Arlina's Hot Barista: Bubble Bath Romance

By Max Watson

I don't let loose or take risks. That's why they call me Arrow, straight and narrow. My best friend tries everything to get me out of my shell even though I'd rather sit alone at my favorite coffee shop and ogle the hot barista making my favorite mocha. But one night Rena drags me out for a night of fun and there he is. Sebastian. When I finally let go of my inhibitions for one night, the resulting pregnancy leaves me reeling. This is why I never let loose. But that sexy barista and my baby's father are more than a one night stand. How do I win my hot barista without scaring him off?

 

I reluctantly agree to celebrate college graduation with one night of drinking. But when that sexy redheaded regular at work who plagues my fantasies ends up in my bed, I know I have to do what it takes to keep her there. But then I find out our night of drunken passion leads to Arlina's unexpected pregnancy. Can I prove to this by-the-books independent beauty that she's all I want, baby and all?  

 

Arlina's Hot Barista is part of Max Watson's Bubble Bath Romance collection. Each standalone short story is intended to be read in one sitting—in a hot and steamy bubble bath! Each book features steamy romance with an HEA.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Max Watson Books LLC
• Release date: Mar 3, 2021
• ISBN: 9781734019780

Max Watson

Max Watson braves the sweltering heat of Dallas, Texas along with her husband Spencer, their son Jack, and their three kitty overlords. From roofing, to flipping houses and businesses, to building race cars, to ladder-climbing in corporate America, Max Watson loves to jump from one challenge to the next. In her career working for the man, she frequently found herself enthralled by the human psyche and was always daydreaming twisted tales. Running away screaming from corporate America, she decided to tackle the itch just under the skin and begin her writing career.

Book preview

Arlina’s Hot Barista

This book is part of Max Watson’s Bubble Bath Romance collection. Each short story romance is intended to be read in one sitting while you sit back and relax in a hot and steamy bubble bath!

Chapter One – Arlina

D o you have any family history of heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes?

Nope. We’re all healthy as ox, oxes—oxen?

The doctor glares over his tablet. And how about the father’s family history?

Um... I swing my legs back and forth as I perch at the edge of the paper lined table. There’s a poster mounted to the wall beside me that compares babies to fruit. Your baby is the size of a raspberry at 8 weeks.

I don’t know.

You don’t know who the father is? The curmudgeony old doctor looks up from the tablet in his pasty white hands that have a noticeable shake. Is this who I want delivering my baby? This judgmental, behind the times—okay, minus the tablet—man who’s staring at my left hand as if a ring will materialize out of thin air?

Yes, I know who the father is. Of course I know who he is. He just doesn’t know that he’s the father. And he might not even remember my name. Or what I look like. My cheeks heat in shame but I shake the feelings away. No. I will not be ashamed of my little blessing. Being a mom, single, alone, forever alone, that’s not so hard, right?

Doctor Old-Fashioned quirks an obscenely bushy brow.

Nope, the father’s family is all as healthy as...well, mine. We’re all healthy, everybody’s healthy. Right? Maybe it’s new mom jitters, or the hormones settling in and stirring up my paranoia, but the doctor’s questions have worry niggling underneath the surface of every thought.

What do I want for dinner, chicken noodle soup or turkey sandwiches? Is this baby at a high risk for type one diabetes?

What kind of prenatals are least likely to upset my stomach? Will this surprise pregnancy turn out to be twins or triplets? Does that run in the father’s side of the family?

Do I want to nap now or try to squeeze in some more reading first? Is there a congenital heart condition he might’ve passed on to my baby?

I rub a hand over my stomach and think of my little raspberry. What was it the doctor said? It’s important to know early on so these things can be monitored throughout the pregnancy, right?

I pace the sidewalk outside the coffee shop. The door opens and the din of the crowd hits my ears. The smell of fresh ground coffee beans ignites my senses and I find myself ravenously craving a cup. Decaf of course. This is stupid. He probably won’t even recognize me. Or maybe he’s off today. But one glance through the dark tinted glass and I can see his mop of dark curly hair half tied back in that sexy way of his.

Will my baby inherit those dark curls? Or my red hair? An image of a baby with red and black curls flashes through my mind. I smile. She’ll be beautiful no matter what. She? When did I start thinking my raspberry will be a she?

A loving couple wrapped up in their own private joke happen to notice me as they step out of the café. They hold open the door and wait while staring longingly into each other’s eyes. Caught in the middle of their eye-fucking, and not wanting to be the weirdo refusing a held open door, I stride in. My eyes shoot straight to him.

Steam billows around his face. He’s smiling broadly, his bright white teeth are too perfect and too straight. I roll my lips inward and send up a silent prayer that Raspberry gets his teeth and not mine. The café’s black apron tied around his waist draws my lingering gaze down his body. His long sleeve dress shirt is a deep blue that brings out his icy blue eyes. The sleeves are rolled up past the elbows and his arm muscles bulge as he works.

Lust dances up my spine. Hormones. It’s nothing but raging pregnancy hormones. The line inches forward. I yearn for him to glance up and see me, for recognition to flash in his eyes. Does he remember my name? I remember—shit, I forgot his name. Oh my God,