by Katie Dowe
“That’s none of your-” Her eyes widened as she realized what he was getting at and without another word she raced towards the calendar hanging on the inside of her door. It was almost the end of August and she had circled the time in June and nowhere else. How on earth could she have missed it? She stumbled back and stared at the calendar dazedly. He had come up behind her and she knew he was looking at it too.
“Still think it’s stomach flu?” he asked her softly. He turned her around to face him. “You are carrying my baby.” His hands trembled as he cupped her cheeks.
She shoved him away from her, her body trembling. “You think this is a good thing?” she cried. “I cannot be pregnant. I teach at a campus that frowns on these things. I cannot stand in front of my students with a big belly trying to get them to learn while all they will be thinking is that I got knocked up.”
“They would not dare think or say anything of the wife of David Snyder,” he said softly.
“How do you know it’s yours?” she asked him spitefully.
“Don’t do that, Hailey,” he told her mildly, and she felt cheap. “I have not been with anyone else and I know you have not been with Bill.”
She turned and started pacing. “I am not marrying you,” she said stubbornly.
“What now?” he asked her impatiently. “Your greatest fear was never reproducing and that is taken care of as we speak.”
“I am ten years-”
“I don’t want to hear that again,” he told her angrily, his blue eyes flashing. “I don’t give a damn if you and my mother were the same age. I love you dammit and it’s time you come to accept that.”
She stared at him for a moment and felt the warmth of his admission. “I can’t,” she whispered.
“Why not?”
“Because.” She spread her hands. “You are going to wake up one day and look at me and realize that you made a mistake. I am going to be stuck with your child and with a nasty divorce wishing I had listened to myself.”
“How can I convince you that I am no longer that person?” he held her arms gently. “What can I do to make you realize that we belong together? How far are you going to run from this, Hailey? I love you and I am not letting you go. Don’t you get that?”
She stared up at him and felt herself swaying towards him. He had come into her life and turned it inside out and she knew she would never be the same again! But they were so many obstacles. “David,” she whispered.
He scooped her into his arms and carried her to the sofa at the foot of the bed. She burrowed into his arms and he held her, his chin on the top of her head. He felt incredibly protective about her and wanted to take care of all her needs. He had never felt this way about another person before and he never wanted to spend a day without her. He had noticed that she was no longer wearing his ring and knew that she had broken it off.
“Hey,” he whispered. “How about I send out for some soup?”
“Not yet,” she murmured into his chest. “I just want to stay here for a few more minutes.”
“No problem.” He stroked her back.
“David?”
“Hmm?”
“I am scared.”
“I am here.”
“I am almost middle-aged-” He tilted her head up and put a finger on her lips.
“Dr. Whittingham is an expert in his field. We will fly out to his medical facility tomorrow and have him check you out.”
“As soon as I do that people are going to know.” She closed her eyes. “I have to tell my mother before the press gets hold of it. And the university!” She sagged against him.
“I will make sure we are discreet and nothing gets out until you are ready.”
She opened her eyes and looked up at him. “You did not call.”
“I was giving you time to dump Bill,” he said with a teasing smile.
“That’s awful,” she said reprovingly.
“How did he take it?” he asked her.
“Better than I deserve,” she said with a sigh. “I should not have agreed to marry him.”
“I guess you were trying to prove to me that you had no feelings for me,” he said softly. He brushed the hair back from her face. “I love you so much that being away from you is like tearing my heart out and having to exist on the edge of life. I don’t want to feel that way again.”
“David,” she said tearfully, her heart beating fast as she looked up at him.
“I want to meet your mother and your friends.”
“It’s too soon,” she protested.
“I have been waiting since that night at the party when I made love to you in that maze. It’s been too long and I don’t want to wait another minute,” he told her firmly. “I want to declare my love for you on the top of the highest building. The building that housed our company is pretty high so I think could start there.”
“You are crazy,” she said shakily.
“Crazy in love.” He bent his head and took her lips with his slowly. He lifted his head as she moaned inside his mouth. “Baby, you are not up for it.”
“Please, don’t stop,” she whispered as brought his head back down to hers. The kiss was soft as if he wanted to make sure she was not being hurt by it. Her arms came around his neck and her body arched to his. She was just wearing a loose blouse and her panties and he could feel her nipples through her shirt. He pushed his hands beneath her shirt and she eased away so he could pull it over her head and drop it to the floor. His hands wandered over her bare flesh and he cupped her breasts into his palms feeling the weight of her. His thumbs wandered over the stiff nipples and she cried out sharply as the desire quivered inside her body.
“Sensitive?” he whispered, having an idea what was happening.
“Yes,” she moaned.
He smiled and bent his head. The minute he took a nipple into his mouth, she dissolved against him, her body trembling. He eased her panties away and touched her swollen flesh. Hailey arched against him, her lips parted and her body on fire. “David! Oh God, David!” She twisted this way and that and clutched at his dark hair. It was not long before she erupted all over his fingers!
Chapter 9
“David thinks you can work miracle,” Hailey said without preamble as soon as they were in the doctor’s office. “I am forty-five years old and my biological clock stopped ticking or so I thought. I love children that’s why I became a teacher, but I am not going to have the fortitude to deal with having one at this age. Will you be able to tell me if I am carrying a healthy child?” she demanded as soon as they were ushered into his large but plain office.
She pulled her hand away from him as soon as they were seated.
“What did I tell you, Henry?” David said dryly but with an indulgent look on his handsome face. “This is the love of my life, Dr. Hailey Donaldson, and also the bane of my existence.” He grinned at the dirty look she threw him.
“Very nice to meet you, Hailey,” Dr. Whittingham said with a wide smile as he looked at the coolly beautiful woman. He had been friends with David’s mother and father for a very long time and delivered their last child. “Let’s do the examination and see what we have. How do you feel?”
“I cannot keep anything down and I have classes staring in a week.”
“Let’s see what we can do about that.”
******
“Mother, may I speak to you?” Marilyn entered her mother’s office after knocking on the door briefly.
Martha looked up at her daughter and nodded, her dark blue eyes taking in the newly done hair and the less baggy looking clothes her daughter was wearing. They lived at the same place and worked at the same company, but she had not seen the girl in two days because of some very hectic schedule. She had not seen her son either and wondered what he was up to.
“Sit, darling.” She waved the girl over to one of the chairs in front of the desk. “I was just checking our online sales and realize that the department is doing wonderfully well.”
�
��Yes.” Marilyn fidgeted a little bit.
“Darling, whatever it is, just spit it out.”
“I have been seeing someone,” she blurted out.
Martha’s tapered eyebrows lifted at that. “That’s wonderful, darling. Who is he and when do we get to meet him?”
“You already have,” she muttered as she stared down at her tightly clasped hands. “He is not rich-”
“As long as he is not after what you have, darling, then I don’t care if he sells clothes on the street side.”
Marilyn smiled at that. “He is gainfully employed and does not care about my money.”
“Who is he?”
“Lee Faulkner.”
Martha watched the frown furrow her mother’s otherwise smooth brow and then cleared as she realized who it was! “From accounts.”
“Yes.” She looked at her mother anxiously. “We have been seeing each other for the past eight months.”
“And you never saw fit to introduce him to the family?” Martha looked at her eldest child in disapproval. “Are you ashamed of this man?”
“He is a wonderful human being and loves me!” Marilyn cried out. “He is the only one who really accepts me for who I am.”
The silence that followed that was telling, and Marilyn avoided her mother’s eyes.
“I always accept you for who you are, darling, but I knew there could be more.” Martha leaned forward on her desk. “If this man loves you and you love him then I am very happy for you. I am afraid the lawyers are going to insist on a prenup.”
Marilyn nodded, relieved that it was out in the open. “I know that and so does he. He does not care.”
Martha nodded. “Invite him over to dinner on Saturday. I think your sister will be coming as well with Byron.”
“I think David has a surprise of his own.”
Martha’s brows arched. “What could that be?”
“I think love has finally found its way into all your children’s lives.”
******
“You are two months pregnant, Hailey, and from all indications you are a very healthy woman. I foresee no problems with you carrying the baby to term.” Dr. Whittingham had done a thorough examination and then asked her to get dressed and meet him in his office.
“I am due in March?” Hailey asked, taking a deep breath and not knowing what to feel! She had given up thinking about having children a long time ago and now there were mixed feelings.
“Early March. I am going to give you something for the nausea and some vitamins to take.” He scribbled something on his pad. “I expect to see you back here late September.”
“We will be here.” David twined his fingers through hers and ignored her when she tried to pull away. “Thanks, Henry.”
“Will you give Martha and your sisters my best?”
“I will.”
They had flown to the medical facility which had an air pad to the side of the large grounds. The pilot sprang to attention as soon as he saw them coming and came around to help Hailey into the small plane. It was already late afternoon and a light breeze had sprung up. David secured her seatbelt and leaned back against his seat.
“Where to, sir?” the pilot asked him.
“To the manor, Charles,” he said without consulting with Hailey.
He turned to look at her as she opened her mouth to protest. “We have to tell Mother before it gets to the press. “
“I have not told my mother yet.”
He picked up his phone and handed it to her. “I suggest you tell her now. We are not going to be able to contain the excitement of the press. I have a reputation I am afraid and when they get wind of this it will be all over the news!”
She flashed him a fulminating glance and dialed her mother’s number.
******
“My dear, come on!” Martha gushed as she took both the woman’s hands in hers. When David had called her and told her he was coming home and wanted her to meet someone she had been so delighted. Both her children whom she had lost hope of settling down had greeted her with terrific news. Now seeing Hailey she was stunned at the tall graceful beauty before her.
“Thank you,” Hailey said with a genuine smile. She had seen the woman many times in the papers and on the internet but up close she was even lovelier and had passed on her looks to her son. “You have a truly beautiful home.” She had admired the sweeping lawns and the brilliance of the flowers in the gardens as they drove up the sweeping driveway.
“Thank you, my dear. I assume you are staying for dinner?”
“She is.”
Hailey turned to look at David coolly. “I am staying because we have news.”
“Good.” Martha smiled inwardly as she realized that this woman was not one of those women who worshipped at her son’s feet. It was actually the other way around. He could not seem to be able to take his eyes off her!
“Let’s go into the sitting room.” She preceded them inside the elegantly furnished room strewn with comfortable chairs and a chaise lounge. It also afforded a spectacular view of the fountain and rocks jutting from the clear blue water of the pool.
A maid materialized out of nowhere with a tray of refreshments. Hailey had chosen to sit on a single sofa but that did not deter David as he sat on the arm of it with his hand thrown over the back and close to her neck. “How about some tea?” Martha asked.
“What kind?”
Martha looked at the woman for a moment and then smiled. “Chamomile.”
Hailey nodded, and she poured.
They waited until they had been served before David spoke. “Dr. Whittingham sends his regards,” he told his mother casually.
“I have not seen-” Her eyes widened as the implications of what her son had just said and her eyes flew to the woman sitting there. “You are-”
“She is carrying my child,” David said with a huge grin.
“Oh my goodness!” Martha sprang up from her seat and clapped her hands in delight. “Oh, my Lord!” Her dark blue eyes blazed with happiness as she looked at them. She pressed the bell and a different maid hurried in. “A bottle of wine-” She looked at Hailey. “Make it non-alcoholic, please.”
“Yes, ma’am.” The maid gave a small bow and then left the room.
“I have to hug you. May I?” Martha asked her.
“Of course,” Hailey said, the excitement from the woman catching on.
“I take it you are excited, Mother?” David asked with a grin.
“I am bowled over!” she corrected him as she hugged Hailey and let go.
“We are thinking of a November wedding,” he continued.
“We have not discussed that.” Hailey threw him an exasperated look. “Your son seems to think that I don’t have a mind of my own.”
“I love your brilliant mind.” He leaned down and titling her chin up he kissed her slowly, seeming to forget that they had an audience.
Martha looked at the tender scene in amazement. Her son was in love!
Hailey pushed him away, but he grinned and sliding down lifted her and put her onto his lap, ignoring her resistance.
“Did he tell you that I am ten years older than he is?” Hailey asked Martha as soon as the maid hurried in with a bucket.
Martha waited until the woman had left. “He told me you were older, but, my dear, that has nothing to do with anything.” She picked up the bottle and read the label. “Would you do the honors, darling?” She handed it to her son and he popped it open and poured into the glasses. Martha’s eyes were bright with tears. “A November wedding sounds fine.”
*****
He took her on the grand tour. Eight suites in all complete with their own bathrooms, kitchen and sitting rooms. His had three bedrooms and she could see the careless elegance in the furnishings. He also had a well-equipped gym which showed signs of frequent use. They wandered back into the bedroom and he turned to face her. “I love you,” he said plain and simple. “I know that I have a reputation as a playboy, but I’d neve
r met you yet. You are all the woman I need and I want you to know that.”
She looked up at him and saw the sincerity there. “I am going to hold you to that, David. I am a black woman with fire in her soul. I am independent and don’t need a man to make me whole. I am smart and beautiful and I know it. I am not going to be going through your phone and checking your text messages like some sisters do. I already have a job. If you step out of line one time, even look at another woman with lust in your eyes, then that’s it. I am not going to cry and scream and scratch her eyes out. I am just simply going to leave and that’s that. This is new for me and I am still trying to process it. I am now entering into a new dimension and I am still unsure about it. I am used to being alone, answering to myself only. I tried to resist you, but it did not work, so here we are. I am not going to play high society wife. I will continue working, but I will be there for you and our child. Is that clear?”
He had stood there listening to her and felt his admiration of the fire and ice in her doubled. He had never met anyone like her before and he knew it had to be her and no one else! “Yes, ma’am,” he said softly.
“Good,” she told him briskly. “Now I am hoping that you have not brought another woman in this bedroom?”
“No. You are the first.”
“That’s what I thought.”
She wrapped her hands around his neck. “How about we christen this gigantic bed that takes up most of the room?”
“I was thinking the same thing.” He lifted her up and took her to the bed and knelt there staring at her. Christ, how he loved her!
*****
“You secretive bitch!” Hillary rounded on her friend as soon as she told them the news. “All this time you have been seeing David freaking billionaire Snyder and you never told us and now you are pregnant with his baby? Two weeks ago you were engaged to Bill!”
“Calm down, honey, remember your blood pressure,” Hailey said with a grin. She had called her friends over as soon as David dropped her off and had told him she needed the time to tell her friends the news.
“If I get a stroke then I have you to blame,” Hillary muttered as she plopped down in the sofa next to her friends. “When did this happen?”
