Naughty Before Christmas (Decadent Delight Series #3) (10 page)

For the past few
weeks Reggie had been acting funny, like he was hiding something from her. Now she knew what it was. “I think my husband’s having an affair.”

*  *  *

“
Sorry ’bout that,” Reggie said as he hurried back to the table.

Lyric
Jones gave him a dismissive wave. “No problem. I went ahead and ordered shrimp tacos like you asked.”

“
Thanks.” He straddled the chair and smiled over at the beautiful dark-skinned woman.

Leaning
across the table, she batted her long eyelashes and purred, “So tell me what it is you have in mind?”

Reaching for his phone,
Reggie typed in a password then slid his finger across the screen. “Here are the pictures.”

She took the phone from his proffered hand
and gazed down at the photographs. “Oh my! This house is beautiful! How many square feet did you say?”

“
Six thousand.”

She whistled.
“Very nice. I love the colors you chose.”

He
was pleased by her compliment. “Honeysuckle beige is my wife’s favorite color.”

“
Good choice. Can I suggest adding greens and blues to make the rooms pop?”

“
You’re the interior designer. That’s why I hired you.”

She winked.
“Good answer.” Reaching inside a large black satchel, Lyric pulled out several color swatches to show him. “What accent colors would you like to work with?” she asked as she fanned the color wheel out for him to see.

Reggie
held up his hands. “Yo, you’re the expert. I’ll just nod and agree with anything you pick out.”

She laughed and then he caught her staring at him.
“Your wife is one lucky woman,” she replied.

“
Yes, she is.” Reggie just hoped he could keep the renovations a secret from Berlin until Christmas Eve.

He had a feeling it
wasn’t going to be easy.

*  *  *

Berlin was in a daze the rest of the day. She still couldn’t get over seeing her husband with that beautiful woman. And what was even worse was that he had lied about it. Sure he said he was with a client but there was just something in his voice that told her he wasn’t being completely honest.
But what?
Now she wished she had done as Arianna had suggested and confronted him and the hussy then Reggie would have had no choice but to have been honest. Now all she could do was hope he would tell her the truth.

She stepped into the
en-suite and stared at her reflection. Her face was slightly rounder and her stomach clearly screamed,
pregnant
! Berlin released a heavy sigh. Did Reggie still find her attractive? she wondered. He told her he did but that was what husbands were supposed to say to their pregnant wives. But what was he going to think when she got too big to even strap her shoes?

Quickly she shook off the ridiculous thoughts. She had never been a woman with self-esteem issues and she’d be damned if she started now. However, she did reapply her mascara
, brushed on a little blush then pulled her hair up in a loose ponytail before departing the master bedroom.

Moments later, Berlin
was sitting on a leather sectional in the family room, in front of a blazing fireplace, sipping hot chocolate when she heard Reggie’s work truck pull onto the driveway.
Breathe
, she told herself and took several small sips from a Christmas mug trying to calm her nerves.

The
side door opened and she heard heavy footsteps as he came through the house looking for her. “Boo! Where you at?”

“
I’m in here,” she said in a shaky voice as she lowered the mug to a coaster on a vintage end table. Within seconds Reggie was standing in the room, clad in jeans, a faded gray tee beneath his jacket, worn Timberland boots, and a tool belt.

And he never looked sexier.

A white smile flashed. “Whassup, beautiful?” he said as he made his way across the room. “How was your day?”

“
Fine,” she managed and tilted her head just in time to meet his juicy winter-chilled kiss. “You’re late tonight.” Her curious gaze scanned Reggie as he dropped onto the couch down near her feet.

“
Yeah, I had a few fires to put out but I got it handled,” he replied and she noticed how he was avoiding eye contact.

“
Fires like what?” she probed.

He scratched his
goatee then frowned. “My new apprentice’s been screwing up. I’m spending more time fixing his mistakes than working. I think I need to start focusing more on hands-on training than I originally planned.”

Her mouth tightened.
“Hmmm. That’s too bad.”

“
What’s for dinner?” he asked.

Berlin
stared over at the decorated Christmas tree in the corner as she replied, “Fish sticks.” Reggie frowned and she grinned inwardly. Reggie hated fish sticks.

Serves him right.

“I’ll just make myself a sandwich.” With that he rose. “Let me jump in the shower real quick.” He planted another kiss on her lips that stirred a need within her. “I’ll be down in a flash,” he muttered, pulling back from her then left the room whistling.

Her brow lifted as she licked her lips.
What the hell was he so happy about?

Long after
Berlin heard the water running she sat there gazing at the presents under the tree. While the logs crackled she sipped the creamy, rich chocolate and tried to figure out how to approach her husband about seeing him at lunch with that woman. Part of her wanted to confront him but the other side was terrified of what she might find out. One of the nurses at the clinic had discovered her husband had been cheating with a younger woman and now she was raising her daughter as a single parent. That was one thing she didn’t want.

Berlin sat there, legs curled beneath her
, inhaling the scent of the Douglas fir she and Reggie decorated two weeks ago. The blue and red lights twinkled and the star on top sparkled off the reflection from the fireplace. Christmas was usually her favorite time of the year. Now she wasn’t so sure. She was preparing the holiday dinner. Their families were coming, and she wasn’t sure if she would be able to fake the Christmas joy.

With a weary sigh, Berlin
rose and padded down the hall into the kitchen. She popped the fish sticks in the microwave then reached inside the refrigerator for the ham and provolone cheese she had picked up at the deli over the weekend. By the time she heard Reggie coming down the stairs she was spreading mustard on a slice of bread.

“
Mmmm, looks good,” he murmured and moved up behind her, wrapping his arms around her midsection. Berlin lowered the knife and allowed her eyes to flutter close as she leaned back into his embrace. He smelled fresh and masculine. “How’s my lil’ man doing today?” he asked as he lovingly caressed her stomach.

“
She’
s doing just fine,” she murmured, lacking the humor the comment usually brought.

Laughing, he swung
Berlin around and leaned her back against the counter. Gazing deep into her eyes there was no denying the love she saw staring back at her and a sob caught in her throat. She loved this man with her every breath.

Reggie
lowered his mouth and brushed his lips over hers. The kiss was so light and sensual it made her shiver. He kissed her once more then pulled back and reached for one of his sandwiches.

She steadied her breath.
“There’s sodas in the fridge,” she said as if he didn’t already know that.

When he moved over to reach for the bag of chips on the top shelf, she slid from behind him and reached inside the microwave.

“What do you want to drink?” he asked with his head in the refrigerator.

“
Water will be fine,” she murmured as she carried her plate over to the table.

He
brought over two bottles of water. “How did the crib shopping go?”

“
I actually found the one I want,” she replied as she sat down. “I want you to come and see it first.”

“
Yeah, okay. Where’s it at?”

“
Downtown Clayton on Maryland Avenue. Are you familiar with that area?”

She noticed the way he stalled then his eyes met hers and locked.
“Yeah, I know the area.”

Well
, at least he didn’t lie.
“I think there is a Mexican restaurant on the corner,” she added, eyes boring into his forehead.

“
That’s where you were today?” he asked.

“
Yep.”

“
Oh wow!” he replied and slapped his forehead. “I was right there when you called.”

“
You were?” Berlin was amazed at how well she was continuing the lie.

“
Yep,” he began between chews. “I met a new client for lunch to discuss a design.”

Her eyes snapped to his
again. Berlin felt her shoulders start to relax. The woman had been a client. “What kinda design is she wanting?”

His gaze measured hers
. “How’d you know it was a she?”

Damn
. She forced a shrug. “I just assumed. Typically women want to discuss designs over lunch.”

He gave her a nervous laugh that made her feel slightly uneasy. Her husband was still hiding something.

“We’re going to build a sunroom off her kitchen just as soon as I get the building permits.” There were those shifty eyes again.

Reggie
twisted off the cap and took a thirsty drink then went back to eating. She bit into another crunchy fish sticks. For some reason they tasted like cardboard.

“
I’ma start on the nursery this weekend.” She noticed how he had changed the subject.

Berlin
simply nodded and during the rest of dinner she was relatively quiet while she let Reggie do all of the talking.

It was barely
ten when they were getting ready for bed. Berlin changed into her nightgown and tied her hair down with a scarf. It wasn’t until they were underneath the covers that Reggie asked, “Yo babe… is something wrong?”

She noticed the
faint lines around his eyes had tightened with worry, and shook her head. “No, I think I’m just feeling hormonal today. Nothing to worry about.”

“
You wouldn’t lie to yo man, would you?”

Like you’re lying to me.
She struggled to keep a straight face. “No… never,” she said more determined than ever to find out what was going on.

“Something’s wrong with my wife.”

Dereon glanced over his shoulder
then replied, “She’s pregnant. Whadda you expect?”

“
No, not like that,” Reggie began with a frustrated breath. “Something’s going on. For the last week Berlin just doesn’t seem happy. I know I’ve been putting in extra hours over here trying to get this house ready for Christmas but she’s used to me working long hours so it’s gotta be something else.”

“
Have you asked her?”

Reggie
scowled. “I tried but she said it was just hormones.”

“
Then there you go. You’re making more of it than it is.” Dereon reached for the power drill. “Hold that piece of drywall in place for me.”

While he helped Dereon screw the
new material to the wall he thought about Berlin’s behavior. She insisted it was just the pregnancy but he had a feeling it was a lot more and it was driving him crazy. When he had come out of the bathroom, she had practically jumped out of her skin then started acting suspicious. He wasn’t sure what she had been doing on his side of the bed. Although he had a sneaking feeling she had been on his cell phone because it wasn’t locked when he had come out of the shower. Not that he minded. Berlin knew his password and he knew hers. He had nothing to hide so he wondered what she had been looking for.

“
Maybe she’s planning something special for you for Christmas,” Dereon said as if he could read his thoughts, and then winked.

That would make sense.
“Did Berlin say something to Christina?”

He shrugged.
“If she did Christina definitely wouldn’t tell me but I did hear them talking on the phone last night. About what, I couldn’t tell you, bruh.”

While
they finished replacing a large section of the drywall in the master bedroom, Reggie tried to tell himself he was making more of the situation than was needed. Dereon was probably right. It was the Christmas season and Berlin was always big about surprising him with something special.

He glanced around at the progress they had made
on the house in record time. Once he had gotten the lottery check in his hand, Reggie had cracked the whipped on the renovations and had even hired another crew to give them a hand. They had expanded and modernized the kitchen with cherry cabinets, granite countertops and stainless steel appliances, then opened up the living room and dining room to give a more open concept. A mason was upgrading the fireplace, stoning it up to the ceiling, and the floors were being prepped for new hardwood flooring. Lots of work was still left to do. He just hoped everything was ready in time for the big reveal on Christmas Eve.