Ripe: A Stepbrother Pregnancy Romance (14 page)

“Well, we’re going to be working together,” Jesse continued, sensing her discomfort. “I just wanted to see how you felt about it.”

“Well, I’m not thrilled or anything, if that’s what you mean,” Elise quickly stated. “But it’s not like I’m even in your department, so…”

“I know that. It’s just—” Jesse paused. It was obvious that he was trying to come up with some way to phrase his next words that wouldn’t leave her with the wrong impression. “Since we have a kid together, I think it’s a conflict of interest for us to be employed at the same place.”

“
What?
” Elise scoffed. “Are you actually implying what I think you are?”

“Elise, I’m the CEO. If the board finds out that we have a son, and that I didn’t tell them, they won’t like it. They’ll think you’re the only reason I want to keep the malpractice department open, and then everyone will lose their jobs.”

“So, what are you saying, here?” Elise questioned, staring Jesse down like he’d lost his mind. “That I’m supposed to quit my job to save everyone else’s? Is that what you’re saying?”

“Of course not,” Jesse said, keeping his voice low. “I’m just saying…maybe we should keep quiet about me being Isaiah’s father.”

Elise rolled her eyes, quickly making sure that Isaiah wasn’t listening. “What makes you think I had any intention on telling anyone to begin with?”

Jesse looked momentarily hurt. “Well, good,” he said, glossing over the fleeting note of sadness in his tone. Unlike Elise, it wasn’t that he
wanted
to keep the fact that he was Isaiah’s father a secret. He simply didn’t have a choice. “We’re in agreement, then.”

Jesse and Elise sat across from each other in silence. He stood up to leave when he realized she was making an effort not to look at him. “Well, I’d better get going. I have a lot of work related stuff to go over.”

Elise nodded but remained quiet.

“I’ll see you next week?” Jesse questioned, lingering in the doorway.

“Sure. I’ll tell Isaiah you said goodnight,” Elise said as she began walking down the hall to check on him.

“Actually,” Jesse spoke up. “Would you mind if I told him myself?”

Elise hesitated, but she could tell by the expression on his face that he had every intention on doing it regardless of how she felt about it. Not seeing any point in protesting, she stepped aside and allowed Jesse to walk ahead of her. He stopped short when he got to the doorway of Isaiah’s room, looking over at her with a smile.

No wonder it had become so quiet.

When Elise peeked her head into Isaiah’s room, she found him curled up fast asleep on his bed. She stepped in and pulled his blankets up over him, planting a brief kiss on his forehead. When she looked up, Jesse signaled that he was leaving and she simply nodded, remaining in Isaiah’s doorway for a few seconds to watch him sleep. When she heard her front door shut, she emerged and locked it.

It was still early, but Elise was exhausted beyond all belief. She went through her apartment switching off lights in preparation of going to bed too. When she got to the kitchen, she noticed that she still needed to put postage on her bills so that she could drop them in the mail on her way into work the following morning. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she sat down to complete her task, and that’s when she noticed a folded up piece of paper laying on top of the pile. It was a note from Jesse, and folded between it were ten crisp one hundred dollar bills.
On the piece of paper he’d written:
Spend some of this on yourself. You're an incredible mother. You deserve it.

Elise’s heart clenched. She knew that his intentions were good, but she couldn’t stand the idea of him taking pity on her. She also didn’t need a thank you. Isaiah wasn’t a responsibility. He was a gift. Him calling her his mother was the only thanks she ever needed.

Elise’s gut reaction was to rip up the note and give Jesse back the money whenever she saw him next, but she realized right away that she no longer harbored the hostility needed to go through with the task. When she thought about Isaiah and all of the benefits the money could bring him, like school clothes, a couple pairs of new sneakers, and a slew of healthy lunches and dinners, she relented, tucking it inside her purse and turning off the kitchen light as she headed to bed.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Jesse was running on empty when he showed up to work the following morning. He was still a little uneasy about his newfound responsibilities at the firm, and the idea of training his new right-hand man made him feel all the more on edge.

“Davis?” Jesse spoke up when he saw a man seated in the lobby.

“Uh, yes,” Davis said, scrambling to stand up. “Mr. Stone, I presume?”

Jesse nodded and held out his hand. “That’s me, but please, call me Jesse. Why don’t you come on back and I’ll show you where you’ll be working.”

Jesse felt miniscule in Davis’ presence. The man had to be at least 6’5, but for those few feet Jesse lacked on him in height, he made up for in muscle. 

Davis whistled when they entered a room full of cubicles and people tapping away on their computers. “This place is huge.”

“Yeah, but you get used to it.”

“You guys must close what, like a hundred cases a week? No wonder the parking lot was full of European cars.”

Jesse couldn’t help but laugh at the comment, but mostly because it couldn’t have been any further from the truth. The small amount of humor did well to break the ice, and suddenly training Davis didn’t seem quite as daunting. They went over the ins and outs of the malpractice departments client management system, as well as the routine quality checks that needed to be performed at the end of each day.

“It’s lunch time,” Jesse spoke up about midway through the training, feeling his stomach grumble. “That board is fine with everyone taking an hour lunch, so long as you clock back in on time.”

“Nice,” Davis said. “Say, what’s good around here? Any recommendations?”

“There isn’t much, if I’m being honest,” Jesse said. “Not on this part of town anyway, but we do have a cafeteria that has some pretty good options.”

“Ah, I see. Well, I hope there are at least
a few
nice places to grab a bite in this town. It would definitely fuck with my game if there wasn’t.”

Jesse smirked. “Not married, I’m guessing?”

“I just got divorced. Moved here for a fresh start. I tossed a dart on a map, and this is where it landed, so here I am.”

Jesse couldn’t tell whether or not he was being serious about that last part.

“Anyway,” Davis continued. “What about you? You got anyone to go home to?”

Jesse started to tell him that he didn’t, not really anyway, but he was interrupted when Elise stood and made her way past them.

“Oh, sorry,” she muttered, giving both men a brief look before heading off in the opposite direction.

“Now
that’s
what I call quality.” Davis whistled as he watched her saunter off, giving her backside a leering glare. “Who is
that?
”

“No one,” Jesse snapped, immediately defensive. When Davis gave him an odd look, he was quick to correct himself. “I mean…I’m still pretty new here myself, so I don’t really know everyone yet. I do know that she has a kid though.”

“Mm, well, that’s not a problem,” Davis said with a grin. “As a matter of fact, that kinda works out in my favor.”

“Uh, how so?” Jesse questioned, raising his eyebrows.

“Oh come on dude, don’t act like you don’t know,” Davis said, leaning in towards Jesse and lowering his voice. “Chicks with kids are way less high maintenance. They have fewer opportunities with men, so they expect way less. They aren’t as whiny and demanding, and they don’t require quite as much coaxing, if you get my drift.”

A disgusted expression surfaced on Jesse’s face. Davis and his misguided philosophy on women, one woman in particular, was all it took for him to know that they wouldn’t be getting along.

In the weeks that followed, Davis made more and more attempts at getting into Elise’s good graces. He made it his mission to find out exactly when she took her lunch everyday, and he made sure that he was in the cafeteria whenever she was. Much to Jesse’s chagrin, it didn’t take very long before they struck up a conversation, and in no time, they were eating together on a regular basis.

Elise held back a bit though. She told herself that it was because of Isaiah, but the truth was, it had been quite a long time since any man had paid her attention, especially one as attractive as Davis, and she wasn’t sure how to handle it.

“So don’t call it a date then,” Andrea said when she took notice of Davis’ obvious interest in Elise, and in turn, Elise’s reluctance to reciprocate. “Just meet him somewhere for dinner or something. See if there’s still a spark if you’re together somewhere other than at work. Seriously, you can learn a lot about someone just by seeing how they behave in a different environment.”

Elise pondered her words. It had been a long time since she’d gone on a date, which was probably why she was so hesitant to accept Davis’ many offers. The last real date she’d gone on was with Jesse shortly before he took off, but both their parents thought they were just two siblings going to a movie, so she didn’t really think that counted. Upon that thought, she decided that she was long overdue for a little fun. When she met up with Davis the following afternoon during her lunch break, she waited until he broached the subject of taking her out to dinner, which he always did, only this time, she wasn’t as quick to shoot down the offer.

“Come on,” Davis urged as she thought it over. “One of these days you’re going to have to let me see you in something other than your work clothes.”

“Alright, alright,” Elise said after awhile. “How about Italian? Do you like Italian?”

Davis sat back in his chair, appearing somewhat surprised at the positive outcome. “Who doesn’t?”

“Great, well…I don’t know what your schedule is like, but Tuesday nights work best for me. Say 7:30? At the Mangiamo’s on Bell?”

“So tomorrow, then?”

“Sure, I mean, as long as you’re not busy.”

“Nope,” Davis said, offering her a cocky grin. “That works perfectly for me.”

Elise went back to her desk that afternoon giddy with excitement, but she wasn’t the only one.

Across town, Jesse was finalizing things with the realtor he’d hired to find him a house somewhere on the beach. He’d previously inquired about a two or three bedroom, but the woman had phoned that afternoon to tell him about a nice four-bedroom that he’d previously looked at that had been reduced and was now within his price range. His offer was accepted right away. Now, not only would he not have to live in one of the rentals provided by his father’s board, but he would also have plenty of extra space that he anticipated using for Isaiah, should Elise ever lighten up and allow him to spend more than a few hours with him once a week.

Jesse was so excited about the whole thing that he didn’t even pay Davis any attention that afternoon, which was easier said than done considering he wouldn’t stop yapping about the date he had coming up.

“That’s great,” Jesse said as he checked the days report. “What’s she like?”

“What’s she like?” Davis paused and leaned against Jesse’s desk as he thought it over. “Well, she’s a little shy, and guarded too, but I like that. We’re going out for Italian. I let her pick the place.”

“Nice,” Jesse said as he examined his paperwork, glancing up at him as if to say ‘go away’.

Luckily, Davis got the hint and began bragging to someone else about his impending conquest. It wasn’t until later that afternoon that Jesse finally started to put two and two together.