Page 32 of Books and Hookups

“Do you need, like, a real job?” Tony asked. “Working for Aunt Connie’s insurance agency isn’t the most exciting job, but it’s steady. With your people skills, she’d hire you in a second.”

I swallowed another gulp of whiskey. Working behind a desk sounded like torture.

“Nah, Tony,” Leo said. “Danny’s buying the bar. He’ll be fine.”

“We’rebuying the bar,” I corrected him. But his words, combined with the whiskey, warmed up my belly.

He was right. I had to double down on buying the bar. As a bar owner, not just a bartender, I could afford a kid, and I might even be worthy of Lucie Knox.

13

A What for the What?

It’s not only about building a successful company that empowers people to feel beautiful. It’s also about showing women they can lead, proving that you can be a strong businesswoman and a dedicated mom. I want to inspire others to chase their dreams and find balance in their lives.

Mercy Echegini, CEO of Costus Flower Beauty

LUCIE

Iwas in the zone. I couldn’t feel my body or my fingertips on my keyboard. It was almost like the runner’s high Tad droned on about at work. The words appeared on the white page of my word processing program, flowing like magic directly from my brain, or possibly divine inspiration. Words about values and strong women and legacy.

A bang on my door startled me, and my fingers convulsed on the keyboard. A large block of text highlighted briefly, then disappeared.

“Control-Z! Control-Z!” I shouted. But saying it as I banged the keys didn’t help. It only deleted another block of text. My hands shot off the keyboard like I’d been shocked.

Another bang. “Fuck,” I grumbled. Then louder, “Coming.”

I heaved myself out of my chair.Ouch.Suddenly, I felt my body again, and my lower back wasnothappy about how long I’d been sitting. I hobbled to the door.

A low, urgent voice came through the door. “Lucie, it’s Danny. Can you open up? This is heavy.”

I flipped the lock and threw open the door.

“Thank fuck,” Leo said, backing through the door. I scrambled out of the way as they carried an old-fashioned crib into my apartment. Inside were two laundry baskets full of tiny sheets, blankets, and clothes smaller than I’d thought possible.

“Where can we put this?” Danny asked. “Do you have a spot picked out for the nursery?”

“A what for the what?” My brain was still half in my book.

Danny’s forehead crinkled. “You know, where the baby’s going to sleep.”

Baby? Sleep?

For the next six months, it would sleep right where Danny’s sperm had lodged it in my uterus. I didn’t have to worry about that yet. I glanced around my apartment like a second bedroom would magically appear. Danny’s and Leo’s arms trembled with the weight they held. “I guess…over there?” I gestured at the empty space next to my desk.

There was a stack of books on the floor, so I scurried to shift them out of the way as the two men lumbered toward it with the crib. Grunting, they set it down.

“Um…thanks,” I said. I glanced at my computer screen. I could only vaguely remember what I’d been writing before they’d banged on my door, and I was almost positive I could recreate it if I could get my hands back on the keyboard?—

“We’ll be right back with the rest,” Danny said.

“Rest?”

“Yeah,” Leo said. “We’ve got a dresser, a crib mattress, and three more bags of clothes and bottles and other baby shit.”

Bottles? Clothes?My breathing quickened like I’d been the one who’d carried a crib up two flights of stairs. “Could you come back later?”

Danny had been wiping sweat from his forehead, but he dropped his hand, his brown eyes wide with hope. “You mean you want me to come back after we’ve dropped off the baby stuff?”

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