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Lauren doesn't say anything, just rubs my back and holds me tight while I sob.
“Stop that, no one could have known this was going to happen, Soph. She woke up and started puking at about four this morning. It’s not like you abandoned her for days on end.”
“But I should have been there for her.” I sniff, my face already tight and puffy. “I’m her mom—I’m all she has. Instead of being with her like I should have, I was off having amazing sex and being swept off my feet!”
“Okay, first of all we’re going to discuss that last sentence, in detail, later. Second of all, you’re not all she has. What am I? Chopped liver? If we hadn’t been able to get hold of you, I would have called Jake again. He didn’t pick up the first time, and he didn’t respond to my text, but I’m sure he would have come if I called enough times.” Lauren gives me a little shake. “Now, knock it off with the mom guilt. It could have happened even if you were in town and she was sleeping over at Bella’s house or something.”
Lauren’s sensible words settle in my mind. The guilt over being with Theo doesn’t leave, but it pauses hammering away at my brain. I suck in a shaky breath, snot and tears adding a disgusting touch to the sound. “Oh gross.” Spying a box of tissues on a countertop nearby, I pull out a few and sort out my face. “What made you decide to bring her?”
Lauren shakes her head, joining me at the counter to steal a tissue of her own. “It wasn’t so much because of the uncontrollable puking, but because she was complaining about her stomach feeling like someone was stabbing her, and she has a fever. Plus, I remembered how she got car sick on the drive to my house.”
“She got carsick? Emma never gets carsick.”
Lauren bumps me with her hip. “Exactly. She was pretty subdued last night and didn't eat a lot. I thought maybe there was something going on with her friends and was trying to see if she’d talk to me, but I think she just wasn’t feeling good.”
With nothing to do but wait, we lapse into silence. Memories of last night, and this morning, compete with worry for Emma in my head. What must Theo think of me now? I know he said he wanted more of this, but I don’t think he really knew what he was signing up for. I’m not one of the young, carefree model-types he’s been seen with before. I come with baggage.
Not just any baggage. A teenager. A shitty ex-husband. My own insecurities. He’s smart enough to figure out that he should be running away from me as fast as those long, muscular legs can carry him.
Those legs. And that ass.
I hadn’t been able to keep my hands off that tight, firm ass of his last night.
I am the world’s worst mother, sitting here fantasizing about my boss’s bite-worthy derriere while my kid is having surgery. With a groan, I bury my face in Lauren’s shoulder.
“What’s up, buttercup?” The shoulder I’m leaning on shifts and Lauren pulls me close, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. “Thinking about all that hot sex you had last night?”
A cross between a laugh and a sob escapes me. “You’re sworn to secrecy, but ugh, it was so good. It was Lucy Score-level hot.” Lauren snorts at my description. “I think all those articles about his genius must be wrong though.”
“Why do you say that?”
“There has to be something wrong with his brain because he said he wants to date me.”
Lauren stiffens. “Sophie. For the love of every romance novel we’ve ever read, tell me you said yes.” When I don’t answer she pulls away, forcing me to look at her face. “You said yes, right? I swear woman, if you said no I will steal your signed copy of Outlander.”
With a sigh, I pick at the lettering printed down the leg of my sweatpants. “I thanked him for an incredible evening, but told him that in reality it would never work.” Lauren’s groan has my shoulders creeping up towards my ears. “My life isn’t a billionaire romance, Lauren. This is the real world, my actual life. I’m not living out some ‘grumpy one is soft for the sunshine one’ trope.”
“Pretty sure you’re the grumpy one in this story.” Lauren leans back in her chair, arms crossed over her chest.
I mimic her, my fingers twisting in my lap instead. “You’re calling the Bastard-in-Chief the sunshine one?” But I know she’s right. Even calling him by our old nickname makes my stomach twist uncomfortably, now that I know it’s all an act. The armor he wears to run his company. I’ve seen the tender heart he hides behind the grumpy persona.
Before Lauren can respond, there’s a buzz from my purse. Pulling out my phone, expecting to see a message from Jake, what I’m greeted with is just one more illustration of the thoughtful man who runs Mailbox with an iron fist.
Tall, Dark and Handsome: There’s a delivery for you at the emergency room reception. I’m not asking for anything, I just need to know you’re being taken care of.
Lauren grins, reading over my shoulder. “You stay here, I’ll go get it.”
“Lauren, no. I told him we weren’t dating. I can’t accept whatever it is he sent.”
The sting of Lauren’s loving smack to the back of my head is the only response I get. She’s out of the room and down the hall before I can stop her, leaving me to stew over what Teddy could have sent.
Me: That wasn’t necessary.
Tall, Dark and Handsome: You don’t even know what it is yet. Maybe I sent you a stack of files to go through.
Me: That’s not even my job. Lauren went to get it.
Tall, Dark and Handsome: Yes, I know. Ms. Masterson, at least, was properly receptive to the delivery.
