14. Dragon
Chapter Fourteen
DRAGON
Iwas keeping the baby.
I hadn’t been certain I would keep it until Horse had said the words out loud.
His dark blue eyes had been so certain. He didn’t say it like it would be crazy for a girl like me to be a mother.
If he could see it, then it was possible, no matter how many other people hissed at me and saw me as the worst. It would be the hardest thing I’d ever done, the most terrifying, but the biggest adventure.
I’d be responsible for another life. I’d have to step up, live for more than myself, and make a home for someone else.
I took a deep breath and went to the balcony, stepping outside above the arid strip before I called the number I’d texted to my phone before I’d taken off.
He answered after a few rings. “This is a private number. Please put me on your do not call list.” He sounded so arrogant. Bored. Exactly the kind of man I didn’t give the time of day. I guess I’d given him the time of night.
I took a deep breath, but panic was making it kind of hard. I couldn’t tell him this over the phone. “I’ll be sure to do that. So sorry to disturb you, Blondie.”
“Wait! This is Las Vegas? How did you get this number?”
“Sorry. I didn’t realize it was private.”
He scoffed. “Was there something public about what we did together? I owe you a dress. What’s your address? I’ll be in Vegas again this weekend. Can we meet? Where do you work?”
He was so eager. It was almost like he’d enjoyed going on a drunken crime spree with me.
What would it have been like with Horse?
I shook my head. That wasn’t going to happen.
It would be better if I told Richard the happy news to his face so I could see his real reaction, whether he wanted to tangle his life with so much responsibility or close the door.
I didn’t want him to be polite to save my feelings or his manners.
“Meet me for lunch. Saturday, Mimi’s café. Eleven?”
“Lunch? Of course. And then afterwards, we can get drinks.”
I wouldn’t be drinking for nine months. At least. It didn’t seem like drinking went very well with being a mother. Drunken sprees definitely didn’t. I was starting to panic again. “Lunch. After that, we’ll see.”
He laughed. “Sounds fair. Eleven, Mimi’s café. Do I get to know your name?”
I hesitated. I knew his name. I’d done my research on social media and knew that he was an early graduate of Harvard who lived in upstate New York.
He was taking a break before starting a new career.
He had an ex-girlfriend, but wasn’t dating anyone seriously at the moment.
Still, I had no idea about the kind of person he was.
I could ask Felicia to hack him for me, but I wanted everything figured out before I had to deliver the happy news to my friends.
Minx would probably try even harder to find me a nice guy to provide security for this baby.
I hesitantly placed my palm against my stomach.
“Hello?”
“See you then.” I hung up to the sound of him laughing.
He probably thought that I was teasing him.
He didn’t know me. He thought I was a stripper with a streak of tough girl, but not really tough.
He’d hot-wired the golf cart to impress me and it had taken him a long time.
I’d only lit myself on fire. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair.
I needed to talk to Nix. I texted him. He’d talk to me in the warehouse after today’s practice.
He was talking to Jezebel about the timing of her exit from the truck while my backup, Oscar, listened intently. He wasn’t a bad driver; he just wasn’t as experienced or instinctive as me. Dagger was better, but his videographer skills were better than anyone else’s.
I ran my hand over the side of my best beastie, murmuring apologies for letting Oscar take her rough over potholes.
“You wanted to talk?” Nix nodded at me as he unwrapped his hands. He looked good, not just in the usual way a well-put-together man looks. He looked happy. Being happily married to Kitten suited him. I never would have expected it.
“I’m pregnant.”
He stared at me, frozen in the act of unbandaging his hands. “What?”
I sighed. Horse had read my situation without the slightest effort. Maybe because I asked him to get me pregnancy tests, but he didn’t text me to find out about the results. “I have a fetus in my stomach. Do you need me to give you the birds and the bees talk, Nix?”
He shook his head slightly and continued pulling off the wrapping. “Okay. Do you want me to do something? Beat someone up or…castration? If it’s Horse, I’m all over that.”
I snorted. “If I wanted Horse castrated, I’d do it myself.
No, I’m telling you because you’re the boss, and since I’m going to keep it, that’s going to be a thing.
” I stared at the pavement between my boots.
What was I thinking? I couldn’t have a baby.
I’d have to quit racing for at least nine months.
What was I without speed and adrenaline?
Nothing. And after that… How was I supposed to raise a baby on my own?
I wasn’t one of those soft women who did the domestic stuff.
Minx would be fine, no sweat, even Jezebel, but me?
It’s not that I didn’t know how to handle kids, I mean, at home someone’s babies were always screaming, and I’d done my part settling them down and changing diapers, but having my own kid, out here, living this life?
Nix swore soft and slow, like only he could. He had a whole litany of curses that he liked to go over while he worked something out. “I thought you came to tell me you were quitting me and joining Horse’s team. Did he knock you up just to win the three-hundred this year?”
I laughed. I laughed and laughed. He thought Horse was the father of my baby?
How could that possibly work? There had been a second there when he’d looked so sad, talking about the girl.
I wanted to beat her up for him. How did that make sense?
I stopped laughing and felt sick instead. No hysterical laughter for me.
Nix shook his head. “At least you’re not on his team. Trix, make him stay up with you while you vomit every night, okay? And wear him out with sex so we still win. If he thinks that his diabolical trickery is going to work…”
I slugged him in the stomach. He folded with an oomph. “Horse isn’t going to impregnate a woman to win a race. No man in his right mind would do that kind of thing. Horse is a lot of things, but he wouldn’t use an unborn baby like that.”
Nix straightened slowly, his face blank. “Wait. You’re pregnant? Like, you’re having a baby? Really?” He put a hand on my arm, all gentle like I was Kitten or something. “Are you okay? I thought you couldn’t have a baby. Did you do invitro?”
I shook him off. “It’s a surprise. Just a one-night stand gone permanent. But I’m going to do it. I’m going to…” I leaned on the truck and closed my eyes.
He leaned next to me, not trying to offer any comfort. That was a relief. I didn’t want to burst into tears or something embarrassing. “I’m going to need a permanent driver.”
His words squeezed my heart. He’d replace me easily enough. I nodded and straightened up. “Yeah. There’s no reason for you to keep me on when I’m going to be useless the entire season.”
He scowled and pointed at me. “Not a chance. You’re still working for me, Trix.
I’m not firing you, letting you go, or laying you off.
You’re on the payroll and that’s where you’ll stay.
It’s just, what do they call it, maternity leave?
If you want to do something, you can do tune-ups and whatever else won’t put you or the baby at risk, but you’re on the bench until this baby’s born.
It’s good you told me. Miscarriages are rough. ”
I took a deep breath and covered my stomach with my hands. What if it ended? That would kill me so much.
He hesitated, then put his strong hand on my shoulder. “If you need anything, we’ll figure it out. Do you want to go home awhile? New York, right?”
I snorted and shifted away from him. “My mother would love that. She’s Catholic, Italian, and would insist on personally forcing the father to do right by me. She could make him.”
He grinned. “So, Horse might get castrated after all?”
I shook my head. I’d never told him that Horse was the one. Why did he assume that? “It would be sad to geld the stallion. Think of all the women who would be disappointed.”
He scowled at me. “He’d better not be screwing around on you. I’ll kill him if you don’t.”
I laughed lightly. “So bloodthirsty.”
He flashed his shark grin. “Of course. Hopefully, you can be happy together. There are worse men, and not many better women.”
I really should say something about Horse not being the father, but I’d already hesitated.
Did it really matter? I didn’t know how to have a relationship with a man without the complications a little person would bring to the relationship.
I cleared my throat and focused on the assault vehicle.
I ran my hand over the side. “Thanks Nix. I’ve meant to overhaul beastie for awhile.
This will give me some time to do something beautiful. ”
“Mm. Hold off on the pimping tires. We’re going to have to tighten our belts.”
I smiled at him, but I felt a flash of guilt mixed with irritation. It was nice that Nix was being a supportive boss, but at the same time, he didn’t need to treat me like I was a delicate flower, like his Kitten.
“You tighten your belt. Mine is coming off completely.” I winked and patted his stomach where I’d punched him.
He raised an eyebrow but gave me his slow smile, the sure one, the one that said this would all be okay in the end after the wreckage and explosions.
I spent the rest of the week running numbers and figuring out living expenses.
I really needed to go to a doctor, but I wasn’t sure where that would be best, here or in the city.
I wasn’t in a hurry for that visit with my mother.
He lived upstate. Richard. Maybe we’d actually like and respect each other, be civilized, and have joint custody.
Finally, it was Saturday. I got out of the cab and pushed through the glass doors of Mimi’s Café. It wasn’t ever busy at lunch. It was more of a post-club stop for drunks who needed to sober up before they went home.
Blondie was sitting at a little table with a wrapped box in front of him. He smiled and stood up when he saw me. I smiled back, but my instincts were screaming at me to turn and run. Had I really gotten naked with that child? He was so young and inexperienced.
He pulled out the chair for me and then gestured for me to open the present. I let him help me into my chair, but I didn’t touch the gift.
“Richard, it’s nice to see you.”
He grinned and leaned an elbow on the table. “I can’t believe you found my number.”
“I texted it to my phone.”
He blinked at me, like the possibility hadn’t occurred to him.
“So I had your number on my phone the whole time? Crazy. What are we going to do tonight? Sorry. You should order first.” He was like a puppy eager to get at his chew toy.
How had I actually been attracted to someone so young?
It was the motorcycle. Also Horse. I’d transferred my attraction for those things to this guy. There was no other explanation.
I nodded at Sheila behind the counter. “She’ll bring out what I usually get. Richard…”
He leaned forward. “Call me Blondie. I like the way you say it. Otherwise, it’s Ritchie.
Richard is my father. What’s your name? Where do you work?
You weren’t at the club. Where do you live?
I’ve been thinking about you a lot. That night was incredible.
” His eyes gleamed, and I shifted uncomfortably.
What had I been thinking? The way he looked at me, like I was a sex object that he could buy, it made me want to put his face through the table.
I took a deep breath and put my palms down flat.
“Look, Ritchie, I’m not here for a repeat of last time.
I just wanted to tell you that our night of… It had consequences.”
He stared at me, the quizzical look on his idealistic face. So young. I was starting to feel old. Horse could tell I was pregnant with one half-inferred question about his own exploits. Ritchie knew that we’d had multiple rounds of wild sex. Why else would I call him a month later?
“Consequences?”
“I’m pregnant.” I sat back and crossed my legs.
He stared at me, his eyes running down my body in a way that wasn’t sexy, not that it had been before. “You don’t look like it.”
This was a waste of time. I got up and pushed my chair in. “Thanks. You too.”
He grabbed my arm. “You think that I’m going to listen when a stripper claims that I’m the father of her baby?
You found out that I have money and thought I’d be an easy mark?
Let me be clear.” His smile was hard, like his fingers digging into my arm.
“You’re lucky that I’m letting you go without taking your predatory behavior personally.
You won’t get a cent from me. If I think that you even think about suing me for funds, my lawyers will hound you to the grave. Do I make myself clear?”
This little idiot thought that I was trying to shake him down for money? Rage eclipsed all my rational thought.
I twisted out of his grip and slammed his face down on the table. It was so satisfying. With his arm twisted behind him in a truly painful manner, I leaned close to his ear.
“If I were going to get money out of you, I’d go right to violence. You wanted to know my name. Let me introduce myself. I’m the dragon. I don’t want your money, I don’t want your name, and I don’t want you. I had this crazy idea that you’d like to know you’d made a baby. My mistake.”
I twisted his arm until he cried out in pain. Then I twisted a little more. Wait a minute. He’d sue me if I broke his arm. Nix didn’t need the hassle, and neither did I. I let go and stalked out of the café without looking back.
Horse straddled his idling bike at the curb. I walked straight to him, climbed on behind him, slid my hands over his rock-hard abs and said, “Drive. Now.”
He shot out into the street while I put my head on his broad shoulder and cried.