Perfect Timing (22 page)

C
hristopher was on his way home when he received a call on his cell phone. “Yes?”

“It's me, Christopher. Tori.”

He lifted a brow. He hadn't heard from her since their conversation nearly two weeks ago. Nor had he received any more photographs. “And what did you find out?”

“It wasn't my husband who was having me investigated. It was my stepson. He thinks I'm nothing but a golddigger who only married his father for his money.”

“Seems he had you pegged right?”

“I wanted more than just money. I also wanted respectability.”

“A respectable married woman doesn't commit adultery. My God, Tori, you hadn't been married six months, not to mention that your husband is a well-known political figure. You should have been more cautious.”

“And I'm paying for my mistake, trust me. My stepson has threatened to give his father that photograph unless I file for divorce and leave quietly with only the clothes on my back.”

“Are you going to do that?”

“What choice do I have?”

“How about the truth? You can always go to your husband and tell him the truth. He might surprise you and be forgiving.”

“If I were your wife, would you forgive me?”

Christopher didn't have to think long or hard for an answer. “No. But then I wouldn't have been so trusting of you in the first place, so who knows, he might surprise you. I wouldn't let your stepson have the upper hand if I were you.”

“I don't know if I want to fight him. He's hard as nails, and to make matters worse he's a divorce attorney.”

“It's your decision but I didn't think you were the type of person to give in to anyone without a fight.”

“On what defense? I committed adultery.”

“Yeah, and you had me committing it right along with you, which I'm still pissed off about.”

“I'm sorry I got you involved.”

“I'm sorry you got me involved too. But as usual I learn from my mistakes.” After a long moment he said. “I hope things work out for you.”

“I hope things work out for you, too.”

After turning off the phone he swung his car into Madison Avenue as he headed for home. Once he got there he saw the light blinking on his answering machine and walked over to turn it on.

“Christopher, this is Maxi, please call me when you get in.”

He checked his watch before picking up the phone to return Maxi's call. He hadn't spoken with her since their weekend in Las Vegas.

“Hello.”

“Maxi? This is Christopher.”

“Christopher! We did it! I'm pregnant!”

Christopher couldn't help but smile. “Are you sure? I thought you couldn't find out for another two weeks or so.”

“That's what I thought too, but the pharmacist told me that I could find out as early as one day after a missed period. Since I was four days late already, I decided to give it a shot and it turned blue. Oh, Christopher, I am so happy.”

He was happy, too, and if the truth were known he was pretty damn pleased with himself. “When do you go see a regular doctor?”

“Not until next month. Would you like to come with me?”

Christopher hesitated. Hell, yeah, a part of him wanted to go, but this is where he was supposed to cut out and let her go solo. His part in her pregnancy was over until the baby came. Then he would begin providing support for his child the way the two of them had agreed on. “No, I'm sure you'll do fine from here on out without me, Maxi. Just let me know when the kid's born so I can start sending those child support payments.”

There was a quiet pause before she said. “All right.”

When there was another pause, Christopher said. “I'm happy for you, Maxi.”

“You made it all possible, Christopher. Thank you.”

“Don't mention it. You deserved it. Take care.”

“I will. Goodbye, Christopher.”

Goodbye, Maxi.”

 

A little later Gabe dropped by and Christopher told him the news. “Congratulations, man. A baby. Hey, that's deep.”

A part of Christopher didn't want to think about just how deep he'd gone inside Maxi to plant that seed. That was the first and last time he would have unprotected sex with a woman and it had felt good only because it had been Maxi. He couldn't describe the feeling he got exploding inside her.

“Have you thought of any names?”

Christopher took a sip of his wine. “That's up to Maxi. I'm technically out of the picture from here on out.”

“That's the way you want it to be?”

Christopher frowned. “Yes.” He leaned back in his chair and eyed his best friend, seeing his frown. “And why are you trip-pin'? You knew it was going to be this way with me and Maxi.”

“Yeah, but I thought you had changed your mind?”

“Since when?”

“Since the two of you started sleeping together. Especially after you told me about the great time the two of you had in Vegas. Can't you see she's different?”

“Yes, but Maxi's always been different.” Christopher then thought about all those times they had made love. They had been explosive. “And whenever we made love it was to make a baby.”

“Oh, and you didn't enjoy it?”

Like hell he didn't. It had been the best experience of his life
. “It doesn't matter whether I enjoyed it or not. I have no intention of getting involved in any sort of a relationship with any woman and that includes Maxi.”

“Why?”

“You know why. The baby was a gift to her.”

“And you weren't included in the package?”

“That's right.”

“I think you were included, Christopher.”

Christopher stood and walked over to the bar and poured another glass of wine. “You think too damn much, Blackwell.”

“Possibly, but hear me out, will you?” he asked stretching his legs out in front of him. “You raced off to see Maxi in Savannah, a town you swore you would never return to, when you thought you would be involved in some sort of scandal. Why? To protect her from possible embarrassment if word got out that she was having your baby.”

“Yeah? So?”

“Yet, you're letting her face having a baby alone.”

Christopher rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “She won't be alone. She has family in Savannah.”

“But what about the baby's father? What will the good citizens of Savannah think of her when word gets out that bad boy Christopher Chandler is the father of her unborn child?”

“And your point is?”

“My point is that most people, I imagine, will shake their heads thinking it's a sin and a shame that for once you didn't have the decency to do the right thing and marry Maxi and give your child a name. It will sound like history repeating itself to them.”

Christopher frowned. “My child will have a name; whatever name Maxi decides to give it. She wanted a baby and I gave her one. No one has to know I'm the child's father. I told Maxi that.”

“Yes, they do. I get the distinct impression that Maxi isn't the type of woman to deny any man the right to his child. And I refuse to believe you're the type of man who will father a child and not want to play a major role in his life. I refuse to believe that you would treat your child the way your father treated you.”

Christopher glared across the room at Gabe before slamming down his glass of wine, spilling some of it on the floor. “It's way past my bedtime. Feel free to let yourself out,” he said leaving the room.

 

Over the next couple of months Christopher tried not to let the conversation he'd had with Gabe get next to him but found it hard to do. He also tried to get back into his old routine but found that hard to do as well. Oh, the women were willing but he was beginning to find them downright boring as well as annoying. Such was the case with the woman who was presently in his bed. He had looked forward to their date all week and hadn't been disappointed as far as sex went. But a part of him felt he was still missing something, something vital.

“So, that's the reason I plan to quit my job and open my own printing company.”

“Hmmm,” he responded absently.

The woman, whose name was Barbara, turned over and gave him a hard nudge in the side with her elbow. “You haven't been listening to anything I've said, Christopher.”

He glared at her. He would be royally pissed if he had a bruised side tomorrow. “I didn't invite you here to talk, so why bother?”

Barbara sat up in bed and glared back at him. “Haven't you ever heard of pillow talk?”

“I heard about it but never bought into it. Takes up too much energy. Energy I can use for other things.”

“Like screwing my brains out.”

He looked at her and wondered if that was the reason she was now acting like someone who had lost her friggin' mind—since her brains were now missing. “Yes. You got everything you asked for.” He heard her deep sigh of indignation then felt the bed dip when she got out of it.

“There was a time you used to be a lot of fun.”

“And there was a time you didn't talk so damn much.”

He heard another sigh of indignation. “I'm leaving.”

“Fine. I'll call you next week.” Even when he said the words he knew that he wouldn't.

“Why bother?”

“For sex. I like screwing your brains out and you like having them screwed out.” A few minutes later he heard his door slam shut with enough force to wake up the entire neighborhood. He got up to make sure she had locked the door behind her and wasn't surprised to discover she hadn't.

Going back into his bedroom he got back into bed and stared up at the ceiling, quickly forgetting about Barbara and thinking of Maxi. Had she told anyone she was pregnant yet? Was she showing? Had she listened to the baby's heartbeat? Did she know if she was having a boy or a girl? Was it too early to find out?

He thought of her often, every day, in fact. He even thought about her during those times when he wasn't supposed to be doing so, like tonight while screwing Barbara's brains out. Barbara and other women had lacked something. To be totally honest there hadn't been a woman who could hold a candle to Maxi in bed. With her it had been more than just sex. And it had been more than flexing their muscles and bodies to make a baby. He didn't know of any other woman who could make him feel the way Maxi did both in bed and out. No other woman could look at him and make him feel that he was somebody special, someone on top of the world, someone she desired with a passion as well as trusted with her life. And because of it his mind, soul, and body craved her in a way that was downright abnormal. When they had shared a bed the more he made love to her, the more he had wanted her.

He wanted to see Maxi. He wanted to talk to her. And he wanted to make love to her again, this time without a reason or purpose.

Because he loved her.

“Damn!” He ran his hand over his face wondering where that thought had come from. And then he knew. It had come from a place where Maxi had always been, ever since the first grade, and reinforced on the cruise. His heart. There was no sense being a fool any longer and wasting his time with other women. Maxi was and always would be the only woman he wanted. He wanted her and he wanted their baby.

An hour or so later he reached over and picked up the phone. He smiled when Gabe's sleepy voice came on the line. Why should Gabe sleep when he couldn't?

“Yeah?”

“I'm taking some time off, Blackwell. I'm going to Savannah.”

“It's about time. I'll handle things until you get back. And I suggest that you see the folks before you leave, especially if you're thinking about getting married. Mom will be upset if you don't. She feels it's her God-given right to know every blasted thing. The last thing you want is to get out of her good graces. It can make life a living hell for both of us.”

“Good point.”

“I always knew you were a smart man, Chandler. Slow but smart.”

“Goodnight, Blackwell.”

“Goodnight.”

M
axi dropped her mother off at home after the two of them had returned from church. Ever since she had told her mother about her pregnancy, Gwen Chandler had been on cloud nine knowing she had a grandchild on the way.

Maxi hadn't had to tell her mother who the baby's father was. The wise older woman had figured it out for herself, and assumed her daughter had gotten pregnant from Christopher on the class reunion cruise. When she had asked Maxi if she needed to plan a wedding anytime soon, Maxi had said no and Gwen had left it at that with no lectures and no disappointed or disapproving looks.

Maxi had seen Dr. Frazier for a checkup and he'd informed her that her pregnancy was progressing nicely and there was no reason she couldn't have a problem-free delivery. However, because of her fibroids he would need to keep her under close observation for a while.

“Hi, sweeties, Mommy is here,” she cooed softly to her plants when she entered her home. She had gotten into the habit of holding conversations with them every day. They'd almost died while she'd been on the cruise and after nursing them back to health she had promised never to neglect them again. Believing her word as the gospel, the plants had decided to give her another chance and were now huge, healthy looking, and growing all over the place.

Thinking about the cruise made her think about Christopher. Who was she kidding? Everything single thing made her think about Christopher, especially when she noticed her stomach was showing signs of expansion. And it didn't help matters that she had a photograph of the two of them on the cruise in a picture frame on her dresser. The more she looked at his handsome, smiling face the more she loved him. At first a part of her believed that deep down he truly loved her, too, but since she hadn't heard from him in two months—not even a phone call to see how she was doing—had made her realize, that no matter how wonderful the time had been when they'd been together, the only thing he felt toward her was gratitude and friendship, nothing more. And those were the reasons he had unselfishly given her the child she had wanted.

She had made the mistake of calling him one night a few weeks ago, to tell him about her first visit to Dr. Frazier. A woman had answered his phone. His female visitor had enjoyed letting her know he was in the shower at the moment and couldn't possibly come to the phone. That night she'd finally accepted what he had told her all along. He didn't want a relationship, serious or otherwise, with anyone.

Her thoughts then drifted to Mya. They had talked that morning and she knew things between Mya and Garrett hadn't gotten any better. Mya still refused to talk to Garrett about anything, yet he hadn't given up trying. Maxi couldn't help but admire his determination in getting his family back although Mya was making it downright difficult for him. She and Mya made a point to talk at least two or three times a week. A lot had happened in both of their lives and they needed each other more than ever.

Maxi was about to go into the bedroom to change into more comfortable clothing when the doorbell rang. “Must be the pizza I had Mom order for me,” she told her plants as she passed them on her way to the door. But still out of habit she glanced through the peephole.

She blinked. Taken aback. It definitely wasn't the pizza man. “Christopher!”

Taking a deep breath she opened the door and there he was, standing less than three feet away. “How are you?”

“I couldn't be better now that I see you.”

Maxi swallowed and held his gaze, not ready to buy into anything he said—not when he hadn't called in two months. “Would you like to come in?”

Christopher immediately picked up on the coolness of Maxi's tone. The coolness, he noted, was also there in her forced smile. His gaze shifted from her face to her stomach and noted she wasn't showing yet. What did he expect? She was only two months along. He moved his gaze back to her face. “Yes. I'd like to come in.”

She stepped aside and when he entered and glanced around the first thing he noted was that she had a number of large plants all over the place. He hadn't noticed the plants the last time he had visited. “Looks like a greenhouse in here,” he commented just to have something to say. A part of him tensed. In all the years he had known Maxi he had never felt this uncomfortable around her.

“I like the effect they give,” she said, closing the door and walking pass him to the living room. “What brings you back to Savannah, Christopher? Another scandal?”

Christopher lifted a brow. Only a dumb person would not pick up on the fact that she was angry with him about something. Like Blackwell had said, he was smart, although slow at times. “No. I came to see you.”

“Why?”

His brow raised a little higher. “You have to ask me that?”

“Yes,” she said lifting her chin high and proud.

“Because I care.”

Some of the bitterness left Maxi. “Yes, I'd buy that. If you didn't care I wouldn't be pregnant.”

Christopher crossed the room to stand before her. “I do more than care, Maxi. I love you.”

Maxi's heart gave a funny little lurch at his words. If he had said them two months ago she would have been overjoyed. Now she was only filled with doubt. “And when did you decide that you love me, Christopher? I know it wasn't on the cruise and I know it wasn't during the time we were making a baby. Heavens forbid it was that evening I called to let you know I was pregnant. And I know for certain it couldn't have been two weeks ago when I called you and some woman answered your phone and told me, quite gleefully I might add, that you were in the shower and couldn't possibly come to the phone.”

“Maxi, I—”

“No, it doesn't matter because I'm the fool, Christopher. You told me all along what the score was but a part of me didn't want to believe it. But now I do,” she said wearily.

Christopher became angry, not with Maxi but with himself. He should have been man enough to face his feelings for her long ago but he hadn't. And now it could possibly be too late. No, he refused to believe that. If ten years hadn't destroyed what was once between them, he refused to believe that two months could.

“Can we sit and talk about it?”

She glanced up at him. “What is there to talk about?”

“I can think of a number of things. How about let's give it a try.”

Sighing, Maxi sat down on the sofa and Christopher sat down beside her. “First, I want to know if you're feeling all right?”

She looked at him and decided not to make some smart remark about it taking two months for him to ask. “Yes, I'm fine.”

“And the baby?”

“He or she is fine, too.”

“I'm glad.”

Maxi studied his features. He was handsome as ever and a part of her wanted to trace the tip of her finger around his lips before kissing them. She held her hands together tight in her lap, not believing she could think such a thing. But then, having such thoughts were normal. She and Christopher had spent some hot and heavy days and nights together while making their baby. Just thinking about those times made heat pass through her body. “Why are you here, Christopher?”

“I've told you already. I love—”

“Besides that.”

“There's no other reason why I'm here.”

His statement had been blunt. “So, I'm to believe that you woke up this morning and decided that you loved me?”

“I wish it would have been that simple. It would have saved me a lot of time and expense.”

“Not to mention a lot of condoms, I bet,” Maxi remarked with bitter humor.

Christopher looked at her, surprised at her apparent anger. He'd been upfront with her from the beginning that his life was filled with fast women and meaningless affairs. “Is that what has you upset, Maxi? The fact that I haven't been celibate since the last time we were together? You knew I was into women. You also knew I would resume my lifestyle once I had given you a child.”

“Yes, but I—I thought…”

“You thought what? That a man who'd been a loner all his life could miraculously fall in love overnight? I had loved you for twelve long years, Maxi. Twelve long years. Do you know that on most days the only reason I went to school every day, rain or shine, was because I knew you would be there. When I left Savannah ten years ago, the only way I could survive without having you in my life was to forget you and get involved with other women. And for the past ten years that's what I've done.” He knew he had to make her understand.

“But a part of me knew I could never treat you like I treated them. In my mind, the only reason we slept together—no matter how enjoyable it was—was to give you my child. It wasn't until later, that I realized it was for more. It was only recently that I realized that each and every time I made love to you, that you became a part of me because I shared a part of myself with you that I hadn't shared with any woman. I finally admitted to myself that I still loved you, the same way I had loved you in school, which was with a possessiveness and an insane longing I couldn't get rid of. Do you know I carved your name on every damn tree in the Vine?”

She shook her head. “No, I didn't know that.”

“Did you know that I used to dare the other boys to go near you and ended up kicking a few behinds because one or two did it anyway?”

“No, I didn't know that—at least not until the cruise.”

“Did you know that the day I left Savannah, for an entire hour I stood in your backyard underneath your bedroom window, hoping that I would see you one last time before I left?”

She wiped a lone tear from her cheek. “No, I didn't know that.”

“Did you know that the first major chain store that Gabe and I built and owned in Detroit I had the honor of naming
Maxi.
”

Maxi lifted a brow. The
Maxi
department stores were sprouting up all over the country and were on the same scale as a Bloomingdales—very elite and high class. “No, I didn't know that either.”

He slid a little closer to her. “And do you know how hard it was for me to tell you I didn't want to be a part of my child's life? Especially when you would be that child's mother? So don't tell me that I don't love you, Maxi. I've had other women, true enough, but none of them has ever meant what you mean to me. The condition you're in proves that.”

He stood. “I hope I've given you something to think about. I love you and I want to marry you.” Ignoring the shocked look on her face when he mentioned marriage, he continued. “I'll be in town for the rest of the week and will be staying at the Marriott on the ocean if you want to talk.”

Maxi then watched as he crossed the room and walked out of her house.