Page 93 of Love You Like This

“I happen to know one of your employers. He said long morning fucks in the shower take precedence over work.”

“Oh really?” She slips her feet into a pair of pointy toe stilettos.

“Yeah, he’s generous like that. Could be argued the best employer in the world, to be honest.”

She shakes her head and gives me one more chaste kiss. “If only my work ethic wasn’t so strong.” She walks out of the bedroom, leaving a cloud of her subtle jasmine perfume in her wake.

My phone rings with a FaceTime call from Dad as I get out of the shower. Making sure the towel is fastened securely around my waist, I hit answer. His face with all its familiar fine lines fills the screen. The sky around him is a bright blue, which means he can’t be in LA, it wouldn’t be that light out.

“Where are you?” I ask as I run a comb through my hair.

“Hello to you, too.” He chuckles and turns his head in both directions before he starts moving again. “Rome.”

“Nice. Work or pleasure?”

“Bit of both. How’s the tour?”

“Exhausting but good.”

“Just played Miami last night, right?” His gaze turns attentive as he scans what he can see of me in the frame. “Only three shows left this year, correct? Then the international shows start back up in the spring?”

“Yeah.” I’m not surprised he knows how close we are to the end of the North American tour. He’s always imported all our concert tour dates into his calendar, so he knows exactly what’s happening.

“How’s Jade?”

I look over at the phone. He rarely asks me about her; she made it clear in college that I was an off limits topic. Not that it stopped me from always asking him about her. It’s weird to have the tables turned.

“She’s good. Weird for you to be asking me about her.”

He smiles, a carbon copy of my own. “Just figured I could now that you’re back to being more than just work colleagues.”

“Did she say that?”

“Why are you being so cagey?” His grin widens. “Is there something I should know?”

I shove a toothbrush in my mouth, so I have a minute to stall. She’s been adamant about not telling anyone anything. The last thing I want to do is piss her off and talk about us without her knowledge.

I shake my head and spit out the toothpaste. “No. You know how it is between us.”

“Felt different at dinner.”

I shrug. “We’re on friendly terms now that she’s been on the tour with us.”

“Okay.” He enters a beautiful hotel lobby. “I actually was calling because I just submitted an offer to Hazel’s agent to option the rights for a film adaptation of her book.”

My smile is fast and genuine. “That’s fucking fantastic.”

“I’m not sure if her agent has presented the offer yet so don’t say anything.”

Knowing Sierra, she got on the phone with Hazel immediately. “My lips are sealed. I took the paternity test. Darren, my lawyer, and I are meeting with the woman and her attorney before the show in Atlanta to find out the results.”

“How are you feeling about it?”

“Fucking anxious. Even though there’s almost no possible way I could have been the person to get her pregnant, I can’t stop thinking about the what-ifs. Then, if she is my baby, I missed so much already. I’d never given a ton of thought to having kids, but now it’s something that’s actually on my radar.”

He nods. “I get it, all those are valid feelings. Just take it one day at a time. If she’s your baby, your life will never be the same in a good way.”

“And if she’s not?”