A Friendly Arrangement

by Sarah Bates

  She blinked as she took the clothes from him. “I thought that you had a lot going on at work.”

  “I do, but it’ll wait. I can always go in this weekend. Right now we need get you something to wear.”

  She smiled and hugged him quickly, then rushed into the bathroom to change.

  He sighed and gathered most of what she had tossed to the floor and piled it on the bed. And tried not to think of the bright pink thong he’d found hanging from the knob of one of his dresser drawers.

  She came out of the bathroom a few minutes later and he’d been right. Somehow the white men’s Oxford shirt looked incredible with it’s sleeves rolled nearly to the elbow, a few of it’s top buttons left unfastened to reveal a hint of the lightly tanned flesh beneath. Her leggings fit like a second skin from her ankles all the way up her mile long legs, curving snuggly up under the hem of the shirt to mold that shapely behind he had admired only a few moments before. His mouth watered and he had to take a deep breath. “Ready?” he asked, and hoped that she hadn’t noticed the rough edge in his voice.

  She simply beamed and nodded and took the hand he held out to her.

  He offered Rosa a smile when she sighed in relief when she saw Samantha as they came down the stairs. “We’re going to be out for the rest of the afternoon, Rosa,” he said as he led Samantha to the door. “Why don’t you and the rest of the staff take the rest of the day off. We’ll eat dinner out.”

  “Oh,” she gave him a grateful smile and nodded, “Thank you, Mr. Steel. I’ll let everyone know.”

  He waved goodbye to her as he closed the door behind them. “That was nice of you,” Samantha murmured as they headed for his car.

  He jerked a shoulder and opened her door for her. “It’s nice out. Besides, they’ve all been working overtime with the ceremony and everything. It’s no big deal.”

  She smiled as she watched him climb in behind the wheel, reached out and touched his arm. “It was nice. You shouldn’t be embarrassed by that.”

  He studied her for a moment, unsure what to say to that. He cleared his throat. “Nice isn’t something I generally do, so,” he shrugged again. “It’s something I’m working on.”

  Her smile widened and she leaned forward to press her lips to his. “Well, you’re doing a very good job of it so far.”

  He grunted slightly as he started the car. “Some managers in Hawaii might not share that same opinion in a few days,” he said as he drove.

  “Oh? What’s wrong?” she asked, settling back into the deep, comfortable leather seat.

  He grumbled something indecipherable as he checked his mirrors and changed lanes. “One of the GM’s was just slapped with a restraining order by a guest, and said guest is threatening to press charges against the resort for sexual harrassement if we don’t take legal action,” he told her.

  “What are you going to do?” she asked as she rubbed a hand over her belly.

  He shrugged as he changed lanes again. “At the moment Carlos has been temporarily relieved of duty and the assistant manager has been handling things. I’ve got Franklin looking into it.”

  “Are you going to have to go out there?” she asked.

  “I’m going to try to avoid that. But if push comes to shove, I’ll have no choice.” He glanced over to her quickly and arched a brow. “Have you ever been to Honolulu?”

  “Honolulu?” She thought for a moment. “I think I went there once with my grandparents. It was before we met,” she replied. “Why?”

  “Well, I was thinking that maybe if I have to go, you could come with me.” He checked his mirrors, flipped on his directional and swung the car into the parking lot outside the main entrance to the Mall of the Millennium. “What do you think?”

  She shrugged. “Sure, that sounds great. I would just have to clear any traveling with my doctor first.” She waited as he opened her door for her, took his hand when he reached down to help her out. “Thank you, Alex.”

  He paused as he was slipping an arm around her, and glanced down. “For what?” he asked.

  She smiled and leaned up to press her lips to his. “For taking care of me.”

  “They’re just clothes, Sami.”

  She sighed and let him lead her inside, and wondered why he didn’t realize that it was so much more than just that.

  * * *

  After hours of shopping and a romantic dinner at one of the city’s most popular restaurants Samantha came out of hers and Alex’s bathroom dressed comfortably in one of the new silk nightgowns Alex had bought for her. She paused when she saw him stretched out over their bed reading one of her pregnancy books, and grinned as she leaned back against the doorframe to watch him. She absently rubbed her belly as he flipped to the next set of pages.

  “Read anything interesting?” she asked.

  Alex slowly lifted his gaze to her, and hesitated when he saw her grinning. “I’m not sure that interesting is the word I would use,” he said as he sat up and set the book aside. “Terrifying, yes. Nauseating, definitely. Did you know about any of this before you went and purposefully impregnated yourself?”

  She rolled her eyes and crossed over to him. “In fact, I did. I’ve already read most of these books.”

  “Then why,”

  “Because I wanted a child,” she said softly. “I know that you don’t understand that, but,” she shrugged and sat down beside him. “Maybe it’s because I didn’t have much of a family growing up. But it makes me happy. And yes, it is worth it,” she added before he could ask. “Because in the end of all the gross, gory stuff, I’m going to have a beautiful baby boy or girl, and that is all that matters.”

  He considered her for a moment, then reached up and slid his hands through her hair. “As long as you’re happy, I guess that’s all that matters.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. “When is your next appointment?” he asked when he pulled back.

  “Two and a half weeks. Why?”

  He shrugged and took the bottle of lotion that she had lifted from her bedside table. “I was thinking that I would arrange to have the day off and go with you.” He squeezed lotion into one of his hands and then reached for one of her long, silky legs.

  Samantha watched, her breath held, as he smoothed crème over her leg, swallowed to clear her throat when one of his hands slicked up her thigh. “You want to go to my appointment?” she asked, her breath hitching slightly.

  “Sure. Moral support, you know.” He absently began to rub lotion into her other leg and looked up, pausing when his gaze met hers. “Is that alright? That I go with you, I mean.”

  She nodded and shifted back against the pile of pillows behind her. “If you want to, it would be nice.” She studied him for a moment. “Alex,”

  He leaned forward and kissed her again, pulled back and closed the bottle of lotion. “Let me know what day it is,” he said, setting the bottle on his bedside table.

  She nodded, watched him turn his lamp off and settle in for the night, his back turned to her. She smiled softly and turned her own lamp off, shifted and stretched out beside him. “Good night, Alex,” she whispered, pressing a kiss to the back of his shoulder as she slipped an arm around his narrow waist.

  “Good night, Sami,” he murmured.

  Chapter Five

  Since their shopping spree a few days before Samantha had been on cloud nine. Alex had lavished her with so many new outfits and accessories she was sure that she wouldn’t be able to wear all of them before she grew out of them.

  Already what had been just the slightest of bumps was now growing, so that when she looked at herself from a side angle in the bathroom mirror there was a noticeable difference. Where once her belly had been firm and flat, it sloped out, plumping up smoothly the farther down it went.

  Alex had walked in on her when she’d been admiring the difference that morning, standing in her simple cotton panties and bra in front of the mirror.

  He’d yelped, she recalled, chuckling to herself as she walked int
o a restaurant later that day. And then he had thrown a towel at her and told her to cover herself as he backed quickly out into their room.

  She smiled at the hostess when she came forward to greet her. “Jamieson-Steel,” she said. “I’m meeting someone.”

  “Ah, yes, Mrs. Steel. Right this way.” She gestured for her to follow, then turned and headed into the dining room.

  It was still so strange to be called that. Mrs. Steel. To carry Alex’s name, to be his Missus. She was Alex’s wife now, and the thought strangely made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

  She never would have married any other man, but he was different. He was her Alex, and it secretly pleased her to know that she actually had some kind of real claim to him, that she was the one thing that no other woman would ever be. His wife.

  Feeling on top on the world she smiled her thanks to the hostess when she pulled her chair out for her, then picked up her menu at wait for Colleen.

  She was just deciding between the tilapia and the chicken when her cell phone rang. She answered it absently as she set the menu aside. “Hello.”

  “Samantha?”

  “Oh, Colleen.” She sat back and reached a hand down to rub her belly. “Are you going to be late? I can order for you if you know what you’d like.”

  The other woman sighed and she could hear papers being shuffled about. “I’m sorry, but I have to cancel. Mr. Walker just called an emergency meeting of the partners, so I can’t get away.”

  Samantha pouted slightly, having been excited to show the other woman her growing belly. “Oh, well, that’s alright. We’ll do it sometime next week.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, it’s fine. I hope your meeting goes well.” She picked at her napkin and looked up to catch the waiter’s attention. “Do you think you’ll make partner?” she asked.

  Colleen gave a nervous laugh. “After four years at Harvard, I hope so.”

  “Good luck.”

  “Thanks. See you.”

  “Bye.” She hung up just as the waiter came to a stop beside her. “I’ll have the chef’s chicken special, a garden salad with the house vinaigrette and mineral water.”

  He nodded and looked to the empty chair questioningly.

  “Oh, my friend won’t be able to make it. Just me.”

  He nodded again and went to put her order in, and she relaxed back, rubbing her belly again. Just me and you, she thought.

  She had just started thinking about ordering something for Alex and getting it all to go, and surprising him at work when she heard a familiar voice say her name. Thinking that someone she knew had seen her, she turned in her chair and looked around the dining room, and groaned inwardly when she spotted a group of women sitting two tables away.

  Angela and her friends. Of all the bad luck. She shook her head and tried to ignore them, hoping they hadn’t seen her, but then she heard Angela say Alex’s name.

  Eyes narrowed slightly she turned slowly back in the direction of the other woman’s table.

  “He’s married?!” one of Angela’s companions said, a false note of surprise in her voice.

  “Oh, Tammy, please. You’ve obviously heard.” Angela waved her off and sipped her champagne. “But don’t worry. I doubt it will last a month. Men like Alexander Steel don’t stay happily married to women like Samantha Jamieson. He’ll get bored with her and drop her like last season’s colors.” She eyed Tammy’s top with an arched brow to make her point.

  Oh, I don’t think so, Samantha thought as she straightened her shoulders and stood. The waiter rushed over to check on her.

  “Is everything alright, ma’am?” he asked.

  “Fine. But I’ll take my order to go, thank you.” She smiled at him as he bobbed his head and then went to make the change in her order. She lifted her chin and crossed to the other woman’s table.

  Angela’s friends all looked at her in surprise, causing Angela to turn to face her.

  “Angela.” Samantha plastered on a bright smile and rested her hands on her hips, purposefully stretching her blouse over her belly, clearly displaying her bump. “What a pleasant surprise.”

  “Isn’t it?” Angela agreed, giving her friends a dark look as she pushed to her feet. “And don’t you just look,” her mouth simply hung open when her gaze came to rest on Samantha’s belly, and Samantha straightened a little more to further accentuate her bump, “pregnant,” she finished, bring her gaze back up to Samantha’s face.

  Samantha’s smile brightened even more. “Why, thank you.” She slid a hand over her belly and rubbed it gently. “You look fantastic, as always.” Her smile turned a little less friendly. “I couldn’t help but overhear part of your conversation,” she added.

  The other woman arched a sharp black brow and folded her arms at her voluptuous chest. “Then I guess we both know where we stand,” she said bluntly. “Alex won’t last a month with you.”

  Though she knew it was putting him in an awkward position later on, Samantha couldn’t stop herself from lowering her gaze pointedly down at her slightly dome shaped belly, then back up. “Well, it appears that you’re wrong.”

  “You’re not his type,” Angela growled. “Alex will get bored with you sooner or later and when he does,” she shrugged, sneering at her. “Maybe I’ll take pity on him.”

  Samantha studied her for a moment, then took a small step towards her. “Stay away from my husband. He’s not going anywhere,” she told her in a calm tone.

  “The only reason why he married you is because you obviously trapped him into it,” Angela said. She smiled nastily. “How does it make you feel, knowing that while he was apparently sleeping with you,” she flicked her gaze down to the other woman’s belly, then back up, “he was sleeping with me, too? I guess some women can’t keep their men without trapping them with an unwanted brat.”

  Samantha arched a brow and shook her head. “And some women are just playthings that are easily tossed away and forgotten when their men grow bored with them.” She smiled nastily back at her. “Just remember which one of us he tossed away and which one sleeps in his bed every night.” And with that she turned on her heel and walked away, her movements as graceful as ever.

  * * *

  Later that night when Alex got home he found Samantha pacing in their room, her long hair pulled into a messy tail, wearing the soft, peach silk, spaghetti strapped nightgown he’d bought her the other day.

  He frowned when he saw the worried look on her face. “What’s wrong, Sami?” he asked, dropping his suit coat on the floor and stepping out to catch her hand.

  She caught her lower lip between her teeth and shifted uneasily. “I did something kind of stupid today,” she told him.

  “What’d you do?” he asked, letting go of her.

  She hesitated, then sighed and crossed over to climb onto their bed. “Well,” she braced herself, and then told him everything that had happened at lunch.

  He listened to her, then, when she was finished, nodded and without a word, pulled out a pair of black silk pants from his top dresser drawer and locked himself in the bathroom.

  She sighed when she heard the shower turn on, then sat back against the pile of pillows and waited. When he came back out a few minutes later, she sat up. “I’m so sorry, Alex. I know that I shouldn’t have let her goad me, and that I shouldn’t have implied anything about you and the baby,”

  He held up a hand to silence her and stood studying her for a moment by the end of their bed. His dark hair still dripped, and she couldn’t help but watch as one of the drops slid down his chest, and down his hard, flat abdomen to soak into the waist band of his pants.

  She looked away and tried to think of something other than the sudden image that had popped into her head of following that thin, glistening trail with her mouth. Hormones, she told herself. That’s all it was. “Are you going to say something or just stand there and stare at me?” she asked, looking back up to him.

  He blinked, then took a deep
breath and she watched as he scrubbed his hands over his face. “It’s alright,” he finally said, dropping his hands to his sides.

  “How?” she asked, pushing a pillow from her lap and moving closer to him. “I just insinuated that we have a sex life to your ex-girlfriend, basically telling her that you got me pregnant while you were still with her.”

  “Well, for starters, Angela was never technically my girlfriend. We went out a few times, and yes, we slept together a few times, but we never had an exclusive arrangement, so don’t let that make you feel guilty. And second, as far as the world in general is concerned, I am the father of your baby. No one needs to know otherwise.”

  She frowned softly and shifted, still sitting with her legs folded under her. “It just doesn’t seem fair that you should have to take responsibility for a child that you don’t want, especially since it isn’t really even yours.”

  “Hey,” he reached up and brushed a stray curl from her face. “This baby, our child, is a part of me, because it’s yours. And even though I never wanted to be a father, I’m willing to be anything you need me to be for it, for you, because I love you, Sami.” His thumb gently grazed her lower lip, his expression almost sad. “You’re all I have left, you know.”

  She sighed and looked down at her belly and stroked a hand over it. “You and my baby are all that I really have, too,” she whispered.

  “Then the three of us need to stick together,” he told her, lowering his hand to cover hers. “I’m sorry about what Angela said to you,” he whispered. “Especially about how I’d grow bored of you. I hope you know that I could never grow bored with you, Sami.” When she hesitated in answering him his frown deepened and he cupped her face. “Sami,”

  “Well, she was right in that I’m not exactly your type,” she blurted out, surprising them both. “I mean, not that, I guess I don’t really know what I’m talking about.” She looked away from him and wished she knew what was going on inside her own head.

  He gently turned her chin so that he could see her face. “You’re exactly my type,” he told her in a rough voice. “You’re my Sami. Mine. Always.”