EIGHT
Bambi was wiped out from her afternoon excursion. To her surprise, Steve had been even better company the second time around than she’d expected. He was funny and sweet and kind. Better still, he really seemed to like Beau. And Beau had taken to him, too.
Whenever Beau got fussy, Steve was quick to get hands on. He held him and comforted him whenever Beau allowed it, and he didn’t shun her for breastfeeding in public. She’d been a little iffy on that at first, thinking maybe she should have brought the bottles instead, but it was how she and Beau preferred to do it, and Steve had been completely accepting, even encouraging. That had earned him plenty of brownie points in her book.
Still, she wasn’t about to let him hang out with her any longer than they already had for the day. She didn’t want to be easy. She wanted and needed to be sure that anyone who entered her life was there for the right reasons.
Yet again, though, he’d surprised her by not inviting himself to stay. Steve had simply helped her lug Beau inside the house and then made an excuse that he needed to take off to run some errands before graduating from a kiss on the back of her hand on their first date to a kiss on her cheek today. He’d wished her a good rest of the day and told her he’d call soon.
This time, she believed him.
Bambi wasn’t over the moon about Steve. He was a little prim and proper compared to what she was used to. Hell, he was the total opposite from what she was used to. But that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, and she was thinking it was probably wise to keep exploring that avenue. Beau needed someone who was stable and responsible in his life, not a father how ran around at night partying and drinking and getting into trouble.
So she was confident she was doing the right thing. Not telling Curtis about Beau was best for everyone. Besides, she couldn’t really see Curtis leaping at the opportunity to be a father anyway. He’d be more likely to throw some money at her and tell her to stay away. He just wasn’t that type of guy.
Look how long it’d been since she’d left, for instance. Had he ever once tried to come after her? No. She’d entertained some fantasies for a while, hoping and praying he’d show up at her doorstep one day and beg for her to come back. That had never happened. It took a long time before she let that particular dream go and accepted the reality that he just didn’t—and never had—cared enough to track her down.
She was just another conquest, someone to pass the time with. She’d allowed the idea that he’d spent more time with her than he had any woman before her to translate into something more. She’d thought his attention made her special somehow, but clearly she had just been convenient. Once she was gone, he’d forgotten all about her.
It stung like hell, knowing how unimportant she was to him, but she was making strides to let him go—heart, mind, and soul. The simple fact was, Bambi needed to learn to value herself more and expect nothing from a man.
She was getting there, slowly but surely.
Now that she had Steve as a potential prospect, she was kind of glad that she had someone new to focus on. Even if they didn’t work out in the long run, he could be like a stepping stone in the right direction.
Beau was fast asleep in his car seat, and she didn’t want to wake him, so Bambi took a load off. Sitting had never felt better, and the couch was the perfect place to kick back and relax. What she wouldn’t give for a glass of wine, but Bambi had given up all forms of alcohol while breastfeeding, wanting the best for her baby boy. Even though she’d heard that an occasional glass wouldn’t hurt, she wasn’t taking any chances.
Her phone chimed and Bambi picked it up, seeing a message from Tina on the screen. She read it and sighed, finding no reason to reply back. Tina was already on her way. The text was merely a formality, a warning of her arrival.
Fine, Bambi didn’t mind much. She enjoyed having Tina around, and it would give her a chance to gossip. And she was certain there would be a lot of gossip. After all, wasn’t Tina supposed to be getting ready for a “date?”
Tossing the phone on the coffee table, she had just put her feet up when someone knocked on the door. Bambi threw her head back and groaned out loud.
“How are you here already?” she groused as she forced herself to get up and answer the door. “When you said you were on your way, I assumed you had just left,” she said as she swung the door open, expecting to see her friend standing on the other side.
But it wasn’t Tina.
Far from it.
Bambi’s brain had a seizure as she stared at the unexpected visitor. She wasn’t sure if she was dreaming or hallucinating.
“Hey,” Curtis said, and the chill in his voice was enough to cause goose bumps, yet Bambi shivered for an entirely different reason.
She had been dreaming of hearing that deep, rumbling voice for forever. She’d never expected to have it actually happen. “Are you really here?” she asked dumbly.
His sandy brows pushed together. “I’m not a mirage, if that’s what you mean. Are you going to let me in or what?”
Bambi’s lips parted, but she didn’t know what to say. He stepped forward, and on reflex, she stepped aside, allowing him to pass.
He smelled fantastic, like rich cologne layered with cigarette smoke—a scent she’d acquired a taste for. As he stood there in her living room, looking around, inspecting her personal space, Bambi took a moment to soak up the fact that he was actually there like a sponge.
He was still as tall and lean as she remembered, and just as handsome, if not more so. Sexy wasn’t a strong enough word to describe him. To Bambi, he was irresistible.
He’d added a few more tattoos to his arms and his hair was a little shaggier than it was the last time she’d seen him. She desperately wanted to touch it, to run her fingers through it like she used to do. And that thought alone called up memories she shouldn’t even be thinking about. There were so many questions, so much to say…
Shit! Bambi saw the direction Curtis’s attention had taken and she realized that the entire room was decorated with baby items. Not to mention the actually, real, live baby sleeping a few feet away.
“You got a kid now, dollface?” Curtis asked.
Bambi was no fool. She heard the suspicion in his voice. Instead of answering him, she rushed past him to Beau’s side. “What are you doing here?”
She couldn’t look at him as she turned the seat to face away from him and got busy gathering up toys and other baby paraphernalia. She not only needed the busy work, but she wanted as much of it out of sight as possible. There was nothing she could do about the baby though.
This wasn’t really happening, was it? She hadn’t ever considered what would actually happen if he did show up unexpectedly. She didn’t have a ready response or excuse. Nothing that wouldn’t scream liar, liar, pants on fire!
“Heard you ran into Quick’s ol’ lady,” Curtis answered. “Heard you had a kid and everything.” He glanced around the room again, taking it in, floor to ceiling. “Got yourself a real nice setup here.”
“Um, thanks,” she said hesitantly as she dropped a container of baby wipes into the toy bin. She’d get them out later and put them someplace more appropriate. Like back on the table.
“Did your cushy job with the FBI buy it for you, or do you have yourself a sugar daddy now?”
Offended, Bambi paused in her cleanup and glared at him. “Really? If you came here just to insult me, Curtis, you can leave now. You know where the door is.”
He didn’t make any attempt to go. Instead, he stood there and stared right back at her and just as hard. “I came here because I had to see it for myself. And also because I have something to say to you that needed to be said in person.”
Bambi felt the ball of nervous energy in her stomach grow larger. She had a gnawing feeling that whatever he had to say, it wasn’t going to be good.
Unwilling to show her cards, she gestured with her hand. “Okay, I’m listening. Say whatever you need to.”
Curtis didn’t speak right away. Bambi tracked him as he walked the room, approaching a bookcase stuffed full of romance novels and accented with the occasional colored vase or picture frame. He stopped to study one of Beau that was taken when he was a month old. It was her favorite. He’d been sleeping on his stomach, both chubby knees tucked up under his chest with his pudgy arms beneath his rosy cheek. He’d been wearing a diaper and nothing else, showing off every little roll.
“Cute,” he appraised then, with his back still turned to her, he continued. “The day you left, you didn’t even say goodbye.”
Bambi cringed. She hated that she’d left things the way she had. It was a constant source of shame for her. “I know,” she said softly, “and I’m sorry for that.”
“That was the least you could have done,” he went on as if she hadn’t said a word. “No note, no text. Just up and vanished. I didn’t know what happened to you, if you’d gone on your own or if there was foul play. That’s a pretty shitty thing to do to someone, don’t you think?”
“To be fair,” Bambi said, deliberately keeping her voice level, despite feeling defensive, “I didn’t think you’d care.”
He dropped his chin to his chest and his shoulders began to shake. At first, Bambi thought he was crying…until she realized he was laughing. It was slow at first, then began to build, and Bambi realized it wasn’t even remotely humorous. In fact, it may have been the single scariest thing she’d ever heard.
When Curtis turned around, his expression confirmed what she already knew: he was mad.
“Honest to God, I don’t even know what to say to you right now,” he admitted. “I want to wrap my hands around your deceitful little throat and squeeze the shit out of it, but I also know I couldn’t hurt you even if I wanted to.” He glared at her. “You really thought I risked everything to be with you because I didn’t care?”
Bambi put her hands out to her sides, palms up. “I don’t know, Curtis. What was I supposed to think? You always had all those women—”
“Before. You,” he growled. “Did you see me hooking up with random pussy after you? No. Because there wasn’t any. You knew damn well how much trouble I could get into just associating with you, and that didn’t stop me. Didn’t stop either of us. So don’t give me that shit about you didn’t know. You knew,” he accused.
He was right, she did know. They’d snuck around to be together, stole moments away from the club because they knew there would be backlash if they ever found out. Still, Bambi was filled with doubts. Curtis was a player, just like Country had been. She didn’t know what value he saw in her, to be honest.
“Is that what you wanted to say, or is there more?”
Curtis just stared at her, and if hatred could take physical form, she was pretty sure he’d just slapped her with it. “Yeah, dollface, just one thing: you’re a fucking bitch.”
“Okay,” Bambi said immediately. “No one curses in front of my kid. You can go now.”
Curtis was shaking his head, and the direction his gaze went told Bambi exactly what was coming next. “Not before you tell me whose kid that is.”
The doorbell rang, interrupting their argument. Startled from his sleep, Beau started crying. Bambi felt the mix of anger, frustration, and fear swell inside her. She went for the door, whipping it open and yelling, “What!”
Tina jolted back, eyes wide. “Shit, lady! What crawled up your ass and died? I told you I was coming over. Didn’t you get my message?”
Bambi immediately felt bad for yelling at her. “I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I’m just having a moment right now. It’s not a good time.”
Tina’s gaze went past her to Curtis, whose eyes were boring a hole through the back of Bambi’s head. Beau continued to cry, demanding her attention. Bambi suddenly felt overwhelmed, her thoughts pulled in too many directions at once.
“Who’s that?” she whisper-hissed. Bambi raised her eyebrows and widened her eyes, and that was all Tina needed. “For serious? How did he find you?”
“I have no idea,” Bambi muttered, and then she recognized the opportunity that had fallen into her lap. “Help me get him out of here?”
Tina didn’t appear to understand what she wanted from her right away, but then Bambi saw the lightbulb go off in her eyes, and suddenly Tina was taking the driver’s seat. “I don’t mean to interrupt,” she said loudly, brushing past Bambi as she went inside. “I just needed to see my little man before I go in for my shift.”
Beau was in a full-on screaming fit now, and Tina, lover of babies that she was, went right for him. Bambi stood by and watched as her friend scooped him expertly from his seat and held him to her chest, rocking and swaying while she cooed softly until he began to settle.
Curtis looked to Bambi and then to Tina and back again. “It’s her kid, not yours?”
“Well—” Bambi started, but Tina cut her off.
“This is my little man,” she asserted. “I’d like to know what’s going on here that my boy is left screaming his head off like someone is killing him.” She glared daggers at Curtis, making no bones about the fact that she saw him as the problem, but Bambi immediately felt like the worst mom in the world.
She’d allowed Beau to cry instead of tending to his needs. If having Curtis in her personal space hadn’t already depressed her mood, she was completely down now.
“I didn’t mean to—” Bambi started, but Curtis interrupted.
“Totally my fault. I take full responsibility for that one.”
“As you should,” Tina told him. She patted Beau’s bottom, telling him, “There, there. You’re fine now.” Then she looked to Bambi. “Can I see you in the bedroom for a sec?”
Bambi’s gaze darted to Curtis and then back to her friend. “Ummm…”
Curtis walked over to the couch and made a show of sitting down. “Take your time. I’ll be waiting right here when you get back so we can finish our talk.”
Tina glared at him again, making it clear to everyone in the room she neither approved of nor liked him one bit.
Despite not wanting to leave Curtis sitting in her living room, Bambi chose to fight that battle after she heard what Tina had to say. Following her into her bedroom, Tina immediately passed Beau over to her after closing the door behind them.
“He’s so hot! You didn’t tell me he was that hot!” Tina whisper-shouted.
Okay, so not where Bambi thought this was going. “That wasn’t exactly at the top of my list of importance.”
“How could it not be? It’s not like you can’t not notice something like that. Damn, I almost broke into a sweat out there. And you walked away from that?” She pointed at the door, disbelief written all over her face.
Bambi was beginning to feel defensive all over again. “Look, I told you the situation. Now what did we come back here for? Because if it was to debate my sanity over a hot guy, then I’m leaving.”
Tina straightened her spine. “Oh, well, actually I was going to ask if I could borrow that really cute teal maxi dress?”
Bambi frowned. “Why? I thought you were heading into work.”
Tina slashed her hand through the air. “I broke down and called in sick. Bruce is covering me.”
“You got the manager-manager to come in on his day off? How the hell did you pull that off?” Never in all the time she’d been working there had Bambi known Bruce to be the generous or giving type.
Tina stared at her. “I might be getting a little long in the tooth, but I still have some tricks up my sleeve to make the boys bend over for me.”
Bambi rolled her eyes as she walked over to the closet to dig out the dress for her. “So I guess Beau is yours huh?”
“Well, it worked didn’t it?” Tina pointed out.
“And what happens when he finds out the truth?” Curtis was going to be even madder than he would have been just knowing that she’d kept the truth from him. The lie was just icing on the cake. Bambi knew the best thing to do would be to go out there and tell him the truth now before it got any further, but she also knew that would work against her, undoing every measure she took to keep Beau a secret in the first place.
“If he finds out. And you can’t get mad at me for thinking on the fly. You’re the one keeping secrets. I’m just trying to help you maintain them. No matter how crazy I think you are for doing it.”
Bambi handed over the dress and sat down on the bed to feed Beau who was busily nuzzling her breast. “So you think I’m wrong?”
Hanging the dress over her arm, Tina sighed. “Look, I’m not going to judge you. I know you have your reasons. I just don’t want to see this backfire in your face. Lies always have a way of being found out. Always.”
“Yeah,” Bambi said solemnly, “I know.”
“Well, so long as you know that.” Tina stepped closer and ran her hand over Beau’s round head. “I got your back, hon. You know that. But remember, everything happens for a reason.”
Bambi looked up at her, reading the message in her eyes. She understood. Curtis being in her home, this close to uncovering her secret, hadn’t happened by chance. There was a series of events leading up to it, and she was now faced with how to proceed. Should she continue lying, or should she tell him the truth he deserved to know and face the consequences?
“Listen, I have to go or I’ll be late. But my phone will be on. If you need me, and I really hope you don’t,” Tina said, her expression comically strained, “call me. I’ll be here faster than two shakes of a jackrabbit’s ass.”
“Is that even an expression?” Bambi asked, appalled but verging on laughing.
“Well, it is when I use it. Take care of yourself, hon.” She headed for the door. Opening it a crack, she peeked out and then looked back at Bambi. “Seriously, so hot,” she whispered. Then she lifted her hand in goodbye and closed the door behind her. A moment later, Bambi heard the front door open and close.
Leaving just the three of them alone in the house together. Whatever could go wrong?