King's Pleasure

by Adrianne Byrd

  “Huh, what?” Leigh jerked her head around to face Ariel, but it was too late. Her friend had already turned around to see what had captured her attention.

  Ariel folded her arms. “I thought we didn’t care what they were talking about.”

  “I don’t care.”

  “Right. Is that why you’re drooling like someone was waving a dog biscuit in front of your face?”

  “Please, Ariel. Don’t start. Not now.”

  Sympathy saved her butt, because Ariel looked as if she was far from being satisfied. “All right. Let’s get you home.”

  “Honey?” Leigh’s mother’s voice drifted over to her.

  Mustering the strength that she must’ve had stored somewhere deep in her bones, Leigh forced a smile and turned toward her mother. “Hey, Mom. Dad. I’m not feeling too good right now. I think it might’ve been something I ate.”

  Her mother instantly pressed the back of her hand against Leigh’s forehead. “What are your symptoms?”

  “I’m just a little nauseous.”

  “A little?” Ariel chuckled before she could stop herself.

  Leigh rolled her eyes.

  Her mother’s brows jumped as a tiny smile quirked her lips. “Really, now? How long have you been feeling like this?”

  Realizing what the hopeful light in her mother’s eyes meant, Leigh tried to course correct. “Just today, Mom. I probably ate something that didn’t agree with me.” She tried to smile through the lie.

  Her mother nodded her head, but she’d clearly dismissed Leigh’s explanation. “And are you experiencing any mood swings or breast tenderness?”

  Yes and yes. “Mom, I don’t think we should be discussing my breasts right now.”

  “I’m just saying that signs of pregnancy are—”

  “Mom, we’re not talking about that.”

  “Humph.” Ariel glanced up and suddenly became interested in the ceiling.

  With a friend like her, who needed enemies?

  “Would you like me to take you home, sweetheart?” her father said, towering above her mother. He glanced around. “Where’s DeShawn?”

  “Oh, he’s outside talking to a friend at the valet and—”

  “You’re both leaving?” Her mother cut in. “What about your party? Everyone came to wish you well on your engagement.”

  “I know, Mom. DeShawn can stay here. Ariel can take me home.”

  “Nonsense,” her mother interjected. “Your father and I can take you home. There’s no need to pull your friend away from the party.”

  “Oh, it’s no trouble,” Ariel said, smiling. “Besides, it’s on my way home.”

  “What’s on your way home?” DeShawn said, walking up behind them.

  Leigh’s mother’s smile faltered. “Leigh says she’s not feeling well.”

  “She’s not?” DeShawn turned his attention to his fiancée. “What’s the matter, sweetheart?”

  Feeling the heat of the spotlight, Leigh cleared her throat. “I’m just feeling a little nauseous—probably indigestion. That’s all. No big deal.”

  “Leigh, if you want, your father can go out and get you something for your stomach ache.”

  Leigh couldn’t believe how difficult this was. “Mom, I really would like to go home and lay down.”

  “Darling, you don’t just run out of a party because you have a little indigestion. Now, if there’s something else…”

  Leigh’s patience was wearing thin. “Please, stop trying to turn this into a federal case, Mom. I’d just like to go home and lay down. Is that too much to ask?”

  Sheree blinked at her daughter’s sudden outburst and then that tiny smile returned. “Are you sure that you’re not—”

  “Mommm,” Leigh warned.

  Her mother tossed up her hands. “Fine, I have nothing else to say.”

  Wouldn’t it be nice if that were true? Leigh closed her eyes and searched her soul for patience. Turns out, she was fresh out. “You know, everyone can just stay here and I’ll hail myself a cab.”

  DeShawn eased his arm around her shoulder. “Baby, don’t overreact. Your mother was just trying to help. I’ll take you home.”

  Leigh shrugged his arm off her shoulder. “Please, don’t patronize me. I told you I didn’t even feel like coming here tonight.” A wave of nausea hit her and she just wished that everyone would stop staring and interrogating her half to death.

  DeShawn’s expression twisted in confusion before he leaned in close and asked, “Did you get your period or something?”

  “Aw, hell.” Ariel rolled her eyes and jabbed her hand on her hip.

  Sheree Matthews shook her head disappointedly.

  The one thing Leigh would’ve welcomed right now was her period.

  “Son,” her father said, shaking his head. “Bad move.”

  It was a bad move, because it took everything Leigh had for her head not to spin around and fly off. “As a matter of fact, I didn’t. But have you lost you ever-lovin’ mind?”

  DeShawn shrugged his shoulders. “What? I was just asking. You’re acting really strange this evening. You’ve been snapping my head off since before we got here.”

  “Before?” Her mother latched on to that tidbit as her eyes grew to the size of saucers.

  Leigh went from anger to being on the brink of tears in the blink of an eye. “Can someone, anyone, just take me home? Tell the guests whatever you want. I don’t care.”

  “I’ll take you,” DeShawn volunteered. But he looked scared, as if something might happen to him in the car.

  Her mother leaped back into the fray. “But, DeShawn—”

  “It’s okay. I’ll take her home and come right back. No big deal.”

  Her mother gave a look that said it was a very big deal and something that one simply didn’t do at your engagement party.

  “How does that sound, sweetheart?” he asked Leigh as if he expected to get a cookie. He took another chance and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

  Despite wanting to snatch it off, Leigh left it there. Her mother had her under surveillance. “I’m sorry for snapping. I really don’t feel well.”

  “Uh-huh,” her mother nodded, looking like she knew exactly what time it was. “I’ll come by your place in the morning and check on you.”

  Great.

  Her father drew closer. “You just make sure that you get plenty of rest. Don’t worry about the party. We’ll take care of everything.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead.

  “Thanks, Dad.” Leigh turned toward Ariel. “And thanks, girl. I’ll call you later.”

  “Not if I call you first.”

  “Let’s go.” DeShawn escorted her out of the restaurant. After the valet retrieved DeShawn’s bright blue Gumpert Apollo, they slid into the comfortable leather seats. After pulling away from the curb, the couple rode for miles in silence. DeShawn hoped that she would say something to fill him in on what the hell was going on with her, and she was hoping that he would remain quiet the entire ride.

  She did think that maybe she should go ahead and end things with him now. But knowing that he would be going back to the party, she decided that it would just make things too awkward for him.

  Tomorrow. I promise I’ll tell him tomorrow.

  “Are you feeling any better now,” he asked tentatively.

  So much for silence. “Yes,” she lied. Hell, she was doing a lot of that tonight. “Thanks for taking me home.”

  “No problem. I just wish that I knew why you weren’t feeling like yourself. I don’t like it when my baby is sick.” He reached over and grabbed her hand.

  Leigh pulled her hand back.

  Silence filled the car again but DeShawn’s persistence returned. “You know, they say that planning a wedding is extremely stressful. What do you say we hire a wedding planner to help take some of the stress off you?”

  Silence.

  “Is there something else wrong? I feel like there’s something you’re not telling me.”

&n
bsp; Those damn tears threatened again. Was the entire nine months going to be like this? She’d go mad if it was.

  “Leigh?”

  “DeShawn, not tonight. Please. We’ll talk tomorrow. I promise.”

  “I don’t know how this is going to work if you refuse to talk to me.”

  Now he wants to talk. Not when he’s on the road and I’m blowing up his phone. Now, on the one night I need to process my thoughts, everyone is treating like a criminal. She turned and stared out of the window.

  “Ooookay.” He huffed out a deep breath.

  Tell him. Tell him.

  “Please. Tomorrow, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  She could feel when his gaze shifted to the back of her head. And like before, she prayed that he would drop it. Tomorrow, she would put an end to this. Tomorrow, she hoped to have some kind of plan going forward. Jeremy King’s handsome face floated to the forefront of her mind, but just as quickly, she shook it right out. She could only handle one problem at a time. Leigh turned back in her seat and glanced over at the man behind the wheel. This was one time that they shouldn’t have gotten back together.

  Another five minutes and DeShawn pulled up to her place. As hard as she tried, he wouldn’t listen when she told him that he didn’t have to walk her to the door. And once at the door, he needed to come in to use her bathroom. For the first time, she sensed that he didn’t trust her.

  How ironic. She let him in to use the bathroom. He chattered nonstop as he walked down the hallway to the bathroom. She tuned him out as she removed her jacket and high-heel shoes. Once he was in the bathroom, she headed to the kitchen for a bottled water, but then she nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard a loud whoop from the bathroom.

  “What on earth?”

  “Now I get it!” The bathroom door jerked open and DeShawn rushed out, waving a stick. “Baby, why didn’t you tell me we were pregnant?”

  Chapter 18

  “Oh my God! I can’t believe we’re about to have a baby,” DeShawn declared, rushing toward her like a linebacker.

  Before Leigh knew it, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her and lifted her off the floor.

  “I knew something was up. You’re acting so strange. You should have told me.” He bounced her up and down.

  Leigh’s eyes bulged as the tumultuous waves in her stomach increased. “DeShawn, honey. Please, set me back down.”

  “A baby,” he shouted. The bouncing transitioned into her being swung around the kitchen. “I’m going to be a father. I can’t believe this!” Then just as suddenly he stopped and put her feet down back on the floor. “I’m going to be a father,” he repeated, somberly. “That means that I’m going to have to be…” He sucked in a deep breath as though someone had just handed him his maturity pills. “Okay…” He bobbed his head. “I can do this. We can do this.”

  Leigh wasn’t sure whether he was trying to convince her or himself.

  You have to tell him now. There was no way around it now. She couldn’t have him leaving there thinking that she was carrying his child. In fact, any second now he was going to start asking questions so that he could do his own calculations.

  “So how far along? Two months—three?”

  Oh, Lord.

  Smiling, DeShawn glanced down at her belly, and then pressed his hand against it. “I bet it’s a boy.”

  “DeShawn.” She stepped away from his hand. “We need to talk.”

  “I’ll say. How long have you known?”

  “Please, just hear me out. I—” A sudden violent wave of bile gurgled up her throat. Leigh slapped a hand over her mouth, spun and then made a mad dash to the bathroom.

  To Leigh’s dismay, DeShawn rushed in behind her as she upchucked most of the water she’d just drank since she hadn’t eaten at the party and her stomach was empty. “Oh my God,” DeShawn said excitedly. “This is really happening. We’re really about to do this.” He turned toward her medicine cabinet. “What do you need, baby? Can you take Pepto-Bismol?” He rummaged around the cabinet some more. “What about some Alka-Seltzer?”

  Leigh moaned as she sat next to the toilet. This cannot be happening.

  “A daddy,” DeShawn said. “Me.”

  “DeShawn,” she said, lifting her head with tears streaming down her face. “Sweetheart, I don’t know any other way to say this, but—”

  “You know what? I’ll just call the team doctor—well, I’m not officially on the team yet—and he’s technically not a pediatrician—or do you need to see one of those gyno-people for this? I can’t remember.” He was rambling on badly.

  “DeShawn,” Leigh tried again. It was clear that there was no way that he was going to take any of this well.

  “Hold on, baby, let me just call and—” He was still smiling and shaking his head. “Wait until everyone hears about this. A father!” He pulled his cell phone from his ear and looked at the screen. “Now, I know I’ve got the right number in this thing.”

  “DeShawn, please! Listen to me!”

  “I’m listening, baby.” He dragged his eyes from the phone and smiled. “You just don’t realize how happy you’ve made me. Hell, I didn’t know how happy I would be hearing something like this. A father!” He still sounded stunned. “And, baby—” he knelt down on the floor next to her by the toilet bowl. “I promise you— I swear that you’re going to see a changed man from here on out.”

  “DeShawn—”

  “No, baby. Please hear me out. I know that I’ve put you through some unnecessary changes, but that’s over now. You hear me? From here on out, I’m going to be the best father and husband I possibly can be. And—”

  “Shh…” Leigh cupped his face in her hands. “DeShawn, this is soooo hard, but…I can’t marry you.”

  He blinked and then shook his head as if there was something wrong with his hearing. “What?”

  Leigh’s guts twisted inside of her. “I’m sorry. But I should have never accepted your proposal. And you’ve got to believe me that I didn’t know I was pregnant until today.”

  His smile wavered, but then it brightened again as if he figured out what the problem was. “Leigh, honey, I know that you’ve been having some doubts. I mean, even I had some. But I’m telling you now, this news changes all that. I swear I’m going to do right by you. I’m going to—”

  Leigh’s patience snapped and she just blurted it out. “DeShawn, it’s not your baby!”

  Chapter 19

  “You dragged her into the freezer?” Quentin asked, kicking his feet up on the corner of Jeremy’s desk. “Ha! If you don’t mind my saying, that’s pretty cold-blooded.

  “It was the only place I could think of at the time that we could be alone and not worry about being overheard,” Jeremy offered weakly, tugging off his tie and tossing it onto the small glass coffee table. Next he started unbuttoning his shirt while he continued to replay the night’s events in his head.

  “You know, this whole thing just blows my mind,” he said. “For years I’d heard about my boy’s chick. But he always kept her on the sidelines and we never actually met. And then suddenly—boom! This is craziness!”

  “Of course he kept her on the sidelines. That’s a true playa move.”

  Jeremy frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “Come on. If you had to guess between you and your boy, which one of you pulled the most women, who would you pick?”

  Jeremy tilted his head with a cocky grin, giving Quentin the “well, I don’t want to brag” look.

  “Exactly!” Quentin grinned. “A playa never introduces his serious girl to a bigger playa than himself. That’s just asking for trouble. Funny thing is your man still fumbled the ball—and she wandered into someone else’s court. And here we are.” Q tossed up his hands. “One big-ass mess!”

  “You’re making sports analogies now?”

  “I use whatever I have on hand.” Quentin stretched back in the leather chair and folded his arms behind his head.

  Jeremy
plopped down onto the leather sofa and watched the security cameras that monitored the club’s main floor. He saw all the swirling hips, popping booties and bouncing breasts, but none of it moved him. All he could think about was Leigh’s angry face and how she’d tried to pelt him to death with frozen food.

  God, she was breathtaking.

  A smile hitched the corners of Jeremy’s mouth. All the while he was trying to breathe fire, there was still a very strong part of him that wanted to drag her into his arms and smother her ruby-red lips with a passionate kiss. He missed her. Missed kissing her lips, smelling her skin, and definitely missed the feeling of what it was like to be buried deep inside of her.

  The truth of the matter was Jeremy needed that freezer to stop him from embarrassing himself. Even now, it pained and disgusted him that he was actually attracted to his best friend’s fiancée. Sure, he was mad—but if he was going to be honest, he was jealous, too.

  “I need a drink.” Jeremy popped up off the couch and strolled over to the bar. “Want one?” He reached for an extra glass.

  “Nah, I’m good.”

  Stunned, Jeremy glanced up.

  “What?” Q asked, shrugging. “I know how to say no.”

  “Learn something new every day,” Jeremy said, pouring himself a brandy.

  “So have you decided yet?” his cousin asked.

  Jeremy lips twisted. “Decided what?”

  “Have you decided whether you’re going to steal your best friend’s girl or not?”

  The question surprised Jeremy so much that he spewed out half his drink. “What?”

  “Come on, man. I don’t stutter and your ears don’t flap. I can take one look at you and see that right now you’re thinking about Baby Girl, and it has nothing to do with whether or not she’s going to break things off with Roy. You still want her for yourself.”

  A voice in the back of Jeremy’s head told him to deny it, but he couldn’t get the words out of his mouth. Had he been thinking about that?

  Q shook his head. “Fascinating. Now I get to see how the other side works.”

  “You’re talking in riddles.” Jeremy refreshed his drink.