Her sisters sat down on either side of her as the morning sunlight poured into the practice room. Megan was euphoric after yesterday’s ultrasound and she couldn’t wait to tell her sisters she was pregnant. But they were bound to worry about her single-mom status, so she had to figure out a way to break the news to them gently.
“Which piece should we start with today?” Angie asked, thumbing through her sheet-music folder. “How about the String Trio Op. 3?”
“It’s too early in the morning for—” Chloe yawned loudly “—Beethoven.”
Her older sister gasped with exaggerated outrage. “It is never too early for Beethoven.”
“I’m pregnant,” Megan blurted, interrupting their argument. That might not have been the gentlest way to tell them, but she couldn’t hold it in a second longer. At least she refrained from stepping onto her chair and singing the words at the top of her lungs.
The silence in the room was eerie. For three whole seconds.
“Oh my God. I’m going to be an auntie,” Chloe shrieked, her feet tapping the ground as though her shoes were trying to run away from her. “Wait. Is it okay for me to be happy about it?”
“That depends.” Angie angled her body toward Megan. “Are you happy about it?”
“I’m so happy.” Megan promptly burst into tears. Her older sister wrapped Megan in her arms, and her younger sister patted her head. She hiccupped once and said, “I didn’t plan for this to happen, but I feel so blessed.”
“Then, we are very happy for you,” Angie said, squeezing her tightly against her. “Oh, my goodness. A baby. I can’t believe it.”
When Megan sat up to blow her nose, she saw her sisters exchange a speaking glance—they wanted to know everything. She braced herself to be bombarded with questions.
“Have you been seeing someone in secret?” Chloe nudged Megan with her shoulder.
“No... I met someone after last season’s final performance. And...and...I slept with him—a total stranger—then snuck out of the hotel room in the middle of the night.” Megan paused as Angie gasped and Chloe snorted. They knew she’d never had a one-night stand before. Her sisters quickly composed themselves and signaled for her to continue. “By the time I realized I was pregnant, I had no way of reaching him because I never asked for his phone number. We didn’t even exchange our last names.”
“So the baby’s father has no idea you’re pregnant?” Angie did an admirable job of keeping her voice even.
“No, he knows,” Megan mumbled.
“How?” her sisters asked in unison.
“Do you want the short version or the long version?” Megan rummaged around her purse and pulled out a bag of Sour Patch Kids. She ripped open the bag and stuffed a handful of the gummy goodness into her mouth.
“Short,” her sisters said together again.
“Then the long, unedited version right after,” Chloe clarified.
“The short version? Jigu Corporation’s new CFO, Daniel Pak, is the father of the baby,” Megan said with a nervous cringe.
“What the literal hell?” Angie groaned. “Does Appa know?”
“No, he does not know.” Megan held up her palms and shook her head. “And he absolutely cannot know. At least, not yet.”
Her older sister massaged her temples. “You better give us the long version.”
“Ooh, start from how you guys met.” Chloe scooted to the edge of her seat.
Megan got the requisite ribbing when she revealed to her sisters that her car ran out of gas the night she met Daniel, followed by plenty of disbelieving murmurs when she told them about their surprise reunion. At the end, she relayed her dilemma about revealing the baby’s parentage to their dad and her plans to solve the problem.
“You were one hundred percent right not to agree to a loveless marriage,” Angie said with a firm nod. “Being a single mom will be hard, but you’ll have me and Chloe by your side.”
“Daniel wants to be a part of the baby’s life, too.” Megan’s voice turned husky with sudden emotion.
Having Daniel at her prenatal appointment—watching their baby on the screen with their fingers linked—had felt deeply right to her. But whatever she was beginning to feel for him had to stop now. He’d made his opinions about love crystal clear that night at the café. If she did something very foolish like fall in love with him, then she was guaranteed to get her heart broken. And that would make coparenting the baby much more difficult—not to mention painful. It would be ideal if she and Daniel could become friends. There was no law against coparenting partners being friends.
“It’s a boy, by the way,” she announced proudly. Her sisters screamed in excitement, then took turns hugging Megan.
“But I’m not sure about lying to Dad,” Chloe said, pulling on her lower lip.
“I don’t like it either, but it won’t be for long.” Megan whipped out the ultrasound picture. “Look at this beautiful baby boy. We have to make sure that he has both a mother and a father in his life. Right?”
“Right.” Her younger sister smiled and reached for the picture. “How cute is he? He looks like a gummy bear. No, wait. Oh my God. He’s a Sour Patch Kid!”
“Let me see.” Angie took the ultrasound from Chloe, then doubled over laughing. “Aww, look at our little Sour Patch Kid.”
“Yes, it’s funny because I eat a lot of Sour Patch Kids,” Megan deadpanned. “You guys are hilarious.”
“Let’s call him SPK until you name him,” Chloe cheered.
“We are not calling my child SPK.” Megan snatched back the picture of her precious baby. “Don’t worry, baby boy. Mommy will protect you from your aunties’ mischief.”
“You called yourself mommy so naturally.” Angie covered her mouth with her hand, choking back a sob. “This is really happening. My baby sister is going to be a mom.”
Tears streamed down Megan’s cheeks once more. “Look what you’ve done, Unni. It’s really hard to turn this off once it starts these days.”
“Cry all you want.” Her older sisters wiped Megan’s face with a tissue. “We’ll laugh and cry and celebrate this baby.”
“I love you guys so much,” Megan said, crying harder.
“We love you, too.” Chloe sniffled.
Megan could stand on her own and face anything life threw at her. But it was so much better to do it with her sisters by her side—especially playing Beethoven in E-flat major at ten in the morning.
The ultrasound picture burned a hole in Megan’s pocket as she sat down for dinner with her dad. On the one hand, she was dying to show off the image of her baby boy. She had to tell him soon anyway, and she knew he would love the child growing inside her once he digested the news. On the other hand, she didn’t want to see the disappointment on her dad’s face when she told him she was pregnant as a result of a one-night stand.
In a moment of weakness, she thought about telling him that she had been seeing someone, but it didn’t work out. But she was already keeping the identity of the baby’s father a secret from her dad and she couldn’t handle any more lies. He really deserved better.
“Is everything okay?” her dad asked.
“Yeah. Of course everything’s okay.” She sat up straight, like she’d been caught doodling in class. “Why wouldn’t everything be okay?”
“You’ve been pushing around that broccoli on your plate for the past five minutes.” He leveled a stern glance at her. “Do I have to remind you to eat your vegetables?”
Megan laughed and popped the broccoli in her mouth. “I was just lost in thought.”
“You and your sisters must be busy preparing for the upcoming season.” Her dad took a guess as to her preoccupation.
“We are,” she replied truthfully. “But we’re excited to perform again.”
“You know what you need?” He pointed his fork at her.
“No, Appa. What do I need?” She humored him with a wry smile.
“Golf.” He nodded, agreeing enthusiastically with himself. “We should play a round on Saturday. It’ll help you relax.”
Her dad accepted the fact that none of his daughters would join the company he’d built—he accepted that they were born to be musicians. And it was what her mom had wanted and he would do anything for her. But he’d asked for one thing from her and her sisters. That they learn to play golf. He loved golf and wanted to share his passion with his daughters. She and her sisters had become competent golfers—Chloe was actually rather good—but Megan mostly enjoyed the conversations she shared with her dad on the green.
“It has been a while since we played a round,” she said thoughtfully. They would talk and bond, then she would tell him she was pregnant. “It’s a date.”
Daniel stood outside the clubhouse, scrolling through some work email on his phone. Most could wait until Monday, but he would answer some later tonight. For now, he was determined to spend his Saturday like an actual weekend, playing a round of golf with Mr. Han. The familiar guilt that accompanied his thoughts about his mentor settled uncomfortably in his stomach. With a sigh, he pulled up the sonogram and traced the curved silhouette of the baby with the tip of his finger.
Keeping the truth from Mr. Han was in everyone’s best interests, even though Daniel felt shitty about it. He couldn’t risk being miles away from Megan and the baby, and Jigu Corporation needed him. Mr. Han would regret it if he fired Daniel in the heat of the moment. He was sure of that.
“I’m going to kill him,” a melodic voice seethed from behind him.
He spun on his heels and came face-to-face with a furious Megan. “What are you doing here?”
“I can’t believe he pulled this shit again,” she railed, ignoring his question. “I told him he was embarrassing all of us.”
He blew out a breath and rocked back on his heels. “So Mr. Han has struck again?”
“Yes.” She paced back and forth in front of him with her fists on her hips.
Megan was obviously fuming, but she looked beautiful nonetheless. She wore a white sleeveless dress that flared around her hips, then fell inches shy of midthigh. Her ponytail bounced under her white cap as she continued to wear a groove on the pavement.
He glanced at his watch. “It’s almost tee time.”
She stopped and glanced quizzically at him.
“Well, it wasn’t easy carving out the time to be here,” he said, rubbing the back of his head. “And it would be a shame to waste such a beautiful day...”
He wasn’t secretly glad that Megan had showed up instead of Mr. Han. And he definitely wasn’t excited to spend the next several hours with her. There was no particular reason why his heart was racing.
“You’re right.” A rueful smile spread across Megan’s face. “If you’re anything like my father, I bet you rarely see the sunlight, being stuck in your office all day, every day.”
“Guilty as charged.” He raised his hand like a doofus, relieved she wasn’t about to stomp straight off to go yell at her father.
“Can I make a confession? I actually don’t enjoy golf very much. Don’t tell my father. He’d be heartbroken if he found out. I only golf to spend time with him.” Daniel felt himself deflate a little. So much for spending a day in the sun with Megan. But she continued, “Can I offer an alternative way to take advantage of this gorgeous day?”
“Please. Offer away.” Offer away? He sounded like an eager pup.
“Why don’t we go miniature golfing instead?” A mischievous light entered her eyes. “Maybe play a round of Skee-Ball? I’m a Skee-Ball fiend.”
“Skee-Ball?” His eyebrows drew together.
“Didn’t your parents take you to arcades when you were little?” He was saved from answering—neither of them needed to have a conversation about his bleak childhood—because she went on to explain, “You roll this hard, heavy ball down a lane...”
“You mean like bowling?”
“No, no. There are no pins and the balls are baseball-sized.” She cupped her hands to show him how big a baseball was since he obviously knew nothing. “Anyway, you roll the ball down a lane and into these small holes with different points. The harder to score, the higher the points.”
“That sounds...fun?” He kept his face straight with some effort.
“Yes.” Megan slapped his arm. “It is the best game in the world. Ooh, and we should definitely eat some greasy arcade pizza.”
“Definitely.” He gazed longingly at the clubhouse where they served the most delicious Monte Cristos. “Greasy pizza sounds fantastic.”
“Oh, come on,” she chided. “It’s going to be fun. I promise.”
“I’ll hold you to it,” he said, even though he would’ve happily watched paint dry with her. “Should we drive together? I’m not sure what we should do about your car...”
“No worries. My father had to go in to work this morning. He sent a car over to pick me up so he and I could drive home toge—” She gripped her forehead with her hand. “He deliberately left me stranded here so you’d have to give me a ride.”
“How devious of him,” Daniel said solemnly, biting the inside of his cheeks.
“I promise this won’t happen again,” she said with a pained expression.
He snuffed out the disappointment inside him. What was wrong with him?
Nothing good would come of indulging Mr. Han’s matchmaking efforts. The longer they let it go on and got his hopes up, the more disappointed and betrayed his mentor would feel when he found out the truth—that Daniel and Megan had no intention of getting married even though he was the father of the baby.
And nothing good would come of indulging in his attraction to Megan. It would only complicate an already difficult situation. That was why they’d agreed to be coparenting partners and nothing more. His head understood that well enough, but his body was having a hard time remembering their agreement.
“It’s not your fault.” He dragged his fingers through his hair. “But it’ll be wise to put an end to his matchmaking scheme soon.”
“I was going to tell my father I’m pregnant after we golfed,” she whispered, leaning close to him. “He won’t keep pushing me on you if he thinks I’m pregnant with another man’s child.”
“Yes, you’re probably right.” The necessary omission twisted his gut with guilt, but it would only be until he won over key members of the board of directors. “How...? What will you tell him? About the baby’s...father?”
“I’m going to stick as close to the truth as possible.” She shrugged a bit helplessly. “I’ll tell him I had a one-night stand with a stranger and that we parted without exchanging any contact information.”
“I see,” he murmured, more than a little concerned for Megan. It was the twenty-first century, but there was no denying that Korean-American culture remained rather conservative. Mr. Han was a good man, but he would no doubt be disappointed in his daughter. “Are you going to tell him tonight?”
“Yeah. There’s no point in putting it off any longer.”
“Will you be okay?” he asked even though he knew what her answer was going to be and that it would be a lie. She wasn’t going to be okay. At least, not at first.
“Yes.” She smiled tremulously, and a vise tightened around his chest. “I’ll be fine.”
“Well, we better fortify you for the showdown with some arcade pizza,” he said, rubbing his hands together.
“And nachos. The processed cheese will coat me with a layer of protection.”
He couldn’t hold back his cringe. “Processed cheese. Of course.”
Megan laughed and reached for her golf bag, but he snatched it away from her and hefted it onto his shoulder before pulling his own bag onto his other shoulder. “Shall we?”
They walked the short distance to his car, and Megan stood beside him typing into her phone as he loaded their golf clubs into the trunk.
“Okay,” she said. “I found our place. Let’s go.”
Family Fun Palace was showing its age but was relatively clean, and the people who worked there seemed friendly and eager to help. The Western-themed miniature golf course was overrun by small kids, but their conscientious parents redirected them to focus on the game so the line didn’t grow unbearably long.
Daniel didn’t mind the short wait for the last hole as he watched Megan carefully jot down their score with a stubby pencil, munching on some Sour Patch Kids. She held out her hand and he dropped several more colorful pieces onto her palm. Her golf dress didn’t have pockets, so he was the designated candy carrier. She plopped all of it into her mouth.
“We’re tied,” she mumbled morosely around a mouthful. “We can’t end on a tie. This isn’t freaking soccer.”
“Who says I’m going to let you win?” He smirked and popped a piece of candy in his mouth. “Holy shit. What is in this stuff? It’s disgusting.”
“How dare you?” She snatched the nearly empty bag of Sour Patch Kids from his hand. “This is the single most perfect food in the world. And it was the only thing I could eat for the first trimester of my pregnancy.”
“Then I’m grateful for its existence.” Before he could stop himself, he reached out and ran his knuckles down her cheek. “I’m sorry. It sounds like you had a hard time.”
“It was awful, but it’s so worth it.” She leaned into his touch before she pulled back suddenly. “Um, I think we’re up.”
Daniel cursed under his breath for acting on his impulse and followed Megan’s brisk steps to the putting area. She stood back to let him set down his neon-green ball on the tee.
“Par nine,” he read from the sign by the ninth hole, wanting to scatter the awkward air between them. He arched an eyebrow in challenge. “I’ll do it in five strokes.”
“Good luck with that,” Megan said, crossing her arms over her chest. “Why don’t we make this a bit more interesting? The loser buys the winner a slushy.”
“You’re on,” he said, pointing his index finger at her. Never mind that he would not drink the blended colored water to save his life.
He maneuvered the ball for the final putt in three strokes. Megan stood beside him with her hand on her forehead. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had so much fun—quite possibly never. He turned to her with a shit-eating grin. “You must be tired. I don’t see the point of you even taking your turn.”
Megan held up a finger with a neatly trimmed nail painted in a deep, vibrant purple. But considering which finger she chose to raise, he didn’t think it was meant for him to appreciate her edgy manicure. She dumped the last of the vile candy into her mouth and tossed the empty bag in the trash. Then she positioned her putter by her fluorescent pink ball. He shook his head. She was going to need at least three more strokes to finish. He should be a nice guy and give her the slushy she was going to buy for him.
Her putter met the ball with a sweet clang, and he watched with his mouth agape as her ball bounced and banked impossible curves and edges.
“Oh my God.” She jumped up and down. “It’s going in. It’s going in.”
“No, no, no.” He prayed for the ball to lose momentum, but it kept rolling and rolling, straight into the hole.
Megan screamed and threw herself into his arms. With a huff of startled laughter, he lifted her off the ground before holding her close to him, pressing his cheek against her hair. She slowly quietened in his embrace but made no move to step away. Her tantalizing sweetness teased his nose, and her warm, soft curves pressed against him. Daniel couldn’t deny how much he had longed to hold her like this—ever since he found her again.
She leaned back just enough to meet his gaze and he felt himself falling into the depths of her soft, brown eyes. He swept a strand of hair behind her ear with an unsteady hand and lifted her chin with the crook of his finger. Their faces were mere inches apart—so close he could feel the heat of her breath against his lips. He had to taste her. There was a reason he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t remember what. The need to kiss her consumed him and nothing else mattered. He slowly lowered his head...
“Ektuse me!” said a ringing voice with a childish lisp. “I hit ball. Hit ball fast and go potty.”
Megan pushed away from him so abruptly that she nearly stumbled. He steadied her by her arms, then promptly dropped his hands. “You all right?”
“Yes. Yup. Mmm-hmm.” She nodded as though her answer wasn’t clear enough.
“I’m so sorry.” A woman who appeared to be the toddler’s mom waved her hand. “Please take your time.”
“No, we’re all done here,” Daniel said, picking up Megan’s putter off the ground where she’d dropped it before she flew into his arms. “I got my butt handed to me.”
“I think I’m going to get an extralarge cherry slushy. No. Half cherry, half cola,” Megan mused. He sneaked a glance at her and she was all smiles again. “I hope you learned an important lesson today. Never go against a Han when a slushy is on the line.”
“Yeah, sure. Feel free to steal the Sicilian’s line,” he said with a teasing grin.
“You recognize the line?” Her eyes widened with pleasure. “I didn’t peg you for a fan of The Princess Bride.”
“As you get to know me, you’ll discover that I’m full of surprises.” He blinked and turned to stare straight ahead. He had never uttered a cornier sentence in his entire life. More importantly, was he flirting with her?
“Looking forward to it,” Megan murmured.
His gaze shot back to her, but she wasn’t looking at him. Was she flirting back? Did he want her to? He felt so completely turned around that he didn’t know his right from left anymore. This wasn’t like him. He always knew what he wanted. He always chose his path with deliberate care. With Megan, he felt as though he was hurtling down a grassy hill on a sunlit day. He couldn’t deny that it was fun and exhilarating, but he felt out of control and more than a little scared.
Megan was intoxicating and that made her dangerous. He had to rein in his emotions before they got out of hand. He had enough riding on their partnership without risking his heart on top of it.