Page 119 of Good For Me

“It’s not…Jesus, please don’t say it’s mine.”

She rolls her eyes. “It takes nine months to have a baby, idiot. Thank God you and I stopped having sex long before I found you banging your secretary.”

He stares at her, then at me, then at her again. It would be comical—dude looks like a total idiot—if I wasn’t so pissed.

“Hang on,” he says, realization crossing his face. “It’s his? Thebartender?”

“Riveris the father,” she says. “And none of it is any of your business.”

“In other words, get the fuck out of here,” I growl.

He ignores me, eyes locked on hers. He looks pissed. “Let me get this straight—not only are you slumming around with a complete loser, you let him knock you up? And you didn’t get rid of it?” he shakes his head, sneering. “God, Jas. Your grandfather would be really proud.”

Her face goes white and she actually sways a little on her feet. I’m torn between wanting to grab her, steady her, and wanting to punch the little fucker in the mouth for putting that expression on her face.

The decision is taken out of my hands when a burly, white haired man approaches. “What the hell is going on?” he looks between Jas and Kurt then finally me, registering that my hands have formed fists—fists that I’m having an awfully hard time controlling right now.

“Get out of here, Kurt,” he says, without needing further explanation. “And if I see you upsetting Jas again, we will be renegotiating that contract early.”

Kurt’s entire demeanor changes, going from angry and sniveling to smarmy in a matter of seconds. “Lou, no one is upsetting Jas. We were just catching up—”

The guy rolls his eyes and steps closer to Kurt, forcing him to back up. “Get out of my restaurant, kid.”

Kurt looks like he wants to argue but he looks between me and the old guy and seems to deflate. “Sure, sure,” he says in that smarmy voice, clapping the guy on the shoulder. “I’ll be in touch, Lou.” He looks at Jas. “Good to see you again, Jasmine.” His mouth twists. “And congratulations.” Then he leaves, making sure to give me a good hard shove with his shoulder as he passes.

I immediately turn to Jas. She’s dropped back to her seat, pale and stony-faced. The older guy puts a hand on her shoulder. “You okay, sweetheart?”

She nods, but I can see that she’s breathing hard. Jas ispissed. “I’m fine, Lou. Thanks.”

“You know he doesn’t have to handle the money, right?” he asks in a lower voice, and I wonder if he’s trying to prevent me from hearing. “I can have my lawyer look into it, but it should be fine to move it to another accountant.”

She rubs at her forehead. “Maybe. I…I don’t want to think about it right now.”

He looks down at her in concern. “I’ll get your food out right away, sweetheart. You just relax.” He turns to me, expression gruff. For a second I think he’s going to try to kick me out, too, but he holds out a hand. “You River?”

“Uh, yeah.” I shake his hand.

He nods once. “Lou Carter. Jas told me about you. You make sure you take care of my girl, all right?”

I can’t see Jas behind his bulk but she makes an angry little noise. In spite of everything, I find myself fighting a smile. She’s definitely not a fan of being “taken care of.”

“Of course.”

Lou nods again then heads off, presumably to hurry our order. I pull my chair closer to Jas before sitting down. “How are you really?” I murmur.

“Remember how homicidal I got with the happy nurse?” she asks, jaw tight. “This iswayworse.”

I chuckle a little, and take her hand. “I feel the same way. It was really hard not to punch that guy.”

She laughs, the sound weary, and rubs her forehead. “I almost wish you would have. He would have deserved it.”

“You’re getting a headache,” I say when she rubs her forehead again.

“I think I had a bit of an adrenaline crash.” She gives me a wobbly grin. “He really pissed me off.”

I slide her water closer. “Drink this.” I look over my shoulder, ready to go berate the line cook into giving me her food, but she puts a hand on mine.

“I’m fine. Lou will take care of it.”