The Best Thing He Never Knew He Needed (31 page)

“
Okay, first of all,
they’re your babies, too. You don’t have to cater to Desmond. Don’t
get me wrong…I don’t want you to leave but if that’s what you want
to do—”

“
I’ve already made up my
mind, Emily. And I don’t feel like he bullied me into this. I just
think it’s the right thing to do. I had both of my parents in my
life, and I want the same for my children.”

Emily nodded.

“
I’m just not sure if
living with him is a good idea. He wants me to sleep in the bedroom
that’s closest to his room like he wanted me to be near him in case
anything happened. In case of an emergency. I just…” Sherita shook
her head. “It baffles me how he can go from not wanting children to
wanting to see my stomach grow.”

“
Aw,” Emily said, covering
her heart with her right hand. “Desmond said that?”

“
Yes.”

Leaning forward, Emily
asked, “Desmond Champion said that?”

Sherita giggled. “Yes, he
did.”

“
I knew it. I knew he
wanted children of his own. Men are crazy, girl.”

Sherita laughed. “Some more
so than others.”

“
But he loves you,
though,” Emily said.

“
How can you be so
sure?”

“
Because he said he did.
Like I told you before…that’s probably the first time he’s ever
said those words to a woman, and you shot him down
cold.”

“
I only did to him what he
did to me.”

“
But two wrongs don’t make
a right, you know,” Emily said.

“
I know,
Emily.”

Emily took a sip of water.
“I’m just happy he wants to be a part of their lives.”

“
Honestly, I am too…just
wish it was under better circumstances.”

“
Girl, everything is going
to be fine. You just focus on staying healthy, getting your rest
and making sure those babies are well fed.”

Sherita smiled. “I
will.”

* * *

Emily pulled up into the
driveway at her house and saw Desmond’s motorcycle parked out
front. “Oh snap…looks like your man is here, Sherita.”

Sherita looked up and saw
Desmond’s motorcycle, feeling her heartbeats become rapid. She
stepped out of the car and walking inside the foyer, she followed
Emily to the kitchen where the men looked to be in deep
conversation.

Desmond broke away from his
conversation with Dante briefly to lock eyes with Sherita the
moment she came into view. Earlier, when he returned home and
didn’t find Sherita there, panic set in. He searched the entire
house from – from her new bedroom to her old basement apartment.
Then he called her phone, only to find that she’d left it on her
nightstand. He was worried.

Pacing her bedroom floor,
he finally dialed Dante and found out that Sherita was with Emily.
He felt relieved. Seeing her now brought him even more
relief.

“
Sherita,” he said,
hopping off of a barstool, walking closer to her.

“
Yes?”

“
I need you to keep your
phone with you.” He took her phone from his pocket and handed it to
her. “I had no idea where you were when I arrived home and when I
dialed your number, I heard your cell phone ringing from your
bedroom.”

Was that worry in his eyes?
Sherita held his vision and said, “Sorry, I meant to grab it. It
just slipped my mind.”

He stared at her for a
moment, aching to touch her, stroke her hair, make some sort of
contact before asking, “So what are your plans now?”

“
Emily is going to drop me
off at home. She just had to stop by here for a second.”

“
Well, you could ride home
with me…save her the trip.”

“
But you drove the
motorcycle.”

He smiled wide. “I
did.”

“
Then I’m not riding with
you. I don’t even have a helmet.”

“
You can use
mine.”

“
How? My head is not as
big as yours.” Sherita grinned.

Desmond did too. “It’ll fit
just fine, Sherita.”

“
And what will you wear?”
Sherita asked.

“
Nothing. I’ll be fine
until we get home.”

“
Des, you don’t have to do
that,” Dante told him.

“
Yeah,” Emily agreed.
“It’s not a problem. I had already planned on dropping her off
anyway.”

“
It’s okay guys,” Sherita
said. “I’ll be okay with Des. Plus, I’ve never ridden a motorcycle
before, and in a few months, I won’t be able to, so why
not?”

Desmond’s lips slowly
curled into a smile.

“
Desmond, you better take
care of her,” Emily ordered.

“
I’ll protect her with my
life,” Desmond replied.

Sherita followed him to the
foyer. Before securing the helmet on her head, she said softly,
“I’ll help you on the motorcycle, and I need you to hold on tight
to me, you know, like you do when we make love,
Sherita.”

If she was made of glass,
she would’ve shattered. Desmond always knew what to say to make her
lose her senses and apparently her footing as she stumbled to stand
up straight again.

“
Are you all right?” he
asked her.

“
Yes. I’m
fine.”

“
You sure?”

“
Yes, Desmond. I’m
sure.”

He secured the helmet on
her head and, outside now, he helped her onto the bike, then
straddled onto it, gripping the handle bars. He reached back for
her hands, pulling her arms around his torso, then said, “Hold on,”
loud enough for her to hear him.

Sherita leaned forward,
resting her head against him, closing her eyes while the current of
him, the manliness of him took over her senses along with the
rumbling of the motorcycle. And while she held on to him, feeling
his hard abs with her hands and the thick muscles of his back
against her chest while smelling his scent – one in which she had
grown to love – she wondered how she would ever love another man.
He’d ruined her chances of that.

Desmond slowed to round a
curve, and she squeezed him tighter, her thighs pressing firmly
against his. And then came a flashback – the first time they made
love. She’d willingly given him her innocence. He, in turn, had
given her a part of him that he’d never given another woman, his
seed, his babies, and after she gave birth to them, their
relationship, their marriage would be no more.

Turning into his driveway,
Desmond drove the motorcycle inside of the garage. He helped
Sherita off of it then watched as she pulled the helmet off of her
head.

“
How was it?” he asked
her.

“
It was okay,” she said,
sadly. “I’m tired. I’m going to bed.”

“
Sherita,” Desmond said,
but she kept on walking.

In the kitchen now, Sherita
took a bottle of water from the refrigerator then pushed it
shut.

“
Sherita,” Desmond said,
stepping into the kitchen.

“
Yes?”

“
Are you okay?”

No, I’m not okay!
“Yes. I’m just tired. See you in the
morning.”

“
Can I have a hug first?”
he asked.

Sherita walked over to him
and wrapped her arms tight around him, same as she had done on the
motorcycle.

“
Thank you for trusting
me,” he told her, his chin resting on top of her head as he held
her in his loving embrace.

“
Thank you for the ride,”
she said, pulling away from his embrace and continuing on to her
bedroom.

CHAPTER 41

“
You’re up early,” Desmond
said, sauntering into the kitchen seeing Sherita sitting at the
breakfast nook, eating oatmeal and strawberries. Even the simple
act of watching her eat had him thinking about the last time he
kissed her lips. It had been two weeks. To say he longed to taste
them again was an understatement. He would devour them if he
could.

Sherita looked up at him,
watching him walk closer to her. Shirtless. He was wearing a pair
of gray cotton shorts, looking as tasty as her breakfast. The sight
of him sent a shiver down her spine. She didn’t know what it was
about Desmond that affected her so deeply. Did the man have some
sort of a spell on her, or was it the fact that she was carrying
his babies that left her like putty in his hands?

Finally, she cleared her
throat and said, “Uh, umm…yeah I have a full day planned,
so—”

“
A full day.” Desmond
pulled out a chair, sitting directly across from her.

She felt her breathing
quicken. Why did he have to sit there? Surely he knew what his
presence did to her. “Yes. I have to go by the storage to pick up
my photo albums.”

“
Oh, yes. The photos. I
still want to see those, by the way.”

“
Well, you’ll get a chance
to once I bring them back here.”

“
Maybe we can look at them
together. Tonight.”

She shrugged. “Maybe.” She
bit into a strawberry.

Desmond watched as her lips
wrapped around the fruit, thinking all kinds of thoughts. He wanted
to kiss her then and there. He wanted to taste the strawberry juice
on her lips and in her mouth. “Sherita.”

“
Yes?” she said, looking
up at him while tossing the rest of the strawberry inside of her
mouth.

His eyes rolled down to her
lips then back up to her eyes. “What happened last
night?”

“
What do you
mean?”

“
After the motorcycle
ride, you seemed upset. Did it make you queasy? Did it hurt? I
don’t know exactly what to ask, but I know something wasn’t
right.”

After she’d finished
chewing, she said, “Honestly, it was the first time we’d been that
close in a long time, and I just had a moment.”

“
What kind of
moment?”

“
A moment when I missed
you. When I wanted you. Being that close to you made me close my
eyes, squeeze you tight and think to myself that you were actually
mine. That I could hold on to you forever. When the ride was over,
so was my fantasy.”

“
It doesn’t have to be
over.”

“
It does, Desmond. If I
don’t start purging you from my heart now—” Sherita stopped
speaking when she felt her lips quiver. She stood up. “I’m going to
go and get dressed.”

Desmond watched her walk
away again. He wanted to pin her to the wall, tell her he loved her
and somehow force her to believe him, but he knew it would require
more than him saying it. Besides, she was right about him. He
didn’t want marriage. Family. A wife. Kids. His family knew he’d
been saying that for a long time. And he told Sherita the same
thing. Now he had to undo the damage he’d done.

* * *

“
This space would make the
perfect studio for my lady,” Desmond told his agent.

The building was actually
an old flower shop that had been vacated for six months, his agent
went on to tell him. It had a nice parking lot, big enough for
about a dozen cars and the outside needed a little
landscaping.

On the inside, the wooden
floors needed to be redone as well as the paint job. He’d
envisioned two studio rooms – if she was in a bind she could have
her assistant take some photos for her.

Her assistant…

Sherita didn’t even have an
assistant, but she would. Being pregnant, she would need some help
around the studio and from what he’d read online while researching
pregnancy, most women pregnant with twins had to go on bed rest at
some point. And they usually delivered early via cesarean section.
An assistant was a must.

Desmond peeped inside the
bathrooms. They were individual, single stall bathrooms which he
thought would be suitable for the amount of people who would be in
her studio at any given time. They also needed work – new commodes,
sinks, mirrors, tiles – he smiled at how easy it would be for him
to hire an interior decorator, plumbers, contractors or anyone else
he needed to come here and make this place phenomenal.

He followed the agent back
to his office and filled out the paperwork for the purchase of what
would become Sherita’s studio, offering the asking price of two
million dollars. Afterwards, he went to work.

Sitting behind his
desk, all he could think about was Sherita and
what life would be like with her and his children. He thought about
whether the babies should share a nursery now and be separated into
their own individual rooms later, or if they should have their own
space now. And what about names? He and Sherita hadn’t discussed
names. He made a mental note to talk about it tonight.

Desmond glanced at his
watch. The brothers had a team meeting in Dante’s office at noon.
It would be a catered-lunch, two-hour meeting with the first hour
only with the brothers, discussing critical company matters. The
second hour would include the managers and team leads from the
various departments. Since it was only eleven, Desmond took out his
cell and dialed his lawyer’s number.