The Playboy's Baby: A BWWM Pregnancy Romance (5 page)

“I’m sorry…is Raymond expecting you? He didn’t mention any appointments this morning.” Janie ran her fingers through the knots in her hair. Janie’s face was plain of any makeup and starting to blemish from Raymond’s lack of moisturizing soap. Suddenly, she was acutely aware that she hadn’t used an actual toothbrush in two days.

“Look, I’m sure Raymond promised the two of you could have some fun on his yacht. You aren’t the first one, believe me. But three’s a crowd, so why don’t you take off? I can handle it from here.” She eyeballed the closed bathroom door as the sound of water abruptly stopped, signaling the end of Raymond’s shower. Licking her unnaturally plump lips, Denise added, “I am surprised though. Chocolate’s really not Raymond’s type.”

Raymond stepped into the bedroom then, a towel wrapped around his dripping wet form. “After lunch, I thought we could go into the city and do some shopping—” Raymond nearly dropped his towel when he looked up into the room. His eyes pinged in surprise between Denise and Janie.

His hair was slicked back away from his face and his chest gleamed with sparkling droplets of water. Janie bit her bottom lip as she thought about running her hand across that sculpted chest, knowing what she would find waiting for her under the plush towel.

Next to her, Denise sucked in a breath. Janie wondered what type of fantasies she was recalling. She wanted Raymond to scream in shock that a strange girl appeared in his bedroom while he was gone. But even before he opened his mouth, Janie knew having multiple gorgeous women in his bed was just another one of Raymond’s little fantasies.

“Denise, what are you doing here?” His voice was cold and detached as he glared at the beautiful woman next to Janie.

“You know her?” Janie shouted. “Jesus, Raymond, how many women are you sleeping with?”

“Janie, it isn’t like that.” His right cheek twitched as he clamped his jaw shut with an angry snap.

“You promised me this was real.” Janie’s voice hitched in her throat. Her chest heaved as she struggled to catch a breath. She couldn’t believe that she’d been so stupid. So naïve. Raymond stepped toward her but she shrugged off his touch. “Did you invite her here? Who is she?” Janie asked.

Denise spoke first. “Naturally he didn’t mention that he had a fiancée. But I’d have thought you would have read about it in the papers.”

Janie looked straight into those damn eyes, willing an explanation she knew he couldn’t give her. “Raymond?”

Raymond’s shoulders hunched forward as his body deflated. Denise flipped her hair over her shoulder in an I-told-you-so motion. Janie backed toward the door, shoving past Denise on her way out, feeling like a complete ass for trusting a known playboy. She didn’t even stomp around the room to collect her things because not a damn thing on Raymond’s boat belonged to her. Not the dress, the rose, or the silk scarf. Not even the damn underwear Raymond ripped from her body.

“Janie, please, I can explain.” He reached out a hand and grabbed Janie by the arm.

His fingers dug into her flesh as he squeezed just above her elbow. He pulled Janie close and she could smell the scent of his antibacterial soap and the coconut conditioner he'd slopped in his hair. He shaved his face after Janie complained the weekend bristles were unbecoming of a man of his stature, although secretly she loved the way the sandpaper bristles rubbed against her aching breasts. Better to put those images behind her. No telling how many pairs of breasts he’s had his face in.

“I have to get back to the restaurant,” Janie says in a calm, professional tone.

She didn’t look into his pleading eyes as she spoke. Instead, she trained her eyes on the mole on his right shoulder, the only spot on Raymond’s delectable body she dared look at if she planned to walk off this yacht without giving into her animal instincts.

“I have a ton of work to do and I should never have spent so much time away.” She pried Raymond’s fingers loose and scooted down the hall, away from the temptation.

“I’ll drive you,” Raymond called as he chased Janie down the hall. He grabbed a fistful of towel with one hand and tried to run with as much dignity as he could. Janie would almost laugh at the absurdity of him getting caught half-naked in a room with two of his ex-lovers, if she wasn’t one of the spurned participants.

“No, you’ve got company and I don’t want to keep you from her.”

“Janie, I can explain,” Raymond begged. There was anguish in his voice, enough hurt that Janie almost wanted to give him the chance to lie to her and tell her Lyndsey didn’t mean anything to him. That he didn’t sleep with her because she was fucking gorgeous. That he slept with Janie because he cared.

“Not necessary. But I think you should know…” Her voice cracked as she tried to keep her shit together. She needed to get out of there fast before she made a completely ass of herself. “I’m seven weeks pregnant.” She ran down the hall, slamming the door on Raymond’s pleas as he did the math. She didn’t unleash the tears until she was safely back on the dock, her feet pounding against the uneven wood as she rushed away from her biggest mistake.

Chapter Five

Monday morning Margarita knocked on Janie’s office door. Janie rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she looked up from the half-finished menus on her laptop and gratefully accepted the hot chocolate in Margarita’s outstretched hand.

“There’s a gentleman in the ballroom asking to speak to you. His Town Car is parked illegally out back, his suit is high end, and he’s absolutely gorgeous. I know you haven’t said, but he has ‘baby daddy’ written all over him.”

Janie grimaced. She didn’t need her staff gossiping about her personal life. Her work was her one safe place, and the kitchen had no room for her personal issues.

“Should I send him in or do you want a minute to…” Margarita looked over Janie’s mussed hair and non-existent makeup. “Freshen up?” she suggested.

“God no.” Janie knew if Raymond came in her office and shut the door, there wouldn’t be anything to stop him from trying to seduce her, and worse, nothing to stop her from giving in to his seductions.

As much as she wanted to hate him right now, her defenses were weak from pregnancy hormones and holiday romanticism. She didn’t want to hang on to any anger or bitterness, and Raymond was the type of asshole to visit her and try to take advantage of her moment of weakness. Janie knew one look at his pleading eyes and fluttering lashes and she might let him take her right there on her desk. Christen her office with a real Christmas celebration.

“No, I’ll follow you out,” she said. “I want to make sure there are witnesses.”

“Your call,” Margarita said. “But at least put your shoes back on. Those slippers don’t exactly scream ‘sexy,’ if you know what I mean.”

Janie looked down at her Rudolph slippers. She sighed before slipping back into her heels. She followed Margarita through the kitchen, stopping to stretch her back as she walked past Danielle’s flying potato peels. Janie closed her eyes and took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself to stand her ground and not give in to Raymond’s charm and good looks. She desperately wanted to kick off her shoes and plop onto the settee in the ballroom for a much needed nap, but she had to deal with Raymond first.

“Is this him?” Danielle whispered. Margarita placed a finger to her lips but nodded discreetly.

“More peeling and less gossip,” Janie snipped as she pushed open the ballroom door.

Much to her surprise, it wasn’t Raymond standing in the ballroom. Gary the assistant stopped pacing around the square room as she approached and flashed Janie a million dollar smile. His suit was crisp and pressed. Everything about him sparkled in the morning light, from the gold cuff links at his wrists to the tassels of his Gucci loafers.

“Gary, right?” Janie asked, extending her hand. “What…a pleasant surprise.”

“Janie. I’m sorry to barge in on you like this, but Raymond asked me to look in on you. He said you guys left things a bit awkwardly, and he wanted me to drop in and see how you were holding up.”

“I don’t need you or Raymond checking up on me,” Janie spat out. “I am capable of taking care of myself.”

“No doubt,” Gary said with a curt nod. “I just don’t understand Raymond’s obsession with you. He catches his fiancée cheating on him and finally has the excuse he needs to get out of the farce his dad forced on him.”

“She cheated on him?” Janie asked.

Gary nodded. “Don’t trust everything you read in the papers. It’s no surprise, really. They hated each other from day one. The idea of them getting married was preposterous. But the way their dads spun the story, it was the best idea of the century.”

“I had no idea,” Janie murmured.

“No one did,” Gary agreed. “That’s why it was so hard for Raymond to get out of it. But then she’s stupid enough to get caught cheating, and Raymond has his golden ticket. He should be hooking up with every single lady in the city, but he passes on Miss New York because he has the hots for a random, unknown chef, no offense—” Gary added.

Janie plastered a fake smile on her face but could not force out a response. She just wanted this asshole to leave so she could collapse on the couch and forget about the pressure on her bladder and the ache in her back.

“Why he felt the need to have a last minute party on his yacht just to impress you is beyond me,” Gary continued. He pulled gloves out of his jacket pocket and snapped the leather around his fingers. “It all seemed a bit juvenile, to tell you the truth.”

“Wait,” Janie said, shaking her head as she tried to comprehend Gary’s words. “Raymond threw that party to impress me?” Her voice was squeaky with disbelief.

“I assume so,” Gary confirmed. “I don’t see any other reason why he coerced me to get so many people to attend last minute.”

“You mean it wasn’t a scheduled Christmas party? Like, planned and on the calendar eight or ten weeks ago?” Jane asked incredulously.

“God, no,” Gary said. “I had to make a lot of promises to some very wealthy people to get them to attend on such short notice. Most of them agreed because they have never been invited to a function of Raymond’s before. As far as I know, he’s never even entertained on his yacht. And so many different women have begged to have him take them out there. It truly is a magnificent boat.”

“Yes,” Janie agreed. “The boat is lovely.”

“Right,” Gary said. “Well, I accomplished what I came to do. I won’t keep you any longer from your work. If you’ll excuse me, it was lovely to see you again—”

“Why do you think Denise showed up on the yacht? Was she invited?” Janie interrupted.

Gary waived an impatient hand through the air. “Certainly not. I assume she heard about the party through the local grapevine and didn’t want to be left out. She was probably tired of her boy toy by then and wanted to get back into the limelight with New York’s finest. Believe me, there’s only one woman who has Raymond Whitehorn’s eye, and that isn’t Denise, whether she’s still his fiancée or not. For whatever reason, I still do not understand, that woman is most definitely you.”

Gary paused at the ballroom door and looked at Janie over his shoulder. He leveled his hard eyes on Janie. She swallowed, not sure she wanted to believe the information Gary had shared. But she couldn’t deny the truth in his words. Gary nodded slowly as the truth washed over her. “Now, you really must excuse me. Raymond’s car is waiting to take me to the airport. He has an important business meeting in Milan that he refuses to attend until I promised to check in on you. Are you going to be alright?”

Janie pasted on a smile. “Yes, thank you for stopping by,” she said. She was surprised she actually meant it.

***

“Well?” Raymond asked when Gary stepped into the Town Car.

“Well, now we can head to the airport,” Gary said as he unbuttoned his suit jacket.

“It’s not that simple,” Raymond muttered, although his objections didn’t stop his driver from pulling into traffic.

“She’s fine.” Gary held out a glass of amber liquid and clinking ice cubes, but Raymond waved away the offered drink. “Suit yourself,” Gary said, sipping on the drink himself. “What is so important about her anyway? Give her some time to calm down and just see her when you get back. We’ll only be in Milan three or four days, tops.”

Raymond slipped his head in his hands. He bounced his elbows on his knees three times before he said, “She’s pregnant.”

Gary spit alcohol in surprise. “The chef? Jeez, no wonder…” He dabbed at his power tie with a linen napkin. “What are you going to do?”

Raymond shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Want me to cut her a check? Your dad would never even have to know what it was for. I can expense it under entertainment or food.” Gary chuckled at his own joke until he saw Raymond’s face. His jaw clenched as he tried to fight the spasm in his crimson cheeks.

“I don’t want you to buy her off!” Raymond shouted. He slammed his fist on his armrest so hard it sloshed the rest of Gary’s alcohol onto his lap. Gary cursed and reached for the seltzer water. “She’s not some bimbo that’s going to go to the tabloids. We can’t make this go away with money.” Raymond jammed his hands into his hair and massaged his temples. “I don’t want this to just ‘go away.’ I want to figure out a way to make this last.”

“Jeez, Raymond, listen to yourself,” Gary said when it was clear that Raymond had calmed down. “I know you think you are serious about her—”

“I am serious about her,” Raymond growled. His temple pulsed and the red rash threatened back in his cheeks.

“Okay, yeah, so you’re serious,” Gary conceded. “But what do you think your dad is going to say? He’s been grooming this relationship with the president for years. He’s already ordered me to get you and Denise back together. Do you have any idea how much I’ve spent in flowers and apology cards?”

Raymond glowered but didn’t say anything.

“Enough to feed a small country,” Gary continued. “Your dad isn’t going to just let you throw all that power and money away for a small time chef.”

“But I love her,” Raymond moaned.

“I know you do buddy, but since when has your dad cared about love? There is no way I can spin this into something your dad will get behind. You have to let it go.”

“I can’t,” Raymond said, but Gary had already pulled out his phone.

“Let’s just get to Milan. We’ll relax, get drunk, and forget all about this. I’m sure there are some gorgeous Italian women that will be happy to take your mind off of all of this.” Gary waved his hand through the air as if “all of this” was some minor inconvenience, and not the most important moment of Raymond’s life. “I promise, it will be fine. Okay?”

Raymond nodded even though he wanted to vomit. He felt like he couldn’t breathe, like he’d been drowning ever since Janie said that she was pregnant. She’d said it so casually, so flippantly as she stormed off the yacht, as if it wasn’t that big of a deal. To Raymond it was the most monumental news of the year and it just reinforced what he already suspected. The plan that he’d already begun to form when Janie spent the weekend with him on the yacht, he loved her and he wanted to be with her, end of story. No one was going to take her away from him, especially now that he knew she was carrying his child. They were meant to be together, and Raymond didn’t want some classless one night stand with a woman in Milan he would never see again. He wanted Janie.

“Do we even know she really is pregnant?” Gary murmured.

Raymond stared at him, but Gary wasn’t expecting an answer. He was already typing on his phone, taking care of important business that needed to get done between now and the flight to Milan. Raymond got a headache just thinking about it. Thank goodness he had Gary, even if he was crass and not the most emotionally involved friend.

While Gary muttered and typed frantically, Raymond put his hands against the car window. He slipped his head against the headrest and stared out the car’s tinted windows, watching the oblivious NYC traffic streak by.

***

To take her mind off of Raymond and Gary’s unexpected visit, Janie gave her kitchen staff a much deserved night off. Margarita and Danielle refused to let Janie go home to an empty apartment, so the three headed to a swanky downtown restaurant for an early dinner and drinks.

“Here’s to a new year,” Danielle said, lifting her Patron into the air.

“Let’s get through Christmas first,” Margarita replied, lifting her own glass.

“Yes, to the next few days,” Janie agreed.

There were only five days until Christmas and Janie still had to cook for three office parties, two catered lunches, and one holiday themed wedding. She clinked her glass of water against the other two glasses of tequila and tried not to be envious as Margarita and Danielle chugged their alcohol down. She needed a stiff drink to help her drown her sorrows, but because of the baby growing inside of her, numbness by alcohol was no longer an option. Janie let out a long, sad sigh.

“What’s the matter?” Margarita asked.

Janie stared at the melting ice cubes in her drink. “I feel so fat. I know I’ll lose the weight eventually, but do you think anyone will want to date me after I have stretch marks?”

“Oh, honey,” Margarita cooed. She slid her chair closer to Janie and pressed Janie’s hands between her own. “Just because your baby daddy is being a douche bag doesn’t mean your life is over.”

“I just thought this would play out differently. I’m not ready to be a mom. What am I going to do about work and daycare? This might be the last girl’s night out I ever get.”

Danielle reached across the other side of the table and took Janie’s other hand. “Don’t think like that,” she scolded. “A baby doesn’t stop you from living, it just makes you come up with creative solutions. Plus you can always bring your baby on a girl’s night out with me and Margarita.”

“Oh no,” Janie laughed.

“What?” Margarita put her hand on her hip and pursed her lips, daring Janie to comment on her abilities as a parent.

“I just don’t think I’d feel comfortable bringing a baby out for drinks. That might be a little awkward, don’t you think? What if a guy asks me to dance? I could say yes but my baby sling might get in the way.” Janie laughed at the ridiculous idea. Margarita and Danielle traded smiles.

“Forget about men, they’re nothing but trouble,” Margarita said when the laughter died down. “Besides, you’re going to be so fat and stretched out no one will want to dance with you anyway.”