She held up a box and showed me the test on the screen. “I have it. I just don’t think I can do it without you.”
“Put the phone down and I’ll wait.”
“Luke!”
“Was that insensitive?”
“Yes.” She glared at me. “I need you here for this. It’s a huge deal.”
“You want to wait another week?”
“It’s five days. Five more days and we’ll know for sure.”
I turned off the light in my office and carried the phone down the hall with me. “Think it could be a boy?”
Her eyes widened. “You really want this, don’t you?”
Fuck. I didn’t know what I wanted. Only, that when I was with her, I wanted my baby inside her. Hell yeah, I wanted it.
“You’re going to have my baby, Alexa.”
There was silence on her end, but she wasn’t mad. She was stunned. Quiet. Almost crying.
“Why are you so damned far away?” she whimpered.
“Not much longer. Five days, right?”
“Right.” She smiled. “In five days we’ll be out. We don’t have to hide. We’ll take this stupid test. Our worlds are going to be completely different.”
“And Jake knows about everything? He has a plan?” I didn’t give a shit about that fucker, but he was the reason Alexa had to hold off on making this public.
“I’m taking care of Jake. Ok?”
I walked into my bedroom and closed the door. My house wasn’t nearly as large as Alexa’s. She could walk circles in that place.
“Charlie is basically doing somersaults. It’s like she won some kind of publicity lottery. We are officially off her shit list for the stunt we pulled in DC.”
The only way to deal with Alexa’s red carpet invitation was to include Charlie. Alexa was reluctant at first, but after a few calls they seemed to hit it off. I was still trying to wrap my head around how two women could be so different and work together like they did. Alexa swore Charlie was nowhere near as bad as Jake. She was a smart calculated businesswoman with marketing strategy in her DNA.
“I’m getting in bed. So I’ll talk to you in the morning.”
She puckered her lips together. “Good night.”
“Night, baby.”
I hung up and plugged the phone in the charger.
In five days things were going to implode. There was no fucking way around it. But I had trusted Alexa that this was the way she needed to do it. I wasn’t used to someone else calling the shots. Not Linc. Not Charlie. Sure as hell not a woman in my life.
But it didn’t feel like a prison with Alexa. It felt right. And that scared the absolute shit out of me.
31
Alexa
I paced in front of the pool. Jake always liked sitting out here. I even had lunch catered. I needed every brownie point I could get before we had this conversation.
I arranged the linen napkins again. It had to be perfect. From the sunflowers to the croissants. I couldn’t settle for a wilted petal or a crumb on the tablecloth.
Early November was gorgeous in Tennessee. The leaves rustled around me. From the corner of my eye I caught a few deep orange ones floating to the ground.
I pulled the ankle-length wrap to my chest for comfort. I don’t know what I thought I would find. He was going to be furious. There was nothing here to save me. Nowhere to hide once I told him the truth.
“There you are.” Jake strolled onto the patio.
“Hi.” I leaned in when he kissed my cheek.
“Look at this spread.” He plucked a grape from the fruit tray and popped it in his mouth. I thought maybe it was the pool, but his eyes looked bluer than usual today.
“Let’s sit and eat,” I suggested.
Jake pulled the chair out for me and I scooted into the cushioned seat.
“Gorgeous day.” He mused at the scenery.
“It is.” I pulled a bottle of chilled cider from the bucket. Jake never drank during the day. He said it gave him too much of a buzz.
I offered him a glass before filling my own.
“Remember when I first found this house?” I asked.
He smiled. “I think I found it for you.”
“Ok, remember when you found this house?”
He nodded. “Two years ago?”
“Yes. It was.”
I was headed somewhere. I just didn’t know if I could take Jake with me. I didn’t know if he was capable anymore of being the friend I used to have. But ever since the CYA nominations, it was as if a part of that man had re-emerged. The part that had drawn me to him.
He laughed. “I think we ordered pizza and ate in one of your dining rooms on the floor.”
“And the power went out on us because I forgot to call the power company.”