Chapter Twenty-Seven

~James~

I woke up to birds chirping and the sun gently streaming through the window. That was odd… my windows in my room purposefully faced away from the sunrise, as I hated being blinded right upon waking up.

I opened my eyes slowly, lifting my hand to shield my poor eyes, and that when everything came rushing back to me.

Right. I had spent the night with Nicole, both figuratively and literally. Looking behind me, I saw Nicole curled into a little ball, swaddled in sheets and looking absolutely adorable. Despite the fact that we had had sex three times now, this was the first time that we had ever spent the night together, and it was pretty nice.

Stretching, I wished that I had brought an extra set of clothes. Maybe I would just buy some while we were out. But for now, I concerned myself with finding my underwear and brewing some coffee.

I wandered to the bathroom where I did indeed find my boxer-briefs, and I was relieved that I had thrown them far enough into the corner of the room that they hadn’t been soaked by the deluge. Thank God the bathroom had small drains in a couple spots on the floor, otherwise I was sure we would have flooded the downstairs neighbor, and that would have made a horrible impression.

Once I was somewhat covered, I headed towards her kitchen where I rooted around for some sort of coffee, or tea, or anything, only to find absolutely nothing. Was that a pregnancy thing? Ugh. It was less than convenient.

I helped myself to a glass of water then, loading it up with ice. I would definitely need some caffeine eventually, though, unless I wanted to treat myself to a particularly intense headache.

I sipped at my drink, looking out over the water as I woke up. It was far too early for me to be thinking deep thoughts or examine how our situation had changed, so I just contented myself with planning out the day.

First thing first was a meal. I needed protein and caffeine and a few carbs while I was at it. Then we should probably see if we could get a special meeting with Trevor the lawyer. Maybe after that a quick dinner then I should be on my way back home in time for Sunday, so I could catch up on everything I missed by skipping a Friday at work.

“Hey, you’re awake already.”

I looked behind me to see Nicole standing in the doorway of the hall that was leading to the bedroom. She had put on a silky robe, and her hair was adorably mussed. If I ever had to describe what a perfect human was, I’d use the image of her standing there, heavy lidded and sleepy.

“I guess I’m more of an early riser,” I answered, smiling as I walked over and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You wanna go get breakfast?”

“Yeah,” she said, resting her head against me. “Just give me a couple of minutes to wake up and get dressed. Mornings are hard for me.”

“Why’s that?” She just raised her eyebrow at me and it clicked. “Oh, right. Morning sickness. Anything I can do to help?”

“I wouldn’t say no to a glass of water. I’ve got some pills that I can take to help. Sometimes they work really well, sometimes they hardly do anything, but they always at least take the edge off.”

“I can do that.”

I went about getting her one, wondering if she wanted ice or not, but deciding to give it to her because she could always take it out. By the time I was walking towards the bedroom, I could hear the telltale sounds of her losing her lunch. Except we hadn’t had lunch yet, or yesterday, so I supposed she was losing a meal from far too long ago.

I cracked open the door of the bathroom to see her kneeling there. She seemed to be done with most of the act but was holding onto the bowl and resting her head on the edge. I patted her back and handed her the water, which she sipped at gratefully.

“This is supposed to be ending soon,” she said with a sign. “This is not nearly as glamorous as last night, huh?”

“It’s alright,” I said, continuing to pat her back. “It’s a part of the process, I guess. Can I get you more water?”

“No, I’m fine. I can feel it fading now. Should just be a couple more minutes.”

“You sure?”

She nodded, and we stayed like that as long as she needed. True to her word, it only took her a little bit longer to pink up and start feeling better. Like nothing had happened, she stood up and washed her face then headed to get changed.

I couldn’t believe how strong she was. While I liked to think of myself as a fairly tough individual, stomach bugs almost always made me want to curl up in bed and sleep until I felt human again. But here she was, acting like everything was normal and she hadn’t just been desperately heaving.

I busied myself with washing our water cups and putting them upside-down to dry, but while I did, I couldn’t help but wonder how many mornings Nicole had already spent so sick, only to paste on a smile and march through her day. I hated the thought of her being alone, no one to get her a glass of water or comfort her. It seemed a bit cruel in fact. Maybe I could talk to her about getting a dog? Or some sort of support animal who could give her company and sympathy when she was feeling ill or worn down.

“Ready to go!”

I finished wiping my hands and flashed Nicole a grin as she walked out of the hallway. She was wearing a warm-looking knit dress and black leggings with a denim jacket. It was a cozy sort of outfit, but she looked good enough to eat.

Maybe I’d have to do that later.

Chuckling quietly to myself, I grabbed my jacket, keys and wallet, then headed to the door to put my shoes on. Nicole was right behind me, and I noticed that she had already switched from the sneakers I had seen her in last time to slip on shoes. I bet that was quite a bit easier considering the life growing inside of her. Soon, I wondered if even the slips ons would be too much for her.

How had women been doing this since the dawn of time? It was such an inconvenience and it left her so vulnerable, it was strange to imagine women gathering and fending off predators in ancient times all while carrying the next generation.

“Ready?” She asked, looking up at me with a smile.”

“Ready,” I confirmed, opening the door and offering her my arm. She linked hers through mine and then we were out, walking to the elevator to start our day.

We weren’t talking about anything important, but I was enjoying the conversation nonetheless. Sometimes it was nice to get away from discussing mergers and acquisitions and next quarter sales.

I was in a pretty good mood as we headed onto the foyer and towards my car only to notice a figure standing by the door.

Nicole stopped dead in her tracks, and a second later I recognized it as the same asshole who was here the day before.

“James, let’s go inside. We can order food.”

No. I was not about to let this happen. “I’m not going to let him dictate your life. I know guys like this, once you give them the slightest victory, they push and push and push until, before you know it, they’re ruining your life.”

“I, uh, I think it would be better to-”

But I was already out the door, coming face to face with the man.

“You need to leave, or I’m going to call the police for harassment. Get out of here.”

The man sneered in my face and it took a whole lot of willpower to stop myself from decking him right then and there. “You think you’re hot shit, don’t you Mr. Moneybags?”

I heard the door open behind me and Nicole slide out, sounding both scared and exasperated. “Guys, let’s not do this. Jason, just go home. There’s nothing for you here.”

“Nikki, I get it,” the apparent-cop said, turning on the charm. All of the hairs on the back of my neck stood up, sensing the change was not as genuine as it seemed. “You’re scared, and you think this guy is going to protect you. But he’s not.”

The man smirked at me again, and I could tell that he was so proud of himself. “I took the opportunity to run your plates when I left yesterday. Turns out you have quite the background check on ya.

“Mr. James Hines, billionaire extraordinaire, but you weren’t always like that. About seven years ago you filed complete and total bankruptcy, screwing over all of your investors. I didn’t find it at first because you filed under a different name. Looks like you’ve had a little identity shake up, haven’t you, Mr. Hines?” He looked to Nicole and I felt my stomach drop. “You see? I get that you’re with him to support that baby inside of you, and that life has been hard since you left ton, but he’s just going to do what he did with his last company. Give you all of these promises and then leave you empty handed when he blows everything.

“He isn’t the type of man that you can trust to take care of you.”

I stood there like an absolute idiot. I was so shocked by the revelation and the flood of emotions rushing through me that I didn’t know what to say. I was enraged, mortified, embarrassed, but before my mind could slog through the chemicals flooding me, Nicole stepped between the two of us.

“Who the hell do you think you are, Jason!? How on Earth do you have the gall to show up here after you left me to the wolves back home!

“You are a selfish, egotistical douche and I never want to see you again. I’d slap you right now but I know you’d probably try to leverage your job as a way to slam me in jail because you’re not man enough.”

“You-”

“You what?” She spat, standing on her tip-toes so she was almost in his face. “You’re gonna threaten a pregnant lady? How civil servant of you! Get out of here, Jason. And you better hope to God that I never see you again!”

He sputtered something for several moments, and I was sure that I was going to have to step in, but he ended up just shrugging and walking away, probably to go shoot something once he was back home at the range.

Nicole turned to me, red-faced and with angry tears in the corners of her eyes, but to me she was absolutely beautiful. She was like a vengeful Valkyrie, swept up in the heat of battle. But as she looked at me, I saw that fierceness crumble, and she grew more and more exhausted by the second.

“Do you think that maybe we could just order in? I’d like to just be a homebody today.”

“Of course,” I said, opening the door for her so she could go back in. Sure, it would have been nice to go sit at a diner and have a quintessential breakfast like the ones that I had with my parents back in the day, but as far as I was concerned, Nicole’s needs came first.

As I followed along behind her, my mind was still reeling from everything that had just transpired. She had found out my grand secret, the one that nobody in my current employ knew besides my lawyer. She knew that I had once so thoroughly messed up that I had to file for the biggest black mark on a business man’s records.

And she had still defended me.

Who was this woman, and how did she turn the entire world inside out so effortlessly every time we met?