She could feel it. He was definitely on his way.
It was almost nine when she heard someone knocking at the door. Debra assumed it was Harmony arriving in the van to icing the cupcakes. She wiped off her hands and moved through the kitchen into the store. There was another knock, but this one was stronger. Powerful. Masculine. Debra gasped.
Rance had arrived.
“Deb… Open up the door.”
Heart pounding, she fumbled nervously with the lock and cracked the door. He was standing in the doorway. Since she’d last seen him his hair had been cropped close, but he still couldn’t get the waves out no matter how hard he tried. Rance was standing there in relaxed jeans and a Sixers’ t-shirt. Goodness! The man was a walking, talking advertisement for tall and sexy.
His stance was stiff and his eyes were dark and determined. “Are you gonna make me stand out here and talk through the door with the media and half of Sheraton Beach watching, or are you gonna let me in?”
He was right. There was a crowd gathering, with people sitting in their cars. Two more news vans were parked out front, and then all the people who just happened to be in the area.
Yeah, right.
She moved aside, allowing him the room to step into the store. Cameras were flashing and people were calling out to them. Rance immediately swung the door closed behind him.
“We need to talk,” he said.
“So I’ve heard. And the millions of others who watched the playoffs.” Debra planted a fist as her hip and glared up at him. All this unwanted attention was his fault.
“I’m sorry for that.”
“Sure,” she said, clearly annoyed. “Follow me in back. I have cupcakes to get ready for this morning.” She didn’t wait for him to respond. She walked swiftly through the door and into the kitchen.
When she turned around Rance was standing right in front of her. She gasped. He was so close she leaned back against the counter, trying to put a little space between them.
* * *
Rance stared down at Debra. Damn he’d missed her. Now that he was here in Sheraton Beach, standing right in front of her, he was dying to draw her into his arms and kiss her senseless. But he was sure she wouldn’t appreciate that. In fact, she might even punch him in the chest.
“Listen, before you say anything I need to apologize,” she said, nibbling on her lower lip. He’d been around her long enough to know that was a sign she was nervous.
He stared at her, surprised by her words. “Apologize for what?”
Debra gave him an impatient wave for interrupting. “I’ll get to that in a minute, but first I have to thank you again for buying me that property.” Her voice was soft and raspy, and he couldn’t ignore how sexy she sounded as he blew out a long breath. It reminded him of their last night together, before everything had gone all wrong.
“Rance, I can’t even begin to tell you how it felt yesterday, driving down on Main Street to see my sign hanging over the storefront.” Tears brimmed in her eyes. His first instinct was to gather her in his arms and comfort her, but she held up a hand, halting his action. “Don’t. Please. Let me finish.”
He nodded.
“You are responsible for making my dream come true. And that is probably the most selfless thing anyone has ever done for me. I’ll never forget that.”
Why did it feel like there was a “but” coming?
“I’m glad I could help you,” he dismissed with a shrug. “Like I said before, I admire people who have dreams, and I was willing to do anything I could to make sure that happened. I care about you,” he added. He wasn’t sure why he had the sudden need to make sure she knew how he felt before she said anything else.
“Well, thank you. Thank you so much.” She looked up at him through lowered eyelids, and he felt that stirring in his chest and pants again. He wanted her. Not just for sex, but in his life. He wanted her with his every breath.
“Now I want to apologize to you… for not telling you sooner. I was wrong about keeping the baby from you, and I’m sorry.” She pushed away from the counter and stepped forward enough for him to have reached out and touched her effortlessly. But he shoved his hands in his pockets instead. “There is no excuse for my not having been honest and upfront when I first suspected the pregnancy. But believe me when I say I had every intention of telling you.”
He looked into her eyes and he knew by just staring down into her green gaze that she was being sincere. “I believe you. I knew you were telling me the truth the second you walked out of the hotel.”
Her shoulders sagged with relief. He was glad that he was able to bring some peace to her stressful life. Stress was not a good thing for her or the baby. He could have kept that part to himself, but he felt he owed it to her.
“If you knew, then why didn’t you come after me?”
“Pride,” he told her. “Stupid pride. I told you before, I wasn’t good at relationships.” But he was more than willing to give it a try if only she would agree. He loved her and all he wanted was for Debra to love him back.
Debra’s eyes went wide. “I never asked you for a relationship. Remember? You’re the one who wanted to pretend we were newlyweds so we could play that stupid game.”
“You’re right.” But I want one now, he wanted to say. “I never expected things to blow up that way, and once they did all I wanted to do was protect you. Instead I just made things worse.” He wished he could put the blame on the residents of Sheraton Beach, but it wasn’t their fault they had nothing better to do than spread gossip.
She nodded and blew out a long frustrated breath. “Now there’s that media circus out there waiting to find out why you’re here.” Her gaze narrowed. “So tell me, Rance Beaumont, why are you here?”
“I want to talk about us and the baby.”
Debra laced her fingers together and nibbled on her lip while waiting nervously for whatever he was about to say. It was clear he was still not interested in a relationship, which meant that if he tried to propose again, he was only doing it for the sake of the baby.
She should be happy he was being honest about his feelings when it came to relationships, so why did she suddenly feel sad?
The timer went off and Debra reached for a glove and walked around to the second oven and removed two more trays of cupcakes. “I can’t be mad,” she began while her back was still turned. “You were honest from the beginning about not wanting a relationship. That’s why I didn’t know how to tell you I was carrying your child.”
“And I understand that now. I also understand that asking you to marry me for the sake of a child was not the right move, either.”
She had said the same thing to herself, only why did it hurt more when it came from Rance’s mouth? With a sigh she removed the glove and the apron tied around her yellow sundress, and walked around the table so they could finish their conversation like adults.
“Which bring me to my reason for coming here,” he said with a look of uncertainty in his eyes. The same one he had when he was playing ball. He was worried about her reaction to what he was about to say. She didn’t know if she should be excited or scared.
Her eyes strayed to the large clock on the wall. “We probably want to move this along. My assistants should be here shortly and we have to get the bakery ready to open.” She could see someone trying to peek through the blind. By now she typically had cupcakes on display in the windows, but today she had purposely decided to leave them drawn until the store opened.
He took a step closer. Close enough for her to stare directly up into his sable eyes. “I came here to apologize.”
Frowning, she reached up and smoothed back her unruly ponytail and replied, “You don’t owe me an apology. You were honest from day one about a relationship. It is what it is. A fling that crashed and burned. Nothing more.” She tried to shrug it off like it was no big deal, but she was really hurting inside. It had stopped being a fling long before they had departed that ship.
“You don’t b
elieve that any more than I do,” he said, stepping closer. Close enough for Debra to want to tilt her chin and sample his luscious lips.
“Rance, it’s okay, really.” She moved, putting distance between them and pretending she was looking down at the cupcakes, when she was really trying to push back tears. The last thing she wanted was for him to know how much it hurt her to know she could never have him in her life. “We’re going to have a baby together. We just need to figure out how we’re going to be parents. That means at least being friends.”
“But that’s what I’m trying to tell you. I don’t want to be friends.” He reached out for her hands and dragged her back over close to where he was standing and continued. “I plan to be there for my child. I had a father in my life and I’m gonna be in my son’s life. Uh-uh, hush, Deb, I already claimed it.” He added with a wink.
She searched his eyes. “Didn’t you listen to a word I said? I want you to be a part of our child’s life, too.”
“But I want to be a full-time parent. I want to wake up seeing my child, and I want to put him to bed every night.”
Debra tried to yank her hand away but he refused to let go, so she frowned. “What are you trying to say? You want custody of our child?”
He nodded. “Yes, joint custody.”
Fear clutched at her heart. “How dare you—”
“Deb, I said hush. Now let your man finish.” It was something about the way he said your man that made her hold off from kicking him out of her store with the cameras rolling.
“Since you walked into my life, I learned a lot about myself. And one of those things is my lack of trust when it comes to women and relationship. The mistake I made was putting all women in that category.
“I’ve never met a woman like you before in my life. Funny, feisty, smart and thick as hell.” He grinned and allowed his gaze to move over her in appreciation before he continued. “I knew I had to have you in my life. I want a relationship with you.”
“But you know I want more than that. I want openness and honesty. A man I know who has my back because he knows I have his. I want love.”
“I know that. I want those things too… with you.” He lifted her hand and brought it to his mouth and kissed her fingers, brushing his soft lips against her skin. “For once basketball doesn’t matter. You and my child matter.”
She wiggled her hand free and then pressed it against her stomach. “That can’t be true.”
“It is true,” Rance said quietly. “I was more worried about losing you than I was losing last night’s game.”
Pleasure raced through Debra, making her want to rush into his arms and beg him to hold her, but before that happened she needed some clarification. He was talking in riddles. She searched his eyes, wondering what it all meant.
“Please just tell me what you’re trying to say,” she said impatiently.
He looked as if he was trying to choose his words carefully. “I want you to marry me.”
She frowned. It was the same thing he had asked a week ago. What made him think she had changed her mind?
“I already told you I won’t marry you just because I’m pregnant.”
Debra tried to turn away but before she could make a single step Rance swung her around and drew her into his arms. She gasped and started to pull away, but she would only be depriving herself of what she really wanted.
“I can’t do this, Rance,” she whispered.
“Yes, you can, because we’re going to do it together,” he said in a long drawl. “I love you enough that we can make this work.”
She pulled back, eyes big and round, seconds away from hyperventilating. “You love me?”
“With my every breath. I was just too stupid to realize it until you walked out on me. Now I don’t want to ever let you go,” he said softly, resting his forehead on hers. “That’s if you’ll have me.”
Debra gazed up at him with tears of joy streaming down her cheeks. “I guess since I’m in love with you, too, I don’t have much of a choice.”
It was his turn to look surprised. “Can you repeat that?”
“I said I love you.”
He closed his eyes like he was giving thanks. Then he swooped in and pressed his mouth against hers in a kiss that was so intense it left Debra gasping by the time he’d pulled back.
“How do you feel about me writing a check big enough to cover your sales for the rest of the day and we sneak out the back?”
Her brow rose. “Let’s get one thing straight, Rance Beaumont. You can’t buy my love.”
“But can I buy an entire day with my fiancée?” he said, releasing her and reaching inside the pocket of his jeans, from where he removed a blue box. “If you like, we can step outside and I can do this is front of the entire nation.”
Gasping, Debra glanced from him to the box before she reached over the table to steady herself. “No, I don’t want to share this moment with anyone but you.”
He grinned. “I feel the same way.” He lowered his knee onto the kitchen floor and opened the box. “Debra Anderson… Will you marry me?”
Tears were streaming down her face and she was bawling like a baby. “Yes… Yes, I’ll marry you!”
Rance rose and swept her into his arms and pressed tiny kisses on her face that caused her to giggle. “I’m going to warn you, life as a basketball wife isn’t going to be easy.”
She frowned. “I’ve seen the reality show.”
“That’s television,” he chuckled. “But there will be media, as you already know.”
There was a loud knock at the door. “Speaking of media,” she murmured. Debra reached up, yanked the rubber band from her hair and shook it out. “Come on,” she said and signaled for Rance to follow her through the kitchen and into the bakery.
“What are you doing?” Rance asked, practically at her heels.
“You started this, so we might as well give them what they want.” Debra took a deep breath and turned the lock, swinging the door open. Blake was standing there, looking confused, with a hand propped at his waist.
“Ms. Debbie, what in the world is going on?” he asked, neck rolling.
“You’ll see.” Smiling, Debra grabbed Rance’s hand and dragged him out the front door with her. The crowd immediately grew quiet. Debra made sure she was looking directly into the camera when she held up her diamond engagement ring for the world to see.
The crowd cheered. Rance pulled Debra into his arms, giving her a hard, long kiss that promised life would never be a dull moment.
And she couldn’t wait to get started.
Enjoy a sneak peek of
Claiming What’s Mine
~~The Sexy Simmons~~
Coming in 2014
Chapter 1
Jennifer Simmons and her husband Shaun were heading to the register when she snapped her finger. “Baby, I forgot to get barbecue sauce.”
He smiled down at his wife’s adorable face. “Why don’t you go ahead and get in line while I go get it?”
Nodding, she tilted her chin and met Shaun’s lips as he pressed them against hers in a sweet kiss. Then he grinned. “I’ll be right back.”
He turned and headed down the grocery store aisle. He scanned the shelves for just the right sauce for his wife’s amazing beef ribs that she smoked until they were practically falling off the bones.
He was a lucky man. After he’d lost his first wife to an aneurism, leaving him to raise three small kids on his own, he’d never thought he’d have a second chance at love. And then he’d met Jennifer during a fender bender, and the rest was history. These had been the best seven years of his life.
His children all had lives of their own now. His daughter Sheyna was married to Jace Beaumont and they were the parents of his only grandchild, JJ. Scott had recently married his beautiful fiancé Zanaa. And his son Darnell… Well, he wasn’t quite sure what Darnell was doing besides partying and dating as many women as he could fill on his calendar. Hopefully, he’d be ready to settl
e down soon.
He grabbed the sauce and was heading down the aisle when he spotted a little kid running in his direction.
“Chance, come back here!”
He noticed a woman pushing a shopping cart, and before the little boy had a chance to rush past him, Shaun reached down and scooped the little boy in his arms.
“Whoa! Slow down, little tyke,” he said causing the boy to start laughing hysterically.
Smiling, Shaun swung the boy around. The second he saw the child’s face the air rushed from his lungs.
Dark mahogany skin, large chocolate eyes and a purple birthmark right behind his left ear. He stared in disbelief. Could it be possible?
“Thank you so much for catching him,” the woman began, drawing his attention. “I knew the second I let him out of the cart he’d start running around the store.”
He looked at the tall, beautiful woman with butter pecan skin, light brown eyes, natural hair and a wide smile.
“Boys are always a handful.”
“I’m starting to figure that out.” She held out her arms and the little boy practically dove into her embrace. Even as he released him Shaun couldn’t stop looking at the little boy. “I’m Liberty, and this here is Chance.”
Reaching up, Shaun ruffled the little boy’s curls. “It’s a pleasure meeting you both.” He dropped his hand and let out a nervous laugh. “Forgive me for saying this, but can I asked who his father is?”
Her eyes widened. “Excuse me?”
I’m sorry but—”
“Shaun! There you are…” his wife said, interrupting. He swung around to see Jennifer coming down the aisle, pushing the cart. “I forgot to get cheese and lettuce for tacos tonight.” She stopped in front of him and must have noticed the disturbed look on his face, because her eyes traveled from him to Liberty.
“Hello,” she said, and held out her hand. “I’m Jennifer. And you are…?”
The woman forced a smile. “I’m Liberty Roth, and this here is Chance.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet…” Shaun noticed the exact moment she looked at the little boy and when the realization sank in. “Oh, my goodness! He looks just like Darnell.”
Do Me Baby (The Beaumont Series) Page 20
