His Best Man's Baby (6 page)

“Are you okay, dear?” Susan asked.

Eyes watering, Tae forced a smile. “I’m fine. Thank you.” She peered back at Jax and found him watching her, his expression unreadable. The woman beside him, the maid of honor whose name Tae promptly forgot when she was introduced, grabbed his arm and leaned forward to show off her cleavage. She said something to Jax, and he allowed himself to be distracted by her. Of course. That was Jax. No one woman could keep his attention.

The evening wore on, and Tae made the best of it. She managed to find interesting topics of conversations with Susan and discovered the baked chicken, her choice for dinner, turned out to be delicious. Afterward, the dancing began, and when Daniel took Alise into his arms, she slipped away, went to her room to pack, and checked out of the hotel. The trip home included a stop at the grocery store for a big box of Frosted Flakes, tissues, and a DVD that no one had ever heard of from the magazine aisle.

Chapter Six

Eight weeks later…

“No, no, no, no!”
Tae texted.
“This can’t be happening, Zerita, and why aren’t you here? I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

“You’re not going to make any rash decisions.”

“You don’t understand.”

Tae studied the stick again as she’d done a million times before. Nothing had changed. The evil device still read positive. She threw it across the bathroom, and it landed behind the toilet. Her cell phone buzzed, but she ignored it and set her head down on her arm as she leaned on the sink. Nausea rolled her stomach, an occurrence that had been happening too often lately. That along with the fact that she hadn’t seen her damn period for a couple months had forced her to come out of denial and go get a pregnancy test. Now the truth stared her in the face, or it did before she slung it away.

Her cell phone buzzed twice more, and she reached for it.

“Tae, I’m going to get out of this meeting as soon as I can. Promise me you won’t be reckless.”

“Apparently, I’ve already been reckless.”

“Okay, we’ll have the pity party a few more hours, and then that’s it.”

Despite her dark mood, Tae laughed. Leave it to Zerita not to bite her tongue.

“I deserve my pity party. My life is over.”

“Dramatic much?”

Tears filled Tae’s eyes, and she swiped them away. Her friend attended an out of town meeting for the writers of her magazine, so of course Tae would learn of her pregnancy at the worst possible time. She set the phone down and turned on the faucet to wash her hands and then splash water on her face. The cool liquid did nothing to lower her temperature or restore her mood. She turned from the sink and dried her hands, then headed for the kitchen. In her cabinet sat two big boxes of cereal, but corn flakes would not fix this issue.

Ice cream.
She frowned, wondering at the sudden craving, not being a big ice-cream eater. Still, right now she wanted a turtle waffle bowl sundae with a chocolate-dipped cone, pecans, and caramel syrup. Making it herself was out of the question because it meant going to the grocery store to first buy the ingredients and then preparing the dessert. No, she needed a shop with the treat on the menu. None were nearby. Come to think of it, there was a Dairy Queen in South Park she could go to. The twenty-minute drive would be worth it to drown her sorrows in sugary goodness.

Halfway to the ice cream shop, Tae’s craving switched to cheesecake, and she grumbled her way to South Park mall to the restaurant with the best cheesecake to be had. She found a parking space in the busy lot and strode into the restaurant and ordered two slices of the red-velvet cheesecake. Since the day mocked her with its warm sunshine, she took her treat outside and stuffed bite after bite of the creaminess into her mouth.

“PMSing?” came the amused comment.

Tae froze, fork halfway to her mouth. She turned slowly and looked up. Of all people, Daniel stood smiling over her and blocking out the sun. She’d forgotten how sometimes when she was PMSing, Daniel drove her to the mall or to Dairy Queen to get something sweet. She’d made a poor choice coming over this way, nearer to where he lived, and the thought that maybe she’d done so on purpose made the decision worse. Her appetite disappeared in a blink, and she sat up straighter in her chair, placing her fork down on the table. “Shouldn’t you be on your honeymoon?”

He chuckled and sat down in the chair next to her. “We’ve been back a while. Can’t stay on vacation forever.”

What had she been thinking? The wedding took place two months ago. She’d been busy incubating Jax’s baby. At the thought, her mood plummeted even more. Daniel reached out and covered her hand. Her fingers spasmed beneath his, and she pulled them free to clutch in her lap.

“What’s wrong, Tae?”

She closed the lid on the cheesecake and stuffed the container in the bag along with the other slice. “Nothing. I’m great. How’s married life treating you?”

Concern wrinkled the spot between his eyebrows. Her heart stirred. She suppressed the sensation and looked away, but Daniel wouldn’t be put off.

“Something’s upsetting you. Tell me about it.”

Why the hell did he have to be so understanding? “I said it’s nothing.” She glanced at her phone, but she hadn’t heard from Zerita since last they texted. Even if she wanted to talk to someone other than her best friend, the last person it would be was Daniel. If anything she should tell Jax first.

She shoved her chair back and dropped her head onto her folded arms. The mere thought of telling him sent her mind spinning, and her stomach tied itself in knots. Daniel touched her head and stroked her hair. He didn’t ask again, but just the act of doing so loosened her lips.

“I’m pregnant,” she muttered.

He leaned closer so she felt his breath on her arm. “What was that? I think you said…” He gasped. “Octavia, did you say you’re—”

“Pregnant,” she repeated in misery. Now that he knew, she sat up and looked into his eyes. Shock reflected back at her, and something else too. Betrayal? He had no right to feel that way. “It was an accident. I mean, I never meant…”

“Who is he?” Daniel demanded. “Do I know him?”

Do you ever.
“It doesn’t matter.”

Daniel banged his fist on the table, and several people turned their way. He hitched his shoulders and calmed down, but the frown never left his face. “So he’s some deadbeat who thought he could use your body and not deal with the consequences? Give me a name, Tae, and I’ll make him regret the day he was born!”

On some level, she loved his protectiveness of her, but she wasn’t some stupid woman who would cover for a dumbass loser who didn’t deserve it. Besides that, Daniel knew her better. “I don’t need you to stick up for me, Daniel. I can take care of it.”

His eyes widened. “You’re not getting an abortion!”

“Seriously? Tell the world, why don’t you.”

He pushed fingers through his hair, disordering it, a testament to his frustration. Unlike Jax, who looked hot as hell with tussled hair, a circumstance that happened because he didn’t pay attention to messing it up, Daniel liked his in perfect order. “Sorry. Listen, I can help you.”

“Help me what?” She put a hand on her hip. “Did you forget you have a wife, Daniel? What are you going to help me do exactly?”

“Figure this thing out.”

She stood and gathered her bag. “I don’t need your help, but thanks. I shouldn’t even have come over to this side of town. Just like I ran into you, I could have run into anyone.” She clamped her teeth together so fast her jaw hurt, but the blunder had already slipped out. Daniel’s expression shifted from curiosity to shock and then to anger. She swung away from him and started to walk away, but he caught her arm and turned her back to face him.

“Tell me the truth,” he demanded, clutching her arms.

She winced. “You’re hurting me, Daniel.” He refused to let go no matter how she struggled.

“Tell me, Octavia!” He drew her closer to his chest, and she managed to bring her hands up before her breasts flattened against him. “Is it Jax’s baby?”

She swallowed. Refusing to answer would keep her there all day. Besides, he had already figured it out because of her mistake. She should have let him believe it was some loser, but she wasn’t in the habit of lying and playing games with people, especially not Daniel.

“Yes. Happy now?”

“Not by a long shot! I can’t believe you would sleep with my best friend.”

When he put it like that, he made her sound like a slut, and she refused to apologize. She wiggled from his hold. “Who I choose to sleep with is none of your business. Please do me the favor of not saying anything to Jax.”

Disbelief echoed in his voice. “You’re not going to tell him?”

“I will in my time, not yours. Promise, Daniel.”

He stared at her for a few minutes.

“
Daniel
.”

“You have my word.”

She nodded and spun to walk away. All the while her legs quivered and her stomach heaved. When she reached her car, she unlocked it, slung the door wide, and tossed the unwanted cheesecake to the passenger seat. Somehow, it felt like things had gone from bad to worse in a matter of hours.

* * * *

Tae bent to heft a huge basket of laundry and then froze. She bit her lip wondering. If she remembered correctly from her sisters’ pregnancies, it was not a good idea to lift anything too heavy. She hadn’t yet decided whether she would keep the baby, but to be on the safe side, she dragged the basket instead. Was that also too much strain?

In the kitchen, she sorted the whites from the colors and loaded her tiny washing machine. She had to do several loads because of the basin’s size. If she had a baby, the labor would increase. On top of the laundry, she would need more space as her apartment accommodated her but would never be sufficient for a child. She chewed her lip thinking about her budget. The new position came with a raise, but not that much, especially with her sister calling every month for financial help because of this and that reason. Things would have to change.

Wait, does that mean I’m keeping it?

She glanced down at her stomach, soft and somewhat round, but that was because of her extra pounds to start with. She hadn’t noticed any weight gain yet. While she tried to imagine her stomach protruding at nine months, her cell phone rang. “That better be Zerita.”

She punched the button without consciously registering the name. The deep familiar voice took her by surprise. “I hear congratulations are in order.”

Tae blinked at the stark bitterness and unmistakable anger. “What?”

“You’re pregnant,” he growled across the line.

Tae dropped the shirt she’d pulled out of the basket and sank to the floor next to it. Her breath caught in her throat, and her eyes burned. She shut them, sagging forward, trying to think what to say to him. Daniel had claimed she had his word, but he lied, the bastard. Zerita certainly hadn’t spilled her news—one because she was still trapped in her meetings, and two, she just wouldn’t betray Tae’s trust. Tae had thought Daniel wouldn’t either, but she was wrong.

“Nothing to say?” Jax demanded. Odd, she had rarely seen Jax angry, and it had never been aimed at her. Not that she’d ever done anything to piss him off. She knew he was mad now because he had to hear about the pregnancy from someone else.

She switched the cell phone from one hand to the other and rubbed a clammy palm over her pant leg. The movement drew her attention to the waistband of said pants, and she wondered how long she would fit into them.

“So Daniel told you,” she said at last.

He swore. “At least you had the decency to tell him.”

Tae frowned. “Okay, lose the attitude, Jax. Now you know! I didn’t go about all this the right way, but I expected Daniel to keep my secret more than a freaking day to give me time to get my head on straight.”

“Let’s get
this
straight. My buddy did not betray your trust.”

All kinds of insinuations permeated his words, as if she were the one to betray trust. Like she’d spread her legs and knocked herself up, all while disappointing the great Jaxon Hart, who had nothing to do with it. “Then why don’t you tell me how you knew then?”

“Alise.”

Tae’s jaw fell open. “Daniel told Alise?”

“Of course not! You and Daniel were too busy arguing on the street to realize Alise was there. She heard everything, and she came to me devastated.”

Tae blinked. Why would Alise be devastated? Tae’s pregnancy had nothing to do with the woman. Did her drive to be the center of attention in Daniel’s world make her upset that Tae had confided in him? The possibility wasn’t unreasonable. No woman wanted another woman to use her husband as a confidant. At the realization, guilt rolled over Tae, and she rubbed a hand across her forehead, which had begun to pound.

“I’m—” she began.

“You’re what?” he interrupted. “Sorry for trying to destroy a marriage?”

“Excuse you?”

“I knew you still loved him, but I never thought you would seduce him after he married Alise. Guess I had you pegged wrong, didn’t I? How many times was it before it took?”

Dawning realization hit Tae hard. Alise hadn’t heard everything like she claimed. She’d only heard enough to know Tae was pregnant, and she had jumped to the conclusion the baby was Daniel’s. That didn’t even touch on Jax’s opinion of Tae.

She squeezed the cell phone in her hand until she heard a crack and hoped it was the cheap case and not the phone itself. “Why don’t you come out and say it, Jax? I mean you’re accusing me of being a scheming ho, aren’t you? Like I got pregnant to try to get Daniel back? Never mind that I haven’t tried anything in the last three years or that we barely saw each other more than a couple times a month.”

“A lot changes when a man is about to become unavailable.”

“You know what? Fuck you!” She took the phone away from her ear and stabbed the Disconnect button. A few minutes passed while she sobbed into a T-shirt, and then she scrubbed her face and dialed Daniel. He answered on the first ring, which did nothing for her guilt. “Daniel, have you talked to Alise today?”