Page 81 of Accidental Baby Daddy

“You’re up early,” she commented. “Thought you only had the bar shift tonight.”

“Oliver texted me,” I said, showing her the phone screen.

Her eyes widened. “He loves you? Wow.”

“Right?” I huffed. I was still angry, and I didn’t know if I wanted to talk to him. But I couldn’t help my heart from soaring after seeing that message. Did he mean it?

After how he’d acted after seeing me and Tristan, I couldn’t imagine that he would even want to talk to me, much less be declaring his love for me.

I got up and headed for the shower, trying to pushOliver out of my mind, but that message kept coming back, floating in my memory.

Lex, I love you.

God, if only that were true. It would mean the world. But it wouldn’t mean that I forgave him. I took in a deep breath, letting the water wash away my stress and worries. He was the one who said we should just be friends. He was the one that went after Tristan because he didn’t trust me.

I never did anything wrong. I never cheated on him. I loved him with everything in me, and he just threw it away. I lost Tristan and Oliver in one fell swoop, Tristan had been my close friend too. I’d lost all my hopes and dreams because Oliver thought I was cheating when I wasn’t.

My phone buzzed on my nightstand as soon as I started to get dressed and I groaned, walking toward it. It was Krista.

I picked it up, my hair still dripping. “Hello?”

“Thank God you answered,” she breathed. “I really need your help.”

“My help?”

“Someone just called in to reserve the entire place. There’s going to be close to two hundred people. We’ll be at capacity. I called Raoul, but we still need another server.” She sighed. “Another three servers and bartenders, really, but we only have what we have.”

My eyes widened. “Holy cow. Okay, I can come in. What time?”

She paused. “In an hour.”

I gasped. “An hour?”

“Oliver said he’ll come in to help too.”

Suddenly, I wasn’t so sure I could make it. “I don’t know, Krista, that’s really short notice.”

“Please, Lex. We really need you. You’ll make a lot ofmoney, at least five hundred in tips. I’ve waited on these people before and they’re big tippers,” she pleaded.

I drew in a breath. Five hundred dollars for a shift was something I wasn’t in the position to turn down. Especially with the baby coming.

I sighed. “All right. I’ll be there.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she chanted. “See you soon.”

She hung up and I hurried to get dressed, towel-drying my hair, and letting it lie damp. It would be a little extra curly, but I planned on putting it up in a ponytail later anyway.

I put on some light makeup and a pair of jeans that were starting to get a little too tight, and a simple V-neck shirt.

Oliver generally didn’t care what we wore, and I thought the outfit made me look pretty good.

“Where are you off to?” Gillian asked as I went into the living room, grabbing my purse.

“Work,” I said quickly. “The Pig got rented out by some big wigs and they need me there early. Can you give me a ride?”

She whistles. “Of course. I hope you make good money, but don’t you think you should consider giving up one of your jobs? I mean, the baby...”

“I’ll be fine,” I assured her. “Women work through their pregnancies all the time. Plus, it’s still early.”

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