“Nope!” I said, cheerily as I stocked my supplies.
“JR knocked up Lizzy Parker!”
My hand stalled just as I was closing the herb drawer, sure I had heard her wrong.
“I’m sorry, what?” I asked, spinning around.
She nodded excitedly, practically gushing over the latest gossip. “Honestly, I can’t believe you haven’t heard about it yet.”
“How did you find out?”
“It’s been all over the town since last night when he rushed her to the ER. Apparently, they were at the bar, and the whole town saw as he scooped her up into his arms and carried her out of there.”
“Because she was pregnant and couldn’t walk on her own?” I asked in confusion.
“No, because she was in pain or something,” she rushed on. “Anyway, he picked her up right then and carried her out bridal style. According to Jeannie, he was staring at her with pure love.But then Mark said he looked terrified, so who knows which it really was.”
I was on information overload, still stuck on the fact that JR got Lizzy pregnant. When had this happened? Were they having a secret rendezvous at work?
“So…How did everyone figure out that he got her pregnant?”
“Well, according to Caroline at the hospital, he’s the one who brought her in. Maverick showed up with his sirens blazing, and then half the Parker clan showed up minutes later. That’s when JR announced that she was pregnant. There was this big fight, and Ben hit him before JR stormed out of there.”
The glee on her face as she told the story made my stomach turn. Was everyone in the town this happy that such a scandal had happened?
My stomach turned as I recalled my very own scandal with the man just yesterday. Everyone knew what he had done to me against the car, and what happened after we left the police station. It was all over town.
And we didn’t exactly use protection. Not that I didn’t take care of things on my end, but still…how could I have been so foolish?
“—just think how lucky you are.”
“What?”
Slumping against my counter dreamily, she only had stars in her eyes as she yammered on. “You know the whole town is going to be after him now. But since you slept with him before knowing he knocked up a Parker, you’re in the clear.”
“And that makes me lucky,” I said, not seeing things the same way as her.
“Well, you got to sleep with him, and I’m guessing it was pretty hot based on the rumors, but you escaped the majority of the scandal.”
I supposed she had a point, but I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the way things played out with the handsome devil. What he’d given me yesterday had released enough pent-up stress that I’d been able to fall asleep before the horn dogs started for the night. At least there was that.
“So, tell me all about it. Was it as hot as it sounded?”
“I’m not talking about this,” I said, grabbing the rest of my stock and moving to the back room.
“Oh, come on! It’s been ages since I’ve had a man between my legs! I need this!”
“You had Liam,” I reminded her.
Scoffing, she hurried behind me. “I so did not have him. It was all a ruse and you know it.”
“I know what the town says,” I pointed out.
“Fine,” she grumbled. “You might have a point. They do tend to run with their own stories. But I really didn’t sleep with Liam.”
“I know that.” Placing everything on the shelves, I started unpacking my newest order of teapots.
“Unfortunately, your…display is something that can’t really be disputed. All I did was kiss Liam in public.”
