The evening passed with Jax staying and watching TV with her. Every time she looked at him, she willed herself to tell him the truth, that the baby was his, but her lips wouldn’t part. Why was he there anyway? Did Daniel spill her secret, and Jax waited for her to admit it for herself? No, she believed Daniel when he said he wouldn’t do that.
“Why are you here, Jax? Aren’t you bored? I would think a man like you would be either starting his weekend early or planning it, trying to decide which woman to call.”
He eyed her with a straight expression, one that revealed little of whether she had offended him. “Is that how you see me?”
“Isn’t that you?”
“It is, normally.”
“Nothing’s changed.”
“You’re having a baby.” He glanced at the TV screen. A commercial played for disposable diapers, of all things. Jax ran his palms over his thighs as if they were clammy. “I could be his or her daddy.”
She blinked. He’d figured it out! This was the perfect time to come clean. She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off.
“I know I’m not, and I don’t want to horn in on Daniel’s territory, but well, I don’t know how much he will be here for you and the baby with Alise to deal with.”
Tae bit her lip. Jax still thought she’d slept with his best friend after he’d married Alise. What kind of women did he take her for? Or did he think she loved Daniel so much, marriage papers would mean nothing to her? She considered whether Jax thought he somehow protected his friend from the Jezebel by being at her place now. Thinking that way hurt her more after all he had done tonight than him calling her names. She wanted to tell him to leave, but again, since she was keeping the baby, he had a right to know she took care of herself on behalf of his child.
Her stomach growled, and she pressed a hand to it, embarrassed. “Wow, sickness gone, and I’m starving. Are you hungry? You’ve been here like three hours.”
She stood up, and he reached out as if to steady her, but she was fine. He followed her to the kitchen, and she opened the freezer door. The compartment was filled with frozen dinners and a few meats she usually popped into the Crock-Pot on the rare occasions she felt like a more elaborate dinner with veggies. Cooking wasn’t her forte.
“None of that looks healthy,” he said, standing behind her.
A shiver tingled in her back at his nearness. “I never claimed to eat healthy. This body takes work to stay this way.”
Jax’s gaze raked her and paused at her ass. “Indeed.”
“Stop staring.”
He looked into her eyes. “Why should I?”
“I thought you were here to help me.”
He walked around her and bumped the freezer door closed, taking her hand in his. “I am, and the first place we’ll start is with food.”
“I was trying to do that.”
“No.” He shook his head and raised her hand toward his mouth, flipped it palm up, and nipped the inside of her wrist. She gasped and tried to pull away. He held on. “You need to eat healthier. I’m not saying one hundred percent perfect, but definitely not all sugar cereal and microwave meals.”
“What do you know about my cereal, Jaxon Hart?” She grumbled that everyone her knew her habit.
“Enough.” He spun her toward the exit and smacked her ass. “Go get some pants and shoes on. We’re going to the grocery store.”
“I have plenty of food!”
“You can go, or I can dress you. Just as a warning, it would be my pleasure.”
“Like that’s news.” She muttered all the way down the hall to the bedroom and searched out pants and shoes. Knowing Jax waited for her in the living room for some reason brought back memories of the time Daniel had sent her to get dressed. That time she’d stripped instead and ended up losing her virginity. Being pregnant, her innocence was long gone, but she would not strip down for Jax tonight—well, not again anyway.
The grocery store was just two miles from Tae’s apartment, and Jax insisted on driving them there. She didn’t argue. They walked in together and grabbed a cart. “I hear if you shop only from the outside aisles, you’ll get the healthiest foods,” he said.
Tae rolled her eyes at him. “I’m getting my staples, and they’re not from the outside aisles.”
“We’ll compromise.”
She followed behind him while he selected celery, potatoes, onions, fruits of several kinds, and more. “You know that’s going to cost a fortune, right?”
He ignored her and had the nerve to knock on a melon.
Tae listened to one when he did. “Do you know what you’re listening for?”
He grinned. “No.”
“Do you know how to cook?”
“No, again.”
“So, you plan on me wasting money or the food going bad?”
“I guarantee, we’ll eat everything.”
“Who is this we?”
They bickered good-naturedly all over the store until Tae came to the baby aisle. She paused by the assortment of canned formula and frowned, reading the labels. Jax joined her. Feeling the heat of his body next to her did things to her libido. At least it wasn’t dead yet.
“Do we know which one we will buy, or are you breastfeeding?” he asked.
He used that “we” again, and she chewed the inside of her cheek. “Don’t they eventually have to have formula either way?”
“No idea.”
Movement to their left caught Tae’s eye, and she glanced over to see a blonde pushing a cart with a toddler in it. The tight, white T-shirt showed off enormous boobs and flat abs that looked like they’d never carried an infant behind them. While Tae took in the miracle that was the woman’s physique and thought of her own already imperfect body, the woman glanced up and offered a friendly smile—at Jax.
“Hello.” The husky voice made Tae want to choke her.
“Hello,” Jax echoed.
Tae moved between them and placed a hand square in the center of Jax’s chest. “Come on, honey. I don’t think we need any formula for the baby. You can help me breastfeed.” She side-eyed the mommy skank to be sure she got her meaning, and was satisfied with the heightened color in the pretty face. Tae brushed past Jax heading in the opposite direction and almost stumbled when her belly came into contact with is hard-on. She waited until they cleared the aisle and entered another one to round on him.
“Did you want to go back? I mean I don’t want to keep you from anything!”
He blinked at her, and she eyed the front of his pants. The unrepentant man rocked on his heels and grinned. “You did say I could suck your nipples. What other reaction did you expect?”
This time it was her turn to blink. “What are you…? Oh!” She smacked his arm. “I said the baby. Get your mind out the gutter.”
He shrugged. “I don’t remember you saying the baby at all.”
She shook her head and started down the aisle. “You make no sense.”
“Then what’s that laugh for?”
“I am not amused,” she insisted.
“Yes, my queen.”
Tae stopped short, forgetting their conversation. “Wait, I think I need these.”
He looked over her shoulder and then picked up the package. “Nursing pads?”
For some reason, she didn’t feel embarrassed to talk to him about it. “Not now, but maybe in a few weeks. I’m not sure. Maybe I should get them now.”
He picked up the box and dropped them in the cart. “Better safe than use a maxipad.”
This time she did laugh out loud. “Only you would think of that, Jax.”
“I’m not ashamed of it.”
“I can see that.”
“You seem to have a lot of bits and pieces of information but nothing solid. I thought you had two sisters with children.”
She winced at his candor. “I do, but I didn’t spend a lot of time with them when they were pregnant. By then, I was already in Charlotte, and they live back in New Jersey. We talk
on the phone occasionally, and sometimes I visit at holidays, but that’s all I can stand.”
“Tae, don’t you need them at a time like this?” She was surprised to hear sympathy in his tone, and possibly worry.
“You wouldn’t understand.” Her phone dinged and buzzed, and she pulled it from her purse to check the display. A text message had come in from Zerita an hour ago, which she hadn’t heard, saying her friend would be flying back home tomorrow. The latest message came from Janita. She showed it to Jax. “Read this.”
He read out loud. “Hey, sis. Can you send me a new iPhone or buy one online to deliver here to me? I dropped mine in the street and didn’t have insurance. The iPhone 5c is great.”
Jax looked at her like he couldn’t believe what he had just read. Tae nabbed her phone from his hand and proceeded to delete the message. “That’s why I don’t speak to her often. No, hey, how are you doing? Are you dead or alive? Just buy me a six hundred dollar phone because you got it like that.”
Jax rubbed his neck. “Doesn’t she have a husband?”
“Yup.” Tae headed toward the cereal aisle. Jax redirected her away from Frosted Flakes when she got there. “She does have a husband, but he doesn’t make a lot of money. Last I heard she thought he had a mistress, as if a man at the lower part of middle class could have a ‘mistress.’” She stabbed the air making quotes, her anger rising.
The next words she intended to utter were swept away when he drew her into his arms and kissed her lips. Tae pushed at Jax’s chest and freed her mouth. She panted, trying to calm her racing pulse. “We’re in public.”
His voice dropped low and deep. “Want to continue it in private?”
“No.” She pulled free of his hold, and he let her go without a struggle. “We can’t continue where we left off at the hotel, Jax.”
“Why? Because you want to save yourself for Daniel?”
She pressed her lips together and turned away from him. Snatching a box of her favorite snack from the shelf, she shoved the cart. Jax caught her hand and pulled her to a stop.
“I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.”
She looked away from his eyes. “Maybe you should drop me home and forget this plan.”
“Let me make it up to you. You’re still hungry, and you have to eat. Real food.”
“Jax.”
“Tae, I’m going to be around. The sooner you accept it, the better. I don’t have to share your bed. I would never force my way there unless you invited me, but I’m going to support you, as a friend.”
She glanced at him. Was he saying he wanted to sleep with her again? Sure there were sparks between them, but they had complicated their lives enough with sex. No, she would not give in to physical needs again, definitely not with Jax.
“You still don’t know how to cook.”
He took control of the cart and kissed her cheek. The sensations that arrowed through her system were no less intense than when their lips locked. “We’ll bumble through together.”
Chapter Ten
“Octavia, what are you doing carrying those bags?”
“Tae, let me get those for you.”
Tae stopped dead in her tracks outside her apartment building. She looked first right to see Daniel heading toward her and then left to find Jax. What the hell were they both doing here? Did they plan it? She licked her lips and shifted the bags she held from one hand to the other but made no more moves as they approached. The answer to her questions were soon provided when Jax glared at Daniel over Tae’s head.
“Why are you here?” Jax snapped. “Don’t you have a wife?”
Daniel reddened. “I could ask the same of you.”
“I don’t have a wife.”
“No, but what happened between you and Tae was a mistake, a moment of weakness that won’t be repeated.”
Jax’s eyes narrowed. “Is that what she told you?”
“Boys, for real?” Tae interjected. “I know you two aren’t going to argue outside my apartment.”
Daniel didn’t spare her a glance but stepped around her to get into Jax’s face. He used two fingers to poke Jax’s chest. Even she knew that was just asking for trouble. “You don’t have any shame about it. You never apologized.”
Jax laughed, a cold sound without humor. “Apologize to who? You? I notice you’re not concerned about your vows but you want to claim I’m wrong. That’s hilarious. And you have two seconds to back off before I make you sorry you showed up here today.”
“I won’t be the one who’s sorry,” Daniel shot back.
Tae grabbed Daniel’s arm and pulled. “Stop! You two are like brothers. You can’t fight.”
Daniel made a rude noise. “Brothers? A brother wouldn’t fuck your girl.”
“Newsflash, asshole,” Jax growled. “She’s not your girl.”
“If I have anything to say about it, she’ll never be yours.” Daniel followed his declaration with his fist, connecting with Jax’s chin. Tae screamed at the sound of the impact, but as hard as it seemed, Jax only staggered back. He didn’t miss a beat when he lunged and landed a blow into Daniel’s side. Daniel crumpled but recovered fast. Both men’s hands came up, fists clenched, mouths tight and eyes narrowed. They lowered their chins and tucked their elbows in close to their sides. They looked like prizefighters in dress clothes, and Tae had to put a stop to it.
She dropped her bags on the ground and stepped in between the two of them. Jax’s fist just missed her head, and she squeaked. Both men dropped back, but Jax was the first to dart forward and draw her into his arms. “Tae, are you crazy? I could have hit you!” He studied her face and head as if the wind flying off his fist could have damaged her somehow. She glared up at him.
“If you weren’t fighting, I wouldn’t be at risk. Now stop this. Both of you.” She peered from one to the other, and neither said a word. Tae pulled herself from Jax’s hold. “Fine, then you can both be fools alone. I’m going in the house.”
She bent to get her bags, and both men tried to take them from her. She smacked their hands, gathered her stuff, and charged into the building without a backward glance. When she made it up to the second floor where she lived, she stretched to look out the gigantic window above the stairs, which overlooked the parking lot. Jax and Daniel stood there glaring lasers at each other. Then Daniel said something, and Jax replied. A moment of tension made her think they would go at it again, but then the two men spun away from each other to return to their cars. Tae breathed a sigh of relief and let herself into her apartment. How had it come down to this? She had never respected women who let men fight over her, and here she was in the middle feeling stuck and unable to get out of the situation.
Tae refused calls from both Daniel and Jax the rest of the evening, and the next morning, she went into work and plopped down in Zerita’s office, kicked off her shoes, and drew her feet up.
“Make yourself comfortable,” Zerita teased.
“I will.” Tae snagged a piece of chocolate from the dish next to her and unraveled the wrapper to pop the treat into her mouth. She let the candy sit on her tongue melting and soothing her mood. “I’m so glad you have an office. One day I will be promoted to senior editor, and I’ll have a private office.” While she’d gotten the position of editor, it did not come with an office at her magazine, but Tae had known that beforehand. She might have a lowly cubicle, but she still loved her job.
Zerita smiled. “Definitely. So, about the baby?”
“How was your trip? Meet any cute guys from other mags?”
Her friend turned from studying the computer screen and folded her hands on the desk. “Tae.”
“I know, I know.” Tae sat up and put her feet on the floor. The love seat sat across from Zerita’s desk, and the office was still big enough to have floor space and visitor chairs this side of the desk. The walls were lined with bookshelves, all crammed full of books, magazines, and manuals. On top of that, there was an incredible view of uptown Charlotte from the window. Ta
e enjoyed relaxing in Zerita’s office, and her friend had told her she was welcome at any time to unwind, but right now, Tae couldn’t get rid of the tension between her shoulders.
“Tae, are you keeping the baby?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“Why does there have to be an and?”
“Girl, I know you, and I can feel it. There’s more.”
“Okay, Miss Cleo.”
Zerita pursed her lips. Tae gave in and told her about Daniel and Jax, their interest in her and how they’d fallen into a physical fight over her the night before.
“And how did that make you feel?”
“Are you my therapist now?”
“Don’t make me come over this desk.”
Tae laughed. “Frustrated, angry…”
“Flattered.”
Tae stiffened. “I’m not pitting them against each other if that’s what you’re getting at.”
“Octavia Croft, lie to yourself, but don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not lying to you or myself. I didn’t ask for this.”
“But you’re not ending it either.”
“How can I? Neither one of them will listen to me.”
Zerita scraped her chair back and stood. Her pinched mouth and eyes shooting sparks meant she was pissed at Tae. She turned toward the window as if looking at Tae would make her ready to fight. “You say you’re not playing Daniel and Jax off each other, but you still haven’t told Jax he’s your baby’s daddy. Why not?”
“I—”
“What kind of signal do you think you’re giving Daniel by not telling Jax the truth? That you want him to be the daddy. Or did you sleep with him and don’t want to admit it?”
Tae surged to her feet. “Of course not! I thought you of all people would—”
“Come off the high horse, Tae. I believe you. That doesn’t change the fact, from what you’ve told me, you let him come around and play daddy. You’re going to tell me he doesn’t have expectations after that?”
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