Not According to Plan

by A. m Madden

  Not at all surprised that she read it, I continued to watch her fingers flying over the keys. How she could type a novel while conversing was beyond me.

  “Long story.”

  “Calling something a long story doesn’t work on me,” she said with a laugh, still typing away. “I love long stories.”

  “Boring story, then. A real snoozer,” I lied. What I learned tonight was anything but boring.

  Knowing better, she snorted. “Doubtful. Not with a guy like that who’s so in tune with his feelings.”

  “How do you figure?” I challenged.

  “He got you pink roses,” she said matter-of-factly. “Twice. He’s got a thing for pink and isn’t afraid to show it. In my book—any of them—that’s not a boring guy.”

  Her comment reminded me when he admitted to being a sucker for pink the night he saw my lace bra. And that damn flutter came back. “Fine, you’re right, he’s not boring. Just the opposite, actually. He’s an emotional rollercoaster. A pink one. About to fly off the tracks.”

  Amy snapped her laptop closed and muted the television. “Okay, what happened?”

  If that wasn’t a loaded question…

  I released a heavy sigh, hanging up my suit jacket and kicking off my heels. “Where do I start?”

  “Wait. Before you do…I was about to order some Chinese takeout, and then you are telling me everything.”

  “Only if you’re getting chicken fried rice.” I’d been too out of sorts at the restaurant with Max to eat, and now that the shock had faded, I was starving.

  I knew just what would happen once I filled her in. Amy would tell me I was being ridiculous and my concerns were no big deal. I’d rather lock myself in the bathroom and soak in a nice warm tub, but she’d just break down the door.

  Accepting defeat, I changed into my favorite comfy pajamas and faced my fate for the evening…truth or consequences with Amy Delton.

  Twenty minutes later, Amy shoved a spicy shrimp into her mouth and chewed with purpose while I filled her in. Uncharacteristically, she didn’t make a peep the entire time.

  “So, now you know,” I concluded. “That’s everything. And now you understand why this won’t work with him.”

  “No, I really don’t.”

  “Exactly!” I exclaimed with a slap on my knee, but then her response registered. “Wait, no you don’t?”

  “Nope.”

  “You heard the part about another baby coming with a woman who lives in Florida where he plans to move to, and yet he wants to see me and raise a baby with me, too?”

  “Yep, all irrelevant. He’s superhot, a perfect gentleman, successful, and he’s into you. I don’t see the problem here.”

  I pushed away my half-eaten bowl of rice. “He’s going to be bouncing between New York and Miami, and I’m working eighty-plus-hour work weeks. This has can’t work written all over it. His focus should stay on his business and his unborn children…not screwing around with me. My focus should be on work and my unborn child. There’s no room for an ‘us’ here.”

  “What his focus should be is not your call to make,” Amy said, shaking her head. “Seriously, Jade…one day you’re going to wake up and realize you may have missed an opportunity to be happy. You can’t marry your damn job. If you’re honest about how much of a workaholic you are, and he still wants to be with you, then I fail to see your argument.” She folded her arms and waited, but no argument came to mind. A victorious grin spread across my friend’s face. “You know I’m right. You have nothing, counselor. The defense rests.”

  To that, she was right. I had no rebuttal for her regarding my lack of a personal life. All the lonely nights I’d spent when most of the young professional population was out having fun supported her case.

  “I can end up with a broken heart,” I finally admitted quietly. “I can handle that, and I would move on if things didn’t work out with Max. But now there’s a child involved, and it’s not fair to bring them into the world because Max and I fucked one night, screwed up, and were stupid enough to make things worse.”

  She stared at the ceiling above and shook her head. “Stop thinking so hard.”

  “Thinking hard is what I do. And besides, I promised him I’d think about it. I’m just fulfilling that promise.”

  She raised a brow, all but calling out my bullshit. “Fine. Redirect. You want to think so hard, focus on how hot the sex was between you two and how he wants more of it.” Her pale blue eyes widened. “By the way, you never told me if my nine-inch prediction was correct.”

  My lips twitched, holding back a grin. “No comment.”

  “Ha! I’ll take that as a yes. Which only strengthens my argument, counselor. Utilize those smart brain cells of yours for the better and not the worst of the situation.”

  Crossing my arms, I leaned back and blew a long breath toward the ceiling. I told him I’d think about it. So here I was, thinking about it…and something he’d said came back to me. Something that might make things easier, or least help me keep a clear head. “He suggested no sex until we were both ready for it. If I agree to see him—if—then it would be smart to keep it platonic until we got to know each other better.”

  “How are we even friends?” She stared at me, dumbfounded, before adding, “Look, writing romance doesn’t make me the authority on love, and I can’t guarantee this will work out for you. All I’m saying is for the past few years I’ve watched you exist, Jade. But that’s all you’ve done. Maybe it’s about time you lived.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Max

  Was I an idiot to further complicate things?

  Probably.

  But I couldn’t ignore how the excitement to spend more time with her edged its way into my emotional mix and sprinted past all my reservations.

  None of that meant a damn thing if Jade wasn’t on the same page.

  Just in case she was stuck in her own head, I ordered flowers from the cab on my way home and had them rushed to her place.

  Besides the chaos in my life, her main issue remained to be that she had no time for a relationship due to her career. But wouldn’t spending some time together be better than none at all? In six or so months, our lives would be connected in a very profound way. And during that time, if a relationship developed, wouldn’t that be worth having taken a leap of faith?

  But after not hearing a peep since our dinner on Monday night, I couldn’t help but wonder if she had a change of heart.

  At that moment, like he did every Saturday, Brad barged into my office after his half-ass workout.

  “Hey,” he said before walking over to the fridge to grab a bottle of water before plopping into the chair facing my desk. “What’s the deal with Becca?”

  I swear the only reason he came to my gym was to flirt with the members and bust my chops. Funny, though, the women were on to him now. They no longer fell for his antics, like when he pretended to be me.

  Before I could tell him to stop hitting on my clients, Arlene’s voice came over the intercom on my desk phone. “Max?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Jade’s here for you,” she said lightly, complete with a giggle at the end.

  Brad stared at me wide-eyed as a twinge of something jolted through me. I had no idea what it was, but knowing Jade was here most definitely caused it. Again, I had to question what the hell that was about.

  “Send her back, please.”

  “Yes, boss,” she touted over the line.

  “Time to go,” I told Brad.

  “Why?”

  “I need to talk to her, and you can’t be here.” Believing that she had come to agree to my offer or to decline it was split fifty/fifty.

  Just then, my door opened. Her tight black workout clothes that caressed every curve, a small backpack slung over one shoulder, her hair up in a perky ponytail, and a
natural glow to her flawless skin all stunned me stupid. Glancing at my brother in time to see his gaze slide from head to toe snapped me out of it.

  “Hi.” Jade’s shy smile turned into a hesitant one just as she noticed Brad sitting before me. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt. I can come back another time.”

  “You’re not interrupting. He was just leaving.” I stood to grab my brother by the shirt, pushing him toward the door as I said, “Okay, ba-bye…and thanks for coming.”

  “You are now a witness to how he treats me,” Brad grumbled with a grimace. “Nice seeing you again, Jade.”

  “Same here.”

  I shoved him out and shut the door before he could say anything else. “Have a seat.”

  She took the chair Brad had just vacated.

  “Can I get you something to drink?”

  Nodding, she smiled. “Water would be great.”

  After I retrieved two waters, I handed her one before sitting behind my desk. A sneaky little visual of taking her on the smooth wood surface snuck into my thoughts and forced my cock to jerk in my shorts. Trying my damnedest to ignore how my body reacted to her presence, I quickly opened the bottle of water and took a healthy swig to cool down.

  “This is really nice.” Her attention swept over my office. The photo on my desk, where I was sandwiched in between my two brothers, held her focus for a bit before she said, “Your gym is very impressive.”

  “Thank you.”

  I was proud of my place, and her admiration of it excited me. The wood and leather were in stark contrast to the gym, where exposed ceiling rafters and concrete floors married with frosted glass partitions made MAXimum Fitness edgy and modern.

  My office was my sanctuary. And from the art on the walls to the fitness books neatly lined on bookshelves, it screamed of me.

  “It’s obvious you love what you do, Max.”

  “I do. It’s exhausting, and most of my days are twelve-plus hours, my weeks six full days, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

  That stunning smile of hers spread before she shrugged. “I don’t know…my twelve-plus hour days don’t cause me to smile like that.”

  “That’s a shame. You should love what you do.”

  “I do love what I do,” she said defensively. “But sometimes I forget during the stress caused by my job.”

  “My brother would claim the same. I don’t know.” I shrugged. “I guess I can’t relate. If it’s stressful, why do it?”

  “Because I love law. Love helping people who aren’t in a position to help themselves.”

  An unexpected smile spread from the way she humanized her profession. “I guess we have that in common.”

  Her attention moved to a picture I had on my desk of my parents and me. In it, I wore my Miami U football uniform. She licked her lips before returning her gaze to me as her big brown eyes held mine. “I’m sure you’re wondering why I just showed up here after not hearing from me all week.”

  “Maybe just a tad,” I teased.

  As if I hadn’t spoken, she distractedly fiddled with the strap of her backpack as it rested in her lap. “I’m sorry to barge in while you’re here but thought it best I came down to speak to you in person.”

  “Okay…I’m all ears.” Although I wasn’t feeling very optimistic. Of course, my mind went to the worst-case scenario where she decided a relationship with me would be way too complicated.

  “Let’s get to know each other.” She came right out with it, no beating around the bush.

  “Really?” When my eyes widened in surprise, she suppressed a smile, but at seeing my grin, she lost the battle.

  “That is, as long as we both agree, going in, to respect each other’s demanding careers. No major expectations.”

  “I can agree to that,” I easily admitted. “I was convinced Tracey’s pregnancy scared you away.”

  “Well.” She glanced at her lap then back up again. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous about that…more so about your life in Miami.”

  “I get it,” I said. “So, what changed your mind?”

  The corners of her rosy lips lifted as she held eye contact. “I can’t walk away from you, either. I can’t stop thinking about you.” The lines of her mouth flattened out again. “Which is an inconvenience, to be honest, because I don’t have time for—”

  “Bullshit,” I interrupted. “There’s always time for that.”

  “Said by a typical guy,” she quipped with a nod. “Which…leads to my other concern. Sex.”

  “I have an appointment in an hour, but I’m game,” I teased.

  “Funny.” She shook her head, smiling. “I meant refraining from it. Since our relationship started as a physical one, maybe going slow now to get to know each other a bit more isn’t such a bad idea.”

  It already wasn’t purely physical for me. Deep down I had a gut feeling the lustful spark between us wasn’t the only reason our one-night stand stuck in my mind. But with a woman like Jade, I suspected actions spoke louder than words. Therefore, I waited her out, mesmerized by the way she presented her case, leaving little room for argument.

  “Anyway,” she concluded. “We can see how it goes.” We stared at each other, grinning like fools. “So…”

  “So…” I repeated. My gaze swept over her. “Are you dressed that way for a reason?”

  “Well, as long as I came down today, I thought that maybe I should join.”

  “No way.” I shook my head. “I have a rule regarding female members. You can come as a guest whenever you want, though.”

  “What’s the rule?”

  “We already broke it the night we met.”

  That sexy blush colored her cheeks.

  “You don’t sleep with any women here?” she asked, unable to hide the shock in her voice.

  “Never. Or anything else, for that matter.”

  “That must be hard for all those stunning fit women just outside that door probably waiting in line to get to you.”

  “If so, Brad has no shame taking advantage of that. My gym is available to you whenever you want as a guest. Benefits of dating the owner,” I said with a wink. “Call it a loophole.”

  “So now we’re dating?” she asked, amused.

  “Aren’t we? We may have done things a bit unconventionally, but…” With a devious grin, I left the innuendo hanging.

  “But?”

  “We already know we’re sexually compatible. The guesswork is done, and that’s more than half the battle when starting a relationship.”

  “A sexless relationship,” she reminded, but the sassy gleam in her eye made me want to catapult myself over the desk before locking the door. Wanting to relive how she felt in my arms, how her lips tasted, and her breasts felt pressed against me became a legitimate threat.

  Instead, I stood, purposely adjusted myself, and grumbled, “I need to get you out of my office, or all bets are off.” Walking around the desk, I took her hand in mine. “Come…another benefit to dating the owner is a personal session with preferential treatment.”

  “Okay, just go easy on me. I haven’t worked out in a while, and I’ve got more than just me to think about now.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you.” That was a promise I’d have to dig deep to make. Just the thought of watching her on some of my machines, legs splayed, arms out to the side pushing her breasts forward, made me want to keep her there for days.

  As I tried to gain control of my thoughts, Jade unzipped her jacket then removed it to reveal a bright red sports bra. The toned skin of her exposed belly, the way it pushed her perfect breasts up in support…

  “Christ, Jade, you look sexy as fuck. And just because we agreed to take it slow doesn’t mean”—I pointed to the outline of my cock that refused to heel—“that he got the memo.” Getting riled up, not a
good idea when wearing gym shorts. “Can you wait for me outside?”

  “Yes, sir,” she teased, but catching the sexy little grin on her lips as she walked out of my office only made matters worse for me.

  But surprisingly, it wasn’t just my libido that craved Jade Easton…it was also my heart. And in that moment, I knew things for me would never be the same.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Jade

  Showing up at his gym almost two weeks ago turned out to be the last time I saw Max. I would be seeing him in a few days, but under very different circumstances. This weekend, Max and I had a dinner date with my family.

  I had planned on telling them I was pregnant last weekend, until Max asked me to wait until he returned from Miami. And since he was due to fly back down again early next week, Saturday would be the day.

  I appreciated his intentions but wasn’t sure him being with me was such a good idea. This was going to be a huge shock to them, and I told him so. Undeterred, he felt it was important that he be there.

  Besides worrying about their reaction, the past few days had been rough on me as morning sickness hit hard. At only the middle of my first trimester, the possibility this awful feeling could go on for several more weeks made me feel even worse. And…the unpleasant task of telling my family hanging over my head wasn’t helping.

  Hiding it at the office also added to my stress, especially when anything could trigger a round of dry heaving, from smelling someone’s lunch to another’s cologne. I avoided lunch dates, office birthdays, and the coffee room. The only food that held any appeal, besides the saltine crackers I gorged on daily, were complex carbs.

  A hard knock drew my attention to the door. “Oh, hi, Mr. Warner. What can I do for you?” I asked, casually closing my top desk drawer holding a saltine stash.

  He flashed an impatient smile, like by doing so it would take a second or two away from whatever thing of importance he’d set aside to pay me a visit.

  “Mr. Barron just called. Seems he’s confused over the total number of hours billed last week.” Most firms billed monthly, but the dinosaurs I worked with preferred weekly billing…a hen in hand, and all that jazz.