Page 42 of Dr. Baby Daddy

My cheeks warm as I look at another set in a sapphire blue color. There are garters and matching stockings that I’m sure will render Oliver speechless.

I add that one to the first. “I hope so. Things have felt a little weird between us lately.”

“What do you mean?”

I shrug and riffle through another rack, pulling out a black piece that would look stunning on Kate. “I don’t know. It feels likewe’re both pulling back, and neither of us wants to acknowledge that.”

“You’re both busy and ambitious people. You probably just need some time to communicate and reconnect. Take the time to be together after the show tonight.”

“You’re right. No matter whether he performs or not, I’m going to take the night for the two of us to get closer again.”

As I stand backstage that night, my stomach is twisting in knots. It’s time for the last set, and Oliver still isn’t here. He called me this afternoon and said that he could do it, but now he’s late.

He wasn’t in the front row when I performed the first set, and Kate hasn’t seen him either. Dex has been racing around like a headless chicken, trying to figure out what to do if Oliver doesn’t show.

I’m confident he will, though. He told me that he would do it, and I believe him. He’s not going to leave me hanging.

I pace back and forth across the locker room, shaking out my hands. My stomach twists and turns.

But what if he does leave me hanging? This could be too much for him.

I sigh and take out my phone. The call takes a long time to connect, but when it does, I’m met with nothing but silence.

“Where are you?” I push open the door to the locker room to see Dex storming by. “You’re on in less than five minutes and nobody has seen you.”

On the other end of the line, Oliver swallows hard. “I’m sorry. I thought I could do this. I got there a few minutes ago and was sure that I was going to be able to do it. But then I saw you playing your other set, and I realized that there was no way I could do it. I’m sorry, Iz.”

My breath catches in my throat. I don’t know what to say to him right now. He had hours to tell me that he was having cold feet. I would have been able to call a couple of Kate’s connections and beg them to help me.

There would have been a backup plan in place in case he got here and decided that he couldn’t do it.

Instead, he waits until minutes before I’m supposed to get on stage. I’m going to look like I can’t handle the job in front of Dex after begging him to try something new.

I grit my teeth together. “Okay, well, I have to get out there and talk to my boss. Tell him that the thing I begged him to let me do isn’t going to work out after all. I should keep my job if I grovel enough.”

“Izzy, I’m sorry.”

“You should have talked to me if you were having cold feet. I could have had a backup plan.” My chest tightens as I leave the locker room and head to Dex’s office. “I’ve got to go and get this mess cleaned up. I’ll see you after the show.”

I end the call before he can say anything else, my blood boiling.

I don’t know how I’m going to fix this, but I do know that I have to go out there and give the best performance of my life.

That’s the only way I might make it out of this with my job still intact.

CHAPTER 19

OLIVER

Izzy comes down the hall after her show, looking like she’s ready to skin me alive. I swallow the lump that’s lodged itself in my throat since I called her and told her that I couldn’t do it.

“Hey.” I stuff my hands deep in my pockets as she brushes by me and opens the door. “I’m really sorry about tonight. Please, just give me a chance to explain.”

“Explain how you didn’t have the decency to call me before the show and tell me that you weren’t going to be there? You left me with five minutes to figure out what to do at my job and thought that would be okay?”

She shoves open the door and nods. I head inside and she follows, shutting it behind her. I take a seat on the couch, running my hands down my face while she kicks off her heels. The slit along her thigh climbs higher as she sits on the armchair, pulling her legs up to the side.

I rub my jaw, trying to figure out what to say first. “I really am sorry. I should have called you before then and told you that Iwas having my doubts. It wasn’t fair to leave you scrambling to figure out what to do.”

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