Lexi, Baby (7 page)

“Oh! Get this, Destiny is Anthony’s sister.
Anthony, Ryan’s friend, Anthony. Can you believe that?” I asked in
total astonishment.

“What!” Trish screamed so loud I jumped and
bumped my hip bone into the counter.

Not exactly the reaction I expected. “Are
you fucking shitting me?” she screamed again.
Interesting.
“I can’t be with someone related to her! And I was just about to
have sex with him!” she yelled and I saw her fist. She was
pissed.

“Keep your voice down and what are you
talking about?” I asked, surprised. “I knew you liked him and you
saw him occasionally, but you never told me it was more than that.”
That saddened me. I didn’t like my best friend keeping things from
me.

“I just didn’t want it to come between you
and Ryan if it didn’t work out, Lex. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,
but it doesn’t matter now. I won’t see him and risk you ever
running into her again; I’d never do that to you.” She put on a
good front about no seeing Tony again, but the lost puppy dog look
currently on her face told a different story.

“Just calm down and stop jumping to
conclusions T. They have different moms or something; I’m not sure.
I’ll find out more from Ryan later, but don’t do anything drastic.
Anthony seems like a great guy and nothing like his sister,” I said
calmly, trying to reason with her. She glared at me then she sighed
loudly.

“Look, forget about Tony right now,” she
said in a resigned tone while waving the conversation away with her
hand. “I bet nothing’s going to happen, okay? Even if Landyn finds
out he has a daughter, he won’t know where to find you. He might
not even want to find you or Layla.”

Ouch
! I know she didn’t mean it the
way it sounded, but that was a painful thought.

“Destiny was probably just being a bitch and
saying things to get at you. I bet she doesn’t even know where
Landyn is.”

If only...

“Aunt T?” Layla shouted from the kitchen
while I was lying on the couch. My eyes hurt so I didn’t even open
them. “What Layla?” I shouted back

“Can I have Lucky Charms?”

“Sure babe, just try not to spill any this
time!”

“Okay!”

Yes
! Peace and quiet.

“Aunt T?” she shouted again. I growled deep
in my throat before shouting back. “Yeah?” “I didn’t spill the
cereal!” she stated excitedly. I growled again. “Good job,
babe!”

Silence.

“Aunt T?” Layla shouted.
Again!

“What?”

“I sorta spilt the milk!”

I sighed. “Give me five minutes okay?”

Silence met me. I waited a minute. “Lay?” I
called out, but when I still got no response, I threw the sheet off
and was just about to get up when finally she shouted back.
“Okay!”

Oh good God! I lay back down and closed my
eyes again. I only needed a few more minutes to rest my eyes.

Then there was a knock at the front
door.

“
UGH!”
I threw the covers back off
and stood up. “Just a minute!” I barked at the door. I walked to
the dining room for a quick peek at Layla.

She was alright, but the box of cereal had
exploded all over the table. “Honey, you okay in here?”

“Mmm hmmm,” she answered with a full
mouth.

The knock came again. “Who is it?” I called
out. The only response I got was more knocking at the door.
“Alright, already!” I looked to look Lay, “Be good. I’ll be right
back.” That got me another “Mmm Hmmm.”

With the pounding still at the door, I
yelled. “Hold your horses!” All I wanted was five more damn
minutes! Was that too much to ask?

I stomped up to the door, unlocked it, swung
it open and shouted “
What
?!” before I saw who it was.

Holy fucking shit!
Landyn.

I tried to slam the door shut, but he threw
his arm out to stop me before I could.
Shit!

“Nice to see you too, Trish,” Landyn said
mockingly. His voice was still as deep and rough as even I
remembered. He was also still the hottest guy on earth.
Bastard!

“Where is she?” he asked, demanding to know.
When I didn’t answer his eyes narrowed to slits. “I want to see her
Trish,” he growled in frustration.

I wanted slam the door in his beautiful face
and break his nose, but his hand prevented me.

I tilted my head to the side and crossed my
arms over my chest. I bent my knee and stuck out my hip. “To whom
are you referring?” I asked nonchalantly and took great pleasure in
watching the muscles in his face constrict.

“You know who I’m talking about Trish, don’t
play this game with me. Let me see her.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,
sorry.” I honestly didn’t know if he was talking about Lex or
Layla, but I sure as heck wasn’t giving anything away.

He opened his mouth to argue some more, but
quickly shut it. I watched as he stood up to his full height and
froze. I was about to try slamming the door one more time when I
heard Layla’s little plastic high heels click-clacking across the
floor; she was close.

“Aunt T, who’s that?” Layla asked her cute,
curious little voice.

I closed my eyes.
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,
fuck!

When I felt her wrap an arm around my thigh
I placed a protective hand to the top of her head and quickly
looked down. Layla was decked out in her famous silver crown and
huge clip-on plastic, silver and pink earrings with the matching
necklace. Her long, thick black hair was down and fell over her
shoulders, her long bangs highlighting her big amber eyes. She was
wearing a pink fairy costume with princess heels that were much too
big for her. The outfit was finished off with pink glittery nail
polish and hot pink lip gloss.

She was staring up at Landyn. “You’re a
giant,” Layla said in awe. “Are you famous or somethin’? Like a
football guy or somethin’? You look like one of those guys.” She
got quiet and waited for him to answer. I glanced at Landyn and he
was staring down at his daughter with watery eyes.

“I wish I had a football,” Layla whispered
to herself. “I’ll ask Mama to buy me one.”

Landyn still didn’t say anything and
suddenly Layla perked up. “I have Barbies!” she yelled excitedly.
“Will you play Barbies with me? Aunt T, can he play Barbies with
me?”

This was not good at all. I looked up again
at Landyn and he still had tears swimming in his eyes.

Shit!

He knew she was his and he already loved
her. Who wouldn’t? He hadn’t even technically met Layla yet and
love was written in black permanent marker all over his face.

“Umm... Layla, it’s football
player
not football
guy
, and this is Landyn. He’s an old friend of
your mom’s from high school and I’m pretty sure he’s not famous,” I
said very uncomfortably.

Layla looked up again at Landyn and smiled.
“You’re still a giant.”

Because this situation was so awkward, I
forgot to filter my thoughts before speaking. “Layla James, he’s
not a giant, he’s just a very tall man.”

“Layla James.” My head swung to Landyn’s
because I heard him repeat his daughter’s name in a barely there,
heart wrenching whisper. I felt sorry for him.

Son of a biscuit
!

“Oh. Okay. Can I still show him my Barbies
Aunt T?” Suddenly, and surprisingly, Landyn dropped down to a squat
so he was eye to eye with his mirror image with longer hair.

“Sorry to disappoint you angel, but Trish is
right. I’m not famous, but I did play football all through high
school. I’d love to see your Barbie’s.”

Layla considered what he said for a moment.
Then she grinned “I changed my mind about Barbies. Can you teach me
how to play football?” she asked jumping up and down. Landyn
chuckled.

Maybe this won’t be so bad
.

But a second after that thought, I watched
as Lex’s red truck pulled in the parking lot.

Shit!

“Layla, I need to have a big people talk
with Landyn for just a minute okay? Maybe you can show Landyn your
Barbies or play football another time. Can you go watch cartoons
and wait for me?”

“Awww... do I have to, Aunt T?” she whined
with her face scrunched up in disappointment. I nodded. “Please.
I’ll be right in.” She looked up at Landyn with a shy, yet sad
smile “Bye, giant guy,” she said softly.

“Bye, precious.” Landyn responded quietly
just before he stood up and turned to face the stairs. I watched as
the muscles in his forearms constricted when his hands fisted. Then
I saw his jaw clench and lips thin.

He knew Lex was here and without a doubt he
was prepared for battle.

I parked my truck outside the complex, got
out and started piling all the grocery bags in my arms. I really
hated grocery shopping at nine in the morning on a Friday, but our
cupboards we were bare and Layla was starting to eat like a
horse.

I slammed the back door shut with my hip and
headed for the stairs concentrating hard on not tripping. The last
thing I wanted to do was drop the fortune in my arms.
Why in the
world were groceries so damn expensive
?
Everyone has to eat
for crying out loud
!

I was halfway up the stairs when I heard
Trish call my name in a worried voice. Shit, Layla! She wouldn’t be
outside this early in the morning for nothing. I lifted my head and
started to ask “What’s wro...” but my voice trailed off when I
looked up and found myself glued to a pair narrowed, seriously
pissed off, glowing amber eyes.

Landyn! Fuck!

I stopped where I was and froze. My feet
felt like they weighed a million pounds. I noticed his hands were
fisted at his sides. He was furious and looked more than ready to
kick my ass. I knew he’d never physically hurt me before, but in
the current situation, he looked so dangerous that I couldn’t be
sure if the same held true now.

He was larger than I remembered; as
impossible as that should be. His black hair was now a little
longer, but just enough to give him the bed-head ‘I wake up looking
this hot every single day’ look.

He had to be the sexiest man I’d ever
seen.

Get it together Lex
!
None of that
matters now. He’s here to take my world from me
.

I waited for him to say something, but he
remained quiet and very, very still; his eyes never veering away
from mine. I felt naked under his gaze. I couldn’t do this.

I let the grocery bags slowly slide down my
arms to the steps and I listened as random items fell through the
cracks. So be it.

As soon as I was free, I whipped my body
around and started running down the steps.

I heard Landyn shout. “Lexi! Get your ass
back here!” His voice thundered, but I just kept running. I had no
idea where I was going I just knew I couldn’t let him catch me.
“Lex, stop!” I didn’t think so. I made it to the side street and
flew across without even looking.

“Lexi!” I heard him shout again, but this
time Landyn’s voice sounded panicked.

I made it to the park across the street and
slowed just a bit to catch my breath while deciding which way to
go. I was about to veer to the right when Landyn slammed into my
back. Somehow he managed to twist us around so we landed on our
sides.

Ouch! Shit that hurt!

His grip constricted on my waist and he
quickly maneuvered his body to roll on top of me. I was winded
now.

“Jesus Lexi! Did I hurt you?” he asked while
his eyes studied my body. I just shook my head, still trying to
suck air into my lungs, but his weight made it hard.

“What the hell were you doing? Have you lost
your God damn mind? You almost got hit by a fucking car!” he
shouted. I didn’t answer him. Instead I asked in a small voice,
“Can you please get off me?”

“No,” he growled at me, infuriated.

“Landyn, please get off me,” I asked softly
and nicely. His eyes squeezed tight and I watched his jaw clench.
“You keep my daughter from me for six
fucking
years and the
first thing you do when you see me is
run
. Now you want me
to let you get up so you can run again?” He paused before roaring,
“Are you out of your fucking mind?”

I would have preferred he slap me. It was my
turn to close my eyes and turned my head to the side. I felt a
single tear slide across my temple. “I’m sorry Landyn, please just
let me up. I promise I won’t run,” I whispered unevenly. He lifted
his free hand to wrap under my chin. He softly turned my face to
towards his, but I kept my eyes closed.

“Look at me,” he ordered so close to my face
I could feel his breath on my lips. I opened my eyes to see that he
was only an inch away. His eyes were staring into mine and his
fingers on my waist dug in deep.

“This is your only warning, Lexi,” he said
in a frighteningly low, deep, rough voice. “I just got a glimpse of
my precious baby girl. I want to
see
her. I want to
know
her.” He took a few deep breaths before continuing. “I
can’t believe you did this to me. I can’t believe I have a daughter
that doesn’t even know who I am. How could you keep her from me?”
He sounded tormented.

My tears were now falling helplessly
now.

He continued. “I left my information with
Trish. I’m giving you two days Lexi. You’ve got two days to get
your shit together and come see me so we can talk and I’m warning
you, don’t run from me again. You understand me?” he finished
loudly. I couldn’t do anything, but nod. He let go of my chin and
waist and pushed himself to his feet. As he looked down at me, he
reached out his hand to help me up, which was nice, considering how
pissed he was.