It's Only You

by Sheryl Lister

  Rather than let it go, Travis spun it to insinuate that he’d initiated their breakup and used it as an opportunity to further his career, making it sound as if he was devastated by the breakup—he had the nerve to shed a tear during an interview—and accused her of being jealous of his fame.

  After several months of dodging the cameras, she’d quit the job she loved and relocated to LA. It didn’t help that Simona was dealing with her sister’s death and concerned about her niece.

  “Simona?” Eve gently prodded.

  “I know. But I can’t do that again. Travis made my life a living hell. I couldn’t go anywhere without a camera in my face. And now I have Yasmine.”

  “Did you tell Donovan about her?”

  “No. We barely know each other, and I don’t want to start bringing all kinds of men around. Besides, most men don’t want to be saddled with a woman who has a child.”

  “I can see your point about not wanting to bring lots of men around her, but what if Donovan wants to continue seeing you? How long are you going to hide her from him?”

  “I don’t know what I’ll do. He asked me to go to a concert next weekend.”

  Eve stood. “Well, if you decide to go to the concert, I’ll be happy to babysit. But don’t wait too long to tell him.” She gathered up her book and papers and put them into a tote. “Oh, your grandmother called.”

  “Okay. Thanks. I’ll call her tomorrow.”

  She saw Eve to the door, then came back and collapsed on the sofa. “And this is why I don’t date,” she muttered, rubbing her temples.

  Leaning back, Simona replayed every detail of the evening in her head. She laughed, remembering Donovan’s phone call outside. Her smile faded and she groaned. He hadn’t said a lot about his job, just that he worked in an office. But what did he really do?

  As much as she had enjoyed her time with Donovan tonight, she needed to put the brakes on whatever was going on between them. She wasn’t ready to put herself out there again, especially with someone who possibly lived in the public eye.

  Chapter 5

  Donovan’s thumb hovered over the telephone number on his screen for several seconds before he pressed the home button and tossed the phone on his desk. It had been three days since he had seen or spoken to Simona and exactly one week since they met. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her or the kiss. He’d known instinctively he would enjoy kissing her but never expected the onslaught of emotions that accompanied the act. They were the same feelings he’d had at the hospital last week. And, for the first time in over two years, he felt the stirrings of something more than a passing fling. She made him laugh and he chuckled, recalling some of the stories she’d told him.

  Simona still hadn’t called to let him know if she would accompany him to Sheila’s concert. He was anxious to call her, but didn’t want to come on too strong. From the questions she asked about his job, he sensed some hesitancy on her part and wondered why. Donovan glanced over at the wall clock—four thirty. He still had work to do, and he wanted to leave at a reasonable time so he could stop by Terrence and Janae’s to see his little goddaughter. He reined in his thoughts and refocused on the papers in front of him. By the time he looked up again, over an hour had passed. He stood, stretched and went to the outer office where his secretary sat clicking away on the computer.

  “You about ready to wrap it up, Monique?”

  She paused. “Yes. I just want to print this last contract for Brad. He said he’d be by to pick it up in a few minutes.”

  On the heels of her statement, Brad, who headed up the label’s legal department, entered with his wife, Audrey, director of Human Resources. Both were friends from college.

  “Your ears must have been burning,” Donovan said.

  “What? You’re talking about me again?” Brad asked with a laugh. He turned to his wife. “See, babe, I told you I’m the man.”

  Audrey rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Just get what you came for so we can go. You have two hours to finish that stuff. We are not taking any work this weekend.”

  Donovan laughed. “Finally getting that trip to San Francisco in, huh? Brad, make sure you take her on the sunset cruise,” he added with a wink.

  “We’re doing that and more,” she said with a sly smile.

  Brad leaned down and gave her a quick kiss.

  Donovan held up his hands. “TMI, T-M-I! Monique, hurry up and give Brad those papers before they burn my office down.” He was glad to see that they were still so much in love after being together for more than a decade. He felt a pang of jealousy.

  “Are you going to be here much longer, Donovan?” Brad asked as he collected the papers from Monique.

  “No. I’m going to see my beautiful goddaughter.”

  “We went by for a few minutes last night,” Audrey said excitedly. “And you’re right, she’s a cutie. But we’d better get going.”

  “Have fun.”

  “We will.” Brad and Audrey said their goodbyes, with Monique close behind.

  Donovan left a few minutes later, and it took him almost an hour to get to Terrence’s with rush-hour traffic.

  “What’s up, D? Come on in,” Terrence said, bringing Donovan in for their customary hug.

  “Hey.” He followed Terrence to the family room and stretched out on the sofa.

  “You look exhausted. Is everything going okay?”

  “Yeah, fine. I was thinking we might need to hire someone else to help out, especially since I figure you’ll be spending less time at the office. And you’ll be touring again soon.”

  Terrence sighed. “I’ve been thinking about that, too. But I don’t want to bring in someone at the executive level who starts trying to tell me my business.”

  “I know. I have an idea I want to run by you.” He sat up. “Monique has been doing a great job fielding calls, making sure things run smoothly with the clients and generally helping me out with the departments. She just graduated in May with her degree in business, and I think she’d make a helluva manager.”

  “I like it, but what about the secretarial stuff? That leaves only one person to handle that.”

  “We can either move someone from another department or hire from outside. I can talk to Audrey about it next week if you’re cool with it.”

  Terrence sat quietly, mulling over the proposition, then slowly nodded. “Okay.”

  “Good. Now that we’re done with work, where’s Janae and Nadia?”

  “Janae was feeding her when I came down. Let me see if she’s done.” He got to his feet and went upstairs.

  While he was gone, Donovan leaned back and closed his eyes. Thoughts of Simona drifted through his mind. It was after seven, so he assumed she was off work, unless she was working overtime as she had last Friday. How did she spend her weekends? What kinds of things did she like to do? He thought about how her beautiful smile and soft laughter made his heart beat a little faster. It had been a long while since a woman affected him in this way, and it surprised him just how much he wanted to see her again.

  Donovan blew out a long breath. Maybe it was time for him to let his guard down some. For two long years he had resisted allowing a woman into his heart—he didn’t want to feel the pain of betrayal again. Back when Terrence was fighting his attraction to Janae, Donovan had accused his friend of punishing all women for the actions of one. But he was no better. He talked a good game, but this time his heart was on the line.

  “Hi, Donovan.”

  He opened his eyes and stood at the sound of Janae’s voice. “Hey, Janae. How’re you feeling?” he asked, kissing her cheek.

  “Tired, of course,” she said with a laugh, “but I’m enjoying it. You look exhausted.”

  “It’s been a hectic couple of weeks.”

  “I can imagine. Well, I know yo
u’re anxious to hold Nadia. I’m going to head back upstairs. I know you and Terrence have a lot to catch up on.” She carefully transferred the baby.

  “I’ll walk you up, sweetheart,” Terrence said, placing his arm around her shoulders. “Will you be okay alone for a minute, Donovan?”

  Donovan shot him a look. “Of course. Nadia and I need time to get acquainted, so don’t hurry back.”

  Janae laughed as she and Terrence left the room.

  Donovan cradled Nadia close to his heart and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. Just like the first time he held her, a rush of emotions flooded him, along with a flashback of what should have been. Had his little one survived, he or she would be a year and a half now. He pushed down the painful memories and stared at the baby who had her eyes fixed on him.

  “Hey, Nadia. I think you’ve gotten more beautiful since the last time I saw you. How are you liking this world so far?” She stretched and yawned. “That well, huh?” he said with a chuckle. “I know you’ve got great parents, but if you ever need anything, you can call me and Uncle Donovan will be right there, okay?” He sang quietly and rocked her slowly. After a moment, she closed her eyes. Donovan kept up the rocking motion while singing.

  “I see you still got it,” Terrence said, coming up behind him. “I could use another session singer for the new project I’m working on.”

  Donovan turned and snorted. “I don’t think so. I only did those background lyrics for the first two CDs because you were just starting out, and we were trying to save money. But since you’re all rich and famous now, you can hire somebody. I like my job just fine.” He cocked his head to the side. “You know, I don’t think I was ever paid for my services.”

  Terrence laughed softly. “Whatever. Boy, you’ve been paid that and more.” He gestured to Donovan’s arm. “What happened?”

  Donovan glanced down at his arm. He had an appointment to remove the stitches on Monday, and he couldn’t wait. The itching was driving him crazy. The burn was healing nicely and barely noticeable. “I got it caught on a coffee cart at the hospital while trying to keep it from falling last Friday night after I left you.” He gave Terrence the details about what happened.

  “I’m guessing you went to the emergency room. That had to be a fun wait, especially on a Friday night.”

  “Yeah, but I didn’t have to wait.”

  Terrence lifted a brow. “How did you manage that?”

  “I bypassed all the waiting because of the nurse I kept from falling. She was really sweet.”

  “Really? Did you get her name?”

  “Yes, and we went out to dinner on Tuesday.”

  Terrence smiled. “I see. It’s about time.”

  “Shut up,” Donovan said, but he was smiling.

  “Oh, hell naw. You were all up in my business when I was dating Janae. It’s payback, my brother. You’ve hardly dated since Rolanda.”

  Donovan’s smile faded, and he reclaimed his seat on the couch, adjusting the baby in his arms.

  Terrence sat in a chair across from him. “What’s going on, Donovan? We’ve been friends for a long time, and I know something is up. What happened with Rolanda?”

  Donovan’s jaw tightened. He did not want to relive that time, and felt the anger rising. “I trusted her, and she broke that trust.” Nadia fussed a little and squirmed in his arms.

  Terrence rose. “Let me go put her down, then we’re going to talk.”

  Donovan kissed Nadia once more and passed her off to her father. He’d done a good job keeping the pain of his heartbreak at bay, but Nadia’s birth and meeting Simona seemed to bring everything to the surface. Terrence’s voice drew him out of his reverie.

  “All right. Let’s hear it, D,” Terrence said, dropping down into the chair he had vacated minutes earlier.

  Donovan leaned forward and braced his forearms on his knees. “Remember when we got back from San Francisco the weekend you met Janae?”

  Terrence frowned, then nodded. “When you took a few days off? I recall you leaving in the middle of the day after receiving a phone call—one you never mentioned again.”

  “Yeah. The call was from a nurse at UCLA Medical Center. She wanted to make sure Rolanda was doing well after her procedure.”

  Terrence’s brow rose. “What kind of procedure?” he asked hesitantly.

  “She’d had a miscarriage at eleven weeks.”

  “Wow. I had no idea she was pregnant.”

  “Neither did I,” Donovan replied solemnly. “I would’ve never known had the nurse not called me by mistake. I guess Rolanda put my name down as an emergency contact when she went in.”

  “What did she say when you confronted her?”

  “Basically that it was none of my business. Rolanda wasn’t too upset about it because she didn’t really want to have kids. I asked her what she would have done if she hadn’t miscarried—if she would have told me.”

  “And she said?”

  “She said she didn’t know.”

  “How in the hell did she think she’d be able to keep that from you? At some point, there’d be no way you couldn’t know.”

  Donovan jumped up from the couch, ran his hand over his head and paced the floor. “I know that, T, and that’s what pissed me off the most. For all I know, she might have...” He trailed off, not wanting to finish the thought.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say.”

  “You know what’s really crazy? Before that, I’d never thought too much about having children or being a father. But since then I haven’t stopped thinking about it. And after holding Nadia and seeing the way you are with her, I want the same thing. The only problem is, I don’t know if I can let myself get close enough to another woman.”

  “What about the nurse you went out with? What’s her name?”

  “Simona Andrews. I like her. She’s caring, compassionate and fun to be with, but—”

  Terrence stood. “Well, like you told me, you can’t punish all women for the actions of one. She might be the woman you need.”

  Donovan folded his arms. “Had I known you’d be throwing this crap back in my face, I’d have kept my mouth shut,” he muttered.

  Terrence laughed. “Hey, for the record, you were right. It was great advice. I never thought I would fall in love, didn’t want to. But I can’t tell you how much Janae has changed my life for the better.” He shook his head and placed his hand over his heart. “I love my girls.”

  “I know, and I’m happy for you.”

  “So, do you plan to see Simona again?”

  “I invited her to Sheila’s concert next Saturday, but she hasn’t said whether she’ll go or not.”

  “Be sure to invite her to the barbecue. It’s two weeks after the concert.”

  “We’ll see. She seemed a little weird or—I can’t put my finger on it—when I told her what I do.”

  Terrence shrugged. “It’s better than her asking you for concert tickets, autographs and entry to release parties before you can get her name.”

  Donovan smiled. “True dat. On that note, I’m outta here.” He walked to the front door, with Terrence following. “I’ll talk to you next week.”

  “I hope things work out with you and Simona. Let me know if you decide to bring her to the party.”

  “Will do.” Donovan turned and loped down the steps to his car. He had driven only a short distance when his cell rang. He engaged the Bluetooth. “Hello.”

  “Donovan. Hi, it’s Simona. Did I catch you at a bad time?”

  “Not at all. How are you?”

  “I’m good. I was calling to let you know I’ll be available to go to the concert.”

  He smiled. “Glad to hear it. Was it the dinner offer that put me over the top?”

  Her throaty laughter ca
me through the line. “No. And you don’t have to take me to dinner. The concert will be enough.”

  “And if I want to take you to dinner, too?”

  “I have some things to take care of earlier. What time does the concert start?”

  “Eight. If you’re busy, we can save the dinner for another time.”

  “That would be better, thanks. So...um...I’ll let you get back to doing whatever you were doing.”

  “Driving.”

  “What?”

  “I’m driving.”

  “Oh. Well, drive safely.”

  “Always.”

  “I’ll talk to you later. Good night.”

  “Night.” Donovan disconnected and drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. He was still wary of opening himself up to another woman. But he didn’t plan to let that stop him from going after the woman he wanted. And he wanted Simona.

  Chapter 6

  Simona replaced the cordless phone on the table and released a deep sigh. Each time she talked to Donovan chipped away more at her resolve. She was drawn to this man despite her best efforts to stay away. There was no way she should have agreed to attend the concert with him, especially since she was trying to keep her life simple. But his sexy voice, laughter and considerate manner made it difficult to say no. He had even left her a message yesterday wishing her a good day. Then there was that kiss...whoa! The way he’d kissed her had every molecule in her body ready to wave the white flag and surrender.

  The sound of giggling drew her out of her lustful thoughts. She glanced over to where Yasmine sat on the floor playing.

  Simona slid off the couch and onto the floor next to her. “What are you giggling about?” Yasmine was such a happy baby. She rarely cried unless something was wrong. Simona considered herself lucky.