Operation Foreplay (26 page)

“Okay. Let’s drink our wine, loosen our lips. We apparently have quite a bit to catch up on. Give me your glass. I’ll refill you.”

I stood in front of her and held out my hand while doing my best to remove the contents from my glass. A few seconds passed before I realized she wasn’t handing me hers.

“Where’s your glass?”

She shook her head.

“I didn’t pour myself one.”

“What?”

“I didn’t want any.”

“You didn’t
want any
?” The idea was unfathomable to me. “Since when do you not drink wine?” I snorted and finally drained my glass. I held it up and looked at it in the afternoon sun that streamed through my living room window. “What, are you pregnant or something?” I laughed and headed toward the kitchen. “As if.”

Caroline didn’t laugh back. She didn’t say anything. I froze and slowly turned on my heel. A tear fell down her cheek and she looked down at her hands.

“No.” Visions of screaming babies and smelly diapers rushed through my head and I hit the brakes before I said something stupid. “You’re pregnant? As in, like…” I held my arms out in front of my stomach.

“Yep.”

“Holy shit.” I’d never said three syllables so slowly before in my life. I sank nearly as slowly into the couch.

“You can say that again.”

“Holy shit. Does Brian know?”

“No. Not yet.” She shook her head.

“Why the fuck not?”

“I didn’t know what to say.”

“How about ‘Hey Brian, there’s a tiny human growing in my belly and guess what? It’s yours!’” I rolled my eyes. “What did Sarah say?”

“I didn’t tell her yet.” Caroline bit her fingernails until I swatted her hand away from her mouth.

“So you told me first?”

“Yep.”

“Why?”

Caroline snapped her head in my direction and gave me a look that told me she didn’t understand the question.

“I didn’t mean that like it came out. I just figured, out of all of us, I wouldn’t be the one people necessarily would go to in an emergency.”

“That isn’t true, Mel. You make really shitty decisions for yourself, I mean
really
shitty—”

“Thanks!” I huffed, though I knew she was right. Then again, maybe that tide was turning. I didn’t think Jared was a shitty decision.

“Let me finish. But for the rest of us, you tell it like it is and snap us out of our delusions. You honestly give the best advice.”

“Well, thank you, I guess.”

“With that in mind, what the fuck do I do?”

I pulled her hands into mine. “No brainer. You tell Brian.”

“I can’t tell Brian.”

“Why not?” I’ve never understood people who keep shit from one another. I didn’t figure Caroline to be one of those people who did.

“I don’t know.”

“Do you want to keep it?”

Her eyes widened and her hands flew to her stomach and I realized she’d never even contemplated getting rid of the baby.

“So we know the answer to that. Do you love him?”

“Of course I love him.”

“Does he love you? Not for nothing, we all know the answer to that but I want you to say it.”

She cracked a smile and said, “Yes, he does.”

“Do you picture yourself with him for the rest of your life?”

“Yes.”

“Then what the fuck is the problem? I swear, Caroline. Sometimes the answer is right in front of your face and you fail to see it. You come in here weepy and argumentative and for what? Because you’re pregnant? I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and blame it on hormones but, seriously, shit happens and you’re lucky it happened with someone you love and who loves you back.

“You’re an amazing, amazing woman, Care. Sure, you’ve been through some shit. And sure, you and Brian have been together for only six months or whatever, but sometimes, as much as we plan and plan fate comes riding in on her red tricycle and runs over all our plans. And before you protest at all, I know that you’d rather have had a wedding before a baby. It would be the most ideal, right?”

She nodded and smiled.

“Well, tough shit. You’ve got a bun in the oven and a guy who loves you more than anything in this world. Embrace it. Fuck all whatever anyone else has to say. Sure, Sarah will preach for a minute but she’ll get it.”

Caroline fell into my shoulder and wrapped me in a tight hug.

“Happy tears?” I asked when she continued to cry. She nodded and sniffed loudly.

“You’re gonna get really fat, you know.” I started to tear up, realizing that our little group was changing, growing. For the better. My own small changes were part of that growth.

“I know.” She laughed as snot bubbled out of her nose.

“You’re going to blow out your vagina when you push it out.”

“I know.” I think Caroline choked on her own snot.

“They can stitch that shit up, though. Right?”

She nodded. “I think so.”

“You are a mess.” I held her at arm’s length. “Clean yourself up, take a shower if you have to. And march on over and tell Brian.”

“He’s working tonight.”

“So. Tell him there. Why not? It’s where you two met, right? If you want, I’ll get everyone together. Make it a bigger surprise.”

“We can do that.”

“We can. Now go shower and get your skinny ass ready before that baby turns you into a Weeble.”

She left me alone and I shed a few more happy tears for my friend and a few for inevitable change. But the tide was changing for the better. For at least a few of us.

Chapter Twenty-One

C
aroline eventually left to
prepare herself
—her words not mine. Apparently telling someone you are pregnant is an emotional feat, one that I’m not looking to partake in any time soon.

Not sure exactly when I fell asleep on the couch, but it couldn’t have been too long. Jared was putting groceries away when I opened my eyes.

“Hey you,” I muttered in my sleepy voice.

“Hey. Go back to sleep. I’ll wake you up when it’s time for dinner.”

“No. It’s okay. I’m up.” Pushing myself up off the couch was a chore. I hadn’t realized how tired I was. Maybe going out wasn’t the best idea, but I’d promised Caroline. “We’re going out tonight. Staying in canceled.” I popped a grape in my mouth as I settled at the counter.

“We are? I was thinking we could watch a movie.” He held up my DVD copy of
9½ Weeks
.

“Do you really think watching a movie about sex is what we need right now? I swear I’ve done more jumping jacks in the past few days than I have in my whole life, thanks to you.” His eyebrow rose. “So if I took off my shirt”—he pulled his shirt over his head and tucked it in the back of his shorts—“it would be difficult for you to resist me?”

I was entirely too tired to play his games but I decided if he was going to fuck with my libido, I was going to fuck with his. Without saying a word, I lifted my tank top over my head, unhooked my bra, and dropped both to the floor. Popping a few grapes in my mouth, I leaned back and stared at him.

His face scrunched up for a second and his knuckles whitened as he fisted the dishtowel. “So this is how we’re playing this?”

“You started it.”

“But I don’t have tits.”

“Ahh.” I hopped off the stool and walked around the counter. “But you have these.” I grazed the muscles right above his hipbones, the ones that highlighted the way down to the promised land, making sure to press up against him enough so that he’d feel my nipples harden against his skin. He sucked in a breath. “And this.” I slid my fingernails through the small patch of hair that ran from his belly button and disappeared beneath the waistband of his boxer shorts. I shuddered. Maybe I should have kept the counter between us.

“Everything okay?” Jared smirked and tucked my hair behind my ear.

“Fine.” Everything was certainly not fine. What the hell was I thinking? We still had thirteen more days to go and I was frolicking half naked in the kitchen, touching muscles and imagining the pot of gold at the end of his happy trail?

“Fine? Because I am not fine.” He lifted me up and placed me on the counter, wrapping my legs around his waist. Still keeping his eyes on mine, he leaned down and flicked his tongue against my nipple.

I gasped and he chuckled.

Bastard.

“I don’t think this is what we should be doing right now.” My head fell back as he ran his tongue across the hollow at the base of my throat.

“On the contrary.” His teeth grazed along the line of my jaw. “I think this is exactly what we should be doing.”

Our lips touched briefly before parting and allowing our tongues to mingle. The butterflies that stirred whenever Jared kissed me made me feel like I’d never been kissed before. It was addictive and I couldn’t get enough.

I tightened my legs around him and pulled him in. My arms wrapped around his neck and I pressed myself closer. His hands fisted in my hair as he moaned into my mouth.

Just as I thought I was about to lose it, the door buzzed.

“Ignore it,” I said between kisses.

“Okay.” His thumbs rubbed my nipples.

The door buzzed again.

“Maybe they’ll go away.” I slid my hands down the back of his shorts and gripped his ass.

“Maybe.” His hands tightened around my thighs.

Buzzer number three. And it was a long one.

“Fuck.” He pulled back, lips swollen and red, hair mussed. Jesus. He was sexy.

“Damn it.” I strode to the intercom and clicked, “Who is it?”

“Floral delivery for a Ms. Ashford.”

“Come up.” I pressed the buzzer to allow the deliveryman to come up. Jared tossed me my tank but pocketed my bra with a wink.

I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror by the door. My face was red from rubbing against his face, his five o’clock shadow bordering on midnight. My lips were puffy and red enough to almost pass for purple, and I had teeth marks on my collarbone.

“Teeth marks? Really?” I quickly fluffed my hair and draped it in front of me before grabbing a five out of my wallet.

He shrugged. “Those aren’t teeth marks, they’re love notes.”

“I’ll fucking show you love notes,” I muttered, much to his delight as I opened the door right before the flower guy knocked.

“I heard that!”

The flower guy handed me the largest arrangement of flowers I’d ever seen.

“Thanks.” I handed him the five-dollar bill and closed the door as I turned the bouquet to find a card.

“Who’s it from?” Jared asked.

“No idea. I can’t find a card.”

“Here it is.” He bent down and retrieved it from the floor. It must’ve fallen.

“Open it,” I told him.

“You sure? You don’t care if I see who sent you a monstrosity of a floral arrangement? What if it’s a former lover?” The way he drew out the word
luvah
made me giggle.

“No. And besides, the word to focus on is
former
. And there is no current. At least not yet.” I winked and placed the arrangement on the table. “Read it out loud.”

“Oh look!” he exclaimed. “They’re from your work.” He tossed the card on the table and went back to putting groceries away in the kitchen. “And it’s not even your birthday yet.”

“No!” I picked up the card and read it out loud: “Melody, Best wishes on your birthday. From everyone at Waterman Financial.” I tilted my head. Why was I getting a bouquet two weeks before my birthday?

I crumpled the card in my fist and dropped it to the floor. “Oh that’s nice. This bouquet is bigger than last year.” I looked over at Jared, who was busying himself with getting dinner ready. He was doing everything but looking at me. “Jared.” He didn’t answer; instead he chopped an onion. “Jared.” I injected a bit more oomph into my voice. He tossed the onions in a pan.

“Yo! Jared!” I yelled. He stopped and looked at me. “You know these are sent to everyone at the company, right? These aren’t from Zac. You know that, right?”

“Yeah. I mean, it’s okay. We’re just getting to know each other.”

“Are you jealous?”

He gave me an are-you-crazy look and resumed chopping vegetables.

“You’re totally jealous! You thought they were form Zac!” I laughed and effectively diffused the tension.

Jared frowned and chopped with a bit more vigor, but I could tell he was annoyed by the tenseness in his shoulders.

I hopped up on the counter, leaned across, and kissed him on the cheek. “Don’t worry, baby. I only do jumping jacks for you.”

I laughed and sat across from him before he relented, leaned forward, and returned the kiss.

“How can I help?”

“Can you tear lettuce?”