“Okay.” He tried to keep his calm. “We need to get you to the hospital.”
“It’s too soon,” she said, sobbing. “The baby’s not due yet.”
“Maybe not, but if he’s ready, then we need to be at the hospital.”
“Not until the eighth,” she insisted. “That’s when he can be born. Not until the eighth.”
Baz ignored her ranting and went in search of the suitcase he knew she’d already packed for the hospital. He found it in her bedroom at the foot of her bed. When he turned to leave, his gaze snagged on the wall where she had a couple dozen pictures of him pinned up. They looked to be candid shots, taken when he wasn’t paying attention. All here in her apartment, several from when he was getting in or out of his truck in the parking lot, taken through the window blinds.
Frowning, he stepped closer, noticed she had Photoshopped a couple of them so that they looked to be together. One shows her kissing him on the lips.
Oh, boy.
That had never happened.
There was also a framed and decorated sign with the words:
Sebastian and Molly Buchanan
married 2021
Love for eternity
Holy shit.
She really was delusional.
Pretending he hadn’t seen any of that, Baz returned to find Molly holding on to the wall, her other hand curled tightly around her protruding belly.
He helped her out into the hall, closed and locked the door behind them. A few minutes later, she was in the passenger seat of his truck, her gaze scanning the interior as though she was looking for something. Her entire demeanor had shifted. Gone was the panicked, freaked-out mother-to-be, in her place a calm, assessing planner.
“We’ll need to get an SUV,” she said with a smile. “Something that’ll be easier for me to get the car seat in and out of.”
Baz cocked an eyebrow and peered over at her.
It was then he realized Molly Ryan was more than hormonal or unhinged.
She was quite possibly batshit crazy.
*
JJ stared blankly at the phone as she set it on her desk.
Now that the team had solidified the travel plans, everyone had dispersed, and they’d shifted their attention back to how they wanted to rearrange now that Allison wouldn’t be returning to the task force. Downstairs she could hear Holly and Becs chatting about who would sit where, which direction the desks should be facing. It all faded away as Baz’s words repeated in her head: She’s actin’ crazy. Said she wouldn’t have the baby if I didn’t marry her today.
Marry her.
Not for the life of her had JJ considered that might be an option for Baz. Even knowing he would forever be tied to the other woman, JJ’s mind had never considered marriage.
Of course, he’d just told her he wouldn’t marry Molly, but that was now. He was a good man, one of the best she knew. He was a stand-up guy, a true gentleman. Would he change his mind one day? Be with Molly for the baby’s sake?
JJ pressed her hand to her stomach. The thought of Baz marrying anyone caused an ache she couldn’t ignore.
He’d never mentioned it before. From what she knew, the relationship between him and Molly was strictly platonic, had been since that one and only night they’d been together. And she believed him.
He’d said he wouldn’t, she reminded herself. No sense in jumping ahead of herself.
This was all Molly. The woman who called and texted him three dozen times a day, always asking where he was, who he was with. JJ wasn’t sure how Baz could stand it. He had to turn his phone off otherwise he couldn’t get through a simple meal without an interruption.
“Do you want a say in what’s—”
JJ looked up, her thoughts interrupted by Brantley’s voice. “What?”
“Everything okay?”
She glanced down at her phone, back up to her boss. “That was Baz. He said…” JJ cleared her throat. “He has to go to Molly’s. Said to let you know.”
“Somethin’ wrong with the baby?”
JJ shrugged. “I don’t think so. I…” She shrugged again.
“Well, let me know if there’s anything we can do.” Brantley motioned toward the downstairs. “If he can’t make it to Dallas, you can ride with us if you’d like.”
JJ nodded. She hadn’t even considered that Baz might not go. They were sharing a hotel room, which meant if he wasn’t there, she would be sleeping alone. It would be the first time since… God, she didn’t want to think about that right now.
Brantley cleared his throat, motioned toward the main floor. “You want to weigh in on this once and for all?”
Forcing her thoughts away from Baz, JJ shook her head, smiled. “Nope. That’s why I’m up here and they’re down there.” She canted her head. “Did Allison really quit?”
“That’s what her email said.”
“And you’re just gonna let her?”
Brantley snorted. “What people do or don’t do isn’t somethin’ I can control. Nor do I want to.”
JJ just found it strange that this woman, one no one wanted to hire in the first place—no one but Brantley—would up and quit on day one.
“I’m sure Luca’s grateful for you lettin’ him hide up here,” Brantley said, glancing over at the desk Luca had commandeered.
Initially, JJ had been against sharing a space with Luca, but when she realized they worked well together, she’d conceded, but only if he promised to stay on his side of the loft. So far, he’d turned out to be a decent office mate. He didn’t eat at his desk, didn’t leave dirty cups or trash.
In a word, he was tolerable.
JJ spent the next hour pretending to work while constantly looking at her phone, waiting for Baz to call. She was on the verge of chewing her fingernails when her phone finally rang, the sound making her jump.
“Hey,” she greeted, her heart suddenly in her throat. “Everything okay?”
“No.”
At least his voice was calm.
“What’s wrong?”
“I had to bring Molly to the hospital. She went into labor.”
“So soon?” JJ sat up straight. “Isn’t it too early?”
“She’s thirty-seven weeks, so I don’t know. We’re waiting for the doctor to get here, to do an exam.”
“Okay.” JJ fought to draw air into her lungs. “Do you want me … us … to come up there?”
Baz’s voice lowered significantly. “I can’t ask you to do that, JJ.”
“You didn’t,” she said. “I offered.”
And she honest-to-God hoped he turned her down. Although she wanted to be there for Baz, JJ wasn’t sure she would survive seeing him with Molly and their baby. Even thinking about it made her heart crack wide open.
“I think it’s best I’m the only one here right now,” he said softly. “She called her mom and dad. They’re on the way. So is her sister.”
“What about your parents? Are you going to tell them?”
JJ knew Baz hadn’t told his parents that he was going to be a father. They’d discussed it over dinner one night, and he’d admitted he needed to tell them, but he was hesitant. Baz had surprised her when he followed by saying he would have a paternity test done once the baby was born to confirm it was his before he told his family. JJ had been strangely relieved, although she didn’t understand why Molly would have a reason to lie about it.