Buying His Baby: Baby Daddy University Book 2

by Hamel, B. B.

  “Hey,” I say.

  She looks up. “Hey.” Then she realizes her breasts are uncovered and pulls the sheet up to cover them with an embarrassed smile.

  “Don’t cover up on my account,” I say. “I was enjoying the view.”

  She grins and is slightly red. “I figured you’d be tired of seeing them at this point.”

  “Nah. Can’t get tired of that.” I walk over and sit down on the bed next to her. I kiss her softly and she puts her phone down on the nightstand. “Listen, I need to talk.”

  “What’s up? Something with your agent?”

  I nod. “He wants me to come out to LA.”

  “Oh.” She doesn’t react and I think she’s trying hard not to let on how she feels. “Well, then you should go.”

  “I’m not sure,” I admit. “I do think I should go. But I’m not going without you.”

  She blinks, surprised. “Excuse me?”

  “Come out with me,” I say. “It’ll just be for a few days. I’ll get Trim to let you skip your classes, give you some excuse. I think I can make that happen.”

  “Seriously?” she asks, laughing. “No way.”

  “Honestly. Sponsors can do that shit.”

  “I don’t know. I’ve never been to LA before and the flight is long and—”

  “You’ll be with me,” I say softly. “Look, if you really don’t want to go, that’s okay. We can just stay here. I can figure something else out.”

  She shakes her head. “No, just go without me.”

  “I’m not leaving you again.”

  She stares into my eyes and I lean in and kiss her, nice and slow this time. I want her to know that I’m fucking serious about this.

  I pull back and she sighs, fluttering her eyelids slightly like she’s fighting back sleep. “Okay,” she says.

  “Okay?”

  “I’ll go. Just make sure I don’t get in trouble for missing class.”

  I grin. “You’re gonna love it.”

  “I bet. You’d better show me a good time.”

  “Promise.”

  I lean forward and kiss her again, this time lingering a bit longer.

  We’re going to LA together, and I have a feeling things are going to change while we’re out there.

  17

  Jenna

  When we step off the plane in Los Angeles, I expect to see a bunch of beautiful, tall, blonde women walking around in perfect clothes with perfect teeth and perfect skin.

  That’s pretty much what I find.

  Well, maybe not exactly like that. I mean, there are plenty of non-perfect people in the mix, too. Except there is something about people out here.

  Maybe it’s the sun, the weather, I don’t know. Maybe never having a real winter makes you…

  Beautiful? Radiant?

  “What’s the matter?” Brady asks as we move through the crowd.

  “Nothing,” I grumble.

  “Come on. This is your first time in California.”

  “It’s just the airport.”

  He laughs. “True. But it’s a nice airport.”

  I give him a look and he laughs again. He takes my hand and squeezes it, and I’m suddenly aware of people looking in our direction.

  We hurry past baggage check, since we only packed enough to fit in a carry-on. Once outside near the street, Brady looks around until he spots someone he recognizes standing next to a dark Lexus.

  He hurries over. “You didn’t have to come yourself,” he says, grinning big. I hang back as the two men hug.

  “And fuckin’ miss seeing your beautiful face?” The man grins at Brady. “Never.”

  “Jenna, this is Vince, my agent. We’ve been together a while.”

  “I made this fucker.” Vince smiles and shakes my hand. “Nice to meet you, sweetheart.”

  Vince is older, probably in his fifties, with tan skin and dark hair. His eyes are a steel blue, almost gray, and he’s wearing an expensive suit and holding two different phones, one in each hand.

  “Come on, let’s go before some asshole takes a picture,” Vince says. He gets into the car, behind the wheel, while Brady loads our luggage into the trunk.

  “I’ll sit up front, okay?” he asks.

  “Sure.”

  I slip into the back while he gets into the passenger seat.

  “Okay, we’re looking good,” Vince says as he rolls out into traffic, away from the airport. “Meeting’s in a few hours so we’ve got plenty of time to make it.”

  “We’re not going to the meeting, Vince.”

  I swear, the look on that man’s face is the most insane thing I’ve ever seen. It’s half rage and half shock.

  “The fuck you mean, we aren’t?” Vince snaps.

  “Keep it together,” Brady warns. “Don’t flip out.”

  “You’re telling me you’re going to throw away your career and I shouldn’t flip the fuck out?”

  “Vince,” Brady warns.

  The older man takes a deep breath. “Fine. Okay. Why aren’t we going?”

  “We have a better meeting.” Brady grins at him then glances back at me. “Can you pass me the phone?”

  I dig in my bag and pull it out for him. I’ve been holding his phone since we left, he said for safekeeping, but I think he didn’t want to be tempted to do something stupid.

  Vince glances at the phone warily. “What’s going on, kid?”

  Brady flips through it for a second before pulling up a voicemail. He hits play and the car’s filled with a voice.

  “Uh, Brady? Hey, uh, hey. Look, I think you’re right. I think we should talk. If you’re going to be in town anyway, let’s meet at La Bohème, you know the place? Anyway, let me know. Okay. Yeah. Bye.”

  It’s quiet for a second. Vince stares straight ahead and I chew my lip. I knew Brady had made some calls before we left but I didn’t realize who exactly he had been calling.

  “Well?” Brady finally asks.

  “That’s in the fucking Valley,” Vince says.

  Brady laughs, a nervous energy cracking. “She wants to talk, Vince.”

  “Yeah, I heard.”

  “We’re going to that meeting.”

  Vince is quiet for a second and I stare out the window. I can’t believe that was Charlene herself on the phone. I barely recognized the voice. She doesn’t sound like that in movies.

  A heavy silence falls over the car. I look between the two men, my nerves growing again. Vince looks angry and Brady is just smiling.

  “It’s a bad idea,” Vince says finally.

  “We had a good relationship,” Brady interjects. “If I can just see her, face to face, I think we can work this out. I don’t think it’s too far gone.”

  Vince sighs and shakes his head. “This is stupid. Let the professionals work it out, kid.”

  “Since when did I ever let you fight my battles for me?”

  Vince winces. “I wish you would.”

  “You don’t need to,” Brady says, almost softly, like a father speaking to his son.

  Vince stares ahead and just groans. “Fucking damn it. We’re going to the goddamn Valley, aren’t we?”

  “Yeah, we’re going to the Valley.”

  Vince grumbles and Brady looks back at me with a wink before looking out the window again. A silence falls over the car once more, heavy and strained, but at least Brady’s getting what he wants.

  “What’s wrong with the Valley?” I say and both men laugh.

  * * *

  La Bohème is a coffee shop buried in a strip mall next to a grocery store and a dry cleaner. Vince parks the Lexus and we sit there for a second, not speaking.

  “You should stay here,” Brady says to him.

  “For once, we agree.” The agent grumbles as he takes out his two phones. “I’ve got work to do, anyway. Don’t want to spook the girl.”

  Brady smiles and pats Vince’s shoulder. “Thanks.”

  Vince gives Brady a grudging smile. I shift in my seat, not sure what I
should do, when Brady turns back to me. “And you’re coming with me.”

  Vince looks just as surprised as I do, maybe more.

  “Wait, hold on,” Vince says. “Why would you bring her?”

  “Seriously, I can just stay here,” I say, my eyes wide.

  Brady grins. “Do you trust me, Jenna?”

  “Yes,” I say instantly.

  “I don’t,” Vince adds. “For what it’s worth.”

  Brady gives him a grin and looks back at me. “Then come on. I need you with me.”

  I stare back into his gorgeous eyes and feel a thrill run down my spine.

  Brady needs me. He actually needs me right now. I don’t know why or for what, but the idea that he needs me, nobody else, it’s just…

  It’s intoxicating. It feels really, really good.

  “Okay,” I say. “I’ll come.”

  Vince rolls his eyes. “If you two are done with the lovefest, Charlene is probably in there waiting.”

  Brady nods and glances at his phone. “Yep, it’s time. Come on.” He opens the door and steps outside.

  Vince glances back at me in the rearview. “Good luck,” he says. “Don’t let our boy do anything stupid.”

  I just smile and step out into the California sun.

  18

  Brady

  I hold Jenna’s hand as we walk over to the coffee shop.

  We don’t say anything and I like it that way. I can feel Jenna’s nervous energy as she moves next to me but for some reason I don’t feel nervous at all.

  I know this meeting might decide my professional career. If Charlene gets angry or won’t listen or decides to move forward with her plan, then things are over for me. This is my one chance to try and convince her that whatever she’s doing isn’t worth the cost.

  We step inside and my eyes take half a second to adjust. It isn’t crowded, which doesn’t surprise me. I know Charlene chose this place because it’s unlikely that anyone would notice us here. People in the business aren’t going to some little coffee shop in a strip mall in the Valley.

  “There she is,” Jenna whispers next to me.

  I follow her gaze and sure enough, Charlene is sitting at a table toward the back of the room in the corner. I walk toward her, still holding Jenna’s hand. I don’t let go until we’re right at the table and Charlene’s looking up at us.

  She’s a pretty girl, a woman really. Reddish auburn hair, green eyes, smooth pale skin. She’s not beautiful, not leading-lady perfect, but she’s got an interesting look to her.

  “Hi,” she says, but doesn’t make a move to stand.

  “Hi, Char,” I say back. “This is Jenna.”

  Charlene gives her a tight smile. “Nice to meet you. I guess you’re the new girl?”

  Jenna blinks. “Uh, I don’t know what you mean.”

  Charlene sighs and gives me a look. “You didn’t need to bring her just to parade her in front of me. I get it, she’s young and pretty and I’m sure she’ll look great in your next film.”

  I blink for a second before shaking my head quickly. “Oh, no, no, you’ve got it wrong.”

  She frowns. “I do?”

  “Jenna isn’t an actress.”

  “Nope,” Jenna confirms. “Not even a little bit. Didn’t make my elementary school play and that turned me off to the whole business.”

  Charlene gives her a tight smile. “Sorry. My mistake. I just thought you were…”

  “Taunting you?” I shake my head. “No, not at all.”

  I pull out a chair for Jenna then sit down next to her. We look across the table at Charlene and she watches back with wary eyes.

  “So what’s her deal?” Charlene finally asks.

  “We’re sort of…” I trail off, suddenly unsure of how to describe it. “It’s complicated, but we’re sort of together.”

  “Ah,” Charlene says.

  Jenna gives me a look I can’t quite read.

  “I wanted you to meet her.”

  “Guilting me?”

  I smile a little. “Something like that. I just needed her moral support. Plus, I guess I’m humanizing myself, really. I know our relationship on set was always professional. I never let my guard down, we never got friendly. So I thought, maybe if you saw that I’m just another fallible human…”

  “I’d stop telling nasty lies about you?” Charlene finishes.

  Jenna takes a little sharp breath and her expression is shocked. I guess she wasn’t entirely sure, but now she is.

  “Basically,” I say with a smile.

  Charlene laughs a little. “Well, I don’t know. Maybe it’s working. Maybe you didn’t need to bring her at all.”

  “Maybe,” I say then lean toward her. “How are you, Char? Seriously?”

  She looks surprised. “Fine,” she says with a laugh. “I’ve just been lying in the media about you. Not like it’s eating me up.”

  “Why have you been doing it?” I ask her softly.

  This is the crux of it all. What she says here is going to influence how I move forward.

  “Honestly? At first, I just wanted to stay relevant.” She laughs bitterly. “But then I realized that, even if I stay relevant for a little bit, what would it matter? The news would move on sooner or later and I’d still just be me.” She stares out the window for a moment. “You were the first director to take a chance on me, you know that? At least for a while.”

  “I know,” I say softly. “Aside from all this, I’m glad I did. You killed it.”

  “Thank you.” She gives me a tight smile. “But it doesn’t matter now. I did it to try and stay relevant and I kept it up because I knew I couldn’t turn back. Either way, in the end, I’m just a fucking failure.”

  I smile sadly at her and I can completely see it. Hollywood chews women up and spits them out, wrecks them, destroys them. If they get too old and don’t fit into the old roles, and aren’t flexible enough to slip into new ones, then they’re nothing, they’re outcast. All the old fame, the adulation, the money, it’s gone. Charlene’s career was heading that way until I plucked her up. And when the movie ended, I can see how she might think she needed to do something desperate, something drastic, just to try and stay in the limelight for a little bit longer.

  Poor girl. I actually feel bad for her.

  “You know what you have to do, right?” I ask her softly.

  “Yeah,” she says bitterly. “It’ll ruin me, but I deserve it after what I did to you.” She meets my gaze. “I really am sorry, Brady. You were great to work with.”

  “Thanks, Char. But I think you misunderstand me.”

  She raises an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

  “You don’t have to take it all back. In fact, I’ll play along.”

  She looks surprised. Jenna looks shocked.

  “Wait, Brady, what?” Jenna says to me.

  I put my hand on hers to calm her down and smile at Charlene. The actress narrows her eyes at me, not sure if this is a trap.

  “Why would you do that?” she asks.

  “Because I don’t hate you,” I answer. “Honestly, I get it. So here’s what I want to do.”

  Charlene nods once. “Okay. I’m listening.”

  “You tell the world that we did in fact have an affair. I’ll back you up on that. You tell everyone that I did end things abruptly. I’ll also agree. But you’ll come out and say that the nasty bits, the abusive and shitty things, those were exaggerations and outright lies. This way, you won’t look like you just made shit up. You’ll look like a jaded ex who was angry and made a stupid mistake.”

  I watch as Charlene digests what I’m saying. “That would… I mean, it could work out.”

  “It might even be better. The news could be sympathetic, even.”

  “You wouldn’t look great, though,” Charlene says.

  “I’ll survive.” I give a little laugh. “I mean, what guy in Hollywood isn’t a total asshole?”

  She smiles sadly. “I don’t understand. Why would y
ou do this for me?”

  I hesitate a second and glance at Jenna before I look back at her.

  “Honestly? I don’t know. I think I just feel like you made a mistake but that doesn’t mean you need to go down for it. If you’re willing to work with me to fix it then…” I shrug. “You’re a person. People fuck up.”

  Charlene watches me and starts blinking rapidly. She looks away, wiping her eyes before taking a deep breath.

  “Okay,” she says. “I’ll have my publicist draft a statement saying all the nasty things you supposedly said were lies.”

  “Great. I’ll have mine draft a statement that says we were together and things ended abruptly.”

  “Okay. If I do any interviews, I’ll try and make you look like a decent guy.”

  I grin at her. “Sure, if you want. Just don’t make me out to be some monster.”

  She nods without smiling. “I won’t.”

  “Good.”

  She takes a deep breath and looks at Jenna. “You have a good man here. There aren’t many of those left.” She stands up. “I really am sorry, Brady. I messed up. But now I owe you big time.”

  “You sure do. Maybe we’ll do another movie together. You’ll have to give me a performance of a lifetime.”

  She smiles. “The best I can do, anyway.”

  I sit back and watch as she slowly leaves, walking with her head held high.

  Jenna stares at me like I’ve gone insane. “I don’t get why you’d do that,” she says softly.

  I look back to her and take her hand again. “I don’t either,” I admit. “She didn’t deserve it, did she?”

  “Not really.”

  “But then again, I meant what I said. People fuck up. If she really wanted to make it right, that’s good enough for me. She doesn’t have to lose her career over this.”

  Jenna shakes her head and finally smiles. “You’re nuts.”

  “I know.” I lean over and kiss her softly. “So, how do you like California so far?”

  She laughs and kisses me again, this time lingering a bit longer.

  It feels good, so good. I feel like a weight’s been lifted from my body, like my chest is lighter, my whole body is lighter. I’m smiling big for the first time in what feels like a long time.