Baby Daddy Wanted (Crescent Cove 5)

That earned me some laughter.

“I live here in town and I’m the main baker for Brewed Awakening. I also do some of the artsy things, like the sandwich board out front.”

“And she makes the best coffee of anyone in this place,” Murphy added as I flashed him a grateful smile.

“I heard that,” Macy called from behind the counter while she waited on a customer.

We all laughed.

One by one, everyone volunteered whatever they felt comfortable putting out there. It took a while, as there were close to twenty women present and one Murphy. When the circle reached him, I expected him to back out.

Instead, he said he was a lifetime resident of Crescent Cove and had a couple different jobs.

“And I’m a Taurus.”

I reached over to smack his thigh at that, and he surprised me by smiling. Though there was a bit of pink on the tips of his ears, he was being far more relaxed than I’d expected.

Maybe my flirting skills were improving. Or perhaps the improvement in his reaction to me came from the fact I wasn’t intentionally flirting at all. I was just being me. The real me, not the weirdo who seemed to appear whenever Murphy showed up.

Thankfully, she seemed to have taken the night off.

“That’s great. So, you all contacted me in one way or another after seeing my post about searching for a man to have a baby with, potentially with no strings. Do all of you want to have babies on your own or are you just exploring your options?” I looked around the group.

Almost half of them indicated they wanted to have a kid without necessarily needing a partner. A few mentioned wanting to hear more or that they might be interested in the future if not now. The rest didn’t answer one way or the other.

I shifted the still sleeping puppy on my lap and he rolled over and kicked out his paws, garnering more than his share of puppy appreciation. He was too blitzed to realize it.

“What were most of you hoping to get out of this? Some others to talk to and commiserate with?” I thought of Murphy’s comments before we’d rejoined the group. “Or are you hoping to figure out a way to make the process easier?”

“I can’t speak for everyone,” the redhead’s brunette buddy said, “but I know me and Andi here would like to do what you did.”

“Oh, no.” I had to laugh. “No, you definitely do not want to do what I did. I caused a spectacle, even if I didn’t mean to.”

“I gotta know, did you really post in the Facebook group on purpose?”

“No.” I tucked one of my braids back as it slipped free. “I’d meant to post it in a local singles group, which wasn’t the ideal place either.”

“Because you weren’t looking for a hookup, just the baby part,” the waitress from the diner prompted. Ivy, I think she’d said her name was.

“Don’t get me wrong. If I met someone cool, that would be a bonus. I’m not against the idea of romance. I just don’t want to wait forever for a Mr. Right who might not be driving up my lane anytime soon.” I shot a look at Murphy under my lashes, only to find him watching me intently. Not with amusement. Not with disgust. Just open curiosity.

As if

he wanted to understand my motivations.

He wasn’t the only one. The longer this had gone on, the more I’d questioned myself. Did I really fully understand what I’d undertaken? Babies grew up. You had to support them for a full eighteen years, and I’d pledged to do that all on my own on a baker’s salary.

Examining it from all angles made it easier to see why some people had thought I was nuts. Perhaps I was.

But I still wanted a baby. Probably more than ever.

Even after all of this. Even if it didn’t happen quickly. Even if it was hard.

“It’s not a quick process or a simple one,” I continued. “I’ll admit I was a bit too hasty in putting up my post. I hadn’t considered all the steps. How difficult finding a guy I can get intimate with for this purpose would be, even if he was agreeable.”

“So, why not just have some fun banging random dudes?” Andi asked, nudging her friend who threw back her head and laughed. “Why make it some big thing and invite the whole world into your business?”

“She didn’t do that.” Murphy’s voice was like steel. “It was the town’s choice to wade into something that didn’t have to do with them.”