Bridesmaid for Hire

by Chance Carter

  She offered me a tight smile as she left her office to go home, and I smiled broadly back. Her new position had been stressful for her, and I knew a night out, just the two of us, would put the pieces back together for us.

  I sent a car to pick her up from her apartment. I wanted to make everything about this night perfect.

  I sat in the restaurant, waiting for her to arrive, and drummed my fingers on the table, glancing around. The waitresses were shooting me looks that suggested they thought I had been stood up. They were wrong. She would be coming. She wouldn’t stand me up. Would she?

  Suddenly, the door opened, and I got to my feet. The place was small. There were only a handful of other diners there, and a few of them looked up to see what the commotion was about. Mona looked gorgeous. She wore a floaty, turquoise dress I had never seen before, and it skimmed over her perfect body in ways that made me want to run my hands all over her.

  She smiled nervously when she saw me and tucked a stray wave of hair behind her ear as she made her way over to our table. I pulled out her chair for her, and she sat down, glancing up at me in thanks.

  “This place is nice,” she said, glancing around. “Not your usual kind of place, though.”

  “Why not?” I asked as a waitress arrived to hand us our menus.

  She waved her hand around, searching for the right words.

  “I don’t know. Not grand enough for you.”

  “I’m not all about big spectacles, you know.”

  I cocked my head to the side and smiled.

  “There’s something I do need to tell you.”

  She held her hand up as she examined her menu.

  “Let me get some food in me first.”

  She glanced up at me, and I saw that smile that I realized I’d been missing in the last few weeks.

  “You’ll need a full stomach,” I teased.

  “Sure what you want to tell me won’t turn it?” she shot back. “Everything looks so good. What do you usually have?”

  “As much as I can fit,” I replied. “Shall we get a selection of dishes so you can try a bunch?”

  “That sounds perfect,” she agreed.

  “And a bottle of wine?” I asked, gesturing for the waitress to come over.

  Mona shifted uncomfortable in her seat.

  “No, no wine for me, thanks,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m not drinking at the moment.

  “Whatever you want,” I said. “You mind if I have a glass?”

  “Of course not, go ahead.”

  I ordered, and a short while later, the food was sitting out in front of us, a spread fit for a king.

  She looked down at it, closed her eyes, and inhaled deeply.

  “Wow, it smells so good,” she sighed as she began to dig in. “I’m starving.”

  I watched her for a moment, the woman I loved, and I was so pleased that I had good news to share with her. It felt as though everything up until this point had been leading to this very moment.

  I took a deep breath and she looked up at me, curiously.

  “So,” she began, sensing that this was the moment. “What is it you brought me here to tell me?”

  “I wanted to make sure everything was perfect.” I grinned at her. “I wanted everything to be in place when I told you.”

  “Told me what?”

  She cocked her head at me and I took a deep breath, smiling at the news I was about to deliver.

  “I don’t know where to start,” I said and shook my head. “I broke everything off with all the women I was seeing, every single one. Not that I was really with any of them in the first place, at least not when we got together, but I closed off those doors, once and for all.”

  “Is that what…” she began, a look of understanding dawning on her face. “Is that what those appointments were in your schedule? You were just meeting with them to break things off?”

  “Of course,” I replied, furrowing my brow. “What did you think they were?”

  “I thought…I thought you were still seeing them. I thought you were dating them at the same time you were dating me.”

  “Oh no! Of course I wasn’t.” I reached across the table to take her hand. “As soon as we got together, I knew you were the only one for me. I was certain.”

  “Whew,” she breathed, shaking her head and looking down at the table.

  I squeezed her hand, looking for a reaction, and she squeezed back after a moment’s pause. I smiled and went on.

  “And I told Neil.”

  Her eyes bugged out of her head, and her mouth opened in surprise.

  “You told him?” she gasped, as though she couldn’t quite believe it herself.

  “Of course I did,” I nodded. “After what happened with Jeannie…”

  “She called me, you know,” Mona interrupted, and my stomach flipped. “She called me before we got together, and she told me that no matter what, I shouldn’t fall for you.”

  “Seriously?” I widened my eyes. “She should never have been able to get a hold of you. There’s a restraining order.”

  “And I knew I should have listened to her, but I couldn’t resist.” she said, half-chuckling to herself.

  “It was different with her,” I assured her. “It was never like it was with you. That’s why Neil was so against us being together, because he thought I’d just be repeating what happened last time.”

  “And are you?”

  She looked at me, eyes nervous.

  “No, never,” I replied at once. “Jeannie and I never got this far. I never felt for her the way I do for you, not even close. I regret everything that happened between her and me, and that’s why I held off on going after you for so long.”

  “You didn’t want to do it again,” she finished for me. “And what did Neil have to say about it?”

  “Neil…” I trailed off, not sure how to finish the sentence. “Neil wasn’t happy about it at first, but he’s turned around. No one else at the company knows, but he does, and he’s fine with it, and that’s all that matters.”

  “I guess if both the owners approve…”

  She shot me one of her irresistible, mischievous smiles.

  “Yeah, basically,” I laughed.

  “How did you convince Neil?” she asked, running her finger around the rim of her glass. “He doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who’d be easily swayed.”

  “I told him that I loved you,” I replied, bluntly, and her finger came to a complete halt.

  She looked up at me, her jaw slowly dropping, as though a thousand words were hanging at the opening of her luscious lips. It seemed as though everything around us had come to a sudden and complete halt, the waitresses slowing, the other diners quieting, even the flicker of the candles suddenly growing distant and muted.

  The entire world held its breath as I waited for her to answer, and then, at last, she did.

  “I love you too,” she murmured, as though it was a revelation. She looked up at me and repeated herself. “I love you too.”

  I leaned across the table, unable to restrain myself any longer, and planted a firm kiss on the corner of her mouth. She squeezed my hand again, as though she never wanted to let go, and when I pulled back, I saw her eyes sparkling with tears.

  “Is everything all right?” I asked, frowning as she quickly swiped her hand along her face to dash the tears away.

  “Yeah, it’s fine, it’s perfect,” she assured me, looking down at her food as though eating it was the last thing on her mind at that moment.

  She inhaled a long, shaky breath, as though she was about to deliver some disturbing news.

  “There’s something I have to tell you.”

  She forced herself to look up into my eyes, and I felt my stomach flip.

  What was it? Was there someone else? Did she have a secret life she had neglected to tell me about? Was everything about to change, just as I’d arrived at the place I wanted to be?

  “What is it?” I asked, my grip tightening
on her hand as though I was afraid she might slip away if I let go.

  “I’m pregnant.”

  Chapter 25

  Mona

  All I could feel as the words escaped from my mouth were two things, complete panic and the grip of his hand on mine.

  He stared at me for a moment, his face blank. Then shock passed over his face, followed by fear, followed by a series of emotions I wasn’t skilled enough to decipher.

  He looked away from me, the food in front of us forgotten, and I realized I was holding my breath as I waited for him to respond.

  Oh, please don’t let this be the end of us. Not after everything. Not after all you’ve done.

  “Pregnant,” he repeated the word, as though testing out how it sounded on his lips. “You’re pregnant?”

  “Yes,” I whispered, hoping no one around us was privy to our conversation. This was too personal, too much for anyone else to hear.

  “But we…”

  He shook his head.

  “We always used condoms. I was always safe.”

  “I know, that’s what I thought,” I sighed. “But they’re not one hundred percent effective. Nothing is. It can happen.”

  “I know that, I just…”

  He shook his head again like he was trying to reboot his brain so he could better make sense of what was going on.

  Are you sure it’s mine?”

  “It couldn’t have been anyone else’s,” I replied. “You’re the only guy I’ve been with since I started work for you.”

  “How far are you along?” he asked, as he tried to give shape to the rest of the questions he knew he had to ask.

  “A few weeks, at most,” I replied. “I only found out a couple of weeks ago.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me before?” he asked, his voice dropping slightly. “Why didn’t you tell me as soon as you found out?”

  “I didn’t know how,” I replied, truthfully, and then paused, wondering if I should tell him the next bit.

  “And I thought you were still dating all those women,” I admitted. “I thought I was just… I thought you were just keeping me around for fun. And I didn’t want you to think I was pushing you to commit to me by making this up.”

  “My mind would never have gone there,” he replied, stoically, but I could see the panic in his eyes. “So what do we do?”

  “What do you want to do?” I asked nervously.

  “Have you thought about it?” he asked, cocking his head. “Have you decided what you want to do with the baby?”

  “Yes,” I nodded, breathless. “But I want your answer. Before I give you mine. Just tell me.”

  He stared at me for a long while, and I shifted in my seat, laying my hand on my stomach as I did so. I knew it was way too early to feel the baby move, but in my head, I pretended I could, pretended it was reaching out its hand to comfort me in this time of need.

  “I want it,” he replied, slowly lifting his gaze to meet mine.

  I let out a long breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding, and it felt as though my entire body was relaxing after spending two weeks wound up like a top.

  I thought back to sitting alone on that bathroom floor, staring at the pregnancy test, knowing my life had changed forever.

  I remembered wanting to unwrap time to make it not so, and I remembered slowly, but surely, coming to terms with the fact I wanted this baby, no matter how he felt about it.

  Now, I would remember this moment as part of that. The moment Oliver told me he wanted the baby, that he wanted me, and that he loved me. That he had gone out on a limb and risked his business and his relationship with Neil, just to make sure we could be together.

  As dates went, it was one of the better ones. I laughed out loud, and he managed to crack a smile, although he still looked a little shaky on his feet.

  “What is it?” he asked, and I shook my head and covered my mouth.

  “I know it’s…” I trailed off, searching for the words. “This has just been a lot, that’s all. I guess the hormones are making me emotional.”

  “Or the… emotions are?” he teased gently, nudging his knees against mine beneath the table. “Is that why you were so off the last couple of weeks? Because you knew about this and didn’t want to tell me about it?”

  “Partly, yeah,” I nodded, the giggles settling down at last. “I thought you were inviting me out tonight so you could dump me for good.”

  “You think I’d spring for a table here just so I could dump you?” he shot back playfully. “I’d have picked somewhere much less fancy than this.”

  “Noted,” I managed with an enormous grin breaking over my face. “So, if we ever end up in a crappy, roadside diner…”

  “Then you’ll know what’s coming,” he replied. “Unless we are on that road trip that you always wanted to go on.”

  “The one I wanted for my honeymoon?” I confirmed, and he nodded.

  “Well, we’ve got plenty of time for that.”

  He laced his fingers through mine across the table, and suddenly I felt a very different kind of appetite wake up somewhere deep inside me. I saw a flash in his eyes that told me he felt it too. It had been a long time since we’d last hooked up, and I had to admit, I missed it a whole lot more than I thought I would.

  “Shall we get out of here?” he asked, and I looked over the array of food we had barely touched.

  “Let’s eat first,” I suggested. “Make sure we’ve got all the energy we need.”

  “Sounds good.”

  He grinned, releasing my hand and turning his attention to the pile of food in front of us.

  “We’re going to need it.”

  We ate quickly and spent the whole time talking about the food, the restaurant, the business, and things that all normal couples shared with each other on a regular basis.

  It felt so good, I could have burst into tears with joy. I had never realized just how comforting and wonderful a normal life could be when I gave it a chance. This felt so, so right.

  We finished up, and he paid. He rang for a cab before we headed outside. He asked that it take us to his place, just like I was hoping.

  “It’s been so long since I was at your apartment,” I said as he snaked his arms around me from behind.

  He let his hands rest on my belly, and for a moment, all carnal thought dropped out of my head as I considered the depth of it. Our baby, the baby we were going to have and raise together.

  He kissed my neck gently, and it sent the most delicious shiver up my spine. He still knew exactly how I liked to be touched.

  I tilted my head back to look up at him, and he stared back down at me, and finally, after what felt like a lifetime, he leaned down to kiss me. I turned around to press my body full-on against his, to feel his strong chest against mine. It had been so long since we’d kissed like this, with intention, and I loved the way it felt.

  He slipped his tongue into my mouth and met mine, and it was like we were talking without words, exchanging all the things we’d wanted to say so badly over the last few weeks but hadn’t been able to.

  I’m not sure how long we stood out on that street kissing, but it felt like the stars and moon had vanished, and the sun had risen a thousand times by the time we pulled apart. He leaned down to kiss me lightly one last time on the lips, and then looked up to see the car coming.

  “Let’s get you home,” he murmured, pulling open the door for me as the car came to a stop next to us.

  “Ever the gentleman,” I teased.

  “Not for long, if I can help it,” he breathed in response, quiet enough that only I could hear him.

  He leaned forward to give the driver the address and reached over to tuck a hand between my thighs. There was something possessive about the gesture, but I didn’t mind that one bit. It was what I had wanted all along.

  It didn’t matter who saw him touch me like that because he was allowed. No one could stop us now, and the thought was invigorating. No hiding from everyone,
no ducking all the people we knew for fear that our secret might get out. Now, the only thing we had to discuss was when we were going to tell people I was pregnant.

  We arrived back at his apartment, and he helped me out of the car.

  “I’m perfectly capable of moving by myself, you know,” I grumbled, good-naturedly, and he shrugged.

  “Just practicing for when you’re the size of a house,” he teased, and I brushed his hand away.

  “If you say anything like that to me again,” I warned playfully, “I’m going to head up to my parents’ house for the length of this pregnancy, and that’ll be that.”

  “Suits me,” he teased, and we stepped into the elevator that led to his penthouse apartment.

  We exchanged a little look, our expectant, excited expressions reflected dozens of times in the glass that surrounded us. I wanted to kiss him again, but before I knew it, we’d arrived in his apartment, the elevator doors opening onto the sleek space.

  He leaned down and scooped me up, making me squeal, and I wrapped my arms around his neck for support. It felt appropriate, him carrying me like this, because since we’d hooked up in London, it felt as though my feet hadn’t hit the ground once.

  He carried me to the bedroom and lay me down carefully on the bed. This time felt different from the rough, hard sex we’d indulged in since London, and the softness of his touch was making my heart beat almost painfully hard against my chest. Something about the gentleness was just as tantalizing as the rough times.

  He grabbed me by the hips and pulled me forward, down the bed, so that my legs were dangling off the edge. He placed his hands on either side of me so he could kiss me once more. It was an almost chaste kiss. As our lips met, he slipped his hand between my thighs and under my panties, finding my clit in one swift motion and making me gasp and lift my head from the covers, pressing into the kiss even further.

  He let his hand trail down slightly and pushed his fingers inside me. I was already wet, and he entered me with ease. I lifted my hips to make the penetration easier and let my head fall back so he could kiss my neck, kiss down my throat, kiss toward my breasts until his face was buried in my cleavage.