“I think you forgot you’re married. You need to be ‘supporting’ your wife.”
She made air quotes to emphasize her words, but at her statement, the calm self-assurance in Daniel’s expression transformed first to sadness and then to anger. His lips compressed, and his eyebrows crashed low over his eyes. Tae dreaded what that meant. She started to prompt him to explain the reaction but didn’t need to.
“Even though I told Alise I did not father your baby, she still packed and went to her mother’s.”
“No!” Tae slapped a hand over her mouth. Tears sprung to her eyes and fell down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry, Daniel. This is my fault.”
He drew her into his arms and stroked her hair. “No, it’s not. You did nothing wrong, and if my marriage is so flimsy a misunderstanding can destroy it, then you were right. Alise is not for me.”
She wrenched from his hold. “You’re not throwing it away just like that. You need to fight for her, Daniel. I’m going to call her and explain that you and I didn’t have sex, so it’s impossible to even think you’re the father of my baby. It’s just ridiculous, and our meeting that day was just happenstance. She has to believe me.”
Tae spun to go to her room to get her phone, but Daniel grabbed her arm to stop her. “Forget it.”
“What do you mean forget it? You love her. I think—”
“Aren’t you going to be late for your appointment?”
She glanced at the clock on the dining room wall. The metal bicycle design was so unique she’d had to buy it. Daniel was right. She didn’t have much time. “Well I’ll call afterward.”
“No, you won’t.” He shuffled her toward her bedroom. “I’ll handle it. Hurry up, and I’ll take you.”
“Daniel.”
“I’m not accepting no for an answer, Tae. Finish getting dressed. I’m going with you. End of discussion.” While he had been assertive, his tone remained kind. She sighed and gave in. Zerita wasn’t in town, and even if she were, Tae had only been able to get a day appointment. She couldn’t ask her friend to take off work with her to go to the doctor.
“How did you know I was home?”
He grinned and winked. “I have my ways.”
She rolled her eyes. “Fine. I’ll be ready in a minute.”
Tae hurried into her bedroom and drew on her other sock, then put on shoes. She started out to the living room and had to run back to look for the notebook where she recorded the dates for her period. After making a mental note of the last two, she rejoined Daniel, and they headed out.
Tae started toward her car, but Daniel placed a hand on her lower back. “I’m parked this way.” She decided not to argue and followed him to his vehicle. When they were on the road, she told him the address and studied him as he drove. One large hand gripped the steering wheel while the other rested on his thigh. A ridiculous longing came over her to lay hers atop his, but she resisted it and faced the window. Scenery raced by, but she saw none of it. Her thoughts were filled with memories of Daniel, and for some reason, his voice echoed in her head of the many times he had confessed his love. Daniel was the type of man to never hold back how he felt. She had never had to wonder or be unsure of him. That fact was one of the reasons she had loved him so much.
“Tae?”
She came to herself and looked at him. “Sorry, I was daydreaming.”
“No problem.” He frowned at the car ahead, which cut him off, and adjusted his speed. “I was asking if you told Jax about the baby yet.”
She bit her lip. “Not yet.”
“Why not, Tae?”
“Don’t get onto me. I told you. I’ll tell him when I’m ready.”
“Tell me why you’re not ready.”
“I…”
He glanced at her, waiting, and she sighed, spreading her hands. How did she explain having him come along with her to her appointment made things worse for her rather than better? Jax had accused her of sleeping with Daniel multiple times trying to get pregnant. Of course he was wrong, but that didn’t stop her from liking him here now. If she told Jax, then what? Would he want to be here, too? She’d slept with him, and it was good as hell, but she never imagined it going further, of them doing the whole domestic thing. Yet, the longer she delayed telling him the truth, the harder it became to do it. Her selfishness knew no bounds, but even realizing that didn’t propel her.
“It was my fault. I should have asked him to use a condom.”
Daniel winced at her candor.
“I knew I wasn’t on the pill because I hadn’t been with anyone for a while.”
This time he looked hard at her, and she hated the hope she saw in his gaze. “So you haven’t been with anyone since me…and Jax.”
“I didn’t say that.” He didn’t need to know the truth.
“I’m not going to lie, Tae.” He pulled to a stop at a red light and twisted to face her. “I’d give anything for that baby to be mine.”
“Don’t say that!!”
“Why not?” He touched her cheek, and an overwhelming urge to lean in to the touch assailed her. She found the strength not to but moving out of reach didn’t happen.
“Because you’re married.”
“I’m separated.”
“No different. I don’t get involved with married men.”
“I wasn’t suggesting that you do.”
Embarrassed that she’d jumped to conclusions, she stared out the window and squeezed her fingers together so tight they hurt. If her hands stayed in her lap, she couldn’t reach out to touch him as he did her, tempting beyond all reason.
“You’re not being fair, Daniel.”
“I don’t mean to be a jerk.”
She laughed. “You a jerk? That could never happen. Alise doesn’t know what she’s screwing up.”
He tapped her cheek, and she turned to look at him. Her heart leaped in her chest just gazing into his eyes. “I won’t lie and say I don’t love you anymore, Tae. You will always be important to me. Like I said, I’d give anything to be the father of your child.”
“Because you always wanted a family.”
Daniel had an older brother he wasn’t close to, and his parents had moved to Florida the second he turned eighteen and left him in Charlotte to fend for himself. Tae had always found it funny how kind and warm he turned out despite his past.
“Not just that,” he said. “A child needs an attentive father.”
He made it sound like Jax would never be. Daniel knew Jax better than she did.
“I know I’m not being fair to my friend, but I never thought I would feel like I’m competing with him for you and for your baby.”
Tae swallowed. This conversation had gone way beyond what she’d intended. While hearing Daniel say he loved her gave her the greatest thrill of her life, guilt weighed on her shoulders like a boulder. Jax deserved to be allowed the chance to be a part of his baby’s life, even if he didn’t love her. He didn’t deserve them judging him to be less than Daniel would be as a daddy.
“This isn’t a competition,” she said. “I’m going to tell him, and you are my friend and nothing more. I need you to be clear about that.”
“Do I hear an or in there somewhere?”
Daniel pulled into the parking lot outside her doctor’s office, so she had an excuse not to answer. When he switched off the car, she unbuckled her seat belt and stepped out of the car. She left him to follow her into the office and was soon called to go to the back.
The nurse winked and held the door for her. “Daddy can come too if you want.”
Tae’s steps faltered. “He’s not—”
“Thanks,” Daniel interrupted. “Don’t mind if I do.”
Tae frowned at him and placed a hand in the middle of his chest to stop him. “You can wait out here. I won’t be long.” Disappointment colored his face, but he didn’t argue, and Tae escaped through the door. Touching Daniel and having him so close, so sweet, was more than she could handle. From now on, she would need to
keep him at a distance. When the door shut, cutting him off from view, she faced the nurse. “He is a friend, and I’m pretty sure my business shouldn’t be blurted out in the waiting room, especially since I haven’t even had a blood test yet to confirm the home test I took. At least that’s the little I read about before I came here. Am I wrong?”
Color drained from the woman’s face. “I’m so sorry, Ms. Croft. You’re right. Please accept my apology.”
“Kate?”
Both Tae and the nurse turned in the direction of the authoritative voice. One of the doctors stood nearby, a man. Tae had never liked having a male doctor, so the times Dr. Chen wasn’t available, she’d chosen to see the nurse practitioner.
“May I have a word with you in private?” the doctor said.
If possible, Kate paled even more. Now Tae panicked. “It’s not a big deal, a small mistake. We’re fine.” Kate cast her a grateful glance, but the doctor ushered her away, and another nurse took her place. The royal treatment commenced as if she were someone of high importance. After the nurse finished taking her weight, she led Tae to a room, and every staff member on the way greeted her with smiles and other pleasantries. Not until she’d been left alone a few moments to change into a gown did she realize why. They treated her the way they did because she was in a position to sue.
Breaking a personal record, Dr. Chen appeared less than five minutes later. “How are we doing, Tae?”
“We are probably pregnant,” she said, unhappy. “But before that, I hope I didn’t get Kate into trouble. It really was no big deal.”
“Let’s concentrate on you.” With her usual perky attitude, she ran down the plan for the current visit. “We won’t discuss any visits in the future until we’re sure. Now, when was your last period?”
Tae dealt with all the questions, the giving of blood, and receiving a mountain of information once it had been confirmed she was indeed pregnant. She arranged for the next office visit, at her ten-week mark for a sonogram and then returned to the waiting room to meet Daniel.
He stood up and walked toward her, causing her heart to pound out of control. “Everything okay?” he asked, and she nodded, unable to speak. “How about lunch?”
She considered coming up with an excuse, but the truth was she wanted to be with him a little longer. “I’d love to.”
* * * *
By the time Tae returned home, it was after five. She had spent the entire day with Daniel. They had had lunch, and then at his suggestion, they had gone window shopping at Concord Mills mall. Both of them felt it was too early to begin buying baby items, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t peruse what was out there for babies. The more they conferred on colors and styles, clothing and furniture, the more she enjoyed herself with him. When he dropped her at her door, she couldn’t help admitting at least part of her feelings.
“I wanted to thank you for today,” she said, a tremor in her voice as she stared at the floor like a child.
“It was my pleasure.”
She looked up at him. “No, you don’t understand. I… didn’t know if I wanted kids. Not that I didn’t like them. It’s just that I was scared, and I’m still terrified, but you made me feel a little bit excited about the baby, and I’m grateful. So thanks.”
He took her hands in his, and she tried to pull away, but he held on. “Don’t pull away, Tae. I promised you I would be here for you, and I will. You don’t have to feel like you’re alone—whether it’s with emotional support or even financial, I’m going to be here.”
“Hold up, cowboy.” She managed to get free. “I can take care of my own child.”
“I know.”
She waggled a finger at him. “Get that straight.”
He chuckled. “It’s straight.”
“Why do I feel like you’ll still be offering me help?”
“Because I will.”
She rolled her eyes. “Good night, Daniel.”
He leaned forward without warning and kissed her cheek. A gush of sensation raced to her nether regions. “Good night,” he whispered, and he strode down the stairs toward the street like he hadn’t just ruined her panties with a chaste kiss. Tae ducked into her apartment, shut the door, and locked it, but no barrier could keep memories of the past from invading her mind and making her relive the pleasure of lying in Daniel’s arms.
Chapter Eight
Tae was twenty-four when she started dating Daniel. At twenty-eight, he was mature and confident, but friendly and attentive. They met in a bookstore where Tae had been buying smut, and Daniel had been buying something ridiculously boring like the political economy of the mass media. When she had rounded a corner and bumped into him, both their piles of books went flying, and he joined her on the floor to gather them. His smile and those eyes had taken her breath away from the start, but the fact that he’d see what she chose to read made her consider not for the first time of giving up the paperback stuff for books for the new thing she’d heard about—an e-reader, whatever that was.
She grabbed Big Girls Do It Better and dropped it on his stack of books. “I think this one’s yours.”
He looked down and read the cover, then back up at her. At his confused blink, Tae bit the inside of her cheek and fought not to crack a smile. After a moment, he grinned, and the sunshine came out in her world. “I don’t think so, but why would you read it?”
Now the tables were turned, and she struggled to defend her habit of devouring pieces that had little to do with her major in literature. “I…”
His hot gaze traveled from her face, to her breasts, on down to her wide hips and thighs. “You don’t match the woman on the cover, but then maybe you were curious?”
Was this his way of complimenting her? Or was he saying she wasn’t white like the woman on the cover, so why was she in his face? Before she could formulate an answer, he continued.
“You’re a very beautiful woman and a far cry from being described as ‘big.’”
Her heart almost leaped from her chest. “I think you missed my thick thighs and big booty, but thank you for the compliment.”
He helped her to her feet and gathered the rest of her books. Rather than hand them over, he offered to carry them to the register for her, and Tae accepted.
Before she knew it they were dating, and she was falling desperately in love. There had been one problem at the time—she was a virgin, and while she was no little thing like he claimed, Daniel was huge both in height and build—and in his pants. The night she invited him to her apartment with a mind toward having sex, she’d been nervous as hell.
Daniel wore slacks and a button-up shirt. His blond hair was combed to perfect order, and he looked good enough to eat. In fact, the whiff of his cologne made her mouth water. The man made things worse when he touched her arm in a gentle caress, his blue eyes filled with concern.
“What’s wrong, Tae? You look frightened.”
She’d clutched her hands together, swallowing the lump in her throat. Damn it, I’m twenty-four. Get a grip, Tae. Just tell him the truth. She’d opened her mouth, but confessing her lack of experience turned out to be impossible.
Daniel’s thumb caressed her bare arm. She’d worn a miniskirt and a matching blouse with spaghetti straps. The V neckline plunged low enough to tease with her ample cleavage but was still tasteful. While she dithered trying to find the courage to say something, his gaze dropped to her breasts and lingered. She’d been looking down and noticed the tent rise in his pants. This wasn’t the first time, but she didn’t blame him. Her panties had needed changing on too many occasions after he’d left them soaked with his kisses and his roaming hands.
“You know I love you, don’t you, honey?” he said.
She melted and raised her hands to his waist. Daniel drew her closer so she rested her head against his chest. “I know. I love you, too.”
He leaned back and lifted her chin. “We don’t have to do this. I can wait.”
She tried striking a sassy pose. “P
lease, I invited you, remember?”
“And you’re a virgin.”
Her world crumbled. “You knew?”
“Of course.”
Panic tightened her throat so she had to force words out. “Because of my kisses?”
His brows creased. “Your kisses bring me to my knees. No other woman has tasted as good as you. No, I know because of your fear and how many times we’ve been at this point and you’ve backed off with an excuse. If it was just that you wanted to be sure it wouldn’t be a one-night stand, I think you would have given in ages ago.”
She groaned. “I’m sorry, Daniel. I really do want you, but I don’t know why all this time I haven’t found the one I wanted to give my virginity to. Not until I met you. I don’t want to lose you.”
He grasped both her arms and gave her a small shake. “You are not going to let me make love to you because you’re scared to lose me! With that this plan is canceled. Go get your shoes. We’ll go bowling or something or to a movie.”
“But we were going to—”
He gazed at her breasts again and dropped his hands to his sides as if she’d burned him. When he turned his back, it hurt her, but she got it. That decision was what did it for her. Daniel was willing to suffer blue balls rather than take her for the wrong reasons.
“Hurry up, please.”
“Okay.” She smiled behind his back and spun away to head to her room. Once there, she began stripping out of her clothes. She tossed the tank on the floor and unbuttoned the skirt. In her bra and panties, she was about to call him, but changed her mind. If Daniel only saw her underwear, he might be able to resist. She needed to be naked. The panties hit the chair, followed by the bra. She bent in half trying not to hyperventilate, but blood rushed to her head instead.
“Tae, honey?” Daniel called.
She squeaked and darted across the room, farthest from the door. A glimpse of herself in the full-length mirror brought her to a stop, and she examined her body. Not too bad, thick thighs but not dimply. A big butt appealed to a lot of men. She liked her boobs. They hung just right, and her nipples puckered from being uncovered.
His Best Man's Baby Page 6
