Page 72 of Badd Ass
“Well…you’re going to be together, right?” Claire asked, her tone sharp.
“That’s the idea, yes,” I said between sips of coffee. “I just…we’re not quite sure of the logistics yet.”
“What’s the hang up?” Bax asked. “You like her, she likes you, you made a kid together…what is there to figure out?”
I snorted a laugh. “Everything, you big dumb lummox. She just got a brand new job in Seattle, and I can’t exactly just pick up and move down there. Dad’s will stipulations won’t let me, and I don’t think I could leave you guys right now anyway.”
“Awww, he really likes us,” Bax quipped. “But for real, though, it’s not like you can do a long distance thing seeing as she’s gonna pop out a kid in a few months.”
“Now you see the issue,” I said. “It’s not exactly simple.”
Brock shot me a look. “I’m gonna be going back and forth to Seattle pretty frequently to see Claire and to bring her here, so you’re welcome to come along, and I’ll bring Mara up whenever, too. It’d be helpful to have some help with the cost of the fuel since that shit ain’t cheap.”
“That’ll work in the interim,” I said, “but we gotta figure out a way to be together full time. I don’t know shit about pregnancy, but I do know there’s a lot of appointments and stuff, and I’m not gonna miss those.”
“Meaning, she has to find a way to move up here,” Bax said.
I nodded. “Yeah, but I can’t expect her to just…uproot herself.”
“And, just saying, since I know Mara best, she can’t not work,” Claire said. “She’s way too restless for that. She’s taken care of herself her whole life, so she’s not gonna just sit around eating bon bons. And nothing against you guys or your bar, but there’s not a snowball’s chance in hell she’s gonna work here. She had to wait tables in high school and she absolutely hated it.”
Lucian piped up for the first time. “What’s her degree and experience in?”
Claire glanced at Lucian. “Her degree is in business, with a minor in communications, plus she has a military nursing license, but I’m not sure how that transfers into civilian licensing, since neither of us were interested in the medical field once we got our walking papers. Most of her civilian experience is in HR.” She crinkled her forehead. “Why do you ask?”
Lucian shrugged, setting his book face down on his thigh. “One of the regulars was telling me that he was thinking about putting an ad out for a position at his firm.”
“What’s his firm do?” Claire asked. “And what’s the position?”
“It’s a marketing firm,” Lucian said. “I guess it’s new and it’s expanding fast. He’s in dire need of someone to run his office so he can focus on the actual accounts. Right now it’s just him and his cousin, who’s also his business partner. They’re trying to run the accounts and manage the office at the same time.”
“She’s third from the top in the HR department at ahugetech company, and making close to six figures,” Claire said. “It’d be a massive step backward for her to take a job as the office manager of some rinky-dink marketing firm in Ketchikan, Alaska.”
Lucian didn’t answer immediately. “It was just a thought,” he said, his voice quiet.
Claire sighed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to insult you or your friend’s company, or Ketchikan. I love it here, honestly. But what I said is true. I mean, I can’t speak for Mara, but—”
“We’re all kind of trying to speak for Mara and make plans for her,” I said. “I think we need to just take this one step at a time. Lucian, thank you for the suggestion. I’ll pass it on to Mara.”
Lucian nodded and went back to his book.
I glanced around the room, realizing everyone was still eyeing me expectantly. “I’m done talking about this for now. I need to process things. I literally just found out my entire life is changing, and I’m not really ready to hash it all out right here, right now.” I reached up and snatched a controller from Corin. “Now, how do you play this game?”
* * *
It waseleven thirty that night, and I was behind the bar with Bast, slinging booze to a crowded bar. We’d been slammed all evening, to the point that there really wasn’t much opportunity for anything but work. I’d seen Mara briefly a couple hours before, but she’d been on the way out the door with Claire and Dru. She’d given me a quick kiss and explained that they were going to find somewhere quiet to have girl talk.
Now, though, the bar was starting to die down a little, leaving Bast and I time to lean back and breathe. Time for Bast to give me a look that hinted at questions to follow.
“Never in a million years did I think you’d be the first of us to be a daddy,” he said.
I laughed. “Never in a million years did I thinkanyof us would be parents.”
“But yet here you are, with a pregnant girlfriend.”
I poured a shot of bourbon for each of us. “Here I am, with a pregnant girlfriend.”
Bast clinked his glass against mine, downed his shot, and poured another for us both. “So.”