Favorite Coffee, page 34
"We can stay longer, if you want," he said, though his voice was empty of any emotion.
"No." It was better to take a cold shower and tell herself that her hormones were out of whack today. Brandon wasn’t the guy for her and she didn’t need one. Soon, she’d be a mom and that was all that mattered. "We both have a busy day tomorrow and if it's our last day as a pretend couple, then I want to make sure we have a good time."
He lowered his head. "Eva, don't look so sad."
Darn. She had vowed not to cry, but her cheeks were wet and it wasn't raining. She quickly brushed her tears away. "I'm not sad. I just cry easier these days. Don’t take these tears seriously. I don’t"
Perhaps the extra tears and how her voice became weaker went against what she said. He came closer. "This is what we talked about."
"And I'm grateful for the job and for our time together." Grateful was a good word. She had no right to want more, even if his kisses surprised her. Brandon Campbell was in a different league and they both knew it.
He looked in the window. "It's strange that everyone thinks we're a couple."
"I wish..." that we were a real couple. She'd not finish that sentence out loud. She was done chasing men who didn't want her. Her daughter deserved a mother who respected herself. She didn't have to pass on the abuse she went through and acted on.
"What?" he asked near her ear, and her skin grew goosebumps. For a second, she wished for a kiss.
The sense of being his wasn’t right. She told herself to stop. She shook her head. "Never mind. Let's go inside and pretend to be happy."
"Eva, wait." He reached out for her wrist and stopped her.
She turned toward him and ignored that his touch made her warm with anticipation. "What?"
"What if it wasn't pretending?" he asked, his brown eyes had sparks of life.
This wasn't all in her head? Her heart grew faster. "What do you mean?"
His voice was steady. "I've thought more about our day as a date than acting a part, and I'd like to see where this goes without faking anything."
The sense of home and belonging overwhelmed her. She lowered her head as new tears of happiness formed. "I'd like that, but I will still help you on set."
He brushed her tears off her cheeks this time and held her closer. "Me too, and I want you to stay with me until you've sorted out what happens next. You cannot go back to where I found you."
Between them was real and honest, then. She licked her lips and let the cedar scent of him calm her. "Let's celebrate Christmas together. How is that for a start?"
"Perfect." He looked over her and toward the window again. "I think your friends are wondering why we're still out here."
Her cheeks still wet, she stood on her tip toes and lowered her eyelids. "Let them see this."
Her lips met Brandon's, and once again, it felt like they were alone in the world. His kiss empowered her and she wrapped her arms around his neck to hold on as he kissed her back.
Eventually, their kiss ended, but she stayed in his arms while he led her inside.
Brandon walked them to two seats next to his sister and Michael. Calliope asked them, "What were you two talking about?"
Brandon shook his head and stared at Michael. "How my parents died holding hands, and it's caused my sister's romantic tendencies."
Calliope rolled her eyes. "Hey, I object."
Eva joked, "Your brother is a sweetheart, so it probably affected him too."
A huge grin grew on Calliope’s face and she placed her hand in Michael's. "And it made my brother date a lot of women who weren't worth his time. You are the exception, Eva. The fact we can have a discussion at all is a good thing."
Eva's pulse raced as she thought about Brandon on his own. She turned her attention toward Penny and Jay and asked, "So, how was the honeymoon?"
Penny stayed close to Jay, but she had a huge smile on her face. "Amazing. We needed to get away without our mothers' involvement. Now we're pregnant, we hope things will settle down."
Eva realized her baby would now have her own best friend. "You're pregnant!"
Penny nodded, "Yes, with twins."
Brandon leaned forward and said, "So, you and Eva are having children at the same time."
Alice blinked and stared at Brandon with new interest. "Wait, you and Brandon?"
Not everyone at the table knew everything. In time, she'd tell her friends, but now was not the time. She tugged her ear. "Umm, it's a complicated story. We're giving ourselves time to breathe and adjust."
"Once your baby arrives, everything is going to change. I'm happy for you, Eva."
Right. Penny and Jay would demand the best of everything and her baby, if she was going to stay with Brandon, her baby should have the best too. She lowered her head because that thought proved she shouldn’t be with Brandon. He deserved love.
Eva asked, "Do you have a good doctor to recommend? I'm looking for a better one these days."
Penny said, "Sure, Jay's cousin recommended Oliver Bentley. He's been super great to us and we have no complaints."
Oliver Bentley. She took out her phone and wrote his name as a note so she wouldn’t forget. Tomorrow, she'd make an appointment. "Perfect."
"I'll text you his contact info." Penny said and took out her phone. A moment later, she had his phone number.
Without looking at Brandon , Eva stood from the table. "We have to get going."
Brandon jumped out of his seat and followed her but took his time saying 'goodbye' to everyone.
Penny said, "Talk to you later, and Merry Christmas, Eva. You deserve to be happy."
Friends were important. She needed to keep them, but she also needed Brandon. "See, I kept my promise of twenty minutes."
They walked to his car in silence. Before they drove off, he asked, "So, what do you want to do for the rest of the night?"
She slipped her platforms off her feet. "Anything?"
"Yes," he said while he drove onto Biscayne Blvd.
"I’m boring."
He thought she wanted to go out again.
She let out a sigh. "Go home and put my feet up. Tomorrow we have a busy day, and spending a few hours with you and my feet propped up is my dream."
He glanced at her toes and saw her bare feet. "Your feet hurt?"
"They're killing me," she answered.
He steered them toward the highway that would bring them home. "So, this doctor you intend to see has the same name as my car."
She lifted her eyebrow and joked, "Who knows, maybe your car is a Transformer."
He winked back. "So you do know pop culture. I thought you Broadway types were always serious, wearing black and discussing how the rest of us don’t understand true art."
"Misconception, though we're serious half the time," she answered, before her phone rang. She opened her pocketbook and looked at the display. "Chris is calling."
* * *
Brandon's face darkened. "Don't answer."
"I think I should," she said. Until today, she hadn't heard from Chris. She’d received the wedding invitation that let her know all about how much of a liar he was and she’d left a voicemail about her pregnancy. Now he'd seen her and called? Perhaps he had his head on straight concerning her daughter. "Hello?"
"Eva, we have to talk," Chris said fast.
It was why she answered. She twirled a piece of her hair as her heart whispered Brandon was the better man for her. Her finger intertwined with Brandon’s. "What is there to say?"
"I want my baby in my life."
Boom. Her heart felt like it was thrown on the floor and run over by a car. She stopped playing with her hair, felt a cold dagger that pierced her skin, and sat straighter. "Chris, you're having a baby with Roxanna, I believe her name was. Your almost wedding was quite illuminating because I saw how you told Calliope that you love her and want to be with her even after that revelation. My baby deserves the best—not leftovers."
"Roxanne had a miscarriage."
Well he at least spoke to his other baby mother. Roxanne had interrupted Calliope's wedding to Chris with her announcement. Eva had intended to sit there and watch in silence in Mexico. Like the bride, she never knew Roxanne existed until that moment either. "I'm so sorry for her."
"She made me want to be a father."
At least someone got through to him. For a second, she glanced at Brandon, who steered her onto his street.
"Look, Chris, you lied to me. I don't want you around."
"Our baby deserves to have both parents."
Chris would never be any sort of father to her daughter, and it was best to not let her baby ever get disappointed. "My baby deserves to have people in her life she can depend on. I have to go."
"I want my baby, and I have money to bring this to court."
She hung up the phone and her heart raced. What if he took her to court and proved that she was unfit to be a mother? She closed her eyes and tried to tell herself to breathe.
Brandon parked the car in his garage and placed his hand on her knee. "What did he want?"
Once the garage door closed, this time no memories flashed and she felt safe enough to answer. "My baby. I can't let that happen."
"He won’t get you or your baby. Can I ask one question?"
One question more wouldn't kill her. She swallowed and tried to stay calm. "Yeah."
"I know you said Chris lied to you about Calliope, and I believe you, but what did you ever see in that guy to begin with?"
Inside the dark garage and in the car, she felt the truth come up to her heart, like it was a mouth cleanser for her soul that made her breathe easier. This was also why Brandon would eventually leave her too. "I have bad taste… I'm a magnet for unreliable men."
"So, I'm a step up?" he said, and leaned over her to unlock her door.
Once again, she could taste the salt of his kiss on her lips, though he hadn't kissed her. If Brandon was the one she was tied to for eternity, then she'd be happy. "You're in a class all by yourself."
"Good. I hate competition," he said, and opened his car door. The second he flipped on the light, she followed him inside the house.
She was his, if he truly wanted her. He closed the door, and for tonight she let herself hope this was possible. Brandon was the best man she’d ever known.
68
Eva woke and heard a parrot outside her window. She sat and stared at the green bird on the balcony railing. Her stomach growled, she needed to make sure her baby had enough to eat. Today, she'd make an appointment to go see the recommended doctor. Right now, she'd ensure she had enough food. She cleaned herself up, found some clothes and headed downstairs.
Once she made it to the first floor, she could hear typing on a computer. She turned and followed the noise. At a door to what must be an office—judging from the desk she spotted inside—she stuck her head in and saw Brandon. Her heart swelled as she pushed it open and leaned against the frame. "You're up early."
"Eva. I thought you'd sleep more," he said, and put the script down that was in his hands.
She wandered inside and sat opposite him. "I was hungry."
He finished typing on his laptop and said, "Okay. Give me one minute to write this email and I'll join you."
"What are you doing?" she asked, and stared at the movie script of her new movie, Damaged Obsession.
He pushed the script on his desk forward and hit send to his email. "Finishing the new script."
"So, what do you think?" she asked. Matt Morgan, the star, had paced the set with the director yesterday and spoke quietly about the changes. She’d stayed out of it.
Brandon picked up his pen and signed his name on the script. "I like it and I'm going to approve it. I emailed Matt and the director and asked them to send the computer file."
Soon, she'd get the script and learn every line, but for now, she stared at it. "So, what happens to Laura?"
Brandon stood. "Jennifer’s character kills her."
"What?" she asked as she imagined filming a death scene. She would one day laugh over the silliness with her daughter—at least, she hoped so.
Brandon put his pen down and said, "It makes sense, as it's her only way to stay alive. Laura ends up kidnapping her before that though, and it's the only way she can stop her and get out alive."
She laughed and rubbed her belly. "What happens to her baby?"
"Jennifer and Matt's characters adopt the boy."
They were the two heroes in the movie. Laura was the villain. Chris popped into her mind and a cold wind felt like it inched up her back. "As long as this isn't parallel to my life. I can't let Chris scare me with his money."
Brandon walked around the desk and leaned on it in front of her. "Being poor is not a crime, Eva, though you have me in your corner now and I won’t let anyone bully you."
"Thanks," she said and reached for his hand to stand.
He stopped her and said, "Give me one second. I want to get something for you from the other room. Wait here."
She stepped closer to the desk and picked up the script. "Sure. Do you mind if I peak at the script?"
"Go ahead," he called out from the closet.
She gazed at a folder with her name on it and picked it up from the files on his desk. "What's this?"
She read her entire life story on a dossier, complete with pictures from the last year and her one night with Chris.
Brandon walked out of the closet and waved a small box in the air. "I found it. What are you reading?"
She finished reading everything and wrung her hands. "Your file on me. You said you knew I was pregnant because of your sister."
"I did. It's true," he said, while he hugged his box in front of his chest.
She handed him the manila folder with her name on it. "You have everything about my life in this file, including who worked on my play and who I gave money too."
"Yeah." His face turned red.
No. Her hands clenched into fists. This was too much. She pointed to the file again. "And my relationship with Chris. It's how I met him the hour after the cast farewell after-party. You even have pictures. How did you get this?"
He took a step closer to her, but she stepped away. "I hired a PI to get all your information before I hired you."
Her head pounded. She rubbed her temple. If they had a shot, then they needed to trust each other. "Brandon, you didn't tell me."
He placed the box on his desk and never blinked while he stared at her. "Eva, we went to high school together, but we've not been friends until now. Do you honestly think I'd knock on a stranger’s door without arming myself with information?"
Friends. He thought they were at least friends. Her body trembled though the logic of what he said pierced through her throbbing head. "Did you hire me because I was talented, or because you have a vendetta against Chris?"
"What?" He blinked.
Everything became laser focused now in her mind. His sister, Calliope's wedding in Mexico, and how Brandon had chased his sister down the aisle to ensure she was safe. No one had ever done anything like that for Eva, and now Brandon was here. She picked up the next file on his desk with the name 'Roxanne' and read it. Inside her mind, she swore she heard the sound of 'ding, ding, ding.' She sighed. "You also knew Roxanne lost her baby. He humiliated your sister, but she's over it. We're all over him. Why aren't you?"
"He has no right to ruin people's lives." Brandon said and crossed his arms.
It was one thing to look out for his sister, but this went too far. "Brandon this isn't normal."
"Look, he stole a lot of money from Calliope. It's not just about humiliating her. And when I hired the PI, I thought she might go back to him. I needed to protect her and show her the truth if it came to that. I want to make sure he loses what he stole."
Money was the bottom line with most people. Her heart felt like it plummeted. "Then have the police deal with it."
"Calliope won't press charges."
She stepped further out of the room. This was too much. She needed fresh air. "This is how you knew what happened on prom night. It was in the file."
"No. That part was me filling the PI in for a full report. You came to school on Monday and you never confided in anyone, but I knew Tommy and his friends."
Her chin felt like it was loose and tears threatened to leak from her eyes again. "You should have told me you ran a background check."
"And you should have told people what happened then and stand up for yourself and your baby now."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm sorry. Eva, don't let your anger at me get in the way of your logic. You have the right to get a monthly child support check from him."
If she put what happened with Chris on paper, she'd be tied to that man forever. They weren't even friends. They had no relationship. Part of her had wanted to pretend Brandon was the father so badly that she’d put his name on the birth certificate. She lifted her chin. "I don't want to put his name on the birth certificate."
His eyebrows went lower. "Why?"
So she had $12.86 in her account at the moment. Brandon knew her entire life savings. "Like you said, being poor isn't a disease. My daughter and I will be better off without any guy who doesn't care."
He uncrossed his arms and came toward her again. "He called you and said he's going to take you to court."
No. It was better to keep her distance. Her heart pounded in her chest. Brandon couldn’t be trusted, and she should have protected herself. "Once we finish the movie, I'll move. I'll change my name if I have to, and disappear. It was what I intended to do before you knocked on my door, anyhow."
He picked up the box again. "Where would you go? You were born and raised here."
He intended to give her something. Was it another lie? She stared at the red paper of the box with the white bow. She let him come a little closer as she said, "Perhaps that's part of the problem. I let you in the door because I knew you. I talked to Chris that night because I knew him. Clearly, knowing people leads me to trusting, and that’s where I go wrong."
