Now and Forever by Brenda Rothert Read Free Book Online Page A

daughters.”
    She turned to leave and Cole followed. He regretted all his reassurances about her overreacting to telling her parents. Things would never be the same between Cole and Emma’s dad again. No more golfing or conversations about the Cubs’ pitching staff over a beer. Everything would be different now.
    Cole shook his head and sighed as he followed Emma out her parents’ front door. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to be.
    ***
    The evening crowd at O’Malley’s was light when Ben walked in. He nodded at a couple guys from work on his way up to the bar. When he leaned against the dark, worn wood surface to wait for the bartender, he did a double take when he recognized Cole sitting on a stool right next to him.
    “Hey, man,” Ben said.
    Cole showed no reaction when he glanced over. “Hey.”
    “Where’s Emma?”
    “At the bakery.”
    Ben eyed the three empty beer bottles in front of Cole and slid onto the stool next to him. “You okay?”
    Cole sighed deeply and said nothing. Ben wanted to get up and leave. He’d just stopped in to the pub to order some carryout for dinner anyway. But he knew Layla would be pissed at him for not trying to get along with Cole.
    “You know Em’s pregnant, right?” Cole asked. “Em told Layla, so she probably told you.”
    “Yeah, she told me,” Ben said. “Congratulations, I guess. But you don’t look very happy.”
    “It’s not—” Cole ran a hand through his hair and nodded when the bartender raised his brows to ask if he wanted another beer. “It’s not that I’m unhappy about the baby. It’ll be hard with our work schedules, but we’ll figure it out. She’s just so damned upset all the time now. We told our parents tonight, and she’s a wreck now.”
    “Oh, shit,” Ben said. The bartender looked at him expectantly. “Uh, I’ll have a Guinness.” He turned back to Cole. “Did her parents flip their shit?”
    Cole shook his head slowly. “That’s an understatement. I thought her dad was gonna hit me at one point. They were surprised. My parents were, too. They asked if we’re getting married.”
    “Are you?”
    “Hell if I know.” Cole picked up his fresh beer as soon as the bartender set it in front of him and took a long drink. “She said no, so I guess not.”
    Ben tried not to let his surprise register on his face. “You proposed and Emma said no?”
    Cole’s bloodshot eyes narrowed as he considered. “Pretty much. I asked if she wanted to get married, and she said no.”
    Ben grabbed the bottle just as Cole was about to put it back to his lips. “You need to stop drinking, man, you’ve gotta go to work tomorrow.” He set the bottle on the bar. “So how did this proposal go down?”
    Cole shot him a look of aggravation. “Like I said, I asked if she wanted to get married, and she said no.”
    “Wait. You didn’t say that , did you? What’d you really say?”
    “I said, ‘Did you want to get married?’ Why the fuck does it matter? She said no. I’m sure you and Layla will laugh about it later.”
    Ben rubbed the short stubble on his chin and shook his head. “Man, what the fuck is the matter with you? That’s not how you ask your lady to be your wife. You’ve got to do it right. Did you cheap out on the ring? Lemme see it, you got it on you?”
    Cole shook his head. “I haven’t bought one.”
    “Christ, no wonder she said no!”
    Cole grabbed his beer and glared at Ben. “Hey, thanks for coming by to make me feel even worse. You’ve got a knack for being an asshole.”
    “Listen, man, you want my advice or not? When I proposed to my woman, she cried and I got laid on the spot. She’s still on cloud nine. Last night when I walked in the door after work she undid my pants in the kitchen and sucked on my rod like she was dying and the only cure for what she had was in the base of my dick.”
    “Layla’s not pregnant,” Cole countered. “Emma cries every day. She’s all over the place.”
    “All the more