Accept My Baby: A Billionaire BWWM Single Parent Pregnancy Romance (9 page)

Rafael shrugged.

“
Well,
to be honest, I kind of got tired of the same old shit with the same
old people.”

“
That’s
why you had the video vixens from Brazil?” she asked and he
forced out a laugh.

“
So
you noticed them too, huh?”

“
Are
you kidding? Everyone noticed them. I mean, they are beautiful women
with Kardashian butts that were serving drinks.” She rolled her
eyes. “The term Brazilian wax is not just thrown into
conversation for fun, Rafael. There is a point to it.”

“
I
thought it would make the party a little more fun,” he said.

“
For
the rest of you guys. For us women it just makes us want to pull
longer hours at the gym.”

“
So,
I did do everyone a favor, then? Didn’t I?”

Isabella smiled as
she looked up at Rafael.

“
Are
you trying to say that the women you know are overweight? In so many
words?” she asked and he forced a smile. “So, why are you
out here and not in there where all the action is?”

“
I
think I have had quite enough of the party tonight,” Rafael
said sighing loudly.

She looked in the
lemonade pitcher and raised an eyebrow over the other.

“
Yeah,
no kidding. Are you having lemonade at a party?
Your
party?”

“
Like
I said, I’ve partied enough for the night. Maybe for the entire
year,” he said in a soft voice. He looked at her and wondered
what she was after. She would not have come over to talk to him just
for the sake of it. And after the whole thing with his family a few
days earlier, all he could think of was whether or not it was a good
idea to have her there. She had something up her sleeve. He could
almost smell it in the air but he could not understand why it was
taking forever for her to get whatever it was off her chest.

“
What
are you doing here, Isabella?” he finally asked and she
shrugged.

“
Like
I said, I came out here for a party.”

“
I
don’t mean here as in my house, I mean here. By the pool.”

She took
a long deep breath and flipped her hair over her shoulder.

“
I
was looking for you.”

He
wanted to say something. Maybe ask why or something of the sort but
for some reason, he could not bring himself to say it without
sounding sarcastic. He knew that the look in his eyes said everything
he was thinking.

“
You
know, when my parents began hinting at marriage, I was afraid they
were going to suggest some oil guy in the United Arab Emirates but
when I found out they had been talking about the two of us...I was
stoked,” she said and he shrugged. “Wait, you don’t
know about this?”

“
Oh
I know about it, alright.”

“
And?”
she stressed.

“
And?”
he asked and she raised an eyebrow over the other. “There is
nothing
to
tell.
All I know is that is not something I am willing to do.”

“
What
are you talking about? We have chemistry Rafael,” Isabella
said. “And I know you feel it too because you and I both know
that. I mean, all those trips to London, Sweden, Milan, Las Vegas...”
her voice trailed off.

“
Are
you going to mention every single place that the two of us have
been?”

“
Why
are you acting like this? We have had so much fun together,”
she said. “I mean, you don’t take a girl for all those
holidays if you don’t have some kind of deep connection with
her.”

Rafael sighed and
forced out a laugh.

“
Isabella,
I won’t deny that we’ve had fun together but that’s
just it. We had fun.”

“
So,
you are trying to tell me that we have no future together?” she
asked and he shook his head.

“
Not
one that I ever thought of.”

“
Are
you trying to give me the whole ‘I am not the marrying type’
speech?” she asked and he shook his head.

“
I
am the marrying type, Isabella but I am not the kind to get set up by
the parents.”

“
But
we took the time and had our fun and...” she shook her head.
“Did I mean nothing to you at all?”

Isabella was starting
to get on his nerves. He wanted to have a stiff drink at that moment.
That was what Isabella did to him. She drove him to drink. Probably
that was the only way he could manage to deal with her. When he was
intoxicated.

“
Isabella,
we had fun. But that was it. I do see myself getting married but
definitely not to you.”

He began walking away
and Isabella reached for his hand but he shrugged it off.

“
Don’t,”
he said as he looked at her. He noticed her lips part as if she
wanted to say something but he was quick to shut her up. “Just
don’t.”

“
But
we need to talk about this,” she said and he shook his head.

“
You
have your own life, Isabella. Don’t let the Benassi name take
that from you,” Rafael pointed out.

“
But
I do want to be with you,” she said, sounding a little bit sad
and desperate.

“
Isabella,
I...” his voice trailed off before he sighed. “Don’t
let your parents determine your life,” he managed to say before
he walked away.

Amanda didn’t
know why but waiting for the days to pass by before she met up with
Rafael had proven to be one of the hardest things she had done.
Especially because he had taken her number and she had taken his.

She was
still trying to rack her brain, trying to figure out why she was so
drawn to him. There was something about him and she still had no idea
what it was. But the one thing she was very sure of was the fact that
she was trying more than anything to convince herself everything that
was going on, the feeling of being drawn to Rafael, was not as a
result of her issues with Brett. She would have hated to have to
settle for him as a condolence prize. Some kind of rebound. Because
Rafael was not the kind of man you went on rebound with, he was the
kind of man you went on rebound for. He was most definitely not Brett
or any of her other exes. So there was definitely a guarantee that he
would love her in whatever she had on...or did she?

She held a dress
against her body and then another one and sighed.

“
He
is not like Brett,”
she
told herself.
“Anything
you put on is fine. Absolutely anything.”

She’d had to
deal with years of questioning everything about her but now she knew
that he had been doing that because he wanted her to dress more like
Sienna. She had a perfect size zero body that would let her get away
with anything and everything bold but Amanda was more conservative.

She loved to dress up
and fix herself up but as far as Brett was concerned it was never
enough. He always wanted more. He wanted her to show more skin...like
Sienna. He wanted her to wear her hair up more often...like Sienna.
At that moment, she felt really stupid. How could she not have seen
what was unfolding right in front of her eyes. It was so clear. In
black and freaking white.

But now,
the whole idea that she was literally growing by the minute was a
bigger burden on her shoulders than she could have ever thought of.
She knew that she would soon start showing and that she would need to
dress the part and also reveal to the world that she was expecting
her cheating ex-boyfriend’s baby.

She
sighed loudly and held another dress against her body. A smile played
on her lips. It was one of her favorite dresses: a sleeveless, light
blue, tight fitting maxi dress with a low cut neckline that showed
off her perfectly full cleavage. She always thought she looked
perfect in that dress especially when she straightened her curls out
and let them loose on her shoulders. Brett had loved those kinds of
outfits at first but somewhere along the way, they no longer did it
for him. But it was not about Brett anymore. It was all about her.
She put on the dress and quickly straightened her hair before she did
her make-up. She could not help but feel proud when she saw her
reflection because perfection did not begin to explain how perfect
she looked.

She had just put on a
pair of sandals when she heard Emilia’s doorbell. She had given
Rafael her address because he had insisted on picking her up even
though Amanda had insisted that they were not going for a date.

“
Well,
we are going to eat later, right?” he had asked. “I might
as well make sure I do it right the first time just in case...you
know to pave the way for the second time I take you out which in your
words would be a first date.”

She took one last
look in the mirror before she made her way to the front door all the
time thankful that Emilia was not home because she would have
definitely made a big deal of the situation.

“
Whoa,”
Rafael said under his breath when she opened the door. “You
look amazing.”

She
smiled as she looked at his black fitting pants and maroon shirt. He
looked better than she had ever seen him. It might have been a casual
look for him but he looked amazingly handsome. Better than David
Beckham as far as she was concerned.

“
You
look great too,” she said as she looked at him.

“
I
feel like I am not doing you any justice,” he said and she
gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear even though it was not
really out of place.

“
Trust
me, you look perfect,” she said in a voice a little lower than
she wanted it to be.

“
I
got you something,” he said as he handed her a box he had been
holding behind his back. She reached for the box and opened it, a
smile played on her lips. “It’s Swiss chocolate.”

“
Yeah,
my favorite,” she whispered. “How did you know?”
she asked as she looked up at him.

“
Well,
I know for a fact that ladies love chocolate and if I am going to get
you some, why not give you the best kind there is?” Rafael said
and she bit her lower lip.

“
Thank
you, this is...” her voice trailed off. “I don’t
even know what to say right now.”

“
You
are letting me take you around town. So this is as great as it is
going to get for me.”

“
You
sure have a boring life if this is as good as it gets,” she
said and he stepped forward. Her heart rate suddenly sped up. She did
not know why but judging from how bold she knew he was, she could
almost guess he was going to try and kiss her. But what really scared
her was that she was sure she would not pull away. But he did not. At
least not the kind of kiss she was anticipating. He slipped an arm
around her waist and pulled her close before he kissed her cheek. It
was a soft lingering kiss that left her feeling flushed.

“
I
would not be a proper gentleman if I did not do that to appreciate
the beauty of the woman in front of me right now,” he said.

She put the box of
chocolates down on the table next to the door before she looked at
him.

“
Shall
we?” she asked and he smiled.

“
I
thought you would never ask,” he said as she stepped out of the
door and pulled the door shut.

*****

After leaving
Emilia’s, Rafael had taken Amanda to the Imperioli Enterprises
building. At first she did not understand why he was taking her there
and he would not tell her either.

“
I
thought we were taking me for a tour of the city,” she said as
he led her to the elevators.

“
Just
trust me, okay?” he said in a soft voice as the elevator doors
closed. “You do trust me, don't you?” he asked as he
looked into her brown eyes and she nodded.

“
I
do,” she said in a whisper.

“
Good.”

They
rode up to the roof and she forced out a laugh when she saw a
helicopter on the roof.

“
Are
you serious?” she asked as she looked at the chopper.

“
There
is no better way to see the town unless it is from up there,”
he said, leading her towards the aircraft.

“
But
there is no pilot,” she said as he helped her in.

“
You
are looking at one baby,” he said before he walked round to the
other side and got in.

Amanda
could not help but feel excited. It kind of felt the same way she did
the first time someone she liked paid attention to her. Or maybe the
first time she got to see her favorite destination or taste her
favorite food. She did not really know what she felt except the fact
that she was excited to be there with him.