Page 78 of False Confidence

“Take it easy. Do you want me to call Maggie?—”

“I don’t want her to see me like this. I’ll be fine.” That was the last thing she needed. She couldn’t talk about this with Maggie. That wasn’t an option.

She sighed, pulling her phone away to check the time. She’d been away from the table for too long. “Liam.”

“Yeah?”

“Can you do me a favor and pretend you don’t hear me peeing while we’re on the phone? I don’t want to hang up yet.”

“Of course,” he said gently. “Did something happen? Do you want to talk about it?”

Jazz sandwiched the phone between her ear and shoulder as she stood up enough to pull up her skirt and push down her underwear. “It’s a long story. And I don’t think I can talk about it and stay calm.”

“That’s okay. We can talk later, or whenever you’re ready. You want me to come pick you up? I can be there in fifteen—maybe even ten if traffic is okay.”

“No, I… I have to go back out there. I’ll be fine.” She wiped, flushed, and flinched as she stepped out of the stall and took in her reflection above the sink. The paper towels were rough, but they were better than nothing. She wet one with cold water and dabbed below her eyes, trying to de-puff.

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I feel a little better. Thank you. I needed this.”

“Anytime, darling. You know I’m always here.”

Fuck, she didn’t deserve him. She took a deep breath, pushing that worry aside for now. She couldn’t handle something else. “I don’t have plans with Maggie after brunch, so you can pick me up if you still want to.”

“Good. You’re going to love what I have planned.”

“Any hints?”

“Hmm… Well, we’ll have to stop by the pet store before we go.”

Jazz gasped. “We’re picking up Bray? I thought the shelter said we couldn’t get him until tomorrow.”

“They called an hour ago to say we can pick him up today. In a couple of hours, we’re going to be parents,” he teased, and despite how knotted her insides were, Jazz smiled.

“You’re going to be a dad,” she corrected. “I’m a bonus mom at best.”

“It won’t be that when he likes you better than me. I’ll pick you up in an hour?”

“Yeah. Thank you. For all of this.”

“Nothing to thank me for. Call me if you need me to come pick you up early, okay?”

“I promise. See you soon.”

She hung up and took a deep breath, her heart still racing, before heading back into the restaurant. There was nothing she could do about her eyes. God, she was tired.

Maggie was sitting alone, her tongue poking out as she read through something on her phone. She looked up as Jazz approached, her eyes widening. “Are you okay? You were gone a while. Shit, have you been crying?”

“Hmm? Oh, no, don’t worry,” Jazz waved her away. “I had an eyelash in my eye that I couldn’t get out and Liam called to talk about Bray. That’s why I took so long. We’re getting him from the shelter today, so he’s going to pick me up after brunch.” Maggie didn’t look convinced, so Jazz quickly changed the subject. “Where’s Nadia?”

“She ran outside to take a client call.”

“On a Sunday?”

“No rest for the wicked. Hey, I was thinking and we should go out next weekend.”

Jazz eyed her warily. “You, me, and Nadia?” She didn’t need a repeat of today.

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