“Yeah, we did talk about this. Make sure you recall me saying that I won’t deny my baby.”
“This could ruin my career.”
“It could ruin mine.”
Danielle sat in silence. He was right. She bit her lips nervously as he slipped his hand inside of hers. Duke gave her hand a tight squeeze.
“We’re going to be okay,” he said as he brought her hand up to his mouth. He pressed a kiss against her skin. “I promise you we are. For now though, we can’t do anything about it. Let’s try to enjoy our day.”
Danielle nodded, but she knew that would be next to impossible. She could feel that old panic working its way up her throat again. Her fingers gripped the seat of the car tightly. She loved her career, she’d fought for it and won. Now, it could be over in an instant.
She tried to focus on what Duke was saying but his words sounded as though they were coming through water. Danielle gazed over at him. Duke looked so calm. She sighed.
When they stepped out of the car, she realized that they were at one of her favorite places. Since she’d been pregnant, her biggest craving was mint chocolate chip ice cream from a small place that looked run down on the outside, but was amazing. A small amount of tightness in her belly loosened. She could worry about things later, for now there was ice cream.
“You’re cheating you know,” she said as she dug into the cup, moaning as the mix of the chocolate with the mint hit her tongue.
“How am I cheating?” Duke said with a chuckle.
“You know ice cream distracts me,” she said narrowing her eyes. “And corn dogs, and burgers, and…”
“Everything?”
Danielle slapped his arm. “Jerk. You know I’m sensitive about my weight.”
Duke grinned. “I know, I know. I’m sorry,” he said as he placed a kiss on her forehead. “I’m glad you’re actually smiling.”
“We’ll see how long it lasts,” Danielle mumbled as she bit her bottom lip anxiously.
Duke grabbed her hand. “Let’s go see that new movie.”
“Hearts in Seattle? I’ve been dying to see that!”
“I know you have,” he said with a laugh. “And I’ll let you cry as much as you want to.”
“You always say the sweetest things.”
“I try.” The grin let up his face, easing some of the tension on Dani's stomach.
Duke helped Danielle out of her seat before they walked out of the shop. Danielle sighed. His arm rested firmly around her waist, the comforting heat of his arm enough to keep her steadily calm. She was still nervous about the future, but with him things seemed to lose their hard edge.
The minute the movie started up, Danielle got lost in it. The heroine was smart, strong, and stubborn. The lead was sexy, persistent and insatiable. Between the passionate love making scenes, Danielle caught herself crying. Duke dug into his pocket before he produced a tissue for her. She wiped her eyes quickly, almost embarrassed that she had gotten so into the film. When it was over, Danielle wrapped her arm around Duke’s.
“Where to now? I don’t want to do a replay of the whole flashing lights in my face, thing.”
“We’ll get a room for the rest of the weekend. I know a quiet little place not far from here.”
“Good. A quiet place to prepare for my inevitable firing.”
“You’re not going to get fired,” Duke said, squeezing her to his side tightly. “Even if you do, it won’t be the end of the world.”
Danielle raised an eyebrow at him. “Why do you think that?”
“Well, I just mean that in a few more months you’ll have a tiny baby to look after. It’s going to be hard trying to balance a new baby with a full time career. Maybe, it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to take some time off.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I guarantee that you want to cease this line of reasoning out loud.”
Duke threw up his hands as she slid into the car. “It was just a suggestion!”
Danielle rolled her eyes. What did he expect? For her to be happy about him “suggesting” that she just quit her job for the baby? Sure, she wanted this baby more than anything, but she wasn’t going to sacrifice her career for anything. She’d spent such a long time fighting for it, how could she give up now?
“I’m sorry,” Duke said as they pulled out of the parking lot. “I didn’t mean to be insensitive. I just worry that you’re going to wear yourself out trying to do both. I know you can do both, but I’m just not so sure that you should.”
“I’ll figure it out on my own,” Danielle mumbled.
Duke sighed. He reached out, ran his fingers over her hand. Danielle stared out of the window. How could she have put herself in this position? She ran a hand over her belly. In the back of her mind, she wondered if Duke was right? Was she expecting things to be so easy with a newborn and a busy career?
When they pulled up to the hotel, she pushed those thoughts away. She didn’t want to fight. They’d been having a good day before, that was what she wanted to continue.
Duke had promised her a quiet evening and he delivered. The room they were in looked more like a large apartment. As soon as they’d settled in, he ordered up pizza with extra cheese to the room. They sat together on the sofa, eating their pizza in content silence as they watched a game show. Danielle rested her head on his arm.
“Thank you, for today,” she said as she flipped the empty pizza box lid closed.
“You’re welcome,” Duke said, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “I just want you to be happy.”
Danielle nodded. “You’re a good man.”
“I try.”
She yawned, stretching her arms out as she did so before she nuzzled against his chest. Duke wrapped his arms around her tightly, burying a kiss into her hair. Danielle could feel herself slowly drifting off.
“Hey, let’s go to bed. We’ll get some much needed rest.”
Danielle moaned. “I’m not tired.”
Duke laughed as he pulled her to her feet, wrapping his arm around her waist. “Oh no? Then why can’t you keep your eyes open, huh?”
She yawned again. “Damn you body, stop betraying me. Okay, I’m a little bit tired.”
“Let’s get you to bed.”
“I can’t sleep until you have sex with me,” she said with a grin on her lips.
“That is a responsibility that I am more than willing to accept,” Duke grinned.
Duke helped her out of her clothes, before they slid beneath the coolness of the blankets. Before she could say a word, Duke’s hands were roaming her body. His fingers trailed over her skin, making her shiver.
“I think it must be the hormones that makes you so willing to hop into bed with me,” he mumbled as he ran his lips over her sensitive neck.
“That and you’re sexy as hell,” she said with a giggle as he began to run his fingers over the sensitive spots of her thighs.
“Let’s make a few more after this one then. This works for me.”
“Can we make it through this one first? You can’t just start planning for the future before this one is even here.”
Duke stopped. The moonlight from outside lit up the room just enough that she could see his steady gaze. Her stomach did a nervous little flip flop before she swallowed thickly.
“Why are you staring at me like that?” She asked nervously.
“Is there going to be a future with us?”
Danielle could see how serious he was. “I don’t know,” she said slowly, her fingers trailing through his hair. “I-I’ve never felt this way about anyone,” she said quietly.
Duke kissed her softly. “I haven’t either,” he mumbled against her lips.
Even though it was scary, new and strange, Danielle felt as though she belonged with Duke. When they were together, the world made so much more sense. She loved the way he protected her, stood up for her. And she knew he loved her being there for him, supporting him even when things were r
ough. They were made for each other, but what were they supposed to do?
“Stop overthinking it,” Duke said, bringing her back to reality.
“I wasn’t.”
“You always do. It’s going to be okay. One way or the other, we’ll get through this.”
Danielle smiled softly. “You really think so?”
“I know so,” he said, his mouth trailing her neck once more.
Chapter 7
Danielle woke up the next morning sore, sick and anxious. Duke had someone deliver her clothes for work, but she couldn’t seem to put them on without rushing to the bathroom again. Worried, Duke kept trying to help, but Danielle was in a bad mood. She kept waving him away.
By the time she was ready to go, he was sitting in the living room with a cup of steaming hot coffee in his hands. Not decaf. She wanted to take it so badly, just to have a tiny, little sip. Waking up in the morning without caffeine was some kind of torture she had not been prepared for. She walked up to him as he quickly changed the channel.
“What was that?” She asked, instantly suspicious.
“Oh nothing,” he said, downing the rest of his coffee before picking up his car keys. “We should get going.”
“Duke,” she said slowly, extending her hand, “Give me the remote.”
“There’s nothing good on,” he said quickly.
“Duke.”
“I really don’t think-”
“Duke!”
“Fine,” he said as he passed the remote to her. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“You didn’t warn me,” she mumbled as she flipped it on.
“This morning we’re talking about the Duke Smythe scandal. As you can see, that’s his agent, Danielle, coming out of his place and they’re clearly holding hands. We have called the office several times for comment, but no one has given us any answers.”
“Oh no,” Danielle said as she sunk into the couch, her stomach sinking too. “What am I going to do?”
“Well, your phone hasn’t been going off like crazy yet. Maybe your boss hasn’t even noticed.”
“I didn’t bring my phone with me! I left it at your place. I thought we were just going to get food! You said we were coming right back. Then, with all the cameras and the yelling-” Danielle started crying.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Duke said as he wrapped his arms around her. “I’m so sorry. Use my phone, call the office. We’ll get all of this straightened out.”
Danielle nodded as she tried to dry her eyes without smearing her makeup. Duke came out of the bedroom with his cellphone quickly before he pressed it into her hands. He took a seat beside her, his hand slipping into hers as she dialed the number.
“You are in so much trouble,” Jordan’s voice was hushed. “Dani, I’ve been fielding calls all morning. There were camera’s camped out as soon as I got here. It’s crazy.”
“We got ambushed as soon as we stepped outside.”
“How’d they find out?” Jordan said, his voice sounding panicked.
“I have no idea! Is Will mad?”
“He threw his cell phone out of the window after the fiftieth call.”
Danielle sighed. “Patch me through.”
“Good luck,” Jordan said before the line went silent.
“Danielle?” A voice called through the line.
“Yes, this is Danielle,” she said nervously.
“What the hell is going on? I get a call last night saying one of my agents is on TV. I’m thinking ‘of course they are, they’re always on TV’ then I wake up to this shit about you and Duke! Is it true? Are you sleeping with your client?”
Danielle hesitated. “I-I-”
“Are you pregnant by that same client?”
“I’m...” Danielle swallowed quickly as Duke gave her hand a tight squeeze. “Yes, yes I am.”
“Do you know how bad this makes us look? Do you know how much this sets back women in this field?”
“I didn’t meant for it to-”
“It doesn’t matter what you meant to do!” Will yelled, making Danielle cringe and pull the phone away from her ear. “All that matters is what you’ve done! I want this to be over yesterday.”
“Are you firing me?” Danielle asked trying to keep it together, but her voice was shaky.
“No, I’m not. Under one condition.”
“Name it. Anything.”
“You come into this office right now. You stop seeing Duke, now. You two are never to speak to each other again, unless it has to do with business.”
“But-” Danielle stammered over her words.
“No buts! You both brought this on yourselves. Get here, immediately and we can continue discussing the ways in which you can start behaving to save your damn job.”
Danielle went to reply, but there was silence on the other end. Will had hung up on her. Slowly, Danielle pulled the phone away from her head before she stared down at it. She buried her face into her hands. Duke slipped a hand over her back.
“What happened?” He asked gently.
“I still have my job,” she said between sniffles. “But we can’t see each other anymore.”
“What?” Duke asked, the color draining out of his face.
“Will said we can’t see each other anymore. It makes our company look bad,” Danielle said as she pushed herself off of the couch. She moved to the bathroom where she wiped her eyes before she began to put on her makeup again.
“You’re okay with this?” Duke asked, his voice tight.
“I have to do what I have to do for my career. You know that. It’s the same way with yours,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady as she applied more mascara.
“No, you’re wrong,” Duke said sternly. “I would give up my career for you in a second. You and our baby mean more to me than anything. Just say the word and I’ll quit.”
“You can’t do that.” They were weeks away from the biggest game in football. “Your team would be fucked without you. You have a contract.”
“I could do it easily.”
“Why would you want to? Football is your dream!” Danielle said as she stared at him with wide eyes.
“It is, but having a family is my new dream. I would give up all of this in a minute to live with you. To see you happy.”
Danielle pushed away from the sink before she dropped her makeup back inside of her bag. She couldn’t, and wouldn’t let him make a decision like that. Duke was amazing at what he did, damn near the best of the best. She wasn’t going to watch him fail because of her.
“No,” she said as she rubbed his arm lightly. “I’ll be okay. I’ll take a taxi to the office.”
“I was going to drive you.”
“It’s probably best if we’re not seen together, you know? Business only, only at the office.”
Duke’s chuckle held no hint of humor. “I get it. You really are breaking up with me.”
“I didn’t know we were together,” Danielle snapped back, instantly regretting it.
“You’re right. I’m the stupid one to think that you actually had feelings for me, the way I do for you. You’re selfish, you’re greedy and you have a permanent stick up your ass!”
Danielle's mouth dropped open. “Duke!”
“Well, it’s true! You wanted a baby, I gave you one. You wanted a stable relationship, I’m offering you one. You want things to go exactly the way you want them to go, I try to show you that life doesn’t work that way and it’s okay. You know what though? Just forget it.”
Danielle stood in surprise as Duke stormed out of the bathroom. She had only seen him legitimately angry a handful of times and only once, recently had it been directed at her. She flipped off the bathroom light before she wandered into the living room. He was sticking his wallet into his back pocket, along with his keys. When he moved over to the couch to slip into his sneakers, Danielle stood awkwardly, unsure of what to say to him.
“Duke, I’m sorry things have gone this way…” She said slowly.
The man scoffed. “If you were sorry, you’d be changing something. Not offering up empty words that I don’t give a shit about.”
“What do you want me to do?” Danielle demanded. “Quit my job? Step back into the fifties? Cooking, cleaning and sucking your dick is supposed to make me feel fulfilled for the rest of my life?”
“Whatever,” Duke said as he walked towards the door.
“Duke!” Danielle called as he yanked open the door hard.
“What?” He asked as he turned around, the hurt in his eyes unmistakable. “What do you want to say? You’re sorry, you wish things could be different? What? Whatever it is, you can keep it to yourself. I don’t want to know.”
Danielle was lost for words. He was right. That was exactly the words that had been about to pour from her lips. Hearing them from his mouth made her feel so awful. He nodded, a derisive chuckle falling from his lips before he slammed the door making Danielle jump. She’d never seen him that way before.
She rushed around the hotel room gathering up her things before she dumped them into her purse. Her phone could stay at home for the day, she was in no mood to talk to anyone. Danielle called a taxi before heading out the door. Adjusting the cranberry colored skirt and white blouse, she walked to the elevator. Duke was gone already. She sighed.
“I really am sorry,” she mumbled, just as the elevator pulled up in front of her.
The ride down felt long, lonely. All of the pleasant, warm feelings that she’d had the night before were gone. In their place, there was nothing but bitterness, anger and disappointment. Even then, she knew it was mostly her fault. She’d pushed Duke away when all he wanted to do was take care of her, be there for her.
The elevator pulled to a stop in the lobby. Once the doors slid open she ducked around them making sure that no one was waiting for her, camera in hand, heart racing. Her heels clicked across the floor loudly making her wish that she’d slipped into her black flats instead. When she reached the taxi that was idling outside for her, she slid inside before sliding down a bit.
“Hey,” the driver said with a laugh, “You’re that woman from TV. The agent. They’ve been talking about you all morning on the radio.”
Fallen For A Biker_BWWM Romance Page 21