by Love, Kimmy
Sure, she loved getting attention from men and for the most part, she enjoyed the freedom of being single and the excitement of knowing that she could have any man she wanted. Every night out was a potential opportunity for a romantic affair and a new sexual encounter.
Annaya had to confess that she was starting to grow tired of the revolving door of men in her life. Wouldn't it really be something new to be with one guy for a reasonable length of time? Wouldn't it be something to fall in love and settle down and follow in the steps of all her girlfriends who had managed to find a single man to be with forever?
The feeling of being lonely was one that Annaya wouldn't let herself feel very often, but it was there all the same. It was difficult now that all of her friends had coupled up and were settling down. She simultaneously longed for those wild days of partying and being totally uninhibited as one of a group of single girls and was envious of her friends who'd moved past all that and found something that meant more to them than a fun night.
What was Annaya doing with her life? As she flew home and then took the train back to her own apartment in Bakersfield, she told herself that it was time to make a new commitment to being serious. No more one-night stands. No more fleeting sexual encounters. Jack would be her last wild fling.
It was late by the time that Annaya made it home to her cozy little apartment and she was glad to be able to finally put her feet up and fall back on her bed. She felt exhausted and decided to leave her bag unpacked until the morning, although she did root around in her purse to check her phone. It had been turned off during the flight and she was surprised to find when she flicked it back on, that she had one new voicemail. She listened to it curiously.
The voice on the other end of the line was that of Jack Casali. "Hi Annaya. It's Jack. I just wanted to say sorry again for everything that happened last night and how I handled it. I really meant it when I said it was a shame that you wouldn't be sticking around. You're a beautiful woman."
There was a pause then, as though the confident playboy didn't know what to say and so he quickly changed the topic back to the matter-at-hand. "I'll let you know when the papers go through and in the meantime, please don't tell anyone what happened. Word gets out easy.
“I guess that's all. It was nice meeting you. Bye."
Annaya half-laughed at the awkward voicemail and plugged her cell in to charge, threw off her clothes and crawled beneath the covers. She couldn't help but notice how quiet it was in Bakersfield compared to Vegas and she began to wonder again about the kind of night she'd really had with Jack.
She thought about how it would be nice to have someone with her right now. Still, she decided not to dwell on it. After all, she'd managed to take home the most eligible bachelor in Vegas. Wasn't that some story?
One day, when she was settled down with her husband – a nice, quiet man – she would once again tell stories of her wild youth and they would all laugh about it and how much she had changed. For now, she pulled her covers more tightly around her and pressed her eyes shut, beginning to dream of roulette wheels and dark eyes before she'd even fallen asleep.
*****
"So, what happened with the girl after you'd taken off the other night?"
Jack and Lewis were having drinks at an upscale bar in the center of Vegas. It had been almost three days since Annaya got on a plane and flown away, but Jack still couldn't get her off of his mind. It must have shown, because Lewis was asking more questions than usual. Jack raised his eyebrows in a cross between amusement and exasperation when he recalled all that had happened in one night with Annaya and smiled.
"Remember how you told me to stay out of trouble?"
"That sounds ominous."
"We ended up in some God-awful neon chapel. I woke up in her bed the next morning and found photos of the marriage."
Jack had expected shock or admonition from Lewis, but instead, his friend melted into laughter and gave Jack a brotherly, teasing shove. "How on earth do you get yourself into these situations, Jack? What did you drink?"
"I don't even know," Jack confessed, giving into his own laughter now. "I don't remember a thing we did that night after we left the casino."
"The last I saw of you, you were getting pretty close at the bar. Then you put your arm around her and walked out. So, what are you going to do about the marriage?"
"The papers for an annulment have already been filed. I should be in the clear in just a few days."
"She didn't fight it at all? Try and get a settlement?"
Jack smiled. "She didn't even know who I was, even when I told her – not a flicker. She just didn't want to be in the papers, I think."
"Are you going to see her again?"
"She's flown back to Bakersfield."
"So? That's what private jets are for."
The billionaire's son laughed again. "I think it's best to put it behind me and lie low for a while. I was terrified the next day that I would find it all over the papers. If word ever gets back to my father, then I certainly want to make sure it's at a time when I'm in his good books."
"That's a shame," Lewis said. "You've not seemed that interested in a woman in a long time."
"She was pretty incredible, wasn't she?"
The conversation ended and the two wealthy heirs went their separate ways. As the chauffeur drove him home, all Jack could think about was how amazing Annaya had been. A smile came to his face every time that he imagined her in that navy dress, shooting flirty glances his way across a poker table.
Lewis was right. It had been a long time since a woman had truly captured his attention. After all, his fortune meant that woman came easily. Unfortunately, they tended to be a certain type of woman – shallow, conceited, predictable. Annaya had been something different – free-spirited, seductive, spontaneous. Jack thought about the message he'd left for her on her answering machine and wondered if he should have said more.
No, he decided at last. It was best to let one fun night remain one fun night. In his experience, the trouble with women always began the morning after.
Chapter3
Annaya stared at the little blue line and her legs began to tremble. She thought back to her one night with Jack and her memories were too hazy to remember if there had been a condom amongst all the neon lights and champagne. Yet, six weeks after her one-night-stand with the billionaire, she'd found that her body was telling her that something had changed and there was only one thing that it could be. Now, a pregnancy test confirmed her worst fears and she slowly sat down on the edge of the bath to gather her thoughts as her head began to spin.
She was pregnant by the son of a billionaire casino tycoon and he lived in the playboy capital of the world. When she tried to think of any way that everything was going to turn out alright, she just kept coming back to the fact that someone like Jack would never be there for someone like her. Of course, Natalie was the first to know. Annaya invited her friend over for a cup of tea and it was only when the bride-to-be was sitting down that Annaya felt that she could break the news.
"Hey Nat," she began, trying to sound casual. Her friend's eyes immediately narrowed with suspicion, knowing Annaya too well to believe that any sentence that began with “Hey Nat’’ would be innocent.
"Yes?"
"You remember that one-night stand I had in Vegas?"
"With the billionaire and the elopement? Yes. I vaguely recall."
"Well, it turns out that everything didn't go away as neatly as I'd hoped."
"The marriage didn't get annulled?"
"No. Something else."
"Oh my God, Annaya. You're pregnant, aren't you? Bloody typical! Drama just follows you everywhere you go. Tell me everything."
"I was late and I kept waiting, thinking that it would come and then I started thinking about that night with Jack and thought I better check. Three pregnancy tests down and I don't think there's any doubt left."
"Geez. So, what are you going to do? Have you told him yet?"
"Why would you even question it, Annaya? Of course you need to tell him. Why wouldn't you?"
"Because of who he is. What if he thinks I'm just making it up to get something out of him? Or worse still, what if I go to him for help and he just shrugs me off? There's no way he's going to give up Vegas to come here, so what's even the point of bothering him?"
"Are you serious? Annaya, you're carrying his child. That's not something you keep to yourself. Maybe he'll be there, maybe he won't, but either way, he's got to know."
"You're right," Annaya sighed, burying her head in her hands. "I just don't want him to think I planned it this way."
"Let him think what he likes. You're no gold-digger. He'll have met enough to know. Trust me."
"What should I do? Just call him?"
"Call him."
"I will."
"Go on then."
"Tonight."
Natalie gave her friend a stern look and sighed. "Fine. Tonight. But don't chicken out, Annaya. You need to tell him what's going on. And then tell me what he says."
Annaya felt better after talking to Natalie, who felt sorry for her best friend since childhood. It always seemed that Annaya was the one in the spotlight, jumping from one crisis to the next, while Natalie was the calm and steady rock who kept Annaya anchored in real life. God knew she needed Natalie now.
Annaya was good at hiding it, but she was in a state of shock. Never in a million years would she ever have expected to have found herself pregnant to a stranger at the age of twenty-nine. Of course, she'd always been a bit wild, but she'd expected all that to fade away when she met the right man and settled down. Now, all her plans were in disarray. Who'd take on a single mom in her thirties? Jack Casali?
*****
Jack was surprised to see Annaya's name flashing on his smartphone when the cell began to ring. He assumed she was calling to chase him up about the annulment and so he quickly answered. It surprised him how exciting he found even the sound of her voice and he answered with a confident, "Annaya. Good evening. What can I do for you?"
The voice of the woman on the other end, so flirtatious and sexy that fateful night, now serious, and that immediately made Jack take a seat at his office desk.
"Hi Jack. I'm sorry to be calling you out of the blue, but something's come up."
"What is it?"
"I'm pregnant."
"Pregnant? Are you sure?"
"Positive."
"Is it mine?"
"Of course it's yours! There's been nobody else."
Jack felt his stomach drop and ice run through his veins. He immediately envisioned word of this getting out to his father and his inheritance being ripped away as he was sent away in shame. He knew he had to step up to the mark and help Annaya, but he wanted to do it quietly. He sighed heavily.
"I'll come and see you," he promised. "We'll figure something out. Can you keep the news to yourself until we've had a chance to speak?"
Annaya sighed irritably. She wasn't too impressed that she had Jack's baby growing inside her and his main concern was making sure nobody found out. Still, his offer to come and see her to discuss things was already more than she'd expected from him, so after letting out a long breath, she answered curtly, "Fine."
"Thank you. I'll be there tomorrow. What's your address?"
Annaya reeled off her details and Jack wrote them down. Afterwards, there was a long and painful pause on the line when neither knew what to say. The distance between them made the situation all the more uncomfortable. Jack wasn't always the most emotional or vocal man, but at least if he'd been with her, he'd have been able to take hold of her hand and give it a squeeze of reassurance. As it was, he simple found himself clearing his throat after the silence had continued too long and reiterating that he'd be there the next day.
"Try not to worry about it, OK? I'll sort it out."
*****
"He said he'd sort it out."
"‘Sort it out’? What the hell does that mean?"
"God knows if I know, Nat!"
"It sounds like he's going to send a hit man your way. Jesus."
"It seems to be his way. He said the same thing after finding out about the marriage. ‘I'll sort it out’."
"Typical. Although, I suppose at least he's agreed to come and see you. That's something, isn't it?"
"I think he's just worried I'm going to say something to someone."
"So what? Nobody here knows who he is."
"I suppose it only takes one person to wonder if there's a story in it for it to get out," Annaya sighed. "I don't want it in the press either."
"What are you going to say to him when he comes? Are you going to keep it?"
"I don't know, Nat. I don't think I could get rid of it. That's just not me. Besides, I'm almost thirty. Will I get another chance to have kids?"
Annaya could almost hear Nat's pity emanating down the line when she spoke about her time running out and her friend's voice became gentler in reply. "You've got to make the right decision for you, Annaya. You're a catch. You'll meet the right one."
"We've been saying that for years. Besides, I think I'd be a good mom. Man or no."
"Of course you would. You'd be the best mom. But do you really want to do that on your own?"
"No, not really. But if I have to, I will."
"Whatever you do, you know I'll support you, but just go in with your eyes open, Annaya. It wouldn't be easy on your own."
"I'll see what Jack says when he gets here."
"When does he come?"
"Tomorrow."
"Do you want me to be there with you?"
"No. Thanks, Nat. I'll be OK. Besides, you've got more important things to focus on! You're getting married in a month! Seriously, I'll be fine."
"Well, you know where I am if you need me."
"Thanks, Nat."
Annaya put the phone down and felt her stomach doing little nervous flips. She'd known she was pregnant for a couple of days, but the reality of it hadn't really hit her until she'd called Jack, and now that she'd just spoken to Natalie, the harsh truth of the matter seemed even more real.
Tomorrow, she'd see the sexy Jack Casali again and that sent waves of nervousness coursing through her. What would he say? Would he try and convince her to get rid of it? Would he pay her for her silence? Annaya couldn't help but fear the worst. After all, she'd only known Jack for one night and she hardly remembered any of that time. The man was a stranger with a high profile. What did that mean for Annaya and her baby?
Chapter4
Annaya opened the door and immediately, her breath caught in her throat. Jack was even more handsome than she remembered him. Today he was wearing a smart, grey suit that was tailored to fit every perfect dimension of his sculpted body and his dark hair was combed back. He had just a day's stubble on his cheek, which gave his otherwise chic appearance a slightly rugged look that made Annaya weak at the knees. When she opened the door, he met her eyes and smiled.
"Hello."
"Hi."
"Can I come in?"
"Sure."
Annaya felt slightly embarrassed to let Jack into her tiny little apartment with its cracks in the plaster and old, sagging sofa. She imagined that he never spent time in places as modest as hers and although she'd made sure it was clean and tidy, she was still painfully aware of how small and cramped it must seem in comparison to a mansion and how scruffy all the possessions that she'd owned forever.
She led him into the kitchen and he lingered by the doorway as she set the kettle boiling to make coffee in her old, chipped mugs. They made small talk as she bustled around, both waiting for the moment to be right before they began to address the real reason why Jack was there.
"Nice place. I didn't get to ask you what you do, last time we were together."
"Yeah. I guess we didn't get much chance to cha
t, did we? Well, I'm an office assistant. Exciting, huh?"
"An office assistant? That surprises me."
"What did you think I'd do?"
"Something crazier than that."
"Something more Vegas?"
Jack smiled at that and leaned against the counter casually, letting his eyes run over all the trinkets in her kitchen and the photo of her and Natalie on the wall. He pointed to the picture of the petite bride-to-be.
"She was with you that night, right?"
Annaya looked over her shoulder to see what he was looking at. She smiled. "That's Natalie, my best friend. We were in Vegas for her hen night. She gets married in a month."
"And you? Are you single?"
The hostess let out a little laugh and gave him a slightly questioning look. "What do you think of me? ‘Are you single?,’ ‘Is it mine?’."
Jack let out a little chuckle. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "It's just I don't know you all that well."
"I guess it wasn't the best first impression," Annaya admitted.
She handed Jack his coffee and led him to the sitting room. They both sat down on the sofa and leaned back to talk. Annaya was finding it hard to catch his eye. Every time she did, she thought back to their night together and the half-formed memories of their naked bodies intertwined, or else, she thought of the giant elephant in the room that neither of them was ready to face. More than that, she found his sex appeal disarming and it made it difficult for her to focus on the things they really needed to discuss.
"And how about you? Are you single?"
"Yes."
"Recently single?"
"Long-term single," Jack told her. "I mean, I've met women. I've taken them out. Spent nights with them. But a relationship? No. I'm something of a lone wolf. How about you? Was there a guy?"
"There have been guys. Nothing has stuck, though."
"So, should we talk about what I'm here to talk about?"
Annaya shot him a slightly annoyed look. She'd have preferred that he'd have let the small talk last just slightly longer so that she'd feel less like a stranger to him when they began to discuss the big questions that were looming over them.