Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 82121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
I jangle the Rolex on my wrist. “If I bring you home, will you try to steal this one too?”
“I don’t think it’s going to be that kind of night.” She accepts the club soda and takes a sip. I’m not a fan of the way she’s not meeting my gaze and I wonder what the hell she’s doing here.
“Not drinking?” I slide her wine over in front of me.
“I need to keep my wits about me with you.”
“Interesting.” I study her for a moment. “Are you here to meet someone?” I really fucking hope not.
“Nope. Not that I know of, anyway.”
“Then why come to a bar like this? You’re not dressed to go home with a guy like you were last time.”
“That’s not something I do.” She turns to me and I believe her. There’s something naive, almost gentle about her. If she really were a pro, or at least if she were used to getting picked up, that would’ve been shaken out of her by now.
“Except with me,” I point out because I like making her blush.
It works. Her cheeks turn slightly pink. “That’s right. You were a one-time thing.” She smiles but it’s bitter. “And here I am again.”
“Here you are.” I pick up her wine and drink it. “So what are you doing here then, Molly?”
She stares at me. Her big, green eyes cut into mine. Fuck, she’s pretty. It makes my heart skip a beat. I think of that night again, her mouth on mine, her body on mine. Her moans and gasps. I haven’t been with a woman since, not because I haven’t had the chance, but because anything else would pale in comparison. It just hasn’t felt right. And here she is, dressed like she’s heading to church next, and still looking like sin and sex all wrapped in one heavenly red-headed package. I could wrap a bow around her and she’d be the only birthday present I’d ever need for the rest of my life.
“I came to tell you something.”
“Yeah?” I lick my lips, heart beating fast. “Go ahead. Tell me, baby.”
“Saul.” Her shoulders hunch and she looks down, hands wringing together, before forcing herself to look up again. “I’m pregnant.”
Chapter 6
Molly
The look on his face is almost funny.
Well, maybe if I thought horror mixed with disbelief, rage, and a touch of sexual desire was funny. Which I really don’t. So actually, it’s not funny, and I’m really just totally fucked up right now because my life is spiraling out of control, hurtling me toward the kind of disaster I’ll never recover from. I’m an absolute wreck and don’t exactly have my emotions under control right now, so it wouldn’t surprise me if I burst out laughing in this guy’s face.
I found out about the baby a week earlier. I’d been getting sick all the time, feeling totally drained and all over the place. I kept snapping at Nana and I wasn’t patient with Jason, and basically, I was acting like a real piece of shit. It wasn’t until I realized I hadn’t gotten my period yet that I started to put it together.
Puking in the mornings. Hormonal. Sensitive everything—like seriously, my boobs are practically pulsing all the time. No period.
I took a test, then another, and it was clear.
Pregnant.
I don’t know how it happened, but I know it was him. Saul’s the only guy I’ve been with. When I realized that he’s the father, the guy I stole from, the mobster I had one of the best nights of my entire life with, I freaked out. Like really freaked out. To the point where Jason had to sit me down and ask what the heck was going on with me because Nana was concerned. I made up some lie about stressing over money, which is true but that’s just my baseline condition on a normal day, and he let it drop. But that conversation made me realize something.
I had to find Saul and I had to tell him.
At least until I decided what I was going to do about this baby.
“Pregnant,” he says finally, sounding stunned. “You’re sure?”
“Very sure. I can show you the tests. I have a picture.”
“Yeah. Okay. I mean, no, I believe you.” He takes a long drink of his wine then stares at the glass. “That’s why you didn’t want this.”
“Yep, that’s right. I didn’t come here to tell you because I want something from you or whatever, okay?”
“How did you know I’d be here?”
Her cheeks turn pink. “I asked around.”
“You… asked around.”
“Some of the regulars here know my cousin. I asked if they’d seen you.” I sit up straighter. “You’ve been coming here all the time.”
“It’s a nice bar.”
“Liar. Why?”
He pauses and seems to get control of himself. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
Hearing that feels like a kick straight to the throat. I drink my club soda to cover my emotions. Saul’s been coming to the Sterling Duck a few times a week for the last month because he wants to run into me again. He wants to see me.