Page 13 of The Undercover Billionaire's Baby

“You’re not going to get that?”

“I have to. I’m renting— I’m getting a room.”

“Let me,” said Rex, and dug into my pocket. I yelped, surprised, and dropped Chester’s rod. Chester yelled out and I barely caught it, and spun the reel. The fish beat the water. Rex was answering the phone, holding it up to my face.

“Hello?”

“Yeah, is that Brad?”

The fish did a little ocean fandango. The rod pitched and waggled. Chester yelled not to break it.

“Yeah, it’s me. Sorry.”

“What are you doing?”

My line went slack, the fish finally resting. I reeled it in cautiously. “Fishing,” I said. “I met these two guys?—”

“Hi, Lana,” called Rex.

“Is that Rex?”

“And Chester.” He waved at the phone, though it wasn’t a video call.

“Hey, guys,” said Lana. “How’s today’s catch?”

“Not bad,” said Rex. “Your friend’s got one hooked, and, hoo! He’s a big boy.”

The fish had breached the water, and Rex was right. He was huge, fat, and shiny, and all out of fight. I reeled him in quickly and fumbled with the hook.

“No, hold him,” said Chester, and took out his own phone. “You need your ‘he was this big’ shot.”

I held the fish up and Chester snapped my picture.

“There, got it. Perfect. Lana, he’s— Hey! Wait, hold on. What are you doing?”

I’d unhooked the fish and tossed him back in the ocean. “I don’t have much freezer space. Sorry, did you want him?”

“No, that’s okay,” said Rex. “Probably for the best. You don’t have your license yet, so this way you’re legal.”

“No, he’s not,” grumbled Chester. “He might as well eat him.”

I handed Chester his rod back. “Sorry. Next time.” Rex passed me my phone, and I turned to Lana. “Lana, you still there? You caught me mid-reel.”

“Congrats,” she said. “Sounded like a big one.”

“Yeah, big and feisty. Hey, how was, uh— You ran off pretty fast back there, after our walkthrough. Was everything okay down in the shop?”

Lana let out a soft, breathy sigh, but when she spoke, she kept her tone light. “The neighbor’s dog,” she said. “He sneaks in sometimes. But I’m calling to tell you, your references checked out. That is to say, you got rave reviews. So whenever you’re ready, you’re free to move in?” She pitched it like a question, like I might’ve changed my mind. But this was a coup for me, a deal on a room.

“Is tomorrow okay for you?”

“Yeah, tomorrow works great. If I’m not home when you get there, just check downstairs.”

I hung up elated, on top of the world. Dad talked about real life like it was hard, but maybe he’d made it hard with his attitude. He saw people like chess pieces he could move around. No wonder nobody’d been on his side. But everyone liked me here, Lana, these guys. All I had to do was keep that going.

“Good news,” said Chester.

“Especially for Lana.” Rex gave me a nudge. “This guy being handy, he can fix her front step.”

---