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“If you’re not, then you thought you were,” I tell her in a somber but not altogether disappointed tone.
“What really bugs me is you couldn’t tell me earlier,” I confess to her, honesty being my new base character trait, right, Bowdie?
Shut up.
Lucy hurls herself at me, needing her father and a big guy who might just wanna wring Josh’s neck. I feel her shivering and notice how stick-thin she is compared to Beth. I notice how cold she feels. I ask if she wants a blanket or something. The shock of her news can be quite literal. The doctor in me sets her down again, lifting a blanket from the back of a chair and draping it over her shoulders like she’s at the scene of an accident, which I guess she will be. We both will be if Beth doesn’t stay put.
I can see the headlines now: “Train Wreck in Downtown Doctor’s Office. Two Dead. Authorities Baffled.”
But Beth does stay put, and I know she must be hearing every word, despite the heavy wooden doors and thick walls. Lucy has a certain way with her announcements, especially when the news is super good or super bad, but it isn’t long before the inevitable.
Lucy wants to freshen up, making for the office bathroom without a word. My reflex is to leap right in front of her, startling her to a gasp. I guess it’s either I lie to her once and add to it or tell the truth and fall where I stand.
CHAPTERSEVENTEEN
Beth
Lucy showing up is just typical. It’s so like her to turn up unannounced, even if she has been trying to call Bowdie and me separately for a couple of hours.
A couple of hours! Bowdie sure has plenty of miles to the gallon, but right now, it should be me in his arms, afterglow, and the rest of the day doing more of the same. I thought that was the plan, anyway, but following Bowdie’s orders to the letter, I lock myself in the bathroom that’s as big as our whole house.
I dress swiftly and quietly, apart from the odd wince and soft moan as I pull my pants back up, gently setting my freshly popped cherry down on the closed seat of the toilet while listening. I shamelessly eavesdrop so I don’t miss a single detail. Lucy not pregnant is the biggest news, and what a relief that is. I’m assuming she didn’t want to be pregnant, so the other big news I catch with a craned neck and big ears is that she finally agrees.
Joshisan asshole. Amen to that. About time Luce saw reason for a change.
I just hope he didn’t do anything stupid when she broke it off.
I feel like I should go to her, but if I show myself now, we’re gonna have one helluva lot of explaining to do, and that mixed with Lucy’s announcement? It’s not something anyone needs right now. I can’t help thinking of my dad and how things would be if the shoe was on the other foot. If he was finding out about Bowdie and me… If I was pregnant with his child.
Not if, Beth. When! Remember what Bowdie said about stretching you out like cookie dough to make a baby shape? Yeah, I remember. Crystal clear.
Once Lucy offloads and has her moment, there’s a lot of silence and only murmurs from what I can hear until it’s clear Lucy wants to use the bathroom. That’s when shit gets about as real as it can right now.
My heart’s in my throat, and my mind races, clutching for ideas and reasons I’d have for being in her dad’s office bathroom, probably looking and smelling like he’s fucked me senseless all morning.
Bowdie’s deep voice travels loud and clear when he stops her.
“Ahhhh! I wouldn’t go in there, Luce!” he exclaims, chuckling nervously. I can just picture Lucy’s “Why not?” expression.
“I…uh… hehe… I kindabacked up the toiletif you really wanna know. All that airline food and being in a cramped seat for thousands of miles,” he says, not holding back on the imagery that even has me making a face, glancing with disgust at the toilet though I know it’s not true. The whole place is immaculate, and the bathroom smells like Bowdie—crisp and refreshing, like a forest near a waterfall.
“There’s the bathroom out in reception,” Bowdie explains, but Lucy knows the way.
Once I hear the office door close, I unlock the bathroom door as quickly as I dare, Bowdie’s face an inch from mine as soon as I do. He doesn’t tell me anything. He doesn’t shush me or tell me to get out, not just yet, anyway. He kisses me. He kisses me long and leisurely before he asks me if I’m okay and if I heard everything. I nod dreamily, happy enough just to have his lips on mine again, but we really need to decide what we’re gonna do about Lucy.
Do we tell her, or do we keep it a secret? If we tell, our forbidden crush turns into a full-blown “man and woman wanting to spend every waking moment together” kind of instant soulmate relationship. Bowdie’s already decided, and whatever he wants is fine by me, although I have to admit I’m a little surprised by his response.
“While she’s busy, I want you to get fully dressed and go out as far as the elevators and wait. Once you see Lucy come back in here, then come back in,” he coaches me.
“For the job interview you mentioned when you picked up Lucy’s things?” I volunteer, proving to Bowdie that I understand the plan and coming up with a reason for my being here on the fly.
“That’s it!” he whispers, kissing me again, squeezing me as close as we dare, given the time limit. “Now hurry,” he urges me with a jut of his jaw toward the door.
Lucy could spend her whole life in a bathroom and still feel it worthwhile, but I don’t wanna take any chances, so I do as I’m told quickly and quietly. Everything goes to plan until the part where I just appear wearing track pants and an old T-shirt for my “job interview.”
Talk about a casual opening.
Then again, I’ve had my first on-the-job training this morning, and the uniform seems a little overdone. Both Bowdie and I seem to work better naked.
