by Katie Dowe
“How are you?” he asked her roughly.
“I'm fine and you?”
“Why didn’t you ask me?”
“Ask you to get me pregnant? Now that would have been a conversation stopper.”
“You had no right—”
“We've already established that Grayson. What’s the next step? Are you going to let your lawyer serve me papers?”
“As a matter of fact I am.” He told her stiffly. “I'm having him draw up a contract as we speak and I would like you to read it thoroughly. I will messenger it over to you.”
“No.”
“What?”
“I said no. I'll come to your office and we will sit in one of your conference rooms as I'm sure you have one or two, and we will go through the document slowly with a fine tooth comb and if I like what I read I will sign.”
“When?”
“I'm completely free for right now so it is entirely up to you.”
“Are you going to tell me why you're not at the club?”
“Since you happen to be my baby daddy then of course I'll tell you.” She paused for dramatic effect. “I was put on bed rest by my doctor. There was bleeding and a bit of pain so he demanded that I rest for a month.”
“What’s his name?”
Her eyebrows lifted at that. “Are you going to serve him papers too?”
“I was thinking that you should start going to Henry Whittingham. He has a private practice and he's the best.”
“He's several hundred miles away from me so I don’t think that is a very good idea and besides I doubt I can afford him.”
“I can afford him and he's a friend.”
“I'm sure he is but I'm staying with my doctor for the time being.”
“You're carrying the heir to the Whitfield fortune Ms. Whyte, so I think that accounts for something,” he told her coolly.
“Are you trying to scare me darling? Because I have to tell you up front that I don’t scare easily.”
There was a pause as if he was considering how to respond. “Tomorrow at ten,” he said between his teeth. “Do you want me to send a car for you?”
“I'll find my way. See you then.”
Chapter 6
Neil stared at her for so long that Grayson wanted to get up and haul him across the table and rearrange his face. She came precisely at ten wearing a bright red dress with a flared skirt that barely covered her long shapely thighs. She had on a red and white jacket over the dress and she wore strappy sandals with impossibly high heels. Her hair was loose around her face and went past her slender shoulders. He'd told Claude that there should be no interruptions for the next hour. Damn her, he thought heatedly as Neil continued to stare.
“Avia,” he got to his feet and came around to meet her, his hand taking her arm in a possessive manner, “this is Neil McPherson.”
“We met on the phone,” she smiled at him and he blinked as he got slowly to his feet.
“A pleasure to meet you in person Avia,” he held her hand for longer than necessary as he stared at her. “I've seen your picture on the cover of the magazine that covers clubs but it does you a great injustice.”
“Thank you,” she said with a laugh as she pulled her hand away, unaware of the glowering look that Grayson gave him. “Shall we commence?”
“Of course,” Neil waited until they'd taken their seats before he handed her the slim document. They remained silent as she went through and read everything slowly. They watched anxiously to see her reaction but her beautiful face remained neutral as she read every word.
“Well?” Grayson said as she closed the document and sat back in the chair.
“First of all, nicely done,” she told Neil with a smile. “Unfortunately I'm not going to be able to sign it.”
“Why not?” Grayson asked her grimly.
“You're treating this as a business deal, Grayson and we are talking about a real live human being here. This isn't acceptable. You're expecting me to sign over my rights as a mother, basically.” She looked back down at the document with a small grimace. “You'll see him or her whenever you're in town and you expect the visits to be at your place. You're going to be sending a driver and nanny to get him whenever you're available. You also want to be the one to name him and there will be a guard assigned to him wherever he goes? You're also going to be responsible for his or her entire expenses and expect to be apprised of their every move and whatever illnesses they go through.” She looked at both men and then at Grayson. “Have you read this?”
“Yes, and I happen to think that it's a very thorough document.”
“If I was going into business with you I would think that too. This is our baby we're talking about.”
“Avia if you want—”
“Stay out of this, Neil.” he told him tightly. “Give us a minute.”
The man hesitated and then nodded and left the room.
“I'm going to be involved in my child’s life.” He told her grimly.
“And I want the same thing. That’s why I told you in the first place.”
“This is...” he gestured vaguely and didn't continue.
“I know. And I also know you're waiting for an explanation or an apology but I don’t regret what I did.”
He stared at her for a moment before he responded. “What happens when you want to see someone else?” he asked her stiffly. The very thought of her being with another man made him want to smash something.
“I'm not interested in anyone at the moment.”
“What happens when you are?” he persisted.
“We'll deal with it when and if the time comes.”
“Let’s deal with it now.” His voice was hard as he looked at her.
“Why?” she challenged him.
“Because I wouldn't want my child being raised by another man,” he told her coldly.
“I would have no problem with our child being raised by a stepmother as long as she's sweet and kind to him or her,” she told him sweetly. “What about when you start seeing someone?”
“I'm not seeing anyone now,” he told her coolly.
“What happens when you are?”
He opened his mouth to tell her that the thought of seeing anyone else but her made him want to break out in hives. “It won’t.”
“How can you be so certain? You're Grayson Whitfield and I'm certain that there are women lining up to be Mrs. Whitfield.”
“I'm not interested.”
“Come on Grayson. I've been with you and I know you're not gay. Far from it. So tell me something else.”
He pushed back his chair and went to look out the window. It had started raining and the heavy sheets of water pelted down from the sky, leaving rivulets on the large glass windows. He turned to face her after a while and saw her sitting there looking at him. “What do you want?” he asked her quietly.
“We're going to bring up this child in the best way possible without this in the way.” She picked up the document and waved it at him. “Whenever you're in town you will come over and spend time with our child. I'm planning to stay home and be with him or her for at least a year. I'm going to dedicate myself to being a very good mom.”
“You're taking time off from the club.”
“Yes. I'm resting for the month, which ends in May, and then I'll be going back. I doubt that I'll be very big and I'll wear clothes to ensure that no one will notice that I'm pregnant.”
“I'll deposit some money into your account.”
She opened her mouth to tell him no and then closed it. “I want to know the amount before you do Grayson and I'm not negotiating that.”
“I want to see you.” He said abruptly.
“What does that mean?”
He turned back to the window, his shoulders hunched. He wanted to do more than that. He wanted to be with her every single day but he doubted that she wanted to hear that. “I'm attracted to you and I want us to be together.”
He hadn't heard her come up behind
him and jumped when he felt her hands circling his waist. “Are we going to have to draw up a contract?” she asked him softly.
He turned to face her and looked down into her mischievous face. “No,” he said gruffly and then without warning he bent his head and took her lips with his roughly, his mouth moving over hers with the pent up desperation of the past several weeks. His fingers dug into the back of her head and held her still as he kissed her deeply, his body hardening against hers. He sprang away from her and stood there breathing harshly. “Tonight,” he rasped. “Please.”
“I will be waiting.” She lifted her hand and touched his rigid jaw. “I missed you.”
He watched as she made her way out of the room and with a ragged sigh he went back to sit around the table. He knew Neil was coming in any minute now and he was in no condition to face anyone!
*****
“Mom, are you sitting down?” Avia called her as soon as she reached the apartment. She made some soup and then went into the living room to make herself comfortable.
“I'm at my desk honey so I'm seated. I hope it's not bad news I'm in no position to take that kind of news right now.”
“What’s wrong?”
“A partner at the firm died yesterday.”
“Oh I'm so sorry. What happened?”
“He had cancer. The aggressive kind. He was in his eighties but such a sweet man. He was the one who hired me.”
“I'm sorry, Mom. I hope my news will cheer you up.”
“You finally found yourself a man!”
“Something like that. I'm pregnant.”
Avia grinned at the silence. Her mother fancied herself young and had hinted that even though she wanted grandchildren she dreaded the thought of one calling her ‘Grandma’.
“You don’t have a man so how did this happen?”
“I kind of have a man but it was more for me to get pregnant and now I am.”
“How long?”
“Four months, almost five.”
“You have been pregnant for almost five months and you are just telling me now?”
“I just told the father, and I was certainly not going to tell you before I told him. You have a tendency to blabber.”
“I don’t,” her mother said weakly. “Who is he? Is he a nice person, deserving of my daughter?”
“Mom we're not exactly in a relationship.” Avia explained patiently. “It’s an arrangement.”
“What does that mean?” she demanded. “And who does he think he is not to want to b in a relationship with you?”
“I'm the one who doesn't want a relationship, Mom.”
“Darling, why?”
“Mom, you've been married three times. You shouldn't be the one to ask me that.”
“Darling you need a relationship. You need someone to be there when the time gets tough and you're all alone in that apartment of yours.”
“I'm pregnant remember? I'll have a child with me for a long time.”
“Is that why you got pregnant?”
“I got pregnant because I want children.”
“And you don’t want to get married?”
“Not thinking about that right now. Are you happy for me?”
“I would be happier if you were in a relationship.”
“I'm satisfied with the way things are now.”
“Okay but is he okay with the way things are?”
“I'm sure he is.” When she hung up the phone Avia sat there thinking. He told her he wanted her and that he wanted to be with her. She had told him that she missed him but what if in the future he was going to demand something else? Something more? She shrugged it away did what she normally did, put it away until it needed to be dealt with.
*****
“I don’t want to see you nor do I want to hear from you, Kyle.” Morgan told him firmly as she headed to her car. It was late and she was tired and irritable. He hadn't called her for weeks and she was on her way to getting over him.
“I was dealing with some issues. The same one that I had when I asked for a loan.” He blocked her path as she was about to open her door. “I had to borrow money from my mother and I never wanted to do that.”
“She's your mother and I'm not. She's the perfect one to borrow money from. That way if you don't pay her back she won't sue you. Will you please get out of my way?”
“I missed you,” he murmured as he reached out to cup her cheek. “I want you.”
“I'm over you.”
“Are you?” he asked her softly as he dropped his hand. Her eyes widened as he pulled his zipper down and took out his huge member with the tip glistening in the light above them. “I want to sink it in you and I want to do it right here.”
“This is where I work,” she said weakly, her body trembling.
“Yours is the only car in the parking lot.” He eased the foreskin away and she saw the liquid pooling at the tip of it. “I want to take you from behind.”
“No,” her voice came out as a whisper as the breath caught up in her throat.
He moved away and indicated for her to position herself. She did. She didn't really have a choice. He lifted her dress up and palmed her bottom in the white lace panties. Morgan closed her eyes as he entered her roughly and thanked the stars as he reached her core.
*****
“We're going to get to know each other,” Avia topped up his wine glass and sat opposite him to drink her fruit punch. “I've read about you on the internet but I want to know more.”
“Why?” From the minute he stepped into the apartment and saw her in a wine red silk shift that barely covered her thighs he'd been hard.
“You're the father of the child I'm carrying and I need to know about you. Like what are your favorite foods? What do you like to do when you're not running a billion dollar company? Who is Grayson Whitfield?”
“I don’t know anything about you either,” he pointed out, trying to avoid looking at her long legs.
“You are right darling,” she got to her feet and went to get some fruits. She bent over to get the fruits from the fridge and he almost groaned as he saw the edge of her panties as the material rode up. She brought over the fruits and handed the bowl to him. “This is me trying to eat healthy for our child. Okay let’s see: I'm thirty two and single. I went to college for graphic design but decided that I wanted to sing and I did that. It was rough for years and I thought about giving up but I'm not one to give up. I'm an only child and my dad died when I was little and my mother,” she bit into her strawberry and munched for a little bit before continuing, “my mother is a darling but she falls in love too many times to count. She's been married three times, maybe that’s why I'm so turned off by the institution of marriage. “My best friend Morgan has been married two times and is now looking for husband number three. What else?” She closed her eyes as she considered ,unaware of how much she was affecting him. “I'm independent and love my own space. I don’t like to cook even though I can and I love music, all types including reggae and when I sing I block out everything. Oh and I have a weakness for chocolate chip ice cream.”
“Good to know.” His tone was amused as he looked at her. “I'm also an only child and Dad died several years ago, leaving me in charge. I love acquiring things and I'm very good at making business decisions. I get to travel the world and wine and dine with celebrities so I guess my life is pretty exciting. And I want you.”
Avia stared at him for a moment. “That’s good because I want you too.”
“Are we done?” he asked her softly.
“For now.” She got to her feet and pulled the shift over her head. His body tightened as he looked at her glorious nakedness. “Your favorite food,” he whispered as he got to his feet.
“What?”
“What's your favorite food?”
“Chicken Parmesan.” He whispered back as he lifted her into his arms.
*****
“Darling you didn't!” Avia cried out as she went and sat next to her frie
nd on the sofa in Morgan’s living room. Grayson had flown back to New York or Texas, she didn't quite know, after he'd made love to her over and over again until the sun was way up in the sky. They'd gotten a few hours’ sleep and then he'd had to run off telling her he would be back in a couple of days. She'd ended up sleeping the day away until Morgan had called her to come over for dinner and gossip.
“I did. Right there in the parking lot, I let him take me from behind and I made so much noise that I'm sure the entire neighborhood heard me. Did I tell you he's huge?”
“Several times, darling. So are you back together?” Avia bit into the crispy fried chicken that she hadn't been able to eat since she was pregnant and prayed that it would stay down now that she was almost five months pregnant.
“We're not.” Morgan picked a drumstick out of the bucket and tore off the skin. “We're having sex, but that’s it. I don’t trust him.”
“Good for you. Enjoy the sex and be mature about it. Grayson spent the night.” She munched on the succulent chicken and closed her eyes in delight.
“He did? So are you two together?”
“We're not. He asked to come over and we talked a little bit before the passion and lust took over and we were at each other until this morning. That man is insatiable and so am I when I'm with him.”
Morgan looked at her strangely. “Are you sure he's not more than just the man who got you pregnant?”
“What do you mean?”
“When you talk about him you sound different and you said yourself the sex is terrific.”
“So?”
“So darling, that sounds a little bit like love in the making.”
Avia stared at her and then burst out laughing. “You are such a romantic, darling.”
“Nothing's wrong with that.” Morgan huffed.
“No wonder you keep getting hurt.”
“So what’s wrong with falling in love?”
“Absolutely nothing. I fell in love when I was twenty-four and it turned out to be the worst thing I ever did. I have no intention of repeating it.”
Morgan stared at her in surprise. “You never told me.”