Stepbrother's Gift (29 page)

So this was it. I was being paid off and told to never talk about this again. Whether I signed the NDA or not, my life would be ruined if I talked about my billionaire stepbrother's baby. Whether I signed the NDA or not, I was out of his life forever. Whether I signed the NDA or not, my baby could never know who his or her father was.

With a heavy sigh, I said, “If his first offer is a thousand dollars, he has actually authorized you to offer up to five thousand dollars. I'll cut that in half and sign it for twenty five hundred.” If I was already going to be labeled a gold digger in his mind, I might as well get paid for it. I would need it to support his child.

“Mr. Coleman actually only authorized me to offer up to two thousand dollars. He is apparently a better negotiator than you thought. However...” He trailed off just as he had the last time. “He definitely owes you that much. He's mad right now, but I'll change his mind. If I can't, I'll cover the other five hundred myself.”

He set the sheaf of papers against the car. “This is a general NDA. For now, I'll be the witness on this contract. A more specific NDA will be mailed to your address in New York shortly. It will be up to you to have it notarized and mailed back to the address given. Include receipts for all expenses regarding this and you will be reimbursed.”

I printed my name, signed, and dated without reading a single word of it. I knew that he could have my life destroyed without this contract, but I also knew that he wouldn't without good reason. He was a good man, and I had led him to believe that I wasn't a good woman for him. I was getting what I deserved.

The driver signed and dated it. I had never heard his name before, but now I knew it. He didn't look much like an Oliver, but I knew that he was a good driver and assistant to my brother and I hoped that him sticking his neck out a little for me didn't get him in hot water.

“Thank you. Have a safe trip back to New York,” he said. With that, he turned and got back in the car quickly. He was gone before I had a chance to say anything else.

***

A
s the driver had said, there were plane tickets waiting for me at the counter. I would be flying coach, and the flight wasn't for two hours, but I'd be home soon and able to put this whole episode of my life behind me.

I touched my belly, knowing that I'd never be able to completely forget this turbulent month.

The line at security was short. I didn't know what kind of proof they needed that someone was pregnant, but I didn't like the look of the scanning machine. However, when I told the TSA agent I was pregnant, she let me through without a problem. A quick wand scan and I was on my way.

I found my gate quickly, then went to a nearby restaurant. I still had over an hour to burn and the only things in my stomach were a half eaten piece of pizza and James'... well, you know. The thought of his cock in my mouth gave me a moment of desire, but I quickly stifled that.
Best to just forget him as quickly as possible
, I told myself.

I ordered a spinach artichoke dip and turned on my phone. I thought about talking to Tessa, telling her something about how she was right about James or something, but I didn't know if that would violate my NDA. Better to just make up a story that could be confirmed by Anne than gripe about James to anyone. As soon as I turned on my phone, the picture of the pregnancy test greeted me again.

I just wanted it to be over with. I'd move on with my life, become a single mother, hopefully finish college. I might have to move back in with my parents, but there was always the community college that Tessa went to there in town. I'd be okay. Things would be okay.

I heard a “neeeeeerm” sound as a family walked by. A little blonde boy with a backpack on, probably about three years old, ran ahead of his parents. In his hand was a toy airplane, and he was making flying sounds as it dipped and soared through the air. He was adorable.

When he saw me looking at him, he stopped and stared at me. I knew that kids that age didn't have any social cues about politeness, so I waved and cheerfully said, “Hi!” He immediately ran back to his dad and hid behind his leg.

His dad picked him up and carried him with one arm. “Hey, don't be scared,” he said. He turned to me and waved, saying to his son, “Wave to her and say hi back.”

“Hi back” the boy said proudly, waving his plane at me. I waved again and the whole family kept walking. The boy wrapped his arms around the back of his dad's neck and looked over his shoulder at me, waving until he was a few more steps away.

My fingers went to my belly and tears welled up in my eyes. That was what I wanted. It was what I always wanted. The family experience. A strong man for my son or daughter to look up to and hide behind when they were scared by a stranger. A father who would smile and tell them not to be scared and to be polite. A husband to teach my children right from wrong. I wanted all of that.

I couldn't let it go this easily.

The picture was still up on my phone. I pressed the
“Share”
button and clicked James' phone number. Along with the picture I sent a message.

––––––––

J
ames, this is the picture that I didn't want you to see. If you still never want to see me again, I will understand. He or she might not, though.

––––––––

I
almost deleted that last sentence, thinking it sounded too much like a guilt trip. However, I wanted a response badly. I wanted him to text me back immediately, telling me that all was forgiven, that he would send Oliver to come pick me up, that we would get a test to confirm the pregnancy.

I wanted him to tell me that everything would be okay.

I stared at my phone. I wasn't too surprised when a full minute passed without a response. It would of course take him some time to process what I had sent him. I would be shocked if it didn't.

Five minutes passed. Maybe he went back to wailing on his guitar. He'd contact me any minute now.

At ten minutes, my spinach artichoke dip came. I stared at it. Before, I was hungry. Now, I couldn't eat a bite.

I almost texted him again at twenty-two minutes to ask him if he had gotten my text, but I managed to stop myself.

At twenty-eight minutes, I couldn't stop myself any longer. I sent him the text asking if he had gotten my previous text. No response.

At forty-five minutes, I heard an announcement that my flight was beginning to board. I had one bite of the spinach artichoke dip even though I didn't have an appetite, then paid for it and got over to my gate.

As I walked in line down the gate to get on the plane, I kept thinking I felt the vibration of my phone going off. I would check it, and there would be nothing there. The Phantom Vibration kept going off every few seconds until finally I decided to just ignore it and wait until I got to my seat.

My row was empty when I got there, but I knew that they packed every person that they could on these flights. Luckily, I had a window seat, my preference.

People continued to file into the plane as I pulled out my phone. Still nothing. As the number of people standing began to dwindle, a flight attendant walked by, closing all the overhead storage bins. She looked at me, stating, “Ma'am, you're going to need to shut that phone off before takeoff.” She kept walking, not making sure I actually turned it off.

I looked at the time on the clock. It had been seventy-eight minutes since I had sent him the picture, and by now, I had to assume that he just wasn't going to respond. Maybe he thought I was making it up, that that hadn't actually been what I was hiding. Maybe he was lawyering up, getting ready to have me sign some other humiliating agreement with a monetary payout, like he had offered Audrey.

Maybe he just didn't care.

As my finger pressed the power button on the top of my phone and held it down, I felt an enormous amount of sadness. I was sure that this was “Goodbye” between James and I. My phone shut off, and as it did, I felt like my own emotions shut down. I leaned my head against the window and looked outside at the darkened airport. Without thinking, my fingers went to my belly, simply for comfort this time. I was too drained to even cry, but I knew how terrible I must have looked.

Someone sat in the seat next to me, and I felt self conscious about them seeing me like this. I didn't ever wear makeup, but I knew that my cheeks were bright red and that my eyes were probably bloodshot and had puffy bags under them.

“If you need to, you can use my shoulder to cry,” a familiar voice said. I cursed myself, thinking that I was so distraught that my mind was playing tricks on me. Still, I had to look at whoever had offered.

My mind hadn't been playing tricks on me. And, even though his smile was weaker than usual, it still managed to melt my heart.

“We have a lot to talk about,” James said.

I
blinked once. Twice. Though the tears in my eyes made it hard to see, I knew it was James. There could be no doubting that voice, that smile, that smell.

“James!” I cried, maybe a little too loudly. I saw a flight attendant turn toward me, the same one that had told me I had to silence my phone. I moved to hug him, but stopped short. Just because he was here didn't mean that he was happy to see me. It didn't mean that he wanted this baby or that things were cleared up between us.

It just meant that he had gotten my text.

I swallowed hard. “James,” I repeated, this time a little more reserved as I folded my hands into my lap. “What are you doing here?”

He sighed. “We need to talk, Allie.”

I nodded, looking down at my feet. I risked a glance up at him. His face was made of stone and his green eyes were dark and angry. This wasn't exactly how I wanted to tell him that I was expecting, but I didn't feel like I had much of a choice.

A man made it to where we were on the plane and practically threw his bag up into the overhead compartment. He looked like he had been drinking all evening, and he was probably big enough that the airline would make him buy two seats. However, it seemed that they hadn't, because he sat down in our row. James made an annoyed sound as the very large man smushed into the aisle seat next to him.

“Not here, though.” he said, glaring at me. “Let's go.”

“Okay,” I replied, grabbing my bag from under the seat. Hope was starting to grow, flickering and dancing around in my stomach and chest, trying to catch fire and spread. I kept tamping it down, knowing that one word from him would send me careening into despair. Yet, so far, he hadn't said or done anything to make me think he wouldn't accept the child.

We both crawled over the man in the aisle seat. It wasn't easy. But we managed to do it and started walking down the aisle to get to the exit at the front of the plane.

The flight attendant came out of nowhere and held up her hand, blocking our escape completely.

“I'm very sorry, but you two need to sit down. We're about to take off,” the flight attendant informed us.

“We're getting off the plane.” James said, glaring at her.

“That's not possible,” she said, motioning to the doors. “The doors are closed. We're taking off in two minutes. Sit down.”

“Do you know who I am? I'm not staying on this flight. Especially not in coach.” James rose to his full height.

The flight attendant leveled her gaze at him, completely unimpressed. “I don't care if you're the President of the United States. This flight is taking off, so sit your butt down.” She was intimidating. “Sit. Down. Now.”

“You don't understand, miss...” I interjected, giving her a friendly smile and hoping that my bloodshot eyes would make her feel sorry for us.

“I don't care what your problem is, either. It's not possible.” She waved her hand dismissively at us. “Sit. Down.”

“Then we'll just move to first class,” James said, switching tactics. He flashed her his billionaire sweet-talking smile. “I'll pay whatever the fee is and also make it worth your time as well.”

If looks from this flight attendant could kill, James would have been dead and buried. I was actually rather impressed that she wasn't bowing to James. I knew I couldn't have said no to that smile of his.

“The flight is full. You see all those people behind you?” She motioned to audience behind us who was watching our every word. “They want to go home. So sit down.”

She crossed her arms and I knew that she wasn't going to bend on this, no matter how charming James' smiles were.

“But-” James tried one last time. The flight attendants look darkened and I was fairly sure she might murder us right there if we tried to argue again. She was tiny, but scary. There was no way we were getting off this flight. James' shoulders sagged as he relented. It wasn't worth the publicity or a fight right now. It was just a flight. “Yes, ma'am.”

We sheepishly retreated back down the aisle and crawled over the man in the aisle seat yet again.

“Damn,” he said as James and I put our seat belts back on. “I was really hoping I'd get the whole row to myself.” I glanced over and realized that he was half in James' seat.

“Yeah,” James agreed. “I thought we'd get the whole row too, especially when I bought both seats.”

The man snorted. “So you're the sucker that didn't show up. They sold me this seat at the last minute.”

“The airline will definitely be hearing about this,” James said. The other man had already stopped listening, though. He put on a big pair of sound-proof headphones and closed his eyes.

The flight attendants started the flight safety video and the plane started to taxi. The video barely ended as the plane lifted into the air. The flight attendant wasn't kidding about taking off in two minutes. She was correct almost to the second.

“So...” I swallowed down my nerves and bit my lip. “You got my text.”

“You're damn right I got your text,” James said. Then, he sighed. “That's not something you should put in a text message, Allie.”

“I didn't know how to tell you-”

“You fucking tell me,” he cut me off. He glanced around to make sure none of the other passengers were listening, but everyone was fully engrossed in their headphones and electronic devices. “You should have just told me.”