Read Online Baby Mine by Tressie Lockwood - Free Book Online Page B

the airport with her trying to pretend she was happy. The
whole problem was that he appeared upbeat as well. The man
practically radiated it, and although she didn’t expect it,
she’d almost hoped he would beg her not to go and declare his
undying love. He’d done neither. He’d tilted her chin up
and kissed her until she felt faint. Then he let her go.
    Jada walked into her office the
next morning, praying the old adage was true, that absence and time
would heal her heart. She headed toward her cubicle wishing for
higher walls so she could let go of the forced smile as if nothing
were wrong. After all, this was the life she had chosen, wasn’t
it? No maid, no bodyguards, no unlimited funds—and no family.
    But I will have my baby.
That’s the important thing.
    “ Jada! You’re back,”
her coworker Leena exclaimed. “How was California?”
    “ The weather was nice.”
She didn’t elaborate but kept walking.
    Leena chuckled and linked arms
with Jada. “I think more than the weather was nice.”
    Jada frowned. “What’s
that supposed to mean?” She had shared with Leena the reason
for going to California but didn’t admit her feelings for
Renzo.
    “ You’ll see,”
Leena quipped.
    When Jada turned the corner
leading to her area, she just saw into her cubicle ahead, and the
sight took her breath. Every available spot on the U shaped desk had
been taken up with flowers of all kinds. “What the hell?”
    She stopped in the entry to her
area, staring at the various sizes of vases. Cards were attached to
each bouquet, but Jada couldn’t make herself reach out to read
one. Leena had no such qualms. She plucked a tiny square envelope
from a red rose arrangement and opened it. “ Voglio
amare per sempre ,”
Leena read. “What’s that?”
    “ Italian.”
    “ What does it mean?”
    “ No idea.” Jada
swallowed and read a few more notes. Some were in English, some
Italian. All, she guessed, were expressions of affection. All were
from Renzo, but she hadn’t needed the signature to know who
sent the flowers. The man must have bought out an entire shop to send
so many.
    She spent the next hour removing
notes and handing out bouquets to anyone who would accept them for
their office. The prettiest, especially the roses, she kept for
herself. Flowers perfumed the air of the entire floor where she
worked, yet none of the lawyers or her direct supervisor complained.
They didn’t question her either, which was unusual. She guessed
that was another way Renzo showed his influence. After having a good
cry in the bathroom alone, she texted him a simple, “Thank
you,” and then forced the man from her thoughts so she could
get down to work. Over the next month, amid biweekly gifts sent from
her former lover, Jada went on with her life the best she could.
    At three and a half months
pregnant, she began to show, and she spent each morning standing
naked before the bedroom mirror staring at her body. She wondered if
Renzo would still find her attractive, and then tamped down those
thoughts so she could hold to her calm state of mind. She wasn’t
exactly happy, but the nightly crying had eased up. Besides, she’d
blamed all of that on wacky preggo hormones so she could convince
herself that her love for Renzo faded.
    Today she pulled open her closet
door and surveyed the hanging dresses. A couple weeks after she
returned home, a delivery had arrived at her door, and she’d
been shocked to find an entire wardrobe of maternity clothes. At the
time, Leena had been visiting. “Whoa, I know you’re going
to keep these,” her friend had said.
    “ Damn right,” Jada
agreed. “I’m not too good to take a useful gift. Now the
jewelry, yeah, I sent it back. We’re not together, but these
clothes I consider all a part of taking care of his baby. My clothes
were getting tighter.”
    She had sent another text to
Renzo and informed him that in no uncertain terms did it mean
anything that she would accept this gift. She