The Knocked Up Plan Read online

  The Knocked Up Plan

  Lauren Blakely

  Contents

  Copyright

  Also By Lauren Blakely

  About

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  Twenty-One

  Twenty-Two

  Twenty-Three

  Twenty-Four

  Twenty-Five

  Twenty-Six

  Twenty-Seven

  Twenty-Eight

  Twenty-Nine

  Thirty

  Thirty-One

  Thirty-Two

  Thirty-Three

  Thirty-Four

  Thirty-Five

  Thirty-Six

  Thirty-Seven

  Thirty-Eight

  Thirty-Nine

  Epilogue

  Another Epilogue

  Also by Lauren Blakely

  Acknowledgments

  Contact

  This book is dedicated to W&W. You were my plan.

  Copyright

  Copyright © 2017 by Lauren Blakely

  Cover Design by Helen Williams.

  Photo credit Wander Aguiar Photography

  * * *

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. This contemporary romance is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners. This ebook is licensed for your personal use only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with, especially if you enjoy sexy, hilarious romance novels with alpha males. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

  Also By Lauren Blakely

  Standalone Male-POV books

  Big Rock

  Mister O

  Well Hung

  Full Package

  Joy Ride

  Hard Wood (October 2017)

  * * *

  One Love Series dual-POV Standalones

  The Sexy One

  The Only One

  The Hot One

  * * *

  Standalones

  * * *

  The Knocked Up Plan (June 2017)

  Most Valuable Playboy (September 2017)

  Stud Finder (Sept 2017)

  Come As You Are (January 2018)

  Satisfaction Guaranteed (Summer 2018)

  Far Too Tempting

  21 Stolen Kisses

  Playing With Her Heart

  Out of Bounds

  * * *

  The Caught Up in Love Series

  Caught Up In Us

  Pretending He’s Mine

  Trophy Husband

  Stars in Their Eyes

  * * *

  The No Regrets Series

  The Thrill of It

  The Start of Us

  Every Second With You

  * * *

  The Seductive Nights Series

  First Night (Julia and Clay, prequel novella)

  Night After Night (Julia and Clay, book one)

  After This Night (Julia and Clay, book two)

  One More Night (Julia and Clay, book three)

  A Wildly Seductive Night (Julia and Clay novella, book 3.5)

  Nights With Him (A standalone novel about Michelle and Jack)

  Forbidden Nights (A standalone novel about Nate and Casey)

  * * *

  The Sinful Nights Series

  Sweet Sinful Nights

  Sinful Desire

  Sinful Longing

  Sinful Love

  * * *

  The Fighting Fire Series

  Burn For Me (Smith and Jamie)

  Melt for Him (Megan and Becker)

  Consumed By You (Travis and Cara)

  * * *

  The Jewel Series

  A two-book sexy contemporary romance series

  The Sapphire Affair

  The Sapphire Heist

  About

  There are three little words most guys don’t want to hear on the first date.

  Not those…I mean these…“knock me up.”

  This single gal has had enough of the games, the BS and the endless chase. I know what I want most, and it’s not true love. It’s a bun in the oven, and I’m not afraid to hit up my sex-on-a-stick co-worker to do the job. Ryder is gorgeous, witty and wild — and he’s also a notorious commitment-phobe. That makes him the perfect candidate to make a deposit in the bank of me.

  I won’t fall for him, he won’t fall for me, and there’s no way baby will make three.

  Right?

  There are four words every guy wants to hear on the first date — “your place or mine?”

  When my hot-as-sin co-worker makes me a no-strings-attached offer that involves her place, my place, any place — as well as any position — I can’t refuse. After all, my job is like a coach and my latest assignment for the good of mankind is to create a fail-safe, battle-tested, proven guide of what to do or say to get a woman to fall into your bed — I mean, fall for you. So when Nicole says she’s game to work through my list in a hands-on way, I take her up on her deal even with her one BIG condition.

  There’s no way I’ll want more from one woman than any position, any where, any night? Except . . . what if I do?

  One

  Nicole

  * * *

  I fight back a tear as I listen to the radio caller. As I nod in the studio booth, my headphones on, I cover my mouth so I don’t sob during my own show. I’m not even sure I can bear to repeat what she’s told me out loud on air. But I’ll have to when it’s my turn to give Rachel from Murray Hill some advice.

  The poor dear.

  She hasn’t had an orgasm with another person ever.

  Have you ever heard such a tale of woe?

  No. Just say you haven’t. Because that, my friend, is a horror story.

  That is fright night, all right.

  “We tried all the positions that the Blue Steel site recommended, even the Crouching Cowgirl, which they said was a guaranteed path to an O, and that still didn’t work.”

  The second she mentions Blue Steel, there’s no more hint of rain in my ocular forecast. My spine straightens, and I’m no-nonsense as I jump in. “Rachel, let me ask you something—did Blue Steel recommend the Wheelbarrow in its list of positions?”

  “Yes,” she says, a hint of excitement in her voice. “How did you know?”

  I shake my head. That man-centric site is too much. “Listen, love. Do you honestly think any woman is going to climax when being pushed like a big old gardening tool that’s typically used for hauling rocks and dirt? And hey, if a lady
can trip the light fantastic upside-down while doing a handstand, then I’m awarding her top honors in the Orgasm Olympics.”

  Rachel snickers.

  “But here’s the thing. Those positions you see on the men’s sites—they’re mostly about acrobatics and notches on a bedpost. A woman like you, who has struggled”—my tone softens, my deep and absolute sympathy for her as clear as day—“to achieve the ultimate in personal pleasure”—miraculously, I say this without breaking down into a pool of abject sorrow—“should look elsewhere. I would advise you to check out positions designed to maximize enjoyment for the woman.”

  I rattle off some top-notch bring-it-on-ers, as I like to call my five favorite positions for climbing the peak. “But Rachel,” I say, propping my elbow on the desk and imagining I’m fixing this woman with a serious stare, even though my sidekick, Jamie, is the only one here, “if you’re not into the guy, you’re probably not going to visit the Promised Land. Do you like him?”

  Dead. Silence.

  There’s nothing worse on air than a whole lot of nothing. I push her again. “Does he do it for you? Does he make your stomach flip? Does he give you butterflies? Do you feel it in your knees when he kisses you?”

  “Ummmmm . . .”

  There is no time for hemming and hawing on a live show, even if the bulk of my listenership comes from podcast downloads the next day. “I want you to think about the stomach-flipping factor of the equation, Rachel. I want you to ask yourself if he’s the one you want. When you’re all alone, your eyes are closed, and you’re free to dream about whoever floats your boat, is it him? Does he make your toes curl? Because in my experience, a grade-A, top-choice, certified toe-curler is what’ll get you over the O hump.”

  “No pun intended,” Jamie chimes in from her spot on the other side of the desk, her silver laptop flipped open, too. I hold up a hand and mime high-fiving her, and we do a shoulder shimmy in tandem. Yes, we’ve got this down pat. Sometimes we even swing our imaginary lassos in unison when we’re roping a most excellent point.

  “I don’t know if my toes have ever curled, Nicole. But you’ve given me a lot to ponder. Thank you. I always love your advice,” Rachel says.

  “And I love that you listen to the show. Now we’ll wrap up this week’s edition of Making and Breaking the Rules: Your Guide to Dating and Mating.” But before we run through the closing credits, I have something to ask of my army of women listeners.

  “Ladies,” I say, in a serious tone. “Soldiers on the dating battlefield. Comrades in bras. Let’s all say a prayer tonight. A prayer for Rachel.” I bow my head. “If you’ve been lucky enough to climax with a partner, I ask that you send some of your orgasmic energy to Rachel in Murray Hill. Sisters in sexy times, we so desperately need all of your collective focus and energy on the great mountain ahead that Rachel seeks to scale, whether with her current partner or a brand new one.” I look up, and Jamie still has her hands steepled together in plaintive prayer. “And just remember—sex is good, love is great, and when you bring them together they’re even better.”

  How’s that for a tagline?

  After we play the credits and hit end on the recording session, I raise my eyebrows at Jamie in question. “Don’t even tell me you had ten orgasms last night like you usually do.”

  Jamie laughs as she rises and walks around the desk. “Just two last night,” she says, in her cheery, chipper tone that matches her bright blond hair and blue eyes, as well as the big, fat, sparkling diamond on her left hand. Ah, to be so young and hopeful.

  I had a ring on my finger once upon a time.

  I gather my notebook, laptop, and phone, and head for the door, leaving Jamie behind since she works on the next show. As I head down the hallway of Hanky Panky Love, the dating division of the lifestyle media giant I work for in a role that's expanded from columns to also include the radio show, a masculine voice calls out to me.

  “Hey, Nicole.”

  A smoky, sexy, masculine voice, I might add.

  Ryder Lockhart stands in the doorway of the studio next to mine, his arm resting on the door. That’s one lucky door.

  If someone needed a photograph for a catalog of the casual, cool, confident male, Central Casting would serve up this man. The white button-down shirt that hugs his delicious biceps is peeled up at the cuffs, revealing strong and worshippable forearms. The front can’t hide how flat and firm his abs are. I must thank the maker of that shirt in my daily prayers. His black jeans are neatly pressed and fit just so yummily on his hips. For the record—yummily is not an adverb, but it should be. I’ll work on my campaign to Merriam-Webster, starting tomorrow.

  His eyes are full of naughtiness as he meets my gaze. “Clearly you haven’t tried the Wheelbarrow with the right man,” he says.

  I tap a red manicured nail against my bottom lip as if I’m considering this. “You think that’s the issue with the Wheelbarrow? Not the fact that I’d be upside-down during nookie?” I ask ever so innocently.

  A lopsided grin shimmers across his fine lips. Yeah, they’re yummy, too. He simply suffers from an extreme case of handsomeness.

  “I do, indeed, think that’s the biggest hurdle. There are certain advantages for the fairer sex when it comes to that position, but it requires a partner who knows exactly how to hold on properly,” he says in that deep, gritty voice. He could read the phone book and make it sound like foreplay, which means everything he says makes you feel like a cat in mating season, even if he’s talking about changing the toner in the copy machine. I’d probably have a dirty dream about toner if he did.

  But his filthy-fantasy-inducing voice is only one-quarter of the assets he possesses for wooing the ladies. The other three quarters? A thick head of soft and wavy light brown hair, cheekbones carved by the gods, eyes that inspire dreams of tropical waters, a body handcrafted by his own rigid discipline, and a brain shaped and chiseled by Stanford.

  Fine, that was more than four quarters. Well, what-the-hell-ever. He’s got more than his fair share of chickadee-charming tools. It’s my job to notice this stuff.

  Balancing my laptop and notebook on my hip, I shove my copper-colored hair off my eyes. “Is that your way of inviting me to take your wheelbarrow out for a ride around the garden?”

  His lips curve up in a mischievous grin. “Nicole, don’t you know? You can ride this ride any time.” That’s where his teasing ends. “But holy smokes, the end of your show.” He clutches his hand to his chest as if he’s in pain. “Were you about to cry, too?”

  “Oh, it was awful, wasn’t it?”

  “So sad,” he says, shaking his head. “Almost makes me want to take on the job for Rachel myself.”

  “How thoughtful of you.”

  “I’m considerate like that.”

  “You’d be a Good Samaritan of orgasms, then?”

  “Perhaps it’s my true calling,” he says, in a completely serious tone.

  “Patron Saint of the Big O?”

  He snaps his fingers and points at me. “Yes. That’ll go on my new business cards. Maybe I’ll even make house calls to administer my special brand of medicine.”

  I make a stop sign midair. “You’re the worst. Seriously the worst.”

  “But I’m the best at Ping-Pong. Are you all set for the match later this week?”

  “I’m always ready for the matches,” I say, then pretend to whack a white ball with an imaginary paddle. We play on our company team in a tournament-style game that raises money for local kids’ charities. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise—Ping-Pong is a game that, if played well, is great for your ass. “Incidentally, I have a tip on the guys at RBC that we’re playing against. One of them has a powerful but ridiculously wide swing. So much that his teammate is constantly jumping out of the way.”

  Ryder’s baby blues spark with strategic understanding. “Which means if we time it right when hitting to the teammate, we might find that the ball clatters to the floor while he’s trying to avoid getting whacked by th
e guy next to him.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Brains and beauty,” he says as he roams his eyes down my body.

  He’s not hitting on me. It’s just his way. I give him a demure little curtsy as thanks. “Likewise.”

  “Also, for the record, there are many ways to bring a woman pleasure with the Wheelbarrow. If you’re not enjoying it, he’s doing it wrong.” He steps closer to me, and I catch a whiff of his cedar cologne. He raises his index finger and moves it close to my lips as if he’s going to shush me. “And don’t let me hear those pretty red lips ever knock the Crouching Cowgirl again.”

  I roll my eyes. “It. Hurts. The. Feet.”

  “Boohoo. I bet it doesn’t hurt the—”

  I pretend to zip his lips and throw away the key. I shoo him into the booth where he records his show. “Go dispense your manly wisdom.”

  When it comes to on-air work, Ryder is basically, well . . . me.

  But with a dick, and with the priorities that come with said appendage.

  The funny thing is he was hired about a year ago, and his show was supposed to be a funny but earnest forum to offer dating advice to dudes. Lately, though, his show has been all about getting laid. It’s still funny, but it’s just different. A little crasser, if you will. Maybe it sounds like my show is about getting horizontal, too, but it’s not. My goal is to maximize women’s opportunities—for dating, mating, cohabitating, and, eventually, procreating.

  “By the way, your show was great,” he says, his tone stripped of bravado now. He smiles, and it’s all genuine. “I always enjoy listening to it.”

  I blush. “Thank you. Same to you.”

  “Keep up the good work.” As Ryder heads into his studio, I linger a bit in the hallway, shifting my laptop to my other hand, checking out the man through the window.