Maid to Love (Man Maid Book 3) (3 page)

As she punched in his response to Jess she laughed to herself. “What is the deal with this ongoing feud about her parents?”

“Well, I cater to her mother’s drama and bullshit just because Jess hates it so much. Her mother mentioned once how she wished she could adopt me instead of just paying me to clean her house, because I’m so grateful and that I would be willing to give her grandkids. I told Jess’s mom how sweet that was and then I called her Mommy. Jess’s parents are rich, right? So when we left their house that night I asked Jess who she thought would get a bigger slice of the inheritance pie…me or her. Jess punched me in the nuts and huffed off, but I’ve been referring to her parents as our parents ever since,” he explained, pulling into the parking lot of an ice cream parlor not far from Rusty’s house.

“That is so bad,” Courtney said with a chuckle. “If her mother would just realize that being a lesbian isn’t something Jess is going to grow out of, their relationship would probably improve tremendously.”

“Well Jess might be a daddy’s girl, but I’ve got the market cornered on her mother,” he said with a laugh.

After ordering ice cream, they sat down at a table. He offered her what he’d ordered for himself and she laughed and shook her head no. He hadn’t enjoyed spending most of the evening with someone this much in a long time. Spending time with Courtney had even been worth missing his regular workout with Ronnie, Seth and Rusty.

“You should come by the campus where I work and take a look at some of the medical and nursing programs they offer. You seemed pretty fascinated by what you were learning tonight,” she said after licking ice cream off her spoon.

“Ok, Sergeant Hawkins, I’ll get right on that,” he said, rolling his eyes at her.

“What is so bad about it? You obviously like to learn new things,” she said with a pretty smile.

“Learning about the intricate workings of vaginas, fetal development and childbirth this evening didn’t require reading and taking tests,” he replied, finishing the last of his ice cream and noticing she was only halfway done.

“You’re not much of a reader then, huh?”

“I don’t know. I don’t always comprehend what I read so it’s hard for me sometimes…like Tori’s boy, Zach. You heard them talking about his struggles at school. That was me growing up. The difference was I lived in the projects, and my mom was a lot more interested in partying than in helping me do well in school. The teachers back then just passed a kid along from grade to grade to get them out. Especially if they were like me,” he replied.

They talked easily for the rest of the evening. By the time he dropped her off at her house and made it back to Rusty’s, it was pretty late. Ian quietly went to bed where he lay awake thinking about Courtney. He’d dropped hint after hint, asking if there was someone special in her life, until finally she had admitted that there wasn’t. Even so…did he really want to get involved with a woman who was expecting another man’s baby? That question repeated in his head more times than he could count over the next couple of days as he thought about Courtney.

Five days later, he knew he most definitely did want to get involved with a pregnant woman…at least as friends. Even though Jess seemed surprised at how well he and Courtney were getting along, he’d convinced Jess to allow him to attend the classes with Courtney in her place, but she’d made him promise to talk it over with Courtney first.

Well that was exactly what he was planning to do—
today
. He would go to the campus where Courtney worked on the premise that he was seriously thinking about taking classes. Then he’d conveniently bump into her. The pamphlets he picked up while he was there would fend off Rusty for a little while, since Ian had forgotten to pick some up the other night.

After hitting it hard at the gym, he showered and spent twenty minutes deciding what to wear. He thought about some of the outfits Seth wore, the ones that made women take notice of him, and tried to duplicate the look. Somehow the outfit Ian settled on didn’t look as good on him as it probably would have looked on Seth. Ian was a lot bigger than Seth. He was too big…and too bulky. He looked like a foot-long hot dog stuffed into a regular bun. When he finally made it to the campus he walked through the medical department with the intention of grabbing a few pamphlets that looked convincing and then finding Courtney’s office. After sifting through the brochures on the programs the school offered, he looked up at the clock, did a double take and then glanced at his cell phone. He’d wasted a whole hour looking through information about the human body, specifically about expectant mothers, babies and little kids.
He was being creepy.

He glanced down the hallway to see if any students had noticed him hanging around looking at brochures about pregnant women and babies. When he turned back around, he nearly ran into Courtney. She looked down at the pamphlet he held, which of course depicted the inner workings of a woman’s reproductive system. He quickly folded the leaflet. This time he was the one who had a hard time meeting her gaze.

“I wondered if you would show up here,” she admitted.

The warmth of her smile eased his awkwardness. Holding up the booklet, he said, “Still sweating that Jess knows more about the birth canal than I do. I thought maybe I should study up a little bit.”

Laughing, she said, “You two crack me up. I mean, seriously, I would
hope
she knows more since she’s a woman.”

Relieved that she didn’t find his fascination with the female anatomy nearly as disturbing as he did, he said, “I’ll buy you lunch if I can go to your pregnancy and fetal-development class with you tonight instead of Jess.”

“That’s a really good offer, but I already ate. However, Jess called and cancelled for tonight so how about ice cream again…afterward?” she asked, looking at anything but him. She was too cute when she was being shy. Her nervousness was not as noticeable as it had been at the restaurant, but it was obviously still there.

“Yeah, that would be great. Class starts at seven, right? I’ll pick you up about six-fifteen if that works for you,” he replied, trying to reassure her with a smile.

“I’ll see you then.” She smiled before walking away. After a few steps she stopped and turned back to look at him. “Oh, and Jess said that if you got up the balls to ask me about going to class tonight to tell you to call her.”

Then she walked away without looking back, and he stood there holding a pamphlet about vaginas and wearing a stupid-ass grin. That little bit of teasing she’d thrown at him was worth looking like an idiot…and more than worth taking shit from Jess. Once Courtney was out of sight, he stuffed the booklet in a nearby trash can and headed for his car. He’d get ones on different subjects another time. He dialed Jess’s number as he walked.

“I would ask what you are doing, but after the last time I asked I doubt I want to know,” Jess said instead of hello.

“No, wait, this is even
bigger
,” he said with a pause for effect. “Guess who gets to go to class tonight with a cute blonde…”

“Ahhh, so you’re playing the man card today and actually grew a set, huh?” Jess asked.

“Look, I even suited up to come over here and ask her, so shut your yap. You are fixing to be out one BFF. Just stand back and watch the man work,” he said with a laugh.

“Actually that is why I wanted you to call me. I need to say something and I need you to listen,
really
listen. All jokes aside because this is serious. I also need you to swear to me you will never repeat what I am about to tell you or I really could lose a BFF. I wouldn’t tell you if I didn’t think you really needed to know,” Jess said, her tone serious. “Courtney and I have been friends ever since she was my psych instructor my third year in college. You’ve only known her a few months…and only because I brought her to your fight to interview you. It’s true that nearly everyone who knows you loves you, but with Courtney it’s…complicated.”

A premonition that he wasn’t going to like what he was about to hear struck right before he said, “Okay, spill.”

“I am thrilled that you and Courtney have hit it off so well. I mean, I didn’t see
that
coming at all, but I’m also a little concerned. She…she, um, doesn’t do well around men. In fact, there is no ‘Mr. Wells,’ in case you’ve been wondering. She was artificially inseminated.” Jess paused as if unsure how to continue.

“Okay…” he prompted.

“Oh, hell, I don’t even know how to say this so I’m just going to say it. She has never been with a man. She witnessed the sexual assault of a relative when she was younger and it messed her up pretty bad, hence her issues with men,” Jess finished quietly. After dead silence for several moments she asked, “You still there?”

“Yeah,” he managed to say.

“I’m only telling you this because she mentioned that you put your arm around her the other day. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that since you are the first man she’s voluntarily spent time with…alone,” Jess explained. “The whole Seth dancing at her shower thing—it was because when I first met her she was full of questions about how to become a lesbian. I tried to explain that you don’t become a lesbian and that being afraid of men didn’t mean she was a lesbian. I was hoping to use Seth to prove my point. My lesson learned is that the exotic dancer didn’t prove anything to her, but you—if you’re careful—you just might.”

Chapter Three

Courtney’s doorbell rang at six o’clock. She looked at the security-video screen as she headed downstairs and saw Ian on her front porch with his hands in his pockets, his head hanging down. A strange mix of emotions passed through her. The ever-present nervousness and insecurity was there in the pit of her stomach, but also a small ounce of…excitement? She was actually looking forward to spending time with him. That couldn’t be…. It must be the pregnancy hormones.

When she opened the door, he looked at her with a strange expression on his face. Then, as though mentally shaking himself, he pulled a paint swatch out of his pocket. “Have you painted the baby’s room yet?”

“What?” She stepped back and held the door open for him, swallowing down her nervousness at allowing such a big man to enter her home.

Somehow, regardless of his size, she wasn’t put off by the idea of being alone with him as she would have been with most men. After all, she’d already let him sit next to her and put his arm around her. She’d ridden in a car alone with him, taken him to class and even allowed him to hold her in his arms, from behind no less. She couldn’t seem to help it. She was drawn to him.

“The baby’s room—did you paint it yet?” he asked, stepping through the doorway. “I’m going to help Rusty paint his kitchen, and when we were at the hardware store earlier I saw this and thought it was a good color for a boy or a girl.”

Looking down at the scrap of heavy paper, she noticed a star by a pastel-green color. He was watching her, and when she smiled at him he smiled back, showing his perfect teeth. What could it hurt to show him the baby’s room?

“Did you want to see it?” she asked hesitantly.

His eyes looked more like smoke today rather than the ice from before. “Yeah, sure. I’m early so we’ve got time.”

She led him up the stairs and watched as he walked over to the boxes containing the crib that she would put together once she painted the room. He squatted down and pushed the boxes around, studying them.

“Did you get the changing table that matches this?” he asked. “I could paint the little guy’s room and put the crib and stuff together for you…if you wanted.”

She swore she could see excitement shining in his eyes. What she didn’t know was why. The cynical part of her wondered if he thought pretending to be interested in her baby would win him points. But the trusting part of her accepted the honest enthusiasm shining in his eyes.

Having some help getting the room ready wouldn’t be a bad thing. Jess had offered, but it was obvious she wasn’t as into babies as Ian, even though he was a man—a giant mixed martial arts fighting man. Jess was right about Ian—the more time Courtney spent around him the more he surprised her.

“Okay,” she agreed. “The matching changing table is downstairs. It was a little heavy so—”

“I’ll bring it up. What about the green—do you like it?” he asked with excitement in his voice as he stood up.

“Yeah, actually I really like it. It’s soft and goes well with the dark wood of the crib.”

“They have these really cute stickers at the store, too. I almost bought a couple of them, but then I thought I should ask first since you might have the room all ready to go. You basically peel them and stick them to the wall. They had two different ones that looked like stuffed monkeys.” He smiled. “If you’re not busy this weekend we could go out there, get some paint and you could see what I’m talking about.”

“You’re not fighting this weekend?” she asked.

“I have a fight on Friday night, but Saturday is free.”

“What if you get…” she started. The idea of Ian being hurt didn’t sit well for some reason. “Maybe we should play it by ear. You may be tired Saturday after your fight.”

He grinned at her and she smiled back. “Regardless of what Jess might say about me, fighting is second nature. I’m good at it. I’ve been doing it in one form or another my whole life. The guy I fight on Friday is an even bigger pansy than the guy I fought when you came with Jess that one time.”

“You were bleeding a little bit after that fight, though,” she argued.

Sighing, he grinned again. “I won, though, didn’t I? Why don’t you come to the fight on Friday night? If I don’t let the guy make me bleed, then can we go on Saturday?”

When she hesitated, he added, “Tori and Kayla will be there.”

“I’ll think about it. We should go now or we’ll be late again, and I think you might already be on thin ice with Mrs. Campbell,” she said.

She got in the front passenger seat beside him for the ride to campus. His face registered surprise, but he didn’t say anything. They made it to class in plenty of time. After sitting down at one of the tables, she handed him a pen and a piece of paper from her folder.

“Why don’t you write down the questions you have, and we’ll talk about them over ice cream later,” she suggested.

She found it hard to concentrate on the class because she could feel Ian watching her, but whenever she looked over at him, he turned away. It was…cute. The smiles that spread across her face shocked her and got her thinking that maybe Jess had been right about Courtney being attracted to men. Ian was very attractive, with his cute smile and nice teeth…and his eyes.

Maybe she was finally ready to deal with her fears…. Was she ready for a normal future?
Was that even possible?
This baby would be here before she knew it. Ian’s interest in the whole process only made her more excited. It was nice to share the anticipation with someone…even if that someone was a man. By the time they made it to her house, after class and a stop for ice cream, Courtney was already looking forward to the next time she would see Ian.

The next evening when her doorbell rang, she somehow knew it was him before she ever made it to the front door. She found herself fighting a strange excitement over the knowledge that he’d apparently enjoyed her company, as well. Looking at the video monitor, she watched as he held a gallon of paint up to the camera. “I couldn’t wait until Saturday. Sorry.”

Opening the door, she noticed he held two plastic bags full of painting supplies in one hand and the bucket of paint in the other. He was grinning from ear to ear. She couldn’t help but smile back as she held the door open for him. This time, she barely felt any hesitation over letting him into her house.

“Jess should be here shortly. I went straight to the store after we got done at the gym. She was going to go home, shower, change clothes and then come over. I hope this is okay.” He smiled.

“Yeah, sure,” she replied, grinning back at him.

“If we get one coat on tonight and another coat on tomorrow the room will be done by Saturday. Then I can work on putting the crib together.” Handing her one of the bags, he said, “I got the monkey stickers. If you don’t like them I’ll take them back.”

By the time Ian and Jess left it was really late, but Courtney was extremely tired and very happy. She couldn’t remember having that much fun in a long while. Ian had taped along the crown molding and baseboards, while she’d taped the trim around the windows and along the chair railing. Occasionally she felt Ian looking at her. When she glanced at him in return, he would simply smile and look away. Jess had rolled the first coat of paint on the walls while Courtney and Ian followed along doing trim work. The constant banter between Ian and Jess had Courtney laughing hysterically and even joining in from time to time. By the end of the task, Courtney found herself looking at Ian as often as he looked at her.

The following day, Ian showed up at lunchtime with that smile she couldn’t resist. “Jess sent me to mulch your flowerbeds, clean your bathrooms and finish painting the nursery. She’s not just my friend she’s also my boss, so I can’t exactly tell her no. However, I’ve often wondered if she was a dragon in a former life.”

Owning her own home gave Courtney the freedom to do as she wanted with both the inside and outside of her two-story townhouse. Unfortunately, some of the upkeep, especially now, was less than appealing. Mulching was backbreaking work, and she spent enough time in the bathroom these days as it was. Obviously, Jess had heard Courtney’s complaints and was helping in the only way she knew how.
She’d hired someone.

By Friday evening, the night of Ian’s fight, the room was already painted. The nearly complete room somehow made the baby even more real. She looked forward to having Ian put the crib together. Then the space would look like an actual nursery.

Sitting next to Kayla Brown, Tori Lewis and Jess, Courtney waited for Ian’s match. When his name was called a small shiver of fear went down her spine. Not fear of him but fear for him. Over the course of a week and a half he had attended two classes with her, decorated the baby’s room with two coats of paint and two monkey stickers, re-landscaped her front yard, cleaned her bathrooms until they were spotless, fed her ice cream twice and had more than doubled her trust in him. No amount of talking herself out of the feeling did any good. She trusted him…
a man.
With all that he had done for her, he had earned himself one more friend.

But being his friend made watching this fight worse than the first one she’d watched. Each time he took a punch or kick from his opponent she had to close her eyes. Suddenly, watching Tori and Kayla cheer for him wasn’t about aggression. They were supporting him, their friend. They weren’t afraid of him nor were they aggressive people. They cared about him.

Courtney was never so glad to see something come to an end as she was when the bell rang signaling that Ian’s bout was over. The referee held up Ian’s arm to indicate he had won the match. A few minutes later Courtney followed Jess, Kayla and Tori to where Ian stood wiping himself off with a towel. He turned and smiled at her and just like that, he switched from victorious fighter to friend.

When he saw Tori approach, Ian cringed as though he was afraid of her—apparently an inside joke from when they’d first met.

Tori only sighed and then said, “I’m starting to see why Seth and Ronnie think you need a real fight. Zach’s been asking about you, so why don’t you come by for dinner tomorrow night.”

Glancing at Courtney, he smiled before looking back to Tori. “I might have plans for dinner tomorrow night, but if Zach comes to the gym with Seth in the morning, maybe he can hang out with me in the afternoon and help me put a crib together. I hear he’s pretty handy for an almost seven-year-old.”

“Sounds good to me,” Tori replied with a sideways glance at Courtney. “We are just grilling out for dinner, so if plans change or you want to invite a guest, just let me or Seth know.”

“Ronnie, Addie and I will be there, too,” Kayla said as though trying to sweeten the deal.

During the ride home from the fight with Jess, Courtney couldn’t help but wonder if she was keeping Ian from his friends. She’d taken every spare minute of his time over the past few days with painting the nursery and the household chores. His comment about dinner tomorrow came to mind. Was he planning to ask her on a date? That could never happen. She didn’t date….
Did she?

The following afternoon Ian showed up carrying a large box, and beside him was Tori’s son, Zach, carrying a bag of tools that looked almost as big as him. Ian smiled down at him, and a thought flickered through Courtney’s mind: Ian would make a good dad someday.

Opening the door, she held her hand out to take the bag from Zach. The small boy looked at her and then breathlessly said, “No, Ms. Wells, I can get it. My muscles are getting big and strong.”

Ian winked at her and grinned. “Yeah, just leave it to us. We’ll get it.”

For some strange reason she couldn’t look away from Ian. He was so…handsome.

Where had that thought come from?

Ian pointed up the stairs, so Zach lugged the bag over to the steps. The little boy looked up the stairs and then back to where Ian stood. Seeing that Ian had his hands full, the little boy’s expression changed to one of determination as he started to climb. Ian quickly followed behind him, hefting the box across one massive shoulder so one hand was free in case he needed to rescue Zach from the monstrous tool bag.

The trip up was slow, but eventually they both made it to the top and she followed them. Once Ian placed the box on the floor she saw it was a rocking chair. He held his hand out to Zach and the boy smacked his hand in a sign of triumph. Then Ian tore open the box with barely any effort. In just a few minutes he and Zach put the chair together then he gestured for her to sit in it. Once she was seated comfortably, Ian tore open the box for the crib and handed her the small parts to hold.

Zach would get the correct screw or bolt from her, then pull the tool out of the bag that Ian needed and take both to him. Once the crib was together, Ian went downstairs and brought up the mattress. Seeing it all together, even without the sheets or mobile—she was finally going to have a baby!

After they also put together the changing table, Courtney rode with Ian to take Zach home and was talked into staying for the cookout. Courtney sat at a patio table listening to Kayla and Tori talk to each other when a man who resembled Tori’s husband, Seth, came outside. He walked over to where they sat with a definite limp.

“I’m Caleb, Seth’s brother.” He smiled, holding out his hand to her. “You might remember me from the wedding. You’re Courtney, right? I feel like I practically know you since you’re all Ian talks about these days.”

“Thanks for diming me out there, man.” Ian smiled at her.

He’d been talking to his friends about her?

“Are you calling my brother a liar, man?” Seth asked, shoving Ian, who stood right next to the in-ground swimming pool.

Upon seeing how ineffective his shove had been at knocking Ian into the pool, Seth waved over Kayla’s husband, Ronnie. Ronnie was a big man, but Ian was even bigger, so it took both Seth and Ronnie to push Ian into the pool fully clothed…while Courtney, Kayla and Tori cheered them on.

Courtney didn’t get home until well after dark and as she fell asleep, she found herself replaying the fun she’d had with strangers…with men!