For You I Do (8 page)

London groaned as he thought about what he was giving up tonight. Tracina had the most magical hands.

“No, it’s something that I have to take care of myself. Can I get a rain check?”

“Absolutely.”

London hung up the phone, then ran a frustrated hand down his face. Bianca was definitively going to be the death of him.

But he was a man of his word and his offer still stood. He would give her some time to think about the two of them together and until he heard from her, he would just have to put his personal life on hold.

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For You I Do

He tried to envision Tracina lying naked across her large poster bed, but all he could see was Bianca’s wide eyes staring up him.

Damn, I need my head examined.

He walked up to his room and sat on the end of the bed. And found himself wondering about the two of them sharing his home, his bed. Knowing Bianca, she would want something bigger and better. She was born into money, while he had to work hard for everything he had. His family restaurant was a result of three generations of long hours and hard work, and it could all be taken away with the strike of a match if he wasn’t smart, not to mention, careful. Fortunately for him, he had learned how to invest his money and over the years he had accumulated a port-folio that would make even a Beaumont gasp. No one knew his net worth, and he preferred to keep it that way. He wanted a woman to be attracted to who he was, not what he had.

Closing his eyes, London could still taste Bianca on his tongue, and the memory sent everything male about him into overdrive. She was a stubborn woman, but he was a stubborn man. She needed him. She just didn’t realize it yet.

He was willing to bide his time, then he would make his move. Patience had never been one of his strong suits. He would just have to show her how good they could be together.

Bianca needed a husband and that man was going to be him.

London had left her house over an hour ago, yet Bianca was still rooted in the same exact place. She couldn’t believe that London had offered to marry her! She was already engaged, or at least she was until Collin returned home this evening. Just thinking about Collin caused her blood to boil.

To think she was pregnant by that two-timing loser. She must have been blinded by his good looks to have been so naive that she hadn’t seen the signs. Whoever the woman was, it was obvious they knew each other quite well. The pictures were all dated over the last three days.

Reaching for her mug, she put the untouched tea back into the microwave. Now that London was gone, she could drink her tea in peace while she tried to clear her head and think about her next move.

Angie Daniels

61

The phone on the wall rang and she ignored it. She didn’t have to look to know who it was. Collin. His phony plane had landed.

Tough luck.
There would be no limousine picking him up tonight. He would just have to find his own way home. She would deal with him later. Right now she had more important things to worry about. Her unborn child.

Marry me.

Was he really serious? Nah, not London.

There was no way London was ready to give up his carefree lifestyle, even for her. Yet when she’d stared up into his eyes, her hands had trembled because what she saw told her that he was dead serious.

But married to London Brown? How in the world would she be able to keep her heart intact? As much as she hated to admit it, London was one of the finest men she knew, which didn’t make resisting him easy.

While they had dated, there were several times she had considered taking him home to her bed and giving in to that chemistry she felt every time he was around.

Two things had stopped her. One was that London had a reputation as a player. She would have just been another notch on his bedpost. After he’d gotten what he’d wanted, the challenge of having her would have gone and so would London. The second reason was that there would have been no way for her to separate her heart from her body. She had to feel something for a man before she could even consider sleeping with him, and what she felt for London was too strong to be ignored for too long.

The timer went off and Bianca retrieved her rewarmed tea from the microwave oven. From the other room she could hear her cell phone ringing and again she let it go. Instead, she moved to the window over the sink and stared out into the dark, starlit night. Right about now she should be cussing, screaming and crying her eyes out because Collin was unfaithful. Instead, she felt angry and confused.

She placed a hand gently over her abdomen. “It’s going to be okay, little one. Mama’s not going to let anything happen to you,” she whispered with assurance to her unborn child.

Days ago, she had come to the conclusion that getting
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pregnant had been purely an accident. There was no point in beating herself up for getting pregnant by a no-good bastard. All she could do was push on and get ready to start a new life for her and her baby. What angered her most was that her baby would be without a father.

I want to be a father to your unborn child.

Even now his words caused her heart to lurch. She moved away from the window with a frustrated bark of laughter. She couldn’t even think about considering his offer. Ridiculous, she thought, as she brought her mug to her lips.

The two of them, married. No way! It would never work and no one would ever believe it was a real marriage.

But despite her protest, heat settled down low at the thought of being his wife in every way.

Her mind raced back to when he had pulled her into his arms.

Her entire body had turned into liquid fire. How could she have let her guard down, allowing her body to respond to him so brazenly? She had wanted his kisses. She had yearned for his hands on her breasts. Now London thought she was so desperate that she would allow him to do whatever he wanted. He thought she was so vulnerable that she was his for the asking.

But she wasn’t and never would be. She knew that and she was going to make sure he knew it, as well.

She tilted her chin. She would do whatever it took to keep her family name out of the local gossip. She was determined not to make her parents look bad, she decided with renewed determination as she sipped her tea. She would find a way without getting married.

No matter how London made her feel, nothing could change the fact that she simply did not want an emotional or physical relationship with a man ever again. Collin had shown her that she could not trust men, and if Collin could not be trusted to mean it when he said that he loved her and wanted to marry her, then she certainly wasn’t going to risk trusting a man like London Brown.

Chapter 10

“London did what?”

Bianca glanced around, reassuring herself that no one was listening. “Can you please keep it down?” Her tall, leggy friend had a habit of being a little too loud at times.

“I’m sorry,” Debra said with an apologetic smile, then lowered her voice and said, “I can’t believe it. The prince of chicken asked you to marry him.”

“Very funny.”

Debra chuckled. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m laughing because there are going to be a lot of haters when they find out that London Brown is about to come off the market.”

“Wait a minute. I didn’t say I was going to accept his proposal.”

“Why not?”

Bianca pursed her lips at her. The answer should be obvious.

“Because last week I was engaged to Collin. What will I look like telling everyone, ‘Oops I made a mistake. I’m actually in love with London.’”

Debra pushed a blond curl out of her face and pierced Bianca
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For You I Do

with her green eyes hidden behind a pair of trendy glasses. “Are you in love with London?”

“Hell, no.”

“My point exactly. No one knew the identity of your fiancé.

Remember, you kept his identity a secret.”

She had forgotten about that. “It doesn’t matter. I’m still not even going to waste my time considering his offer. That man thinks he’s God’s gift to women.”

“Yeah, but he chose you and that should say something,”

Debra replied, leaning toward her.

“All it says is that he feels sorry about taking those pictures and destroying what I had with Collin,” she retorted with a dismissive wave of her hand.

Debra pointed a freshly manicured finger at her. “No, Collin did that on his own.”

She was right. Collin had ruined everything. And the second his “imaginary” plane landed and she wasn’t there greeting him with open arms, he caught a cab and rushed over to her house.

She had already taped the photographs of him and his other woman to her front door. He saw them and spent the next half hour banging on her door, trying to explain until she finally called the police and told him never to call her again. A week had passed and Collin tried numerous times to get in touch with her before he’d finally gotten the hint. She hadn’t heard from him in over a week. As disappointing as it was, their relationship was finally over.

“You have to admit, London is a good man to be willing to marry you and be the father of your child,” Debra said on an envious sigh.

“It would only be a front long enough for me to have the baby and come up with a reason for us to divorce.”

Debra pushed her glasses to the top of her head. “A lot can happen in that time.”

Remembering the way her body had tingled when he kissed her caused a shiver to slide down her spine. “I doubt that. By then London will have grown restless and be ready to get back to being a playboy.”

“And maybe not.”

Angie Daniels

65

Sighing, Bianca met her gaze and asked, “Why are you so happy about the thought of me marrying him?”

“Because you know I’ve always liked him and he really is a good guy. It’s not his fault that he looks good,” she argued and laughed.

“Then why haven’t you dated him?”

She turned up her nose. “That would be too much like dating one of my brothers.”

Debra had five brothers, all older than her. That was something the two of them had in common—brothers. London went to school with Debra’s youngest brother, Charles.

She didn’t want to admit it, but she hadn’t heard from London since he kissed her silent and then departed her house. Obviously, he wasn’t serious about his offer because he hadn’t called and was probably grateful that she had not called him, either.

“I still can’t believe that Collin was messing around,” Debra replied after swallowing a mouthful of potato salad. “Although I did tell you there was something about that man I didn’t like.

He went on too many deployments. I know the air force sends their people out on missions, but he was gone almost every weekend. Come on now.”

Bianca nodded. She had had the same suspicions.

“At least you had sense enough to give him his walking papers.” Debra reached across the table and gave her a high five.

“My mama ain’t raised no fool. You know I don’t believe in giving second chances. If he’d do it once, he’d do it again.”

“Damn right,” Debra said. “Did you tell him about the baby?”

“Nope.”

Debra didn’t look the least bit pleased by Bianca’s answer.

“Are you planning to tell him?”

Bianca released a heavy sigh of despair. “Maybe, eventually. He
is
the father of my child and he
does
have a right to know. I just won’t tell him until after the baby is born.” Pausing, she released a frustrated groan. “I wish I didn’t have to deal with Collin. I have a hunch that when he finds out about the baby, he’ll cause problems for me.”

“Then what are you going to do?”

Bianca had been thinking about that all week and the only thing she was certain of was that she wasn’t giving up her baby.

“I always dreamed of having kids, but part of that fantasy
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included a ring on my finger and a good man standing beside me.”

Sighing, she added, “I’m just going to have to raise her myself.”

Excitement shimmered in Debra’s eyes. “It might be a boy.”

She shook her head. “Uh-uh. This is a girl. We have enough boys in our family.”

“That’s for sure.”

The waitress brought them both refills.

Bianca sobered and looked down into her iced tea. “I really want this baby. But what am I going to do when the whole town finds out that I’m having a baby out of wedlock?”

Debra frowned. “This isn’t the fifties. Women have babies by themselves all the time.”

She wished she had her friend’s confidence.

“When are you planning to tell your parents?”

With a frustrated groan, Bianca dropped her head against the bench and stared up at the ceiling. They were the problem. The last thing the family needed was a scandal. And the Beaumont daughter being jilted and knocked up by her fiancé would be the talk of the town.

Suddenly, she lost her appetite. She could just see herself having that conversation with her parents. They would look at her with disappointment and shame. All her parents cared about was how things looked. And having a daughter pregnant and un-married would be an embarrassment to the Beaumont name. Her mother was never going to forgive her.

Bianca looked over at her friend and saw the sympathy in her eyes and shook her head. “I don’t know.”

“You can’t keep it a secret. At some point you’re going to starting showing.”

Blowing out a breath, she nodded and said, “Yes, I know.”

Debra was right. The whole thing with her keeping her fiancé/baby’s daddy a secret had gone on long enough. Soon, she promised, soon she would go to her parents’ house and drop the bomb in their laps. Then she could go hide her head under the sand for the next six months until the baby was born.

“I guarantee that when your parents see that beautiful little baby they will get over it,” Debra replied with a confidence Bianca wished she felt.

Angie Daniels

67

“Maybe, but what about the rest of the town?”