on that,” Bev said. “Tell him to get inside you.”
“I will keep that in mind,” I said. “Do you want a drink or order something to eat?”
“I shouldn’t,” Bev said. “I just wanted to say hey. Swing by for a second. I’m actually going out with someone.”
“Good for you,” I said.
“It’s nothing serious,” Bev said. “Just fun. Like you should be having.”
“I think I’ve had more than enough fun,” I said. I touched my stomach again. “I’m…”
I looked at Bev and swallowed.
I wasn’t going to unload on her. Not before a date. She needed to leave.
It was my fault I had nobody to talk to. Because I never said anything to anyone.
I never called my mother. Well, I did call her. Three times. She never answered. Without a voicemail, she would never call me back.
Connie and Jen… they had no idea I was pregnant.
That was my choice.
“Thank you for the shirt,” I said. “It’s the best one ever. My favorite.”
“You don’t like the one about getting pregnant by your boss?” Bev asked.
“Eh… that’s my second favorite.”
“What about the one with the potatoes having sex looking for oil to get kinky but they end up as fries?”
“Bev, you’re going to be late for your date,” I said.
“Shit. I am.”
She ran toward me and hugged me.
Then she crouched down and kissed my belly.
That made me gasp.
Nobody had done that yet.
When she left the apartment, I covered my mouth and my eyes filled with tears.
There were moments when it really hit me hard.
That I was really pregnant with my boss’s baby.
I couldn’t stop thinking about some of the stuff Bev said.
Sex? Sure. How could I not think about sex? I was a woman. I had needs. I wasn’t sure what the rules of society were for being pregnant and having sex with someone other than the baby’s father. At the same time, there was no reason why Cole and I…
“Nope,” I announced as I squirted honey into a cup of hot tea.
I wiped some off the rim of the cup and when I licked my finger, I felt something.
I shut my eyes, embarrassed that licking honey off my finger put me in the mood.
It had to have been the hormones.
At least I could have some self-care.
In fact…
A cup of hot tea, a candle, a hot shower… my fingers…
That all seemed like a good idea.
Only I thought about the other thing Bev talked about.
What was I to Cole?
Did he really care? Or was I just a pawn?
Like he wanted to keep a sense of power over me… but I was the one with the power over him…
I called him.
“Maya.”
“Cole.”
“Are you okay?”
“I don’t know. Can I ask you something?”
“Okay…”
“What is this between us?” I asked. “You’re hiding me, right? You’re keeping me under your control. Because I’m pregnant with your baby. I want to tell people I’m pregnant, but I don’t know what to say. Or how to say it. If I just play it off that it’s some random guy’s baby, I look like… what? Someone that foolishly sleeps around?”
“Maya, you really want to do this now?” Cole asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe. It’s on my mind. I’m in this apartment, alone, and I just-”
“Cole, baby, what are you doing still working?”
The icy, bitchy voice cut through me.
I laughed.
“You’re out with someone?” I asked.
“Maya, listen to me…”
“Goodbye, Cole,” I said.
I hung up on him.
He was hiding me in an apartment because I was pregnant, while he was out on a date?
Screw. That.
Rage filled my body and I rushed to the bathroom.
Before I knew what I was doing, I took my shirt off and threw it to the floor.
Next was my bra.
I left my hot tea on the kitchen counter.
I had a new plan.
I was going to shower, clean up, and go out myself.
Take that, Cole.
I hung my bra on the towel rack and I turned and gasped when I saw myself in the mirror.
The baby bump was more than a bump now.
I hadn’t looked at myself in the mirror lately.
It was there. Profound. Far from the ready to pop look but there was no way to hide it without a shirt on.
And then my boobs… holy hell…
They were tender, swollen, bigger.
Even my nipples looked different. Instead of being pink and perky, they were thicker.
My body was changing.
My body was going to keep changing.
I was as excited as much as I was scared.
But for tonight… I had a plan in mind.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Cole
I swirled the whiskey in the glass.
Next to me Chrissy talked about the law firm