“I’m sure it was.” He leaned against the front of his desk, crossing his ankles, and ran a hand through his wavy hair. Damn, but he was good looking in a tortured-artist kind of way.
And he did absolutely nothing for me. But I found myself happy that somebody was reaping the benefits of Billy Montrose.
“I just wanted to tell you…and I know this sounds kind of…trite coming from me. But seeing you in that interview? I was really…proud of you, Jane.”
“Thanks,” I said, meaning it. “Your words to me…they meant a lot. They really helped me out.” I meant that too.
“I’m glad,” he said.
I nodded at the scarf. “Now maybe it’s time to take your own advice? Make it less…complicated? ‘Let the rest of the bullshit go’?”
“Yeah, maybe.”
I stood up, and we did one of those things where I went to hug him while he went to shake my hand, and it just ended up being awkward, but in a sweet kind of way.
I left his office, quickly walked to Lot H and took my baby to go see Stick’s baby.
As we walked along the corridor to the maternity ward, my steps began to slow, nearly falter.
“Come on,” Stick said, walking ahead of me. “You’re going to love the little guy.”
“Oh, so it’s a boy?”
“Yep. Didn’t I mention that?”
“No,” I said. I didn’t think he did. Stick had met me down in the lobby, and on the ride up the elevator he chattered about the delivery going well, and that Shelly’s roommate had been in the room with her and came out to give Stick updates. And my mind went numb. He very well could have mentioned it was a boy and I’d missed it.
I joined Stick in front of the window with about eight babies behind it. Just like you saw in the movies. “There he is,” Stick said, pointing to a bassinet just in front of us. The card in front of the bin read “Baby Boy Hopkins.”
“Isn’t he a cute little guy?” Stick said, watching me instead of the baby.
I took a good look at the baby, holding my breath in case he was the spitting image of his father. Which apparently he was.
“That baby is very Asian,” I said.
“Yep,” Stick said, still watching me, a broad grin creeping across his face.
“Does Shelly have an Asian background?” She was blonde and blue-eyed, but you never knew.
“Nope, not a drop.”
“Do you?” Again, you never knew.
“Nope,” he said, the grin growing wider.
“Are you even going to have blood tests done?”
He shook his head. “No need. A very bewildered, but mostly happy, Asian guy was here this morning. As soon as the baby was born, Shelly’s roommate called him. He hadn’t known anything about Shelly being pregnant. Apparently he’s pretty happy about the surprise. I guess it was never his idea to break up. He’s been with Shelly all morning. I think they might be working it out.”
“So? You’re—”
“Not the father? Yeah, that’s pretty obvious now.”
“And you won’t—”
“Be involved? Probably not. I’ll still offer to help out financially with the apartment if she needs help. But it’s looking like the father is going to be involved, so it’s probably best if I just bow out.”
“And so we’re—”
“Dealing with one less major issue in trying to make this thing called love fly.”
I swatted his arm, my fingers brushing against the soft cotton of his white tee. “Would you let me finish a sentence?” He grabbed the swatting hand and raised it to his lips, kissing it, making my knuckles heat. Yeah, okay, making the rest of me heat, too.
I pulled it away from him and swatted again. “You couldn’t have told me on the phone that he wasn’t your kid? You made me get all prepared to see a Mini Stick and all those feelings to deal with?” Swat. “You can be such an asshat.” Swat.
He grabbed my hand again and yanked me to him, wrapping his arms around me.
“Yeah, but I’m your asshat.” He leaned down, resting his forehead against mine, gazing at me with those intense brown eyes.
I wove my hands behind his neck, entrenching my fingers in his rat’s-nest hair.
“And don’t you forget it,” I said. Then I kissed him.
~*~
The Roommates Trilogy continues with Syd’s story in
In Too Hard
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Mara Jacobs books available for Kindle
The Worth Series:
Worth The Weight
Worth The Drive
Worth The Fall
Worth The Effort
Totally Worth Christmas
Freshman Roommates New Adult Romance Series:
In Too Deep
In Too Fast
In Too Hard (coming soon)
Stand Alone Contemporary Romance:
Love Games
Anna Dawson’s Vegas Romantic Mystery Series:
Against The Spread
Romantic Suspense:
Broken Wings
Anthology:
Countdown To A Kiss
Mara Jacobs is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Worth series.
After graduating from Michigan State University with a degree in advertising, Mara spent several years working at daily newspapers in advertising sales and production. This certainly prepared her for the world of deadlines!
She writes mysteries with romance, thrillers with romance, and romances with…well, you get it.
Forever a Yooper (someone who hails from Michigan's glorious Upper Peninsula), Mara now splits her time between the Copper Country, Las Vegas, and East Lansing, where she is better able to root on her beloved Spartans.
You can find out more about Mara’s books at
www.marajacobs.com
Mara loves to hear from readers. Contact her at mara@marajacobs.com
Table of Contents
Story Description
Copyright
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Epilogue
In Too Hard
This Book is Lendable
Mara Jacobs books available for Kindle
Author information
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