“Looks like I got my reward for helping out a fellow Texan right off the bat. Come on, let’s go get this ticket thing straightened out and get you on the way back home and away from the idiot of a man who knocked you up,” she says as she takes me by the arm and leads me out.
Finally, a little help!
Kip
Just my luck, we hit no traffic, and it seems Peyton had turned her phone back on for a few minutes then it went right back off again. I can’t believe she isn’t even reading any of my texts.
The bus has its blinker on and it seems the little group of new authors is about to go eat Chinese food. Finally, I’ll have my chance to get a hold of the stubborn woman. That’s all I need is to be able to touch her and she’ll come back around.
I have no idea what’s sent her off like this, but I’ll get to the bottom of it. Pulling in right behind the tour bus, I wait for her to get out. She may just keep her ass on the bus if she realizes I’m here.
One at a time I see the people leave the bus and then the driver and that’s it. No Peyton.
I jump out of the car. “Hey, can any of you tell me where Peyton is?”
A woman turns back and looks at me. “And you are?”
I jog up to her. “I’m her fiancé.”
Her eyebrows go up. “Didn’t realize she had one of those. She actually told me she was single. So who are you now?”
I grin. Another person trying to protect her. Does the girl have no end to her guardians? “We got back together last night. But something’s happened to her. I left this morning to go get some things set up and let her sleep. Things have gone awry since then. So if you know where she is, I really need to talk to her and see what has her being so crazy.”
The woman narrows her eyes at me as if trying to figure out if she should tell me anything about Peyton or not. “She was feeling sick and has gone home.”
“Sick? Home?” I ask feeling quite confused.
“Home, yes and sick. Okay, so there you go,” she says then turns to leave and calls back over her shoulder. “So if you do know her then you know where home is for her.”
I thought it was with me, but I guess I was wrong. With a quick turn I go back to my car and off to the airport. She must be flying home.
I hope I haven’t missed her!
Peyton
“Wow! So that’s Kip Dixon’s kid you have there?” the young woman who traded tickets with me asks. Her name’s Rachelle Stone, and I found out she’s originally from Round Rock, just outside of Austin and not too far from where I live.
“Yep,” I answer as we sit in the waiting area. Only thirty more minutes then I’ll be out of here.
“You know you’ll be rich when he has to start paying child support.” She takes a bite of her sandwich. She brought some with her and gave me one. She’s going to college at UCLA to be a chef and rarely eats anyone else’s cooking so she takes her own food everywhere.
“Nah, I don’t want his money. I want him. If he doesn’t want us then I’ll just let him go,” I say and feel my heart filling up with heavy sorrow and hope I don’t go to crying again.
“Don’t short change the kid because of some misplaced pride, Peyton. I was a kid who grew up with no father. My mother was young when she had me and it was her parents who really raised me. Times were tough, and I even had to be placed in a children’s home once.” She stops and looks away, I suppose remembering the bad times.
“I’m, sorry, Rachelle. Don’t go back in your mind to a hard time for my sake. And don’t worry about this kid. It’ll never be sent away. If something was to happen to me, I have a slew of brothers who would make sure the kid was taken care of.”
She nods. “That’s good. My mother was an only child and so am I. My grandparents are all I have left. Mom has her own life. I don’t even know where she is right now.”
Her head drops and her dark, straight hair falls down around her face. Deep blue eyes, fringed with long dark lashes look sad. It makes me feel bad that my situation has stirred up bad memories.
“You know we should exchange numbers. We can visit each other when you go to your grandparents to visit. And if I have to bring the baby to visit its father then maybe I could hang out with you while he does that. I’m sure he won’t want me around anyway, not that I could stand that.” I pat her shoulder and she smiles.
“I’d like that, Peyton.”
I take my phone out and turn it back on so we can get each other’s numbers. A quick glance shows me that he’s stopped trying to get in touch with me. I should’ve known he’d stop. But I assume my heart had no idea as it feels like it’s been stabbed a few dozen times.
“Maybe after I have the baby, we could go out clubbing or something like that,” I say as I open my contacts.
“Not for another year. I’m only twenty,” she says and shows me her number. I type it in and send her a text.
“Do you like to ride horses? I have a few,” I say and put my phone back in my purse. I left it on as it seems Kip’s over trying to contact me.
“I haven’t in years, but I do like to. That sounds fun.”
“Now boarding seats one through fifteen,” the stewardess calls out.
“That’s you,” Rachelle says. “I guess I’ll see you around, Peyton. Maybe we can get together this weekend before I come back here on Monday.”
“Yeah, I’ll give you a call or you can call me. Thanks again for the earlier flight and the sandwich. You saved me.”
I get up and she does too and surprises me with a hug. “It’s all going to be okay, Peyton. And just think about keeping the father in this kid’s life, whether you and he have anything or not. Every kid needs both their parents if at all possible.”
“I’ll think about it. Not right now, because I don’t want to go on board and bawl like I have been, but later I will. I promise.” I walk away and get on the plane with a heavy heart.
The thought that maybe I should turn back around and see Kip or at least talk to him on the phone keeps going through my head. He may not be able to accept the feelings he and I have for each other, but he needs to come to terms with what he’s going to feel for this child, if anything.
I take my seat on the plane and turn my phone to airplane mode and lay my head back. I’m not going to call him, I’m not going to do that to myself again. Maybe once I get home, but not now.
Kip
The traffic got worse the minute I got back on the highway to get to the airport. Finally I made it, but now I can’t seem to find her or anyone who knows a damn thing about the flights to Austin. So I’m kind of running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to find the gate to any flight to Texas.
I see a small amount of people getting in line to get on a plane and as I come up I can see it’s going to Austin. But I don’t see Peyton. I walk up to the stewardess who’s taking the tickets.
“Excuse me, did a young woman with blonde curls and hazel eyes, a bit more green than brown and cute little rosebud lips, get on already?”
“Sorry, I can’t tell you anything about the passengers, sir,” she states without even glancing at me.
“But, she’s not just any passenger. She’s my fiancé and her friends told me she was sick and she won’t answer my calls and I’m worried to death about her and she’s having my baby….”
The lady holds her hand up, stopping my ramble. “Sounds like a personal issue. Sorry, sir. I cannot help you.”
I turn around and look down, defeated. She’s gone and I won’t be able to get to her until I get on a plane and get my own ass to Texas. Slow steps I take as I walk away.
“Hey,” a young woman says as I walk past her. “You looking for someone?”
I stop and look at her. “I am, my fiancé, Peyton Reed.”
She shakes her head. “You look really different without all that make-up and hair crap, Kip.”
My surprise must show all over my face as the girl laughs at me. “How do you know who I am?”
“I didn’t leave her. If she would’ve answered my calls, she’d know that. The woman is so crazy, and it makes me nuts. Wait, is she on that plane?”
She nods and I take her by the shoulders. “I need to get her off of it.”
“Yes you do and I think I know how I can get to her and convince her to get off. You see, it’s my ticket she has. So if you’ll wait here, I’m going to go and take it back.” She walks away and I nearly jump up and down with joy.
Somehow she has more clout with the stewardess than I did and she’s allowed to go to the plane. I pace as I wait and pray Peyton doesn’t put up too much of a fight.
A few minutes later another stewardess escorts a rather hassled looking Peyton out and she’s so busy complaining she doesn’t even notice me. “I can’t believe she did that. I need to get my luggage off the plane.”
The lady gestures to the waiting area. “We’re getting that taken care of right now, Miss Reed. If I can get you to wait right here, someone will be bringing it to you shortly.”
“Can you believe what a bitch that girl turned out to be?” Peyton asks the lady.
The lady breaks into a smile. “Sorry about that. It was her ticket though, and she did say she had a good reason.”
“Yeah but…” Peyton says but the stewardess interrupts her as she points at me.
“Seems someone is very interested in you, miss.”
Peyton follows the lady’s finger and finally she lays her eyes on me. They open wide. “What the hell do you want?” she asks as she walks past me.
The stewardess calls out to her. “I need you to stay right here if you want your bags back, mam.”
Peyton turns back quickly and glares at me. “I have to stay, so you have to go.”
“What is it you’re thinking, love?” I ask as I walk slowly towards her as she seems about to take off running if I approach her too quickly.
“Do not, ‘love’ me, you jack ass!”
“Darling, really. What are you thinking? I thought we got back together last night. Isn’t that what happened? Or was I dreaming that?” I ask.
She holds up her left hand and wiggles her fingers at me. “You took my ring, and you left me alone. What do you mean asking me what I’m thinking? Obviously I’m thinking you got all freaked out again and decided I, no we, are too much for you.”
I laugh and quickly stop myself as her face goes red and I’m afraid she’s about to find something and hit me with it. “Look, you got everything wrong, baby. I took the ring to get it fitted. We’re going to pick it up in a few days and get our wedding rings. I wish you would’ve read some of my texts or took one of my phone calls.”
Her eyes go soft. “Really? You didn’t get freaked and leave me? You swear it?”
Slowly I move towards her and she stands still so I may be able to get a hold of her. I run my hands up her arms and pull her to me. “I swear it, love.”
She lets out a deep breath and lays her head against my chest. “Thank God! I thought it was over and I just wanted to die.”
I rock her back and forth as I hug her tight. “Never will it be over, Peyton. You and I are a family now. What we have will never be over. Not ever, love.”
Little sobs I hear as her body starts shaking and pull her back to find her crying. “I hated you so much. Like just a minute ago and now somehow I love you again. What’s wrong with me?”
“Nothing, you just got a little bit stubborn and refused to listen to me and caused yourself a lot of heart ache for no reason, but that’s over now,” I say and pull her back into my chest and run my hand over her hair.
Thankfully a man shows up with her bags. I take one and place the strap over my shoulder and take the handle of the other and roll it as I take Peyton out of the airport and back to my car. Her face buried in my chest the whole way.
I’m not sure if it’s embarrassment or relief she’s crying with, but whatever it is, at least this little mishap is over.
Peyton
My head rests on the soft leather of Kip’s car. My eyes burn and my body aches from all the crying I’ve done. All for no damn reason too. What an idiot I feel like!
“Did I say I was sorry, Kip?”
He takes my hand and kisses it. “You did, and I accepted your apology. Now let’s just put that behind us and move forward. I can see why you thought what you did, and it was partially my fault for leaving without waking you anyway.”
I sigh and wonder what I did to deserve a man as wonderful as Kip. “I need to call my mother and tell her I’m not coming home. Or, do you want to go back and spend Thanksgiving with my family?”
His eyebrows furrow as he thinks then he looks at me and smiles. “Since this is our first holiday together, let’s do it with just the two of us. We’ll do the whole thing together. Go shopping and cook the food. I’ll give the staff the day off and the place will be all ours.”
“I’ve never cooked a turkey, but I have cooked a chicken so how much different could that be?” I smile. “I like that. Just the two of us.”
“Good, that’s settled and first thing next week, we’ll find you a doctor here and get a sonogram done and see what type of kid we need to decorate the nursery for.” I squeeze her hand and hold it on top of my thigh.
“I wonder how my parents are going to take me not living at least near them,” I say and a little homesickness trickles through me.
I thought I was going to sleep in my own bed tonight. Now it seems I’m about to see where I’ll be living. “Didn’t you tell me you had three mansions?” I ask as I look out the window and see one gorgeous mansion after another as we drive through Beverly Hills.
“I have one here, one is Brisbane and one in London.” He makes a turn and pulls up to a tall, black, ornate iron gate.
“So the palace is beyond these gates?” I ask with a giggle. “My Prince Charming is taking me to his palace.”
“Stop it, Peyton. Don’t make a big deal about it. It’s just a place to live. Is it big? Yes. Is it beautiful? Yes. But it’s just a home. Our home, now.”
He pulls up a long drive and I catch my first glimpse of the slightly pink colored walls. Gorgeous flowers surround a monster marble staircase. “Wow, marble on the outside. What could possibly be on the inside of such a grand structure?”
“More marble and some granite and even a little gold,” he says with a laugh. “It’s just a….”
I interrupt. “A home. Yeah I’ve heard. Would you rather I act like I’ve seen things much more grand than this and act blasé?”
He pulls into a massive garage filled with cars and one truck. “I just want you to make it feel like home to you.”
I smile and say, “If you’d like to know the truth, where ever you are is where I feel like home is.”
“There’s that romantic writer in you coming out again.” He takes my hand and kisses it. “Wait right there and let me get the door for you.”
He jumps out before I can tell him I can let myself out of the car. My door opens, and he holds his hand out.
I fight the urge to trail my hand over a bright red Corvette that he parked his Lexus next to. “I like your truck. You should take me for a ride later. It’s even taller than Levi’s.”
“You got it, babe.” His arm goes around me and it feels so good I lean into him and relish the moment. “Your car will be here within three days. They’re sending it out on the next truck.”
“My car?” I ask. “My Jeep?”
We walk into a huge area off the garage after he presses a bunch of numbers on a keypad at the door. “No, your Tesla. I sold it back to the dealer in Austin, and I called this morning. They hadn’t sold it, so I bought it back for you.”
&nb
sp; My heart skips a beat. “I loved that car!”
“Good, then you’ll be happy to have it back.” We enter a huge and completely gorgeous kitchen.
“Wow! Is this where we’ll be making our first Thanksgiving dinner?” I ask as I look around in amazement. Three refrigerators, a gas stove that’s larger than any I’ve ever seen and an island that goes on for miles. “This is amazing!”
“It is, and after the holiday you can hire a cook. I had only a skeleton staff working while I was on tour. The groundskeeper and housekeeper were the only two I kept on.” On he leads me through a dining room with a table for twenty people.
I’m trying so hard to look at this place like my home, but it’s impossible. It’s like a museum or a fancy hotel or something. “Kip, is this the nicest one of your mansions?”
“It’s much more contemporary. And a whole lot newer. The one in London is the oldest and some say it’s haunted,” he says and gooses me.
“Ah!” I bat at his chest. “I’ll have to take my mother there. She loves a good haunted house. She thinks she’s psychic so we can let her test her powers.”
“That’s funny, mine does too. They should hit it off well. Come Christmas we can find out if you’d like to invite your family up. I can send the jet for them.”
“Oh can you, well how lovely,” I say with a snooty tone and he laughs.
Up a marble staircase we go, and he smiles as he looks at me. “You are the first woman I’ve ever brought here, Peyton. You are the first woman I’ve ever brought to my bed.”
I blush and look away. “Kip, stop.”
He opens the first door on the left and a giant four post highly polished red wood bed stands in the middle of the room. A black comforter covers it. He opens a door right off the bedroom and an empty room he gestures to. “I give you the nursery.”
We walk in and the first thing I notice is the beautiful windows and how they let in sunlight and can almost see our baby lying in a crib, bathed in the light. “This is very nice, Kip.”
The Naughty One Page 37