We both waited patiently but nothing happened.
“Oh well. I guess she went back to sleep.” I sighed. “I need to get back to work. I’ll run down here if she starts kicking again.”
“Good idea. Forget about the email and forget about the buzzing. Come tomorrow, it’ll be old news.” He kissed my forehead, and I narrowed my eye at him. “Don’t give me that look.”
“Then don’t do things that make me give you that look.” I arched my brow at him. As I turned and walked out of his office, I heard him chuckle.
One Month Later
Lucas and I were the true definition of having a friends with benefits relationship. I did my thing, and he did his. We lived separately but had sex whenever we wanted. The only string that was attached to us was our daughter. Everything was perfect, or so I thought until one day I was out shopping. Pregnant couples appeared everywhere. Holding hands, kissing, and giving each other that look. The look of love, joy, and happiness. I felt like a pregnant fraud. Alone, unworthy and scared. Maybe it was the hormones. Maybe it was the fact that I wanted more in my life now. Or maybe it was because I’d fallen in love with Lucas, and I knew he couldn’t return the favor. I couldn’t tell him how I felt because I wouldn’t risk damaging our friendship. I hadn’t heard from Bri since that day we talked on the street. Obviously, she was still in the grips of her controlling douchebag boyfriend. If I tried to reach out to her, it would be the same old shit. I couldn’t talk to my parents because they would tell me it was my fault for getting pregnant in the first place without being in a committed relationship. As much as I felt alone in this situation, I knew I wasn’t the only single pregnant woman out there dealing with this.
After I left the baby boutique and five hundred dollars later on a few sleepers, I stopped by the electronics store to pick up a new laptop charger. As I was there, I overheard a woman tell her friend when they walked past me that she needed to get a better microphone for her podcast. Suddenly, a lightbulb went off in my head and a smile crossed my face. I could express my feelings to the world, and nobody would have to know it was me. I was high tech, and I knew exactly how to get a podcast up and running. After I purchased everything I needed, I went back to my apartment to set up my podcast which I called Baby Drama. I went by J. Elle, instead of using my first name because I needed to be careful. Being open and raw was how I was going to record, and I wasn’t going to edit a single thing. What I said was exactly what people would hear. If anyone even listened to it. I didn’t even care if anyone listened or not because talking about how I felt and what I was going through helped me. When I finished recording and speaking from my heart, I uploaded the content, shut my laptop down and went to bed.
The next morning, I slid into the back of the car and said good morning to Thaddeus. Lucas hadn’t come down yet, and I was surprised. He was never late. A few moments later, the door opened, and Lucas climbed in next to me.
“Late night?” I arched my brow at him.
“Pretty much.”
I couldn’t help but wonder if he was with someone last night. He said he was going to JAMS to hang with Danny. A place where temptation was uncontrollable.
“I have a doctor’s appointment this afternoon. Would you like to come with me?” I asked.
“I can’t, Jenna.” He glanced over at me. “I have a very busy day.”
Disappointment shot through me because he’d never been to any of my appointments.
“Sure. I understand.” I gave him a small smile.
“Maybe next time,” he said. “How was your day yesterday?”
“It was good. I did some shopping and picked up some adorable sleepers from this cute little baby boutique over on Lexington.”
“And what did you do last night?”
“Oh, not much. I just pretty much laid around and watched TV.” I lied.
“It sounds like you had a nice and relaxing evening.” His lips gave way to a sexy smile.
“It definitely was.” I bit down on my bottom lip as I looked out the window.
I was sitting at my desk when I decided to take a small break from working and check my podcast stats. My eyes literally popped out of my head when I saw I’d already had over six hundred downloads and loads of comments in less than twenty-four hours. Listeners seemed to love what I had to say and they wanted more.
It was time to head out for my doctor’s appointment, so I grabbed my purse and left. As I was sitting in the waiting room, I looked around at the four other women who were sitting there with their partners, and that feeling began to creep up inside me again.
Chapter 24
Lucas
“Mr. Thorne, your father is on line one for you,” my secretary spoke through the intercom.
Rolling my eyes, I thanked her and picked up the phone.
“Dad, how are you?”
“I’m well, son. I wanted to let you know I’m flying back to New York in a couple days, and I’ve decided to stay.”
A knot formed in the pit of my stomach.
“For how long?”
“I’m not sure yet.”
“What about the Paris offices?”
“I put Jarod in charge. He’s more than capable of keeping things in order here while I’m gone.”
“Is there a reason why you’re coming back?”
“Do I need a reason to come back to my goddamn company?” he snapped.
“No. You don’t. I was just wondering—”
“You can stop wondering. I’ll see you in a couple days.” He ended the call.
Just what I fucking needed.
“Laurel, tell Jenna I need to see her.”
“Of course, Mr. Thorne.
A few moments later, Laurel came over the intercom.
“She’s not in her office, and I can’t seem to find her.”
“All right. Thank you.”
Picking up my cell phone, I sent her a text message.
“Where are you?”
“At my doctor’s appointment.”
“Sorry. I forgot. Dinner tonight?”
“I can’t. I have plans.”
“Doing what?”
“I just have plans. Do I question you when you say you have plans?”
“Are you coming back after your appointment?”
“Yes.”
“Come straight to my office.”
She didn’t respond. What plans would she have and with whom? I was pissed off as it was that my father decided to come back to New York, and now I was even more pissed that she turned me down for dinner tonight.
About thirty minutes later, Jenna walked into my office.
“You wanted to see me?”
I narrowed my eye at her because I could tell she was in a mood.
“My father called earlier to let me know he’s coming back to New York and that he’s staying for a while.”
“Shit. Why is he doing that? And for how long?”
“I have no idea. Has he been in contact with you since he left?”
“No. I haven’t heard a word from him.”
“I guess we’ll just have to see how things go when he gets here. That’s all. I’m sure you have work to catch up on since you were gone.”