Read Online The Baby Truce by Jeannie Watt - Free Book Online

internet.
    Reggie looked past him at the cab idling on the wet street, then stepped back so he could come inside. “Why are you here?”
    She wasn’t any more welcoming now that he was under her roof, but he was going to be a damned sight warmer.
    â€œDid you get the job?” she added with a frown, since they’d met less than two days ago.
    â€œDo you mind if I take my coat off?” he asked, buying time.
    Reggie gave him a pained look, but nodded. Hecouldn’t help but glance at her abdomen under the form-fitting T-shirt she wore. There was no sign of pregnancy.
    â€œI’ve gained four pounds,” she said, interpreting the look. “But I probably won’t start showing until next month. Why are you here?”
    â€œWe did well together once.” Reggie stiffened at his opening words, delivered as if they were part of a memorized speech. That’s what he got for not practicing.
    She casually folded her arms, shutting him out. “Agreed. Then one of us changed.”
    â€œI want another chance.”
    Reggie took a half step back, bringing her hand up to the base of her neck in a way that totally pissed him off. “With me?”
    â€œDon’t look so horrified.” Plan B, Plan B. “I didn’t get the job in Seattle.”
    â€œI’m sorry,” she said without too much surprise, which kind of stung.
    This was the tricky part, the part where he was feeling his way along, since he wasn’t used to making requests so much as giving orders.
    â€œI need to disappear for a while. I’ll go insane if I kick around my apartment. I can’t see taking some lower-level job.” He’d probably blow up and destroy what he was working for—an uneventful six-month stretch of employment. “You and I have to develop a relationship to plot a future for the baby.”
    If anything Reggie looked even more horrified as he laid the groundwork for his proposal. He surged on anyway. “Could I work in your kitchen?”
    Reggie’s mouth fell open. He didn’t know what she’d been expecting, but it obviously hadn’t been a request for employment.
    â€œYou’re delusional.”
    Tom shoved his hands into his back pockets and forced himself to wait until Reggie processed, thankful that she was a quick study, since his patience level was never very high. Her expression slowly shifted from horror to caution.
    â€œForgive me,” she said, “but this is not normal. Guys like you do not go to work in a catering kitchen.” She leaned forward and took a small sniff.
    â€œNo, I haven’t been imbibing or smoking or anything else,” he said impatiently. “It’s like this. If I maintain an even keel for six months, prove I can control myself, my business manager might take me back and help me rebuild my career. It’s like chef rehab,” he said, echoing Pete’s assessment of the situation.
    â€œWho is this pod person in front of me?” Reggie asked. “I can’t believe you’re kowtowing to…”
    â€œPete Chavez.”
    â€œOh.” She pressed her lips together. “Gotcha.” Pete was the best in the business, and even Reggie knew it. She shook her head. “What happened to you, Tom?”
    It sounded like a question she’d been aching to ask for a long time, and he didn’t like the way she was looking at him, as if she felt sorry for him. “I don’t know what happened to me!” he snapped, and then he paused and took a deep breath. “Sorry.” It was as if everything had caught up to him at once. He really hadn’t changed. The way people reacted to him had.
    He pushed his hands even deeper into his pockets, gritted his teeth, then came clean. “I have another reason for being here.” He indicated her belly with a movement of his chin, and Reggie automatically covered it with her hand. Shutting him out again.
    â€œThe