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Bowdie’s got a point, and not just the thick, blunt one he was about to put inside me before we were interrupted—the point that we need to keep our little forbidden romance a secret if this is gonna work. Unfortunately, I can’t keep my mouth shut, which happens to be my biggest failing as a person.
Since the attitude she gave me last night and calling me this morning only to brush me off and speak to her dad instead, I know one person Iwon’tbe sharing secrets with anytime soon. Even though she didn’t tell me her big secret yesterday, I don’t think you’d have to be a genius to figure out she wants to keep something to do with her and Josh under wraps from her dad and me. I mean, she’s been grouchy as hell lately. Now throwing up at the drop of a hat and suddenly wanting to be alone? Plus, even Bowdie made his own observations going so far as to use the word “nesting.” He said it himself.
If Lucy can’t tell her best friend she’s pregnant, then who is she gonna tell? Not her dad, fresh back from London, that’s for sure. Plus, do I reallywanta friend like that?
Since that Josh guy showed up, it’s been a battle between Lucy and me to stay the way we were. The change in her has been gradual, but now what, especially if she’s carrying that creep’s baby?
I’m all in once Bowdie suggests we get out of the house to go somewhere we’re guaranteed not to be disturbed. I have to leave that part up to him between getting myself dressed and making sure the kitchen looks like a kitchen again.
Once we’re on the road, I comment on how calm Bowdie seems, which makes him chuckle. He glances over at me when we stop at a set of lights, tracing my hair back from my face and making me blush.
“What’s there to be worried about?” he asks aloud, daring the whole world to prove him otherwise. “I’ve got the most beautiful girl at my side, and I’m gonna spend the day showing her just how special she is,” he says, making my lip quiver with emotion before I bite down on it.
I already feel that compulsion in me to tell… to do what I always do, and blab whenever someone asks me to keep a secret.
Lucy didn’t tell you anything, remember? If there’s no secret, then there’s no harm in saying what you think “might” be wrong with Lucy, is there?
I’m still at odds with myself over it. I know tomorrow I won’t be as mad at Lucy as I am today, and stirring up trouble for her and her dad is the last thing I want for any of us, especially now that I have my own little secret. Not so little, really. A Dr. Bigg-sized secret involving me riding him like a pogo stick rates up there with Lucy being pregnant. I mean, if sheispregnant. Grrr! I don’t know what to do about it, and it’s only moments before Bowdie picks up on my mood.
“What’s on your mind?” he asks me casually. “You still thinking about Luce?”
I nod before I can stop myself, already wanting to cover my mouth with both my hands so I don’t blab what I’m thinking. Out of everyone, Bowdie’s the last person I wanna lie to ever, but is not saying something the same as telling a lie, even if you know it’s gonna get someone else in trouble either way?
If there was one man who’d know the answer to that, it’s Bowdie. He’s super-smart apart from being super-handsome, but even asking him that would kinda give away what I’m thinking. As far as I know, Bowdie’s never heard of Josh and thinks Lucy’s a single, eighteen-year-old girl like me. I mean, Iwassingle. Ugh! See? I don’t know what to make of it.
“I think me coming home early got her a little bent outta shape, is all,” Bowdie remarks, glancing at me when I stay quiet. I crimp my lips shut tight as a subtle compromise from maybe using the seatbelt as a gag.
We drive in silence, which Bowdie doesn’t seem to mind. He reaches for my hand that he rests in his lap and squeezes from time to time, letting me know in his own way that everything will work out just fine. I hope it does, for both our sakes, but it sure makes it easier to think about other things being so close to Bowdie. Finally… and all in less than one day! That has to be some kind of record.
I tell myself that no matter what happens, as long as I’m true to Bowdie and myself, we can’t go wrong. I also remind myself that I’m only guessing Lucy’s pregnant. I don’t know for sure. So, for today at least, for the next few hours, I need to put all that Lucy business outta my mind if I want to make the most of what already feels like a special adventure, Dr. Bigg style.
It’s not quite all the way into the city, but on the fringe bordering the river, there’s a newish five-star hotel that kinda loomed up outta nowhere over the past six months. When I see it looming up in my field of vision and Bowdie crane his neck low so he can see under the visor of his windshield, I assume that’s where we’re headed.
“You’re still… Ya know?” Bowdie asks a little awkwardly as he glances at me again. I nod feverishly to let him know I’m still keener than ever to continue what we’ve started, but it seems there’s just no keeping anything from him. It’s like he can read my damn mind, or at least the chapter headings and table of contents. I squeeze his huge hand in both of mine, leaning over and pecking his cheek before giving the thick line in the front of his jeans a squeeze, too,reallyletting him know I’m still interested, which draws a low rumble of satisfaction from him. The deep throb of the car’s motor runs through the pair of us, or is it us making the car shake? Whichever it is, I can’t get enough of it, and if this is how I feel every time Bowdie touches me, then I’m all in on however he wants to do this.
The hotel is a lot swankier up close, casting a huge shadow over the other buildings but lending an atmosphere that could be from someplace exotic like Rome or Paris. The surrounding shopping district looks a little dated and tired next to it, but it’s all I can see by the time Bowdie pulls up or skids to a stop, I should say. He has to hit the brakes to avoid hitting some idiot stepping right out in front of the car. I open my mouth in a gasp of shock.
Bowdie’s massive hand and arm protect me, holding me firmly in my seat and feeling way better than any airbag or seat belt as my chest bristles under his touch. It’s his reaction, coupled with the idiot in question, that has my gasp turn into a groan of near disbelief.
Josh.
Even though Bowdie’s stopped, Josh lays both hands flat on the hood as if he’s somehow holding it back, acting like a complete dick, but that’s Josh in a nutshell. His eyes lock onto mine and then follow the line of Bowdie’s hand to the man driving the car he’s just stepped out in front of. Seeing his beady gray eyes narrow as a malicious grin forms on his face, I know in a split second, Josh will use this against me—seeing me about to go into a hotel with Lucy’s dad alone. Bowdie’s hand gripping my chest right now isn’t how I want Lucy or anyone else to find out about the two of us, but Bowdie’s reaction shocks me the most until I realize Bowdie doesn’t know Josh from anywhere. Although there’s no real harm done, I feel my chest tighten for all the wrong reasons when Bowdie slams the car into park and leaps from the driver’s seat, gripping Josh by the collar and lifting him off the ground.
Josh isn’t a little guy, but this is what I mean when I say Bowdie is big. I’ve never seen him so wound up either, and I figure it must be because Josh touched his car or something—some taboo guy thing the fool’s just gone and done.
“You wanna keep your eyes where you’re going, you hear me?” Bowdie growls, pulling Josh closer so his nose is almost touching.
Josh looks like a guy who may have actually just shit himself, but I don’t feel like rushing to interfere when Bowdie growls words for all the world to hear that grab me by the heart as much as he’s got Josh by the throat.
“You wanna look at her? Eventhinkabout looking at her? You’ve got nerve, boy. I oughta—” Bowdie snarls, making me clasp my hands over my chest, not because I’m worried about him or what he might do to Josh. I’m not even bothered too much when a security guard almost half as big as Bowdie appears, calling for some backup on a two-way radio.
It’s the most heroic, psychotic, and crazy thing anyone’s ever said or done for me. Because of me. I don’t know why, but I almost tear up with emotion. If Bowdie can turn into a maniac just because he even thought someone was looking at me? Well, maybe he has stronger feelings for me than just wanting to use me as some plaything.
However, my swoon-worthy moment quickly turns to something else once I remember who Bowdie’s got in his grip—Josh. The smile that plays on the guy’s mouth once it pegs he’s avoiding a beating thanks to security showing up is enough to make me wanna wipe it off for him myself. Bowdie exercises restraint before the security guards all caution him. Josh’s eyes shift to mine, letting me know with his smug grin that he knows my little secret now. He’s met Lucy’s dad for the first time, but it’s played out in Josh’s favor because now he has something over both of us—if we still wanna be careful about being found out, that is.
Looking at Bowdie, standing so tall and tense and so damn strong, I don’t think he cares less who knows about us right now because he wants what I want. He wants the two of us someplace where we can be alone. Before we even check in, it’s obvious we won’t be doing it in a five-star luxury hotel once a team of security guards spills out of the foyer.
Bowdie reluctantly lets Josh slip from his iron grip as we share a frustrated look. Josh, instantly a victim, which he starts hamming up, rubs his neck and asks security to call the police. The word “lawyer” is something else I hear from him before Bowdie’s back in the car growling to himself before shooting me an apologetic look.
