Baby Daddies - Tara Brown Page 0,5
follow him to the limo out front, though my heart has followed Jenny.
People are still recording us. I’m still amped up, but the realization I’ve fucked up and have no idea how to fix it hits as we get into the limo and stare back at the hotel lobby.
I lift my phone. “You mind if I make a quick call?”
“No. Give’er.” He lights a vape with hash and offers me some but I pass.
“I’m good.” Instead, I call Matt.
“Hello?” he wheezes and whispers into the phone. “You better be dead. And if this call wakes Eli, I will kill you.”
“Oh fuck, sorry. It’s like four in the morning, isn’t it?” I slap my forehead. “I’m in LA. I forgot. I messed up and need advice.”
“Beverly,” he whispers and ends the call.
I stare at the phone for a second before calling Bev.
“Honest to God, this better be important. It’s four in the goddamned morning, Lori!” she shouts because of course she wakes angry.
“I fucked up.”
“No, bro, you didn’t.” Josh waves me off.
“Who is that?” Bev asks shortly.
I put the phone on speaker. “Bev, this is Josh, Jenny’s older brother. You’re on speaker. We’re in his car.”
“Jenny’s brother, the singer?” Bev never sounds impressed unless she’s talking to Jenny.
“Yeah. Nice to meet you, Bev! You missed it, man. Our boy, Lawrence, here just knocked Liam Farringdon, that asshat, out cold in the lobby of the Ritz. It was epic.” He lifts the vape like it’s a beer he’s toasting me with.
“You did what?”
I gulp. “That’s why I’m calling. I don’t know how to fix it. He was all over her, and she didn’t want it and I just—”
“Wait, isn’t Liam Jenny’s client she was going to LA to do the junket with?” Bev is snarly at four am. “You friggin’ idiot! Did anyone see you beat him up?”
“Yeah, but—”
“Did anyone record it?”
“Yes,” I mutter.
“She’s supposed to put out the fires, Lori, not be part of burning everything down. This is gonna get her in trouble at work. And then what? Stan figures out you’re dating even though you’re her client. Do you honestly think he’ll be excited?”
“Right.” I see where she’s going with this. “I could call Stan and explain.”
“Lori, shut the hell up. Jenny is not the kind of girl who wants the guy she’s sleeping with to call her boss and explain anything to him.”
“That’s true,” Josh agrees.
“What do I do?”
“Give her some space. You’ve just dumped a pile of work in her lap and outed her for sleeping with a client.” She pauses. “Sorry, Josh.”
“It’s cool. She’s her own woman.” He hits the vape hard.
“Is he getting high?” Bev asks.
“Yeah, I think he’s been high from the moment I met him.”
“Yup!” Josh says through the exhale.
“I’m going back to bed, Lori. Don’t call her. Leave her alone. Apologize when this blows over. You’re an idiot.” She ends the call.
“That’s the scariest-sounding girl I’ve ever heard in my life.”
“Yeah, she is. Much scarier in real life.” I sit back and contemplate how to fix this. “She and Jenny are like two peas in a pod.”
“Listen, man, don’t worry about this. Jenny’s into you. She might not show it or say it or ever give you a hint of it, but I’ve never seen her like this.” He hits the vape again and opens the window so the smoke starts to slither out it. “And I’m assuming since you came all the way from New York to beat Liam’s ass, you’re into her?”
I don’t bother explaining where I came from but nod.
He nods too but is silent for a moment and then, as if coming out of his stoned daydream, he blurts, “Are you serious about her?”
“What?” I’m caught by surprise.
“No offense but you’re young, rich, playing hockey, surrounded by girls who want you. As someone in a similar lifestyle, I can’t imagine being serious about one girl right now.” He cracks a grin. “So it makes me curious that you’re this into her after knowing her for what now, a month?”
“Just shy of a month.” I laugh. “And the funny part is she is the last thing on earth I thought I wanted.” The words feel like a lie though they’re not. I didn’t want a girlfriend or even a serious fling. “But these last few weeks have been awful.”
“Awful?” He sits back, cocking an eyebrow at me. “Why awful?”
Remembering this is her brother, I choose my words carefully. “We hung out at the wedding and instantly—” I sigh. “And