Page 75 of The Bad Girl and the Baby

Chapter Nineteen

Matt emptied his glass in one gulp then slammed it onto the bar. The scotch burned as it wentdown his throatand settled in his belly with a fiery heat. He could already feel the buzz in his brain. It was far from his first drink of the night. He was sitting at the bar, in a pub, with Gary and Angie perched on barstools on either side of him. The pub was nice—very old-worldly and just around the corner from Darcy’s gym—but that wasn’t why he was here. Just pure coincidence. Because it was over between them. He was a trained soldier. He knew when to make a strategic withdrawal.

“Are you planning on getting shit-faced?” Gary asked.

Waves of disapproval wafted across from Gary and Angie, who were both sipping delicately on their beers. They felt more like jailers tonight than friends intent on letting him drown his sorrows. Except he didn’t have any sorrows, because everything was working out amazingly well. Anyway, what the hell was it to them if he wanted to get pissed? They were always telling him to loosen the fuck up, and as soon as he did, they came down on him.

Some people were never happy.

Unlike him. He was fucking deliriously happy. Everything was going his way. His parents had extended their stay another week, they had a flight booked for Sunday, including a ticket for Lulu. The paperwork was going through with the help of the Australian embassy. The adoption wouldn’t be finalized, but they had permission to take her. It was all going fucking great. So here he was, celebrating.

Thoughts of Lulu invariably brought Darcy to the forefront of his mind. The two were inextricably entwined. Lulu and Darcy. It had been a week since he’d seen her, since he’d made the monumentally stupid mistake of telling her he loved her. She’d taken Lulu out on Saturday as usual, but he’d made himself scarce. She’d been more than clear that she didn’t want to see him again, and he owed it to her to make this as easy as possible.

Why the hell had he told her he loved her?

Why couldn’t he have left well enough alone? She didn’t need to know. More to the point, she didn’t want to know, and he’d just made things worse. What had he expected? A declaration of love in return? And then what? Darcy had always made it very clear that she didn’t do love. Or long-term relationships. She’d never wanted to be a mother to Lulu.

“Well?” Angie prompted, tearing him from his happy thoughts.

He turned to face her, raised his glass, and emptied it in one go. “Yes,” he answered. “I plan on getting totally, rat-arsed, shit-faced. And as my best friends, I expect you to keep me company.”

“Why?” Angie asked.

“Why what?”

“Why are you so…angry?”

He thought about that one. Was he angry? Actually, he didn’t recognize the feelings churning inside him. Maybe he didn’t want to inspect them too closely. Because he was scared of what he’d find. “I’m not fucking angry. I have no reason to be angry. I’m deliriously happy. Everything is going great. My life is back on track, and I’m just trying to celebrate with my friends. So…” He banged his glass on the bar to get the bartender’s attention. “Another round,” he said, then turned his attention back to Angie, who was watching him, her eyes narrowed. “What now?” he asked with an impatient sigh.

“You never got drunk before,” Angie replied in a way too reasonable voice.

“People change. I’ve had responsibilities for nearly two years. Now, I’m free. Yay!”

“You’re doing the right thing, mate,” Gary said.

“Of course I am.”

“The best thing for everyone,” Angie added. “Not just Lulu.”

“Yes, everyone involved is very happy with the way things have turned out.” It had been a mistake to come out tonight. But he’d been restless, fed up with his own company, and if he was honest, in danger of giving in and calling Darcy, begging her to see him again. Only that was not part of their agreement. He’d had a good day at work, including a meeting with his commanding officer. His dream position was in his grasp. Soon, he’d be too busy to think about anything else. He’d be doing something useful. A job he’d trained for. With that edge of danger to add a little excitement. Except somehow, he couldn’t seem to get excited about it. He just needed to give himself time—he’d get over this. The truth was Lulu had weaseled herself into his heart. She was in there too deep to easily let go. This was always going to be a shit time. It just had to be gotten through. So when Gary had called up and asked him to meet them for a drink, he’d said a reluctant yes.

And here he was.

“It’s Darcy, isn’t it?”

He gritted his teeth. He was quite aware that Angie had never approved of Darcy, and he didn’t really understand why. They were both strong women. He would have thought they’d feel some sort of affinity. He wasn’t going to answer her question, so he asked one of his own. “Why don’t you like her?”

Angie looked a little taken aback by the question. “I don’tnotlike her.”

He raised a skeptical brow then turned to Gary. “What about you?”

“I like her.”

“But…?”

He shrugged. “She’s just not right for you. You’re a success story. You made it—the whole enlisted-to-officer thing. You need someone to support you in that, and she’s…”

“An ex-con?” Suddenly he was furiously angry. “She went to prison for trying to protect her sister from my bastard of a brother. She did nothing wrong. And I can’t believe you’re the type of people to look down on someone for doing the right thing.”

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