This is what life’s all about, he thought. This was what it meant to find that one person who made your life feel complete. That missing link. The one thing he was running away from, he had found in Debra.
All the reasons they needed to be together were pounding hard and strong at his chest. He could do this. He saw what he felt mirrored in her eyes, staring right back at him, the desire to connect in more than just physical.
“What are you thinking about?” she whispered and shifted, and he felt life stirring again.
“My knee.” It wasn’t a complete lie. He had forgotten his prescription at home. And his knee was throbbing. They would talk about their relationship in the morning after they’d both rested. “You have any ibuprofen by chance?”
“Uh-huh. There’s some in my purse,” she murmured and rolled over onto her stomach.
Grinning, he leaned down and kissed the back of her shoulder. She was so beautiful.
He slid out from under her and padded over to their things that had been left in a pile near the door. Chuckling under his breath, he reached down for her purse and pulled the zipper. He fumbled around until he found a bottle. He was getting ready to open it when he glanced down at the label on the front.
Prenatal vitamins.
What? His eyes quickly scanned the bottle and he felt his insides tightening. The prescription had been written by a Dr. Laura Lipmann and had been filled the day before.
“Did you find them?” Debra mumbled from the bed.
Anger simmered in his belly. “Nope. But I found something interesting.”‘ Slowly she lifted her head, and when Rance was sure he had her attention, he held up the bottle. “When were you planning to tell me you were pregnant?”
Chapter 19
As soon as Debra saw the bottle in his hands, she knew it wasn’t going to be good.
“That’s not at all how I wanted you to find out,” she apologized when he looked over at her, her words sincere. “I wanted to tell you myself.” She rose from the bed, wrapped in the sheet and came around to stand near him.
Rance continued to look at her. “When were you planning to tell me?”
“Before I returned to Sheraton Beach,” she countered, reaching to touch his arm.
But he moved his hand away, dropping her purse and the prescription to the floor. As soon as he walked to the other side of the room, Debra reached down for the bottle, returned it to the purse and placed it on the small table.
“I thought you were on birth control,” he said, the accusation clearly in his eyes.
“I was on the pill, but like any contraceptive there isn’t a hundred percent guarantee.”
He gave a short laugh and turned toward the window, shaking his head.
“What… you don’t believe me?” she arched her eyebrow and gave him a long, hard stare.
“I don’t know what I believe anymore,” he said, and the words stung.
Debra moved slowly toward the bed, wrapping her hands around her waist as she spoke. “I would never lie about something like that or try and trap you. I care about you, Rance. More than I’ve ever cared about any man.”
He whipped around, eyes brimming with anger and hurt. “Oh yeah, you care about me. Things were good between us, weren’t they?” he said with a smile. She shifted, starting to feel a little nervous when it didn’t reach his eyes. “But we both knew that this relationship was all about a good time and incredible sex.”
“It’s more than that, and you know it.”
He looked at her face, staring at her for a good long while. “Maybe to you, which is why I know you had no intention of telling me you were carrying my child.”
“That’s a lie! I had every intention of telling you before I returned home.”
“Really, and then what?”
“And then I would have gone home and had my baby.”
“Like hell you will! Now that I know you’re pregnant, which I’m certain is my child you’re carrying, we’re gonna do this the right way.”
“And what’s that?”
“We’re getting married.”
“Married!” she barked. “I wouldn’t marry you if you were the last man in the state.”
“Too bad. You should have thought about that before you decided to have my baby. Beaumonts take responsibility for their actions,” he said, as if that was going to explain everything.
“I didn’t decide anything. You know damn well I was on the pill. This pregnancy wasn’t intentional.”
“Maybe, maybe not, but you were hiding it from me.”
“I wasn’t hiding a damn thing,” she denied and started to get irritated.
“No? We’ve talked on the phone every night this week and you’ve said nothing about being pregnant. Tonight we came to the hotel, made love, and still nothing.”
She shook her curls, sending them bouncing around her face. “I planned on telling you.”
“When? After the baby was born?” he countered.
“Of course not. Don’t be ridiculous.”
Tension brewed between them, and finally after a long breath Debra said, “Look, I knew you had issues with women being after your money and trying to get pregnant, but that woman isn’t me. I don’t need your money, and I sure as hell don’t need a man. But I am having this baby, and if you’re not interested in being in my child’s life, then that’s your business.”
“Our child,” he corrected.
She waved a dismissive hand, willing herself to be patient. “Okay, whatever. All I’m saying is, I’ll be all right.”
“Yes, you will, because we’re getting married, and that’s final!”
She froze. There was that fire in his eyes again and he moved closer until his presence dominated the room.
That might work on the court, but in no way was she going to be bullied into anything
Debra stood with a hand at her waist and gave him a long withering look, then cocked her head to the side. “You ain’t my daddy. I’m not marrying you!”
Tension was once again sizzling between them. “Clearly you got this all figured out, so tell me what your plan is because I’ll be damned if my child is going to be raised without a father.”
“I never said my child wouldn’t have a father… I said I wasn’t marrying you. And I meant that.” She stormed over to her clothes, swirled around and glared at him. “Call me a cab, dammit! I’m going home.”
* * *
He had been a complete ass. How in the world could he have talked to Debra that way?
While cussing under his breath, Rance paced across his hotel room. He’d known her long enough to know she wasn’t trying to trap him. Deep in his heart, he didn’t believe she was a woman after his money. So why in the world had he said it? And instead of stopping her, he had retreated and allowed her to leave, hopping into a cab that had taken her to the airport.
He groaned. His mother would kill him if she ever heard how her son had treated Debra. Bettye Beaumont had raised him better than that.
Rance gazed out the window, staring at Manhattan at midnight.
Debra had snuck into his heart when he hadn’t been looking, and before he’d discovered the prenatal vitamins Rance had felt as if she was the woman he could share his life with. But now… now he wasn’t sure what to think. She was pregnant and had kept it a secret. Why was it hard for him to trust and believe she really had been with him because she cared about him as he cared about her? Not because she wanted something.
Somehow, some way, he had to figure it out. But he hadn’t been lying. No child of his was going to be born without the Beaumont name.
Chapter 20
The last thing she wanted to do after a long morning of traveling was think about Rance. She’d rather close the bakery for the day and spend it in bed with a bowl of chocolate ice cream.
But she knew there was no way she could stay there for the next nine months while feeling sorry for herself. She had to get her butt back in gear and keep on living. If not for her
, for her unborn child.
She removed another batch of cupcakes from the oven and carried them over to the table. How dare he treat her like one of those gold-diggers he was used to dating? Her eyes filled with anger and hurt, making her want to grab her cell phone, call, and give Rance a piece of her mind again. Damn. Another failed try at love.
Clenching her jaw, she forced back the tears with a deep breath and took off the oven mitt. She tossed it across the room.
This was not the time to think about Rance. All the time they’d spent getting to know each other, yet he’d accused her of the worst. Okay, so maybe she should have been honest and told him the second she suspected she was pregnant. Or better yet, the moment she’d decided she was keeping his baby. But after the way he had reacted, would it have mattered? She’d just have to find a way to make him see she was sorry for what she had done and that she loved him. Which wasn’t going to be easy, because as far as he was concerned she had trapped him.
Grinding her teeth, she stared at the refrigerator as she tried to get her mind back on track.
She loved him. There was no denying that, and maybe subconsciously she’d hoped he would have dragged her into his arms and confessed that he loved her as well. Because if he had, she would have accepted his marriage proposal. But she was a realist, and their relationship had never really been a relationship. It had just been friends with benefits.
In the beginning all she had been interested in was sex. She had needed a man to make her feel like a woman.
Rance was a professional basketball player. And that made him incredible, exceptional and cocky. One quality about him she found a complete turn-on.
But then there was that other part of him that was complicated and standoffish. The part that didn’t trust women or relationships. That’s the part that had stopped her from being honest in the first place. She had been thinking for so long she knew what heartbreak was, but after Rance Beaumont she realized how wrong she had been.
“Debra, where are you?” she heard from the front of the shop and groaned because it was Bianca. A Beaumont was the last thing she wanted to see right now, even if it was her best friend.
She looked up to see Bianca strutting into the kitchen. “There you are. I’ve been calling your phone, but it went straight to voice mail.”
“That’s because I turned it off at the airport and forgot to turn it back on.” Actually, she hadn’t forgotten to turn it off. She had purposely left it off in case Rance had the audacity to call her.
Bianca walked over, Jimmy Choos clicking with each step. “What is going on?” she asked, her brow furrowed with worry.
“What do you mean?” Debra asked innocently. Before she said anything she needed to know what Bianca already knew.
Bianca cocked a hand at the waist of a designer burgundy dress she’d bought on one of their outlet shopping sprees. “Don’t play. Jaden says he’s been on the phone with Rance all morning, talking about you.”
For a second her pulse jumped. He had been talking about her? Did that mean he missed her?
“He pissed me off so I hopped on the first plane back home.”
Bianca shook her head, looking totally confused. “But why? We saw you in the stands at the game, looking all cute.”
Debra gave a sad smile. “You saw me?”
“Girl, yes! You were looking fierce in that outfit. I know Rance couldn’t stop looking at you. That’s probably why he fumbled that ball.” She giggled, and despite the way she was feeling, Debra joined in.
“You know you’re wrong for that.”
“Whatever, you know it’s true. So tell me, what happened? And I’m not leaving until you do,” Bianca said stubbornly.
Blake came rushing back, saving her from answering. “Debbie, we have any more double chocolates?”
She pointed to the shelf to the right. “Can you take those coconut ones up front, too?”
“Yes ma’am, you know I aim to please,” he said, giving her a saucy grin . He reached for both trays and carried them back up front.
Debra moved over and slid into a chair and waited for Bianca to lower onto the one beside her before she answered. “I’m pregnant.”
“What?” She froze. Everything except for her eyes. “You’re pregnant?”
Debra nodded and didn’t dare speak while she took a moment to blink away the unexpected tears.
“Oh, my goodness!” Bianca set the Prada handbag at her feet and leaned over to wrap her arms round her best friend. “I am so happy for you!”
Debra hugged her back and didn’t bother to wipe away the tears. “Thanks.”
Bianca suddenly pulled back. “What happen when you told Rance?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t get a chance to tell him. He found my prenatal vitamins.”
“Oh.” She paused for a moment. “No wonder he’s mad.”
A bitter weight settled on her stomach. “I was planning on telling him.”
Bianca gave her a steely look. “You didn’t even tell me, and I’m your best friend.”
“I was going to tell you, after I’d told Rance. I figured he had a right to know first.”
Bianca’s face softened. “You’re right.”
Debra leaned back on the chair and told her about the lackluster marriage proposal, and her refusal.
“Oh, damn. I guess I would have said no, too.”
“Thanks.” She was at least grateful that her best friend understood. She pressed her lips together to keep them from trembling.
Bianca reached over and squeezed her hand. “Why don’t you call him and talk? You are having his baby.”
Wrinkling her nose, she replied, “I don’t know.”
“Well, then you better figure it out,” Bianca stated, getting to her feet with grace. “There is no way I’m letting my goddaughter grow up without a father.”
Debra released a long breath. “Rance said the same thing.”
* * *
“Bro, why you looking like you lost your best friend?”
Rance was amazed that he’d heard Remy’s question over the heavy thump of the music. That was exactly how he felt, like he had lost the closest person to him. He had gotten used to calling Debra after a long day and sharing the details, or just to hear her sexy voice.
He leaned back on the chair and stared over at his younger brother Remy, who was bouncing on the seat to the beat of Nicki Minaj.
“I’m good,” he muttered.
“No, you’re not. What’s up?” he asked, leaning in close so that the other people at their table wouldn’t hear. Although, Rance seriously doubted anyone cared. They were all having too much fun to worry about him.
“C’mon bro. It’s the playoffs and y’all are tied three-three. You should be fired up!” His brother was hyped as he reached for his beer and took a long drink.
“Remy, you’re always fired up,” Rance muttered.
He shrugged. “Yo, I’m young, handsome and single. What else is there, except partying and meeting beautiful women?” He gave a laugh and frowned when his big brother didn’t join in. “C’mon, Rance. You should be feeling on top of the world. You’re back on the team just in time for the finals. You should be walking around with your chest stuck out.”
Rance reached down for his glass of Patron. Other than beer, he’d never been much of a drinker and had been sipping on the same glass since they’d arrived. “I got more important things on my mind,” he managed between sips.
Remy barked with laughter. “What’s more important than this?” He gestured expansively with his hands, talking about the 40/40 Club. The sports bar was owned by rapper Jay-Z, who was in the VIP section with his sexy wife Beyoncé. Rance had briefly chatted with the powerful couple on his way in.
Remy narrowed his eyes on his big brother. “C’mon. What’s up with you?”
He didn’t know why he was about to tell his brother this, but lately he was willing to talk to just about anybody who was willing to listen. Rance leaned o
ver on the comfy couch and whispered for his ear only, “It seems I’m about to be a father.”
“No shit! Bro, how the hell you let that happen?”
He shrugged his large shoulders. “Shit happens.”
“Not that kind.” Remy grimaced and took a pull at his beer before saying, “What? She tryna trap you?”
“Not at all. Debra isn’t that kinda girl,” he snapped and his fingers tightened around the heavy crystal.
“Yo, chill,” Remy said defensively, then gave his brother a long hard stare. “Bro, please tell me you ain’t caught up?”
Tilting the glass, Rance finished it in one swallow. “I asked her to marry me.”
“Noooo!” Remy crossed two fingers like he was warding off vampires. His cry was loud and drawn out, with plenty of ridicule. “First Reese, now you. What’s really going on? Who is she?”
“Bianca’s friend.”
His eyes widened. “The girl on the cruise ship? The one in the tabloids?”
“Yep, that’s her.”
Shaking his head, Remy said, “Don’t tell me she lives in Sheraton Beach.”
“Afraid so.”
He didn’t bother hiding his laughter. “Yo, it’s gotta be in the water. That’s it! I’m staying the hell away from there.”
“Funny.”
“Seriously, dude. What’s up with you and this chick?”
Frustration tightened like a fist in his gut. “That chick is pregnant with my baby and I’m both pissed and happy at the same time.”
Remy sat there shaking his head. He didn’t understand. Not that Rance was surprised. Remy was known as Dr. Feel. He loved the ladies as long as the situation “feels” good, but the second she tried to put on the chains he would be off to the next beautiful honey. He was the co-host of the nationally syndicated radio program, He vs. She that was heard by thousands of viewers across the country. He was all about dating and loving life as a bachelor. A committed relationship was the last thing Remy wanted.
“You tell Pops?”
Rance gave him a look. “You know better than that.”
Richard Beaumont had raised all his sons to strap up and don’t bring any babies in the world without their last name. He’d also drilled into all seven of his children to take full responsibility for their actions. Rance wasn’t going to talk to his dad until he had a plan in place. He could just imagine his parents’ reaction when they found out he was going to be a father. His mother would be overjoyed. He frowned with growing frustration at that thought. He still hadn’t a clue how to approach Debra. Even Jaden had been no help.
Do Me Baby (The Beaumont Series) Page 18
