Wicked Ever After (Wicked & Devoted #2) - Shayla Black Page 0,31

side-eye.

Brea put her head down and pretended not to notice.

The wind caught her coat as she stepped into the Sundowner. The place was nothing to write home about. It was dark and dim, decorated with dartboards, beer signs, and a lot of men still carrying the sweat from their day’s work.

Rayleigh waved at her from a table in a quiet corner. Brea headed her way.

They weren’t exactly friends. The salon owner wasn’t old enough to be her mother…but it was close.

Her boss had grown up in Sunset, but moved away when she’d quit college to say I do. Three years later, she’d decided that she didn’t after all since her husband spent more time with his “work wife” than his legal one. So she’d moved back home and taken over the salon when her mother retired.

After slipping out of her coat, Brea eased into the chair. A glass of white wine sat waiting in front of her. “What’s this for?”

“Besides a friend, you looked like you could use a drink, too.”

“Thanks, but I’m okay.”

“You’re not, honey. A nip or two after the day you’ve had will make everything a little easier to bear.”

She shook her head. “I-it’s very sweet of you, but I have to drive to Lafayette.”

“So we’ll stay here for a bit. One glass won’t hurt.”

Brea searched for another excuse to decline the drink. “Well, I…um, have this headache—”

“No, you don’t.” Rayleigh slanted her a shrewd glance. “You’re pregnant, aren’t you?”

Brea froze, panic biting at her. “What makes you think that?”

“Well, you’ve been sick more than usual. I chalked it up to stress since you’ve been through a lot with your daddy the last few months. Your sudden engagement surprised me because I didn’t think you were in love with Cutter, but I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt and believe y’all were just private about your feelings. But I get it now; he’s giving you his name. That man who demanded to see you today is your baby’s father.” The woman patted her hand. “It’s okay. Your secret is safe with me.”

“Rayleigh…” How could she possibly refute her boss when she was right?

“I know we’ve never been close, and you’ve clearly gone to great lengths to keep this secret. Your deer-in-the-headlights expression tells me you didn’t expect me to figure it out. But I know one thing. Whoever that tall, dark, dangerous hunk of man is, you love him.”

Brea closed her eyes. If Rayleigh had seen that, who else had? “It’s complicated.”

“It shouldn’t be that complicated. He loves you, too.”

“I thought so, but…”

“Listen, I’ve spent twenty years fixing hair, and I’m damn good at it. But there’s one thing I’m better at, and that’s reading people.” She leaned closer. “You don’t look pregnant now, but you will at some point. Even if you start wearing Cutter’s ring, that man is going to know he’s the one who got you pregnant, isn’t he?”

She paled. Eventually, there would be no hiding it from anyone…especially Pierce.

“And once he figures that out, do you really think he’s just going to give up? Walk away?”

Brea hadn’t thought he’d care if she was pregnant—until today. “He said he wanted to take a step back. I thought it was over. I hadn’t seen him in a while. But…”

“I’m guessing he made it clear pretty darn clear today that it’s not over.”

And then some.

She was so confused.

“Until he showed up, I never imagined he’d even want to see me again. I thought Cutter and I would announce the baby shortly after we got married and…” Pierce would be long gone.

“You’d planned to let the town gossip that you and Cutter had been fooling around and decided to get married once you were expecting?”

“Yes.”

Rayleigh shook her head. “I have a feeling you’re going to need another plan. When Mr. Studly realizes that’s his baby you’re having, he’s not gonna go away quietly, honey.”

On the one hand, she didn’t see a single scenario in which the Pierce who had stormed into her salon today wasn’t as possessive about his child as he was about her. But he was also the same stranger who’d seemingly walked out and confessed to killing his own father.

“I don’t know what he’ll do.”

“Oh, I do. You’re kidding yourself if you think you’ve seen the last of him. Why don’t you tell him you’re pregnant, honey?”

“I was going to the day he seemingly broke up with me.”

“What about now?”

She and Cutter had made all these plans and announced their