Page 6 of Bad Boy Bakers, Vol. 2

His own phone vibrated from his pocket.

“That’s probably yours.”

He checked the readout, confirming her assumption. “Your brother. Same invite.”

Swiping open both phones, he sent back individual texts in the affirmative. No reason to borrow trouble yet. Setting them aside, he dug back into the rest of his omelet.

“How are you feeling?” Her color was better.

Hadley sat back in her chair, the bowl in front of her empty. “More like a human. Maybe my blood sugar tanked or something. Food helped.”

“Good. Now, since it’s the middle of everybody’s work week, and we’re free until dinner, what do you want to do today?”

After considerable discussion, Hadley and Cash had opted to show up for dinner separately.

Neither of them felt that breaking the news of their involvement to Holt in front of a mass gathering was wise, even if at least one of the people attending was aware of it.

He wouldn’t appreciate being blindsided.

They’d have to bide their time for another day.

She was glad she’d cleared her appointments for the rest of the week.

If this went badly, she’d need some time to process before picking up her tattoo gun again.

Courtesy of a nap that ran longer than she’d intended, Hadley was the last to arrive.

She’d sent Cash on ahead while she showered and made herself presentable.

Pulling in the drive beside his fully restored vintage black Mustang, she checked her reflection in the visor mirror.

A couple of hours at the Misfit Spa, along with her nap and judicious application of makeup, had erased the last signs of whatever stomach thing had plagued her this morning.

Satisfied, she made her way to the front door, knocking once before figuring she was family and pushing it open.

She was not prepared for the chaos waiting inside. Music and laughter filled the space, punctuated by joyful barking from multiple dogs. As she shut the door, a behemoth pit bull, with the biggest head she’d ever seen, came charging toward her, tongue lolling.

“Uh.” Hadley backed up to the door.

“Leno!” A sharp female voice arrested the dog’s forward momentum.

Leno’s butt dropped, so that he skidded forward on the hardwood floors, bumping into Hadley’s knees with that massive head. He woofed and nudged again, smiling at her. She’d never seen a dog smile before.

A gorgeous Latina woman with a toddler on her hip emerged from the kitchen. “Sorry. He thinks all new people live to adore him.”

“Oh.” Reassured she wasn’t about to be eaten, Hadley dropped her hand to the dog’s head, scratching between his ears.

Leno’s doggy grin spread wider in ecstasy, one foot beginning to thump.

“There now. You’re friends for life. C’mon, pal. Let’s go outside with the others. B.B., Otis! Out! Outside.” At her order, Banana Bread and a big-footed puppy appeared from nowhere and stampeded toward the door to the backyard.

Rachel opened it, calling, “Incoming!”

Cayla stepped out of the kitchen. “Good call. Oh, you’re here!” She hurried over to wrap Hadley in a hug. “Can I take your coat?”

“Sure.” Hadley slid off the bold red, faux fur jacket Cash swore looked like she’d murdered a Muppet. “What can I do to help?”

“Not a thing. The guys are all outside manning the grill. I think you’ve met Rachel already. And this is Mia, Brax’s wife.”

Mia lifted her chin in acknowledgement and angled the little boy her way. “And this is Duncan, our foster son. Can you say hi?”

Without a word, Duncan hid his face against her neck.

“We’re a little overwhelmed.” Tightening her arms around the child, Mia pressed a kiss to his tousled brown hair.

The gesture made Hadley’s throat tighten.

Some women were just maternal. She hadn’t expected that of Brax’s contractor wife, but it just went to show that those instincts were in there for a lot of women.

Her mom definitely hadn’t been one of them, and Hadley was pretty sure she didn’t have the gene either.

That was fine. She was rocking favorite aunt territory.

Shaking off the feeling, she offered them a smile. “Totally understandable.”

“His sister, Dakota, is around here somewhere. Probably near Brax. Those two are thick as thieves.”

“And no wonder, given all the upheaval they’ve had,” Cayla said.

Mia’s expression sobered. “Never again. We’ve still got a few months before the adoption can be finalized, but our social worker is hopeful, and so are we.”

Hadley knew from her brother that Mia and her husband had been foster kids themselves, so it didn’t surprise her they’d opted to go that route for their family.

What would her life have been like if Holt hadn’t broken his back to make sure she was taken care of so that Social Services didn’t come sniffing around?

She didn’t know what these kids had come from, but she could take a guess.

“They’ll definitely be better off with you two as parents.”

Mia smiled, snuggling her son. “We think so.”

“We’re not too far out from dinner,” Rachel put in. “What’s your pleasure to drink? Are you feeling better?”

“Much, thanks. Food and a nap and some pampering did the trick. Iced tea is fine.”

“Oh, were you sick?” Cayla asked.

“Just a little stomach thing this morning. No big deal.”

The back door opened again, and Holt strode inside. “Oh hey, Squirt.”

“Jerkface.”

Her brother grinned before turning to his wife. “Hey babe, where’s the marinade? I need to baste the chicken again.”

Cayla handed over a jar and basting brush, accepting a lingering kiss. Yep, totally nutso for each other. That new niece or nephew would be coming along any time now.

Through the still open door, Hadley got a whiff of whatever was cooking and felt her stomach pitch. The hard, sharp certainty that she was about to vomit had her making excuses. “I’m just gonna go use the restroom before dinner.”

The door to the hall bathroom was closed and locked.

Crap. Bile rose in her throat. She did not want to throw up in front of everyone.

“Oh, one of the kids is in there. Go on back to our room,” Cayla called.

Shooting her a thumbs up, Hadley made her way to the master bedroom, just barely managing not to run.

As soon as she shut the door, she bolted for the bathroom, shutting that door, too, before stumbling toward the toilet and dropping to her knees to retch.

Very little came up, but her stomach continued to cramp.

She curled over the bowl for a couple minutes until the wave passed.

Cautiously optimistic it was over, she wiped her mouth with a wad of tissue and sank back against the wall, trying to catch her breath.

What the hell was going on? Food poisoning shouldn’t last this long. And she’d felt absolutely fine after she’d eaten this morning. Why did this nausea keep coming back? Some kind of blood sugar issue? A stomach bug?

Her gaze fell to the open box of pregnancy tests on the back of the toilet and the bottom dropped out of her world.

No. Oh no. It can’t be that.

Her mind scrambled to do the math. What the hell day was it? She counted back, then forward again. Shit. Shit! She should’ve started more than a week ago. Work had been insane, and she’d been focused on Cash, then on being pissed at Cash.

It might be nothing. It couldn’t be this. They’d been careful, always using birth control. She was on the pill, and they always used condoms. Well, except for once or twice in the shower. They were responsible, damn it. She’d have insisted on it, even if he hadn’t. So it couldn’t be that.

But what if it wasn’t nothing?

Hadley’s lungs began to constrict as the panic took hold. There was simply no way she could go back out there and act normal through this dinner without knowing for sure.

Surging to her feet, she snagged one of the tests from the box and ripped it open, following the instructions on the insert with fumbling fingers.

She didn’t think. She didn’t pray. She barely even breathed as she stared at the second hand on her watch, ticking in what felt like an endless circle. Once. Twice. Three times.

Then she looked.

Two bold pink lines showed in the little window.

She simply folded, like a puppet with cut strings, collapsing in a heap on the floor.

Oh God. Oh God! This can’t be happening. What are we going to do? What am I going to do?

As the room seemed to close in around her, she pulled her knees into her chest and tried to hang on to her breath.

The knock on the bathroom door nearly made her scream.

“Hadley? Is everything okay?”

Cayla.

Did she lock the door? Shit, if her sister-in-law came in, she’d see, and then Holt would find out, and…

Breathe.

Somehow she managed to push out words. “Yeah, everything’s fine. Just touching up my face.”

With what makeup bag, Hadley?

But her voice didn’t come out sounding like someone had her by the throat, which was a minor miracle.

“Okay, just checking. Dinner’s coming off the grill.”

“Be right there.”

As her footsteps faded, Hadley dragged herself to her feet.

She had to get herself under control. Wrapping the pregnancy test in toilet paper, she shoved it to the bottom of the bathroom trash can, hiding the evidence.

Then she rinsed out her mouth and pinched her cheeks to bring some color back into it.

If her eyes looked a little crazed, well, hopefully nobody would look too closely.

It was fine. Everything was going to be fine. No one had to know anything right now. She just had to get through tonight, and then she could be alone to think. Except there was Cash.

God, what was he going to say?

Nope. Not gonna think about that now. Can’t even consider it. I just have to get through the next couple of hours.

Which meant she had to avoid her lover at all costs, because he was totally going to know something was wrong.

“It’s fine. Everything is fine.” Hearing the panicked edge in her own voice, she plastered on a smile and went to go earn her Oscar.