If Lucia were a man, I’m pretty fucking sure my fist would be making contact with her jaw right now. The fact that she had the nerve to stalk me after practice, and by her admission, sit and wait outside my house for an hour pisses me off even more.

“How long have you been following me?” I ask, trying to rein in my anger.

“Only a few days.”

“Only a few days,” I repeat. “And to what end, Lucia? We’re through. We’ve been over. You and I are no more. We haven’t been together for months.”

“But, Chase, I still love you.”

“Stop it,” I grit out. What more does she want from me? She can’t need money. She earns enough in her own right. “There isn’t now, nor has there ever been any love between us. In fact, I was never in love with you, and you knew that from the start. I never lied about it or made false promises to you.”

“No, Chase. I do love you.”

“Fine, but there’s a huge problem with that. I. Don’t. Love. You. I don’t know what it’s going to take to get it through your head, other than to be this blunt.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about your daughter?” She makes a point to look teary-eyed. I’ve seen her act this way, and it does nothing to me. In fact, all it does is make me even more pissed off.

“Because it’s none of your fucking business. Nothing I do is your business, Lucia.”

And she starts to sob. She sounds absolutely ridiculous too. So much so I want to laugh.

“Give it up, Lucia. None of your tactics are going to work.”

She sniffs loudly a few times, then stares at me. How could I ever have thought she was beautiful? Andi is the girl of my dreams, not the gaudy Lucia. Her eyelashes are heavy with mascara and her face carries a ton of makeup. Andi needs none of that. She’s perfect without it.

“I’m pregnant, Chase.”

The words tear through my brain like a speeding rocket. Did I hear her correctly?

“What did you say?”

She grins and suddenly she looks like a serpent. “I said I’m pregnant, si? That’s how you say it?”

“Pregnant.” My mind races. We never once had sex without a condom. I made damn sure of that. My eyes instantly drop to her stomach. Lucia is fond of dressing provocatively. She wears tight jeans and short shirts that show off a wide strip of skin. If she’s pregnant and it’s mine, she has to be at least several months by my calculations. Her stomach can’t be that flat. “Are you sure it’s mine?”

Her mouth compresses into one thin line. “Yes, it is yours.”

“Fine. I want to go to the doctor with you. For proof and DNA testing that I’m the father. Who’s your doctor? Give me his name.”

“Um …”

She stumbles around for words.

“Unless you’re making this up.”

“No, I am not.”

“Fine. I want your doctor’s name. Anyone I know would be able to rattle their doctor’s name off in a snap. Why can’t you?”

“B-because I have not yet gone.”

“Better yet. I’ll make the appointment and we’ll go together. Expect a call from me. Now go home.” I watch as she gets into her car and leaves. I don’t trust her one bit. Why wait to tell me only after she finds out about Violet? She’s not pregnant. This is just a ploy to try to get me back, and it’s not going to work.

I open the door to walk back inside and practically knock Andi over as I do. She must’ve been listening on the other side. Her expression is so comical at getting caught that I want to crack up. She stumbles as I grab her arm. That’s when I notice the wine glass in her hand.

“Sorry, I was coming to fill my glass,” she says.

“Uh, Andi?”

“Yeah?”

“The wine is in the kitchen over there.” I point in the direction of the kitchen, which is on the other side of the house.

“Oh, yeah.” She giggles. “I must’ve gotten turned around.”

“Yeah, you must’ve.”

I ogle her tight little ass as she sashays toward the refrigerator. Then I have to question how much of our conversation she heard. If that damn Lucia screws anything up for me, I swear I’ll … just what will I do? And what if she is pregnant? I will not leave her alone like I did Andi. Jesus, wouldn’t that be fucked up? Knowing Lucia, she probably poked holes in all the condoms just to ensure she got pregnant. She’s crazy enough to do something like that. I ask myself for the hundredth time, what did I ever see in that woman?

Andi has disappeared into another room, so I go to find her. She and Violet are watching TV and eating dinner at the coffee table. It looks like a meal of pizza tonight.

“Is there any left?” I ask.

“Oh, yes, there’s a bunch left warming in the oven. I made it myself. Well, I cheated. It’s store-bought crust, but it’s really good.”

I fill my plate and rejoin them. Violet is done and Andi is close. Violet rubs her eyes so Andi takes her off for a bath. I finish up my pizza and join them in the bathroom. Violet splashes in the tub so I offer to finish and give Andi a break.

“I can put her to bed, if you’d like. I leave in the morning, so I’d really like this time with her.”

Andi smiles, leaving me alone with Violet. The kid loves the water, so she splashes around until the water cools and then I pull her out of the tub and wrap a towel around her. She’s so small, I joke about losing her in it until she pokes her head out so I can find her. I put her jammies on and let her pick out a book for me to read. I don’t even get halfway through before she falls asleep. Every minute I spend with her, I am more amazed at this beautiful child. She’s truly perfect in every way.

When I get back downstairs, Andi is gone. I head back into the kitchen and eat the rest of the pizza, then go to my room to pack for the trip. I’m in my room when I hear Andi’s, or at least I think it’s Andi’s, door banging, so I go down the hall to see what the problem is.

“Andi, is everything okay in there?”

“Yeah.” She giggles. “I think so. Only I can’t get the door open.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think I locked myself in.” She full-on cracks up.

“You can’t unlock the door?”

“I’m not sure how.”

“Uh, Andi, have you been drinking?”

“Well, yeah.”

“How much wine have you had?”

“A few glasses.”

“Okay, turn the lock,” I say.

“There isn’t one.”

“Hang on.” I run into the guest room across the hall so I can check out the door. I haven’t paid attention to the locks. The lever is sort of tricky. So I head back and tell her, “Andi, push it down, then back up.”

I hear her doing it and the door opens. “That was easy.”

She holds an empty glass in her hand. “A few glasses, huh?”

“Yeah. This is the best wine I’ve ever had.”

“I’ll have to remember that.” Her mouth is so close and as sexy as ever. All I want to do is taste the wine on her lips and tongue.

“Thanks for rescuing me.”

“You’re welcome. Just don’t lock yourself in when I’m gone.”

Her hand flies to her chest and she nearly turns ashen. “Oh, God, I won’t.”

“You’ll be fine.”

“I have to admit, I’m a little scared to be here alone.”

I lean on the door frame and say, “Max, my agent, will be checking in on you.”

“Oh. That’s nice. Thanks.”

“So, I’ll leave you be, then.”

“Yeah. Okay. And, Chase?”

“Yeah?”

“I, uh, hope you win.”

I slowly nod because I get the impression she wants to say more. “Oh, I had the chance to look at the video and pictures on the flash drive. Thanks for doing that. You didn’t have to. That birth, it was … it was really something. I think I would’ve been scared, Andi.”

“I was.” She takes a step closer to me, then stops. “I was afraid she wouldn’t be normal or healthy. And then I was afraid I would be a shitty mother. But mostly, I was really afraid of telling you. Of what it would do to your career. So I just didn’t. And I so fucked it all up. I don’t think I can ever say sorry enough.”

“Maybe you already have.” I head back to my room, thinking about everything she just said and about the birth video I watched. How can anyone go through something like that alone? But Andi did. And then she came home from the hospital with a newborn alone too. I don’t know how she pulled it off, but she did.

When I’m back in my room, I get ready for bed. My suitcase is packed, but then I realize I need a few Ziploc bags. I like to carry them to put my liquid items in to prevent spills, so I head back down to the kitchen and to make sure the place is locked up. I make the rounds, and when I get to the kitchen, I find a little surprise in there.

Andi is rummaging through the drawers like a cat burglar.

“Can I help you?”

“Eep!” She practically jumps out of her skin at the sound of my voice.

“Jesus, Chase. You scared me to death.”

“What in the hell are you doing?”

“I’m looking for batteries.”

“For what?”

“For this.” She holds up a vibrator. I almost die laughing, but I hold it back. “Oh, what’s that?”

“It’s my fake boyfriend. Look, I’m not gonna lie. It’s been a while. Too damn long if you wanna know the truth. Like, well since I got pregnant with Violet. I’m super horny and my damn batteries are dead. So I’m on the hunt.”

What the hell is she saying? Since she got pregnant? That would make it the last time we had sex. What about Owen? Wasn’t he banging her? If it’s been that long, evidently not.

“On the hunt, huh?” I walk up behind her. If she’s on the hunt, I can certainly help in that category—if she’s willing, that is. Because I most definitely am.

“Yeah. I need some, you know?” She finally looks my way. “Holy shit. I just ran my mouth to you like …”

I don’t give her another minute … second … to think before I spin her around and my mouth is on hers. I don’t want to kiss Andi. I want to devour her. I want to own her. I want all of her at once. I’ve waited years just for this moment. My balls tighten to the point where my knees almost buckle. But I don’t give a fuck. She’s not pushing back. So in one swift move, I pick her up and carry her to my room. It all happens so fast, I don’t give her time to back out. She kisses me back as eagerly as I’d dreamed of. The oceans that existed between us are gone in an instant, and the only thing that remains is us—two people who desperately want and need each other.

We both frantically tear each other’s clothes off, and when we’re both bare to each other’s gazes, I can only stare at her perfection. She’s better than I remembered. Softer and curvier instead of straight. More womanly and sexy. My hands seek what they’ve missed: her face, neck, breasts, nipples, and following all with my lips and tongue. I drop to my knees before her and kiss her belly, the same one that carried our child. Then I move lower until I bury my tongue in her pussy. She’s already wet—drenched, in fact. My hand seeks her sex, and her moans are the best sounds I’ve heard in ages. After she climaxes, I look up at her and ask, “Was this better than batteries or not? Because I have a lot more tricks up my sleeve.”