“Jade and I are getting married,” James said. “And it’s not simply for the sake of our child.”
Maurice nodded. “Do you know for sure that you two are having a baby?”
As if on cue, Jade’s cell phone rang. “Hello,” she said.
“Ms. Christian, this is Nurse Neill from the doctor’s office, and I have news for you.”
“Okay,” Jade said breathlessly.
“Congratulations. You’re pregnant. You’re going to need to see your regular obstetrician to get an ultrasound and a due date,” the nurse said.
“All right,” Jade said, then hung up the phone, with mixed emotions.
James and Maurice looked at her and begged with their eyes to know the news.
“So?” James asked after a few moments of silence passed.
“We’re having a baby,” she said quietly.
James turned around and pulled her into his arms. He gently kissed her on the cheek. “Are you all right?”
She nodded and placed her hand against his chest. “I’m going inside,” she whispered.
Maurice walked up the steps and stood near his brother. “Good news?”
“Go home,” James said. “Jade and I need a moment alone. And let me tell Ma that I’m getting married.”
Maurice threw his hands up. “All right. But I meant what I said.”
“All right. Whatever.” James walked inside and closed the door in his brother’s face.
Jade sat on the sofa, trying to digest all the information that she’d received in the last five minutes. First, Kenya had told her that Stephen had filed a countersuit against her, claiming that she’d used inside information to purchase the building in Charlotte, and that he was suing her for 1.5 million dollars. And on top of that, she had got the confirmation that she was indeed pregnant. As James crossed over to her, she tried to smile.
He took her hands in his and kissed them. “So, that call from Kenya wasn’t good news?” he asked knowingly.
“The bastard’s suing me for over a million dollars,” Jade said. “I can’t believe he has the nerve.”
“He’s an asshole. That’s just who Stephen is.”
“This is too much,” she said. “I don’t want to battle this thing out with him in court. Not now.”
“We’ll figure something out,” James said. “Don’t even worry about it right now.”
“I have to get back to Atlanta and let the girls know. I got them into this mess, and I’m going to have to get them out of it.”
“You want to leave now?” he asked.
Jade nodded. “The sooner I let them know about Stephen’s countersuit, the better. We’re going to have to stand together on this if we’re ever going to get this restaurant opened.”
“I can’t believe he’s suing you when it was your money that helped him get where he is, slimy son of a bitch.”
Jade smiled despite herself. Her future husband had her back, and that was all the affirmation she needed to know that she was going to make it through all this—the pregnancy and Stephen’s lawsuit.
Kenya had told her that all they needed to do was answer the countersuit and prove that Stephen had used her money to research the restaurant’s location.
Leaning against James, she closed her eyes and exhaled. “Maybe I don’t have to hurry back to Atlanta. I want to get some rest.”
James led her to the bedroom and watched her as she stretched out on the bed. Within minutes, she was asleep, and he crept out of the bedroom and grabbed the phone. He wanted to end this thing with Stephen before it got too far out of hand, and if he had to offer the bastard an olive branch, then he would do it. James prayed he wouldn’t have to beat him over the head with that same branch.
He dialed 411 and asked for Stephen’s number in Atlanta. The operator gave him the number and told him that for an additional seventy-five cents, the number could be automatically dialed. James opted for it, because he didn’t want to write the son of a bitch’s telephone number down.
“This is Stephen,” a man said when he answered the phone.
“Stephen, it’s James Goings.”
“What the hell do you want?”
“You need to end this thing with Jade.”
Stephen laughed. “I’m not ending a thing. She started this war when she filed that suit against me and stole my restaurant. Forget her and don’t call me, trying to play hero.”
“Listen to me for once in your sorry damned life. Why don’t you try to do the right thing?” James snarled. “You know that you wouldn’t have the success that you do if you hadn’t stolen from women, including my mother.”
“Not that again. Will you let it go? Don’t be mad at me because I have a booming restaurant and your mother is stuck in the slums, running a bakery that she doesn’t even own.”
I should hang up this phone, because he’s two seconds from getting cursed out. Who in the hell does he think he is? “Look,” James said. “If things are going so well for you, why don’t you just give Jade her investment back and let this thing go? She’s moved on. Why don’t you do the same?”
Stephen laughed again. “You think you got something real special, don’t you? If I decided right now that I wanted her back, I could have her.”
It was James’s turn to laugh. “This isn’t some pissing contest over a woman who loves me. It’s about you doing the right thing.”
“James, you and that bitch can go to hell. I’ll see her in court, unless I decide to go to her house tonight and get an out-of-court settlement, if you know what I mean.”
James slammed the phone down because if Stephen said another disrespectful thing, he was going to drive to Atlanta and give him another beat down. Turning around with a scowl on his face, he saw Jade standing behind him.
“I wish you hadn’t done that,” she said.
“What?”
“Called Stephen. James, you know how he is, and that call is only going to make matters worse,” she said.
“First of all, I don’t want you to worry about that and to go through added stress because of that... .”
“You’re stressing me right now,” she said, closing her hands over her ears. “Seriously, James, this thing with Stephen has been a problem for us since we met, and I don’t need you to get involved now.”
“And I don’t want you to get so worked up over him that something happens to you or the baby.”
She shook her head. “I’m pregnant. I’m not an invalid. Isn’t that what you told Maurice about Kenya?”
“Will you calm down?” James said evenly. “I’m not trying to stress you, but Stephen is—”
“My problem and Kenya and I will handle it. Please don’t go behind my back in the name of helping me,” she said, then stomped back to the bedroom.
I can’t win for losing, he thought as he followed her. James reached out and grabbed her elbow. “Do you want me to apologize for trying to make things right? Because I’m not.”
“What?”
“We’re getting married, we’re going to have a partnership, and if I see something is going to hurt you, then I’m not going to stand by and watch it happen. Do you think I’m sorry for wanting to protect you? Well, I’m not.”
She looked at him, not saying a word. Though she wanted to be angry, Jade realized that this was just what she’d wanted all her life. She wanted to be protected, and she wanted someone to look out for her best interests. However, now that it looked as if she had it, she didn’t know how to handle it.
“Jade,” he said.
“What?”
“I love you, and I want you to know that we’re not always going to agree, but I’m always going to have your back. If that means calling an asshole like Stephen and trying to appeal to his human side, then I’m going to do it.”
She couldn’t fight anymore, and she opened her arms to him, beckoning him to embrace her. James hugged her tightly, pulling her against his chest. Then he gently kissed her lips, all the while whispering
how much he loved her. A lone tear slid down her cheek.
“I love you, too,” she replied before he kissed her again.
This time it was fiery, the kind of kiss that made her weak. When his hands slipped up the back of her blouse, she melted against him. His touch made everything seem all right, made her forget that there was a world outside. It was love, it was special, and it was going to be this way forever. Hungrily, she responded to his probing kiss, and her tongue touched his as he pulled her closer to him. Then they fell against the bed. Jade straddled his body, breaking off the kiss long enough to unzip his pants while he unbuttoned her blouse. He slipped her bra straps from her shoulders as she ground against his stiff manhood. James leaned in, outlining her erect nipples with his tongue. Moaning, she sped up her grinding, then pulled him inside her wetness.
James released a guttural groan as she enveloped him in her warmth. She rode him so hard and so fast that he grabbed her hips just to keep pace. He thrust his pelvis forward, hitting her in the center of her G-spot. Jade shuddered with growing desire. Stretching her arms above her head, she cried out his name as she arched her back and took his full length deeper inside her. James pressed deeper, holding her hips steady as he lost himself inside her wetness, feeling as if he were swimming in a heated pond on the most beautiful place on earth. Jade gripped his shoulders as her body shook. Neither of them wanted the feeling to end or the passion to diminish. They slowed their pace, gently rocking back and forth, riding a wave of ecstasy that ebbed like the waning tide of the sea. James kissed her, softly capturing her lips like an elusive butterfly.
“I love you,” he whispered in between kisses.
Breathlessly, she replied, “I love you, too.”
Finally, they reached their climax, collapsing in each other’s arms. He sought out her lips again, tracing their lushness with the tip of his tongue.
Jade smiled. “Stop,” she said playfully. “That tickles.”
James laughed and pulled her closer. “I guess we need to think about getting you home.”
“And I was starting to think of this bed as home,” she said, then kissed him on the cheek.
“It will be as soon as we move your stuff from Atlanta, and we have to tell my mother about the upcoming wedding and the baby,” he said.
She snuggled closer to him and sighed. “I love you so much,” she said.
“Same here, baby,” he said. Then they both drifted off to sleep.
The ringing of James’s phone woke him and Jade around eleven that night. Groggily, James rolled over and picked up the phone. “Hello?”
“James, it’s Serena.”
“How did you get my home number?” he asked.
“That’s not important. Do you know where Jade is?”
“She’s asleep.”
“Can you wake her up, please? It’s important.” Serena’s voice sounded desperate, and James felt compelled to wake Jade.
“It’s Serena,” he said as he held the phone out to a confused-looking Jade.
“Yeah?” Jade said when she took the handset.
“I was talking to one of the editors at the AJC at dinner, and he said there is going to be a front-page story about Stephen’s lawsuit against you in tomorrow’s paper.”
“What?” Jade answered, bolting straight up in the bed. “How did ... Is there any way your editor friend can stop the story?”
“No,” Serena said. “I tried. I told him that he should at least get your side before running the story, and he said he spoke with your attorney, who said, ‘No comment.’ Why didn’t she just say something or have them call you? Do you know her mother is the executive editor of the paper? If she can’t get that story killed, maybe you need a new attorney.”
“Calm down, Serena,” Jade said, then yawned. “Sometimes it’s best to keep quiet.”
“You do realize how this is making you and us look?”
“Stephen and I are going to court, and we’re going to handle this. I don’t care what lies he’s telling the media. But right now I’m going back to sleep, and maybe you ought to do the same.”
“Whatever,” Serena said. “When are you coming back to Atlanta to clean up this mess?”
“I’ll be there in the morning, after I meet with Kenya.”
“All right,” Serena said. “And tell James I’m sorry that I called his home phone.”
“Okay,” Jade said, then handed the phone back to James.
“What’s wrong?” he asked as he hung up the phone.
“Stephen went to the press with the lawsuit, and there’s going to be a huge story in the AJC tomorrow.”
James uttered a bombastic curse and shook his head. “What does he hope to accomplish?”
Lying back in the bed and in James’s arms, she shrugged. “Can we just deal with it tomorrow?” She planted a sweet kiss on his chest. “Let’s go back to sleep.”
The next morning James and Jade got an early start heading to Atlanta. They stopped off for coffee and doughnuts at Krispy Kreme, and then it was full steam ahead.
“Too bad we couldn’t wait for some of your mother’s cinnamon buns,” she said as she crumpled half of her glazed doughnut in a napkin.
“You just want the icing,” James joked.
“Dripping all over you,” she replied, with a smile.
“Funny,” he said. “But you know I can arrange that.”
Jade smiled and curled up in the seat. James glanced at her as she closed her eyes, and smiled. He would do anything to protect Jade and their child. Stephen wasn’t going to get away with trying to embarrass her, and James wasn’t going to sit by idly and let her be hurt by his lies.
Whatever it takes to keep her safe, I’m going to do it, he thought, fully focusing on the road.
CHAPTER 28
James and Jade arrived in Atlanta about 9:30. The first thing Jade did was make James stop at the first gas station that sold the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She plopped fifty cents on the counter after picking up a copy of the paper, and there it was on the front page: RESTAURATEUR CLAIMS EX-LOVER OUT TO RUIN HIS BUSINESS.
“You mean to tell me there’s no other news going on in Atlanta,” she mumbled as she read the story back in the car. It read like a fictional tome. According to the paper, Jade was a vindictive and scorned lover who had once worked for Stephen, and when the relationship was over, she’d used insider information to block his expansion attempt and sued him for a gift she’d given him.
That son of a bitch, she thought as she balled up the paper.
“That bad?” James asked.
She nodded and squinted her eyes. “I just wish he would fall off the face of the earth.”
“So do I.”
Jade stopped short of asking him how they could make it happen. Instead, she just uncrumpled the paper and continued reading the story. Each paragraph made her anger grow like a wildfire.
“I can’t believe this,” she said. “That ass claims that I’m suing him because our relationship ended with him finding his true soul mate. As if I give a damn about him and Miss Plastic. This is an embarrassment. I can’t believe a reputable paper would’ve printed this nonsense.” Jade rolled the window down and tossed the paper out. “It’s as if I just read the National Enquirer or something.”
“You know, littering is a crime,” James said. “Forget what he said in that paper. We know the truth, and after this court case, so will everyone else.”
“I hope Kenya can make this go away.”
“I bet she can. She’s a hell of an attorney. And trust me, Stephen has no idea as to what he’s stepped in.”
Jade smiled, imagining Stephen losing in court and her reputation being restored.
“Jade?” James said.
“Hmm?”
“I asked you if you wanted to head home first or go to my mom’s bakery.”
“We can go to the bakery first. Maybe a few of your mom’s treats will put me in a better mood.”
James grinned and shot
her a seductive glance that told her he knew how to fix her attitude. She smacked him on the shoulder as she read his racy thoughts.
“What did I do?” he asked, with a smile.
“I know what you were thinking,” she said, and before she could say more, her cell phone rang. “Hello?”
“Jade, it’s Kenya. I’m so sorry about that story in the AJC. I have a good mind to sue them for libel, but my mother would kill me.”
“I’m in Atlanta now. This is getting out of hand,” Jade replied.
“I know. But we’re going to win, because Stephen laid out his case in the press, and it doesn’t match what he said in the suit. He’s going to regret that story. So, do me a favor and avoid him at all costs.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Jade replied.
“Do me a favor and relay that message to James,” Kenya said knowingly.
Jade looked over at her man and smiled. “I’ll let him know,” she said.
“Let me know what?” James asked when she’d placed her phone back in her pocket.
“To stay away from Stephen. Kenya’s orders.”
James mumbled under his breath and then said, “Let’s hope I don’t accidentally on purpose run into him fist first.”
“James!” Jade exclaimed.
“Kidding, only kidding,” he said unconvincingly.
“Sure you are.” She shook her head. “Promise me that you’re going to be cool.”
“All I can do is try,” he replied.
James pulled up to the bakery and was surprised to see a line of people standing at the entrance. “I wonder what’s going on,” he said as he put the car in park.
“I don’t know,” Jade said, “but can we bottle some of it and take it back to Charlotte when we open the restaurant?”
He laughed as they got out of the car. He pushed through the crowd to get to the door, and he pulled on it, finding that it was locked. He looked inside and saw his mother sitting at one of the tables, with her head down. James banged on the door, calling out his mother’s name. Maryann turned and looked at the door. Slowly, she walked over to the entrance and unlocked the door. She ushered James and Jade in, then told the other patrons that the bakery was closed until further notice.
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