Brandon (Members From Money Book 19)

by Katie Dowe

  “Thank you.”

  “I will see you next month. Your due date is the tenth of July. I suppose now you can start planning the theme for the nursery.”

  “I have already started.”

  “That’s the spirit.”

  She stepped out into the brilliant sunshine and her heart slammed into her chest as she noticed him standing at her car, his dark head bent as he did something on his phone. How on earth did he find her? He looked up and saw her just then and waited until she came towards him. “How are you?” he asked her softly. He was leaning against the driver’s side of the car so she had no choice but to stand there.

  “I am fine.” She trembled as she remembered him inside her. Every night when she went to bed she would remember what he did to her and how she had responded. How she had cried out in frantic pleasure and dug her nails into his flesh. She had behaved with wanton pleasure leaving no doubt how much he had affected her!

  “Gabrielle told me that you had an appointment here.” He looked around the modest building. “I want to take you to Doctor Henry Whittingham for your next appointment.”

  Yanique recognized the name and knew of the exclusive medical facility some miles away. He was referred to as the OBGYN to the rich and famous. “No, thank you. I am fine right here. I have to get back to work.”

  “I want us to have dinner tonight.” He did not move and looked like he had no intention of doing so.

  “Why don’t you say what you really mean?” she demanded. “You want to have sex with me.”

  “That too but I think we should have dinner first.” His tone was slightly amused and she felt her hackles rising.

  “I need to get inside my car.”

  “You have not answered me.”

  “The answer is no.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you are my boss and this is bordering on sexual harassment.”

  “Really?” He lifted one thick brow arrogantly. “Don’t you think we have gone past that?”

  “We had sex once and it was a mistake so please just leave it at that.”

  “Don’t lump me into the same category as that son of a bitch!” His tight response had her staring at him. “I am very attracted to you, Yanique, and it is against my will and my better judgment. This is not something I set out to do, but I cannot help myself. I stayed away and did not call the past week because I wanted to give us some space from each other. What I feel is not going away any time soon and I cannot stay away from you.” He looked behind her and saw some people approaching. He moved away and indicated that she get in. “I will follow behind you. We need to talk so I suggest you make time for me later.”

  *****

  “Honey, you are going to wear a hole in the rug,” her mother said reprovingly as she stared at her daughter. “Why don’t you have a seat and let us discuss what is bothering you?”

  Yanique had come straight from work and had refused to answer the phone when Brandon called her. She knew she was hiding, but she did not care.

  “I keep making mistakes and I am wondering why?” Yanique sank down on the sofa next to her mother and sighed heavily.

  “Why don’t you tell me about it?”

  Yanique stared at her mother for a moment and then told her. “I did something very stupid, Mama.”

  “We are entitled to do that, honey. We are human.”

  “I had sex with my boss.”

  Yvonne stared at her in shock! “You had sex with Gabrielle?”

  It was Yanique’s turn to stare at her and then she burst out laughing. “No, Mama,” she said gasping for breath. “Brandon Reynolds.”

  “Oh!” Yvonne placed a hand over her heart and laughed with her daughter then she sobered. “The Brandon Reynolds?”

  “I am afraid so. Now you see my dilemma?”

  “Honey, what happened?”

  “He is attracted to me or so he says and he found out about Wayne. Get this: Apparently Wayne handles his company’s account, at least here.” She twisted her hands and looked down at them.

  “Honey, what are you going to do?”

  “Nothing.” She sighed. “I am going to decorate the nursery for my daughter’s arrival and hope this will go away.”

  “You don’t really believe that, do you?”

  “No,” Yanique said with a sigh. “I don’t.”

  *****

  “I have a lot to thank you for!” Claudia’s face was animated as she took Leanne’s hands in hers. She had gone back home and was now back with the good news. Leanne had told her to come to her office when she had asked to see her.

  “I think it had to do with Brandon.” Leanne pulled her hands away and sat behind her desk. “He took on your husband.”

  “I have to tell him thanks. He has decided to give me the divorce without a fight and I get the children. He is also going to give me a settlement.” It was the first time that Leanne had seen the girl looking so animated and was happy that things were working out for her.

  “Who is she?”

  “What?” Claudia looked at her puzzled.

  “Your husband told my brother that you have been seeing a woman, Claudia, and I know it was not me.”

  The woman’s eyes dropped to her hands. She looked chic and wealthy in a soft pink skirt suit and a multicolored scarf around her neck. Her red hair was glowing with health and swept past her shoulders. Her skin glowed white in the light of the lamp in the office. Her pocketbook was couture and cost several thousand dollars. Diamonds glinted in her lobes and at her wrists.

  “Her name is Rhoda and she is my personal trainer. I hired her after I had my son and we hit it off.” She looked at Leanne and saw the expression on her face. “I was lonely and we were attracted to each other. I am sorry, Lee. I should have told you about her, but I did not want to hurt you.”

  “Are you in love with her?”

  Claudia’s eyes slid away and Leanne got her answer.

  “So you used me to get what you wanted and led me to believe that you were still into me.”

  “It’s not like that-”

  “Save it, Claudia,” Leanne said wearily. “I wish you all the best and I am going to ask you to do me the favor and lose my number.”

  Chapter 7

  He was waiting for her when she left her mother’s place and somehow she knew he would have. She had deliberately stayed out late to deter him, but she was starting to realize that nothing did.

  He did not say anything to her as she passed him and went to unlock her door, but he was right behind her.

  He followed her into the kitchen and sat at the small counter while she put on the kettle to make tea. “I have not been in a relationship for a long time.” He smiled ironically as she looked up at him. “I travel a lot. I am always on the move and am buried into my work. I have no time to work on the ins and outs of a relationship so I have not bothered with one.” He stopped as the kettle started whistling and waited until she made the two cups of hot chocolate and passed one to him. “I know the power I have in the business world and I have not quite gotten used to it.” He wrapped his fingers around the cup. “I met you and you have turned my life upside down, Yanique. For the first time in my life I am confused and hesitant, not knowing what to do. I made love to you-” He stopped and closed his eyes as if he was remembering. “You blew me away with what you make me feel. I want to marry you and be a father to your baby.”

  Yanique stared at him in shock! “You don’t know what you are saying.”

  He smiled grimly and abandoned the cup of hot chocolate to come around to her side. “Maybe.” He turned her around to face him and cupped her face. “Maybe I am going crazy with passion and desire. Maybe I am not in my right mind.” His fingers traced her full lips and he smiled as her lips parted. “I just know that I cannot function. When I am alone in my very lonely apartment all I do is think about you and how much I need to be with you.”

  She stared up at him feeling the stirrings of an emotion so intense tha
t it swamped her! “I cannot do that, Brandon.” Her voice trembled and she had to take a deep breath to steady herself. “You are making a complicated situation much worse. I really need this job and you are making it difficult for me.”

  He did not answer and Yanique moaned helplessly as he lowered his head and took her lips with his savagely, his control breaking! Yanique clung to him and welcomed the roughness of the kiss. He pulled her up to him and buried his fingers into her thick dark hair as he devoured her mouth with his. She did not protest when he lifted her and took her to the bedroom and even helped him to take his clothes off so she could touch his skin!

  *****

  “Make it quick,” Brandon told the man coldly as he sat behind his desk. He had left Yanique sleeping as he left. He had spent the night even though she had asked him to leave. He had spent the night making love to her and sealing what he knew was his fate towards her. He was falling in love with her, but he was not sure he could handle her having another man’s child. And the man had called him as he was leaving and asked to meet. He had told him to meet at the office he kept when he was in town.

  “I need this account.” Wayne looked far different from the supremely confident man he usually portrayed. He had dragged on a sweatpants and an old sweater and had put on his coat over it. He looked as if he had not slept. “Please, I am begging you to reconsider pulling it away from the firm.”

  “I am in love with her,” Brandon said abruptly as he stared at the man sitting across from him.

  “What?”

  “The woman you used so despicably is now the most important person to me,” he said grimly.

  Wayne felt his bowels turned to liquid. He could not afford to make such a powerful enemy! His life flashed before his eyes and he knew he was doomed!

  “I will do anything,” he said desperately.

  “Sign a contract and relinquish all parental rights to the child and never contact Yanique again.”

  “Done!” Wayne felt weak with relief.

  “It is that easy for you?”

  Wayne felt the fear coming over him again. “I-It was a mistake. I am engaged-”

  “So instead of doing the right thing you are willing to abandon your own flesh and blood to advance your career.” Brandon’s tone was scathing and Wayne felt his legs trembling.

  “I came from nothing and-”

  “So did my dad and his dad before that. That is no excuse.”

  “I am sorry,” he said lamely.

  “I am going to marry her and she is going to become a very powerful woman,” Brandon said softly. “I suggest you stay out of our way.”

  Wayne scuttled to his feet. “I will.”

  “Make sure I get the document by the end of the day.”

  “Of course.” Wayne could not wait to get out of there. He felt as if he was suffocating.

  Brandon leaned his head back and closed his eyes wearily. He was seriously thinking of raising another man’s kid. He was in love with the woman and they were a package deal. He reached for his phone and made a call. “Henry, I need an appointment.”

  *****

  Yanique slept late, something she did not normally do, but it was understandable due to the fact that Brandon had kept her up exploring her body for half the night. She rolled around and half hoped that he was still there but his place on the bed was empty. She closed her eyes and remembered every nuance, every inch of his taut flesh and the feel of his mouth on her body! She removed the sheets and reached for her robe and put it on over her nakedness. Her hair was hopelessly tangled from his fingers going through the strands. She looked at her phone and realized that he had not called. He had told her he wanted to marry her and take care of her and her baby. She wandered into the second bedroom that had belonged to Shelly and looked around for a moment. She had not changed anything since she had died. It was just a few months ago that she had given away her clothes and shoes because her parents had said that they did not want any of it. Shelly had been their only daughter and the grief had been too much. She sat on the side of the bed and picked up a framed photo of her and Shelly when they had gone to the fair. Shelly had on a straw hat over her kinky black hair and a huge smile on her attractive face while she had her hair down and was laughing at something her friend had said to her. It had been a day of fun and things had been so uncomplicated then! Now she was grieving her friend’s death, pregnant with a child who the father did not want, and having feelings for her boss who just happened to be one of the most powerful men in the world! When had her life taken such a drastic turn? She climbed up on the bed and pulled the sheets over her, giving in to the hopeless feelings as she allowed the tears to come!

  *****

  “Darling, are you sure that this is something that you will be able to handle?” Leanne asked him as she watched him prowl the length of the living room. He needed to make a trip to New York to attend meetings but he wanted to sort things out with Yanique first. He had left his office shortly after his meeting with Wayne and had called his sister who was home for the time being.

  “No.” He shoved his hands into his pockets and stared out the window watching as the gardener trimmed the hedges. It was a beautiful spring afternoon, not too warm and not too cold. Just right and he wished he could convince Yanique to marry him now. “I want her. Scratch that. I need her in my life and everything else that comes with it.”

  “Are you going to adopt the child?”

  He turned and stared at her as if he was just realizing that it was something he was going to have to do. “If needs be.”

  “You are very serious, aren’t you?”

  “I am. Can you call her and talk to her?”

  “What do you expect me to say to her, Bran?” Leanne asked him with a laugh.

  “Anything,” he muttered. “She is refusing to marry me.”

  “You have to see it from her point of view, darling. She is pregnant by a man who wants nothing to do with her and the child and here comes her boss who happens to be extremely wealthy to complicate the situation even more. What do you expect?”

  “That is why you need to talk to her and convince her that this is best.”

  Leanne stared at the usually confident man in wonder. “You are in love with her.”

  He plunged his fingers through his hair and laughed harshly. “I make deals every single day and I face down men who are the movers and shakers in this world but one little slip of a woman has me going around in circles! Go figure.”

  “I think this is good for you,” Leanne told him as she came nearer to him. “Give me her number and let me invite her to lunch.”

  “What are you going to say to her?” he demanded a little suspiciously.

  “Leave it to me, darling,” she reassured him.

  *****

  “Hello?”

  “Hi, Yanique?”

  “This is she.”

  “My name is Leanne Reynolds.”

  Yanique was silent for a moment as she took in the fact that his sister was calling her. He had called and told her he was headed for New York and would be back in a couple of days. “Yes?”

  “I know it is a little strange, but my brother asked me to get in touch with you. Can we meet for lunch tomorrow?”

  She hesitated for a moment and then said yes.

  “Good. Twelve on the dot and I suggest Leonardo’s,” the woman told her. “I will be wearing-”

  “I know what you look like,” Yanique told her coolly.

  “Okay. See you then.”

  Yanique hung up from her and wondered what this was all about. She supposed she was going to find out tomorrow!

  *****

  Wayne stared at the strongly worded document and read it through thoroughly making sure that there were no mistakes. He had drawn it up himself so that there would be no chance that the rest of the people in the firm would know what was going on. He could not afford for this to get out. His hands trembled as he put the single page document on his desk. He had ca
lled and asked for some more time in order to prepare and Brandon Reynolds had told him that he had until Monday morning as he was heading off to New York. Of all the damned bad luck the man had to go and fall in love with the woman he had had a one night stand with and wanted to have nothing to do with her again! He had worked so hard to make sure everything was as it should be in his life. He had worked harder than anyone in the firm proving himself to the others and had gotten noticed by the partners because of his dedication and commitment. He had shaken off the dust off his shoes from the small no account town he had lived with his mother and two brothers. His father had fled the scene when they were little and determined to make it in life he had left home at seventeen and had practically lived on the streets until he had made it to law school where he had existed and survived on scholarships. He had heard that his parents had died a few years ago and had gone back for the funeral leaving shortly after. He had done his duty and sent them money but that had been it. His two brothers were still living in the small town but he had cut all ties with them. He wanted no reminders of that life. He was made for bigger and better things. Now this! When he was so close to getting everything he wanted!

  *****

  Yanique saw her the moment she entered the exclusive restaurant. She had seen pictures of the coolly beautiful woman and had noticed that she bore a striking resemblance to her brother where they shared the same eye color and shade of hair, so much so that it was uncanny! Leanne got to her feet the minute she saw the girl coming towards her and had to admit to herself that her brother had taste, she was strikingly beautiful!

  “Yanique?”

  Yanique nodded and took the woman’s hand in hers.

  “Very nice to meet you,” she said with a smile. A waiter was hovering discreetly. “Raymond here tells me that they have the special combo available. It’s different kinds of meat cooked to a delicacy and garnished with lettuce and cucumber. It is very tasty. Would you like to try it?”