Chapter Eleven
Ethan
Devon’s hair was in my mouth when I woke up. I peeled strands of it off my lips and rubbed sleep from my eyes. I had no clue what time it was, and I felt groggy and confused.
I had slept awkwardly. There was a kink in my neck that I would have to work out later. I turned to look at Devon who was sleeping with her back to me. She was naked still. Her bare shoulders were over the covers, and her hair was a chaotic tangle of dark curls across her pillow and my own. That lovely lavender scent was swimming around in my brain.
Normally, I didn’t let women sleep in my bed. Normally, I chased them out as politely as I could roughly twenty to thirty minutes after fucking their brains out. Having a woman in my bed bothered me. I liked my space.
But having Devon in my bed didn’t bother me at all. She was pregnant with my child, and she looked serene in sleep.
I rolled out of bed and got ready for the day, careful not to make too much noise as I showered and got ready in the bathroom. I didn’t want to wake her. It had been a busy weekend, what with moving and arguing and then having some of the best sex I had ever had. I was sure she was tuckered out, and she needed her sleep.
I called my driver to meet me outside in fifteen minutes. After getting everything together and grabbing a cup of coffee, I made my way down to the lobby of my building.
My driver, Eddison, was a middle-aged man with a goatee and graying hair. He gave me a curt bow in greeting as he opened the back door to my limo.
“Good morning, Mr. Garrison,” Eddison said.
“Morning,” I said as I slid in the back.
“To the office, I presume?” Eddison asked.
“Yes, please. Remind me later to discuss driving arrangements for a friend of mine with you, will you?”
“Certainly, sir,” Edison said, closing the door behind me.
Just as I was getting situated in the back right corner seat, my phone buzzed. I took it out of my pocket and answered the call to hear the familiar voice of the receptionist from One Billion Fantasies.
“Good morning, Mr. Garrison. I hope I’ve caught you at a good time?”
“Yes, now is fine.”
“Excellent. I was calling to check in about the status of conception.”
“The status?” I asked, a little confused.
“Yes. In other words, is Ms. Mansfield pregnant?” the receptionist asked.
“Oh, yes, she is,” I said.
“Congratulations, Mr. Garrison,” the receptionist said cheerily. “Would it be at all possible if she could come in this morning to do a test here? Once we have a positive result, we can write her the check for the remaining first half of her payment. We like to do this as soon as possible to keep our accounts organized.”
“I understand,” I said. “That’s no problem. She and I will be there in an hour together.”
“Excellent. Looking forward to seeing you again, sir,” the receptionist said before hanging up.
I opened the window between the back of the limo and the cab. “Eddison, something has come up. Please stay here while I run back up to my place. I’ll be back down in half an hour, and we’ll be heading downtown.”
“Sure thing, sir,” Eddison said, giving me a thumbs-up.
I exited the limo and hurried back into my building. I caught the elevator up and got off on the top floor. I let myself into my suite and went straight to the bedroom.
Devon was still asleep. She was in the exact same position I had left her in. Her lips, as always, were full and slightly parted. Little whistles of breath escaped between them as she breathed deeply in sleep.
I took her shoulder and gently shook her.
She was a light sleeper. She opened her eyes, and her gaze locked on mine. She looked a little disoriented at first, so I leaned back to let her sit up. She did so slowly, yawning and stretching like a cat.
Then she looked around and realized she was still in my bed. “Oh,” she breathed, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep in your bed. You could have woken me, and I would have gone back to my room.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s completely fine. I hate to wake you, but we have to head out. The agency called, and they want us to come down so you can take a pregnancy test. Once they see the results, they’ll transfer you more of your money.”
“All right,” Devon said, pulling the blankets off.
Then, she realized she was still naked. She yanked the blankets back on, despite me being more than familiar with her body, and looked up at me with wide eyes.
It took every ounce of self-control I possessed to not break out into a fit of hysterical laughter at her shocked expression. “I’ll give you some privacy,” I said, before ducking out of the room and waiting in my living room for her to get ready.
Just shy of an hour later, I was sitting in the waiting room of One Billion Fantasies while Devon took the test. I didn’t have to wait long. She returned with Claudette on her heels, and the two of them were chatting happily with one another.
I stood and joined Devon and Claudette at the receptionist’s desk. “Everything went all right?” I asked.
Devon looked up at me and smiled. “Yes, everything is perfect. Definitely pregnant.”
“Excellent,” I said, feeling relieved even though I knew I hadn’t had anything to worry about.
Claudette leaned over the desk and plucked a piece of paper out of a file. She handed it to Devon. “This, my dear, is your new banking information. The funds have already been transferred. If you’ll just give us a moment, we’ll have a card for you to use to access your money.”
“New banking information?” Devon asked as she flipped through the pages. Then, her eyes widened.
I peered over her shoulder at the dollar amount at the bottom of the final page. I whistled and nudged her gently in the ribs.
“Four hundred and sixty-eight thousand dollars,” Devon breathed. “I never thought I would live to see this kind of money.”
“Well, congratulations, sweetheart. It’s all yours,” Claudette said.
Devon looked up at her, still looking a little bewildered. “Why did I need new banking information?”
Claudette nodded like she had been asked this question a million times before. “Making deposits of half a million dollars into a standard bank account tends to make your average bankers’ heads roll. When dealing with this much cash, it’s easier to handle things privately.”
“My banking is all done that way,” I said, sensing the nervousness in Devon. “Trust me, it’s nothing to stress about. Everything is all good.”
She nodded and some of the tension in her shoulders evaporated. “Okay.”
“Come on,” I said, resting a hand in the small of her back. “Let’s go home and get some food in you.”
Back at my place, I prepared a smorgasbord of food. I brought a platter full of cheeses, breads, jellies, pickles, and meats to Devon who was curled up in the corner of my sofa in the living room. She had a blanket draped over her lap and was reading a book. When I set the tray down, she looked up, folded the corner of her book, and leaned forward to pluck a piece of aged cheddar cheese from the edge of the plate.
“Delicious,” she said, nodding approvingly.
“The jellies are pomegranate habanero, mango, and mulled raspberry. They pair well with the brie, in my opinion,” I said.
Devon looked up at me with a crooked smile. “You’re so sophisticated,” she giggled.
“I appreciate the finer things,” I said defensively. I had picked up on her teasing tone. “Can I get you anything else? Is this enough food? I have—”
“Ethan, this is enough food for a party of six. I think I’m good here.”
I rubbed my hands together. “All right, good. I have to run out for a few hours for some afternoon meetings. Are you going to be okay here on your own?”
“I can manage,” she said, popping another piece of cheese in her mouth.
“If you need anything, just call me. I’m only a fifteen-minute drive away. And if you want me to pick up anything on the way home, just shoot me a text or something, and I’ll make sure to grab it for you.”
Devon stood up and pressed her finger horizontally to my lips. I could smell the cheddar. “Shh,” she said. “Relax. I’ll be fine on my own. You go worry about work. I’m going to relax with my book and enjoy this food. This will be the best afternoon I’ve had in ages.”
Her finger on my lips was distracting. It drew my attention to the softness of her skin. Soon, I was staring at her lips and thinking about how badly I wanted to kiss them. Then, I was admiring her slender neck, her cleavage peeking out of the neckline of her V-neck T-shirt, her hips in those insanely tight blue jeans.
For crying out loud, Ethan, get out of here, I thought. I shook my head, took her wrist, and lowered her hand. “If you keep doing things like that, I’ll never be able to leave.”
Devon’s tongue darted across her lower lip. It sparkled with saliva and beckoned to me. She looked too good. She always looked too good.
“Sorry,” she breathed. “I won’t keep you.”
Even as the words left her mouth, I knew I was done for. I wasn’t going in. Poor Eddison was going to be parked at the curb for a while.
I guess that was why I paid him the big bucks.