Authors: Cheris Hodges

Betting On Love (25 page)

BOOK: Betting On Love

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They broke off the kiss as the waitress walked up to the table and cleared her throat. “Are you two ready to order?” she asked, with a sly smile on her face.

James winked at the waitress and asked for a few minutes to look over the menu.

CHAPTER 27

After eating a down-home lunch of fried chicken, collard greens, and corn bread, James and Jade headed back to his place, still waiting on the call from the doctor's office.

When they pulled into the driveway, James's cell phone rang. “Yeah?” he said into the phone.

“James, it's Kenya. Is Jade still with you?”

“Yes. Why? What's going on?”

“I have news about her case against Stephen, and I misplaced her cell phone number,” she said.

“Hold on,” James said. He handed his phone to Jade. “It's Kenya. She has news about your case.” He parked the car and got out to give Jade privacy to talk with her attorney.

He was about to walk up the front steps and open the door when he heard Maurice speeding into the driveway. James waited at the top of the steps as his brother barreled toward him.

“Well, is she pregnant?” Maurice asked.

“Maurice, go home,” James said.

“No. Don't you think you need toâ”

“Need to what?” Jade asked when she got out of the car.

“Jade,” Maurice said, plastering a smile on his face, “I guess congratulations are in order?”

“I'm going inside,” she said, rolling her eyes at Maurice.

“Wait,” Maurice said. “I want both of you to hear this.”

James folded his arms across his chest and looked at his brother. “I'm sure this is going to be rich,” he said.

“I'm sorry,” Maurice said. “Jade, I've been judging you unfairly, and if my brother loves you, who am I to say anything about it?”

“So, you've finally realized that it's my life and I can do with it what I want,” James snapped.

“I realize that I've been an asshole to both of you. Jade, I truly apologize,” Maurice said.

She raised an eyebrow. “Do you mean it?”

Maurice nodded. “Kenya informed me that I'm not doing any favors to the family by acting like an asshole.”

“Jade and I are getting married,” James said. “And it's not simply for the sake of our child.”

Maurice nodded. “Do you know for sure that you two are having a baby?”

As if on cue, Jade's cell phone rang. “Hello,” she said.

“Ms. Christian, this is Nurse Neill from the doctor's office, and I have news for you.”

“Okay,” Jade said breathlessly.

“Congratulations. You're pregnant. You're going to need to see your regular obstetrician to get an ultrasound and a due date,” the nurse said.

“All right,” Jade said, then hung up the phone, with mixed emotions.

James and Maurice looked at her and begged with their eyes to know the news.

“So?” James asked after a few moments of silence passed.

“We're having a baby,” she said quietly.

James turned around and pulled her into his arms. He gently kissed her on the cheek. “Are you all right?”

She nodded and placed her hand against his chest. “I'm going inside,” she whispered.

Maurice walked up the steps and stood near his brother. “Good news?”

“Go home,” James said. “Jade and I need a moment alone. And let
me
tell Ma that I'm getting married.”

Maurice threw his hands up. “All right. But I meant what I said.”

“All right. Whatever.” James walked inside and closed the door in his brother's face.

Jade sat on the sofa, trying to digest all the information that she'd received in the last five minutes. First, Kenya had told her that Stephen had filed a countersuit against her, claiming that she'd used inside information to purchase the building in Charlotte, and that he was suing her for 1.5 million dollars. And on top of that, she had got the confirmation that she was indeed pregnant. As James crossed over to her, she tried to smile.

He took her hands in his and kissed them. “So, that call from Kenya wasn't good news?” he asked knowingly.

“The bastard's suing me for over a million dollars,” Jade said. “I can't believe he has the nerve.”

“He's an asshole. That's just who Stephen is.”

“This is too much,” she said. “I don't want to battle this thing out with him in court. Not now.”

“We'll figure something out,” James said. “Don't even worry about it right now.”

“I have to get back to Atlanta and let the girls know. I got them into this mess, and I'm going to have to get them out of it.”

“You want to leave now?” he asked.

Jade nodded. “The sooner I let them know about Stephen's countersuit, the better. We're going to have to stand together on this if we're ever going to get this restaurant opened.”

“I can't believe he's suing you when it was your money that helped him get where he is, slimy son of a bitch.”

Jade smiled despite herself. Her future husband had her back, and that was all the affirmation she needed to know that she was going to make it through all thisâthe pregnancy and Stephen's lawsuit.

Kenya had told her that all they needed to do was answer the countersuit and prove that Stephen had used her money to research the restaurant's location.

Leaning against James, she closed her eyes and exhaled. “Maybe I don't have to hurry back to Atlanta. I want to get some rest.”

James led her to the bedroom and watched her as she stretched out on the bed. Within minutes, she was asleep, and he crept out of the bedroom and grabbed the phone. He wanted to end this thing with Stephen before it got too far out of hand, and if he had to offer the bastard an olive branch, then he would do it. James prayed he wouldn't have to beat him over the head with that same branch.

He dialed 411 and asked for Stephen's number in Atlanta. The operator gave him the number and told him that for an additional seventy-five cents, the number could be automatically dialed. James opted for it, because he didn't want to write the son of a bitch's telephone number down.

“This is Stephen,” a man said when he answered the phone.

“Stephen, it's James Goings.”

“What the hell do you want?”

“You need to end this thing with Jade.”

Stephen laughed. “I'm not ending a thing. She started this war when she filed that suit against me and stole my restaurant. Forget her and don't call me, trying to play hero.”

“Listen to me for once in your sorry damned life. Why don't you try to do the right thing?” James snarled. “You know that you wouldn't have the success that you do if you hadn't stolen from women, including my mother.”

“Not that again. Will you let it go? Don't be mad at me because I have a booming restaurant and your mother is stuck in the slums, running a bakery that she doesn't even own.”

I should hang up this phone, because he's two seconds from getting cursed out. Who in the hell does he think he is?
“Look,” James said. “If things are going so well for you, why don't you just give Jade her investment back and let this thing go? She's moved on. Why don't you do the same?”

Stephen laughed again. “You think you got something real special, don't you? If I decided right now that I wanted her back, I could have her.”

It was James's turn to laugh. “This isn't some pissing contest over a woman who loves me. It's about you doing the right thing.”

“James, you and that bitch can go to hell. I'll see her in court, unless I decide to go to her house tonight and get an out-of-court settlement, if you know what I mean.”

James slammed the phone down because if Stephen said another disrespectful thing, he was going to drive to Atlanta and give him another beat down. Turning around with a scowl on his face, he saw Jade standing behind him.

“I wish you hadn't done that,” she said.

“What?”

“Called Stephen. James, you know how he is, and that call is only going to make matters worse,” she said.

“First of all, I don't want you to worry about that and to go through added stress because of that... .”

“You're stressing me right now,” she said, closing her hands over her ears. “Seriously, James, this thing with Stephen has been a problem for us since we met, and I don't need you to get involved now.”

“And I don't want you to get so worked up over him that something happens to you or the baby.”

She shook her head. “I'm pregnant. I'm not an invalid. Isn't that what you told Maurice about Kenya?”

“Will you calm down?” James said evenly. “I'm not trying to stress you, but Stephen isâ”

“My problem and Kenya and I will handle it. Please don't go behind my back in the name of helping me,” she said, then stomped back to the bedroom.

I can't win for losing,
he thought as he followed her. James reached out and grabbed her elbow. “Do you want me to apologize for trying to make things right? Because I'm not.”

“What?”

“We're getting married, we're going to have a partnership, and if I see something is going to hurt you, then I'm not going to stand by and watch it happen. Do you think I'm sorry for wanting to protect you? Well, I'm not.”

She looked at him, not saying a word. Though she wanted to be angry, Jade realized that this was just what she'd wanted all her life. She wanted to be protected, and she wanted someone to look out for her best interests. However, now that it looked as if she had it, she didn't know how to handle it.

“Jade,” he said.

“What?”

“I love you, and I want you to know that we're not always going to agree, but I'm always going to have your back. If that means calling an asshole like Stephen and trying to appeal to his human side, then I'm going to do it.”

She couldn't fight anymore, and she opened her arms to him, beckoning him to embrace her. James hugged her tightly, pulling her against his chest. Then he gently kissed her lips, all the while whispering how much he loved her. A lone tear slid down her cheek.

“I love you, too,” she replied before he kissed her again.

This time it was fiery, the kind of kiss that made her weak. When his hands slipped up the back of her blouse, she melted against him. His touch made everything seem all right, made her forget that there was a world outside. It was love, it was special, and it was going to be this way forever. Hungrily, she responded to his probing kiss, and her tongue touched his as he pulled her closer to him. Then they fell against the bed. Jade straddled his body, breaking off the kiss long enough to unzip his pants while he unbuttoned her blouse. He slipped her bra straps from her shoulders as she ground against his stiff manhood. James leaned in, outlining her erect nipples with his tongue. Moaning, she sped up her grinding, then pulled him inside her wetness.

James released a guttural groan as she enveloped him in her warmth. She rode him so hard and so fast that he grabbed her hips just to keep pace. He thrust his pelvis forward, hitting her in the center of her G-spot. Jade shuddered with growing desire. Stretching her arms above her head, she cried out his name as she arched her back and took his full length deeper inside her. James pressed deeper, holding her hips steady as he lost himself inside her wetness, feeling as if he were swimming in a heated pond on the most beautiful place on earth. Jade gripped his shoulders as her body shook. Neither of them wanted the feeling to end or the passion to diminish. They slowed their pace, gently rocking back and forth, riding a wave of ecstasy that ebbed like the waning tide of the sea. James kissed her, softly capturing her lips like an elusive butterfly.

“I love you,” he whispered in between kisses.

Breathlessly, she replied, “I love you, too.”

Finally, they reached their climax, collapsing in each other's arms. He sought out her lips again, tracing their lushness with the tip of his tongue.

Jade smiled. “Stop,” she said playfully. “That tickles.”

James laughed and pulled her closer. “I guess we need to think about getting you home.”

“And I was starting to think of this bed as home,” she said, then kissed him on the cheek.

“It will be as soon as we move your stuff from Atlanta, and we have to tell my mother about the upcoming wedding and the baby,” he said.

She snuggled closer to him and sighed. “I love you so much,” she said.

“Same here, baby,” he said. Then they both drifted off to sleep.

BOOK: Betting On Love

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