Page 7 of The MC's Surprise
I flicked my gaze to the monitor, watching as Charlotte approached my summer fling. There wasn’t audio on the cameras, too much noise from the machines, but something about the woman’s posture was off. Too tense. It made me sit up a little straighter. Maybe she was visiting for another reason entirely. Did something happen to her sick aunt and she needed a friend?
Worry ate at me, and I ended up meeting both women at the door so I could see her sooner. This close, I could see the strainon her face, the smudges under her eyes like she was exhausted with life in general.
“Hey, Sierra.”
Surprise lit up her features for a moment before her once familiar smile appeared on her face. She looked relieved, I had no idea why, but I pushed past that, opening my arms for a hug.
She hesitated, surprising me all over again. She’d been affectionate when she was last here. If she was friends with you, you were guaranteed hugs and high fives on the regular. Then again, that was a long time ago. Still, it felt weird that she rebuffed me.
“I, uh… I’m not feeling that great. I don’t want to get you sick,” she rushed out.
Charlotte took a step back automatically, giving Sierra a once over. “If you’re sick, why are you here? You’ll infect other people.”
Something sharp flashed through Sierra’s eyes and she seemed to push past the exhaustion, her spine straightening. “I’m not going to infect anyone. I need to speak with Vegas. Alone, please.”
“I’m the casino manager,” Charlotte argued. “If this is about a job, I should–”
“Char,” I interrupted, trying to soothe her ruffled feathers. “I’ve got this. Do me a favor and check in with the front desk. I want to make sure they’re getting their breaks like they should. Teresa looked tired when I arrived this morning.”
Charlotte wasn’t happy about my request, and I’d be groveling later to make it up to her, but something about the way Sierra was looking at me told me whatever she had to say was important. Charlotte could be appeased later. I wasn’t sure how long Sierra was in town this time.
Seeing that I wasn’t backing down, Charlotte sniffed petulantly. “Fine. But you’re buying me lunch later. And nothing from the casino. I want to go someplace nice.”
“The casino food is nice,” I pointed out with a half smirk. She knew I was teasing. We did serve good food, but if she wanted something nicer, I wasn’t going to tell her no.
With a flick of her long blonde hair and a huff, she stormed out, leaving Sierra standing in the doorway, an uncertain look on her face. I gestured her inside and shut the door behind her. It felt wrong to sit behind my desk while talking to an old friend, so I ushered her to the leather couch that sat against one wall, taking the seat beside her.
“So, what’s up? I thought you were going back to California. Is your aunt okay?”
Her brows furrowed for a moment before she shook her head. “I, uh– I went back to California. Things went kind of sideways on that front.”
“Oh. Did you need help or–?” She’d told me a little bit about her business, but not a ton. Something about event planning, I think. I mostly left the event planning to Charlotte, but if she needed advice or something, I could–
“I’m not here because of that. I, uh… I have something to tell you.”
I frowned, studying the way she sat. She looked different from the last time I saw her. Tired, sure, and her clothes were weirdly frumpy, which wasn’t really her style whenever I saw her out of uniform. But there was defeat in her posture too. Like something had gone horribly wrong. I reached for her automatically, putting my hand on top of hers.
“Hey, whatever it is, you can talk to me. We’re friends. I’ve got your back.”
She chewed on her bottom lip to the point it was looking kind of ragged, and when she looked up at me, she had tears in hereyes. It stunned me, I’d never seen her cry before, but I wasn’t really sure what to do about it. Dealing with crying women wasn’t really in my wheelhouse. I’d picked up on a few things watching the guys and their old ladies, though, so I put my arm around her shoulder, pulling her into my side in a hug. It seemed to help because she leaned into me, letting out a shuddering sigh.
I encouraged her head onto my shoulder, resting my cheek on top of it. “Whatever is going on, it’ll be alright. I’ve got you.”
She sank in on herself a little more and an ache grew in my chest. I hated how broken she seemed. This wasn’t the woman I knew. When she last worked here, Sierra was all sunshine and rainbows. Even when I was having a rough day, she somehow managed to make me smile. I thought it was impossible for anything to get to her. What could’ve happened to break such a bright person?
“I… I’m pregnant. It’s yours.”
5
Sierra
Ifelt him go stiff and forced myself to pull away. His hug was nice, but it felt wrong to take comfort from him when I was delivering such bad news. I shifted a little in my seat to look him in the eye. All the blood had drained from his face and he stared at me wordlessly, his mouth hanging open. In any other circumstance, it’d be funny. Now, it just made me feel worse.
“I know. I was surprised too. I honestly had no idea up until a couple of weeks ago. I–” I hesitated in my rambling, studying him. “Vegas? Are you okay?”
He wasn’t blinking. Was he even breathing?
I waited for a little while, letting him absorb it all, but when fifteen minutes dragged by and he still hadn’t moved, I forced myself to speak.
