Her Best Friend's Baby (3 page)

“So I’ve been told.” He smirked, and Zaierra saw her best friend in his eyes, the man who’d been by her side through thick and thin for a long time. He was a typical male, but he listened too. He let her cry on his shoulder, and even though he never shed tears, he came to her and leaned on her when he needed to. She knew him, and he wouldn’t have agreed to this plan of hers if it disgusted him or he thought he would hurt her. Knowing all this calmed her nerves and helped her look past her fears.

Zaierra pushed his pants over his hips and down his strong thighs. She was so tempted to go down on him, but that would be a waste. She loved pleasing her man that way, and for it to be Leith, that went beyond any of the others. Staring up into his eyes, she ran her fingers over his legs to his hips and to his tight abs. Desire made her step close to him to feel his erection poke her stomach. Leith caught her in a strong hold, lifted her off her feet and brought her closer. She gasped when his shaft pushed between her thighs but didn’t go in. The grumble of need that rose in his throat raised goose bumps on her arms. He kissed her lips and parted them with his tongue. Zaierra didn’t stop the moan that escaped her and tasted Leith as much as he tasted her. His lips, his tongue, everything about him intoxicated her. She snaked her arms around his neck and lifted her legs to lock around his waist. Leith’s fingers dug into the flesh at her hips when he dragged her tight to his body, grinding against her. Wetness pooled in her heat, her entrance eager for his invasion, but before that happened, he put her down.

“What’s wrong?” she almost whined.

He grinned. “I need to take off my shoes and kick off these pants before I trip and we both go down.”

She laughed. “You do that. I’m going to be over here.” She spun on her heel and strolled toward the bed. A whistle sounded behind, and she knew where Leith directed his gaze. When she climbed onto the bed, she made sure to give her back an extra arch so her butt rose, the movement parting her nether lips. Leith appeared from nowhere behind her with is hands at her waist and pressed against her rear.

“Stay like that,” he ordered. “I love taking a woman from behind.”

“Leith.”

“Mm, do you know how much you’re turning me on right now, Zai? I need to be inside you.” She felt his shaft brush her opening and shut her eyes. Every bit of willpower kept her still rather than shoving back on him.

Leith stroked the tip of his shaft from top to bottom of her folds and then parted them. She whimpered in pleasure as the first inch sank slowly inside of her. Just as he hoped, her walls stretched to accommodate him, her muscles contracted. She knotted her fingers in the sheets and waited out the slight ache. What kind of scrawny dick men had she been with that Leith felt so big yet so right?

“Mm, yes, all of it. I want all of it, Leith.” Zaierra shoved a finger between her teeth to keep from saying more. Words she never expected to say trembled on the tip of her tongue. She blanked her mind and pushed into her best friend’s thrust. Inch by amazing inch sank deeper inside her, and she took it all the way to the hilt.

Leith began a slow, steady pump. “You like that, baby?”

Her heartbeat quickened. “Yes.”

“You want to go faster?”

“Yes, please!”

He thumped harder and faster into her snatch, pounding until she thought she’d lose her mind. Zaierra pushed onto his staff, loving the feel of being full of him. Every time he withdrew, desperation took hold of her for him to shove it back in. She reached behind her to grab his leg. Her nails scraped the skin, but Leith didn’t flinch. The sting must have spurred him on because he yanked her back with one arm and drove his hips forward at the same time. She screamed his name, and an orgasm exploded over her being. The sensations ricocheted from her core outward, seeming to hit every erogenous zone in its trajectory. Zaierra would have collapsed if Leith hadn’t held her up. Long moments after she came, he took his pleasure from her heat, sinking himself inside again and again.

At long last, a small exclamation left his lips, and he stiffened. His seed shot up her channel seconds later, and another mini orgasm came over her. The two of them panted through it until Leith had emptied himself, and then he pulled out and dropped to the bed. Zaierra stretched out beside him. To her surprise, Leith tugged her to his chest.

“Come here. You need to come again,” he said.

“What?”

He pushed a hand between her legs and grabbed hold of her stiff bud. She clutched his shoulders. Leith pinched the delicate flesh between his thumb and forefinger and gave it an easy stroke. Zaierra threw her head back. Her jaw went slack, and her eyelids drifted closed.

“Leith, what are you…”

The sentence went unfinished when wonderful vibrations rolled over each other in her core. Her limbs shook while she clung to her lover. Leith whispered encouragement as he played her body like an instrument he knew all too well. When she pleaded with him not to start up another round, he let her rest. He drew her head to his chest, and she lay there unmoving but loving every second she spent in his arms.

Oh no, what’s going on with me? This can’t be happening. I…I love him. No! I’m in love with my best friend!

She didn’t know how she hadn’t recognized it for what it was. Of course she’d written it off as simple attraction to Leith. What woman wouldn’t want a sexy man like him? Yet, the fact that her feelings went a lot deeper was something she kept buried even from her own consciousness. Lying there with him, becoming one physically, robbed her of the ability to hide, and if she had sex with him again, even once, he would know. Leith’s perception, his ability to always sense what she needed, entered their conversations at least once every couple of months. She didn’t want to have the discussion about why she let herself fall in love with the one man she would die to lose as a friend.

“Give me a few minutes, and we can do it again,” Leith promised. “I can take breaks and do it as many times as you need me to.”

She stared at him but was too scared to say anything. Instead, she lowered her gaze and gave a small nod. She remained stiff in his embrace, but Leith didn’t address it. As far as he was concerned this was just sex, something he enjoyed often with various lovers. She lay there wondering what to do and decided she needed to be honest. This was a mistake, and it couldn’t happen again. The right father for her baby was out there, and if it meant going to a sperm bank, then she would have to lay aside her fears, do thorough research, and get it done.

To her relief, Leith dozed long enough for her to sneak out of bed, shower, and get dressed. Like the chicken she was, she left him a note and decided to get out for a while. She would explain her decision in more detail later, but for now, it was enough for him to know she couldn’t go through with it. Now all she had to do was hope their friendship hadn’t already been ruined by this one round of delicious sex.

Chapter Four

“Zai, you’ve been avoiding me for three weeks,” Leith growled into the phone.

“I haven’t. You know the mess that’s been going on at work,” Zaierra explained. “I’ve scarcely had time to breathe let alone pick up lunch. I’m glad they decided to treat us today, or I’d be passed out on the floor right now from hunger.”

Leith didn’t appear to be convinced even if he did work for the same company and knew what was going on. “What about at night? I’ve come to your place a number of times, and you either weren’t home, or you were already asleep and refused to wake up.”

“Long hours. They’re wearing us all out. I hear it will die down in a few days. Then we can go out to lunch or dinner and a movie.”

Leith grunted over the phone line. He seemed about to say something when she heard someone in the background. She leaned back in her chair and spotted the big boss in Leith’s office doorway.

“Guess you gotta go. I’ll talk to you later.” She hung up the phone before he could say more. Okay, he was right. She avoided him. Other than their brief talk about her decision not to pursue getting pregnant by him, she’d stayed out of his way because he refused to accept what she said. His concern, he’d told her, was the safety and wisdom of choosing someone she didn’t know, or trusting that the sperm bank was as thorough as they should be in choosing their candidates. Since she’d made no move on gathering information in that direction, she couldn’t dispute his thoughts. Leith kept pressing to understand why she backed off, so her last resort had been to duck him out until she came up with an excuse he would accept.

She shuffled the papers around on her desk and yawned. The sandwich she’d only half eaten didn’t appeal, and she frowned at it. Zaierra hadn’t been lying when she told Leith she’d been keeping long hours. All this planning and crap the company was going through drained the life out of even the assistants, and she couldn’t wait until it died down to normal. Running a hand over her eyes, she resisted stretching out over her desk and catching some
Zs
. That would not look good.

The clock on her phone read one thirty, and she groaned. The day was only half over, and yet the upset stomach and dizziness she’d experienced since that morning hadn’t let her go. Giving up on comprehending her next task, she shoved her chair away from the desk and stood. Tiny five-minute naps sitting on the toilet had gotten her through many a day over the last few years, and it would help today.

She grabbed the handicap stall since no one on her floor needed it. The extra space and the handle on the wall made napping easier. No sooner did she prop up her elbow on the handle and lean her head into her palm did she drop off. Voices startled her awake, and she shifted positions. Her arm brushed her nipple through her clothes, and she winced at the soreness. Damn, her period was coming soon. Sensitive nipples didn’t happen every month, but it annoyed her when it did. She gave up on sleeping and headed to the stall’s door. A thought brought her to a cold stop. What if this wasn’t a prelude to her period? What if she’d gotten pregnant after sleeping with Leith just once?

Oh hell!

She had already missed her period! Why hadn’t she noticed? Wait, this wasn’t a big deal. She sometimes swung later and earlier and didn’t always hit a twenty-eight day cycle. Then the fact that she’d been ill this morning when she woke came to mind and the extra tiredness. Perhaps that couldn’t all be attributed to long work hours. Either way, she would not jump to conclusions. Since her lunch break neared the end, she would need to go to the drug store after work to buy a pregnancy test.

“And good luck focusing on work now,” she muttered to herself as she returned to her desk.

The day wore on with Zaierra getting little done. She perfected looking busy, and no one bothered her. Several times, she caught sight of Leith on the way to and from meetings. He fixed her with his sharp gaze and appeared to start over there in her direction, but someone grabbed him each time, calming the rising panic in the pit of her stomach. Twice Leith looked at her as if he knew something was wrong, but she’d forced a smile and waved. At last, the day ended, and she hurried off to buy what she needed.

At home in the privacy of her own bathroom, Zaierra read the packaging on the test. “As early as five days before a missed period. Damn.” Two tests were in the box. She planned to use them both. In two minutes, the results appeared on the strip, and Zaierra bent over, her head spinning. “Plus sign. Oh crap, I’m pregnant. I’m having my best friend’s baby! Leith’s baby.”

She shut her eyes, and tears rolled down her cheeks. On one hand, it thrilled her to be having the baby she wanted, and to have his or her daddy be Leith, the man she now knew she loved, was a bonus. At the same time, her heart broke knowing there could never be anything between them. She could not put this burden on him since she’d said she would take full responsibility. Even still, she knew if he ever wanted to be, Leith would make a great dad.

Her decision to tell him made, she stood up, showered, and put on fresh clothes. Just like Leith had a key to her place, she had one to his. She knew he had a business meeting tonight, and if he weren’t back from that yet, she’d let herself in and wait for him. There was no danger of finding a woman there, of course. Leith might like to sleep around, but he never brought any of them to his house. Well, none except that skank Jenna. She’d been the one to grab such a tight hold of him, Zaierra had wondered if he’d end up marrying her. When she learned it was over between the two of them, she’d been delirious with relief. Leith deserved worlds better than that ho.

A short while later, Zaierra let herself into Leith’s house. She wasn’t lying when she said it was a mansion. He had five bedrooms, and the entryway extended up two floors. The winding staircase across from the foyer said money, and Leith lived in this awesome place alone. Yet, he spent more time either at a lover’s house or at her apartment. She wondered if he felt lonely here. That thought led to her to considering if he would come home at all. Maybe she should have texted him to let him know she waited over here.

Just as she pulled out her phone, voices reached her from one of the rooms. She frowned. She hadn’t checked the garage for his car, and the door had been shut. He usually watched TV in the basement not in what she called the fancy music room. As she approached, the voices became clearer.

“And I’m telling you I’m pregnant,” Jenna snapped. “With your baby.”

Zaierra’s stomach plummeted as if she were descending the rails on a roller coaster. She grabbed hold of the back of a dining room chair. Her throat dried. She wanted to turn heel and escape, but the strength to do so abandoned her.

“I can’t believe you’re springing this on me now,” Leith growled. Zaierra imagined him running a hand over his hair, making it a mess. He always did that when something agitated him. “How do I even know it’s true?”

Jenna swore. “I thought you would say that, so I brought this. It’s the test from my doctor’s office.” Paper rattled. “You can see it right there plain as day, and that’s the doctor’s printed paper and his signature down below. You can even call him.” Her tone went from all business to whiny. “Come on, Leify, you should be happy about this. I am. We can be a family like we always wanted.”