Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
TRY A LITTLE TENDERNESS
Later that night…
Coast didn’t know how she hadn’t caught on before.
Turning in the mirror inside the bathroom at Comfort Kitchen, she studied her stomach.
Aside from the random nausea and being tired as hell, she didn’t factor in all the other symptoms until the drive to work earlier.
Her breasts were swollen and super tender, and her normally flat stomach did have a slight rounded pudge in the lower region now.
Shaking her head in disbelief, she blew out a harsh breath and washed her hands.
She stepped out of the bathroom and back into the restaurant.
This place was loud in the way only late-night diners are, with silverware clinking, fryers humming, and low conversations layered over each other.
She was about three hours into her shift now, feet aching, smile practiced as she weaved through tables, taking orders and collecting tips.
There was a new arrival in her section. With his head down in his phone, he sat in the corner of the booth with one arm draped over the woman beside him.
Coast reached into her apron and pulled out the tablet she used to take orders.
Nearing the table, she peeped the caramel beauty at his side, all gloss and confidence, with perfect hair and manicured nails.
Leaning in, she laughed loudly and threw her head back at something he muttered.
She was the kind of woman who knew she was wanted and enjoyed proving it.
A red top hugged her perfect, ample breasts and tied in a simple bow with high waisted skinny jeans. Gold Chanel heels donned her feet, accompanied by a matching red chain-link purse on the table. Coast took a breath and approached the table, suddenly insecure compared to her.
“Welcome to Comfort Kitchen,” she greeted them in a low tone with her head down.
Relaxed in the booth like he owned the place, Mozzi’s expression shifted instantly.
Recognition, irritation, and something darker now lingered over his handsome face.
This wasn’t a coincidence. He didn’t believe in those.
When people popped up in his life, he paid attention.
He hadn’t planned on seeing her again. Ree Heights was small, and unless she lived under a rock, he figured last night was the first and last time.
The fact that she was now standing close enough to touch unsettled him more than he cared to admit.
Coast schooled her face into neutrality and lifted her head from the device screen.
She damn near dropped it when she looked into his familiar eyes.
“What can I get you?” she asked, her voice steady and professional, as she immediately broke the stare.
Roni gazed in his direction, watching the exchange with sharp interest, eyes flicking between them.
“You know her?” she queried, already suspicious as she toyed with the diamond hoop earring in her ear.
“No,” Mozzi said too quickly.
Coast glanced up at that. Just for a second. He caught her reaction and squinted. Something sparked between them, annoyance and unfinished tension. Roni felt it in the air. Sitting up straighter at Mozzi’s side, she slid her hand possessively onto his thigh.
“We’ll start with drinks.” Roni smiled sweetly at Coast, but not in a nice way. “I’ll have water with lemon, and he’ll have sparkling water.”
Coast tapped at the screen to place their order as her stomach twisted. The smell of grease and coffee was suddenly too heavy and too damn close. Nodding, she took a breath.
“Anything else?”
“We’ll look over our menu while you go grab those.” Roni picked up her menu from the table.
“Okay.” Coast turned to walk away.
Halfway to the server station, the dizziness hit. It wasn’t mild or ignorable, and it caused her vision to blur while her pulse roared in her ears. Gripping the counter, knuckles white, she willed herself not to sway. Not here. Not now in front of everyone, she pleaded with herself.
From the table, Mozzi noticed. Roni sat beside him, talking his ear off, but he’d tuned her out when Coast stopped at the counter. She stood stiffly, shoulders tense, breathing erratically. His jaw tightened, and Roni peeped his distraction.
“What are you looking at?”
“Nothing,” he muttered, eyes never leaving Coast.
She forced herself upright, shaking it off and keeping it moving. By the time she returned to their table with their drinks, she’d lost all the color to her face. She set the glasses down carefully but braced one hand on the table for just a little too long.
“You okay?” Roni pried, not concerned but territorial because Mozzi was a little too intrigued for her liking.
“I’m fine,” Coast quipped.
Mozzi didn’t buy it. She was too quick to respond and brush it off as she grabbed the tablet from her apron pocket again.
“Did you decide what you want?” Coast checked with them, eyes on the screen in her hand.
“You look sick,” Mozzi observed.
“Excuse me?” Coast snapped her eyes to him, anger cutting through the nausea. “I said I’m fine. Can I take your food order or—”
The smell from the kitchen surged again.
She didn’t know what it was. Oil. Meat. A combination of it that turned her stomach violently.
Clamping a hand over her mouth, she rushed toward the restroom, leaving her tablet on their table.
The silence she left behind was loud, causing Roni’s smile to fade as she slowly looked at Mozzi.
“That was weird.”
Leaning back, narrowing his eyes, something clicked into place for him while watching the space where Coast had disappeared.
“Nah.” Mozzi shook his head.
Moments later, she returned, looking worn out as she picked up the device off the table. He watched her carefully when her bright eyes now edged with sharp adrenaline briefly met his.
“I’m sorry about that. I’ll have another server come and take over. I need to leave.” She didn’t wait for permission as she walked away.
Mozzi clocked her every move. She was very guarded and careful with each step.
“You’re staring,” she stated the obvious, following his gaze on Coast with irritation.
“She’s pregnant,” he declared in a low tone.
Roni blinked. “What?”
Mozzi didn’t elaborate. He didn’t need to.
The certainty of the situation had already settled in his bones.
He wondered if she knew. Across the room, Coast felt the weight of his attention pressing into her back as she untied her apron and looked through her purse for her car keys.
She couldn’t shake it. Instead of dwelling on something out of her control, she moved toward the nearest exit, so she could call it a night.
She was already hormonal, why was the universe throwing this man into her orbit?
A low, slow beat of thunder rolled beneath her feet when she opened the door.
The familiar aroma of rain slapped her in the face, and she collided with the hard body stepping inside.
Eyes drifting up his frame, Coast locked eyes with Sipes and held back the chunks.
His signature Balmain cologne lingered in her nostrils, making her sicker.
“You thought I wouldn’t just slide up on you?” he teased, lips curving into a taunting smile.
“You thought I was scared?” Coast hiked a brow.
Sipes snickered and flicked the tip of his nose before peeping the crowded restaurant. Coast had him fucked up. He stepped into her space, keeping a smile plastered across his face so he didn’t appear as a threat to anyone else witnessing the situation.
Nearby, Mozzi observed with interest.
“Come outside so we can talk,” he encouraged. “I ain’t even mad at you. I fucked up.”
“Fuck you! You’re damn right you fucked up!” she spat. “Be glad you lived, Sipes. Because I was aiming for your fucking chest!” she hissed, pressing her index finger into his wound and causing him to wince.
“We can play this however you want, Coast. That shit with Arwen was a mistake, aight. We even as far as I’m concerned, but we can work this shit out.”
Disbelief crowded her face, and her dark brown orbs bounced around his before he sneered coldly.
She realized that he was the father to the baby growing in her womb, and for a moment, it gave her pause.
Could she do this? Did she want to be tied to Sipes for the foreseeable future?
How had she been so careless and let this happen?
“Work it out? I see you have no problem operating in delusion.”
“Everybody around here knows you belong to me, Coast. How do you think this is going to work out for you? You know who the fuck I am, and with my connections in this city nobody will miss you.”
“I’m not your property, Sipes. I don’t belong to anybody. I don’t give a fuck about your connections either. So, consider this your final warning. Stay the fuck away from me!” She stomped past him and marched to the parking lot to her car.
“This shit over when I say it is!” Sipes yelled after her.
Coast ignored him as she whipped off the lot.
She viewed him in her rearview mirror and hit the corner when she reached the end of the block.
Although she told herself she was done, she got the feeling she hadn’t seen the last of Sipes.
It wasn’t like she could hide her pregnancy if she decided to go through with it.
Part of her wondered if it would be best to terminate and wash her hands of the situation.
Sipes, oddly, was the last thing on her mind as she wondered more about the handsome stranger now circling her sphere.
Coast hadn’t spent much time out and about nor paid attention to who was who around these parts since being back.
Her main concern was making sure she could eat and pay bills.
The way he looked through her left her vulnerable, and she didn’t like that.
“I can’t believe you’re even giving Danilo the time of day.” Ayla examined an orange from the stand where she and Inari shopped at the farmer’s market that Sunday morning.