by Teona Bell
Her Best Friend’s Baby
By Teona Bell
Published by Shelby Clark
jamocharomanceink.blogspot.com
Copyright © November 2012, Teona Bell
Cover art by The Killion Group, Inc. © November 2012
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Chapter One
“Zai, mind if I come over right now?” Leith asked.
Zaierra pried her eyes open to glance at the clock on her nightstand. Two a.m., and she had to be in the office early to prepare for the executive meeting. The big wigs were coming in from all over the country to strategize. They did it every year, and she knew the routine for ordering them breakfast, lunch, and dinner since they’d be at all day. She already had her handouts started, and no doubt her boss would have more and changes because he couldn’t let her enjoy the well-oiled machine she had going in his department.
Of course Leith knew all of this because he was one of the junior executives, and he would be in on the meeting. She knew what he would eat and need even though she wasn’t his assistant, because they had been friends since high school.
“You’ve never asked before,” she grumbled, “and you have a key. Why are you waking me up at this ungodly hour, Leith Stone?”
“I’ll be there in half an hour.” The line went dead. She blinked at it and then hung it up, or attempted to. The receiver missed the base and crashed on the floor. Leith had been the one to bug her to get a landline since half the time at home she forgot to charge her cell. What would she do without him?
“Sleep,” she muttered into her pillow and drifted off. The next time she woke up, it was to the feel of Leith’s big body crushing her when he dropped onto her bed. Zaierra shoved at him, groaning. “Get off, you big ape.”
Leith didn’t move. She reached up to touch his head, her fingers tangling in his silky hair. He said something she didn’t catch, but they stayed there with him half on top of her, a thick comforter separating their bodies. Zaierra drifted off again with the sound of Leith’s quiet breathing above her.
In the morning, she woke to the sound of the shower going and the scent of coffee brewing. This routine was nothing new. Often Leith came to her apartment unannounced, used the shower, and found clothes for himself already hanging in the closet. They were like an old married couple with none of the physical benefits. Not that Leith used her. He’d pulled her ass out of the fire more than once. They just came from two different worlds that happened to collide in the same school. Leith came from an upper middle class family, and his parents provided him with a top education in one of the finest universities. Zaierra worked her way through community college and later transferred to the cheapest university she could find. Circumstances forced her to drop to part time, and she had finally finished last year. She expected to move up in her career one way or another, whether it was at Hanson and Associates where she and Leith worked, or somewhere else. One issue got in the way of that plan, an issue that had grown larger over the last couple of years, and no matter what she did, she couldn’t shake the idea of it.
Zaierra rose from the bed and shuffled into the bathroom. She didn’t bother putting on a robe. Leith had seen her down to skin plenty of times. Not on purpose of course, but it happened. She’d seen him too, and boy oh boy that man had a body. If he weren’t her best friend, she wouldn’t mind sampling the goods.
At the sink, she began brushing her teeth. “So, what’s up?” she mumbled around a mouthful of paste.
Leith didn’t answer right away, and she thought he didn’t hear her. She opened her mouth to speak louder, but he cut her off. “I ended it.”
She stared at the reflection of the shower behind her. “You’re serious?”
The shower door slid to the side, and Leith came into view. She forced her gaze to stay on his face, but her peripheral vision took in the big chest and broad shoulders. Water glistened on his taut skin, rolling downward. She shouldn’t be attracted to Leith, but damn if she wasn’t. That made her dilemma and the solution her crazy brain had come up with that much harder to dismiss.
“You broke up with Jenna Slutty, I mean Hutty?”
Leith glared at her.
Zaierra shrugged. “Come on. You have to admit her name does rhyme with slutty, and her character…”
“Okay, you’ve made it clear from the start what you thought of her.”
“And you made it just as clear you wanted her for her looks. You let her wrap you around her little finger and play with your emotions. I don’t know how many times I had to resist kicking her ass for the way she treated you, but if you say you’re done, that’s good enough for me.”
He ran a towel over his skin and wrapped it around his waist. Only then did she let her gaze travel lower to his abs. Mercy. They were toned to perfection, ripped, and hard. She knew just how hard because she’d teased him about washing clothes on them and used the excuse to run her fingers over his body. Leith had done the same with her. Not her abs because she fought with a pouch and extra weight around the hips and thighs, but just like he did last night, he liked to jump on her and tickle her until she cried uncle.
“Yeah, I’m finished being manipulated. Jenna liked to make everything a big production.”
“Only when you controlled the money too much.”
He had been on the way to the door and stopped to look back at her. “What was that?”
She smiled. “Nothing.”
Leith eyed her with suspicion, but he didn’t push. He left the bathroom, and she took her time with her shower and getting her hair together. By the time she walked into her room, Leith had vacated it and left his yummy male scent behind. Quiet prevailed in the apartment, and she moved to the kitchen to find a breakfast plate and coffee waiting. A note from Leith told her he’d see her later, and she sat down to eat. While she chewed her bacon, she considered whether she’d talk to Leith about her idea. Now that they were both free, it might work. The question was, would he agree and could she handle it if he did.
* * * *
Zaierra made her way around the conference table handing out drinks. A couple of the other assistants distributed lunch selections. Zaierra noticed how Cammie, Leith’s assistant, leaned over him a lot more than the others, showing off her cleavage as if she thought that would get his attention. She couldn’t know Leith would never go there, not where his buddy had been. Cammie dated one of the other execs a couple years before, but it didn’t work out. Everyone said mixing it up in the office was against policy. No one followed the edict, not even the big boss, who everyone suspected of having a thing with the CFO.
When she left the conference room, Zaierra returned to her desk to get some other work done. Cammie darted up not five minutes later, interrupting her flow. “Zai, I need you to cover my phone really quick, please. I’ll owe you one.”
Zaierra frowned. “Why? Where are you going?”
Cammie widened her eyes, and Zaierra got it.
“Okay, sure, but hurry up. I’ve got two other lines including my own, and I have to get this order in along with a million other tasks.”
Cammie thanked her and jetted from the area. The light on Zaierra’s phone lit up when it rang, and she knew Cammie had transferred Leith’s calls. The world seemed determined to disturb her when it rang again. She sighed and stabbed the button to answer. “Good afternoon, Leith Stone’s office.”
“I’d like to speak to Leith, please.”
Zaierra gritted her teeth. She recognized the skank of an ex-girlfriend right off, but apparently, Jenna didn’t pick up her voice or she wouldn’t have added please on the end of her sentence.
“I’m sorry, he’s in a meeting for the rest of the day. May I put you into his voicemail?”
The grumble of annoyance came through loud and clear. “This is an emergency. Go in and get him.”
Zaierra grinned. “Leith requested all calls be held. I’ll put you into his voicemail.”
Before Jenna could say another word, Zaierra transferred her, but she dialed over to a catchall mailbox, one she knew was not Leith’s personal box. After a few minutes, she checked the box that all the assistants had access to and heard Jenna’s whiny voice begging Leith to call her. Zaierra rolled her eyes and pushed the number for delete. Leith was free of that woman, and if she had anything to say about it, he would not fall into her trap again. No more using him for his money and for eye candy when it worked for her.
She fielded two more calls from Jenna over the next two hours and wondered just how long Cammie needed to pick up some dang pads from the store. When she called in sick and didn’t return, the brunt of taking care of the executives fell on Zaierra’s shoulders for the rest of the day, and late that night, she finally made it home to collapse on her couch, face down. If nothing else, she needed to move on structuring her life for a lot more meaning, and it would start with Leith.
Chapter Two
Zaierra must have dozed off because she became aware of hands touching her. She opened her eyes to find Leith sitting at the end of the couch massaging her feet. She moaned and closed her eyes. Her friend tended to be around more when he didn’t have a woman in his life, but he never stayed single long, not with his sexual appetite.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey, yourself. I’m sorry you had to deal with so much today.”
She grunted. “All in a day’s work. I’m Superwoman if you didn’t know.”
“Yes, I already knew that.” He pressed an expert thumb in a crucial spot at the base of her foot, and she moaned again.
“Mm, that feels so good. Yeah, right there.”
Leith shifted on the chair. “Stop that. You make it sound like I’m fucking you.”
She smirked. “You wish.”
“Maybe I do.”
She opened her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him. “Please, that sampling of a black woman ship has sailed. From my last count, you’ve had two black girlfriends and one Asian.”
“You make me sound like a man whore.”
Zaierra didn’t comment, and he gave her an extra jab that made her yelp. She kicked him and sat up. Tiredness lined his eyes, and she felt sorry for him. Leith probably deserved a massage too.
“Turn around,” she ordered. “Let me get your shoulders.”
He did as she asked, and Zaierra slid up close. Not intending to, she bumped his back with her breasts, and he stiffened. She worked the tension from his shoulders, going after every knot she found. They sat in silence a long time while she worked up the nerve to ask him about her thoughts.
“Jenna called you all day.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. She said it was important.”
“Not interested.”
“I didn’t think so.” She chewed her lip for a bit. “Um, you know I’m not getting any younger, right?”
He chuckled. “Neither of us are. We’re thirty-one.”
She clicked with her tongue. “I’m still thirty, thank you very much. Let me have my three months.”
“Pardon me.” His deep, rumbling voice sent a sensation through her she didn’t care to explore.
“Anyway, I was thinking.” She swallowed, her heart hammering in her chest. “None of the guys I’ve ever gone out with have turned out to be any good. For the first time in a really long time, we’re both single. I want a baby.”
Leith sprung up from the chair, almost knocking her onto the floor. She caught herself and straightened, frowning at him. He stood above her, eyebrows practically in his hairline. “What are you saying?”
Zaierra stood up, not liking how he towered over her. She rung her hands and paced in her tiny living room. “I’m not asking for us to see each other, but I need a man to father my baby. I can’t even fathom going to a sperm bank. The thought makes me cringe, but my biological clock is ticking away, and it’s looking like my eggs will be powder long before anyone decent comes along.” With a small bit of bravado, she turned to face him. “So, I’m asking you if you will get me pregnant. You don’t have to take care of the baby at all or be in his or her life. I’ll take care of everything. I just want a little one to love. Will you get me pregnant?”
Leith’s shocked gaze dropped from her face to her breasts and down to her hips, then back up. “You spring something like this one me, and then stand there asking if I will do it as if I have to answer now? And the way you said it…”
“What? I just said—”
He held up a hand, a move he stole from her. “I know what you said, Zai. What this amounts to is you want me to fuck you.”
“You don’t have to be so crass, and it’s not about sex.”
He narrowed his eyes.
“I mean it’s about sex, but only to make the baby.” She chewed her thumbnail. “I guess I could ask Joe. You remember he was into me, and he’s intelligent and cute.”
“Obsessive,” Leith snapped. “He would not leave you to raise your child alone. He would see it as an in to your life, to control you. No, you’re not going to ask him, because I’d end up having to kill him and get thrown into prison. Who would take care of you then?”
She shook her head. “Please. I take care of you way more than you take care of me, but you’re probably right about Joe.”
“I am.” He folded his arms across a powerful chest.
Zaierra couldn’t help noticing how good he looked even after a long day at work. His collared shirt scarcely displayed any wrinkles, and he still smelled incredible enough to eat. Realizing where her thoughts strayed, she pulled herself together and got back to the topic at hand.
“You don’t have to answer right away. I mean, well… I’ve been tracking when I’m ovulating for a while now, and I will be in a couple of days. We could start then or wait until next month.”
His lips set in a firm line, reminding her of the one kiss they’d shared in high school. “Just how long have you been thinking about this?”
“Wouldn’t it be lame if I said I’d decided last night? No, this has been on my mind for months. I didn’t think of you as a candidate at first. I don’t want anything to screw with our friendship, but the fact of the matter is there’s no one else. I know you in and out, and you would make an awesome dad.”
Her statement causing his face to redden surprised her. Leith never blushed. He’d done too much, lived too many crazy experiences of his own making. She thought she caught pleasure in his gaze, but it disappeared no sooner than appearing.
“Not that I’m asking you to be my baby’s daddy.” She ran a hand over her face and dropped onto the couch. “I’m messing this up big time. Okay, I want you to be my baby’s daddy. That’s it. You just have to provide the sperm, and since I can’t afford in vitro, we would have to do it the old fashioned way. Um, I don’t think I’m a complete anecdote, so it might not be so bad for you.”
With her last words, she’d lowered her gaze, embarrassed to look in his face. Leith came and sat down beside her, so close his thigh brushed hers. Once again desire ignited inside her, but she wouldn’t be the first woman to be attracted to her best male friend. She and Leith had never crossed the line with each—not entirely anyway.
Leith took her hand into his lap and held it. She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Comfort stole over her, which always happened when he was near.
“You’re a beautiful woman, Zai. Trust me, I
wouldn’t be a man if I hadn’t noticed. However, I don’t want to screw up our friendship any more than you do. I don’t know what I would do without you. Sometimes I wonder what I’ll do if someone serious comes along. She might not understand our relationship.”
Zaierra chuckled. “Yeah, I think she’d have a problem with you sleeping over.”
“I only do that when I’m not involved.”
“Uh-huh. I don’t know how you deal with this peanut apartment when you own a huge mansion of a house.”
“My house isn’t a mansion.”
“Might as well be.”
He tickled her side, making her jump. When she would have darted away, he caught her and dragged her back. Zaierra struggled in his hold, but as usual, Leith reminded her of his incredible strength. She tumbled back to his chest and made it to her feet, only to be captured again. She fell on his lap, her ass grinding into his crotch. Leith wrapped his arms around her, pinning her arms to her sides. He laughed low in his throat. “Now where are you going?”
“That’s not fair, Leith. You’re stronger than I am.”
“And don’t you forget it.”
Whenever they played this way, his shaft grew tight, but she had always put it down to the male body. Even without stimulation, their shafts could go hard for no reason. Of course knowing the reason and feeling the erection were two different things. She tended to fight more to get away because she never wanted him to find out how it turned her on.
“Let me go, you bum.” She smacked his thigh with the little movement she managed.
“Make me.”
Zaierra rolled her eyes. “See this is why you can’t have a permanent girlfriend. You don’t know how to behave appropriately with me.”
He sighed. “Fine.”
When he let her go and she rose, disappointment set in. She put her hands on her hips and frowned down at him. “I think we should start acting our age.”