Perfect Fling (Serendipity's Finest 2)

In an odd twist of fate, when Kelly was new in town, she had met and fallen for Nash, not knowing he had once been married to Annie Kane, her new boss’s daughter. She’d also befriended Annie, not knowing the connection to Nash. Apparently, both exes had moved on, and with Annie married to Joe now, there were no hard feelings. And to help Richard out, Nash’s firm had recently merged with his. Sort of incestuous, yet not, and everyone got along.

“Hard,” Kelly said bluntly.

Erin wouldn’t have expected anything less than the hard truth. “I cut way back on my hours, and we had to hire help at home for when I’m working. And my sister, Tess, comes by a lot, especially now that she’s driving, which I love and which helps a lot. Honestly, the only reason I’m still working is for my sanity.” She brushed her long bangs out of her eyes. “I need those few hours to feel like a functioning, competent adult. Which I suspect you’ll understand soon enough.” Kelly laughed.

Erin blew out a long breath. “So I’m guessing being an assistant district attorney with night court and on-call hours while also being a single mom could get difficult.” She bit down on her lower lip in thought.

“Well, you’d need help at odd hours, but I’m sure it’s doable. Anything is if you want it badly enough.”

And there was the question. The more time she had with this baby growing inside her, the more chances she had to think about being a mom, and what kind of job would best mesh with that and be right for her baby. “I’ll have to figure out what I want.”

Kelly leaned forward in her seat. “I’m not trying to poach on Evan’s territory,” she said of the district attorney. “Well, maybe I am. But with the recent merger of the two firms

, we had some people leave, and we’re always looking for solid lawyers who can bring business to the firm.”

Erin’s eyes opened wide at that. “Really?”

Kelly nodded. “I can tell you that we’re very flexible with new moms, because I was one, and I made sure to have my husband rewrite any policies I didn’t like.” She grinned, letting Erin know she definitely had sway over the man.

She envied Kelly what she had—a husband she loved, who loved her back, and children they were raising together under one roof. She swallowed hard.

“So . . . want to meet with Nash and talk to him about coming on board? For selfish reasons, I’d love to have you around. Another mom to talk to, a friend I could get closer to . . . and you’d have a whole new challenge, interesting cases, variety. No night hours in the office unless you wanted them. We’re big on videoconferencing and working from home—”

“Yes!” Erin didn’t have to think twice. Not only had Kelly done a good selling job but Erin already knew she had to leave the district attorney’s office. She felt like she’d taken advantage of her colleagues there, she hadn’t pulled her weight lately, and they needed someone with more time than she’d be able to devote from here on in. She just hadn’t figured out what she wanted to do next, and Kelly’s suggestion was perfect.

“Great! I’ll have Nash call you, and you two can take things from there.”

Kelly’s warm smile assured Erin she was doing the right thing.

“Have you lined up babysitting help for when you need to work?” she asked Erin.

Erin pushed herself into a more comfortable position on the couch. “My mom is going to help in the beginning, and the rest depends on what you and I are going to discuss now.” Erin’s stomach flipped at the reminder of her real reason for needing to see Kelly today.

The other woman raised an eyebrow, but didn’t press Erin to explain.

She closed her eyes, pushing back the pain and focusing on the reality, forcing herself to meet Kelly’s patient gaze. “I need to have papers drawn up to give to the baby’s father. Of course I want sole custody, but I need to give him generous visitation when he’s around, given the fact that his job won’t let him have set weekly hours.”

The other woman reached for her bag, pulled out a legal pad and a pen, and started taking notes. “What’s his job?”

“Undercover work in Manhattan. Last time he said he was out of touch for a year.” Her throat hurt from the effort of pushing back tears. “I don’t think I’ll be hearing from him while he’s on a job. He said he wants to take responsibility, and since I will need to work, I’ll need help paying for the babysitter.”

Kelly eyed her with concern. “You’ll need a lot more than babysitting money. Take it from me, you’ll want him to pay his share, and if he’s willing, it should be easy enough to take care of.”

“I don’t think he’ll give me a hard time.”

She just wished she didn’t have to take anything from Cole, but Erin wasn’t stupid enough to let her pride overrule her common sense. She was already giving up the career she’d planned for a situation they’d both created, while he would go back to life as usual. She didn’t resent the baby or the sacrifice. In fact, she was excited now and couldn’t wait. But that didn’t mean she would try to do it on her own.

If all Cole could offer was cash, she’d accept only what she needed to make ends meet. “This isn’t about punishment or anger,” she told Kelly. “I just want enough to let me care for my baby and be home with him or her when I can.” It was bad enough this baby would basically have one full-time parent and one he or she barely knew.

Erin swiped at her eyes with her palm, and Kelly handed her a tissue in silence.

“Thank you.” Erin appreciated the fact that Kelly didn’t push her to explain her feelings. If she had, Erin knew she’d fall apart.

While she waited, Kelly jotted down a few more notes. “Erin?”

“Yes?”

Kelly looked up. “You know I’m close with Annie, Joe’s wife, right?”