“Lauren?”
It was Peggy’s voice.
“I’m fine!” I called out. “Coming!”
“Need you out here,” Peggy said.
I hurried to the door, needing to cover all my tracks.
I opened the door and let out a breath. “Sorry. My breakfast isn’t settling well.”
Peggy touched my cheeks. She made a face. “Hmm…”
“What?”
“Nothing. You okay?”
“Perfect,” I said. “We need to get a new smell in there. The mango is too much.”
“Right,” she said. “The mango… it’s too much…”
* * *
Every time I wiped my hands on my apron, I touched my stomach.
To me, I was already huge. I was ten months pregnant, if that were a real thing.
Is that a real thing? Ten months? Can you stay pregnant that long? What about stretch marks? Are they real? Do they unstretch? What about… after the baby comes out of my… you know… does it look different? Feel different? Will a guy want to sleep with a single mom? Of course, they will. They’re guys. Guys will fuck anyone with a pulse…
I shut my eyes and took a breath.
My brain was split into two parts now.
One side the kind and loving motherly side. The side that thought about my body, the baby, the nursery, little outfits and a little apron with the cafe’s name and logo on it. The other side of my brain suddenly felt like a wild and crazy twenty-one year-old again. Worried about my body and how it would look during and after pregnancy. And then suddenly this urge to have sex. Like lots of it too.
My heart pounded in my chest as I worked through the busiest part of our day.
When the calmness finally came, I stood at the counter and looked across the open floor.
There was literally nobody in the cafe.
I put my head back and took a deep breath.
I told Asher… and if he needed proof, I had the…
All color left my face.
My heart sped up more than ever.
I spun around and looked toward the bathroom.
The pregnancy test.
I left it in the bathroom.
I had been distracted by my thoughts and then needing to throw up.
“Fuck,” I whispered.
I made it two steps before Peggy appeared.
I looked her in the eyes and she had that motherly look about her.
Before I could say a word to her, she reached into her apron and took out the pregnancy test.
Then I did the dumbest thing possible.
I blurted out, “It’s not mine!”
* * *
“It’s definitely mine,” I whispered as I lowered my head to the counter.
Peggy rubbed my back. “I knew three days ago.”
I lifted my head. “What?”
Peggy laughed. “I’ve seen everything. You’re changing already.”
I touched my stomach. “I am?”
“Not there,” Peggy said. “The look in your eyes. Your cheeks are glowing. Everything about you screams pregnant.”
“Pregnant?” Marissa asked. “Who’s pregnant?”
I grabbed the pregnancy test and tossed it through the air.
You know, it was just my life… my entire future…
“What?” Marissa asked. “Who’s is this?”
“Peggy’s,” I said.
“Really? You can get pregnant still?”
“How old do you think I am?” Peggy asked.
I snorted. “Sorry…”
“Yeah, okay, maybe I technically can’t get pregnant,” Peggy said. “Doesn’t mean I still can’t-”
“Wait,” Marissa said. Her eyes moved to me. “That means you…”
“Wow,” I said. “Process of elimination, huh?”
Marissa’s jaw dropped. “Oh… wow…”
“Thanks,” I said. “That’s the reaction I need.”
“Wait a second,” Marissa said. “Tell me…” Her eyes went wide. “It’s his.”
“Huh?” I asked.
“Who?” Peggy asked.
“That guy,” Marissa said. “The super-hot guy. The douchebag.”
“Glad you connect super-hot with douchebag,” I said.
“Well, he was,” Marissa said. “Total jerk. Asshole. Moron. But my god he was fucking gorgeous. I’d ride him-”
“Stop,” Peggy said. “Not in front of the baby.”
I shook my head. “The baby…”
“You got pregnant by that guy.”
“Asher,” I said.
“Asher,” Marissa said.
“Yeah,” I said. “He’s the one.”
“He’s not going to be a good father.”
“Marissa!” Peggy snapped.
“She’s right,” I said. “I’ve already started to make my peace with it.”
“You can’t just accept that,” Peggy said.
“You don’t know this guy,” I said. “Trust me. He’s been a pain in my ass since I was a little girl.”
“You shouldn’t have let him near your ass a month ago,” Marissa said. “Then this wouldn’t have happened.”
I curled my lip. “And that’s what my best friend says to me?”
“This is madness,” Marissa said. “I thought you were on the pill?”
“Sort of,” I said.
Marissa put the pregnancy test down on the counter. She looked across the counter at me. Then she slowly smiled.
“What?”
“You’re going to be a mom.”
“I am,” I whispered.
“A great one,” Peggy said. “Don’t worry about all of this right now. Life isn’t like on TV.”
“Yeah, well, I could use a commercial break right about now,” I said with a weak laugh.
“We have your back,” Marissa said. She reached for my hand. “Think about where you are right now. You own your own business. You’re successful. And having a baby here will be the cutest thing ever. Maybe it’s not perfect, but nothing is.”
“Hmm,” Peggy said.
“What?” I asked her.
“You said something about a commercial break,” she said. “How about a plot twist instead?”
“What the hell does that mean?” Marissa asked.
Peggy pointed, and I looked.
I gasped.
Then Peggy said, “Looks like the baby’s father is here… and he’s drunk."
14
(Asher)
NOW
I had it all figured out.
Belittle Jessie until he cried like the punk ass he was. Then head over to the strip club and find Ember. As long as Dougie was there counting the cash from the night before, he’d open the bar for me. Three or four shots, my hands feeling loose and loving on Ember’s tight body, and then we’d head out to my truck and spend a little time there. I’d fuck her until she screamed my name so loud the thoughts in my head would go away. I’d kiss her in every place deemed forbidden because if it was wrong, it would stick in my mind and chase away everything else.
Whatever came after that didn’t fucking matter.
This was about one thing at a time.
As I let Jessie have it for fucking up spark plugs, he threw a wrench to the concrete floor and quit.
Jared chased him down, but it was no use.
I told Jared he didn’t really quit.
Jared called me an asshole.
So, I left.
Dougie was counting the cash and I had three drinks. Then a fourth. And a fifth.
Ember wanted nothing to do with me.
Starlynn was there in super short shorts and a hoodie that was cut at the bottom, the ends of the sleeves, and the neck on purpose. Her hair was pulled back tight and without the makeup and the glitter, she was a different woman.
So different that when I grabbed the back of her left leg, she slapped me in the face. Then she smiled, kissed my cheek, and told me to fuck myself.
I laugh
ed.
I told myself I was in love with her.
But I wasn’t.
I wasn’t in love with Starlynn. Or Ember.
Or the booze.
Or anything.
That’s when I had to face the reality.
I had gotten Lauren pregnant.
The dorky innocent girl next door.
The woman with curves and an attitude who owned a little cafe.
That night with her…
Fuck.
I didn’t let that kind of shit get to me. Ever. Whether the sex was good, bad, or in between, I never let it get to me. I never let it linger. I never replayed it in my mind. If it was that good, I’d just go back for more.
But I didn’t do that with Lauren.
Why? Why the fuck didn’t you go back?
“Hey, you’re a little tuned up here,” Dougie said to me. “You have to drink some water or soda, Asher. Can’t have you causing trouble just yet.”
I pushed away a glass of soda and wobbled my way to the front door of the strip club.
They all knew me.
My name.
My reputation.
I lived up to everything they all thought.
But they didn’t know what was in my head. Or my heart.
Me? A father?
That couldn’t have been possible.
That was one thing I made sure of.
I always… always…
I managed to get to my truck before I admitted to myself what I had done.
With Lauren, I had wanted her. All of her. I had let the night and the memories really get the best of me. Meaning the condoms I always had on hand were left in the pocket of my jeans. Meaning I didn’t even bother to ask her if she had taken care of herself.
Meaning we both, together, had made a decision…
I looked at my truck and put the keys into my back pocket.
“Fuck,” I growled.
Now suddenly something like driving after a few drinks bothered me.
Because I was going to be a father.
No.
Yes.
I needed more answers.
I needed a ride to Lauren’s cafe.
* * *
When I saw Lauren, my eyes looked to her belly.
Tucked under the black apron and obviously under her shirt.
It drove me mad to think about it.
There was life there?
This was really happening?
The way Lauren and the other two at the counter stared, they all knew.
“Marissa, why don’t we go check on those invoices?” the older woman asked.
“Right,” Marissa said.
She had been the cute one who took my coffee order.
Lauren didn’t move from behind the counter. She folded her arms, under her breasts, making their beautiful figure known even through the apron.
Before I could say a word, I saw the pregnancy test on the counter.
Just sitting there like a leftover dollar bill or a dirty napkin.
“I wasn’t lying,” she said. “If that’s what you are thinking. Or implying. And I’m not a whore. You were the only… I mean, not the only…” she did air quotes as her cheeks turned red. “But, you know, the only for that time…”
“You’re pregnant,” I said.
“Yeah. I am.”
I stared at her. She tried to hold herself tough, but she was scared.
This was my moment to be some kind of fucking hero for her. To stand as tall as I really was. To grab her hand and tell her we were going to figure this out, together. To reassure her that I wasn’t going to just take off and leave her high and dry.
But the thing was… I wasn’t a knight in white armor coming to save the day. I wasn’t a fucking hero. I never tried to be. I never wanted to be.
“So, what’s the plan?” I asked.
“What does that mean?”
“You’re pregnant. We should have a plan. Figure this out.”
“Figure what out, Asher? I’m having a baby. Your baby. There is nothing to figure out.”
I laughed. “I’m not going to ask you to marry me, sweetheart.”
“I didn’t suggest that. I wouldn’t marry you. I’m sort of regretting even calling you.”
“Yeah? Then why did you?”
She had no response.
I looked at the pregnancy test again.
“And you’re sure it’s mine?” I asked.
“Fuck you, Asher,” she spat at me.
I watched her walk away.
“You already did that,” I called out.
The cute girl - Marissa - appeared. She looked at me with a fiery hate in her eyes.
That didn’t bother me at all.
“How about a coffee?” I asked.
“Are you drunk?” she asked.
“Possibly.”
“Did you drive here?”
“Not your business.”
Marissa decided to play the game Ignore Asher.
So, I stumbled my way around to the back of the counter.
“Hey! You can’t come back here!”
I laughed. “Not the first time a woman’s said that to me.”
Marissa instantly blushed. “I’m serious. Get out of here.”
I grabbed a black coffee mug and reached for the coffee.
“The way I see it… I sort of own the place now.”
“How so?” Marissa asked.
“I knocked up the owner. So, what’s hers is mine. Right?”
Marissa looked ready to attack me as I poured the coffee.
I took a sip. “Not bad. Not great either.”
“You’re an asshole,” Marissa said.
“I can fire you,” I said as I jumped up on the counter.
“Get off that counter!” a voice yelled at me.
“Peggy, just ignore him,” Marissa said.
Peggy wasn’t having it.
She was in mama bear mode as she charged at me.
She reminded me of someone I once knew.
“You, stupid drunk man,” Peggy said. “You hurt that woman back there and I’ll take you out. I’m old enough to appreciate jail. I’ll get to spend my last years behind bars thinking about the look on your face when you realized you messed with the wrong woman.”
I moved off the counter and put the coffee down.
Peggy was short but fierce.
“I showed up,” I said.
“Drunk,” Peggy said.
“If you only knew…” I started to laugh.
“Get out of here,” Peggy said.
I looked to my left and saw Lauren in the walkway to the back of the cafe.
Staring at me.
Those black frames on her face.
Her hair messy from working.
She was pretty. She was beautiful.
Being tied to me though? That was a mistake. That was a big problem. She knew too much about me. But not everything. I was supposed to be the one-night fantasy. Or the casual wild fuck.
Not a father.
Not a family.
Maybe it would hurt a little bit now…
… but it would be a lot less pain later with me gone now.
15
(Lauren)
NOW
Every morning I would wake up and reach across the bed thinking some kind of different reality was waiting for me. But it was the same.
My bed was just me.
Well, me and the baby, actually.
So, I’d reach across the bed, sort of hoping and wishing Asher was there, only to end up reaching down and touching my belly.
The hardest part now was not being able to feel the baby.
I had a small bump.
It had happened randomly overnight one night.
It was really small and hard to see, especially with my apron on.
But it was there.
The baby was there.
I thought maybe once I felt the baby kick …, but it was probably too early for that
. When I looked it up online, people said it could feel like a fluttering feeling at first.
The morning sickness was still right on cue.
I could time it down to the minute, which was really strange.
Apparently, morning sickness could last the entire pregnancy.
Something really great to look forward to.
After Peggy kicked Asher out of the cafe, I didn’t hear from him for three days. From there, it was just texts. Random texts, usually at like three in the morning, asking if I was okay. Or how I was feeling. Or how the baby was doing.
As though Asher needed all that whiskey and regret to finally show a sliver of his heart.
I only responded with either the letter K or a thumbs up emoji. Because all I could think about was what he was doing at that time. I was always fast asleep by three in the morning because I had a business to run and because pregnancy made me tired. Not to mention the stress of wondering what to do with it all. How to survive. What the plan was actually going to be for me and the baby.
For Asher… three in the morning… was he fucking some stripper? Was he dead drunk in his truck with another woman?
It shouldn’t have mattered to me, but it did.
I hated that it mattered.
I hated that he text like that too.
Either be in or go away.
Which was where this thing was going to end up going.
I kept my days busy and kept them moving as fast as I could. Telling people I was pregnant was not what I ever thought it would be. Ever. Because telling people and having them realize that I wasn’t dating, in a relationship, engaged, married, blah blah… that made their look of joy turn into a look of worry or worse yet, sadness. Like they instantly pictured me drunk and horny, bent over the bathroom sink at some dive bar, getting knocked up by a guy I would never remember.
And in some ways, when I thought about Asher, that story wasn’t all that bad.
Because explaining Asher was next to impossible.
So, I played it off by laughing and saying it was quite the surprise but I was so happy.
Which I was.
I was happy.
I would love the baby with all my heart and soul.
Everything else…
Just like always with Asher - he made everything a gigantic mess.
* * *
He needs you
Those three words from a random number changed the course of my night.
LUCKY KISS Page 7
