20

Murphy’s Law. It holds some weight, especially today, because anything that could go wrong has. The grand opening went great. There wasn’t any fanfare, no media coverage, or anything flashy, but we were short-staffed when the doors opened since Robby somehow broke his big toe and needed to stay off his feet, and Stasha had food poisoning. Good thing we only had some light traffic. It’s such a specialty practice, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I certainly hoped for more than I got.

Unfortunately, both of my appointments cancelled—one, a pro-baseball player and the other, a prominent member of the community. I was relying on those clients to help get the word out, not to mention pay some of the bills. Now, I’ll have to hunt even harder to find someone to replace them. After a long day of nothing happening, I sent Janey home with a stack of flyers. She’s sworn that she’ll paper the city with them, and I’m sad to admit that I’m banking on it.

To top off a crappy day, I’m not feeling my best. I probably should have said something to Levi when he showed up to take me out for our date, but he just looked so hopeful that I didn’t have the heart to deny him.

Now, I’m sitting here in a seriously fancy, over-the-top restaurant picking at a plate of spaghetti that I’m never going to eat. Everything about it, from the look of the noodles to the smell of the sauce, is nauseating.

“Do you want to order something else?” Levi asks. I guess he’s noticed that I’ve only been pushing my food around for the last half hour.

I smile politely, wondering to myself if I can choke down one bite to appease him, but I just can’t. I hate wasting his money like this, but I just can’t bring myself to eat a single bite. Pushing my plate away, I sigh. “I guess I’m just not that hungry.” As if to call me a liar, my stomach chooses that moment to growl. It’s loud enough to be heard over the violins and is completely embarrassing.

Setting his fork down on his plate of shrimp linguine, Levi frowns. “You’ve been quiet all evening. Is it the food or the company?”

“Neither,” I tell him. Although, this place isn’t really my style. Frankly, I never pegged Levi for the ritzy type, either. I hope he’s not trying to impress me. Sighing, I tell him, “It’s just been a long day and I’m tired and I haven’t gotten completely over the morning sickness yet.” My feet are swollen, I have a headache and gas, and I can’t concentrate at all. Hello, Mommy Brain! Of course, I don’t tell him any of this. I don’t want to sound like a complainer, and I doubt he brought me here to listen to my personal problems anyway.

“Why didn’t you say so? We could have stayed in.”

“I could tell that you were looking forward to this. I didn’t want to disappoint you or put you out after traveling all this way to see me.”

His frown turns into a scowl and Levi sits back, regarding me with suspicion. “Since when did you become so agreeable?”

I have no idea. I really don’t. Maybe it’s the hormones, I wonder, except that should make me less agreeable, shouldn’t it? “You wanted to talk. That’s what I came here for, so talk.”

A small smirk begins to form and, dammit, I can’t stop staring at his mouth. Levi’s lips are perfectly formed, with little sharp points on his top lip and a full, cushiony bottom lip that feels smooth and supple between mine when I suck on it. When I used to suck on it, I correct myself. Kissing Levi was all kinds of fun. And that beard. I want to reach across the table and run my fingers through it, just to feel the coarse but soft hairs on my skin again. He’s trimmed it since the last time I saw him. It’s a little shorter than I remember, more sophisticated, but it still looks good. Damn good. Put him in leather and on the back of a motorcycle and you have one hell of a sexy ass biker.

Jesus, is it hot in here? I’m freaking sweating my ass off.

“So that’s what you want to do then, talk?” Levi asks, his voice sharp.

Clearly, he’s taken offense to my tone or comment or something, but I can’t allow myself to care. This is a business arrangement. Getting involved with him again on a personal level is out of the question, even though my body seems to have different ideas. “Yes, I do. I assume you have questions?”

His blue eyes are steel on mine—cold, hard, and assessing. If at all possible, he’s grown even more confident since I last saw him. It’s sexy as hell. “We’ll start off with what your plans are for after the baby is born. What last name will it have?”

I look away and my gaze immediately falls on a couple with a young child across from us. They’re struggling together to keep the food on the table instead of the floor where their little girl wants it. I can tell from here that they’re frustrated, but they’re also smiling a little. They’re enjoying their life, sharing something that Levi and I never will. I know he won’t understand why I’ve made the choices that I have, but he has the right to know.

“I’m not sure,” I tell him, my voice small. “I guess it depends on the family.”

“The family,” Levi says slowly, rolling the words around a bit while he attempts to decipher them. I wait him out only because I’m too chicken shit to say the words myself. I chose this route, and yet I struggle with it every day. I just have to keep reminding myself that this is what is best. What kind of life can I give a child when I barely have my own in order?

“You’re giving it up?” Levi’s brows furrow in disbelief. When I finally muster up enough courage to look him in the eye, I’m able to see the full extent of his anger, hurt, and sense of betrayal.

“I can’t keep it. I’m starting a business, I work long hours, I’m weighed down by student loans, I’m living in an efficiency apartment, and I’m barely making ends meet,” I explain to him. “As a mother, I don’t have anything to offer. He’ll be better off with someone who can give him everything he needs.”

“It’s a boy?” he asks, his voice dangerously low. Fishing out his wallet, he withdraws his credit card and places it on the outside edge of the table. The waiter comes by almost immediately and carries it off.

“Yes,” I say, my mouth turning down.

His head bobs a couple of times, and he still continues refusing to look at me. “I hope you realize that I can’t let you go through with it.”

I figured he’d push back. Levi Black is a strong-willed man who knows what he wants. Or at least, he thinks he does.

“What are you going to do with a kid?” I ask him. “Just a few months ago, you were off screwing anything that walked around on two legs. Now you want to raise a child? It’s not a puppy, Levi. Just what, exactly, do you think you can offer him?”

“I have plenty of money. I can provide anything he needs.”

There’s the crux of it. Levi, above everyone else, should know just how little money means when it comes to having the love and respect of the people you care about. “A child can’t live off money alone, Levi,” I say, already feeling tired with this conversation.

“It needs love and attention. It needs your time, and how will you do that for him when you’re jet-setting across the world or boating in the Riviera with a bunch of blonde bimbos with huge tits?”

He clenches his jaw at the deliberate dig. That’s right, I watch E! and while I know recent celebrity gossip is a total fabrication created by past events, that doesn’t mean I’m above using it to make my point.

“That’s what these parents will do for him,” I continue on. “They’ll be able to give him everything we can’t.”

A dark look passes over Levi’s face and, recognizing the dangerous air surrounding him, I settle a little deeper into my chair. Out of nowhere, he slams his fist down on the table, rattling the stemware and startling me and a few nearby diners. “Who says that we can’t? I know I sure as hell can, and I will.”