The Baby Maker

by Tia Siren

  I hope you’re actually there, and I hope we can put things right after yesterday.

  After adding an extra thirty minutes to my trip, I finally reached the hotel. I found a parking space and noticed Evan’s car over by the hotel lobby. At least I had finally found him. I couldn’t have driven anywhere else. Oh, and the tenseness I felt was too much to handle. My head felt like it was going to explode if I didn’t say something soon.

  I sauntered across the parking lot and entered the reception lobby. I thought it strange as the desk staff looked at me and began whispering amongst themselves.

  Why are they whispering? Fuck, are they talking about me?

  I crossed the lobby, and I could see the elevator door opening. Evan stepped out, and I began to smile. A blonde lady closely followed him. I had seen her in one of the pictures on his phone.

  My mind wandered, and I imagined a huge fight.

  “Evan, you fucking piece of shit,” I said.

  “What are you on about?” he asked.

  “She’s your new client. I’ve seen her picture.”

  “So, she is a client just like you,” he said.

  “I thought I meant more than that to you,” I yelled. “You have lied and cheated.”

  The hotel staff and the hotel visitors stopped what they were doing. They watched me. I was not embarrassed; I had definitely had enough of his cheating ways.

  “You and this fucking Baby Maker business,” I screamed. “You’re just a man whore, and I want nothing to do with you.”

  Everyone stood shocked when I shouted “man whore” and “Baby Maker.” Evan looked around and could see all eyes turned toward him.

  “Piper, calm down, it’s—”

  “Don’t fucking tell me to calm down. That is bullshit. You’re just treating us all the same. So, when you want a fuck, you give us a call.”

  “You’re way overacting; it’s just business,” he replied.

  Evan walked towards me. The blonde walked past and continued on her way.

  “I suppose you’re finished with her, and you want to fuck me, now,” I yelled in his face.

  “Piper, it’s nothing like that. Business is business.”

  “I don’t give a fuck about your business,” I said. “I want you.” I turned to the blonde. “He’s only using you for sex.”

  She stopped in her tracks and returned to my side.

  “It’s just business,” she said. “I’m the same as you, but he has just serviced me. Twice, and I loved every single second of it.”

  “He’s using us,” I screamed.

  “He might be using you,” she said. “But I understand the contract, and I don’t care who else he sees.”

  Aargh, she was siding with him. She knew all about the contract and didn’t care. Had she no morals? Damn. Fuck her. Fuck them all.

  I continued to scream at Evan, and he just let me carry on. I was making a huge ass of myself. But I didn’t care at all. He deserved it, well and truly.

  I shook my head and realized I had imagined all of this. None of the staff or visitors looked in my direction. I was only tormenting myself. I turned my attention back to Evan and the blonde. I wasn’t imagining the two of them. I could see from the way they talked that she was happy. Orgasm happy? They both laughed at some shared joke.

  I could guess what had happened. He’d contacted her and she had come running straight away. Then they had been in bed, and he would have fucked her good and proper.

  It was all over her face. She had that, “I have just been fucked” look, and she glowed. They continued to stroll toward the hotel doors. Evan lifted his gaze and caught my eye.

  I slowly turned toward the doors and began to make my way outside.

  Evan quickly dashed over to me. “Piper, don’t go,” he said.

  “I have seen all I need to see,” I replied.

  “It’s not what you think,” he said.

  “She’s glowing all over her face; I’m a woman in case you have not noticed; I know that look,” I said.

  “Piper, listen.”

  “Is this how it will be?” I asked. “We have an argument one day, and the next you jump in bed with a client the first chance you get?”

  “You’re mistaken; youreally are,” he replied.

  Evan tried to grab my arm. I resisted and broke free. I turned my head, and tears fell from my eyes. I never looked back; I continued to walk from the hotel.

  Keep going, don’t look back. Ever.

  I could hear Evan calling to me outside the hotel. His voice grew faint as I crossed the parking lot. I had done it again, and I had come out of the situation upset. I thought he wanted to make things right with me. I’d put myself in a position where I got to see the real Evan for what he had become.

  I wiped my eyes and started the car. I pulled out of the parking lot and began to drive. The hotel and Evan, just faint things in my memory.

  God, I really hate everything right now. Damn you, Evan. You make my life so hard. Incredibly, ridiculously hard.

  Chapter 31

  Evan

  I was at home, plagued by thoughts of Piper. Things between us were a mess. I knew that. I‘d even missed my morning gym session for the first time in over five years. No matter what had been going on in my life, I always made time for the gym. Not today.

  Piper’s timing at the hotel couldn’t have been worse. Had she shown up five or ten minutes later, I would have been able to explain everything to her. She would have come to understand I had started to put things in motion.

  Damn. She should have trusted me. I could understand why she didn’t believe me, and she had good reason. I had shoved the agreement in her face to make a point, like an idiot. All because I was pissed at finding that damned business card. And then, when she began to judge who I was, I just lost it with her.

  Once again, I was stuck in a position where I had to repair our relationship. We were both adults, and I was sure we could put it all behind us once and for all. We just needed to talk to each other without emotions getting in the way. That was easier said than done when it came to the people we love.

  I just have to speak to you, and it will all be okay.

  As far as I was concerned, yesterday at the hotel, I’d done nothing wrong. I hadn’t had sex with the woman Piper saw me with. She wasn’t even a client. The woman had pestered me to take her on as a client, and I had refused. I’d said no on numerous occasions, but she persisted to the point where I had to meet her face to face. The only way she would take “no” for an answer was if I said it directly to her.

  The woman didn’t understand why I refused to accept her as a client. She was a stunning natural blonde, not your typical bottle-blonde. Twenty-five years old, with sexy blue eyes. Men fell at her feet every day. She wasn’t used to having any man decline her advances. It was unheard of, especially when she was offering good money. She thought I’d found something wrong with her. Something about her look.

  So, I agreed to meet with her to discuss things. I’d explained to the blonde that my schedule was currently under an exclusivity clause. I was not entertaining any new clients for the foreseeable future. She’d become slightly dismayed upon hearing this, but she accepted it. Not that she liked the answer.

  One snippet of information that had slipped from her mouth was that she’d dated Tyler. I remembered him mentioning it at the golf course. I hadn’t paid that much attention to what he was saying. If there was anything that I would reject an application for, this was it. Because any personal involvement meant an instant goodbye.

  I’d said it to heaps of women, including the blonde. I just had to keep out of it. Who knows? She could get pregnant and try to lay the blame on Tyler. In my mind, it sounded far-fetched, but it wasn’t an irrational thought. He was, after all, stinking rich. Many women would seize an opportunity to dig their claws into a wealthy man.

  Dammit, Piper. Why couldn’t you just wait another five minutes?

  Yesterday, I’d just walke
d the blonde to the hotel lobby, and Piper walked through the doors. Fuck, what kind of bad timing was that?

  The blonde was telling me a funny story about Tyler, a story I’d never heard before. So we laughed together. It didn’t help that the blonde snorted like a horse when she laughed. This gave her cheeks a flushed look. By the time we exited the elevator, it looked really fucking bad. Piper had seen us together and thought the blonde had been taken by me, the infamous, fertile Baby Maker. It looked like we were having a good time together after an intimate meeting, at least, from Piper’s point of view.

  It was a bad result for a day that could have ended so well. What was done, was done. I just had to put it right and try again. It was all I seemed to be doing these days, either putting my foot in my mouth or trying to make something right. If it had been anyone else, I would have given up ages ago. But Piper had always been my dream girl. We were off to a rocky start for our new beginning, but I wasn’t about to give up on us yet.

  I drove to Piper’s apartment, still turning things over in my head. How could she think I could do that to her? I would never cheat on her, even though we were under contract. Then it dawned on me. Fuck, the last thing I’d said to her was if I did see other clients, that would be my choice. Then she’d seen me with the blonde. What a bombshell.

  I parked the car across the street and dashed to the front door. I rang the security buzzer for the front door. No answer. I rang again. No reply.

  I could tell she was there because the light was on. She was ignoring me and leaving me there on the street. I would make sure she opened the door for me today. I wasn’t going home until I had a chance to explain things to her properly.

  I stood back on the pavement, tilted my head back, and opened my mouth.

  “Piper!” I screamed.

  She did not come to the window. Again, I positioned myself.

  “Piper. Piper!”

  Piper opened the window. “Just go away, will you? You’re embarrassing me.”

  “Come on,” I called. “Let me in. I’ll explain it all to you.”

  Come on Piper; I’m causing a scene here.

  “You got it all wrong yesterday,” I said. “I promise. Just hear me out.”

  “I don’t believe you,” she replied.

  “Come on, open the door,” I said. “I’ll stand here all night making a scene until you listen to what I have to say.”

  “I don’t want to talk to you!”

  “Yes, you do,” I called. “This is important, and you know it.”

  “It will have to wait,” she said, looking pissed off. “I’m busy.”

  “Too busy for the truth?” I asked. “I don’t think so. Besides, I don’t think you’re busy at all. I think you’re making that up.”

  “There’s no way I’m letting you in,” she yelled. “Not after you betrayed me.”

  “Nothing happened between that woman and me,” I said. “You have to believe me.”

  “I don’t have to believe you,” she said. “I called you while you were with her, and you never answered.”

  “I was talking to her, but that’s it. I explained everything about you being exclusive.”

  Please let me in. People are starting to stare at me.

  She noticed the neighbors eyeing us. “Evan, just leave. Maybe I’ll think about it.”

  “Come on, Piper. I’m not leaving. You know I won’t. I just want to put it all behind us and make it right.”

  Put a hat on the sidewalk. You might earn some change giving such a show.

  “Fine,” she said, sighing so loud I could hear it all the way down on the street. “If you won’t leave, you better come on up.” She was really pissed at me, but I didn’t care.

  I walked to the door and waited by the intercom for it to ring. I heard the buzzer for the door. I quickly pulled on the door handle and ran up the stairs. Piper was in the doorway of her apartment waiting for me. Her arms were folded, and she had a stern look on her face. I could see she would be ready for another argument if I pushed the conversation in the wrong direction. I was going to ensure that I only spoke about what had to be said.

  “And what do you have to say for yourself?” she asked angrily.

  “Let me in, and I’ll tell you,” I panted.

  “Why are you panting?” she asked.

  “I’ve just sprinted up your damned stairs, that’s why,” I said, trying to make her see reason.

  “Fool,” she grinned.

  Piper turned her back on me, unfolded her arms, and walked into her apartment.

  “Just lock the door, and you can come inside.”

  I followed Piper into her apartment sheepishly. I had to play it cool, calm, and collected. I followed her in and closed the door.

  “Can I get a glass of water?” I asked.

  “Sure, help yourself,” she replied with her sarcastic tone.

  I walked into the kitchen and filled a glass with water. I returned to the living room, finally catching my breath. I sat on the couch and breathed deeply and slowly. I had no intention of starting the conversation. I wanted to see what Piper said, and I wanted it to be at her pace. Nothing was going to be rushed today.

  Just keep calm, and it will all be fine.

  “Come on,” she said. “What’s your excuse this time?”

  “Nothing happened yesterday,” I said.

  “You are kidding me,” Piper said. “I saw the way she looked. Like she’d just been fucked.”

  Not such a good start, if I do say so myself.

  I wanted her to feel in control of the situation. I made sure Piper was finished speaking before I responded. The last thing I wanted to do was interrupt her.

  “The woman was laughing, and she snorts like a horse. That’s why she was red-faced. I never touched her. Nobody got fucked yesterday.”

  Piper shook her head in disbelief. “I saw that girl. She sent you one of her pictures. She applied for your services.”

  “Yes, it’s true,” I said. “She wanted to hire me. I won’t deny it. But I only agreed to meet with her to deny her request. We just talked.”

  “Yeah, right. How many women walk into that hotel suite just to talk? Not many.”

  “That’s true,” I said. “But she was one of the few. I told her I was under an entirely exclusive agreement.”

  “A feeble excuse,” Piper said. “You had all day to think of something, and that’s the best you came up with?”

  “It’s true. I showed her the contract. Just the exclusivity clause. Nothing about your name or anything personal. And I had another reason to turn her down. And that has nothing to do with you and me.”

  “What reason is that?” she asked. Her face was still crunched up like a date.

  “She dated Tyler a while back. That’s an automatic red flag. Anyone who is close to someone I know is a definite ‘no’ in my book.”

  “Excuses, excuses, excuses. Evan, you just keep coming out with them.”

  “Well, it’s the truth,” I said. “That’s all I’ve got. The truth.” I continued to stay calm.

  “So why would you see her face to face just to tell her ‘no,’ Evan?”

  “She kept messaging me about my services, no matter how much I told her no. So, I agreed to meet with her in person, just to talk. It worked. She finally understood.”

  “It all sounds extremely goddamned suspicious to me!”

  “I’m telling the truth,” I said. “I wish you could trust me.”

  “Why should I believe you?” she asked, her face looking like it could change at any time.

  “Because it’s true, and you know it is,” I pressed. I wanted to hold her firm in my arms.

  “At the end of the day, it all comes back to that damned contract. God, I wish I’d never signed the fucking thing.”

  “Well, you did, unfortunately, and we can’t change that now,” I said.

  I sat on the couch and waited for her to think things over. I wasn’t going to let this conversation g
o the same way as the others. We’d been going back and forth too damn much. It was time to set things straight between us. A wedge had been eased into a slight crack, and if we were not careful, it would be driven in harder and divide us.

  “You’re full of so many answers,” I said, grinning at Piper.

  “Well, you know how it is!” she said.

  “I do know you won’t back down in a fight,” I said. “Because you’re the same as me.”

  “I’ll give as good as I get, even with you,” she replied. Her face wasn’t as conflicted as it was a few moments before.

  “You have such a smart mouth, and I’m just fed up with it!” I said, smiling.

  “You better find some way of shutting me up then. That is, if you can.” She winked at me.

  I stood in front of Piper and pulled her to me. I looked deep into her eyes. She gazed back up at me. I put my arm around her and lifted her up, slinging her over my broad shoulder.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, squealing.

  “I’m going to shut your smart mouth up!” I replied.

  I smacked Piper on the ass and walked slowly to her bedroom. She was out of breath.

  Perfect.

  Chapter 32

  Piper

  Evan carried me to the bedroom and threw me on my bed. He had explained himself quite clearly. I was starting to believe that what he said was the truth. He seemed more demanding than normal, masculine and beast-like. He was on a mission, and I sensed I was his target.

  Evan slowly started to unbutton his shirt.

  “Come on, Piper, strip with me!” Evan said, sexily.

  Who was I to argue? I got to my knees and pushed my breasts out toward him. I popped open the buttons on my blouse. I slipped it from my shoulders and threw it at Evan.

  “Playful, are we?” he asked.

  “Well, you have to spice things up a bit, you know,” I said with a wink. “Relationships should never become stale.”

  Evan burst into laughter. “God, Piper, ours is anything but stale.”

  I stood on the bed and started to slip from my skirt. I caught my foot in the bed sheet and fell toward Evan. He threw out his arms and caught me easily.