Baby Surprises 7 Book Box Set

by Layla Valentine

  She paused, apparently weighing the words. She took a sip from her cocktail and rubbed her lips together, before at last answering, “I had my ups and downs.”

  “Oh yeah?” he pressed.

  At the risk of sounding like a vulture, he was excited that she’d offered this part of herself up to him, and without having to be urged in that direction.

  “Yeah. It’s just that, I didn’t feel like I totally belonged anywhere, you know? I liked to party, but I was too serious about school to do Greek life. I thought about hosting on the campus radio, you remember, the—”

  “Miami Music?”

  “That’s the one. But it was packed with stoners. Then, I tried to join an investment club, but it was just a bunch of white guys in pastel shorts who called me ‘sweetheart.’ And I got enough of that from my professors—no need to seek it out after hours.” Heidi rolled her eyes.

  “Of course,” she said hurriedly, “I had friends, and I was close with my family, who lived a couple of miles away. I’m not trying to make this sound like a sob story. I had a great time. But I guess it made me hungry to find a place where I really fit in, where every part of me mattered, and I didn’t have to shove away any of my personality or history.”

  She abruptly closed her mouth and turned away, casting her gaze over the room.

  “I’m sorry,” she said guiltily, “that was kind of an overshare.”

  “Don’t apologize,” he replied firmly. “Never apologize for sharing things about yourself. I want to know them, more than you can imagine.”

  Her chest rose and fell. To fill the silence, she lifted up her glass again, and this time, Bradley raised his own, clinking it to hers.

  “Cheers,” he said with a grin, “to oversharing.”

  The remainder of the dinner, by Bradley’s own estimation, was a success. After the momentary dropping of her guard, Heidi kept it purely professional, talking extensively about his upcoming interviews and appearances, locking in schedules, and grooming his social media profiles. But he could sense the tension every time her arm brushed his while darting a pair of chopsticks towards the sushi they shared as an appetizer, or the way she would slowly lick her lips after sauce had covered their surface.

  The professional sheen was wearing off quickly.

  After several courses of Asian-fusion cuisine, including sumptuous Kobe beef and duck dishes that deserved personal Michelin stars, their appetites were sated. Well, one of them, anyway. Bradley flagged the waiter down and lazily ordered a dessert course.

  “Dessert? I thought we’d eaten their whole fridge,” joked Heidi.

  “I’ve got a sweet tooth,” he replied with a wink.

  They wiped their mouths and polished off their cocktails, and soon, a molten chocolate cake had arrived, topped with fresh strawberries. Heidi stabbed a fork into the middle of the cake, making fudge ooze out. She lifted a bite to her mouth and swallowed, a moan of pleasure passing her lips.

  I wonder what else makes her moan, Bradley thought. He mentally slapped himself again. Stop. Just stop.

  He sincerely didn’t want to make her uncomfortable, and worst of all, imagined himself crossing professional boundaries, only to be rebuffed. He hadn’t experienced rejection before, and didn’t want to become familiar with the feeling—especially not when his career hung in the balance.

  Heidi mopped up the remainder of the chocolate with a strawberry, then delicately sucked the sauce off the tip of the fruit. Bradley’s mouth hung open.

  Surely, he thought, that wasn’t an accident. Nobody’s mouth moves like that on accident.

  “Bradley,” she said, leaning back with satisfaction, “thank you for a wonderful dinner. Seriously, the food was great, and I liked getting to know the real you. Not just the playboy from my magazine covers. The other Bradley Fox.”

  “Any time.”

  “I may have to take you up on that,” she replied with a friendly wink.

  She turned to face him and took a deep breath, as if working up to something.

  “Listen,” she said slowly, “I have one last thought about your image rehab. You aren’t required to do it, by any means, but I’ve been looking into it for some time now, and think it’d be a good call.”

  “Whatever you say, Doc.”

  “There’s this training center in the Bahamas—well, on its own island, that happens to be a part of the Bahamas. It’s for the world’s most elite athletes; I’m talking crème de la crème. People like you. The facilities are the best in the world, as are the trainers. They call it Edenix. It’s intended to be a place to train and relax during the off-season. Workouts in the morning, luxurious beaches in the afternoon, swanky dinners at night. All in the middle of a completely private, press-free paradise.”

  He furrowed his brows. The name sounded distantly familiar, but he couldn’t place it. Must be real fucking private if it didn’t even ring a clear bell in his mind.

  Curiosity subsiding, he nodded eagerly. It had been close to years since he’d taken a real vacation. Sure, there’d been travel trips with the team, and the occasional night in Vegas, but nothing that kept him out of the media. The idea of walking outside and being greeted by the sunrise, not camera flashes, sounded heavenly.

  “You could train there,” she continued, “and get into the best shape of your career. Show the detractors that you mean fucking business. There are at least a couple of weeks left until the team resumes practice, which is plenty for an athlete with your…y’know…God-given gifts to hone his skills.”

  She paused expectantly.

  He looked at her, and asked simply, “Where do I sign up?”

  She clapped her hands merrily. “Don’t worry, I’ve already taken care of it.”

  “You booked me a spot before running it by me?” he asked with some incredulity. “That was bold.”

  Shrugging, she said, “I knew you’d be on board. The critics can say what they like, but I’ve watched you play, and it’s obvious that you love the game. Edenix will make you the best you can be, so why wouldn’t you say yes? I was just planning for the inevitable.”

  He smiled. It was true. Usually, sports commentators would give him a little praise for a good pass or a long run, but then quickly turn their attention to rumors of his after-hours life. No matter how much effort he put in, his athletic career seemed to always be overshadowed by his partying.

  “Okay, okay,” he said. “I’m in, but—”

  “There’s a ‘but’ to a vacation in the Bahamas?”

  “But…I’d like you to come with me,” he replied.

  “Athletes don’t usually bring their PR agents on—”

  “Would you come anyways?” He gazed meaningfully into her eyes. “I get that it’s unusual. I also don’t particularly care.”

  “Why? Um, I mean, why do you want me to come?”

  Well, that was a loaded question. He decided to tell her part of the truth, the part that wasn’t about how he was hoping to see that body in a bikini.

  “Honestly,” he said with a small crack in his voice, “I don’t have many friends I can trust nowadays. They all just send anonymous tips about me to Page 6. I’m done with that life, with being surrounded by people preying on me for my fame, or money, or whatever. And I know you won’t do that.”

  “Yeah, you pay me to not do that.”

  “That’s true,” he laughed. “For real, though. I feel like you’re my friend. I know it’s kind of soon to say that, but who gives a shit. And I’d like you to come with me.”

  She hesitated. He held his breath, nervous that she’d refuse, or worse yet, say it was an inappropriate suggestion. Whatever happened on the trip, Bradley intended to be her friend. If it turned romantic, Jesus, that would be nice. No, it’d be beyond nice, but the English language didn’t have the words to express just how far beyond ‘nice.’

  He decided that he’d wait until—or if—she signaled an interest in something more.

  “Okay,” she said at last. “Let
’s do it. On one condition.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I think we both need a vacation, stat. Are you good with leaving tomorrow?

  He nodded, flashing a smile that seemed to light up the whole room.

  “Pack a bathing suit,” Bradley said.

  Chapter 9

  Heidi

  I can’t believe you’re doing this, Heidi internally scolded herself, giving her suitcase a final once-over. This is a very, very bad idea.

  She rifled through her bag, making sure she had all the essentials—toothbrush, sunscreen, etc. At the last minute, she’d also thrown in some wildly scanty lingerie, reasoning that preparedness never hurt anyone.

  She didn’t have any more time to reflect on whether or not this was a brilliant move for her career, especially given that Bradley was her only client right now and the only acquisition that would help her establish a new firm. No, there was no time to back out of the trip. She would just have to make sure to keep her lustful thoughts entirely to herself.

  Professional, she repeated, as if it was a personal mantra. Even in the face of daunting hotness, you’ve gotta be professional.

  Already running late, bag in hand, she flew out the door and into a taxi, telling the driver to get her to the airport ASAP. To his credit, he got there in just under twenty minutes. She tipped him generously, and ran to meet Bradley at the agreed-upon lounge on the outer ring of the airport, before the TSA checkpoints.

  With all that hustling, she arrived only seconds after their set met-up time. She spotted his enormous frame from across the lounge, and moved briskly in his direction.

  “Sorry,” she apologized, when she at last brought her bag to a halt in front of him. “I’m usually early for everything; I don’t know what happened this morning. Are we going to be late?”

  “Private planes,” he said, “don’t usually leave until both passengers are on board.”

  A look of total surprise took over her face.

  “Did you—”

  “Get us a charter? Yeah. Figured it would make the trip just that much nicer. Why vacation if you’re not going to do it right?”

  She grinned and smacked him on the arm.

  “You’re spoiling me,” she said. She almost immediately regretted the playful touch, but the wolfish look in his eyes made it hard to be very remorseful.

  Before long, a golf cart picked them and their luggage up from the lounge, and drove the pair to a private airplane hangar, where a small seaplane waited. Heidi eyeballed the plane nervously; it looked even more cramped than Bradley’s fancy sports car.

  She reflected that he probably hadn’t thought anything of the tight space, even though she’d personally been on edge that entire drive. And, in his booking of the plane, he seemed to have similarly not considered the packed quarters, wherein they wouldn’t be able to avoid brushing up against one another.

  Did that mean he wasn’t feeling the same way, wasn’t feeling the sparks that seemed to fly between their bodies?

  Bradley turned to her, picking up on the nervous look clouding her normally sunny expression.

  “I know it’s on the small side,” he said regretfully, “but it’s just an hour long flight, and this plane is designed for short ocean crossings.”

  “No, no,” she responded hastily, anxious to not look ungrateful. “Are you kidding? Any private plane is a good private plane. I’m overwhelmed by how thoughtful this was.” She paused, and then tacked on a lie to sell her story. “I’m just a nervous flier.”

  She most definitely wasn’t a nervous flier, but she had to say something to explain her expression.

  “Hey, that’s okay,” he said. “I’ll protect you.”

  The two shared a smile. Obviously, he couldn’t protect her from a failing engine, but for a fleeting moment, she pictured him as a superhero, picking her up in his arms and jumping from a burning plane as trails of smoke came off its wings. Who was to say he couldn’t leap from the sky and land, cat-like, on solid land?

  Heidi didn’t generally subscribe to the damsel-in-distress narrative, but when muscles like that were in question—well, her pride only went so far. Alternatively, she’d already dreamt several scenarios that would entail him picking her up. Those dreams also ended with roaring fires, but of a…different…variety.

  The pilot came out of a nearby office and shook their hands. He gave them a little general information about the flight—ETA, wind condition, and weather—and Bradley thanked him graciously. The man led him and Heidi to the plane as an airline assistant scurried to load up their bags.

  Sure enough, the interior of the plane was barely large enough to hold all of Bradley. Heidi laughed as he scooted down in his seat, attempting to keep the top of his head from brushing the ceiling.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “Nothing,” she replied with a giggle. “It’s just that you somehow make this private plane look doll-sized.”

  He rolled his eyes and grinned, then leaned towards the cockpit.

  “We’re all set,” he told the pilot.

  Moments later, they were taxiing onto the runway. Heidi’s thigh was flush with Bradley’s, and she could feel her entire lower body pulsing with the sensation.

  If I’m worried about lasting through a one-hour plane ride, she thought with apprehension, how the hell am I gonna spend weeks in a paradise with him?

  “Professional,” she muttered under her breath.

  “What was that?”

  “Nothing, nothing at all,” she said furtively.

  He raised his eyebrows, but dropped the subject.

  The plane was in position to take off. Bradley rotated his buff torso to face Heidi; their chests were practically touching now. She had a sudden and unexpected insight regarding the phrase ‘heaving bosom,’ and how accurate it actually was.

  “I wanted to say thank you.”

  She interrupted, “No, you really don’t—”

  He raised a hand, waving off her protestations, and held her gaze earnestly.

  “You didn’t have to do this. Asking you to drop everything and leave the country—well, it was a big ask. Any sane person probably would’ve turned me down.”

  “Are you kidding? It’s the Bahamas!”

  “Still. I’m sure you have other clients, and giving this much of your attention to me…it’s really generous, Heidi. Thank you.”

  She turned away and peered out the window, hoping he couldn’t see the red burning through her cheeks. Through all of their texts, meetings, and phone calls, she’d failed to mention that she did not, in fact, have any other clients, or even that she didn’t work with Image-ine. She hadn’t lied, technically, but there were some pretty major omissions of truth that created a guilty lump in her throat.

  “No worries,” she said lamely.

  I’ll tell him soon, she promised herself. Once we’re settled in and everything, I’ll just casually mention it over a meal or on the beach. No biggie.

  Hoping to change the subject, she reached across him to point out the abrupt change of color in a section of the ocean; it turned from sea-green to cerulean in a clean line, as though an artist had painted the waves and forgotten to blend them.

  In the urgency of her gesture, she’d forgotten to keep the space between their bodies, and her breast accidentally brushed his chest. She lingered in this position, even after the stark line in the waters had fallen out of their view. Her heart burned as she felt the nipple pressed up against him go erect, and she wondered if he could feel it through her lace bra.

  Professional, indeed, she thought sardonically as she withdrew at last.

  Chapter 10

  Heidi

  The rest of the flight had passed smoothly, though even their easy conversation hadn’t released the tension in Heidi’s body, which remained on high alert. They disembarked at a sleepy airport, certainly the most deserted Heidi had ever been to; the few grounded planes were the same size as their own, if not smaller, and smattered o
ver the runway like an afterthought.

  All at once, the warm air hit her face and the smell of ocean water flooded her nostrils. An Edenix-branded shuttle had pulled up alongside their charter, and the driver promptly loaded their suitcases into the trunk.

  “How long will the ride be?” Heidi asked the driver as she climbed into the backseat, Bradley moving in behind her.

  “We’re only minutes from the resort, ma’am,” he replied. “Edenix facilities take up almost the entire island.”

  “Wow, okay.” She turned to face Bradley. “You ever been to a private island?”

  “Uh…”

  “Oh, right, of course you have. Anyways, this is gonna be great. I can just feel it.”

  He smiled at her excitement. “Agreed.”

  As promised, the shuttle was in front of the vast hotel—which more closely resembled a small city—only moments after they’d finished buckling their seat belts.

  Heidi had grown up in comfort; she’d been on nice family vacations to tropical destinations and various capitals of European countries. But though she was privileged, she wasn’t exactly this privileged, because there were only about 20,000 people in the whole world that were this privileged.

  So, despite all the fancy trips, nothing could’ve prepared her for the soaring pillars that flanked a sweeping entrance, festooned in plumes of flowers and exotic fruit. It looked almost like a converted Parthenon, which was fitting inspiration for a place that had housed the world’s most elite athletes.

  Their driver escorted them through the entrance, where they were greeted by a butler, who wore the traditional pencil-thin mustache of his kind. With a little bow, he introduced himself as Johnny.

  “I’ll be your personal aide for the entirety of your stay at Edenix,” he said to the pair. “Have you downloaded the hotel’s app?”

  Bradley nodded, and Heidi glanced at him in surprise.

  “They have their own app?” she whispered in his direction.

  “Yeah,” he whispered back with a grin.