Page 16 of Expecting an Argument
I just never imagined she would be this pathetic.
“But I thought you were a lawyer,” I said as I leaned back in my chair. “Can’t you just sue them since they fired you for being pregnant?”
She let out a slow, tense breath. “The firm didn’t know about my pregnancy. They told me I had too many client complaintsover the last quarter, but—”
“Oh, I don’t believe that for a moment.”God,listening to her admit failure was too fucking good. “Who would ever complain about having Miss Perfect represent them?”
Her glare sharpened. “They were about to pay me a big bonus. I suspect they took advantage of the termination clause in my employment contract so they could keep the money.”
“You got fired because you achieved too much.Sure.”
Keep lying, Adams. A lawyer through and through.
Her lower lip trembled only once. “My bonus was $2.9 million, youasshole.”
A laugh burst out of me. “NowthatI believe. Let me guess, they worked you like a dog for years, promised you a corner office if you followed orders, and as soon as you made your bag, they stole it all from you?”
Olivia held her glare as I laughed, her hard silence confirming my suspicion. I could always read her like a fucking book and she still thought she could deceive me?
I closed my eyes and held my fist against my lips to try to tame my laughter. “And you thinkI’mevil.”
She took in a stiff breath. “I don’t recall ever saying you were.”
The screen door smacked open again and Kathy set our plates in front of us. My stomach rumbled as I surveyed my oval plate piled high with sizzling bacon, glistening sausage, two fried eggs, and hash browns that were drowning in the grease from the meat.
I took a bite out of the bacon and sipped the mimosa—it was a screwdriver that Kathy called a mimosa, but it was delicious nonetheless.
“So,” I said after a swallow, “when is your next doctor’s appointment? I want to see my growing baby.”
Olivia paused mid-chew to look up at me. She let out atense breath from her nose and swallowed. “I don’t have an appointment yet. I have to apply for government insurance and then find a provider who accepts it.”
I dug my fork into my egg. Absolute bullshit—she just didn’t want me going to her appointment and finding out the baby she’s carrying was conceived a month before our class reunion.
I took a bite and then pulled out my phone. “That won’t do. No baby of mine is going to be on government insurance.”
“What are you doing?” she asked.
I pointedly refused to answer. After a few moments of silence, she turned her attention back to her stack of pancakes. While she stuffed her face, I looked up the most reputable OB-GYNs in the city, read reviews, and most importantly, found out who had immediate availability.
My thumb tapped a pink button confirming the plan. “It’s done. You have your first appointment Tuesday at 10 a.m.”
Her brows flew to her hairline as she dropped her fork. “You can’t do that! I’m not on your insurance!”
I scoffed. “Insurance is a scam for poor people. I just put it on my credit card.”
Olivia’s face blanched. “I…I already told you that I don’t want your money.”
But she wasn’t exactly refusing it, now was she?
“If the baby really is mine, contributing to its medical care is the least I can do.” I slid my phone back in my pocket and flicked my eyes up to meet hers. “And if the babyisn’tmine…well, we can just call it a bit of holiday charity.”
She stiffened, breathless, with her garish orange nails digging into her velvet sleeves.
I glanced at her empty plate. “I don’t know what kind of man you think I am—but I’m not one to let a single mother go hungry.”
She launched from her chair and yanked up her purse. Shefuriously dug around in it while her whole face turned red.
I grabbed my mimosa. “What are you doing?”
