and I know this is one of her tactics, but I refuse to talk. She should’ve realized that after the twenty times she’s called over the last month.
“Great?” she finally asks. “I’ve been forwarded your records from the emergency room as well as the information from the obstetrician’s office.”
“That seems like a HIPPA violation,” I grumble.
“You’ve signed a waiver dear. We’re all in the same network.”
I continue to remain silent.
“You’ve been through a lot, Simone. You have even more changes coming. I think a visit would be best.”
I hate that I answered the damn phone because she has always had a weird way of convincing me to go to her office.
“Things are great,” I repeat.
“That’s incredible, dear. Now, I’m putting you down for four this afternoon.”
“Today?”
“Yes, dear. I have an opening. See you then.”
I glare at the phone when I pull it away from my face. That woman drives me crazy.
“Did you see the furniture?”
I spin around to see Jinx, the cart in front of him full of items.
“We’re not buying all of that.” I point to the cart, but he’s already turned to pick up the pack of bottles that I dropped earlier.
Without a care, he throws them in the cart before grabbing three more packs.
“How many bottles do you think a baby goes through in a day?” He grabs two more packs. “We should get a lot so we don’t have to spend the entire day washing them.”
“Jinx?”
“Did you see the furniture?”
He grabs my hand, pushing the cart across the store with the other. Row after row of baby furniture is set up like they would be in a nursery. The matching changing tables and rocking chairs are all decorated with matching décor.
It’s tempting to look at them, but I’m too reasonable to fall for it.
“I like this set.” He crosses to a sleek set, a hopeful look on his face. “I think black can be gender neutral. What do you think?”
I join him, flipping the tag hanging from the top drawer of the dresser, quickly doing the math in my head.
“This set is over four thousand dollars.”
He shrugs before approaching another nursery set. “Do you prefer mahogany? This one is forty-five hundred.”
“It’s too much.”
“Not really. It’s literally the entire room.”
“I can get it cheaper at Target.”
“I want the best for my baby.”
Then you probably should’ve gotten someone else pregnant.
I can’t say those words out loud, but the thought stings with honesty.
“Do you think I’m going to be a bad mom?”
He drops the price tag, turning to face me fully.
“Are you in the middle of one of your mood swings?”
I cock an eyebrow hoping he can read the I wish you would on my face.
“It’s just furniture. That black one is all organic. I read that babies sometimes chew on their cribs when they’re teething.”
I read that as I want to poison my own child, and Jinx must see something on my face because he approaches me cautiously.
“I think you’re going to be a great mom, and part of being a great mom is letting me buy things for my son.”
“Son?” I scoff. “You don’t know that.”
His fingers brush over my belly. “Of course I do. Now do you want the black or the mahogany?”
“Neither?” I hedge.
He simply grins before flagging down a salesclerk to discuss delivery options.
“You asked if I thought you were going to be a bad mom.”
My blood runs cold. Here we go. I had the discussion with Rocker before the test results if he was going to try to take the baby from me. He assured me he wouldn’t and Jinx wouldn’t either, so I never had that talk with the man standing in front of me. Fear makes my skin grow damp.
“I’d prefer it if you stopped working at the bar.”
“My job makes me a bad mother?”
His head jerks back. “Not even close, but I worry about the late nights. I don’t want you getting hurt.”
“Jake’s isn’t a violent place.”
Mostly because the Cerberus guys are usually there to break things up before they get to that point.
“Aren’t you tired of working late?”
“I like my job.” I realize I’m not really answering his question, but I feel like admitting that getting off at two in the morning most nights is damn near killing me gives him more power than I’m willing to hand over right now. My ideal job would still be in the service industry because I love interacting with people, but regular hours and benefits are a huge plus as well.