Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Jenna
Lucas and I drove to the office together.
He’d finally realized that I should ride with him since we both lived in the same building and were going to the same office.
He even gave me access to Thaddeus when and if I needed him.
I was grateful for the new man Lucas had become, but I couldn’t help but wonder how long it would last.
Lindsey walked in as I was in the breakroom pouring a cup of coffee.
“There you are. I’ve been looking for you!”
“Why? What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I cannot believe you lied to me.”
“About what?” I asked in confusion.
“Who the baby’s father is. You said it was some guy, and things didn’t work out. But come to find out, Mr. Thorne is the father. How could you keep that a secret?”
“I—I. How did you find out?” I cocked my head.
“He sent an email to the staff. You haven’t seen it?”
“He what?!” My eyes widened.
“He sent an email telling us he’s the baby’s father, and he just wanted to put it out there to clear up any confusion.”
“It’s complicated, Lindsey. You know him. He wasn’t happy about it when I told him. But now he accepted it, and I guess he thought everyone should know.”
“I didn’t know the two of you were seeing each other. Nobody did.”
“We aren’t. It resulted from a one-night stand, and we’re just friends.”
“Just friends?”
“Just friends.” I gave her a small smile. “Am I forgiven?”
“Of course.” She reached over and hugged me. “The whole office is buzzing. I just thought you should know.”
“Oh well. Once the shock wears off, the buzzing will stop. I hope.”
I walked down to Lucas’s office and opened the door without knocking.
“Can I help you?” He smiled.
“What’s with the email, Lucas? And who does that? Who sends an office memo to their staff telling them he’s the father of one of his employees’ baby?”
“Relax, Jenna. I just wanted to get it out in the open.”
“You could have warned me first. The entire office is buzzing.”
“They’ll get over it soon enough.”
Suddenly, I felt something in my belly that startled me.
“Oh, my God.” I placed my hand on my belly.
“What’s wrong?” Lucas jumped up from his chair.
“I’m not sure. Oh, my God.” I felt it again.
“I’m taking you to the hospital,” Lucas said.
“No, you’re not. I’m not having pain. I think the baby kicked.”
“Is that the first time you’ve felt that?” he asked as he walked over to me.
“Yeah. It is.” I grinned as I took his hand and placed it on my belly.
We both waited patiently, but nothing happened.
“Oh well. I guess she went back to sleep.” I sighed. “I need to get back to work. I’ll run down here if she starts kicking again.”
“Good idea. Forget about the email and forget about the buzzing. Come tomorrow, it’ll be old news.” He kissed my forehead, and I narrowed my eyes at him. “Don’t give me that look.”
“Then don’t do things that make me give you that look.” I arched my brow at him. As I turned and walked out of his office, I heard him chuckle.
One Month Later
Lucas and I were the true definition of having a friends-with-benefits relationship.
I did my thing, and he did his. We lived separately but had sex whenever we wanted.
The only string that was attached to us was our daughter.
Everything was perfect, or so I thought, until I was out shopping one day.
Pregnant couples appeared everywhere. Holding hands, kissing, and giving each other that look—the look of love, joy, and happiness.
I felt like a pregnant fraud. Alone, unworthy, and scared.
Maybe it was the hormones. Maybe it was the fact that I wanted more in my life now.
Or maybe it was because I’d fallen in love with Lucas, and I knew he couldn’t return the favor.
I couldn’t tell him how I felt because I wouldn’t risk damaging our friendship.
I hadn’t heard from Bri since that day we talked on the street.
Obviously, she was still in the grips of her controlling douchebag boyfriend.
If I tried to reach out to her, it would be the same old shit.
I couldn’t talk to my parents because they would tell me it was my fault for getting pregnant in the first place without being in a committed relationship.
As much as I felt alone in this situation, I knew I wasn’t the only single pregnant woman out there dealing with this.
After I left the baby boutique and five hundred dollars later, I stopped by the electronics store to pick up a new laptop charger.
While there, I overheard a woman tell her friend when they walked past me that she needed a better microphone for her podcast. Suddenly, a lightbulb went off in my head, and a smile crossed my face.
I could express my feelings to the world, and nobody would have to know it was me.
I was high-tech and knew exactly how to get a podcast up and running.
After purchasing everything I needed, I returned to my apartment to set up my podcast, which I called Baby Drama .
I went by J. Elle instead of using my first name because I needed to be careful.
Being open and raw was how I would record, and I wasn’t going to edit a single thing.
What I said was exactly what people would hear, if anyone even listened to it.
I didn’t even care if anyone listened or not because talking about how I felt and what I was going through helped me.
After recording and speaking from my heart, I uploaded the content, shut my laptop down, and went to bed.
The next morning, I slid into the back of the car and said good morning to Thaddeus. Lucas hadn’t come down yet, and I was surprised. He was never late. A few moments later, the door opened, and Lucas climbed in next to me.
“Late night?” I arched my brow at him.
“Pretty much.”
I couldn’t help but wonder if he was with someone last night. He said he was going to JAMS to hang with Danny, where temptation was uncontrollable.
“I have a doctor’s appointment this afternoon. Would you like to come with me?” I asked.
“I can’t, Jenna.” He glanced over at me. “I have a very busy day.”
Disappointment shot through me because he’d never been to any of my appointments.
“Sure. I understand.” I gave him a small smile.
“Maybe next time,” he said. “How was your day yesterday?”
“It was good. I did some shopping and picked up some adorable sleepers from this cute little baby boutique over on Lexington.”
“And what did you do last night?”
“Oh, not much. I just pretty much laid around and watched TV.” I lied.
“It sounds like you had a nice and relaxing evening.” His lips gave way to a sexy smile.
“It definitely was.” I bit down on my bottom lip as I looked out the window.
Sitting at my desk, I decided to take a small break from working and check my podcast stats.
My eyes literally popped out of my head when I saw I’d already had over six hundred downloads and loads of comments in less than twenty-four hours.
Listeners seemed to love what I had to say, and they wanted more.
It was time to head out for my doctor’s appointment, so I grabbed my purse and left. As I sat in the waiting room, I looked around at the four other women sitting there with their partners, and that feeling began to creep up inside me again.