His Baby Deal (The Diamond Club Book 6)

by Elizabeth Lennox

  Jayce smiled, remembering the adorable pictures that Charlotte had sent him over the past few days. He hadn’t heard a peep from Jessa. Not a word or update or anything. Of course, he hadn’t sent her any messages either. But not because he hadn’t been thinking about her. They never texted or called when on a mission. Too dangerous.

  But she could have texted him!

  Sighing, he rubbed a hand over his hair. “Jessa is independent. She’d decided to go to a sperm clinic and get pregnant there. But…I convinced her to let me help her.”

  There was a stunned silence as they absorbed this.

  “So…you’re the father of her child, but you don’t want to be?” Ryker voiced the question both men were thinking.

  “Hell no! I mean,” he shook his head and rubbed his face in frustration at the whole mess. “Yes! I’m the father. And I’ve loved watching Jessa’s pregnancy, being with her. Hell, looking back, I think I was in love with her since the first day I moved into my place and saw her planting flowers in her front yard.”

  “She’s your neighbor,” Ryker stated, not asking. The man was good at putting the pieces of a puzzle together. “And you helped her get pregnant.”

  Oz sat back, understanding dawning in his eyes. “Now you think she wants to raise your child by herself.” Oz was trying not to laugh. And failing. “Damn, you messed up big time!”

  Ryker didn’t laugh. He looked over at Jayce with concern. “Why do you think that she wants to raise this child alone?”

  “Because every time we discussed the baby, I’d say ‘yours’ and she never corrected me. She never asked me if I wanted to be a part of our child’s life.”

  The flight attendant, Melanie, an efficient brunette who was madly in love with their pilot, Jimmy, brought drinks for them. “Jayce, you messed up, honey,” she explained with a gentle smile as she put the crystal glass filled with scotch by his elbow. “I don’t know this woman, but I know my gender. And every time you said that, you were distancing yourself from your child in her mind. So she heard you loud and clear.”

  Jayce stared at Melanie, shocked at her interpretation. “She…?”

  Melanie nodded. “Women don’t want to trap men. They want men to want them. So if you constantly told her that the baby wasn’t yours, and that’s what you were doing, by the way, then you were telling her that you didn’t want to be a part of your child’s life. With her.”

  With that, Melanie headed into the kitchen to finish making their dinner.

  Meanwhile, Ryker and Oz watched with amusement as Jayce absorbed Melanie’s words. “Holy…!” he muttered, rubbing his hand over his face, hair, and neck. “Do you think…?” he asked.

  “Yeah. Sounds pretty straightforward to me,” Oz agreed with a shrug.

  Ryker nodded. “You’ve gotten a translation from the mysterious gender. If Melanie says it, then it must be so.”

  The men heard a snort from the galley and smiled.

  Jayce sat up a bit straighter. “So…she’s been waiting for me to say something all this time. But she dated a bunch of losers! She told me that she didn’t want to have anything to do with men!”

  Melanie huffed again, then stuck her head out of the kitchen. “She didn’t want to have anything to do with other men, Jayce!” she explained as if he were a two year old. “But I’d bet a lot of money that she wanted to have everything to do with you!” She went back to the kitchen only to appear a moment later with three plates balanced on her arms. She set them down in front of the guys as she explained. “Women want to get married, Jayce. She might have told you she didn’t. But we’re hard wired by the past several thousand years to instinctively want our offspring to survive. We might want equal rights and equal pay, don’t even think that we don’t! But yeah, we want a man who is strong enough and big enough to protect us…and if he’s a sweet, kind, caring jerk like you,” she said, and paused to punch the same spot that Ryker had, “then she’s all in and is waiting for you to give her some indication that you’re interested. And it sounds like she gave you plenty of opportunities and you blew it.”

  She started to walk away from them and Oz called back, “Aren’t you going to eat with us?”

  She laughed. “Not when Jimmy is flying! When Dan is? I’m with you guys. He’s too quiet and boring. Sorry, big guys, but I’d rather be with my husband.” And with that, she took two more plates and walked through to the cockpit.

  Oz and Ryker dug into the steaks that Melanie had brought to them, snorting at Jayce’s predicament. “Fine!” Jayce snapped. “I’ll talk to her as soon as we get back.”

  “Good. And please, let us know what happens.” Oz grinned. “If I’m going to be an uncle, I’d really like to know about it.”

  Ryker nodded. “As your child’s godfather,” he said, ignoring Oz’s grunt of agreement, “I need to get things in place.”

  Jayce laughed, feeling lighter already. Hope surged through him and he wanted the plane to fly faster. He needed to get back to Jessa. He needed to ask her if Melanie was right. Damn, had he missed the mark completely? He certainly hoped so!

  Chapter 20

  Jessa shifted in the uncomfortable chair, cursing the stupid person who had decided that pregnant women would be comfortable in chairs like this! She was sitting in her obstetrician’s waiting room, dreading her turn with the doctor. She was thirty-eight weeks pregnant and she was finished with this whole pregnancy thing! She was huge and she was sick of hurting because Jayce wasn’t around anymore.

  Suddenly, there was a hum of appreciative female voices. Jessa ignored the murmurs, focusing on the three year old magazine in her hands. The extremely large shadow was her next clue. Looking up, she saw Jayce standing in front of her, anger and frustration on his handsome features and making her heart throb with love for the gentle giant.

  “Jessa, I want to be involved!” he announced, hands fisted on his hips and his feet spread wide, as if he were ready to confront the enemy instead of standing amidst an admiring group of ladies in various stages of pregnancy.

  “Um…,” she looked up at him, then around at the other ladies.

  A woman who looked to be about to give birth to three babies lifted her hand. “If she doesn’t want to be involved with you, I’ll take over!”

  There was a smattering of giggles from the other ladies, but several of them lifted their hands as well.

  The normally easy going Jayce didn’t even smile, his frustrated gaze skimming over the ladies, then up at the ceiling. “That didn’t come out right,” he sighed.

  Another pregnant woman chuckled. “Honey, the whole point of this room is to make sure that ‘it’ comes out right. So try again.”

  Jayce looked over at the lady, who only smiled back at him innocently while all of the others in the room laughed with delight.

  “Jayce, this is…” Jessa started to say.

  Jayce lifted his hand, stalling her words for the moment. “Jessa, I want to be involved! Not just with this baby, but with you.”

  “But Jayce, I thought we discussed…”

  “Forget what we talked about at the beginning of this whole thing,” he interrupted, his hand sweeping over the general area of her stomach where their baby thrived inside of her. “I’m excited, thrilled, AMAZED about this baby. But…” another hand brushed over his short hair, then he bent down on one knee. “Jessa, I love sitting out by the water and talking to you every day.” A few sighs from the ladies closest. “I love talking with you, hearing about your stories. I love the shy way you look at me when you want me to touch you. I love the way you kiss me as if you’re surprised by the shock of what we’re experiencing every single time we kiss. I love…” he lowered his voice and took her hand in his, “I love being with you. I want to wake up with you every single day of my life. I want to raise this child together. Hell, I want more kids with you!”

  Jessa trembled with hope and fear. “But Jayce, you said that…well, you said that you weren’t daddy material. That you’re at
your best from a distance.”

  “I was only saying that to keep you from running away from me. I’m sorry, honey. I’m so sorry that I didn’t have the courage to just come out and say how I felt from the beginning. But Jessa, do you honestly believe that I could walk away from you now?”

  She opened her mouth to say yes, but the word caught in her throat. She was unaware of the tear that slipped from the corner of her eye. “No. You’re a good man.”

  “Just good?” he teased.

  Jessa couldn’t stop the laugh that hit her. “Okay, you’re extraordinary,” she admitted.

  “Better, but not good enough. I want it all, Jessa. I want you. I want this baby. I want a future with both of you, and not one from a distance. I shouldn’t have lied, but I didn’t want to scare you away.”

  “Why would I be scared away by something so sweet?”

  He shrugged, moving closer. “I watched you date those other men. But you never seemed interested in any of them. You’d come talk to me after all of your dates, we’d laugh about their stupidity and we’d change the subject. When I finally got the chance to kiss you, I never wanted to stop, Jessa. So I figured out how to get close, how to give you what you wanted, and hoped that it would be enough for me.” He shook his head. “It wasn’t. I don’t think I can ever get enough of you.”

  More oohs and ahhs, but Jessa only had eyes and ears for Jayce. She lowered her voice, her nervousness taking on shocking proportions now. “The reason I didn’t go home with any of those other men,” she cleared her throat and looked down at their clasped hands, “was because they weren’t you, Jayce.” She licked her lips, her lashes fluttering slightly. “The men were…meh, compared to you.”

  When she lifted her lashes and looked at him, she saw the heat in his eyes. “I’m not meh?”

  She leaned forward, her forehead touching his. “You’re definitely not ‘meh’,” she admitted.

  His grin was back and she loved it. She loved him! “What am I then?”

  “Wow!” she whispered, unaware that she was doing that shy-smile thing.

  He chuckled. “You’re pretty wow too.” His fingers tightened on hers as he looked into her brown eyes. “Will you marry me, Jessa?” he asked, sincerity glowing in his eyes. “Will you spend the rest of your life with me?”

  The tears were pouring down her cheeks now. But she reached out to touch his cheek. “Do you mean it, Jayce? Do you want to try and make this work? I love you, but I don’t want to trap you. I love you too much to do that.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t want to try, Jessa. I want to do. Trying means that we can cop out if things get too tough. I don’t want any cop outs. I want it all. I want all of you, every day for the rest of my life! I love you too, and I have for so long, but I didn’t realize what that feeling was. But now that I know, I can’t stop the feeling. Every time I see you, every time I hold you, that feeling gets stronger. Knowing you, being with you, makes me love you more every day.” His hand moved over her stomach. “I love our baby too. I know that I can’t feel what you are experiencing, Jessa. But I love our baby, I love you, and I want us to be a real family.”

  “Yes!” she replied, then threw herself into his arms. Jayce caught her, lifting her up so that he could wrap his arms around her, holding her close. He laughed when the applause erupted. Looking around, even the nurses and doctors had come into the waiting room. Jessa giggled as she buried her face against the warmth of his neck.

  Jayce held her tight, laughing at the applause.

  “I love you,” he whispered into her ear. Jessa lifted her face up to look at him.

  “I love you too,” she replied, smiling with happiness. “Goodness, it feels wonderful to finally say that!”

  “I love hearing it,” he told her.

  Epilogue

  “You need to go!” Jayce announced, his hand moving over her stomach.

  Jessa groaned, shifting in the bed. “It’s not time. I’m a first time mother and these are just Braxton Hicks contractions.” But she didn’t feel fine. She couldn’t get comfortable and wanted to…she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do, other than have this baby! She was hot and uncomfortable, even though it was cold outside. She wanted to…walk, dance, do anything! She was tired of being pregnant and eager to meet their baby!

  Just then, another wave of pain poured over her belly and she bit her lip, trying to stifle the groan of pain. But this one was too intense and she couldn’t swallow the sound.

  “That’s it!” Jayce announced, standing up. He grabbed a pair of jeans and sweater, pulling them on as he glared at her. “You’re going to the hospital. If you’re not in labor, then we’ll come back.”

  “I don’t want to be a nervous mother! I don’t want to go to the hospital only to have them pat me on the shoulder and tell me that it’s not time,” she told him for about the one hundredth time.

  “Fine! You can tell the hospital staff that you’re not in labor and that I am just a nervous father. But we’re going!” and he grabbed her sneakers, and shoved them onto her feet before picking her up, blanket and all.

  “Jayce! I need to get dressed!” she exclaimed.

  He continued out the door, shouldering his way through the house. “You could have gotten dressed an hour ago when I first mentioned the hospital. But you were stubborn. I’m not risking it, Jessa.”

  She laughed. “You know I love it when you get all he-man like this, but…”

  “Jessa, if you don’t stop that, I’m going to paddle your adorable butt. You know that you are too uncomfortable to follow through on the sexy talk.”

  “Says you,” she grumbled, but then another pain hit her and she grabbed her belly, almost doubling over as the pains ripped through her. And doubling over when someone was carrying her wasn’t an easy thing. When the pain eased up slightly and she could open her eyes, she realized that she was sitting in the passenger seat of his SUV and Jayce was kneeling on the cold, concrete driveway, his eyes worried.

  “Okay?” he asked softly, his strong hands holding hers gently.

  “I’m fine,” she whispered, lying through her teeth.

  “I thought we weren’t going to lie to each other anymore,” he gently, carefully, settled her in the car seat more completely and reached around to strap on the seatbelt.

  “Okay, I’m not fine,” she admitted with a gasp.

  He closed the door and raced around to the driver’s side. “I’m calling Emerson,” he said, pressing the button that would open the garage door. But as soon as he started to back out of the garage, Jayce saw the police car behind him. One of the deputies stepped out of the vehicle as Jayce rolled down his window. It was Mark, Emerson’s deputy, who was on duty this morning.

  “Is it time?” he called out.

  “Yeah. Her contractions are coming pretty quickly now,” Jayce called back.

  Mark was already moving back to his vehicle. “Follow me! I’ll clear the way to the hospital.” With that, his lights flashed on, but he didn’t turn on the siren. At this time of the morning, there was no need because the streets of LowPoint were silent, the residents still sleeping.

  Jayce pulled out of the garage and followed the sheriff’s car, grumbling at the relatively safe speed of only ten miles over the speed limit as they drove the thirty minutes into Louisville. The staff at the hospital had been warned of their arrival and Jayce just had to pull into the emergency room entrance where people were waiting with a wheelchair. Mark was by his side. “Go in with Jessa. I’ll park your car for you and bring you the keys.”

  Jayce leapt out of his SUV to follow Jessa into the delivery room, completely trusting Mark with his SUV.

  “How far apart are your contractions?” the nurse asked as an orderly pushed Jessa to the delivery room.

  “I don’t think these are contractions,” Jessa said.

  Jayce took her hand, trying to share his strength with her. “She thinks they are just Braxton-Hicks and she’s being a nervous, first-time
mom.”

  The nurse laughed. “I think you’re in the real deal, Jessa.”

  Mark had obviously called her obstetrician as well, since the woman walked into the delivery room. “Sounds like someone is about to have a baby!” the good doctor smiled, entirely too perky and awake for this time of the morning.

  “I just…” Jessa was startled when a nurse offered to help her get into the hospital robe. “No, I just…”

  Jayce stepped in at that moment. “I’ll help her,” he announced and stepped closer. “Honey, you’re going to have our baby now.”

  She shook her head, eyes wide. “Jayce, I’m not ready for this.”

  He lifted her nightgown over her head and grabbed the ugly hospital gown. As soon as he’d tied the laces in the back, he picked her up and carefully set her down on the delivery table. As the nurses helped her get into position, he looked into her eyes. “I know that you’re scared, but I’m here. I’m going to be right here the whole time, honey.”

  She looked up into his eyes, felt is fingers curl around her hand and…with a nod, she took a breath. “Okay. But don’t go anywhere, okay? Just stay here. I can do this if you’re here.”

  “Right by your side, love,” he assured her.

  The next contraction stole her words, but her fingers squeezed his as she breathed through the pain.

  “Wow!” the doctor exclaimed. “Jessa, you’re already seven centimeters dilated! How long have you been experiencing contractions?”

  Jessa looked up at Jayce, and gulped at the anger on his face. “Well, I don’t really know.”

  “Jessa,” he growled warningly.

  “Okay!” she snapped, then another contraction hit her and she writhed with the pain. By this point, she knew that it would peak soon but…okay, this one was taking a bit longer! Breathing, she squeezed Jayce’s hand, looking up into his eyes that were still angry. With her.

  When the contraction finally ended, she leaned back against the delivery bed, trying to catch her breath.