Never Have A Baller's Baby: A Bad Boy Pregnancy Romance (3 page)

She texted Eva back and asked her to meet her in half an hour. Eva answered that she would. Naomi walked along the beach back to her car and let a deep breath go in an attempt to calm herself. She needed to talk with someone about Scott and get a different perspective, a fresh opinion on all of it. Her best friend was perfect and would be up to the task.

Half an hour later, Naomi sat waiting at a small café table in a little coffee shop. Snippets of quiet conversations and soft music filled the air around her. She tried not to be impatient as she waited, and it wasn’t long after she had ordered her cup of coffee that Eva walked through the door of the café, looking around for her, and waved when she caught Naomi’s eye.

Eva was dark-skinned and round everywhere; her black hair was rounded around her circular face, and her body was round, nearly from the ground up. She brightened when she saw Naomi and lifted her hand to wave at her as she made her way to the table.

A server came to her and got her coffee order, and left them. Eva made herself comfortable and then eyed Naomi carefully.

“What’s bothering you?” she asked pointedly. “I can always tell. You’ve been crying. I can see it.”

Naomi’s shoulders fell and her eyes dropped from Eva’s gaze, falling to her cup of coffee as she stirred it.

“I’ve had a hard day. Something bad happened that I need to talk with you about. I need your advice,” she admitted quietly.

Eva leaned forward and closed her hand over Naomi’s. “That’s what I’m here for. So tell me all about it.”

Naomi pursed her full lips for a moment and began. “Well, I guess I have to start by telling you that I’ve kind of been seeing someone… I guess.”

Eva’s dark brown eyes opened wide in surprise. “Seeing someone? What on earth are you talking about? Why is this the first time that I’m hearing about this? Who is he?”

“I can’t tell you who he is. He’s adamant about keeping up his anonymity. He wouldn’t want me telling anyone about us. Also, I’m sorry that this is the first time you’re hearing about it; I wasn’t exactly sure if there was anything to tell because I’m not sure if we’re…” she trailed off and frowned.

Eva lowered her brows somewhat. “Not sure if you’re what?”

With a shrug and a guilty sigh, Naomi raised her eyes back up to meet Eva’s. “I’m not sure if we really were seeing each other. It’s not like anything else I’ve ever done. So… there’s this guy. I am working on his house. I’m redecorating it. He and I kind of started to get to know each other and things kind of warmed up between us, and then… then things….” she trailed off and swallowed.

“Things got hot?” Eva offered.

“Yeah.” Naomi’s heart picked up its pace. “Things got really hot.”

“So what’s the problem?” Eva asked curiously.

“Well, we have only spent time together at his house. I go there to work and he’s there… and we… well we wind up in his bed most of the time. It’s been going on about six weeks so far. I’ve really started to like him.

I was there today, working, and he showed up and as usual things went the way that they always do with us. We wound up in each other’s arms on the floor of the room I was decorating.” She frowned and traced the tip of her finger around the rim of her coffee mug as she spoke.

“I told him afterward that I wanted to start seeing him outside of his house. You know… to start actually dating and really being a couple, rather than the two of us just hooking up at his house. We’ve never been anywhere together. We’ve never done anything together. I feel like I’m not getting even half of what I should be getting from him with just the sex. It’s the weirdest situation. It’s never been like this for me before. I’ve always had relationships that are traditional. I meet the guy, we start dating, things heat up… and the rest is history until the inevitable breakup. This one has been totally different right from the start.

So, we were lying there and I told him that I was thinking I’d like for us to do things together outside of the house. You know, dating. Like normal people.” She sighed heavily and picked up her spoon, stirring more cream into the dark brew in her mug.

Eva frowned and cocked her head to one side. “So what’s the big deal?”

“He doesn’t want to date me.” Naomi answered her in a low voice.

“Doesn’t want to… wait, he wants to sleep with you but he doesn’t want to date you? That’s awful! Why doesn’t he want to date you?” Eva was completely indignant.

Naomi leaned in a little closer to her friend and lowered her voice. “He’s a sports celebrity. He wants to keep a low dating profile. He says he has his public image to look out for. He doesn’t want to be seen with me in public. He wants to be on his own and do his own thing in public, and I can’t be a part of that. He said that he has to think of his team and his career. He can’t be with me in public, but he still wants to be with me in private in his home.”

Eva’s eyes narrowed into this slits. “So he wants to screw you, but he doesn’t want to take you out and date you like a real girlfriend?” It was clear from her sharp tone that she didn’t approve of the situation at all.

“That’s what he said, and it bothered me so much that I told him we were through. I said that I would finish the work on his house, but I wasn’t going to be with him in a personal capacity ever again. I told him that we were done. I was so angry with him. I left, and I gave myself some time to think about it, but I’m just a little unsure. I mean, what if I was too hasty? What if he has a good point about being careful with his public image?” She looked at her friend imploringly.

Eva shook her head adamantly. “No. Absolutely not. You’re not a girl for hire, Naomi. You are a classy, strong, intelligent, beautiful woman, and you deserve to be with a man who knows that, and who wants you. You definitely don’t need to be with anyone who doesn’t want you except for sex. He’s using you! I don’t care what kind of celebrity he is! That’s not how a man should treat a woman.

He shouldn’t be ashamed of you! He should be proud of you! He should be out there showing you off, not hiding you behind closed doors and just using you for a piece of ass! What kind of a bastard is he? I wouldn’t put up with that kind of crap for a minute. You absolutely did the right thing leaving. I’m glad that you did it. I’m glad that you put an end to your relationship with him.

I wouldn’t even finish the job, but I understand your professional integrity. So! You finish the job and you get out of there and never talk to him again!” she grumbled and lifted her cup of coffee to her mouth, swallowing some of it with a bitter look on her face.

Naomi knew that Eva meant every word of what she said. “You know, that’s exactly how I feel too. I agree a hundred percent with you. I just couldn’t stand to stay there and listen to him tell me that he wants me behind closed doors but not out in public. It’s horrible! I can’t believe I even wondered for a minute if he had a point about it. I’m worth more than that and he should either recognize that or be gone.” Naomi took a drink of her coffee and set her mug down firmly.

Eva took a deep breath and let it out slowly, giving Naomi a little smile and tilting her head slightly. “So how is the business going?”

Naomi slumped a little and shook her head with a frown. “It’s getting tight. The job I have with the guy we were talking about is my biggest job right now, and that’s about to go up in flames because I didn’t keep it strictly business. That’s my own fault, but the firm is really having a hard time. There’s a lot of competition out there, and we do good work, but we just can’t seem to get to a place where the phone is ringing consistently enough to make things successful.

On top of that, I just found out that the owner’s son will be taking over the management of the building, because the owner died. I haven’t talked to him yet, so I don’t know what he’s going to do with our lease. I know we have about six more months on it before it’s up, but after that, who knows what will happen.”

“That’s no good. I hope he lets you stay there and things work out well. Is he anything like Mr. Davis?” Eva asked doubtfully.

“I don’t know. I’ve never met his son. We’re just going to have to wait and see, I guess.” Naomi waved at the waitress and asked her for another cup of coffee. Then she turned to Eva again and decided to change the direction of the conversation toward her friend, to get her mind off of her own troubles, and to find out what was going on in Eva’s life.

They talked for a while longer, bid each other goodbye, and Naomi headed back to her office, determined to find a way to get some new business into the door of the design firm.

Chapter2

A couple of weeks had gone by since Naomi had last seen Scott, the afternoon they’d had their tryst in the guest bedroom. She hadn’t seen him or spoken to him, and every time that he crossed her mind she tried to push him out by thinking of anything else. It hadn’t been easy, and she had struggled with it. She tried instead to focus on her work with so much intensity that she was either too tired or too busy to think of him. It hadn’t worked too well.

Scott had also tried to keep his mind off her, but being in his home, surrounded by so much of the work that she had done, and going in and out of rooms where they had made such hot and passionate love, kept her near the forefront of his mind.

He told himself over and over to let her go, but it just didn’t seem possible. He had even dreamed about her. It was so difficult that he decided to give her a call and try to talk to her again.

Finding the courage from some mysterious place, he picked up his phone and called her cell. She ignored the call. Not one to give up on what he wanted, he called the office, and a young woman answered.

“Good morning, Summit Interior Design; this is Keisha, how can I help you?” Keisha asked with her bright, chipper smile.

“I’d like to speak with Naomi, please.” He made himself sound more confident than he felt.

“Certainly. May I ask who is calling?” Keisha looked over at Naomi, who was sitting at her desk, working. Naomi looked back at her.

“This is Scott Thompson,” he answered with less courage.

“Scott Thompson…” Keisha trailed off for a moment. “Let me see if she’s in.” Keisha muted the call and Naomi shook her head adamantly.

“I’m not taking that call,” Naomi told Keisha firmly.

Keisha frowned. “Why not? His is our biggest and most important account right now! What if this is important?”

Naomi hated that she couldn’t tell her staff exactly why she didn’t want to speak to Scott. “I can’t take the call! I have things here that I have to work on. Just… just take a message please.”

Keisha pursed her lips a moment and shrugged, unmuting the phone. “I’m sorry, she isn’t able to take your call at the moment. Could I take a message please?”

Scott closed his eyes and shook his head. “Please… I can hold. Whatever it takes, I just need to talk to her now. This is important.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” she told him. Then muted the phone and turned to look back at Naomi. “He’s not going away. He said he’ll wait for you until you can talk. I think you should take this.”

Naomi knew that there was no way out of it. She sighed and gave Keisha a curt nod, and Keisha transferred the call to Naomi’s desk.

“Hello?” she asked coolly. Her breath was frozen in her chest as she spoke.

“Naomi! Thank god… it’s been weeks! I just… I wanted to talk to you. We have to talk about what happened and try to work it out. I miss you, and… the house isn’t finished… and I just… I just want to get this worked out with you. Please!” he sounded as sincere as he felt, and he was glad about it.

She narrowed her eyes and clenched her jaw, trying to sound professional, since Keisha and Malaika were both in earshot of her just then.

“I’m afraid that won’t work,” she answered in a level tone. “I can come by to finish the job there when you aren’t home, but that’s the best I can do for you, Mr. Thompson.”

He looked down and considered what she said. He knew what she was saying to him. He guessed that there were probably people around her and that she couldn’t speak as plainly as he wanted to. “Naomi, I know things didn’t end well the last time that you were here, but I miss you and I want to see you! Please reconsider. Please think about this!”

She had been thinking about it. She had thought about it much more often and more intently than she had wanted to. “I have given it considerable thought,” she answered him. “I think the only viable option is for me to work there while you’re not home, and complete the job as soon as possible.” She was trying to get her point across while being discreet around Keisha and Malaika.

He sighed in frustration. He knew that she meant it. “So there’s no changing this and going back to what we had?” he asked with the last shred of hope in him for her.

“No, I don’t see how that would be possible,” she answered. “Unless you change your position on the subject we last discussed.”

Scott knew that she meant taking her out in public. “I already explained that to you. I can’t do that. I had hoped that you would see my side of that.”

“And I hoped that you would see mine. We’re at an impasse. I will finish the work on your home while you’re not there. Please email a schedule to me stating when the home will be vacant for me to come finish working. Thank you for your call.” She held her ground, though it was difficult for her.

He was silent for a long moment. “All right. You win. That’s what we’ll do. Thanks for taking the call.” He hung up and Naomi made herself hang up, telling herself that it really was the best possible thing, no matter that it felt like the worst thing in the world to her.

Later that day she received an email from him, listing dates and times when he would not be at the house and she could go there to finish her work. It broke her heart to see it so plain and simple, but there was really no way around it. She was going to finish decorating his house, and she was not going to be with him again, because she wasn’t going to let herself be used.

***

Days that felt like eternity turned into weeks, and before Naomi knew it, those weeks turned into a month. She hadn’t been feeling well, and she seemed to be more tired than she could remember being since college. Hoping that she hadn’t come down with anything, she went to the doctor to have tests run to see what was going on with her. She was in no way prepared for the answer he gave to her.

“You’re pregnant,” he advised with a wide smile.

She stared back at him and everything in her slowed to a halt. “I’m… I’m what?”

“You’re pregnant…” he answered again, as his smile faded. “I take it this was an unexpected pregnancy?”

She nodded almost as if she was in a trance. “Unexpected… yes.”

“Do you need any information on counseling or anything else?” he asked her sympathetically.

She shook her head and looked away from the older man. “No, I think I just need some time alone to think about this.”

“Of course. Use the room as long as you need to. We’ll be out in the hallway if you need any help,” he said kindly, and he left her alone.

Naomi erupted in emotion; tears spilled from her eyes, her heart pounded, and her body began to tremble and shake from the shock of it. She couldn’t believe it. As she sat there trying to make it make sense to herself; her mind would not wrap itself around the reality that she was carrying Scott’s child in her body.

She shook her head, thinking of all the work she had done to get through school, to graduate, to make sure that she had almost no debt when she graduated, and then to create and build her own business and try to turn it into the enormously successful firm she dreamed that it could be someday.

A child would ruin all of that. A child would make everything she had done, everything that she had worked for, fail.
There was no room in her life for a baby,
she told herself. There could be no place for one. She wasn’t ever going to be with Scott again, so it wasn’t as if she could offer the baby a family to grow up with. Her mind was a torrent of confusion and angst as realities pelted themselves against her viciously.

Her weeping turned into sobs that wracked her body, and as she convulsed, she laid herself down on the bed in the examination room, and closed her eyes, letting herself cry out and shake until she could start breathing again.

Slowly, one deep breath at a time, she managed to get herself under control, and she turned and laid on her back, staring at the ceiling, focusing on breathing in and out. She told herself that she had to calm down and think her way through everything going on in her mind. There was a way through it all; she just had to find it.

She realized as she lay there, that she was probably going to have to go through it alone, and the thought paralyzed her, until she thought of Eva. Eva had been her best friend since high school. No one knew her better, and no one was closer to her than Eva. She might not have to go through it alone after all, no matter what route she decided to take with it.

Naomi pushed herself up from the bed and got her cell phone. She sent a text to Eva, asking her to meet her as soon as she could. She told her it was an emergency. Slipping her phone back into her purse, she got dressed and used the little sink in the counter to wash her hands and face, in an attempt to cool off and calm down a little more.

The nurse knocked on the door and Naomi called out for her to come in. She looked sympathetic, and Naomi knew that she must have been told about the reception of the doctor’s news. She had Naomi sign a few forms and she gave her some education pamphlets and information sources, and wished her well.

When Naomi got to her car again, she gave her phone another look and saw that Eva had texted her back. She told her she would meet her at the café where they liked to go. An hour later, Naomi walked through the door of the café and saw Eva sitting at a table waiting for her.

Eva rose up from her seat and hugged Naomi tightly, which nearly made Naomi lose the slight grip she had on her calm demeanor. She sat across from her friend and Eva took Naomi’s hands in hers, holding them gently.

“What’s going on? I’ve been so worried since I got your text!” Eva asked with enormous concern.

Naomi swallowed. She hadn’t said it out loud. She had no idea how to share her news and even speak it, but one look in Eva’s patient waiting eyes, and she knew that she had to do it.

“I haven’t been feeling very well, so I went to the doctor today,” she began quietly.

Eva’s mouth opened slightly as she waited. “Cancer?” she asked in the barest whisper.

“No,” Naomi replied, realizing in that moment that what she was going through could be much, much worse. “I’m pregnant.”

Air gushed out of Eva’s lungs and she blinked in surprise. “You’re pregnant?”

Naomi nodded and pursed her lips shut, waiting to see what Eva would say.

“Wow…” Eva leaned back a little and looked at Naomi, and said nothing for what felt to Naomi like an eternity. “Who is the father? Is it the guy you were just seeing? Or… not seeing?” she asked with a darkening look.

Naomi nodded. “Yeah, that’s him. He’s the father.”

“Are you going to tell him?” Eva asked, leaning back toward Naomi again.

With a shrug, Naomi looked down. “I don’t know what I’m going to tell him, or if I’m going to tell him. I don’t even know what I’m going to do. I have to figure it out. I’m so confused!”

Eva narrowed her eyelids and gave Naomi a serious look. “Well, you have to figure it out, and I’m here to help you do that, but I’m going to tell you right now, you’d better let that wall of yours down a little bit and tell me who this guy is.

I don’t care about his celebrity status, and I don’t care if he wants you to keep your affair with him a big secret. You’re pregnant with his baby, and that changes everything. You tell me who he is. If you wind up keeping his kid, he’s going to have to be involved. He can’t be a father behind closed doors.”

A man in a jacket and jeans sitting at the next table over, looked up at them, and eyed them both curiously. With one careful movement, he turned his cell phone to them and turned the video on, resting the phone against his coffee mug. Picking up his pen, he flipped open a small notebook and began to write.

Naomi bit at her lower lip and wrestled with telling Eva the truth. After a long moment’s deliberation, she decided that Eva was probably right. If she did keep the baby, which she felt she would probably do, she would have to tell him, and he would probably have to become involved in raising the child and supporting it.

With a heavy sigh, she rubbed her temples and then set her hands back down on the table, looking intently at Eva. “It’s Scott Thompson.”

Eva’s mouth fell open. “Scott Thompson? The quarterback for the Los Angeles Waves? That Scott Thompson?” The shock that registered on her face was tremendous.

“Yeah, that Scott Thompson. Please don’t say anything to anyone though, he wants to keep everything private. It’s why we wound up having a fight because he didn’t want to date me in public, he only wanted to have sex with me in the privacy of his home. It almost felt like I was a hooker or something like that.

I haven’t felt like that since college.” Naomi rolled her eyes and frowned, reaching for the glass of juice in front of her. “Whatever his screwed up reasoning was for not wanting to date me publicly is going to have to change, because he’s got a new responsibility; if I keep this baby, he’s going to be a father, and that’s going to have to come first.”

“Well, you might have done what you needed to in college, but you’re a first class business owner now, and you’re as respectable as they come. Now that I know who he is, I can tell you exactly why he doesn’t want anything to do with you in the public eye.” Eva looked furious.

Naomi stared at her and blinked. “What do you mean? Why wouldn’t he want to see me?”