all the baby pictures. I knew the kid would be a stunner. I’m adorable of course, but, as big of a dick as he is, Christopher was unfairly attractive. Hence why he always got away with being such a dick.
I certainly didn’t go to bed with him because of his personality.
Could you imagine if I had a son? What he would grow up to think a man should be with a father like that?
I kind of decided then and there this was an opportunity to right a universal wrong. Christopher Tyler might be the king of the Dude Bros, but my son was going to be as beautiful on the inside as he was on the outside.
My son. The thought bounced off the walls of my brain.
“Well,” I started, as I mulled over that last option, “I did just come into an awful lot of money.”
“What are you talking about? What money?” she asked, and I forgot in all the commotion I never got around to updating her on the night’s events. I told Fern how much he wanted to pay me. She nearly fell off onto the floor.
“You’d be set for life,” she breathed.
“Not life, but for a while,” I conceded. “I could certainly buy everything a baby needed with that kind of money.”
“You think he’d still hire you pregnant?”
“Who’s gonna tell him? Everything is over in six months anyway. I’ll probably never see him again. I mean, everybody already thinks I’m fat, including Christopher. I make it to August, and I’m set. Like, really set. I wouldn’t have to work at Headliner Pulse anymore. I wouldn’t have to see Christopher anymore. I could be gone before he ever even notices.”
Fern brushed the hair out of my face. “You’re emotional. You’ve had a rough couple of days. Don’t make any permanent decisions just yet.”
“Permanent decisions have already been made for me,” I pointed out. “No matter what choice I pick, it’s going to leave a mark. Besides. I totally think I can do this.”
Fast-forward to me the next morning, hunched over the toilet and throwing up what was left of my guts while praying for death. Fern was right there beside me, washing my face with a damp cloth. “I can’t do this,” I groaned, certain I was going to die before I ever saw a dime of that money.
She helped me back to bed and tucked my blankets in around me. I was asleep before she was done. I slept harder than I ever slept in my life. I would have slept all day and into the night if my cell phone hadn’t kept ringing.
Finally, I reached for it. I glanced at the caller ID. It was a blocked number. My tummy jumped as I answered. “Hello?”
“Hello.”
Just the way he said it made my toes curl. His voice was deep. Commanding. Regal.
“Hi, Auggie,” I said, trying his name out for size. I discovered I kind of liked the way it rolled off my tongue.
“How are you feeling?”
“Better,” I said. “You were right. I just needed a day off.”
“Everything went all right at the hospital, I trust.”
I gulped. “You… you know about that?”
“Your chauffeur told me the news,” he said. I nodded. That made sense.
“I guess I didn’t think about where he might have gone after he dropped me off.”
“Why would he go anywhere?” Auggie asked, which was puzzling.
“What does that mean?”
“Because you’ll be traveling with me for the next several months, I have put a guard on you for your safekeeping.”
I blinked in response. What does one say to that? “Thank you?” I think I finally responded.
“Is everything okay?”
Was he asking permission? “I mean, I guess. It makes sense,” I began to ramble, but he cut me short.
“The hospital,” he clarified. “Did everything go okay?”
“Oh,” I managed.
“Was it the flu?”
“Well,” I gulped again. “I think…” I trailed off, trying to figure out what to say. “I think I was more dehydrated than anything else,” I finally hedged.
I held my breath the long minute he was silent. “Well, I won’t keep you,” he said, his voice low and soothing. “We want you in good health for the journey ahead.”
“I won’t let you down,” I found myself saying.
“I know you won’t,” he responded in return, in a voice that invited no quarrel. It was an authoritative tone that let one know there would be consequences for such things. “Sweet dreams, Peaches,” he said in that hypnotic voice that sounded like music even when he spoke.