Hard Hit (IceCats 3)

“There’s my girl. How ya doing, CC?” She coos happily as I kiss her fat cheeks. Out of the corner of my eye, I take a quick glance, expecting to see irritation on Lilly’s face. She hates when I don’t greet her and just take the baby, so I make sure to do it every time. Petty? Yes. But to my surprise, she doesn’t look irritated. Instead, concerned. Or worried. I kiss Celeste again before I turn my attention to Lilly. She walks inside, setting a bunch of bags on the floor. Way more than what I need for a week. I meet her gaze as she looks up. “You didn’t need to bring so much. I have stuff too.”

She shrugs as she swallows noticeably. “We need to talk.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” she says, and I wish I didn’t still find her beautiful. Celeste takes after her with the bright blond hair and light-blue eyes. Celeste looks like me, but she lacks my darker coloring. Instead, she’s a beach babe like her mom. Lilly exhales heavily as she tucks her hands in the pockets of her shorts. “Marc and I are going to Italy.”

I shrug. “Okay. Just let me know what time you’ll be in on Sunday, and I’ll have her ready.”

She shakes her head, and I eye her curiously. “I won’t be back.”

“Huh?”

“Marc has a job offer, and I knew you wouldn’t let me take Celeste, so I’m leaving her with you so I can go with him.”

“To Italy.”

“Yes.” She says it with no concern, no remorse.

“And you’re leaving Celeste here, with me?”

“Yes.”

I blink. “I don’t understand. So, when will you be back?”

She bites her lip. “I don’t know.”

I want to say I’m surprised. I want to say I expected more from her, but I’m not and I don’t. “So, because you want to go with your boyfriend, you’re abandoning your daughter.”

That sparks something in her eyes as she glares at me. “I’m not abandoning her. She’s with you.”

“So, you aren’t going with your boyfriend?” I ask dryly, and her glare deepens.

“Kirby, don’t be a dick.”

“Don’t be a dick. My daughter’s mother is leaving her for a man—please tell me how I am supposed to take this. Do you want me to be happy for you?”

“That’d be nice. You don’t think I’m a good mom anyway! You want her all to yourself.”

“That’s true, but she still needs you, Lilly. Grow the hell up.”

She rolls her eyes. “I never wanted to be a mom, and you know that.”

“Sure, but here we are, and Celeste needs you. Think of her.”

The look on her face tells me she has absolutely no intention of staying. Or even coming back. “I don’t want to, Kirb. I don’t want to be a mother. You should have just let me abort her.”

It’s like she’s stabbed me in the stomach. “Lilly, you don’t mean that.”

“I do. I don’t want to be a mom. Not everyone is made for this life, and I’m not. I don’t want this. I never did. I did it for you.”

I know this woman. I know how she thinks. There is no changing her mind. “You’re making a mistake, Lilly. Honestly.”

“I’m doing what’s best for her. She’s better off with you.”

Before I can even stop her, she’s out the door without even a goodbye to her daughter. Within seconds, every single emotion runs through my body.

Anger—I really do hate that woman.

Sadness—Celeste deserves better than this.

Fear—How am I going to do this on my own?

But then Celeste leans her face on mine, moving her fingers along my jaw, and I feel the ultimate feeling.

Love.

“We got this, CC,” I whisper, but I know she doesn’t understand me or even know what I am saying. “Me and you, love bug.”

Really, I am telling myself more than I am telling her.

Chapter Two

Jaylin

* * *

“The cost of supplies from the Brinton Company is beyond ridiculous, and no matter how much I tell Jonson we need to find another supplier, he isn’t listening.”

I have no clue who Jonson is, or even the Brinton Company.

This is the third time I’ve been out to lunch with Malcolm Franklin, and I really don’t understand why he talks about his job at the hospital like I know anything about it. I may date a lot of doctors—since my mother sets me up weekly with all her church friends’ sons—but that doesn’t mean I know a thing about the hospital. Honestly, I don’t even care. I don’t even really care for Malcolm. He’s a very handsome man. Dark-brown eyes, a nice fade in thick, coarse, curly hair. He’s skinny, not much muscle to him, but he’s smart. Very smart. I like that. He wears thin wire frames. And I know we’re meeting during his lunch shift, but surely, he can leave his lab coat in the car. I don’t know why it bugs me that he wears it, but it does.