Page 3 of Somebody To Love

“Really, BJ. I had a demanding client today and I guess I haven’t shaken it off yet.” Not a total lie. She had dealt with the Blithe sisters today, working on their store website.

“Need me to go kick their ass?”

He’d do it too. Maybe not physically, because BJ never used violence if he could help it, but he’d give a stern warning to anyone who messed with the people he cared about.

“You want to go confront Apple, be my guest.”

He dropped his hand and physically shuddered. The Blithe sisters, Olive and Apple, were the exact opposites of their namesakes. Olive was as sweet as a two-dollar sucker while Apple had garnered the town nickname Crab Apple. No one wanted a one-on-one confrontation with Kismet’s notorious sourpuss.

“No, thank you. How about a drink instead? I’m sure Kelley would be happy to make something for you.”

She didn’t tell him Kelley had already offered, and she declined. Some might find it funny that she rarely drank, considering her best friend owned and ran a distillery. She enjoyed the occasional drink now and then, but not today. Right now, she needed to retreat and regroup.

“No thanks. I need to run, but I’ll see you later.”

She turned away, but he caught her hand, pulling her back and cupping her face in his palms again. BJ was affectionate with everyone. The big guy could have coined the phrase cuddly teddy bear. She never took his touches to mean anything other than what they were—comfort from a friend—no matter how much she sometimes wished they were more. Or how much it made her body burn in ways so not appropriate for a best friend to feel.

“Penny.”

Squeezing her eyes shut, she reached down deep for courage, but found she had none. Nope. Not a single ounce. Opening her eyes, she gazed into his worried face and put on the brightest smile she could. Judging by the downward tilt of his lips, it wasn’t all that bright.

She grasped his wrist with her hand, giving it a small squeeze. “I’m okay, BJ. I promise.”

He searched her face for a moment, finally seeing something he liked, and nodded. Tilting her head forward with the grip he still had on her face, he kissed her forehead. A small zing of awareness jolted her body, as it always did when she felt the firm, but soft, press of his lips on her skin. She told her body to stuff it. Not gonna happen. Not in this lifetime.

He let her go, sitting back down in his chair.

“See ya, Penny.”

“See ya.” She turned with a wave, heading back out the side door through Jacks and out to her car.

Dammit! She’d messed that up spectacularly. The question hadn’t even gotten out before she choked on her nerves. A freak out was not what she needed right now. She needed confidence, eloquence…a set of balls. BJ’s preferably, or really, what they produced. The truth of the matter was, she chickened out. Sitting in the stillness of her car, she sucked in a deep breath. She had to ask him. If she wanted to be a mother—and she did, with every fiber of her being—she needed to get over her fear and ask BJ for his sperm.

The best way she knew to get over her anxiety was with ice cream.

Starting her car, she pulled onto Goldmine Street and headed towards Kismet’s only grocery store. She’d get bravery in the form of sugary dessert, and then she’d come back and ask BJ to give her the DNA she needed to make her dream come true. As she parked in the lot, she wondered if the store sold a ‘Hey, can I have your sperm to artificially inseminate myself?’ greeting card.

Probably not.

Dang it.

CHAPTER 2

BJ watched Penny hurry out the door, quietly muttering to herself. She didn’t realize she did that, mutter to herself, but she did. Whenever she was worried or figuring out a complex problem, she always spoke to herself in hushed tones and tapped her finger against her leg. He knew because they’d been friends for over a decade. He knew a lot about Penny. Including the fact that she just lied to him.

His best friend hadn’t wanted to talk about the upcoming restaurant opening. No, she had something else on her mind. Something heavy. Why hadn’t she shared? Penny could always come to him with her problems. She knew that.

Then why hadn’t she?

A mystery he would have to put off for a later time. Right now, he had to concentrate on the pile of frustration in front of him. A dull pounding throbbed behind his eyes as he sifted through the papers spread out on the table. The headache only increased as a loud, familiar voice called out from behind him.

“Hey, was that Penny I saw drive away?”

Sighing—he would never get through this work today—he glanced up to see Charlie stride in from Jacks side door which connected to the restaurant.

“Yeah, she dropped in to get some info on the grand opening for the website.” Information she suspiciously left without.

“Dang, I was hoping to catch up with her today.” Charlie pulled out the chair across from him and sprawled out with a relaxed grace that could only be achieved by his baby sister. “I think my laptop has a virus or something. It keeps crashing when I open my picture folder and I was hoping she’d look at it for me.”

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