy.
He wasn’t the only one who wanted to snuggle up and snooze, though I would do that after intimate acts with Murphy, not before. I imagined he was a nice supportive surface to curl up against.
Ugh, supportive surfaces made me think of Fortress again. I had to send him a note. I didn’t even know what I’d say. I liked him a lot. But I liked Murphy too.
Maybe I should try to find out how much Fortress liked me before I made any firm decisions. That seemed proper.
Properly cowardly, but whatever.
“We should discuss why we all met up tonight and what we each hope to get out of this,” I began, somehow bolstered by the presence of the puppy—and the puppy’s owner. “But first, I think we should do introductions and share a little about ourselves. I’ll start. I’m Vee Dixon and I’m an Aquarius.”
That earned me some laughter.
“I live here in town and I’m the main baker for Brewed Awakening. I also do some of the artsy things, like the sandwich board out front.”
“And she makes the best coffee of anyone in this place,” Murphy added as I flashed him a grateful smile.
“I heard that,” Macy called from behind the counter while she waited on a customer.
We all laughed.
One by one, everyone volunteered whatever they felt comfortable putting out there. It took a while, as there were close to twenty women present and one Murphy. When the circle reached him, I expected him to back out.
Instead, he said he was a lifetime resident of Crescent Cove and had a couple different jobs.
“And I’m a Taurus.”
I reached over to smack his thigh at that, and he surprised me by smiling. Though there was a bit of pink on the tips of his ears, he was being far more relaxed than I’d expected.
Maybe my flirting skills were improving. Or perhaps the improvement in his reaction to me came from the fact I wasn’t intentionally flirting at all. I was just being me. The real me, not the weirdo who seemed to appear whenever Murphy showed up.
Thankfully, she seemed to have taken the night off.
“That’s great. So, you all contacted me in one way or another after seeing my post about searching for a man to have a baby with, potentially with no strings. Do all of you want to have babies on your own or are you just exploring your options?” I looked around the group.
Almost half of them indicated they wanted to have a kid without necessarily needing a partner. A few mentioned wanting to hear more or that they might be interested in the future if not now. The rest didn’t answer one way or the other.
I shifted the still sleeping puppy on my lap and he rolled over and kicked out his paws, garnering more than his share of puppy appreciation. He was too blitzed to realize it.
“What were most of you hoping to get out of this? Some others to talk to and commiserate with?” I thought of Murphy’s comments before we’d rejoined the group. “Or are you hoping to figure out a way to make the process easier?”
“I can’t speak for everyone,” the redhead’s brunette buddy said, “but I know me and Andi here would like to do what you did.”
“Oh, no.” I had to laugh. “No, you definitely do not want to do what I did. I caused a spectacle, even if I didn’t mean to.”
“I gotta know, did you really post in the Facebook group on purpose?”
“No.” I tucked one of my braids back as it slipped free. “I’d meant to post it in a local singles group, which wasn’t the ideal place either.”
“Because you weren’t looking for a hookup, just the baby part,” the waitress from the diner prompted. Ivy, I think she’d said her name was.
“Don’t get me wrong. If I met someone cool, that would be a bonus. I’m not against the idea of romance. I just don’t want to wait forever for a Mr. Right who might not be driving up my lane anytime soon.” I shot a look at Murphy under my lashes, only to find him watching me intently. Not with amusement. Not with disgust. Just open curiosity.
As if he wanted to understand my motivations.
He wasn’t the only one. The longer this had gone on, the more I’d questioned myself. Did I really fully understand what I’d undertaken? Babies grew up. You had to support them for a full eighteen years, and I’d pledged to do that all on my own on a baker’s salary.
Examining it from all angles made it easier to see why some people had thought I was nuts. Perhaps I was.
But I still wanted a baby. Probably more than ever.
Even after all of this. Even if it didn’t happen quickly. Even if it was hard.
“It’s not a quick process or a simple one,” I continued. “I’ll admit I was a bit too hasty in putting up my post. I hadn’t considered all the steps. How difficult finding a guy I can get intimate with for this purpose would be, even if he was agreeable.”
“So, why not just have some fun banging random dudes?” Andi asked, nudging her friend who threw back her head and laughed. “Why make it some big thing and invite the whole world into your business?”
“She didn’t do that.”
Murphy’s voice was like steel. “It was the town’s choice to wade into something that didn’t have to do with them.”
In shock, I gazed at my surprising defender. Was this really happening?
And here I’d believed he’d think I was ridiculous to undertake this. If he did, he sure was hiding it.
“Oh, yeah, and why are you here anyway?” Andi smirked. “Did she reel in a big fish already?”
I wanted to crawl under the chair, but I couldn’t move fast enough with the sleepy puppy on my lap.
Murphy wasn’t bothered in the slightest. “I’m a friend. All you need to know.”
Damn, Murphy with the comebacks. Hidden sides for the win.
I licked my lips and studied his profile out of the corner of my eye. What other hidden aspects did he have to his personality?
I tried to get the group back on task. “Returning to your original question, Andi, I’d never take advantage of a man and sleep with him to try to get pregnant without his knowledge. That’s hugely unfair.”
“But if they aren’t going to be part of the kid’s life anyway, what difference does it make? Didn’t you ever see the video for that old Heart song?” Andi’s brunette friend—I’d already forgotten her name—snapped her fingers. “You know, the one where they plant a tree in the garden after a hookup on a rainy night and the kid has his eyes, but her husband couldn’t get the job done?”
Though that flood of words barely made sense, some of the others were nodding.
“Speaking as a guy,” Murphy said, “which may not be an opinion you want, but I agree with Veronica—Vee—that doing that to someone is cruel. You should always give a person the choice. If they decide they’re fine with being hands off ahead of time, that’s one thing.”
“You’re male. You don’t know what it’s like.” One of the other ladies flicked her fingers in dismissal. “Try being a woman nearing middle age with no prospects in sight and tell me what you think then, okay, Romeo?”
Murphy’s ears reddened, but his voice remained steady. “I’m sorry if my valid opinion tweaks your conscience. Maybe you should think about that.”
Before she could respond, he rolled on smoothly. “Again, as an outsider with a possibly unwanted opinion, it seems to me you all need a list. A way of keeping track of who wants what and where you’re at in the process before you decide what to do about it.”