Stealing the Show (PolyAm Fam #3)

Chapter 17

seventeen

maggie

I shouldn’t have been nervous to meet Raine for coffee, but I was. And when she arrived, looking adorable in her black gauchos and a bright yellow cropped top, she looked nervous too.

“Thanks for meeting me,” I said as she sat down. “You look so cute today.”

She rolled her eyes. “Bonnie told me I look like a bumblebee.”

I laughed at that. “Well, she must be jealous. I hope you gave her a nice sting.”

Raine added some creamer to her coffee. “Good one.” She took a sip and then added some more. “What did you need to see me about? Is something wrong?”

“No, no…it’s nothing, really. I just wanted to see you before I leave.” I smiled and took a sip of my own coffee.

“Leave? Where are you going?” She blinked a few times, her dark brows pulling together.

“I’m going to a conference for a few days. It’s no big deal, I just… Well, we haven’t really talked about…um…our agreement since you got your period and?—”

“Right. I’m probably going to be fertile soon,” she said.

“Yes, exactly, though probably not until I get back. I’m only going to be gone three days. I’m guessing it will be sometime next week, right?”

She shrugged. “I really don’t know what to expect. I hope I ovulate this cycle, but from what I read, it may take longer.”

I tried to keep the disappointment off my face. Patience was the name of the game. How many cycles had I already waited through? Dozens of my own. I had hoped someone Raine’s age, someone who likely didn’t have any medical issues, would get pregnant right away.

“Well, surprise! I bought you an ovulation predictor kit,” I said softly so no one in the semi-crowded coffee shop overheard. I pulled the discreet paper bag out of my purse and pushed it across the table. “Strangest gift ever, right?”

“Oh, cool. I was gonna get one of these myself. Thanks!” She stuck it in her own purse and grinned. “I’ll start testing tomorrow.”

“Good. And hopefully it will happen not long after I get back, and you can come spend the night or weekend or whatever. I mean, I’m not gonna chain you to the bed or anything, but I want to give it a proper go, you know?”

She had a hard time containing her laughter. “You wanna chain me to the bed?” She waggled her eyebrows at me.

I couldn’t help but giggle too. “I mean, you’re not our sex slave…unless that turns you on?”

“I don’t know, that kinda sounds hot. Does it come with breakfast in bed?”

I was glad we could joke around about this—that kept it from being awkward. “I think breakfast could be arranged. I thought we’d make a fun weekend of it. You know, like a movie marathon or whatever sounds fun to you.”

“What if Leo is working when I’m ovulating?” she asked.

“Oh, good question, and, yes, we’ve discussed that. He’s going to take off work if he needs to. At least two days. Hopefully it will fall during one of his three or four days off, but you know how the universe works. It will happen at the least convenient time possible.”

“Of course!” she agreed, grinning. “Well, I’m pretty flexible except for tech week at the theater. That’s the week I actually have to be there for final fittings and last-minute adjustments to the costumes.”

“And when is that?”

“It’s in two weeks. Surely it’ll happen before that. My period was a little more than a week ago.”

“Right. Well, fingers crossed.” I literally crossed my fingers on both hands and held them up as a sign to the universe that I’d take any help it could offer.

raine

“What in the world are you doing?” Bonnie asked as I paced around the kitchen, trying to figure out what to do.

I stopped just long enough to say, “Um…Maggie got me this ovulation predictor kit, and I took the first one this morning. I’m freaking out, that’s what I’m doing!”

“So, you guys are really doing this, huh?” Bonnie looked between me and the test I’d put on the counter so I didn’t hog the bathroom while she was trying to get ready.

“Uh, yeah, what part of freaking out do you not understand?” The panic in my voice was unmistakable.

She drummed her fingers on the counter as her head quirked to the side. “The why part?”

“It’s already positive!” I continued my pacing. “Maggie is away at a conference. We thought it wouldn’t be positive until next week. I…I don’t know what to do.”

“Positive means you need to boink or what?” Bonnie had a way of summing up the issue rather succinctly.

“Uh, yeah. Like ovulation is happening within the next twenty-four hours.” I’d read the test pamphlet backward and forward, and I wasn’t expecting two dark lines to show up on the first day. I was thinking negative today, and then the second line getting darker over the course of the week. Then boom, positive and bow-chicka-wow-wow time.

“Hmm, guess you better call your stud,” Bonnie advised. “Good luck. I’m off to shower!”

I sighed. Maybe I should call Danielle? No, there was only one thing to do. I texted both Maggie and Leo:

Me: Um…wasn’t expecting it so early, but the test was positive.

Leo: What does that mean?

Maggie: Girl, get yourself to my house pronto allegro.

Me: But you’re not here?

Maggie: You don’t need me! *laughing emoji*

Leo: Could one of you please clue me in? What’s going on?

Maggie: Go wash your dick, Hubs, and don’t jerk off. You need to save all that baby batter for Raine.

Leo: Does this mean I need to call out sick?

Maggie: You mean call out horny?

Me: You two are too much. So…um…I guess I’m coming over?

Leo: As soon as you can get here. Mags, you sure you’re good with this?

Maggie: I’d rather be there, of course, but I can’t exactly leave Denver for a fertility emergency.

Me: Okay, I’ll come over, but I have to get some work done too, you know.

Maggie: We’re not chaining you to the bed, remember?

Leo: What’s this about chains? *raised eyebrow emoji*

Me: I’ll be there as soon as I can.

Was this really happening? I thought I’d have a few days to prepare, and I thought Maggie was going to be there too. The fact that this was all different than the expectations I’d set in my head was really throwing me off.

But I didn’t have time to second-guess. I needed to get this egg over to meet one of a million Mr. Rights.

leo

Sarge was understanding when I called out for work. She knew what was going on—well, not the surrogate part, just the trying to make a baby part. This was one of many times I found it preferable to have a female boss.

I’d been meaning to get up with Beau Garrison today to ask him about the surveillance videos from the theater building, but it looked like I was going to be fucking all day instead. Oh, well. Maybe I could fire off a quick call between rounds.

While I was debating where to start our little fuckfest, the doorbell rang. I walked over and swung the door open, wearing nothing but my boxers, and I was not expecting to see none other than Beau Garrison standing right there on my porch.

“Oh!” My blood froze in my veins as he shot me a quizzical look that seemed to be asking, Where the fuck are your pants, man?! “Uh, hi, sorry. I thought you were someone else.”

“I texted you that I was on my way,” he said, holding up his phone. “You didn’t get it?”

“Uh, no, sorry.” I held the door open and gestured him inside. “I’ll go put on some clothes. Just wait here.”

He grumbled something about this being the second-most awkward call he’d been on for work this week, and somehow I didn’t doubt it. He was standing there in full uniform, and I was wearing my skivvies.

“Be right back,” I assured him as I hightailed it to my bedroom to find some clothes. I had one foot in the leg of my pants and the other one about to slide in when the doorbell rang again.

Oh, fuck. Of course Raine would show up when Beau was here. Oh well, better they meet now. I just hoped she didn’t show up half-dressed.

I stubbed my toe on the corner of the chest at the end of my bed as I rushed out of the room. Muttering curses under my breath, I half limped, half ran to the foyer, where a very surprised-looking Beau was greeting and even more surprised-looking Raine. At least she was fully clothed in a floral sundress and sandals with crisscrossing straps that tied around her ankles.

How the fuck am I going to get out of this one?

“Um, am I interrupting something?” Raine stood on the porch, with Beau holding the door open.

I limped into the room. “Come on in, Raine. I didn’t know Beau was stopping by, but it’s fine…”

“Where’s Maggie?” Beau’s eyes trailed up and down Raine’s body as if his head was filling with ideas about why she might be there. And I figured most of his ideas were probably correct. “I guess I should ask if I’m the one interrupting something.”

“Raine, this is Officer Garrison from the IUPD. Beau, this is Raine Rivera. She’s the grad student who was billed for the missing jewelry,” I explained as diplomatically as possible.

“Oh, gotcha.” He shot me a knowing look. “Well, it just so happens I’m here about the jewelry.”

Raine flashed me a panicked look, and I tried to return a reassuring look. I’d wrap this up quickly, and then she and I could get down to business. Yep, that kind of business.

“Have a seat.” I gestured for both of them to follow me to the living room, where Raine took the armchair, and Beau took one end of the sofa. I sat down on the loveseat and turned my attention to Beau.

“Sorry for taking so long to get back with you. There was a lot of footage to be reviewed, so I enlisted some help from interns. It took a while for them to get through all of those dates, but they found something on April twenty-first at about ten p.m. Someone came into the costume lab and was rummaging around. We have them on camera touching the costume in question and removing a small pouch from a black case that was with the costume.”

Raine gasped, her hands flying up to cover her mouth. “Oh my god, really?”

“Yes, and I just wanted you to know we’re waiting on someone from the theater department to review the footage to help us ID the perp.”

Raine looked down at her hands for a moment, counting on her fingers like she was trying to remember something. “April twenty-first was the night Pygmalion ended, so there were a lot of people in the building. Ten o’clock was probably right around the time of curtain. There was a cast party in the green room afterwards. There would have been a lot of people around: faculty, undergrads, grad students, some costume and stage crew folks. There were probably at least fifty people who had access to the costume lab that night.”

“Well, hopefully Dr. Pataski can make a positive ID,” Beau continued. “I’ll follow up with her later this week, but I just wanted to stop by and let Leo know where the investigation stood.”

Raine stood up and rushed to Beau’s side, holding her hand out, which he took reluctantly. “Thank you so much, Officer Garrison. You have no idea how hard it’s been to focus on my thesis and my future plans when I didn’t even know if I’d be able to graduate. I really hope I can be cleared of any wrongdoing here. They billed me for twelve thousand dollars, and I have been trying to make payments, but that’s a lot of money for a graduate student!”

He stood up too, still shaking her hand. “You’re quite welcome, Ms. Rivera. I hope you’ll be exonerated soon. And get whatever you’ve paid back.”

I walked Beau to the door, giving him an appreciative pat on the back. “You have no idea how glad I am you were able to help Raine out. I owe you big-time. Just let me know if there’s anything I can do to return the favor.”

He looked right at me and pursed his lips for a moment like he was choosing his words carefully. Finally, he said, “Well, sounds like you owe me two favors—the second being keeping your secret for you.” He flashed me a wink and waggled his eyebrows.

My nostrils flared as I considered my response. “It’s not what you think.”

“It’s not? Maybe I should stay and join in? What are you doing, playing Monopoly or something?” He chuckled.

“Beau, you’ve always been a good friend to me, so I’m not going to say anything rude.” I straightened my spine. I had an inch or two on him. “Maggie is aware that Raine is here, so there’s no secret to keep.”

“Oh, it’s like that, then?” He clapped me on the shoulder. “What a lucky man, Katz. Lucky, lucky man. If I had a hot young grad student over to my house when my wife was gone, she would flip the fuck out.”

I shrugged. “Well, sorry not all wives can be as cool as Maggie.”

With that, I opened the door and practically shoved him out onto the porch. After all, I had things to do.

Well, I had someone to do.