Boss Daddy: A Secret Baby Romance by Black, L. (good books for high schoolers .TXT) 📕

“You don’t need to be afraid. I will protect you and our baby from Ethan. No matter what. Neither of you will get hurt. Not on my watch.”

For the first time in a while, I felt all the fear and worry disappear. With Jordan, I knew I was safe.

We spent the rest of the day cuddled up together, talking and enjoying being near each other again. But he couldn’t stay. Far too soon, he had to get back on the road to Portland so he could be at the bar that night.

I didn’t want to let him go, especially not now. But I understood. He couldn’t just drop his responsibilities at the bar. They needed him there. I walked him to the door, and we stood in a soft, slow kiss for a long time, stretching every second until the very last possible one before he had to leave.

When the door closed behind him and I knew he was on his way, a heavy, deep sense of loneliness settled over me. I’d missed him while he was away before, but now it was different. I felt absolutely lonely, and it made me wonder how I was going to get through this pregnancy with him gone like this.

33 Jordan

Driving back to Portland was absolute torture. I kept wanting to pick up the phone and call someone, but there was no one to call. I could call Hannah, but it felt like we needed to let the dust settle between us a little. Things were changing in a big way, and we both needed the time to understand what it meant for us individually as well as together. I knew I needed the chance to do that for myself. But that didn’t mean I didn’t instinctively want to go to my brothers or friends for advice and to share in the excitement.

Being stuck in Portland was going to be terrible. I knew that. There had to be some way out of it. If I could talk to Tom and tell him what was going on, maybe we could find a way, but we both were wary of telling people just yet. We needed to plan how we were going to do it. I agreed with that, it just didn’t make it easier.

When I pulled into the bar, right from the road, I took a second to try and calm my nerves before I went in. Matt was pretty intuitive, and if I looked off, he would know. I grabbed one of my bottles of water and downed it while trying to steady my nerves and focus on the work ahead.

It was still wild to me that we’d opened already. Things had moved so quickly, I hadn’t even really had time to process it.

I sighed and got out of the car, walking in just before five. The bar would be open at seven, but Matt and some of the other crew were already inside. Matt had called to ask where I had gone when I left work, so he knew I wasn’t coming in too early, and I expected him to be surly again. Instead, as I closed the door behind me and locked it, he popped his head up over the counter of the bar with a wide smile.

“Hey, brother,” he said. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” I said, keeping my eyes down so I didn’t make eye contact, “just had some stuff to take care of. Sorry I’m late.”

“It’s all good,” he said, shockingly cheery. “The place wasn’t in too bad a shape when we closed up last night, and I couldn’t sleep anyway, so I came in early and tidied up. Last night was great, wasn’t it?”

“It was,” I said, making my way back down the hall toward the office. I swung the door open and hung my jacket before heading back to the floor. “So, same plan as last night?”

“I think so,” Matt said. “Though I don’t think you will need to be behind the bar at all. Cris and Lamont don’t seem to need any help. Maybe you could help get the food out of the kitchen? We got a little behind a couple times last night.”

“Sounds good,” I said. “You going to make it all night on no sleep?”

“If something smells funny, just come check and make sure I didn’t fall asleep on the stove,” Matt said.

I laughed. At least his mood seemed to have done a one-eighty, which was good. I didn’t know if I would be able to handle a full night of Cranky Matt.

“Will do,” I said.

“Alright, well, I have some prep work in the kitchen. Want to help me?” he asked.

“As long as you make me one of those buffalo sandwiches. I’m starving.”

“Deal,” Matt said, and I followed him into the kitchen to prepare for the night.

The night went really well for the most part. Only occasionally did someone seem like they might have had one too many drinks before coming in or needed to be cut off at the bar, but they were generally amiable about it. The bouncers had much less to do, and the business was packed but not as hectic as opening night. The customers seemed to be in a good mood, and the waitstaff was excited by how well they were being tipped, so they were doing great.

I found it difficult not to blurt out to Matt what was spinning through my head, but I was able to make it. Part of the ability to make it through was that Matt seemed to be enjoying himself quite a bit. Multiple times he left the kitchen and ambled around the floor, greeting customers, and generally having a good time. Portland seemed to have rubbed off on him, all thanks to one night out, and I felt like it would actually be difficult to get him to go back to Astoria. At least as long as things kept going well.

I needed to talk to someone, and Matt probably wasn’t it. As