Erotic Deception (17 page)

Lily couldn’t let him get away with just that. “What about your father?”

He raised his head to look at her. “My father ran off with another woman before I was born. He died before I got a chance to beat the crap out of him.”

Lily’s heart skipped a beat. “You must’ve resented him.”

He returned to snuggling into her neck. “Maybe, but our mother worked hard to prove how much we were loved. So don’t worry, I grew up in a warm and secure environment.”

“Still,” Lily probed. “It must’ve been difficult without a father.”

He shrugged. “We suffered financially, but we all pitched in to get by. And in actuality, I did have a type of father figure.”

“Celeste’s father,” Lily stated.

He raised his head again. “Someone’s been talking again.”

Lily shifted uncomfortably not wanting to get Cheryl in trouble for gossiping. Jet took pity on her.

“He came to my football games, showed me the ropes of life, and kept me out of trouble which was rare by the way.”

She chuckled, doubting that statement. “When did your mother die?”

“The summer between my junior and senior years. We’d lost my grandmother a few years before and then they diagnosed Mom with a rare liver disease. If it weren’t for Sy, I don’t know what would’ve happened to Cheryl and me. With his help, I was able to continue school and received an academic scholarship through the University of Springfield. Sy was a rock that enabled me to get into the academy and join the police force in Kansas City.”

Lily absorbed this information and then lightly asked, “Why did you move back here?”

“Several reasons,” he shrugged, but his restlessness of the conversation became evident as he began trailing kisses beneath her chin. “Violence, gang wars, etc… So when the opportunity arose to move back here, I took it.”

“The situation of marrying Celeste?” Lily asked.

His laughter was muffled. “My sister and I are going to have a long talk. How much did she tell you?”

“Not very much,” she answered honestly. “What happened?”

He sighed and turned over on his back with a yawn. “It didn’t work out.”

“Oh, thanks,” she said sarcastically.

Dark lashes hid his expression as he studied her. Then, “It’s the typical drama of two people having to get married.”

“She got pregnant,” she stated as a prompt.

His eyes flickered. “Yep.”

The answer was frustrating in its brevity.

Did she dare push him? “And, then what happened?”

“Lily,” he warned and sat up, but Lily’s hand halted him. He looked down at her fingers against his dark skin. After a moment, his answer was blunt and abrupt.

“She miscarried, okay?”

“I’m sorry,” she said softly.

“Don’t be. It was sad for the baby, but it was the best thing that could’ve happened to me.”

He said it so hard and cold Lily felt the room shift.

“You don’t mean that.” Her voice was faint with disbelief.

Jet did get out of bed then and grabbed his pants.

“You have no idea how much I mean that Lily.”

“Was that why you divorced?”

She sat up, pulling the blanket protectively over her. He pushed bare feet into his tennis shoes without answering. Lily tried again.

“Was Celeste as relieved about the baby as you were?”

He straightened and put his hands on his hips, nostrils flaring.

“No, she wanted the baby.” He ran an impatient hand through his hair. “Lily, I can’t talk about this.”

Lily compressed her lips and his closed look told her not to pursue it.

“What if I had been pregnant?”

“You weren’t,” he said flatly.

“But what if I were?” she persisted. “Would you have asked me to get rid of it?”

“Why are you doing this?” he asked the ceiling.

“It’s a legitimate question. I’m curious as to how you would’ve handled it.”

He wearily rubbed his neck. “I don’t know, okay? It’s complicated. I wasn’t even going to get involved with you at first, sexually or otherwise. But after we did and then having to consider a pregnancy…” he shrugged. “That’s one harsh reality we don’t have to face because the bottom line is you’re not pregnant.”

She chewed her lip. “And now?”

“And now, I told you how much I want you.” He leaned down toward her. “Unfortunately I can’t prove it at the moment as I have to drive back to Kansas City.”

Her eyes widened. “Again?”

He paused. “It’s a favor for a friend, but I’ll be back tomorrow night. I’ll call you.”

He pressed his lips to hers and scowled at her lackluster response.

“The next time you won’t get away with that,” he whispered, brushing his lips over hers once more before grabbing his socks and keys. “I’ll lock the door from the inside.”

With one last look over his shoulder he was gone, the light tread of his easy walk taking him down the stairs.

After he left, Lily stared unseeing at the ceiling.
Want. Not love.
She knew it was stupid, but she’d had some hope that his feelings ran deeper than sexual attraction. But even if they had, his outright rejection of a child had her reeling. What had happened to make him detest the idea of having one of his own? Something his ex-wife had done? Whatever it was, he’d made it more than clear that a baby wasn’t in his plans. He might even go as far as asking her to have an abortion. It’d be either that or he’d end up hating her and hope the baby never made it to term. It wasn’t the opinion she’d had of him, but his loathing of his ex-wife’s pregnancy and the hard attitude regarding the miscarriage was unmistakable.

* * * *

The next morning, Lily was reminded of it again as she swiped the perspiration off her forehead. This time the nausea had hit as soon as she’d gotten out of bed. Waiting for the green haze of death to pass, she flushed the toilet and went to the sink to sluice cold water over her face.

She looked in the mirror expecting some change, but there wasn’t any. A hand strayed to her stomach and a delightful beam of joy filled her. She was going to be a mother. Regardless of how it happened, the knowledge and promises offered was thrilling in its intensity.

A shadow dimmed her pleasure at the thought of Jet. He’d called several times since leaving yesterday, but she hadn’t answered. His last message had been fairly irate at her avoidance.

What was there to talk about? She wouldn’t be here much longer. Time spent with him only brought pain and guilt so why beat herself up with useless conversation and meaningless sex? Meaningless for him anyway.

Nevertheless, since Jet was due back tonight she couldn’t avoid him forever, but she could postpone the confrontation. The neighboring town garage sales provided the opportunity and as a result, it was almost evening when she made her way back home. When she turned into the driveway, her heart skipped a beat at seeing a vehicle parked there.

It wasn’t Jet however, and fear raised its ugly head at the unrecognizable black Jeep Cherokee. Then a familiar tall and distinguished man stepped out.

“Fred!” she breathed and fell back against the seat. She inhaled a huge mixture of confused ire and irritation before opening the door.

“Hello, Lily,” he greeted, his eyes skimming her jeans and t-shirt. “I got your message.”

He shifted uncomfortably when she didn’t respond.

He tried again. “Your directions were extremely detailed and I had no problem finding you at all.” With still no communication forthcoming, he made a gesture of impatience. “What the hell, Lily. I had no idea about the crap Dr. Wilkinson pulled or my parent’s involvement. I can tell by your attitude you’ve seen a different doctor so Wilkinson must’ve lied to us too?”

Lily bit her lip against her stupid weak tears and straightened her shoulders. He’d thought she called him about the doctor’s scandal. He’d come anyway.

She relaxed her body language of indignation. “Let’s go inside.”

He rubbed both hands vigorously over his face before dropping them in defeat.

“You’re not going to blindfold me and line me up against a wall are you?”

She rolled her eyes and reiterated her invitation with a gesture.

They were seated in her living room when Fred said, “You know, you haven’t changed a bit. You’re just as beautiful as ever.”

“Flattery won’t take away the sting of what your mother did.”

He looked down at the hardwood floor. “After I heard the news about Wilkinson, I suspected my mother manipulated the situation as a ruse to separate us. She never approved of our marriage.” He glanced up defensively. “But it was you who wanted the divorce, remember? I was fine with adopting.”

He couldn’t hold her direct stare and suddenly Lily felt very tired.

“You weren’t fine with it, Fred. Your family inheritance demanded an heir with a bloodline connection. A small detail drummed into your head since birth. But all that’s old history and regardless of this catastrophically damage to my life, Dr. Wilkinson isn’t the reason I called you.”

Fred’s sandy head reared back in surprise. “It isn’t?”

His obvious surprise was a bit humorous.

“It’s about Jerry’s death.”

Fred’s brown eyes darkened in pity. “Incredible that he’d overdose. I mean, I know he didn’t like me very much, but I always thought highly of him.” He paused. “You did get my flowers, right?”

“Yes, they were beautiful,” she assured. “But Jerry wasn’t doing drugs.”

Lily went on to explain about Anthony and the phone call she’d received. She didn’t think for one second Fred would disbelieve her as in spite of everything, they’d never lied to each other. It was why Lily knew Fred hadn’t been involved in the Wilkinson fiasco.

“One dead District Attorney coming up,” Fred said angrily after she’d finished telling him about Anthony. “Even if I have to kill him myself.”

Lily smiled. “You’re in enough trouble already. And whereas I couldn’t give a rat’s butt about your family, taking Anthony on wouldn’t do you any good.” With emphasis she added, “Nor me. The press might discredit anything you had to say by reporting your use of a bigger scandal to take the heat off your parent’s reputation.”

“I don’t care, Lily,” he affirmed, but it wasn’t with conviction.

She raised a brow and he rubbed a weary hand around his neck.

“You’re right,” he conceded with a sheepish gesture.

He peeked at her beneath his short lashes and then blurted out, “I’m engaged. Her father is a New York Senator and is already implementing damage control with my parents.”

Fred is getting married?
Lily took a moment to search her emotions and strangely enough, news of his upcoming nuptials was a relief. As if a closed chapter of her life had belatedly clicked shut.

She smiled sadly. “I’m happy you’ve met someone; I haven’t seen it announced anywhere.”

He grimaced. “We were going to take out a full page ad, but then the deal with Wilkinson exploded with my parent’s involvement. I was so furious, Lily I thought I’d do something to my mother. It was no accident Joyce and I went to Africa while the families tried to diminish the impact. I wanted to call you, but they were afraid how public you’d take the news.” Shame and regret filled his face. “So which doctor told you the good news about future children?”

Lily took a few moments to take in Fred’s revelation before replying.

“As a matter of fact, I haven’t been to a doctor,” she said. “I’m pregnant.”

Shock was the first thing that appeared on Fred’s handsome face. Then something strange passed before a grudging smile followed.

“I don’t know if I’m angry, envious, or just plain old happy for you, Lily. Who’s the lucky man?” Then he frowned. “Not Capriccio?”

“No,” she hurriedly assured. “Actually it’s someone I met here. The town’s sheriff to be exact. How’s that for a cliché?”

His brows rose. “That was fast. What does he say about it?”

“He doesn’t know,” she said flatly.

“You haven’t told him?”

“I just found out myself,” she defended. “I wasn’t concerned at first because I didn’t think it was possible.”

“There are more reasons to practice safe sex than just pregnancy,” he lectured.

Lily blushed. “We were practicing safe sex,” she glowered. “There was a malfunction in the contraceptive method we used.”

“His condom broke?”

“I can’t believe I’m even discussing this with you, but yes. There wasn’t any reason for me to be on the pill,” she said. “At least none that I believed.”

“Okay,” he drew out the word. “I guess the big question is how do you feel about it?”

A momentary shadow passed over her before being chased away with a beam of radiance.

“I’m ecstatic,” she whispered through glistening tears.

Fred’s smile was mixed. “As much as it pains me that this isn’t our celebration, I’m privileged to share in at least part of it. Let me take you to dinner.”

Lily laughed. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. This community is small and I don’t feel like evading questions about you right now. How about I cook us something?”