ROMANCE: BAD BOY ROMANCE: M.V.B. - Most Valuable Baby (Sports Secret Baby Romance) (Contemporary Interracial Pregnancy Romance) (14 page)

“I’m shocked.”

She laughed again, turning toward him. She nudged against his smoothed jaw—recently shaved, the scent of his aftershave brushing against her senses. Giddy, she kissed him where her lips could reach him.

He held her a little tighter while also somehow sagging over her. It was as if the embodiment of peace had surrounded her—surrounded both of them, really.

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. She never realized that love could be so soothing. She was so relaxed, a part of her believed that she could fall asleep then and there. She smirked at the thought.

They would have a lot of explaining to do if they were caught sleeping on the roof together—sleeping on their feet, no less.

“Everything I have,” Ben whispered over her cheek, “it all started with me going outside and looking at the stars. Thinking. Planning. Working.” He sighed. “This has always been a stepping stone. And now? I have never been more blessed.”

Georgia wanted to think he was talking about her—and maybe partially, he was—but deep down, she knew he was talking about his career. If nothing else, his career is what led him to her.

“You’re a good role model,” she said, knowing that those words would mean a lot to him. “You’re a good player, a good teammate—you’re good at everything you do, and that’s coming from someone who doesn’t even like football very much.”

He huffed, bowing forward so that his lips brushed against her shoulders. “You say things like that, and it makes me want to cry. How did you even get this job anyway?”

“I knew someone, who knew someone, who knew someone else.” She rolled her hand around. “Before this, I was only a freelancer. Now, I work part-time as a freelancer, so…” She shrugged.

He hummed, kissing her shoulder. “You like what you do?”

“Of course. Who doesn’t like taking pictures?”

“You just sound…bored, I guess.”

Her smile morphed into something more patient, kinder. “Ultimately, these are just jobs to me, Ben. Not a career. Personally? I’d rather be spending my life goofing off, but sadly that won't pay the bills.” She looked skyward again.

“Sadly,” he said, and it almost sounded like he was agreeing with her.

CHAPTER FOUR

After one of the happiest months of her life came to a close—secret sleepovers and thoughts of true love popping up in her mind for the first time—Georgia rushed into her apartment with her purse and multiple grocery bags in her arms. Panic pulsated through her blood, her movements jarring and clumsy as she made her way to the bathroom.

She dropped her purse and the bags to the tiled floor, her foot kicking the door shut.

Had she even closed the front door?

Georgia pushed the worry aside and grabbed one of the many, many different kinds of pregnancy tests she had bought.

It took the confirmation of ten pregnancy tests for her to finally believe what her lacking period had been telling her.

She was pregnant.

Georgia sat on the bathroom floor, her shoulders pressing into the cupboard beneath the sink.

She pressed her lips together, eyes focused on the wall in front of her. Her gaze avoiding the floor littered with boxes of pregnancy tests.

Joy flickered faintly beneath her breastbone. If Ben wasn’t so famous—or, at least, if he didn’t care so much about his privacy and his career—then Georgia would probably be grabbing a phone and shrieking the good news at him.

No, this hadn’t been planned, but she hardly cared. She rarely planned things out. And a baby… a little her and a little Ben, mixed together into a precious bundle.

Georgia wanted to smile, but her lips remained in a tense line.

She hadn’t even told Ben she loved him yet. And they hadn’t told anyone that they were dating. Just because she was ecstatic about this—about them—it didn’t mean that he would be.

The goody-goody role model knocking up a party girl? It didn’t sound like much these days, but it might kill Ben. He took his public image very seriously—something Georgia normally mocked, but now…

Nausea crawled up her throat, conflicting emotions within her, assaulting her innards. Gently, she placed both hands over her lower belly, where her little baby was. She didn’t look down on it— she didn’t want the tears in her eyes to fall on it. She turned to the side and swallowed thickly.

What was the right thing to do? Ben wouldn’t run from her and this—he would marry her and try to make it right, even if it was the last thing he wanted to do. The thought made her heart twist.

She never wanted to be anyone’s burden, nor did she want her child to be viewed as such.

But…Ben would also want to know about the pregnancy. Could she really keep their child a secret from him?

God…what was the right thing to do?

He was going to come over tonight. She had to figure this out—had to make a decision.

Fidgeting, Georgia paced in front of Ben’s apartment door. She listened to him get ready for their night—the sink running, cabinets opening and shutting. It tore at her confidence as much as it strengthened it, making her uncertain about her decision.

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She needed to be quick or she wouldn’t do this at all.

She turned to the door and knocked on it, her stomach churning and her mind spinning.

Ben answered it too fast. His brow furrowed, his lips twitching downward. “I thought we were going to stay at your place tonight.”

Georgia couldn’t breathe. Stunned by his sudden presence, she gaped at him. His mesmerizing eyes, strong jaw…

“Georgia? Is everything alright?”

She nearly lied but managed to choke on her breath in the next instance. She bowed a little and cleared her throat into her fists, her eyes watering and her heart aching.

“Georgia?” Large hands gently grabbed her shoulders. “You’re worrying me, here. What’s wrong?”

She forced herself to face him fully and calmly, even as her chest felt as if it was caving in on itself. “We can’t keep sneaking around like this, Ben. It’s ultimately just going to hurt you.”

His eyebrows rose. “You want to go public?”

“I want to end this between us. Whatever it is.”

“You—wait, what?”

She sucked in a taut breath. “Ben, this has been really great, but I’m not good with permanence and it’s better to end this sooner than later.”

His facial muscles went slack, but the pain—the fear—was evident in his gaze. He shook his head. “No, no, this…did I do something?” He leaned a little closer, imploring. “You were—we were so happy yesterday. I don’t understand what’s happening.”

Guilt clawed into her, and she nearly sobbed. “This is for the best, Ben.”

“No, it’s not,” he choked out. He squeezed her shoulders before his hands roamed down her arms and squeezed her elbows. “Please, tell me what I did. Tell me how I can make this right. Don’t—” His voice cracked, and he clamped his mouth shut before he could say anything more.

“You didn’t do anything,” she said. She nearly winced at her own words—a cop-out, no reason at all. She wanted to pull away, but he clung to her with such desperation…she couldn’t bear to leave him, even though she knew she needed to. “Look, your career is everything, and I’m just getting in the way of that.”

“You are everything.”

She reeled. “What?”

“I should have been putting you first,” he said quickly. “Not my career.”

“No, that’s not what I—”

“I love you.”

Her breath caught in her throat. Confliction sprang anew, and she was feeling so much that she might as well be feeling nothing at all. “What?”

With a great deal of caution, he raised one of his hands and placed it against her cheek. The rough texture of his fingers caressed her flesh. “I love you, Georgia. I know we haven’t been together that long—and maybe this was just a casual thing at first—but now I…I can’t lose you. I want to make this work.” He sucked in a shaky breath. “I want you more than I have ever wanted anything. And I’ll do anything to make right what I did wrong.”

Frustration spiked through her—above every other emotion. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Ben.”

“Then why do you want to end this? Tell me the truth. Please.”

Georgia, without consciously meaning to do so, glanced at her stomach. Her lips wobbled into a feeble frown. She was so tired of everything. Before she could stop herself, her gaze flitted back up to Ben and she said, “I’m pregnant.”

Panic struck her when Ben’s face went completely slack, though a part of her thought she should be relieved by such a reaction. If he broke up with her, then he wouldn’t be hurt.

It was a pathetic thought, really, regardless of the love behind it. Georgia lowered her watery gaze and tried to seem as stoic as possible. Whatever he ended up saying to her, she just hoped it would be quick and clear—unlike herself.

She pressed her lips together in a tight line.

An extremely gentle pressure—a light tickle—over her stomach made Georgia snap her attention to Ben’s large hand, his fingers running over her lower belly. While the action was slow, it wasn’t hesitant; it wasn’t full of fear.

Hope soared through her. She dared to look up.

Ben’s face was fairly blank, all except for his eyes. The sense of grief they had conveyed early was long gone, in its place a glowing warmth—adoration—as he glanced over her abdomen.

“I didn’t want to be your scandal,” she blurted, guilt at the horrifying mistake she had nearly made. She talked faster, as if she could somehow escape her shame and fear through her words. “You know how the media gets with gossip, and you wanted us to be a secret, so I thought if your secret lover just happened to get pregnant, then you would—”

Almost too quiet to hear, he shushed her. His hands roamed up her body and to her neck, his thumbs brushing over her quivering jaw as he looked into her eyes. He seemed stunned now, if not fatigued. “I love you. And I already love our child. I don’t care what anybody says or thinks—you both are so much more important than any of that. Than anything.”

Tears crawled down her cheeks. She was only distantly aware of them as relief and affection flooded her system. “I love you, too, Ben. So much. I didn’t mean to…” She shook her head, the words losing meaning. She stepped closer and held him tightly.

He hugged her back, face pressed against the side of her head.

She closed her eyes and breathed him in. His warmth, his scent—she was addicted. How could she think she could give this up? Her fingernails raked over his back and shoulders, making them spasm beneath her touch.

“I love you,” she said again, hoping those words could mask all the other words she had just said. She pressed her lips to his neck. “I love you. I’m sorry. I love you.”

“I love you, too. Just…” He leaned back enough so that he could then press his forehead against hers, his arms still wrapped around her. “Don’t lie to me again. I know why you did it, and I’m sorry I made you feel like you and our baby were a…” He released a shaky breath.

“Okay,” she whispered back, nodding—making both of their heads jar a bit. “Okay. I promise.” She tilted her head accordingly before pressing her lips against his.

A soft kiss but a significant one all the same. In it, she felt her own promise course through her—strengthening her. She kissed him harder. Ben. Her Ben. For now and forever.

CHAPTER FIVE

They never made a public announcement of their own relationship. Ben had suggested doing such a thing, but it sounded silly to her. Besides all they had to do was go on one public date together for the news to spread like wildfire. But after the initial interest—a few questions asked about her during a game—everyone stopped caring. At least, they did until her baby bump showed.

Reporters, when they weren’t bugging Ben with their questions about fatherhood and marriage, bothered her with such things. Georgia gave the same rehearsed answer over and over again, sometimes to the same reporter.

“Whatever happens, I am just blessed to have Ben and our little one to come.”

People melted at that line, and it somehow made them forget all the questions they had about her relationship with Ben. Was it a fling? Had he proposed yet? As if she cared about whether or not she and Ben wore rings. As long as she had him, she was content.