Drew looks at me and says, “Lucy, this is Katherine. My girlfriend.”
The word catches me off guard and although I have no right whatsoever to feel any kind of jealousy, I do. “Hi,” I say over the feeling in my chest, and reach out to shake her hand. “It’s nice to meet you.” I smile at her.
“Lucy? The Lucy?”
I give Drew a curious look. “I guess so.”
“I’m sorry, I just never expected to actually meet you. Now that you’re famous and all.”
“It was bound to happen eventually,” Drew says to her.
“I’m not famous,” I say quietly, shaking my head.
“Just look at you,” she says, eyeing my stomach. “How far along are you?”
“Oh, um, around seven months,” I say guardedly, and I feel Sebastian tense beside me.
“Well, you didn’t waste any time, did you?” She smiles over the insult disguised by her pleasant voice.
“So, who are you, what do you do?” Bas asks, dropping his head to the side.
“I’m Katherine Campbell.” She smiles and reaches out to shake his hand. “Second vice president of the AWC.”
He shakes her hand and squints his eyes. “I’m sorry, I don’t know that acronym.”
“The Atlanta Women’s Club.”
“Ahhh. Okay.” He presses his lips together and bobs his head. He smiles at me, then smiles at her. “Makes sense,” he says, crinkling his eyes.
“You must be Sebastian Ford. Lucy’s assistant, right?”
“I am, yes.”
“Not today. Today, he’s just my friend.” I wink at him.
“Aren’t you lucky to have him to do this sort of thing.” She glances around the store. “I bet Sam hates shopping.”
“Um…” I shake my head, unsure what to say and annoyed by her presumption.
“We should get going,” Drew says, giving me a small smile.
“Yes, we don’t want to miss our lunch reservation. I’m starving,” she says, putting her hand on her flat stomach.
“Okay,” I say, watching her wrap her long, skinny, French-manicured fingers around his arm.
He pulls away and leans in to give me a hug. I reach around him and awkwardly pat his back. But he squeezes me in his arms and says quietly, “It was really good to see you.”
“You too,” I say to him before he releases me.
“Nice meeting y’all,” Katherine says, pulling Drew away.
When they’re gone, Sebastian falls into an oversized chair and pulls me into his lap. “Oh, my God.” He puts his hand on my stomach and speaks to the baby, “Don’t worry, you never have to see that mean lady ever again.”
I laugh softly. “She wasn’t that bad.”
“She totally insulted you, and what was with that smug look? I’m president of the AWC,” he says in a high-pitched voice.
“Second vice president. Get it right.”
“Oh, pardon me.”
“Janice must love her,” I say, widening my eyes dramatically.
“Oh my God, Drew’s going to marry his mother!”
“What? Who said anything about them getting married?”
“Oh, as if Drew could escape those claws. It’s inevitable.”
“Yeah.” I shrug. “You’re probably right. But good for him. He deserves to be happy.”
“You’re right. He deserves her,” he says, smirking.
“Sebastian. You just never liked Drew—Ow!” I put my hand on my stomach, which is promptly followed by Sebastian’s.
“What is it?” he asks, alarmed.
I inhale a deep breath and put my hand over his. “Do you feel that?”
“Yeah, your stomach is like a rock.”
“It’s a contraction.”
His eyes get big and he sits up straight, moving me with him. “It’s too early for contractions,” he says, panicked.
“It’s just a Braxton Hicks, not the real thing. I’ve been getting them a lot lately. The doctor said stress can bring them on.” I raise my eyebrows at him.
“Oh. Well, I thought shopping would decrease your stress level, but clearly I’ve steered you awry. Let me make it up with lunch?”
I smile at him. “Lunch sounds good. But nowhere that takes reservations, okay?”
“Made-to-order tacos it is.”
Chapter 18
Sam
Tristan leans over and puts his hands on his knees for a few seconds to catch his breath.
I stop walking and put my hand on his shoulder. “You okay, you need to take a break?”
He shakes his head and stands back up. “No.” He starts walking again. “Doctor said I have to push myself.”
“Okay.” I walk beside him.
He smiles wide and laughs. “Who would have ever thought a walk around Piedmont Park would be pushing myself.”
“It’s been a couple of miles. Don’t be too hard on yourself.”
He puts his hand over his heart and says, “Come on, Joe, we can go a little farther.”
I look over at him. “It’s weird, isn’t it? It’s like he’s still here or something.”
“Tell me about it. I love the guy, but when Molly wants to take my clothes off, I feel like he’s in the room with us.”
“Ahh, she probably wouldn’t mind.” I smirk.
“Hey, now, don’t talk about my girl like that.”
I hold my hands up. “Sorry, sorry.”
“Speaking of girls, what’s going on with you and Lucy? You guys work everything out yet?”
“No. She’s still staying at Sebastian’s.”
“It’s been a few days now, hasn’t it? You’re okay with that?”
“No, I’m not okay with it. But what am I going to do about it? She wants some time to herself, so that’s what I’m giving her. She says stress isn’t good for the baby, and that we can start fresh when we move at the end of the month.”
“The end of the month? What about New York?”
“She said she wants to go alone.” I shrug over the disappointment digging into my heart.
“But you’re still going to go, right?”
“Not if she doesn’t want me to.”
“Sam, you have to go. She wants you to, believe me.”
I exhale a heavy breath and shake my head. “I’ve already messed things up enough with Lucy. I don’t want to overshadow her big moment in New York by making my first public appearance since the fight. Any media attention she gets should be about her, not about me losing to Crawford, especially when all anyone wants to do is give me crap about it. She doesn’t need that kind of negativity right now.”
Tristan stops walking and stands in front of me. “That sounds like an excuse to me.”
“What?”
“You lost a fight, Sam. Get over it already. Everybody else has. Including the media.” He gives me an unapologetic look and shrugs. “Shit happens. But it’s over now. You know why you lost that fight. You didn’t have Joe, you didn’t have me, you let that Torino guy get inside your head, and it fucked you up. But he’s gone now. Now you’ve got me,” he says confidently.