Vegas Baby

I chuckled, before realizing that he was serious. “Wait, have you ever had fast food a day in your life?”

“Of course I have,” he laughed slightly. “Why?”

“Because your abs are telling me another story full of organic foods, egg whites and lean meat.”

“Thank you for noticing,” he said, sending me that smirk that had my cheeks blushing. “But I do indulge occasionally.”

“Well then by all means,” I said, repeating a phrase that was becoming more and more common in my daily lexicon. “Let’s go to the mall.”

Chapter Seventeen

~James~

A lot had happened in one day, so it felt strange that so little time had actually passed. It was just passing six and somehow I had gone from casually helping Nicole look at apartments, to filling out custody paperwork, to finding her a place that I was going to be paying for.

And, despite the fact that I knew some people would think that I was being absolutely taken for a ride, I was happy about it. Nicole had really opened up to me in the day since I had confronted her, and I had the feeling that she never quite could catch a break. I was certainly in the place to do so, and I wasn’t going to miss the money, so why not?

I couldn’t describe the look on her face when she realized what was going on. It was like Jesus himself had descended and given her a one-way ticket to heaven. It made me feel good, and alpha. I was protecting the woman who was carrying my child inside of her, and I was going to do it right.

I felt energized as we reached the mall, mind full of all the things we had to do. There were baby clothes, insurance, cribs, bottles, and that was just the stuff I knew about. As a die-hard bachelor, I was sure that there was an entire world of supplies that I knew nothing about.

I was definitely going to need to do some research before we got too deep in and we had to rush. If there was one thing I hated, it was rushing due to lack of preparation. One didn’t build a billion-dollar company by being unprepared.

“So, you have any cravings?” I asked, crossing around the vehicle to try to open her door. But just like the previous time, she was already out of the car before I could get there.

“Tacos,” she said adamantly, like there wasn’t a sliver of doubt in her mind.

“Alright. Tacos it is.”

We headed inside, and I was greeted by so much noise and clamor that I had to blink for a moment. I guess that it had been a year or two since I had been in the mall and I forgot how loud they could be. I was sure I would get used to it, but it was certainly jarring.

Nicole buzzed straight for the closest texmex place and I followed after her, figuring I would just order whatever she did. But then the line was ridiculously long and I wasn’t really comfortable with her waiting that long.

“Hey, why don’t you give me your order and I then you find a seat while I stand in line.”

She looked at me with such huge eyes that I had to wonder what kind of people she knew before me. Standing in line for her was not a big deal and should be expected when one person was pregnant and the other was not, and yet with the way she was looking at me, it was hard not to think I was some sort of saint.

“Really?”

“Yes, really.” I handed her my phone. “Just type it in here and try to find someplace tucked away to sit.”

“Wow. Okay.” She quickly texted away then handed my phone back before walking off, still looking over her shoulder occasionally as if she was worried I was just pranking her and was going to walk out at any moment.

It was strange how protective of her that made me feel. She was a nice woman; it didn’t make sense for her to have been treated so poorly by others her whole life. When she told me about her parents, I could tell there was a lot she left out, and I didn’t press. If she was ready, she would tell me. But even if she wasn’t quite there yet, I could see the scars of what people did in her actions.

Like how grateful she was for everything. While appreciation was always nice, it made me angry to see how surprised she was by it. Like it was ludicrous that someone would want to help her. But, it also made me wonder about what would happen to her when I left after she was settled into her new place.

She didn’t have the support of her friends, from how she acted at the office I could surmise that she wasn’t close to any of them there. I knew she didn’t have her parents support, so that meant once I left, she would be completely alone.