by Sandi Lynn
“You’re going to need this,” she said.
I furrowed my brows at her as I held the scotch in my hand.
“You may want to sit down on the couch.”
“For the love of God, Jenna. Just tell me whatever it is you have to tell me,” I spoke in an irritated tone.
“Your father knows you’re the baby daddy.”
“WHAT!” he shouted as he fell into the stool at the island.
“I told you you’d want to be sitting down.”
“How? How does—did you—”
“Before you start going batshit crazy,” she held up her hand, “let me explain.”
I threw back my drink and pushed the glass to her for another.
“Your father asked me to lunch today because he wanted to discuss something. I had no idea he wanted to talk about you and the baby. He backed me into a corner, Lucas. He put two and two together and figured it out. Let’s be honest, he’s a smart man and you really don’t have to be smart to take a look at our situation and figure it out. By the way, your lecture is coming next.”
“What? What the fuck does that mean?”
“He’s going to confront you about it. I promised him I wouldn’t tell you about our meeting. But, considering he’s a vile and despicable human being, my word means nothing when it comes to him.”
“What the hell did he say to you?”
“He told me to reconsider working for you and he gave me a lecture about you and how you’re not ready and willing to be a father. I told him we agreed that I was raising this baby on my own, but that wasn’t good enough for him. He wants to pay me off to leave New York and never have contact with you again.”
“What did you tell that bastard?”
“I told him I’d think about it and I was sure I could come up with a reasonable amount that would benefit both of us.”
“You are unbelievable,” I scowled at her.
“If you really think I’m taking his money, then you don’t know me at all. I’m playing the game, Lucas. I’m letting him think he has the upper hand.”
“You’re playing a dangerous game and you need to stop. You don’t know my father.”
“I know enough, and I know you feel trapped in the strings he has attached to you. Just like I did with my parents.”
“You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.” I pointed my finger at her.
“Yes, I do. What happened in your past? Your father gave some lame line about if you feel, you stop thinking, and when you stop thinking, everything goes to hell. He said you have firsthand experience with that.”
I swallowed hard as I narrowed my eye at her. Suddenly, I heard a timer go off.
“Hold that thought. I have to take the spaghetti out of the oven.”
“Can you just forget about the damn spaghetti for a moment!” I yelled.
“Um. No. We’re hungry!” I waved my hand over my belly. “Plus, if I don’t take it out, it’ll burn and create smoke which will set off the smoke detector and then the fire company will come out. Do you really want that? Because when they ask me what happened, I’ll be more than happy to tell them that you demanded I leave it in the oven so we could continue discussing your piece of shit father!”
I stared at her as I clenched my jaw, unable to say a word.
“That’s what I thought.” She turned and opened the oven door. “You know, I thought my parents were bad, but your father—”
“Just stop. You’ve only known him for a couple days. I’ve had to deal with his bullshit my entire life.”
“Care to talk about it over some baked spaghetti?” She held a plate up.
As much as I didn’t have an appetite, it sure smelled delicious.
“Come on. You know you want some.” She grinned.
“Fine. Just a small portion.”
While Jenna took the plates over to the table, I grabbed the bottle of scotch off the counter.
“Why do you even have this? You better not be drinking.”
“I stopped on my way home and bought it for you because I knew you’d be needing it.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
“I’m sorry I told him the truth. I never would have if—”
“It’s not your fault. I know my father and he always gets the truth out of people one way or another. I’m sure he manipulated the conversation.”
“Pretty much.” She nodded her head as she twirled some spaghetti around her fork.
“You didn’t have to tell me, but you did. Why?”
“Because regardless of what you believe, I’m your friend, and I wanted to give you a heads up before he got to you. He never married, did he?”
“No,” I spoke. “But there was never a shortage of women always coming and going.”
“Reminds me of someone else I know.” She smirked.
I let out a light chuckle.
“He’s worse. When I was younger and did something he didn’t like, he would tell me I should be grateful that he decided to keep me instead of putting me up for adoption. Sometimes, I wish he would have.” I finished off my scotch.
Chapter 20
Jenna
Little by little he was opening up to me. I felt for him because no child should ever have to hear those words. He was more broken inside than I originally thought. I guess we both were, which had me concerned for our child. Getting up from my chair, I walked over to him, grabbed his hand and led him over to the couch.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
I held onto his hand as I faced him.
“I’m going to tell you a little something about yourself and I want you to listen. Can you do that for me?” I gave him a small smile as he narrowed his eye at me.
“I suppose I could.”
“Good. You have spent your entire life trying to get your father’s approval. You want so badly to prove to him that he made the right decision by keeping you. You only buried your true self deeper by making choices based on the approval of him. In doing that, you lost who you really are, and you need to find out who the man inside you really is.”
He looked away from me and inhaled a sharp breath.
“I didn’t know you had a degree in psychology.”
“I don’t. But I don’t need one to see what’s really going on.”
“And what about you?” he asked as he stared into my eyes.
“Me?” I laughed. “I spent my entire life trying to hide who I really was. We talked about that before. But I’m not hiding anymore. I’m letting people know who I really am and if they don’t like it or can’t accept it, they need to move on. The only approval I need is from myself.”
He brought his hand up to my cheek as we stared into each other’s eyes.
“You’re a wise woman, Jenna Larson.”
“I know I am.” I gave him a small smile as he softly stroked my cheek and brushed his lips against mine.
It didn’t take long for our kiss to become passionate as his hand wrapped around the back of my neck.
“I thought we were keeping things strictly professional,” I spoke with bated breath.
“For tonight, we can forget that. Unless you don’t want to?” He pulled back and looked at me.
“Oh no. I can totally forget that. In fact, I’ve already forgotten.”
“Me too.” He gave me a wink as he stood up and held out his hand.
Placing mine in his, he helped me up from the couch and led me to the bedroom where we spent the next hour making each other forget our troubles.
“You were a wild animal,” he spoke as my head laid on his chest and his arm was wrapped tightly around me.
“Hormones, Lucas. Hormones.”
He let out a chuckle. “I like your hormones.” He kissed the top of my head and I couldn’t help but smile.
“Are you staying the night?” I asked.
“I planned on it. Unless you’d like me to leave. But these sheets are amazing.”
“Right?” I lifted my
head and grinned at him. “The sheets and I want you to stay.”
“Consider it done.” He sat up, rolled me on my back and hovered over me. “One more round before we go to sleep?”
“Like you even need to ask.” A wide grin crossed my lips.
Lucas
I lay there before the alarm went off and stared at her while she peacefully slept. A smile crossed my face as she stirred and opened her eyes.
“Good morning,” I said.
“Good morning.” She pressed her lips against my chest.
“The alarm is about to go off and I need to get upstairs to shower and change clothes.”
“I know. Let me make us some coffee first and you can take it up with you.”
When she climbed out of bed, she grabbed her robe from the chair. As she turned to slip it on, my eyes caught sight of the baby bump that I felt against me last night. I sighed as I climbed out of bed and slipped my pants on. Sitting on her nightstand was the book What To Expect When You’re Expecting. Picking it up, I flipped through the pages.
“Coffee’s ready.” I heard her shout from the kitchen,
Grabbing the rest of my clothes, I took them to the living room, threw them on the couch and walked into the kitchen.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. That look suits you.” She grinned.
I looked down at myself and then back up at her.
“What are you talking about?”
“The whole pants and nothing else look. It’s sexy. I like it.” She slyly smiled as she leaned against the counter holding her mug in her hand.
“I can honestly say I like your look as well. A satin robe with nothing on underneath.”
My cock started to get hard, and I let out a sigh. “I really need to get out of here and go shower.”
“Shower here. With me.” She bit down on her bottom lip.
“As tempting as that sounds, we’ll be late for work if I do that.”
She set her cup down and untied the strings to her robe, letting it fall open and exposing her naked body.
“Aren’t you the boss?” She asked as she walked past me, and her robe fell off her shoulders and onto the floor.
“Damn it, Jenna.” I followed behind her.
While the hot water streamed over us, I thrust in and out of her from behind as her hands were pressed firmly against the wall tile. Moans escaped our lips as the pleasure tore through us. Turning her around, I held her arms above her head as she brought one leg up to my waist. Holding her in place with my other hand, I thrust in and out of her, taking in the warmth she possessed inside. The second her body gave way to an orgasm, I buried myself deep inside her and exploded.
“Ah.” I pressed my body against hers. “God, that was amazing.”
“Yes, it was. Now we both can go about our day in fabulous moods,” she whispered in my ear, and I chuckled.
The moment I walked into my office, I found a note on my desk that read:
I need to see you as soon as you decide to come in.
Dad
Sighing, I walked down to his office.
“You wanted to see me?” I asked as I stepped inside.
“You’re late.”
“By fifteen minutes. Traffic was horrible.”
“I was in the same traffic and I was here on time.” He leaned back in his chair.
Taking a seat across from his desk, I brought my ankle up to my other leg and made myself comfortable. I already knew why he wanted to see me, and I was ready, thanks to Jenna.
“Is there anything you want to tell me, son?” he asked.
“Not that I can think of. Why?”
“So you’re not going to tell me that the baby Jenna is carrying is yours?”
“I knew you’d figure it out sooner or later.”
“It’s wasn’t hard.” He threw the pen he was holding across his desk. “How could you be so stupid, Lucas?”
“It was an accident, Dad. The condom broke and I didn’t know it until after.”
“So what are your plans with this kid?”
“Jenna knows where I stand as far as kids are concerned and she’s raising the baby alone.”
“What if she takes the baby and moves out of New York?” he asked.
“Even better.”
He stared directly into my eyes trying to tell if I was lying or not.
“I cannot believe you let this happen. You obviously didn’t learn from the last mistake you made.”
I could feel the anger rising inside me.
“Accidents happen. You of all people should know that,” I spoke in a smug tone.
“Don’t get smart with me, boy.” He pointed at me. “What are your feelings for Jenna?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but I don’t have feelings for her.”
“I highly doubt that. You took her in and let her stay with you when she broke her foot. Then you gave her a good job here, and you let her rent your apartment.”
“She fell because of me, so I needed to do what was right. As for working here, I did it for this company because she’s the best and we need someone like her on our team. As for the apartment, she needed somewhere to stay. What did you want me to do? Just let her loose on the street with a broken foot and nowhere to go?”
“Yeah. Why not? She’s not your problem.”
“She is my problem if she went to work for our biggest competitor. I was thinking about the company, Dad, and that’s it.”
He leaned across his desk and pointed his finger at me.
“You remember what I’ve taught you. When you feel, you stop thinking and when you stop thinking, everything goes to hell.”
“I know.” I looked down.
“You damn well better. I’m leaving tomorrow. Can I trust you’ll be able to continue running this company without any distractions? I didn’t keep you for you to fail me.”
It took everything I had not to reach out and punch him in the face. Father or not.
“Yes. You can trust me.”
“Good.”
“Are we finished here. I have a lot of work to do.”
“Yeah. We’re finished.”
I got up from my seat and headed to my office. Shutting the door, I took a seat behind my desk and let out a long sigh. Jenna was right. I could feel him pulling the strings he had attached to me. I needed to be alone for a while and away from the company and the city to think.
“Hey,” Jenna spoke as she poked her head through the door.
“Hey. Come in.”
“I need you to sign off on this,” she spoke as she handed me a file folder. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
“It kind of looked like you were in a deep thought.”
“My father called me into his office to let me know he knew about the baby.”
“And?”
“He spewed his usual bullshit.”
“Did you say anything back?” she asked.
“Not really. He’s leaving tomorrow, and so am I.”
“Oh. Good that he’s leaving. Where are you going?”
“I just need some time away from here.”
“How long will you be gone?”
“Probably a couple weeks. Can you make sure the company doesn’t fall apart while I’m gone? Because where I’m going, I’ll barely have service.”
“Sure. I’ll help keep an eye on things.”
“Thanks, Jenna.”
“Do you want to have dinner or something tonight before you go?”
“As nice as that sounds, I have to pack. I’ll take a raincheck, though.”
“Of course. When you get back.” A small smile crossed her lips.
Chapter 21
One Week Later
Jenna
I hadn’t heard from Lucas in a week. But then again, I really didn’t expect I would. His trip was sudden, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it had anything to do with our conversation that night. For his sake, I hope it did
. I hated to admit that I missed him. I didn’t want to miss him, but I did.
I lay on the table with my shirt pulled up while the nurse prepped the ultrasound machine.
“Are you comfortable?” she asked with a smile.
“Yeah. It seems as though lately laying on my back is the only way I can be comfortable.”
“Just wait.” She let out a laugh and placed her hand on my arm. “I’ll go let Dr. Lewis know you’re ready.”
A few moments later, Dr. Lewis walked into the room.
“Hi, Jenna. How have you been feeling?”
“Hi, Dr. Lewis. I’m feeling pretty good.”
“Excellent. No issues?”
“Nope. Not that I can think of.”
“Then let’s get started. Are you ready to see your baby?”
“I’m very ready.” I grinned.
“If I can get a clear view, do you want to know the sex of the baby?”
“Yes. Definitely.”
She squirted some gel over my belly and began moving the transducer around. As I intently stared at the monitor, tears sprung to my eyes as I saw my baby. I couldn’t believe that tiny human was growing inside me, and a part of me wished Lucas was here to see it.
“Congratulations Jenna. It’s a girl.” Dr. Lewis smiled as she glanced over at me.
“Oh my gosh, a little girl.” I grinned as the tears fell from my eyes.
“She looks perfect, and she’s growing on schedule. I’ll print out some pictures for you to take home.”
As I walked out of the building, I couldn’t help but stare at the pictures of my baby. Her facial features and her little body were perfectly clear. I could already tell she had Lucas’s nose and my lips.
I’d done a lot of thinking the past week, and I decided to take a trip back home for the weekend to try and make amends with my parents. I wasn’t sure how they were going to feel about the baby, but I would soon find out. My visit would go one of two ways: delightful or disastrous.
Lucas
I’d rented a lake house about an hour outside of Portland, Maine, from a nice older couple. It was beautiful, peaceful and exactly what I needed. The view of the lake was relaxing and visible from all sides of the house. I’d spent the last week doing absolutely nothing, and I didn’t feel one ounce of guilt for it. I’d done some fishing, canoeing, and I hiked the trails near the house. But most importantly, I’d done a lot of thinking. Thinking about my father, my life, Jenna, and the baby. As much as I hated to admit it, she was right. I’d lived my entire life trying to get my father’s approval. To make him see he’d made the right decision in keeping me, and that I was worthy. I was a thirty-year-old man still seeking the same approval and worth from him, and the cycle needed to stop. I had one more week at the lake house, and I was going to use it to my full advantage before I had to get back to the reality of life. A life I wasn’t so sure of anymore.
