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We still don’t havethe paternity test results the following day, and I still haven’t left Bren’s penthouse. Everything starts to feel like I’m getting caged in, and Addy can sense it. She hasn’t been out in fresh air in a long time, and she was used to our daily walks in the park. She is starting to fuss more than usual, and it is affecting both our sleep.
“When you and Fritz go to meet the producers at the recording studio tonight, do you mind if I have a friend over?”
“A friend?” Bren asks.
“Yeah. Lola misses Addy, and it’d be great to ask her to get a few more things from my place.”
“Of course you can have friends over, Sofia. I want you to feel at home here.”
“Thank you.”
“Everett will stay here with you, and I’ll have Andreas drop us off at the studio then pick up Lola, so she doesn’t have to get around on her own.” Bren pauses and rubs his bottom lip. “Actually, we may be having a lot of people over soon.”
I raise an eyebrow in question.
“Roger called. Adrian and Karl are coming to KC.”
“To record?”
“To stay. I mean, temporarily. But yeah, we’re thinking of recording here. Roger got Adrian an apartment here, so Fritz and I can keep an eye on him.”
“And Karl?” I ask about their guitar player.
Bren rolls his eyes. “He wants to party, so he’s renting a secluded property where he can raise hell.”
I laugh.
“I guess your band’s been preparing you for fatherhood for a long time, haven’t they?”
“Don’tyoustart with that,” Bren says. “I don’t need you encouraging the guys to keep calling meDad.”
* * *
When I calland ask Lola to come visit, she is all too excited. I ask her to run errands and pick up things for me so I can also have an excuse to throw a little money her way. I know she needs it.
So when the front desk rings up to say a friend is downstairs and asking to come up, I don’t think twice about it.
When I get to the elevator doors to greet her, it is a different blond who steps out into the foyer.
The tall, Swedish bombshell squares her shoulders as she eyes me up and down. She wears a curve-hugging, cream-colored dress. Her perfectly styled waves cascade down the pale gold skin of her naked shoulders, and her beautiful green eyes never leave me.
What a great time for me to be wearing sweats, a messy bun, and have a crusted milk stain on my t-shirt because I haven’t had a chance to change from Addy’s spill earlier in the day. This is my life. I force my spine rigid and do my best to fake the confidence Emma exudes. “Can I help you?” I say after we size each other up.
“I’m Em—”
“Emma Johanssen. Yes, I know,” I say and do my best to smile and offer her my hand. She looks at it for a moment before shaking it. “I’m Sofia. Nice to meet you.”
“You as well.” Emma looks uncomfortably around the space, no doubt for Bren.
“I’m afraid Bren is out, and he may be a while. You’re welcome to wait for him here if you’d like.”
Emma’s face falls for a second before she looks behind her at the elevator doors as if deciding what to do, then faces me again. “Would that be all right?”
“Of course,” I say.
Emma makes herself at home in the living room at the same time that the baby monitor goes off with Addy starting to cry. Then Emma’s eyes fix on the monitor, and I don’t miss her wide eyes. “I’ll be right back,” I say.
I run to the spare bedroom Bren has haphazardly turned into the baby room, then take Addy into Bren’s room where I change into one of his workout shirts because I have no clean ones left. When I get back to the living room with Addy in my arms, Emma springs up to her feet.
