The Perfect Guy: A Romance Novel

by LaCarro, Maria

  I glared at his profile. “So what? I haven’t regretted that decision. I do believe he’s changed. He hasn’t given me any reason to doubt him now. He’s been completely honest with me the entire time.”

  “How can you be so sure, Doll? This guy is a master manipulator. What’s to say he hasn’t just gotten better at his job?” Dad was so worried, and the frown on his forehead was deeper than I’d ever seen it before.

  To reassure him, I placed my hand over his on the gear shift. “He doesn’t have a reason to manipulate me now. He wouldn’t gain anything from it. Renée and George were behind it the last time.”

  “He will gain your trust again before he destroys it,” Dad continued. By now, we had arrived at the station, and we sat in his car so we could finish our conversation.

  “Dad?” He turned his head to look at me. “I think he loves me,” I admitted for the first time. It had been in the back of my mind for a few days now, and even though I couldn’t be completely sure of James’s feelings, I was pretty sure I was right on this point.

  After what James told me that day before he had to leave, I had known that he was at least attracted to me and wanted me, but it wasn’t until he was gone that I really got to thinking about it.

  James knew that being with me wouldn’t be very easy now that I had a baby on the way. I would soon be a mom and that meant I couldn’t waste time on flings that didn’t lead anywhere even though I wasn’t exactly on the hunt for a baby daddy.

  He knew that maybe an unserious relationship could work for the first two years of Baby’s life, but after that, I would have to be careful because I wouldn’t want to cause damage to my child by bringing home strange men all the time—not that I would ever do that. A man wasn’t necessary for me.

  James knew all of this, and he still acted as if he was ready for the long haul. The pregnancy hadn’t come as a lightning struck from heaven, but he still asked me for my number.

  That, to me, could only mean one thing and that was that James had very strong feelings for me.

  Any other man would have run the other way a long time ago.

  Dad nodded slowly before he leaned over to give me a hug. “I trust your judgment, Jennifer. If you say he’s changed, I have to believe that.”

  We went our own ways after that. He had his office on the top floor, while my department was on the third, so after a joint elevator ride up there, I went off with a wave.

  My day at the station was as uneventful as usual. My supervisor, Demetri, wouldn’t let me do anything anymore. I wasn’t allowed inside interrogations, and I was banned from the field. All I did was paperwork from morning til night, and it was more exhausting than anything I’d ever done. It was just so boring, but I guess it was better than being stuck home alone.

  Dad drove me home at the end of the day, and when he asked me how my day had been, I couldn’t hold in my sarcastic answer.

  “The most exciting thing that happened was when I couldn’t reach a pen at the edge of my desk because my stomach was in the way. How do you think my day has been?”

  He chuckled at me. “Maybe your night will be better,” he said in an attempt to cheer me up.

  “I doubt it. I will probably just fall asleep on the couch after watching some boring TV and then wake up with an aching back before going up to bed.” It was safe to say that I was feeling just the tiniest bit bitter today.

  Not only was I tired of being handled like fragile china, but after talking to Dad this morning, I had started to miss James even more.

  How much longer would he have to stay in Chicago, anyway?

  Dad and I continued to chat—or rather, I found out he’d been badgering Sue again on what sex my baby was—and when he pulled up in my drive-way, a familiar car was already parked there.

  I moved in a daze as I unclicked my seatbelt and got out of the car. The driver’s side door opened on the other car, and I found myself taking as large of steps as I could in order to minimize the distance between me and the man that I’d missed so much for the last four weeks.

  I didn’t even hesitate as I placed both of my hands on his face and pulled him down for a kiss. I needed to feel his lips against mine and his hands on my waist.

  “You’re here,” I said breathlessly before kissing him again. I couldn’t explain my feelings in that moment because I had never felt anything like it before.

  It reminded me of the relief when muscles stopped aching after a hard workout, but I hadn’t realized that I felt that ache until it was taken away.

  “Fuck, I’ve missed you,” James breathed out against my mouth, and I believe that was the first time I heard him curse.

  I faintly registered the sound of Dad’s car pull out from my driveway and then disappear down the street. I was glad he left us alone, because right now, that was exactly what I needed.

  My arms remained around James’s neck when we pulled apart and the smile he gave me made me all warm inside.

  “Hi,” he said, and I couldn’t stop the giggle that bubbled up.

  “Hi,” I replied and gave him one last peck on his slightly opened mouth.

  “I like your ‘Welcome Back.’ It almost makes me want to drive away and come back a second time.”

  I narrowed my eyes playfully. “Don’t you dare,” I warned and finally released him. James immediately let his hands trace from my waist to my rounded stomach where he started to caress it softly.

  He started to mumble inaudibly while he continued to touch my stomach and look down at it. Even if I had no idea what he said, the moment was so beautiful that it caused tears in my eyes. James was talking to Baby, and when he was greeted with a kick to his hand, I liked to believe that Baby welcomed him back as well.

  James looked back up at me and saw my tears, but he could also see that it wasn’t because I was sad since I was smiling.

  We entwined our hands, and I led him into my house. He’d been gone for so long, and the last thing I wanted was for my privy neighbors to butt into our reunion.

  CHAPTER 28

  CONFLICTED

  ”Mhm, it smells good,” I heard from behind me, and when I looked over my shoulder, I almost dropped my spatula on the floor at the sight that was currently sitting by my kitchen table.

  Ever since James came back a week ago, I had let him stay in my guest room as I thought it was ridiculous for him to check into an expensive hotel when I had a perfectly good room to spare.

  We hadn’t talked about how long he was staying in Seattle, but I figured he would start looking for a place of his own if he decided to move here permanently, so for the time being, I was okay with him being in my house.

  Still, it did not prepare me for seeing the man I had started to truly desire sit at my kitchen table in an unbuttoned shirt that exposed his entire torso.

  It scared me how perfect I thought he was. He was nicely toned with lean instead of bulky muscles, and it was just the right amount, not too much.

  “Uuh...” was my very intelligent response to his statement. When he met my eyes, the green depths shook me out of my stupor. I blamed my hormones for my brain-dead moment. “Yeah, I hope you like waffles. I always make them on my days off.”

  James smiled. “Definitely.” He stood up and walked to the counter next to me. “Do you mind if I make some coffee?” he asked, and I shook my head. “Do you want some as well?”

  “Sadly, I can’t drink coffee at the moment. I miss it terribly, though,” I said and removed the finished waffle from the iron before pouring more batter in.

  “Right!” James said when he understood. “You know, why is it that pregnant women shouldn’t drink coffee, anyway?”

  I frowned as I thought about it, and then I turned and smiled at him. “I don’t know actually. I never looked it up. Sue told me what foods I should avoid once we knew I was pregnant, and I never questioned it. She’s the expert after all.”

  “True. Can I fix something else for you to drink then?”

  “No, tha
t’s fine. I just need to boil some water for my tea once these are finished. You can help yourself to the finished ones if you want.”

  He shook his head. “I’d rather wait until we can sit down together.”

  Once everything was done, we sat down—I had a third chair which I used to prop up my feet on as they were often swollen nowadays—and dug into the waffles.

  “Wow, these are amazing,” James said with a mouth full. “What have you done with them?”

  I beamed at the compliment. “Sorry, can’t tell you. It’s a secret,” I said with a wink, which caused James to chuckle.

  After breakfast, we both leaned back in our chairs and I started to absentmindedly caress my stomach with small circles—only nine weeks to go now.

  “Do you have any names in mind yet?” James pulled me out of my thoughts, and I had to ask him to repeat his question.

  “Oh, yeah, I don’t know. I have a few from when I was a little girl, but I don’t know how I feel about them now.”

  “Tell me,” he said and leaned forward on his elbows.

  “Well, the first was Alec Christopher James Braun, and the second was Darren Troy Braun, although I want Troy to be the spoken name in that case.”

  “Then why not name him Troy Darren Braun?” James asked with a frown.

  I shrugged. “I like how the reverse sounds better.”

  He nodded and gave me a small, amused smile. “And if it’s a girl?”

  I hesitated. “You’re going to laugh at me.”

  “Why would I laugh at you?”

  “Because of where I found the name.”

  “Try me.”

  I looked at him for a few seconds before I decided to just fuck it. “Okay, well, it was in a book series I read a few years ago where the author had named the main character Heaven Leigh, and I just fell in love with it—especially when she later in the story mashed the names together to create one name: Heavenly.”

  “So Heaven Leigh Braun?” he asked for confirmation.

  I nodded. “Yes. Do you think that sounds too weird?”

  “No, I think it’s beautiful.”

  We sat quiet for a while before James decided to start taking care of the dishes. I knew that as the host, I should have protested, and insisted that I’d do the dishes, but I was too comfortable, so instead, I just thanked him.

  “Thank you so much, James. I’d help, but I kind of got stuck here.”

  He laughed at that. “Don’t worry about it. You made breakfast, so it’s no more than right that I do the dishes.”

  When he was done, he walked up to me. “Do you have work tomorrow?” he asked.

  “No, why?”

  “I want to take you out tonight if you’re up for it.”

  “That depends on what you have in mind,” I said and moaned embarrassingly loud when he sat down on the chair and pulled my feet into his lap and started to dig into them with his thumbs. I was amazed that he did it just like that without me asking him. He seemed to know exactly where to press, and when he hit a particularly sore spot, my entire leg jerked.

  “Shit! Where have you learnt to do that?” I asked.

  His eyes darkened for a second, and he frowned as he concentrated on my feet. “You don’t want to know,” he mumbled.

  Before, I would have pressed him for an answer, but I had a feeling that he was telling the truth now and that I really wouldn’t want to know, so I left it at that and tried to focus on what we’d been talking about before.

  “So, another date, huh? Well, as long as you’re not planning on hiking, I’m up for it.”

  The darkness from his eyes disappeared, and he smiled at me. “Great, and don’t worry! We’re driving to the location.”

  “Then I have nothing to complain about.”

  It was interesting, James’s intent with this date.

  He said that he wanted the night to be easy and fun, a chance for us to get to know each other in a different way than before. He meant that in order for us to find out if a relationship between us would be possible, we needed to know the small, almost insignificant details about each other.

  It was all about those small questions that normally wouldn’t really make a difference, but they seemed important to him. He wanted to know about my favorites, such as food, movies and music, and he gave me answers in return.

  Apparently, he was very weak for old school rock ‘n roll. “I know I told you that I’ve never touched an instrument in my entire life, and that’s true. I’ve wanted to, though, but it was never a desire very high on my list.”

  I was silent for a few seconds, and then opened my mouth to ask a question, but I thought better of it and closed it again. Of course, James saw that and had to call me out on it.

  “What?”

  “Nothing,” I said. I didn’t want to bring the mood down, and the question wasn’t that important anyway. Besides, James had said he wanted the date to be fun and easy.

  “Jenn, I don’t want you to ever feel as if you can’t say what’s on your mind.”

  I shook my head. “No, it’s not that. I just thought that the question wasn’t fitting for this particular date. I’d rather we continue with what we have right now. Let’s just forget it.” I waved my hand, and even though I could see the desire in James’s eyes to push, he didn’t.

  “So what is it that has made you like old school rock so much?” I asked and took a huge bite out of my corn dog. Since it was still in the middle of August, it wasn’t too dark outside, and we were currently sitting on a bench outside. We had eaten an early dinner before we went out, but I was hungry again, hence the corn dog.

  He shrugged. “I guess it’s because Mom always listened to it while I grew up and probably because that genre exploded during the first ten years of my life.”

  We continued the date like that, until eventually James thought it was time for us to head home. It was the first date we’d had since he came back from Chicago, and I had to admit that it felt rather strange that we didn’t separate afterwards, but instead went home to my place together.

  However, James still gave me the sweetest kiss on the porch before we went inside. It was just so tender that I almost melted in his arms.

  When we pulled apart and James walked through the door, I knew then that I was in big trouble, because I’d realized with that kiss that I had once again fallen for James Masen.

  Another week had passed and I was starting to get worried because I hadn’t seen James even try to find a place of his own.

  It wasn’t that he was difficult to live with. On the contrary, he was the perfect housemate. He helped me with chores around the house that were too heavy for me now that I had entered my third trimester, he helped me with grocery shopping, as well as pay for half of the expenses, he did the dishes, he cooked, and he cleaned after himself.

  I really didn’t have anything to complain about except that I was starting to freak out since the romantic aspect of our relationship had blossomed since our date, and living with the guy you were dating and had only recently fallen for was just way too fast.

  I didn’t feel like I could truly process everything going on in my head because James was always there. I woke up in the morning, and he was there. I came home after work, and he was there. I lounged on my couch on a Sunday afternoon, and he was there.

  I knew he wasn’t trying to crowd me, but I realized that I truly needed my own space right now. There was just too much going on now with the baby, and I felt that unless I got some me-time soon, I was going to explode.

  But I also needed to know about James’s ideas of the future. We had never really talked about his part in the little family I was starting. Was he truly willing to take on a role and be a part of my baby’s life?

  So, one night when I was lying on the couch, watching some TV with James once again massaging my feet without me asking, I just blurted it out.

  “James, are you really prepared for all of this?”

  He stopped massaging and
frowned. “What do you mean? Prepared for what?”

  “Are you considering the future when you say that you want me? Because you know that I come with baggage now. If you want to be with me, you’ll have a baby on your neck.”

  He looked at me. “I know that.”

  “Do you really?” I pressed. “Because once Baby’s here, my attention will be very divided. A relationship between us won’t become easier, and if you don’t think you can handle that, I think we should end this before it can begin, because I don’t want to put my child through the confusion of having to see his only father figure—because that’s what you’ll become—disappear one day because he can’t take it.”

  “Jenn, I would ne—”

  “Don’t say ‘never,’” I interrupted. “I want you to really think about this. Do you think you could handle taking care of a baby that’s not yours? To one day be called ‘Dada’ and still know that you’re not the father? Would you truly be able to have a relationship with a single mom?”

  I swung my legs over the side of the couch and—with slight difficulty—stood up. I walked so that I was standing in front of him, and he bent his head backwards to maintain eye contact.

  “Since you came back from Chicago, things have been great between us. But having you live with me has got me thinking. I don’t want to push you into a family situation like this if you don’t feel ready for it. There’s still time to walk away, and I would be fine with that.”

  James stood up, his front brushed against mine with the action, and it caused several sensations to shoot through my body. With my hormones running wild the way they did, I was amazed that I hadn’t tried to devour the man yet.

  It was an accomplishment for me that I hadn’t had sex with James, because that’s what I had done with my past relationships, get the sex out of the way to erase all the nervousness, although that had proven to be a very stupid plan of action.

  “But I wouldn’t be fine with it, Jenn,” he said with feeling while staring into my eyes. “I can’t just walk away from you now, or Baby, who I’ve come to accept as someone who’ll always be with you. I had quite a lot of time to think about all of this in Chicago, and though I can admit to you that I felt a moment of panic, I don’t feel that way anymore. I know it won’t be easy, and I know that it’s a huge responsibility that I’m taking on by telling you this, but I can’t think of another person I would like to share the responsibility with than you.”