Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 135955 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135955 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
“Can I help you?”
“And to think they called me a honeypot.”
“Excuse me?”
Her gaze drops to the paper in my hand, and I realize she’s been reading over my shoulder.
“Are you following me?”
“You’re in a drugstore.”
Technically, she’s right, but we are nowhere near her side of town. “I don’t believe it’s a coincidence.”
Her eyes flare in challenge. “You definitely have everyone fooled. The good girl act, selfless social worker moonlighting as a pretty bartender to all the boys in blue. Cute little townhome you rent. Loyal friends, good neighbors, close family ties. I think you make a pittance for the level of education, but there’s nobility in it.”
“Are you looking into me?”
Her perfectly shaped eyebrow arches. “Do you really want to go there?”
How could I forget? Major mentioned she has camera access to the garage.
“I have to hand it to you. You recognize a good thing when you see it.”
“What does that mean?”
“Out of all the roommates, Major’s the top choice.”
Instead of fueling her desire to get under my skin, I tuck my list in my bag and turn to leave.
“In a hurry?”
“I have much better places to be.”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk… so ungracious.”
“Gracious? You want gracious? You’re stalking me.”
“Hardly. I care deeply for Major. He seems quite enamored with you. Because of our long history, I wanted to see what your intentions are. Now I know.”
“You know nothing.”
“A better woman than you has walked down this path and failed.”
“Better woman? Meaning you? A nymphomaniac who tried to trap a nineteen-year-old from chasing his dreams?”
Her eyes light and lips twist in a way that makes my skin prickle. “Impressive vocabulary. So, he told you about us. You’re right in one sense. I couldn’t get enough. You’ve obviously had him and know no one comes close to satisfying a woman like he can. Major always knew what he was doing and would rock me to my bones every single time. The man is a sex god. And that piercing. I still dream of playing with it. The look on his face when he loses control. Savage.”
I’m going to be sick. Watching the pleasure on her face as she relives her ecstasy with the father of my baby. The same man who left me in his bed less than three hours ago.
“Regardless of how he spun the story, I wasn’t trying to keep him from his dreams, just postpone.”
“Still a trap.”
“I wouldn’t stand there casting judgment while in your predicament.”
“Hardly the same. Major and I are different.”
“Don’t lie to a lawyer, Julianna. You’ll lose every time. This pregnancy isn’t planned. It’s the result of a mistake. Back to being gracious, I’m offering a favor. Woman to woman, who both love the same man. It is unfair to trick Major into a relationship with a child he didn’t plan or want.”
As hard as I try to fight it, her words slice through me like a fiery blade. I grip the handle of the basket to keep from covering my stomach and the child inside.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Major is the type of man who would be by your side right now if he knew about this baby. Instead, he’s sitting in court with the rest of his crew.”
Her knowledge of Major’s whereabouts should worry me more than it does. But I can’t stop her words from ringing in my head on replay. We may be older, wiser, and in the next stages of our life, but the truth is glaring. I’m no better than Darla.
“It’s sinking in.”
“Our relationship is nothing like yours. We’re in love,” I spout.
“We were in love, too, so there is no better person to advise. Let’s be honest, it’s easy to love Major, but what happens when your body changes and he’s strapped down with a kid? The resentment will come, and when it does, love disappears.”
“You got his best friend killed.”
She jerks, her eyes flaming with a fire of righteousness. “Koby’s death was tragic, but it was not my fault.”
“We’re done here.” My voice betrays me by cracking. I move to leave and she sidesteps, blocking my path.
“You dropped these.” She holds up the string of black and white ultrasound pictures from this morning, showing nothing but a dot. “Wouldn’t want this precious memory to wind up in the wrong hands.”
I snatch them and tamper the urge to scratch her eyes out when she laughs in my face. “Good luck, Jewls.”
My feet are frozen to the floor as she sashays away in her fabulous four-inch Valentino’s.
I go through the motions of paying for my items and getting back to my car. Everything she said slams into me with the force of a sledgehammer.
Our first time flashes in my mind, him reaching for a condom. Me assuring him I was safe. That night could very well be when this baby was conceived. The high of the night paired with his declaration of love—I selfishly wanted all of him. I set the precedent. And now I’m pregnant.