Page 12 of It All Began at Dixieland

My sister grins with an amused glint in her eyes, “Who’s to say it’s not?”

Efa 11.

9 weeks after book signing

“You have to tell him.” My jaw drops as I stare at my former best friend. Mallory stares right back, not intimidated in the least. I get it. I’m currently hunched over a toilet, my stomach returning everything I’ve eaten in the last 12 hours without a receipt. Rude.

“Excuse you,” I whisper hoarsely. “I’m not one of those bitches in the romance books who keep the pregnancy a secret. I would never do that to him. Or our child.”

“Then you’ll tell him.”

“Mal.” She helps me up and over to the sink so I can brush my teeth. “Have you not been paying attention the last two months? He hasn’t called me. I left him my number and he didn’t use it. Besides that, I’m ridiculously smitten enough to ignore that bright blinking sign of his disinterest and try to track him down. Problem is, I don’t know his last name! The hotel won’t give out that information.” My cheeks blaze when I remember the last phone call I had with them. “And the mean manager said if I called again, they’d notify legal counsel.”

Mal shakes her head, her lips twitching, “You slept with him and didn’t even know his last name?”

I smack her arm, but I’m so weak it doesn’t even faze her. “I wasn’t concerned with such frivolous details as his identity when my vagina’s satisfaction was on the line!”

She holds up her hands, “I’m not judging. I’m impressed.”

Rolling my eyes, I snort, “Well, impressing you makes this surprise pregnancy and my impending single motherhood totally worth it.”

“Don’t be dumb. You’re not alone. And you aren’t without options. Talk to your parents. Hire a private investigator.”

I drop my head on the cool marble of my bathroom sink. “Ugh. My mom is never going to let me live this down!”

My former best friend cackles with undisguised glee at my predicament. “Maria Martinez Blevins is going to have a fucking field day with this! I can’t wait. Let’s go tell her now.” I groan, smacking her hands away when she tries to drag me along.

“I don’t want to tell them yet. But a private investigator is a good idea.”

“Then we’ll start there. I’ll make a few calls. You…just gestate.”

“I’ll get right on that.” Mallory starts laughing harder than is warranted by her joke. She’s not that funny. I narrow my eyes, “What?”

“Aside from not knowing the last name of the guy railing you, you had sex with a virtual stranger without a condom!”

I stand up straight, glaring at her, hands on my hips. “We did use condoms! The floor of the hotel room was littered with them. We used condoms!” I insist when she laughs louder. “Dammit, Mallory! We used…” Oh shit! I deflate immediately as the memory of him taking me against the vanity of the bathroom flashes through my mind, “We used condoms every time…but the first.”

“Ooh, you better make notes, this will make a hell of a story! Your fans will love it!”

Foster 12.

4 months after signing

“Nick. NICK!Foster.” My sister hisses my name, her fingers digging into my sides, eliciting a very manly squeak out of me.

“What?” I spin around quickly and contort my body to dodge her evil fingers. “And use my business name!”

“I did,Nick.” She rolls her eyes, “You didn’t answer me.”

“Sorry.” I rub the back of my neck with one hand while pinching the bridge of my nose with the other. I’m a little stressed and preoccupied and depressed. I’m a little bit of a lot of things it seems.

“We’re set up, no thanks to you, so walk around, go outside, get some fresh air, and come back focused,Nick Forester, cover model and graphic designer extraordinaire. These readers are rabid animals.”

“She says with love,” I murmur. Emery, excuse me, Nichole Emory, beams a blinding smile.

“Absolutely! I love the erotica obsessed nuts!” I bring her to my side and lean down to kiss the top of her head. She means it too. She began writing romance because she couldn’t find the types of books she wanted to read and managed to stumble upon a loyal and growing fanbase of voracious readers.

“I know you do. And you’re right. I’m not in the right mindset. I’ll get some air and be back ready to work.”

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