Chapter One
Having an insanely hot, seductive boss didn’t make having to do a full eight-hour shift of cleaning in a law office building that bad. Lori yawned as she entered her apartment and tossed her jacket to the floor. Just a few months ago she had been sharing the apartment with her sister, but then she had gone and fallen in love and moved in with her Bear Shifter boyfriend and his two kids.
Not that Lori minded that. She loved Jasmine with all her heart, but her sister tended to be a bit judgy and protective. Jazz didn’t really understand that Lori was living life the way she wanted to. For some reason, Jasmine thought that she was lonely and miserable.
Having the apartment to herself meant that she could dance around in her underwear at midnight while making chocolate brownies, or invite a bunch of people from work for a weekend party, or just watch TV in the bathtub with a glass of wine and a hamburger.
Not that she had been drinking wine lately.
Lori groaned as she removed her shoes. As an afterthought, she moved her multiple heels and runners aside to make room for them on the shoe rack and then hung up her jacket. Her days started much better if she wasn’t scrambling to find everything she needed in the morning. Who knew that being a cleaning lady would be so hard? Yeah, she knew that it would involve vacuuming, taking out the trash, cleaning toilets and the like, but doing that for eight hours, even with the hour lunch break and two fifteen-minute coffee breaks (all paid!) it was tiring.
On the plus side, maybe her plus-size body would slim down with it. Lori had never thought too much about her generous curves, but ever since she had met Clifford Boone, her employer, her looks had become incredibly important.
Clifford. Sexy, smart, seductive. A hotshot lawyer, the boss of his company. Lori wasn’t sure if that made him a CEO, but he might as well be. Just thinking about him made her stomach flutter and core squeeze, simultaneously aroused and worried.
She had to tell him soon.
Was he going to be angry? Would he be calm and in control, and with his undeniable charisma whisk her away to ‘take care of it’ before she had a chance to say no? That wasn’t what she wanted! He had seemed different from most of the losers she’d dated before (although technically she wasn’t dating Clifford) but you never really knew a man until a crisis came up. And she had never been in this situation before. Never even had a pregnancy scare, let alone…
Lori shook her head. She was not dealing with it tonight. Not when she was already so tired.
Yawning, she headed to the kitchen for some leftover chicken. Once she got there, though, she saw a glass of wine on the counter.
Crap.
The apartment door had been locked, and only Jasmine had a key, other than the landlord. He was Mormon, so no wine for him. There was a chance that it was a refined thief who broke into her apartment and had poured himself a nice glass of wine while he cased the joint. That would be preferable to Jazz right now; Lori didn’t want to deal with her older sister who saw her as the little screwup that needed to be taken care of. How had she missed Jasmine’s shoes in amongst her own?
Lori peeked around the edge of the kitchen to the mountains of shoes that belonged to her. Well, that was how.
The toilet flushed and Lori’s blood ran cold. Where had she left that pregnancy test? Swallowing quickly, she poured a second glass of wine and plastered on her best and brightest smile. If she was lucky, Jasmine would stay for a few minutes chatting and then go home to Eneko and the kids. Suddenly going from nanny to mom had made Jasmine happier than Lori had ever seen her, but it was still something that took some getting used to.
Lori took both glasses of wine to the living room and lounged on the couch. When Jasmine emerged from the bathroom, her lips pressed tightly together and her eyes flashed. In short, she looked pissed. Lori’s stomach cramped but she kept her smile in place. Perhaps Jasmine would let it slide this time.
“Hiya, sis.” Lori offered the half-drunk glass of wine to her. “Long time no see. What brings you here? I almost called the cops when I realized I wasn’t alone here. You should really let a girl know when you’re going to be dropping over. What if I had brought a boy home? You’d have been so embarrassed.”
Jasmine sat down opposite her, still looking like she was ready to rip someone’s head off. “I came to pick up some more of my clothes. Which I told you this morning.”
“This morning?”
“Yes. Perhaps you were a bit distracted.”
Lori put Jasmine’s glass on the table. She had to resist the urge to take a gulp of her own. What she was going to have to do was get some sort of fake wine stuff. Keep the taste, get rid of the alcohol.
Yeah, because that’s what is important right now, Lori thought sarcastically. “I guess I was a bit distracted this morning. I slept in and forgot to do laundry yesterday, so I had to go to work wearing old underwear. So yeah. I guess I forgot.”
Jasmine’s gaze narrowed in on the wine in her hand. “Something else you forgot?”
“What do you mean?” Her heart pounded.
“You shouldn’t be drinking wine right now, Lori. Not in your condition.”
Lori swallowed hard and set the glass down. So, they were really going to do this. Her palms were sweaty as she rubbed them against the fabric of her slacks.
“I was hoping that you hadn’t seen it.”
“You mean the pregnancy test that you left in the bathroom sink?”
“My bathroom sink. I didn’t know you were going to be coming over and invading the master bedroom again. I mean, technically it’s mine now, so…” Lori trailed off. She was acting snarky and defensive, the way she had since they were kids. That wasn’t the kind of attitude she wanted to show today. No, she had to show Jasmine that she was up to the task here. “I took the test last night. It’s why I was in such a frazzle this morning. I was going to tell you soon, I just needed to figure out my own head.”
Jasmine inhaled deeply and nodded. “I understand that. This must be very frightening for you.”
A twinge of annoyance had Lori setting the glass down a little too hard. Unexpected, yeah. And at times during the day, it was terrifying. But there was a bundle of warmth inside of her all day. Maybe it hadn’t really sunk in yet, but frightening wasn’t how she would describe this baby.
“I’m handling it. Just figuring out what my next move is.”
“Who’s the father?”
Lori flinched.
Jasmine suddenly looked alarmed. “Lori! You do know who the father is, don’t you?”
“Of course, I know! And even if I didn’t, you would have no right to look so scandalized. It’s my body and I’ll do what I damn well please with it.”
Jasmine held up her hands. “Sorry. Who’s the father?”
Lori chewed her lip. “Clifford Boone.”
“What?” Jasmine jumped to her feet. A low growl rose in her chest, indicative of her ability to shift into a jaguar. Since they had different fathers Lori was just a plain old human, but her sister was a beautiful shifter. Jasmine’s hands clenched. “I am going to kill him! How dare he take advantage of one of his workers!”
“Take advantage?” Lori jumped to her feet as well. “He didn’t take advantage of me!”
“Then why are you pregnant?”
Lori rolled her eyes. “Because I threw myself at him like any red-blooded woman would! I took the job hoping that I’d be able to f—sleep with him.” She was going to have to watch the language with a baby on the way. “He’s hot, rich, attractive, and gives off those bad boy vibes. It’s like… when he looks at me I’m lucky that I’ve got his attention.”
“That is not healthy.”
“It’s not like I’m some innocent little flower, Jasmine. I’m not you, I didn’t save myself for some cosmic event to give me my one true love. There is no Eneko out there waiting for me, no destined mate. I have to take what I’m given.”
Jasmine shook her head hard. “You are a beautiful, smart, lively person. You deserve more than being tossed from lover to lover.”
“I’m not tossed anywhere. I choose to go from bed to bed, Jasmine. And I know you think I’m stupid for getting pregnant, but it’s literally the best thing that could have happened to me in my life right now.”
“You’ve known a day and—”
“And I haven’t been more excited and nervous and uncertain and determined before. I am going to love it and care for it, the way our mother didn’t love us. This baby isn’t going to grow up like you or me.” Lori trembled as Jasmine’s eyes widened. “This baby is going to be a shifter too. There is no way I am letting him or her end up in the foster system. Not after I saw what it did to you.”
Jasmine’s gaze softened. She held out her arms and Lori was more than grateful to step into her embrace.
“I’m sorry. I was just scared for you. I know that this isn’t easy for you. I guess I was projecting my feelings about Mom on you.” Jasmine pulled back and grasped Lori’s shoulders. “I’m here for you, okay? Whatever you need, you can count on me.”
Lori’s lip started to tremble despite herself. Yes, she was more determined than anything and there was a joyous ball of warmth in her chest. But that didn’t mean that she could keep her fears at bay forever. She knew she was a party girl. She knew that she was the last person anybody would say was qualified to take care of a baby. And if she was honest, the only thing keeping her going was not thinking about how she’d do it. All she could focus on was how loved her baby was going to be.
But caring for it?
Feeding it?
Changing diapers?
Holding a job so that she could pay for everything?
“Does Clifford know yet?” Jasmine asked, her voice very low and soothing.
Lori shook her head. “I’m working up the nerve. And I’ve only had a day to wrap my own mind around it, so it’s not like it’s been months or anything. I’m only two months along. And the morning sickness hasn’t been too bad, so that’s good.”
The question was… given how they came together and her past… When she told him, would he even believe that the baby was his?