A Baby for the Bad Boy Read Free Page A

had it before so this guy must be amazing if he was able to hold your attention.”
     
    I flushed at the thought of Ace. I didn't know much about him so why was he so captivating? We barely even spoke to each other and I already gave him my number. What kind of girl was I? The stripper cliché kept flashing across my mind.
     
    Jenny put her hand over her mouth and gasped. She leaned over and whispered, “Did he take your virginity?”
     
    “No way!” I shoved Jenny away hard. The glass of wine she was holding tipped slightly and spilled a little red on the carpet. “Oh crap, let me go get some paper towels.”
     
    I rushed to the kitchen and returned with a whole roll of paper towels. We dabbed the stain on the carpet until there was only a faint blotch. Our carpet was already full of red wine mistakes. There was no way we were getting our deposit back.
     
    “This guy must really be something. I've never seen you act this way before. What's his name?”
     
    I contemplated whether I should give her more details. The wine was messing with my head. “His name's Ace.”
     
    “Wow that justs screams sexy.” Jenny didn't even bother drinking out of a glass anymore. She palmed the bottle and drained it into her mouth. “He might be the one to finally make you a woman.”
     
    I shook my head but deep down she could be right. He was the only man I'd ever felt this way about. He might be the one. “This is stupid. I met this guy at a strip club. Not exactly my style of a fairy-tale romance.”
     
    Jenny put her hands on my shoulders and focused on me. “You need to forget about fairy tales. This is real life, Rachael. Don't let it pass you by. Just let the guy stick it in.”
     
    We both burst out laughing. But her words hit me in the gut. She was exactly right. I spent too many years waiting for my prince to come when there's no such thing. Too many movies and books conditioned me to wait for the perfect man. But that man didn't exist.
     
    “Enough about you. I met a guy today too.” Jenny beamed.
     
    I grabbed the bottle of wine from her and took a swig. “Tell me all about him.”
     
    “Well I haven't exactly met him yet.” Uh oh. Here we go again.
     
    “His name's Eric and I met him through one of those dating apps. We've been sexting back and forth all day.” Jenny pulled out her phone and almost showed me the dirty texts until I waved her phone away.
     
    “Jenny, do you really want to go through this again?”
     
    She cocked her head to the side. “What do you mean?”
     
    “Come on, you know exactly what I mean. Remember Harrison—the guy who really turned out to be a girl.”
     
    Jenny giggled hard. “Yeah that was rough. I almost turned lesbian for Harrison. But Eric is going to be different.”
     
    “What about Gary who actually turned out to be a fourteen-year old boy?”
     
    “I'm still waiting for him to become legal so we could date. He was so mature for his age.”
     
    I rolled my eyes. “I think you really need to find a job, Jenny. For one, I can't afford the rent by myself. And two, you'd meet plenty of real guys outside who were the right gender and age.”
     
    “I've tried, Rachael. Really I have. I've been to dozens of auditions but I haven't gotten any callbacks yet.”
     
    Jenny was trying to make it as an actress but the competition was extremely rough. Ever since she graduated college she'd only landed a couple commercials. They paid well but the money didn't last. Nobody had the heart to tell her that her dream probably wasn't going to come true.
     
    “Why don't you try something part-time. Maybe waitressing? Or I could get you a job at the club.”
     
    “You want me to dance?” Jenny downed the last of the wine and slammed the empty bottle on the coffee table.
     
    I shrugged. “We could use the extra money.”
     
    “Well I have an audition tomorrow. If I don't hear anything back, then I'll try it your way.”
     
    I smiled. “Sounds like a plan.” I