The Alpha's Baby (12 page)

As she contemplated her murderous tendencies, Donavon trotted back into the kitchen. "Mademoiselle, the evil doer has left the premises."

She did a double take. "What?"

Donavon's shoulders slumped. "The guy is gone."

"Good job, Batman." She squeezed his shoulder. "Maybe I should give you a raise."

"Really?" He perked up.

"Well, no, but I might give you an extra break today."

"Better than nothing." Donavon grinned, then kneaded bread while humming the Batman theme song.

Emmy retreated from the kitchen before she cut off her ears with a breadknife. After she made herself a cup of coffee strong enough to make her bounce off the walls, she headed into a secluded corner. Just when she was enjoying a succulent sip of coffee, she heard a chair screech on tile. Oh no, it was Donavon, possessed by the essence of Batman.

"Don, did you really follow me out here?" She didn't look up from her mug.

"Who's Don?" said a deep, rumbling voice.

She snapped to attention. Oh great, the person sitting across from her wasn't Donavon. It was Mr. Creepy. So much for an extra break for Donavon. The cook-in-training should count himself lucky if she didn't shove his hand in the food processor and use his flesh for meat pies. Grousing and trembling at the same time, she wrapped her arms around her stomach, protecting the baby as she met the eyes of the man sitting across from her.

"If you need assistance, someone at the counter can help you," she said coolly, trying to maintain calm even though her mind screamed,
Oh my God!

"You and I both know I'm not here for food," he said.

"Oh?"
Deep breaths,
she told herself.
Deep breaths.

"Don't play dumb, woman." His eyes narrowed. "You saw me watching you the other day. In fact, I've been watching you a lot, even if you didn't notice me."

Creepier words had never been said, and she'd heard a lot of creepy words.

She stood up, shaking from fear, and decided she needed help. "Donavon!"

Heads turned in her direction, but that was her goal. The more people who looked at them, the less likely her baby would be hurt because of this psycho. The whole reason she was trembling from head to foot, after all, was because she feared for her child. Her life didn't matter. At least, not in comparison to the life growing in her belly.

"Your little friend can't help you." The man stood up too, his eyes narrowed. "I'll just keep watching you."

"Why?" She was flabbergasted. "I don't even know you."

"Oh, you will. And I'm Jake, by the way." His eyes twinkled with deadly malice as he said the words. "Tell Sebastian I said hi."

He had something to do with Sebastian?

She screamed again, "Donavon!"

Finally, Donavon came barreling out of the kitchen with his clothes covered in flour and strawberry jam. Some Batman. He looked more like Donut Boy, a superhero who lived for blinding people with flour and then chocking them to death with salty custard donuts. 

"Do you want me to get rid of this guy?" Donavon puffed out his chest, trying to appear impressive but failing.

"Yes." She nodded.

Donavon seized Jake's arm. "You're going to have to leave."

Instead of listening to Donavon's words, Jake looked at the younger man and laughed.

"I mean it." Donavon tightened his grip on his arm. "Leave my boss alone."

"All right, tough guy," Jake said, gazing at Donavon with obvious condescension. "I'll leave her alone."

She breathed a sigh of relief.

Unfortunately, that was when Jake narrowed his eyes at her and said, "For now."

****

Emmy didn't know if she was more mad or frightened. Since Jake knew Sebastian, that meant that the father of her child was responsible for the fact that she had a stalker. Gnawing on her bottom lip, she paced across her apartment and dialed Sebastian's number. The guy answered on the second ring.

"Hello, sweetheart," Sebastian said cheerfully.

"Don't call me sweetheart, you jerk!" She knew she was losing her temper before hearing his side of the story, but damn it all, she was scared for her baby.

"Whoa, what's wrong?" He sounded shocked.

"I met your friend, Jake." She picked up a pillow from the couch and hurled it at the floor. "Do you have a habit of hanging out with awful people? Do you?"

To her surprise, Sebastian didn't try to defend himself. Instead the man sucked in air and said, "Are you okay? He didn't hurt you or the baby, did he?"

"No, he didn't." She tightened her grip on the phone. "But there is something seriously wrong with that man. I looked in his eyes, and all I wanted to do was build a wall between him and my stomach. I don't want him coming anywhere near my baby, Sebastian."

"Your instincts are right," Sebastian said. "That man is the most evil bastard to walk this earth."

"Who is he?" She shook her head. "Why did he come after me?"

"He's an old enemy." Sebastian's vagueness continued. "He came after you to get to me."

"Old enemy?" She hated how he gave nothing away.

"I was more popular than Jake was, so now he has a bone to pick with me. End of story."

Somehow she didn't think that was end of story, so she grumbled as she dug her heel into the pillow.

"This is what I meant when I said you have to know somebody before you marry them." She snarled at the floor. "You're probably a member of the mafia."

"I'm not a member of the mafia." He sounded furious she'd even suggested it.

"A gang, then."

"Do I look like the type of guy who'd be involved with a gang?" He sighed.

"Well, you don't look like a guy who'd have a crazy stalker—well, a crazy
male
stalker, anyway—but you do," she snapped. "As far as I know, you could be involved in anything."

"I'm not a bad guy, sweetheart," he said. "You have to believe that by now."

She took a deep, steadying breath to calm herself down and then realized that he was right. The truth of the matter was, she didn't think that Sebastian was a bad guy, but she was still worried about the safety of her unborn child. And she may have been worried about Sebastian too. Just a little bit. Well, okay,
a lot
.

"I'm scared, Sebastian," she said. "What if this guy hurts us?"

He groaned. "Don't be scared. I won't let anything happen to you or the baby."

"This afternoon, he could have done something to me and you weren't there," she said.

"He won't have another opportunity to come after you." His voice dripped with determination. "I'm going to protect you no matter what."

"But who's going to protect
you
?" she asked.

"I don't need protection." He sounded so serious it shocked her.

"You aren't made  of steel," she said.

"I might as well be."

Whatever the hell that meant.

"Just be careful, okay?" She sank onto the couch.

"Don't be concerned about me, sweetheart," he said. "Just focus on the baby. And anyway, now that I know that Jake has singled you out, we're going to stick together like Sonny and Cher."

Every independent bone in her body screamed in panic, but she knew that having Sebastian at her side was the best possible thing for her.

"If you think that's best." She sighed.

"I do." He paused. "Besides, it's great practice for when we're married."

"Hey, wait a minute." She went rigid. "I never said that I'd marry—"

Sebastian said, "I'm coming to your place now. Don't eat anything. I'll bring dinner."

The man ended the call.

"You."

She stared down at the phone, feeling as though she'd been hoodwinked.

"Oh my God, that feels
so
good," Emmy whimpered as she squeezed her eyes shut.

Sebastian was on his knees before her, massaging her feet. His eyes twinkled as he ran his hands up to her ankles and began to pamper her tendons.

"I told you that I have magical hands." Sebastian winked as he moved up to her calves.

Magical hands indeed. At this rate, she was going to die from pleasure. Or at the very least, have an impromptu orgasm. "Don't think I've forgotten about the Jake things because of this massage. I'm still mad."

Sebastian kneaded her muscle. "And you have a right to be."

"You're being awfully amenable." She cracked open an eye.

"Of course I am." He nodded. "You're right, after all."

"You're making it so hard for me to yell at you." She groaned. "First you bring me pizza and chocolate ice cream. Now you're agreeing with everything I say and…oh…God, that's the spot!"

The man's eyes sparkled as he continued his work. "So you like it when I touch you here, do you?"

Her eyes snapped open. "Please don't tell me that you expect this full-body massage to turn sexual…"

Sebastian shrugged.

"Oh my God, you do." She seized a pillow and hit him over the head with it.

"Do you want me to stop?" he asked, ignoring the fact that he'd just been smacked by a fluffy object.

She groaned in ecstasy as his fingers delved into her muscles again. "Well, no."

"I didn't think so." He chuckled.

As he continued to massage her, she melted into the couch. Still, even as he pleasured her, she couldn't help but wonder how he'd managed to make enemies with El Creepo, aka Jake.

"Sebastian, tell me more about why you're involved with that stalker guy," she said.

Sebastian snapped to attention, and his eyes darkened. "I told you everything."

"No, you didn't." She gritted her teeth. "You were super-vague."

"I said everything that needed to be said." Sebastian once again returned to massaging her leg.

What was he, a member of the CIA? Maybe he was just naturally secretive, but somehow, she doubted it.

"You're lying to me, aren't you?" Emmy pulled her leg out of his grip.

Sighing, Sebastian looked up.

"Well?" she asked.

To her surprise, Sebastian's face paled a little. He settled down on the couch beside her. The man took her hands in his and stared straight into her face. As she gazed into his two glowing gray eyes, she thought,
If this is another method to distract me, I'm removing his eyeball with a spork.
Still it was a lot harder to have violent thoughts when he leaned closer, blinding her with his impossible handsomeness.

"Do you really want to know the truth?" Sebastian asked.

She nodded, eager to hear more. "Yes."

"Well, I…" Sebastian was normally all about prolonged eye contact, but at that moment, he glanced away.

"Sebastian, what is it?" she said.

"I don't know how to tell you this," he said. "I'm a…a…"

She leaned forward until their noses were almost touching, unable to keep herself from quaking. "Yes?"

"Sweetheart, I'm a—"

The door banged open, and Mary Lou strutted into the room wearing a dress that was just a few inches short of her girly bits.

"You will not believe what I found at the store today," Mary Lou said. "There were leopard print panties for ninety-nine cents…oops."

Mary Lou balked when she saw Sebastian sitting on the couch.

"I didn't realize you had company." The older woman gave a nervous laugh and hid her bag behind her.

At that moment, Emmy wanted to take one of those leopard print panties Mary Lou was so excited about and strangle the woman with them. Unfortunately, she didn't want to go to prison, and besides, it would be embarrassing to be known as the leopard-panty killer.

"Mary Lou, how many times have I told you that your key is for emergencies only?" she asked.

"Well, I thought ninety-nine-cent panties qualified as an emergency." Mary Lou took a step back, likely sensing Emmy's murderous intentions. The woman could be wise…sometimes.

"The only way ninety-nine-cent panties would be considered an emergency is if somebody lit them on fire and was trying to roast me over them," she said.

"Sheesh." Mary Lou rolled her eyes. "With how you're acting, you'd think that I'd walked in on you taking a dump."

Emmy's face flushed, but she ignored the comment and said, "As you can see, I was in the middle of something."

She waved at Sebastian.

"Sorry about that." Mary Lou took another step toward the door but paused. "Say, is this Mr. Hero, by chance?"

"Mr. Hero?" Sebastian looked amused.

"No," Emmy lied, trying to shoo the woman away before she latched onto Sebastian like a leech.

"I think you aren't telling the truth." Mary Lou's grin turned wicked.

She scowled at Mary Lou, daring her to continue this charade. Unfortunately, the woman had never been great at reading signals or even obeying direct commands for that matter.

"Do you happen to be the man who saved Emmy from being hit by a BMW?" Mary Lou asked Sebastian, even as Emmy hissed like an angry cat.

"Yep," he said.

Sebastian took one look at Emmy's frustrated expression and laughed. It was just as she'd feared. After five seconds together, Mary Lou and Sebastian were running all over her. Her frustration grew. If they kept this up, they'd be lucky if she didn't shove them down a flight of stairs. Or bake them in her oven. Or chop them up into little pieces and store them in her freezer. Cackling wickedly, she rubbed her hands together.

"I don't know about you, but I hate it when she wears that look." Mary Lou shook her head.

Nodding in agreement, Sebastian tutted. "I don't even want to know what she's thinking about."

She narrowed her eyes. "I can hear you, you know."

Ignoring her, Mary Lou walked over to the couch and squeezed herself between Emmy and Sebastian. Emmy muttered under her breath, wishing she had super-strength so she could upturn the couch—with Mary Lou and Sebastian still on it.

"I'm Mary Lou, by the way." Mary Lou extended her hand to Sebastian.

He shook her hand. "I'm Sebastian."

"Oh, I know." Mary Lou gushed as if she was being introduced to a celebrity. "I've heard so much about you."