The Girl Next Door - Emma Hart Page 0,11

that.”

“No, you won’t.” He winked at her. “You wouldn’t find anyone else who’d put up with your bedroom kinks.”

I shoved my fingers in my ears. “La la la la la!”

My dirty parents both laughed, and Mom said, “You’ll get it in fifteen years. Go wait in the car.”

I didn’t need to be told again. I took the car keys from her and darted outside before they went any deeper into their bedroom activities and slid into the backseat of Dad’s Audi.

After a deep breath, I pulled my phone out of my purse and moved into damage control mode.

ME: Tori, if anyone asks, me and Kai are engaged and you’re the only person who knew okay thanks LOVE YOU BYE

I flipped to my conversation with Kai.

ME: Heads up, my family thinks we’re engaged and my grandmother is demanding we get married by the time the baby comes

Unsurprisingly, Tori was the first to respond.

TORI: Gotcha. Let me know when you figure how he proposed. I guess Holley doesn’t know.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what best friends were for.

Faking engagements and hiding bodies.

I confirmed that my sister—younger by only ten months—did not know about the baby, and Kai’s response followed only moments later.

KAI: I should have known you weren’t joking last night when you said we might have to pretend to be married

ME: Well, I wish I had been. You haven’t dated anyone in, oh, the last six months have you?

KAI: No. I was too busy avoiding Amanda and trying to get you into bed.

ME: So romantic.

ME: So you proposed three weeks ago so it doesn’t look like a knee-jerk reaction to the pregnancy, okay

KAI: How far are we taking this? Like if your grandmother wants us to get married, are we eloping? Staging a fake wedding?

ME: I don’t know, I panicked, I couldn’t think straight. She was calling me a whore.

KAI: Who? Your grandmother?

ME: Yes. She only stopped when I pointed out Jesus wasn’t Joseph’s son. She almost beat me.

KAI: I cannot wait for this wedding.

ME: THERE WON’T BE A WEDDING.

KAI: Ok, I can’t wait for our fun wedding party to celebrate our totally fake marriage. It’s gonna be a hoot.

KAI: By the way, I told my parents.

ME: You’ve been at work all day.

KAI: I know. Text messaging is great.

Oh, my God.

He did not text his parents to tell them he was having a baby, and I replied as such.

KAI: I did. Now they want to see you, so we better figure this fake marriage out fast.

ME: I agree, because my parents want to talk to you tonight.

KAI: Really?

ME: Gotta go bye

CHAPTER FIVE – IVY

The bar was packed with people. Everywhere I looked, someone needed a beer or a cocktail or a glass of wine. It was hot and sticky and overwhelming on the best day, let alone right now when I had to avoid the coffee machine like the plague.

Unfortunately, because of that, we’d had to tell all tonight’s staff that I was pregnant and couldn’t serve coffee unless any of the patrons wanted their cappuccino with a side of vomit.

It was unanimously agreed that nobody would, in fact, like a side of vomit with their coffee.

Thank God.

“Rach, I need some air. Can you cover me for a few minutes?” I asked one of the servers who also tended the bar.

“Sure, Ivy. Take as long as you need—my big tables just left.” She smiled, tucked some blonde hair behind her ear, and stepped behind the bar to immediately serve some customers.

I slipped out the back, leaning against the wall. The cool evening air was a welcome distraction from the heat of inside, and I closed my eyes to revel in it for a long moment.

Realizing I could no longer put it off, I pushed off the wall and headed back inside just in time to see Kai and his sister, Anna, take their seats at an empty table. They’d seated themselves in an empty table in Rachel’s section, so I motioned to her that I had it and I’d be back in a moment.

“Hey,” I said, stepping up to their table with two menus in hand.

Kai’s eyes sparked when they met mine. “Hey. How are you doing?”

“I’m doing,” I replied, looking at Anna. “Hi. Sorry we couldn’t talk much last night.”

She waved her hand dismissively. “You were shattered. I’m surprised you’re working right now. Are you not dying?”

“I’m used to it.” I adjusted my apron. “Everyone is really understanding, and I have yet to have anyone served a side of