“You’re taking this protective bodyguard thing too far.” She opens her fridge and takes out a water.
“Listen to me.” I slide onto a barstool. “We have to learn to be around one another. We’re going to be co-parents, and you can’t possibly stay here now. He essentially broke into your apartment and wore your lingerie. Who knows what else he’s capable of?”
“I’ll get the locks changed.”
“Take Jerry out of the equation. I want to get to know you better before the baby comes.”
She goes to her purse on the counter to grab something and it falls over, the ultrasound picture slipping onto the counter. She stops and stares at it, and I feel as if there’s a sliver of an opening to get her to agree.
“It’s a ridiculous idea.”
I lean back in the seat, staring at the picture. “What if I told you I’d help you get your five big names for the podcast?”
Her head flies up.
I’ve got her interest now.
Chapter
Sixteen
Callie
* * *
“How do you know about that?”
Hayes.
“It doesn’t matter, but I do know you need five big names to interview for your podcast, and I can get them for you.” His smug smirk says he knows he’s piqued my interest.
The whole Jerry thing has me majorly creeped out, but I can look for a new place. Maybe stay with Hayes and Leighton for a little while, although I’d hate to disturb their and the kids’ lives.
“You’re bribing me?” I cross my arms.
I’ve already talked to Jarrah about my client list and the fact that, other than my brother—maybe Easton or Decker, who she thought would be too much of the same thing—I have no one. I don’t know any celebrities, and I’m not popular enough to get the kind of people they want.
“I would have preferred you to just agree to it, but apparently I’m a desperate man and will resort to bribery.”
Many women in my position would be jumping for joy. I’m certain most people don’t know this side of him even exists. Sure, I was physically attracted to Foster and that obviously led to me sleeping with him, but had I known he was like this, I would’ve been crushing on him hard. If it’s not all an act.
“The bad boy of baseball? The man who has never had a serious relationship wants his pregnant one-night stand to move in with him? Explain.”
I gulp down some of my water because my mouth is dry from the thought of sharing space with this man, but at the same time, he’s offering what I need to make this podcast thrive so I can raise this little one inside me.
“I know you don’t know much about my past, and I’m not getting into it all today, but you know that Decker and I were raised separately since we were eleven years old. Even before that, there was never a real sense of family in my life. It’s important to me that I give my kid a different kind of life. A life where their parents get along and are at least friends. I obviously never intended for you to get pregnant, and I never thought I’d find myself in this position, but I always told myself that if I did, I’d never make my kid choose. I’d always make my kid feel like they were a part of a family unit, no matter the circumstance. So, I want to spend this time getting to know you, become maybe friends.”
“Friends?” I hope he can’t hear the disappointment in my tone.
Not that I think being friends isn’t a great idea, but I have this stupid attraction to Foster I haven’t been able to shake. When he picked up my lingerie earlier, I almost said let me model it for you, which would have been the worst idea ever.
“Yeah.” He runs his finger across my counter. “I’d like to tell our baby that I love Mommy. I might not be in love with her, and she might be with someone else, but I do love her.”
My heart squeezes. I think I’m one of the rare few who gets to see this side of Foster Davis. People would never believe he can be so sentimental. Now I’m more curious than ever as to what happened between him and Decker and what their childhoods were like.
“And it doesn’t have anything to do with you being able to dictate what I eat, if I’ve eaten enough, or if I’m getting enough sleep?”
He chuckles, and those blue eyes that are the same color as Lake Michigan on a sunny summer day sear into mine. He looks so sincere. “I shouldn’t start our friendship with a lie, so yes, I do like the idea of knowing you’re doing okay. I feel like I should be the one to get you your cravings and get you a blanket or draw you a bath. I mean, like you said, you’re doing all the hard work here.”
