“Thank you.” Tachina laughed. Relief filled her that she hadn’t been wrong about Addison.
Addison and she had been best friends since high school.
“But…” Addison began. Her features softened as she let Tachina’s hand go. “What if Vic says no?”
The question hung between them. It was something that was on her mind. She hadn’t let herself think aboutthat. Not really. There had been too many what-ifs she had thought about from her standpoint.
But what if he refused?
What if he got uncomfortable?
What if he thought her crazy for asking?
What if a second baby ruined everything they had now?
“I don’t know,” she whispered. “I guess I’ll cross that bridge if I get to it.”
“Okay, but promise me one thing,” Addison asked. “Don’t get your heart tangled up in this unless you’re prepared for any answer he may give.”
Tachina nodded, but inside she already knew the truth. Her heart had been tangled the moment she’d felt the first spark of baby fever and it had wrapped itself firmly around the idea of another baby.
In her heart, she already loved that future child.
“So when are you going to try to talk with him?” Addison asked.
“Soon.” Tachina lifted her glass with her trembling hands. “Before I lose my nerve.”
Addison toasted the air. “To bravery.”
“And possible bad decisions.” Tachina raised her glass across the table to meet Addison’s.
“And sprinkle showers.” Addison giggled. “Oh, and top-shelf sperm alternatives!”
“Addison!” Tachina sputtered.
They clinked their glasses as they burst into laughterloud enough that Monica glanced over at them from the counter.
Tachina wasn’t sure what the future held, but she sipped her drink and felt the warmth of friendship around her and she knew one thing.
She was done waiting for life to magically align.
This was something she wanted.
Even if that meant asking the father of her son to give her another baby.
Victor Maxwell pulled into Tachina’s driveway like he always did. Slow, cautious, and with the familiar flicker of anticipation he pretended he didn’t feel. Co-parenting shouldn’t make a man’s stomach flip like he was going on a first date. But here he was, palms sweating. He rubbed his hands on his slacks.
“It’s just pickup,” he muttered.
Not complicated. It was the highlight of his week. But it was the one time he felt his carefully balanced CEO persona could be shed. Hecould be Vic.
Father to his son, Kian.
But also because picking up Kian meant he’d get to see her.
Tachina Winston had no business being as beautiful as she was. Earlier, she’d sounded a little off on the phone. Nervous. Breathless. The kind of nervous that had him replaying the entire conversation over in his head.
He parked in her driveway and cut the engine. He glanced in the back seat of his luxury SUV and breathed a sigh of relief that he hadn’t forgotten Kian’s booster seat. He combed his fingers through his hair and stepped out of the vehicle. He undid his tie and tossed it in the back seat where his jacket lay. He was off work, no longer in CEO mode. He was in Dad mode now.