Page 12 of Hungry Like A Dragon
“How did you even know?”
Petra rolled her eyes. “Your grandfather was my uncle’s personal chef. We both spent plenty of time at the reeve’s mansion. You can’t tell me you don’t know a thing or two about me.”
“No, I can’t. But I never imagined you actually paid attention to anything about me.”
She huffed. “Can you leave so I can dry off and get dressed?”
He arched one dark brow. “We have a baby together.”
“That doesn’t mean we’re close enough for you to see me naked.”Especially now, after I’ve given birth and breastfed for three months.
He opened his mouth, and she expected him to argue, because face it, if they had a baby together, they’d obviously gotten pretty damn intimate, but he snapped it closed and left the bathroom—with Sadie in his arms.
Petra quickly dried off, skipping the lotion she diligently applied to her boobs and stomach in an attempt to make the stretch marks go away but not forgetting to add gel to her hair to combat the never-ending frizz courtesy of the thousand percent humidity in this city.
Since her clothes were in her bedroom, she had to wrap the towel around herself again and hurry out of the bathroom, catching a glimpse of Noah standing in the living room, flipping through the photo album she’d had made for when she finally got up the nerve to tell him about Sadie.
Crap. What the hell was she supposed to do now? She pulled on a fresh camisole and panties, then topped them with an orange sundress. She needed makeup and time with her blow dryer and straight iron, but first things first. Throwing back her shoulders and sucking in a deep breath, she strode into the living room.
“Would you like something to drink? Or eat? Or, uh, do you need anything?”
“A shower would be great, but go ahead and do what you need to do first.”
“So, ah, how did you find me?” she asked.
“I overheard Gabe mention a charge on your Amex to some place called Nola Kids. And he mentioned you hadn’t really done much work on your assignment in the last three months. And we hadn’t used protection the one time we were together. Put two and two together, made an assumption that you hadn’t done that with any other guy around the same time—”
“Of course not.” Her voice rose a couple octaves, and she cleared her throat while willing the heat blossoming across her exposed chest to go away. She was always careful. Always, always, always.
Until she wasn’t. Damn it.
“—so I flew down here. Once I got to the city, I looked up Nola Kids and asked where you lived.” He shrugged. “Here I am.”
She stared at him. “Pacey told you where I live?”
“She did after I told her I was your baby’s father.”
Petra groaned. If ever there was a bleeding heart, it was Pacey. And if ever there was a person who desperately believed in happy endings, it was Pacey. She was probably imagining Petra and Noah making up and swearing to love and hold and all that crap right now.
As if.
“Look, Noah, I don’t know what you’re thinking, but—”
“I’m thinking a lot of things. But let’s start with the basics. Why am I just now finding out I have a daughter?”
There was an edge to his voice that would scare a lot of people. Not her, but probably most others.
“It’s complicated.”
“Picking up the phone is complicated?”
Petra ran her hand through her hair. She needed to dry it soon or else it would resemble a poodle, and the plans she had for tonight required her to look as good as she possibly could, mom bod notwithstanding.
“I hate to do this to you, but I sort of need to get ready to go.”
“Where?”
“Out.”
