Chapter Fourteen

Blake

The blood test took no longer than ten minutes. After securing a bandage over the miniscule needle puncture in the crook of my arm, the technician announced that the doctor could either call with the results on Monday or, if I preferred, I could receive them earlier through their patient portal. The sooner, the better, I thought and chose the portal.

On the way out the door, I offered to take Hadley to lunch and was pleasantly surprised when she accepted. As we walked to the car, I mulled over what I knew about her. Three things came to mind: she was my sister’s college roommate, a chef by trade, and there was a high probability that she was carrying my child. My child. A sense of hopelessness washed over me and I had to stop for a moment to catch my breath. What did I know about raising a child?

“Are you okay?” Hadley asked, pausing beside me. The touch of her hand against my back and her soft voice helped to silence the panic that was threatening to consume me.

“I’m good, just lost my breath there for a second,” I shakily responded before resuming walking.

“Giving blood can do that to you. You’ll feel better once we get some food in you. Would you like for me to drive?” The thought of Hadley driving my brand-new Audi TT Roadster caused a different sort of panic to arise.

“I’ve got it,” I assured her.

“You sure?” The humor in her voice caused me to swing my gaze from the pavement to her twinkling, brown eyes. The little minx was fucking with me.

“No one but me drives this baby,” I informed her, as we reached the passenger side of the car.

“Said like a true man,” she scoffed, and held out her hands for me to lower her onto the seat. Why she’d chosen to wear a skirt she could barely breathe in, was beyond me. Of course, I didn’t mention this to her. If I’d learned anything from living with two women, it was never to mention clothes or weight, even when prompted.

Ten minutes later, we arrived at one of my favorite Charlotte eateries. Nalan’s was known for its gourmet soups and sandwiches. Seven minutes after that, we’d ordered and were kicked back with a glass of iced tea. With my earlier revelation still on my mind, I thought it was the perfect time to get better acquainted.

“So, Miss Jacobs, it occurs to me that I don’t know much about you,” I sheepishly admitted, hoping she would take my lead and indulge me.

Her brows darted up in surprise. “Oh? What would you like to know?” I decided to start off with something easy.

“Tell me about your family.” She spent the next ten or so minutes regaling me with stories about her family. Out of everything she said, I took away two important facts: her mother and sister sounded awful and she had mad-respect for her father.

“Do your parents know about me? I mean, about the...er... situation?” I questioned. A smirk appeared on her face.

“You mean the baby?” she asked. My eyes dropped to her stomach and I wondered when she would actually begin to look pregnant. “My mom and sister know. In fact, they’re the ones who encouraged me to tell you the moment I found out.”

Shifting my gaze from her stomach back to her face, I asked, “You weren’t planning on telling me?” The thought of her keeping my child from me made my gut twist.

“I was going to tell you. I just didn’t know how.” I scowled, and she sighed. “Put yourself in my shoes. As you were saying, it isn’t as if we really knew each other. Who gets pregnant from a one-night stand? It was...something I’d never done before and I was at a loss as to how to handle the situation, so I called Cathryn.”

Leave it to my sister to come up with the harebrained scheme to hire Hadley at Sazerac’s.

“You have to admit, it was creative,” she noted, as if reading my thoughts.

“Yes, but it was also risky. I don’t share certain parts of my life with my sister. For all she knew, I could have had a serious girlfriend.” She gave me a look, somewhere between a smirk and a scowl. “What?” I asked.

“Nothing,” she airily responded.

“What?” I repeated, this time in warning.

“If Cat had known how many girlfriends you have, I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t have been so quick to encourage the move.”

“Girlfriends?” I questioned, knowing exactly what she meant but wanting her to clarify. Her face scrunched and I braced.

“You’re sleeping with half of Charlotte, Blake,” she zinged at me, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Do you know how many women there are in Charlotte?” I asked.

“No, but I bet you do,” she snapped on a huff, which only made me laugh harder. “It’s not funny,” she pouted, but I could tell she was fighting back her laughter.

“You want to hear something that is funny? Cat said you were shy, quiet, and introspective. Darling, you are anything but that.” Laughter spilled from her lips and it dawned on me that this was the first time I’d seen her laugh since the night we’d spent together. Hadley was a beautiful woman but when she laughed, she was absolutely radiant.

“I’m normally very shy. Just ask anyone who knows me. I blame my neurotic behavior on the pregnancy hormones.” I threw a look of doubt at her and her smile widened. “I’m serious. It’s like I’ve suddenly been possessed by a major lack of filter.”

“I’d say,” I muttered, and laughed when she pegged me with her napkin.

The waiter arrived with our food and we both dug in.

“Does your mom know about the baby?” Hadley asked several minutes later.

I thought about what to say, and settled on, “I didn’t want to say anything until I got the test results.” This was the truth, but not the whole truth. The moment I told my mother she was going to be a grandmother, she would lose her mind. Just last week she called and tried to set me up with her housekeeper’s niece. Granted, that was better than Lois Dinbat, but not by much.

“That makes sense,” Hadley responded with a shrug. For some reason I felt as if I’d dodged a bullet. Then I felt bad. Hadley deserved to know what she was getting into.

Pushing my empty plate away, I sat back in my chair, and asked, “When you were living with Cat, did you by chance notice that she had a rather controlling stepmother?”

“Jana, controlling? You don’t say,” she teased, before adding, “She only called like five times a day.”

“Okay, for argument’s sake, let’s say I am the father.” Her eyes narrowed and I realized how that came across. “Keep in mind, I’m still waiting on test results,” I reminded. She nodded, and I continued. “The same controlling woman who called five times a day is about to find out she’s going to be a grandmother.” I could see when realization hit. “I see you’re catching on,” I noted.

“You are the father, Blake,” she stressed, “however, I see your point. How about we break the news to Jana and my father sometime during the third trimester?”

“Is your dad going to kill me?” I asked and smiled when another bout of laughter rang from her pretty mouth.

“He’ll be surprised, but only because it’s me that got knocked up.” I gave her a questioning look, and she explained. “My sister, Matilda, has a pregnancy scare like every other week. Trust me when I say he’s used to being an almost-grandfather.”

“Matilda sounds like a gem,” I muttered.

She laughed again. “You have no idea.”

On the way back to Sazerac’s, I had to field several missed phone calls. I was sad to see lunch end, but we both had a lot to do before tomorrow’s opening. The moment we hit the entrance to the bar, I was met with a barrage of questions and before I knew it, Hadley was gone. The realization that I actually missed her, caught me off guard.

Hadley was long gone by the time I made it out of the bar that night. On the drive home, I thought about our afternoon together and how much I enjoyed being with her. Yes, I wanted her, but I also genuinely enjoyed her company. This made me reflect back on past relationships, or should I call them sexual exploits? A relationship, after all, was more than just sex, and realized that I’d never wanted more...until now.

The next morning, I hit the ground running. We had VIP’s flying in from all over as well as some big hitters in Charlotte joining us for our opening night. The hotel might be Zane’s baby, but this bar was part mine. I’d invested time and money into this venture of ours and there was no way in hell I was going to let it fail, which is exactly why I made sure to speak individually to Wayne, Belinda, and Patrice last night before heading home to catch some sleep. They all three promised to put all differences aside and to work to make the opening a success.

Throughout the day, I saw Hadley in passing. She was busy working with the kitchen staff, while I worked with Zane and Hunter to put out all sparks before they blazed into fires; one being our piano player, Saul. I knew he disliked Patrice, but I clearly hadn’t caught on as to how deep that animosity ran. When he threated to walk, it took the three of us and the promise of a bonus, before he would agree to stay and play for opening night. After that, we were going to have to find someone else, and fast.

An hour before the doors to Sazerac’s on 6th opened for the first time to the public, we asked all of the staff to join us in the bar for a celebratory toast. I was relieved to see Hadley drinking water instead of champagne, which reminded me that I hadn’t checked the portal to see if the paternity results had come in yet.

“Blake would like to say a few words!” Hunter shouted, as I scrolled through my missed emails. I shot him a scathing look before shoving my phone into my pocket and stepping forward to address the room.

“A long time ago, I sat on a barstool in a far-off country, listening to a man talk about his dreams, and I asked myself, ‘what are my dreams?’” You see, before this, I hadn’t really thought about it. I was simply living one day at a time. This man showed me that, not only was it okay to dream, but if I worked hard enough, I could actually make them come true.” I nodded my head at Zane. “Thanks, man, I’m happy to be sharing this dream with you.”

“Ditto that!” Hunter shouted, and the room erupted into cheers.

When my eyes hit on Hadley, she held up her glass and mouthed, “Well done.” Her praise made me flush with pride.

Midway through the evening, two women walked in. Even though they both had blonde hair, I instantly tagged the family resemblance. They were the spitting image of Hadley. Before making my way across the bar to introduce myself, I thought Hadley might like to know, so I slipped into the back and told her.

“What?” she gasped, clearly surprised by the news. “Oh my God, seriously? Why tonight?” she groaned. I wanted to reach out to her, to pull her into my arms, and comfort her, but there were too many eyes on us so I refrained. I didn’t like it, though.

Her head shot up when I stepped into her personal space. “Tell me what you need from me,” I uttered for her ears only.

This seemed to snap her out of her panic. After slowly letting out a deep breath, she responded, “Tell them I’ll be out when I can.” With a nod, I turned to do her bidding, and was stopped by her hand on my arm. “Thanks, Blake. I owe you one,” she whispered. Our eyes met and held. Something was happening between us. I wasn’t sure what it was or where it would lead us but I could no longer deny its presence. I didn’t even want to anymore.

“I look forward to collecting on it,” I said, then turned and walked away.

Hadley may look like her mother and sister, but that was the beginning and end of it. After introducing myself, I was deafened by the velocity of their squeals, before being jerked in for a mother-daughter hug. While sandwiched between the two of them, I felt a stray hand on my chest and another on my ass. When the hand on my ass started to slide to my front, I reached down, and with a firm grip, extracted it from my body. This earned me a round of girlish giggles from both women. These two piranhas made Belinda and Patrice look like choir girls.

“Let me get you a drink,” I offered. Wayne gave me a questioning look when I approached the bar. I quickly made introductions and was grateful when he turned his charismatic charm on them. Once the drinks were served, I quickly ushered them over to Cat and Zane’s table, which was currently unoccupied, and pulled out two chairs. As they sat, I noticed Patrice and Saul off to the side of the bar. From the looks of their tense body language, they appeared to be arguing. Shit!

“If you’ll excuse me ladies, I have something to see to,” I told them.

“By all means, Mr. Manager,” Hadley’s mother drawled. With a shake of my head, I left them there in order to attend to more pressing matters.

“Cut the shit,” I warned when I reached where Patrice and Saul were standing. “I don’t care if you despise each other. As of right now, you have a roomful of eyes on you and a performance to make... and it better be perfect,” I directed at Patrice. With a dramatic huff, she turned her back on us and flounced across the bar floor in the direction of the piano.

I turned my gaze on Saul. “Just give us one night,” I coaxed. He nodded his head and started after her.

Spotlights flooded the stage as they got situated. With a flourish of hands, Saul began to play. When seconds later, Patrice’s awe-inspiring voice joined in, I finally relaxed my stance. Damn, this shit was hard work!

“She’s lucky she’s so damn good,” Zane muttered from beside me.

“You ain’t kidding,” I mumbled back.

“And to think, you slept with her.”

“What can I say? The women love me.” I shrugged, and he laughed. Glancing over at the table where I’d left Hadley’s mother and sister, I noticed Hadley had finally made an appearance. “Later,” I muttered, before pushing off the wall and moving in their direction.

On approach, I heard Hadley tell them to take the keys to her car. “I’ll get an Uber home,” she explained.

“I’ll bring her home,” I announced, as I lowered myself onto the chair beside her.

“You don’t have to—” she started to say.

“It’s done,” I replied, cutting her off.

“He’s a keeper, this one,” her mother noted.

“And that ass,” her sister added on a sigh. Hadley’s eyes flew to mine, a look of horror etched across her face, and I reached under the table for her hand. I gave her a wink as I took her hand in mine.

Minutes passed, while we sat in a dimly lit room, holding hands under the table, while listening to Patrice croon about summer winds, and I was struck by how natural it felt...how down in my gut right her hand felt clasped in mine. When the song ended, we said goodbye to her mother and sister before going our separate ways. The moment was gone but far from forgotten.

The last customer left around one in the morning. Hadley and I made our way to my car an hour later. Zane offered to take her home, but I wouldn’t hear of it. I wanted to personally deliver her safely to her door.

I’m not sure why I entered her apartment. My intent was to leave her at the door. Nevertheless, I found myself standing in her kitchen. The apartment looked exactly the same as the last time I’d seen it, which just so happened to be the night we’d slept together.

“Damn,” I heard her sigh.

“What?” I gazed around the room looking for anything out of place.

“I told them to sleep on the sofa bed.” When Cat first moved in, I spent a few nights on that sofa bed. Both times took me at least a week to work the cricks out of my back.

“Where are they?” I asked.

“I’ll give you three guesses,” she growled in response. Then it hit me. What the hell? This was Hadley’s apartment. Hadley, who’d just pulled a twelve-hour day, and they had the nerve to take her bed and leave her to sleep on that shit-ass sofa.

“Pack a bag,” I ordered.

“What?” she asked, her eyes wide with confusion.

“Pack a bag,” I repeated more slowly. “That sofa bed is crippling. There’s no way I’m letting you sleep on it when I have a perfectly comfortable guest room at my place.” Of course, that’s not where I wanted her, but knew there would be time to ease her in later.

“Blake, I can’t—” she sputtered.

“Why not?”

“Because! How would it look?”

“Like you had a semblance of common sense, for one,” I snapped. “Now, hop to. We’re both tired.” She grumbled before heading to pack, but at least she stopped fighting me.

First thing tomorrow, I was going to have a chat with her mother and sister. Hadley walked back in dressed in sweats, with her face clean of makeup and her hair on top of her head in a messy bun. She was wearing flip-flops and had a bag in hand. Only this woman could manage to look sexy in sweats and no makeup. On second thought, maybe I wouldn’t have that chat. Maybe I would use their visit to my advantage...