It has been two weeks since Adah started working with Justin and his dogs and so far things were going well.  It was still awkward and Justin had this weird way of watching her every move.  He hadn’t connected the dots yet, and it made Adah wonder how drunk he must have been that night.  She remembered almost all of that night (including the part where she disregarded his lack of latex) and she knew that she had been fairly sloshed.

She still hadn’t mentioned the little tid-bit of information about him being her baby daddy, but she was still working up the courage.  She was hoping that they might strike up a friendship so she’d feel more comfortable telling him, but he disappeared moments after the training session was finished.  So much for that plan.

Today, though, was going to be the day she finally spilled the beans.  She had to.  She knew that the longer she waited the worse it was going to be and she wanted to give him time before he took off for his tour. 

Mentally preparing herself for the worst, Adah took a deep breath and peered across Justin’s yard at the man in question.  She’d been at his house for almost an hour now working on more leash training with the dogs.  She’d been gearing up since she walked through the front door, but her resolve was slipping with each awkward moment she spent with Justin.  He listened to her instructions with Buckley and Brennan but he never seemed to warm up to her or regard her as anything more than the dog trainer.

It was really off-putting.

Currently, he’d gone inside to answer the phone, so Adah was waiting outside with Rachel.  Rachel had been learning the training techniques too because she’d be handling the dogs just as much as Justin, if not more.

“How do you think the dogs are doing?”  Idle chit-chat happened far too often between Rachel and Adah. 

“They’re responding really well.  I don’t think you’ll have any trouble with them, really.  Just make sure to keep using the techniques on a regular basis and everything should be fine.”

“Good.”  Rachel’s response was slightly overshadowed by a commotion coming from the house.  The two girls glanced over to see Justin and another man chatting animatedly on the patio.  “Oh, Trace is home.”

Adah stared at the new occupant, knowing that she had met him before, too.  She vaguely remembered him being at the club with Justin and for a long moment she worried that her cover would be blown.  If Trace remembered her being the woman that Justin took home he might put two and two together and then word would be out that her baby was Justin’s, too.

“Do you think Trace will join us?”  Her question seemed innocent but really she wanted to know how much time she had before all hell broke loose.

“Nah, he won’t.  He might join us on tour for a few dates but he’s got the clothing line and all that to take care of.  He won’t be needed to handle the dogs at all.”

“Oh, okay.”  She paused, shuffling her feet against the grass, “Do you think I might be able to catch Justin alone for a minute?”  Her insides were jumping and right now it had nothing to do with the baby in her belly.

Rachel eyed the other girl cautiously, “If you’re thinking about asking him on a date, I can spare you the embarrassment and tell you that he won’t say yes.” 

Adah was taken aback by the somewhat abrupt response of Rachel, but she let it go.  She assumed that Rachel was just looking out for her cousin.  “No, I think that we’re a little past going on any dates at this point.”  She mumbled, the other woman still heard.

“What?  What do you mean by that?”  Rachel’s tone was biting and Adah knew that the news she was about to share wasn’t going to be well received.

“I think I should talk to Justin,” Adah started to move toward the house but Rachel caught her elbow and stopped her.

“What’s going on?”  Rachel’s voice was cautious and maybe a little angry and Adah didn’t want to tell her before she told Justin. 

“Rachel…”  She wasn’t sure what to do, but it didn’t look like Justin was going to be coming back anytime soon.  Maybe she should start with Rachel and work her way up to Justin.  “Justin’s the father of my baby.”

The look that marred Rachel’s features was the ugliest thing that Adah had ever seen in her life.  The anger and disbelief was enough to push Adah back another few steps and she could feel the tears starting to prickle at her eyes.

“Get out.”  It was soft, but it was clear and cutting.  Adah held back a sob and tried to move as quickly as she could.  “Don’t you dare come back to this house, you lying whore.”

Adah wiped at her eyes as she ran for the house, passing a confused looking Justin and Trace, but she was entirely too upset to notice their questioning looks.  All she could see was the disgust on Rachel’s face as her words kept playing in her head.

That didn’t go well at all.

~*~

Justin was starting to get bored with this whole dog training thing.  It was good to see that Buck and Bren were listening to him now, but it didn’t mean that he enjoyed wasting two hours of his day.  He especially didn’t enjoy being around Adah because all he did was thinking about how he might know this girl.  He still couldn’t place her.  Small blips of memory would flash through his mind every now and then, but it wasn’t enough for him to truly remember anything substantial.

Faintly he could hear his phone ringing so he gladly took a break from the monotony and raced into the house.  Talk about being saved by the bell.

“What’s up?”

“Hey Fucker, what’s up?”  Trace’s laughter filled voice could be heard over the line and Justin smiled.

“Not too much, outside with the dogs.”

“Can you come let me in?”  Justin laughed at Trace’s request.

“Can’t remember the gate code?”

“If you didn’t insist on changing it every fucking week, I might be able to keep track,”  was the other man’s reply.  Normally, Justin would give Trace a ton of shit for not knowing how to get through the gate but today he was so relieved to have his friend back that he didn’t even bother.  He could always make fun of him later.

“You have no idea how happy I am to see you,”  Justin greeted Trace at the door, grinning at the shorter man.

“You’re not going to kiss me or anything, are you?”  The face that Trace made was enough to stretch Justin’s grin further and cause him to chuckle.

“Only if you want me to.”

“In your dreams, you pansy ass.”  Despite the insults, it was good to have Trace back.

The two men moved back through the house and stood near the French doors, watching as Rachel led Buckley around the yard. 

“Why is she here?”  Trace pointed and Justin followed until his gaze found Adah.

“She’s the dog trainer, the one that Rachel hired.”  He watched as Rachel stopped and let Buckley go before she and Adah started to talk.  They looked tense but Justin wasn’t surprised, there was something incredibly awkward about Adah.

“She’s also the girl you went home with after the club opening.”  Trace’s statement was so nonchalant that Justin almost missed it.  As it was, it took him a minute to process the words but when they finally registered in his brain, alarm bells went off.

“What?”  He frantically searched his memory for a recollection of that night and now he suddenly knew why she seemed so familiar to him.

“Yeah, you remember.  You went back to her place and boned for a while, you were so snockered that night I’m surprised you were even able to get it up.”

The two men watched as the conversation between Adah and Rachel seemed to get heated and moments later Adah was rushing toward the house with tears in her eyes and an ashamed look on her face.

“I think I did more than that.”  Justin’s face paled and he could feel his stomach rolling as Adah passed him at a trot.  Things were clicking in his brain and Justin’s dread grew as Rachel approached them, seemingly spitting fire.

“That stupid little whore is trying to claim that you’re the father of her baby!”  She pointed in the direction that Adah had headed, toward the front drive.  “Fucking liar.”

“What?!”  Trace looked at Justin, who could do nothing but stare at Rachel.

“She might not be lying.”  His voice was shaky and he could almost taste the bile in his throat as more images from their night together started to piece back together in his head.

“You got her pregnant?!”  Again, Trace’s voice shouted at him, anger and shock lacing his words.

“Well, I did sleep with the girl.”

Rachel threw her arms up in exasperation as she started to pace the yard.  “Right, and she just happens to waltz in here two months later claiming that she’s pregnant and you’re the father.  What an awesome fucking coincidence. I don’t buy it.”  Her face was red with anger and Justin wished he could feel anything but dread.

“He did sleep with her, I picked him up from her place later that night.”  Trace clarified for Rachel and if possible, her face darkened.

“No fucking way.  I will not believe it.  She’s just some money grubbing whore and she’s only here to extort you.”  Her feet were planted solidly on the ground, hand attached to her hips.  “It’s a fucking lie, Justin.”

He watched her for a second before calmly responding, “But you were the one that hired her.”

Rachel roared, “I don’t care! She’s making it up, she’s lying…whatever.  She saw a chance to make some money and now she’s just using you.  She probably cooked it up the minute found out she was working for you!”

It seemed plausible, although Justin really didn’t believe that Adah was making it up.  He almost hoped she was, only because the idea of being a father was much worse than the idea of being extorted by some girl.  He would gladly pay her some hush money if that’s what she wanted, he just didn’t want to be having a baby.  He didn’t even know the girl.

“Give me her number,”  He asked his cousin.  She stared at him with an incredulous look and shook her head.

“I’ll give her number to your lawyers.  They can deal with the fucking bitch.”  She stomped into the house, slamming the glass doors with such force that Justin worried they might shatter.

Trace whistled, “She’s pissed.”  He stood with Justin for a moment, studying the other man.  “You think she’s telling the truth, don’t you?  You think that she’s pregnant with your kid.”

Justin glanced over at Trace with wide eyes.  “Yeah, I do.”