Slow Seduction (33 page)

Taking the stairs, she ran outside and got inside a cab as he came out the front door screaming, “Jenisha, baby, wait!”

Instead of going home, Jenisha had the cab drop her at a park that was in walking distance of her house. Finding a good place on a bench under a tree, she sat down. Minutes later, a new mom with two toddlers walked past her and smiled. Jenisha touched her stomach tenderly. “Sweetheart, I swear I’ll be a loving mother. Your father may not love me anymore, but I know he’ll love you.”

She sat there a couple more hours just relaxing and loving the peace of the warm summer day. Easing up from the bench, Jenisha stopped off for a strawberry ice cream cone and then made her way home. She was turning the corner when she saw Clinton get into his car and take off down the street.

Hurriedly, Jenisha made it into the house and locked the door quickly behind her. Walking over to the table, Jenisha picked up the divorce papers and stared at them like she had down so many times in the past month. Every night she prayed for a miracle that would bring Clinton back in her life, and now she had it.

A precious baby was inside waiting for the love all innocent children deserve, yet she didn’t want to win her husband back that way. So, she picked up the pen and signed the papers below his name. Holding back tears, she called her lawyer and told him to come and pick up the papers.

Looking out the window from his huge office in the high rise building in Los Angeles, Clinton stared at the couples walking and holding hands on the sidewalk below. Jenisha had this stubborn streak in her now and he couldn’t break it.

He had called her late last night asking where she had been two days ago and she didn’t give him an answer, but hung up the phone. He needed to stop her from signing those damn papers. Hearing the beeping sound coming from his phone, Clinton reached behind him and pushed the speaker button.

“Yes?”

“Mr. Campbell, I have wonderful news for you. I got your divorce papers back. I can file them so your divorce will be official in a matter of days,” his attorney said.

“Don’t do it,” he barked over his shoulder.

“What? May I ask why not? You have been waiting for these papers for weeks now.”

“I pay you and you will do as I say. Send them back to me.”

“I’ll have them to you later this afternoon, Mr. Campbell.”

“Fine,” Clinton ended the call with a flick of his wrist.

Clinton got up out of his chair and walked around his office, shattered Jenisha had signed the papers without even calling him.
Did she want to be rid of him that bad?
How could she forget all the times they spent getting to know each other? Wasn’t the first time they made love burned into her mind, as it was his?

Yeah, when he first heard about her condition he had overreacted, and in the heat of the moment filed those stupid papers, but he didn’t really want a divorce. Jenisha didn’t understand how much losing her would put a hole in his heart. He adored her so much. She never knew how he would wake up in the middle of the night just to watch her sleep, wondering what dream she was having and if he could make them come true. He knew there wasn’t another man. Damn it, she still loved him. The reaction she had to him in the elevator proved it. With the right plan and a little slow seduction, he could win her heart back.

The ringing phone again tore him for his daydreams about Jenisha. Marching over to his desk, he pushed the speaker button.

“Yeah?”

“Mr. Campbell,”

“Yes?”

“This is Nurse Georgia from Dr. Evans office and I’m calling about your wife’s prenatal vitamins. Could you please let her know we are going to start sending them to her house like she requested.”

“Did you say prenatal vitamins?” Clinton knew his ears must be playing tricks on him.

“Yes, she needs take them every day for the baby and also let her know she is three and a half months pregnant. I know she wanted to know.”

“I’ll let her know,” he whispered.

Clinton ended the call and fell back down into his chair. He was going to be a father. God, Jenisha didn’t tell him, and why would she after the way he treated her? His gorgeous wife was pregnant with his little boy or girl and he wasn’t there with her.

Well, that would change. The house was as much his as it was hers, and, for the remainder of her pregnancy, he would be there with her.

A key turning in the door startled Jenisha who was sitting on the couch looking through baby magazines. She started to get up off the couch as Clinton came in carrying luggage and baby toys.

“Who told you?” she asked, standing up.

“It doesn’t matter,” Clinton answered, kicking the door closed with the heel of his shoes. “What does matter is you didn’t.”

“I was going to tell when I found out what we were having,” Jenisha said, touching her stomach

Clinton placed his luggage and the bags of baby items by the side of the couch. He marched over to her laying his hand on top of hers. “Baby, this is a miracle and you weren’t going to let me share it with you?”

“Clinton, we’re divorced now,” Jenisha muttered. She couldn’t let him know how much his touch was affecting her body. “So why are your bags in my house?”

“We aren’t divorced,” Clinton asked as she was brushing his hand off her body. “I tore up the papers before I came over here.”

Hell, no. Clinton wouldn’t stay with her because of the baby. If he didn’t love her for her, she didn’t want him here because she was pregnant. It wouldn’t help the situation they were in. “Why did you do that? You pushed me to sign them and I did.”

“Will you please sit down so we can talk,” he asked, holding out a hand to help her down.

She ignored the hand he gave her and moved away from him to sit on the far end of the loveseat. “What do you think we need to talk about? I thought we settled everything that day months ago at True’s house.”

Clinton sat in his black leather chair across from Jenisha and noticed all the changes in her body. He smiled proudly, knowing that a small life was growing inside of her because of him and their love. “You look so beautiful, precious” he whispered.

Jenisha stared back at Clinton trying not to notice how the short sleeve blue shirt was pulled tight across his chest, or how the green of his eyes seemed more intoxicating than normal. She had to understand he was only here for the baby. “You don’t have to give me an empty compliment.”

“I forgot how you aren’t use to honest flattery from a man.”

“Clinton, why are you doing this? I know you don’t love me more anymore after found you out, and it’s okay. Really.”

Leaning forward, emerald green eyes held her gaze. “Mrs. Campbell, I love you very much and I was a bastard to react the way I did. Can’t we forget about it?” he murmured.

“The look on your face is something I’ll never forget. When I close my eyes at night, I can still see it. Hate, you look at me with pure hate,” Jenisha whispered, still hurt by the memory. “I’m a grown woman, so we don’t have to pretend. I know you are only here for the baby and that’s okay. The baby is a gift we both should enjoy, so I’m happy you’re with me. If you excuse me, I’ll go and get the guestroom ready for you.” Jenisha got up and went up the stairs before she did anything to embarrass herself.

Throwing out curses, Clinton got up from the chair, wanting to follow Jenisha, but knew he wouldn’t. He didn’t know how hurtful his words had been to her. His mother had always told him to stop saying things in the heat of the moment, because one day it would come back to haunt him. This was the day. Jenisha couldn’t wait to leave the room.

When she came back down they would resume their conversation, and, if it took all night, he would make Jenisha understand he loved her as much as the baby. He wasn’t here only for the child, but her as well. It took him too long to find the love of his life to lose her now.

Pacing around the house, he waited and waited some more for Jenisha to come back down, but she didn’t. “Jenisha, are you up there hiding from me? Precious, I’m coming up there so we can talk.”

Clinton took the steps two at a time and searched each room until he found her asleep in the master bedroom. Shutting the door, he walked over to the bed and stared down at her. Kicking off his shoes and pulling off his shirt, he climbed on the bed behind her and carefully laid his arm over her stomach. Closing his eyes, Clinton fell into slumber with his wife.

Jenisha stood in the middle of the kitchen and wondered what to fix of dinner. Things were so much harder to fix now that she was in her seventh month. Clinton had been so wonderful helping out all the time. She had been cautious of him since waking up a while back in his comforting arms. The feel of being in those arms again had almost been her downfall, yet she caught herself in time.

Yesterday had been another close call too because she caught him coming from the shower wearing only a towel. The body she had dreamt of for months had came toward her drenched, and she knew he had done it on purpose. Then he had tried to make small talk standing in the hallway, knowing his chest was her favorite body part because of all the hair.

Clinton had kept moving up until his chest brushed hers. He had asked if she needed anything. Shaking her head no, she had tried to slide past him. However, he stopped her by placing his hand on her belly. He did that every chance he got. Saying how he loved the sight of her body, he quickly kissed her before she could move away. It was so faint she thought it almost didn’t happen until she noticed her lipstick on his lips.

“Precious, don’t worry about dinner tonight, I brought it home,” Clinton yelled from the living room as the front door slammed behind him. An appetizing smell followed her husband into the kitchen.

Grinning, she said, “What did you bring?” She reached for the bag, but Clinton moved it behind his back.

“How are my sexy wife and son doing today?” he asked. Ever since Clinton had found out he was having a son, a smile was constantly plastered to his handsome face.

“We are doing wonderful,” Jenisha whispered.

“Good, now come over here and see what I have for you.” Clinton pulled out baked chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans from the bag. “I know how much you have been craving this.”

In her excitement, Jenisha hugged her husband. “T
hank
you so much.” They stayed in the embrace until she realized what happened and moved away. “Sorry about that,” she whispered, turning away to get the plates.

Clinton wanted to scream,
You don’t have to apologize for touching your own husband.
He thought by now Jenisha would trust him, but she didn’t. They still slept in separate bedrooms and it was killing him.
What if she needed him during the night and he didn’t hear her.

She still held on to the idea that he was only here for the baby. He didn’t want to press the issue until the baby was born, and then he would shake some sense into her gorgeous head. Standing back, her watched he move around the kitchen humming softly. This was one of the rare times Jenisha allowed her guard down in front of him and he knew to cherish it.

He noticed how she always found a way to include their son in every conversation or thing she did from cooking, reading, or folding laundry. She talked to him all the time which was the advice she got from True.

Jenisha was so strong and held everything in. Not once during the pregnancy had she mentioned the trauma she went through with Mark. He had tried to bring it up once and she stopped him, saying negativity would only harm the baby. His heart was filled with so much love he knew it would burst any second. Jenisha didn’t know it, but he was planning to make his residence permanent in the house. He wasn’t about to miss a day with his wife or son.

“Clinton, dinner’s ready,” Jenisha called to him. Pushing away from the counter, he went to join her at the table.

Two months later, Clinton was shaken awake from a deep sleep by Jenisha wearing only her nightgown. “Clinton, please wake up. My water broke.”

He bolted up out of the bed. “How long ago did it happen?”

“I don’t know, maybe ten minutes?” Jenisha answered. She was trying to stay calm, but the pain was killing her.

“Why didn’t you come and get me sooner?” He knew that he should have moved back into that master bedroom with her during her last month, but she kept fighting him and he let it go.

“Clinton, please don’t question me I need to get to the hospital,” Jenisha muttered, holding her stomach and wincing as another contraction hit her full force.

Clinton threw back the covers off his body and got out of the bed naked. Jenisha’s eyes widened in shock as she took a step back from him. He knew it had been a while since he wife let him share her bed, but she couldn’t have forgotten how he liked to sleep naked.

“Have you been sleeping naked all this time?” she asked, moaning as another sharp pain hit her.

“Yeah,” he answered, glancing around for the clothes he tossed off earlier. Finding them, he got dressed in record time then picked up Jenisha and carried her outside to the car. He arrived at the hospital twenty minutes later.

At twelve thirty-five on December 15
^th
, Jenisha Campbell gave birth to a healthy, eight pound, twelve ounce baby boy name Dylan Clinton Campbell. Jenisha was holding his son when Clinton walked in the room followed by Hayward and True.

They all raved about how much the baby looked like both parents with his green eyes and curly black hair. Jenisha stayed in the hospital two extra days with Dylan because she lost too much blood during delivery, and then she was released.

After Jenisha came home with his son, Clinton spent night after night slipping into the nursery to watch Dylan sleep. It was hard to believe that Dylan was almost three months old now. He couldn’t believe half of his dream had finally come true. He was finally a father and he had a beautiful baby boy.

Now he had to work on the part of the dream that he had lost-his wife. Jenisha still wasn’t hearing what he wanted to say. He knew that if he didn’t convince her soon his marriage would really be over. And now he was dealing with another thing keeping Jenisha away from him.

While she had been on maternity leave, the school board had called and ask Jenisha if she want the job as principal at Bryant. The news came as a shock to both of them, but what shocked him more was when she said yes, but with one condition. She would only take the job if she could bring Dylan to work when he got bigger.

Right now, he stayed home with Dylan and loved every minute of it. His son had changed so much in the last three months and he wanted to see more. Clinton brushed a lock of black hair off his son’s forehead and wondered if Jenisha had received the gift he had sent to her school. She was there getting stuff ready for the interim-principal until she was ready to come back. This was his last chance at winning back her undying love and trust.