“She’s still pregnant?”
“Hell yes, fix me a smoothie, I’m craving chorizo. Freakin’ chorizo? Who the hell craves chorizo? The lady’s loca!”
Sounded like Roxanne was at the top of her form.
“Baby doing okay? No more labor pains?”
Danny’s eyebrows inverted, and he threw his hands in the air. “Every time anyone asks, she clutches her belly and moans, looking every bit as pitiful as she can. You go see for yourself. She’s supposed to wear a monitor and lie on her left side, but she only puts it on when Rob’s around.”
The long suffering Danny led him down the hall to the guest room, knocked on the door and called out, “Roxy, Cade’s here.”
“Watch her scramble into position,” Danny whispered and opened the door quickly.
Sure enough Roxanne was strapping the belt around her waist. An open laptop was on the bed, and clothes samples were strewn all over the place.
She closed her eyes and moaned, placing her thin hand expertly on her protruding abdomen.
Despite her theatrics, Cade was concerned. He pulled a chair close to her bed and watched the electronic blips on the screen her belt was plugged into. “How are you feeling?”
“Better. I’m not getting as many contractions.” She palmed her forehead and let out a deep breath. “You know, it was awfully nice of you to suggest that I stay with you, but you have your life, and I’d be an intruder.”
“I want what’s best for you. Why did you leave the hospital?”
“Dr. Benson only wants to hold me there for the money. I mean, I know you’re paying, and he’s supposed to be the best, but I can’t sit there with nothing to do but watch TV, and a nurse walking in every ten minutes to check my blood pressure. You know how tight those cuffs are? They give me high blood pressure just thinking about them, and because I’m thin, they never get a good reading, so then they tighten it and try again. I was getting more contractions in the hospital than here.”
Cade held up his hand and took a calming breath. “That’s good then. I’m glad you’re okay. But why didn’t you call me and let me know? I was really worried about you.”
She snuggled her head on the pillow and reached for his hand. “You were in ‘call in the cavalry and attack’ mode. Besides, don’t you have a girlfriend? Haven’t you considered how she’d feel with me living at your place? And then, Rob says there’s the gossip. I don’t know if you follow Sports Holler, but some nasty blogger said I’m the slut who sleeps with all my brother’s clients. Sort of the benefit package for sticking with his agency.”
“That’s B.S. I’ve been buddies with Rob forever, and you’ve never slept with a player, except well, you know, we slipped up.” He grasped her bird boned hands. “But we were pretty drunk that night.”
“I know, and you guys are Rob’s investment. I shouldn’t have messed with it.”
“Yeah, my bad for drinking during the season. You know who was stone sober? All the guys who were playing that weekend. Todd, Joey, Fig, Jake …”
He watched her as he listed the names of the other players who’d been at the party, but she never flinched.
“Good for them, you were way more fun.” The smile she flashed was almost sweet. “Next year, you’ll be starting at the playoffs. I can feel it.”
“More fun, huh?” Cade’s stomach contracted. Had she stuck around later and boned one of them?
“Yeah, you were so sweet and considerate, even though you were drunk out of your mind.” Rox tapped his chest. “I wish we dated for real, you know?”
Not really. She was too high maintenance and had none of the down home girl next door appeal Andie had.
“You’re just being nice to me because I’m your baby daddy. You’ve thought about names?”
“Of course, not telling you, but no, not Cade, that would be tacky.”
“Tacky? My name is tacky?” He let go her hand. “Okay, on that note, let me know what you need.”
“I’m good. Got my laptop, my patterns, my assistant buyer and Danny.”
Poor Danny. He was also part of their college gang, but he had zero ambition and spent all his time reading thrillers and watching TV.
“Yeah, Danny.” Cade stood. “He tells me you’ve a hankering for chorizo. Shall I fry you up some huevos rancheros?”
“For dinner? Forget about it. Danny’s great. I love ordering him around.”
“I bet you do. You sure you don’t need me here?” Cade glanced at the monitor. “Is that the baby’s heartbeat?”
“Yes, you want to hear?” She tapped a few keys on the laptop, and the distinct echoing, thudding sound filled Cade with a twisty, warm feeling. Could he be any prouder of the little tyke?
“Wow. He’s doing great. Think he’ll play ball? Remember how he flipped around during the ultrasound? Dodging and feinting—a real athlete.”
Roxanne rolled her eyes and turned down the sound. “Maybe he’ll be a fashion designer, you never know.”
“Fashion designer? No boy of mine’s going to play with paper dolls.”
“He might take after me, rail thin and dainty.” Roxanne flipped herself onto her back and laid her arms over her head, legs straight. “Everyone says I’m wearing a bowling ball. Oops, he just kicked. You don’t like me talking about you, do you, dudders?”
Cade stared, mesmerized, at the blob moving under her belly. His baby boy. He reached for her, then stopped. After all, they weren’t in a relationship. A drunken one-nighter didn’t count.
“You can touch, go ahead.” Roxanne grabbed his hand and adjusted it. “He likes to kick me in the bladder. Such a bad boy already. But feel here? That’s his back and head.”
The baby moved in a frenzy under his palm. It was almost as if he knew his daddy was there.
“I can’t get enough of this,” he said, moving his hand. “Oh, he just kicked me. Did you feel that?”
“Of course I did, silly.” Roxanne caressed the back of Cade’s hand. “It’s one of the most incredible feelings, to lie asleep and feel your baby move, knowing you’ll never be as close to him as you are these nine months.”
“I wish I could know that feeling,” Cade said, removing his hand from Roxanne’s. “Thanks for letting me share this moment.”
Excitement flooded his veins. He was going to be a father, and the feeling he had was love for his child. He’d do anything for the little guy. He’d protect him, nurture him, teach him how to be a man, and play with him. His son would never ever know a day when he wasn’t wanted or loved.
To do that, he’d need to have a friendly relationship with Roxanne. For starters, he’d have to respect her right to make her own decisions about doctors, hospitals, and living arrangements, and trust that she loved her child, their child.
“Any time, Cade. You’re not upset I decided to come here?” She sat back up and Cade rushed to prop pillows in back of her.
“No, I wish you’d called, because I had a bit of a panic after hearing you’d left the hospital. Dr. Benson said it was not advised. You’re okay with the bed rest, right? I mean, you’ll do what’s best for the baby?”
“Of course, I will. I was just under a lot of stress at the hospital. I wasn’t thinking of what could happen to the baby. I mean, I still might lose the promotion, but …” She rubbed her abdomen. “I guess there’s always another job, and well, you were right. Our baby does need me more than the job.”
“I care about you both. Please, text me or call me. I don’t get why Rob isn’t returning my calls, but I’ll deal with him later. You, take care. Okay? And if Danny doesn’t treat you right, you let me know.”
Roxanne chuckled. “I’m sure you’ve heard an earful from Danny. He hasn’t changed, has he? Always complaining.”
Cade leaned over and kissed Roxanne on the forehead. “Don’t worry about anything, other than your fashion shows and what you need to do. Anything you need, let me know. Text, call, or smoke signals. I’m serious.”
“I know you are
.” Her smile under tired eyes told him she trusted him. “I couldn’t have picked a better baby daddy.”
“Yeah, well, let’s just call it fate.” He turned toward the door. “Whenever you call me, turn on that heartbeat monitor, okay?”
“Sure thing, daddy dudder.” She gave him an okay sign and winked.
As Cade closed the door, a spark jolted his heart. Why couldn’t it be Andie who was sitting there with his child? Some kind of fate—more like a dose of bad karma. But then, Roxanne had mellowed out quite a bit since earlier this year, and maybe she would turn out to be a good enough mother after all.
Chapter 4
“Did your boyfriend just call?” Sylvia touched up her lipstick in front of the ladies’ room mirror while Andie redid her hair twist.
“Yep. He had to cancel our date this evening. Something came up.”
Andie couldn’t help the strain in her voice. This weekend had been a dream come true. She’d finally had a real boyfriend, and darn it all, both she and Cade were already at the ‘L’ word stage. It felt so giddy and buoyant, like riding in a hot air balloon, floating above the clouds—then pop!
Declan Reed happened.
“Hey, don’t feel too bad.” Sylvia sprayed cologne over her wrists. Her happy side was a pink colored rollerball, floral and playful, while her gloomy side was a dark one, earthy and alluring. “You have two men loving you: light, sprite, and charming versus dark, rough, and protective. What’s not to like?”
“Everything. I just got back together with Cade. Finally, and then this happens. Talk about blast from the past.” Andie blew out a frustrated breath.
“Well, if you don’t want Declan, let me have him.” Sylvia retouched her eye shadow, two different colors for each eye.
Andie didn’t want to seem flippant about this, but she barely knew Sylvia. If she wanted to inflict herself with the likes of Declan Reed, so be it.
“Sure, good luck.” Andie shrugged and changed the subject. “What’s with the half face and the half perfume?”
Sylvia was always dressed in halves, one side light, the other side dark, one side colorful, the other side grey. She even had jackets she split in half and stitched together with a different one—like the fringed motorcycle jacket with the Japanese kimono.
“The duality of life, half empty or half full, yin and yang, eyes wide shut, life in death and death in life.” Sylvia twirled her finger from side to side, then made a circle. “Good can come out of bad, and bad out of good.”
“Okay …” Andie didn’t know what New Age psychobabble Sylvia was into, but it made sense. “I guess good and bad depends on your perspective.”
“Exactly, so, the way I see it, you’re either in a jam because you have two guys wanting you, or you’re sitting pretty.”
“Sitting pretty?” Andie pursed her lips and let her hair down. “Not if you love one of them and hate the other.”
“Love and hate, opposites and yet so close.” Sylvia brushed out the side of her head with long flowing hair. The other side was shaved bald, but decorated with snake tattoos that looked like hair. “Why don’t we have dinner, and you can tell me about love and hate?”
“Sure. I don’t have to be home any time soon.” Andie held the door as they exited the bathroom. She could use a friend and a sounding board.
After all, what exactly was she going to tell Cade when she got home? The papers were unsigned, and she was legally still Declan’s wife.
Oh gosh! She felt her face heat. She’d committed adultery. She’d turned out to be a cheat after all.
# # #
Andie and Sylvia sat at the bar of a barbeque restaurant facing a large TV tuned to the baseball game. Just this morning, she’d been looking forward to an uneventful day at work and an evening with him at the game, but duty had called. Not that she could even begin to fake having a romantic evening with this Declan cloud hanging over her head. Poor Cade, though. What if Roxanne had lost the baby and was in hiding, stricken with grief? Hopefully not, but Cade must be worried sick.
Andie slipped her phone from her purse and texted a quick message to Cade. Everything okay with the baby?
Next to her, Sylvia checked out the other just as colorful denizens of a typical Hollywood bar.
Sylvia’s half and half outfit, complete with mismatched makeup down to mismatched shoes didn’t seem too far out of place among the chic crowd: punks with blue tipped spiked hair, blondes in dreadlocks, and men wearing skirts and psychedelic leopard, zebra, and tied-dyed leggings. What was with guys without body hair? Smooth arms and legs? Did they really wax their entire body?
Andie shuddered as she stirred the lime wedge in her watermelon-flavored cosmo cocktail. She wasn’t quite ready to talk about Cade and Declan, and she was definitely not sitting pretty with Declan wanting money and refusing to sign the divorce papers. If Ronaldo hadn’t happened by and snagged Declan for a meeting, he might have followed her home and confronted Cade. She had to come clean. Maybe, she shouldn’t even be here. She should be at Cade’s side, helping him track down Roxanne. It wasn’t right what that woman was doing to him, making him worry.
Andie glanced at her phone, but there was no reply to her text.
Putting her phone notification sound on loud so she could hear it above the din of the bar, she eyed the fashionistas. “I’m so out of place here. It almost feels like one of those space movies where the characters go to a space bar and there are creatures from every planet sitting around.”
“Just part of the Hollywood scene,” Sylvia swirled her margarita. “I like being different. Tell me, have you ever seen anyone else wearing a halfie jacket?”
Andie sipped her cosmo. “No, I do say, you’re pretty unique. What do you do with the other half of the jackets you cut out? Do you make a matching mirrored image?”
“I’m waiting to have a friend wear them with me. You want one?” Sylvia dipped a potato skin in blue cheese dressing and licked it. “I’ve always wanted to have a friend for twin day.”
“Twin day?”
“Big party at Mr. Silver’s parents’ house. You do know, his grandmother’s Amanda Silver, Hollywood’s grand dame casting agent, and his father’s Monty Silver, director of The Dark Samurai, a Japanese epic fantasy on the scale of The Game of Thrones.”
“I didn’t know that,” Andie said. “So they have this party?”
“Every August, in celebration of National Twin Day. Mr. Silver has an identical twin. It would be smashing to be sandwiched between them.” Sylvia licked the salty rim of her margarita glass.
“Sandwiched? What do you mean?” Andie couldn’t think of a worse thing than being around two Ronaldos.
“A threesome. Have you ever tried it? That’s what I meant about you sitting pretty. You’ve got rough and ready Cade and pretty boy Declan.”
“Uh, I’ll pass on that. What am I going to do?” Andie took a mouthful of her cocktail. She didn’t feel at all like a swinging single woman in a big city bar. More like a pretender. Cade had always been out of her league. Heck, Roxanne Cash was a former model turned fashion designer. She was thin and fashionable. And she was having his baby.
Andie crushed the lime slice and slung the rest of the drink back, burning her throat with the sweetish sting.
“I’m sorry.” Sylva patted her arm. “I didn’t mean to make light of it. You’re in a pickle.”
“Tell me about it.”
“The way I see it,” Sylvia said. “You need to figure out what you want. I didn’t take you for a gold digger, but Cade’s salary is public knowledge, whereas we don’t know what Ronaldo’s going to offer Declan. You want me to snoop around?”
“No, really. I’m not a gold digger. I just said that to try to get him to sign the divorce.”
“Oh, honey, then you gotta make him hate you enough to want to divorce you. ’Cause right now, from where I’m sitting, he’s still got the hots for you.”
“I don’t think it’s real. I mean, the strange thing is he
mentioned being my husband to Ronaldo. Do you think that was a way for him to get the contract? Saying he knew me already and would make a great team with me?”
“You think that’s his angle?” Sylvia raised her eyebrow and glanced sideways. “Maybe that’s why Ronaldo hired you. He’d been talking to Declan even before you appeared on the scene.”
Andie flushed and pressed her lips together. Shit. What if Declan were the reason she was hired? No wonder Ronaldo was upset with her for recommending against him.
“Sorry, I’m feeling tired,” Andie said. “Do you mind if I go now? We can have dinner another time.”
“Sure, let’s do this again. Next time, come to my place and we can play dress up.”
“Okay, sounds like fun.” Andie squeezed a smile and waved goodbye. At this point, Sylvia was her only ally, sort of, and maybe it would be fun to have a friend, especially one so chic and fashionable.
Chapter 5
Andie checked her phone as she unlocked the door to Cade’s house. No messages. Where was he? She was getting worried now. What if Roxanne already had the baby? Even worse, what if Cade couldn’t locate her?
Red and Gollie greeted her at the door, licking her hand and panting. She squatted to hug them. Red allowed her to ruffle his head and tickle his ears, but Gollie wanted to lick and kiss her, so she gave into the moment and let her dog give her some love. “I’m glad you came to California with me. I love you, sweet puppy.”
The place looked dark, and Cade’s mother was obviously not around, or if she was, she was sleeping. Andie crept to the kitchen and switched on the lights to see if anyone left her a note.
Nothing.
Breathing a silent prayer for Cade and the baby, she fixed herself a salad. The two dogs hung by her side as she fed them pieces of ham and steak. She loved the feel of dogs licking her fingers and their excited bodies and tails thumping against her legs.
Suddenly, Red dropped his piece, and a growl tore from his throat. A split second later, he scrambled for the door, his nails slipping on the hardwood floor. Gollie was only too happy to gobble up the extra meat. Ha, ha, Gollie the glutton.
Boxed Set: Intercepted by Love (The Complete Collection): Books One - Book Six Page 23