Single Mama's Got More Drama
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I said nothing.
“There are two ways to do this. The easy way—and the hard way.”
I rolled my eyes again. Now the lawyer sounded like a character out of a bad movie. “You don’t have to threaten me.”
“I’m not threatening you. But you do need to know that this is a serious legal matter, one that won’t be resolved with stall tactics. And trust me, you don’t want this going to court.”
I frowned, thinking. I wasn’t too sure that Bradley was right. In fact, I figured he was trying to scare me. However, I knew that going to court would cost money. Money I didn’t have.
I didn’t have even the slightest interest in meeting with attorney Bradley Harris and the woman who had been a thorn in my side. But despite the fact that I’d been avoiding Tassie’s lawyer, I knew he was right. I couldn’t avoid Bradley and Tassie forever. At some point, this situation would have to be resolved.
Fine—if Tassie wanted a meeting, we’d have a meeting. However, she would soon learn that I wasn’t planning to hand over anything to her.
She was in for a fight.
“Ms. Cain?”
“When?” I asked. I knew I sounded testy, but I didn’t care. “When were you and Tassie thinking of having this meeting?”
“Early next week would be good for my client. We can meet in Miami, as I know that will be more convenient for you.”
“Very thoughtful,” I muttered softly, not meaning my words. But the lawyer was right. I would have to meet with him and Tassie Johnson sooner or later.
It would just have to be sooner.
“Will that work for you?” Bradley asked.
“Yes. How about Tuesday? The afternoon will be better for me.”
“Let me verify my schedule and speak with Tassie, then I’ll get back to you.”
“You do that.”
I hung up the phone, emitting a groan as I did. Then I forced myself to draw in a few steady breaths.
I was looking forward to this meeting as much as a person looks forward to root canal. But on one hand, I was glad that the lawyer had forced this meeting. Because with a date set, I would have to take action myself.
The last time I’d spoken with Bradley Harris, I’d been determined to fight back. Determined to keep my home from the hands of a greedy, conniving bitch. I’d called a reporter from the Miami Herald who’d followed the story of Eli’s death and asked for her help. But as the days passed and I hadn’t heard from her, I’d put the whole matter out of my mind, wrongly hoping that Tassie would simply go away.
I needed to call Cynthia Martin back, see what the reporter had discovered. Perhaps she’d forgotten my request or had been too busy to do any digging. If that was the case, my call would prompt her into action.
And if she’d been unable to find any dirt on Tassie, then I’d have to hire a private investigator. Because I knew the dirt was there.
I felt certain that Tassie was involved with the man who’d been at her side at Eli’s funeral. There was no law against that, especially since she and Eli had been separated for years. But it mattered in terms of the way Tassie had portrayed herself in the media—like the doting, grieving widow who’d never stepped out on her man, even though he’d had his own indiscretions. And she had painted me out to be a gold digger who had relentlessly pursued her pro-athlete husband for his cash.
Given her lies, I knew that for Tassie perception was everything. A woman like her would hate to have the truth about her own adulterous relationship exposed for the world to see.
And if she hoped to persuade a judge that she deserved my home because she and her husband had been very much together at the time of his death and that I was simply a woman on the side, she also needed to keep up her grieving widow charade.
With Cynthia’s help, I was about to blow that plan up in Tassie’s pathetic face.
Well, I hoped I was. Even if I believed that Tassie had been living her own life and had been romantically involved with at least one man in the past seven years, I still needed proof. Proof was the only thing that would persuade her to leave me the heck alone.
My temples throbbed. Talking to Bradley Harris and thinking about my predicament had brought on a headache.
I withdrew a bottle of ibuprofen from my desk and downed two capsules with the dregs of my cold coffee. As I was swallowing, my phone rang again.
I hesitated—and then was angry that I even had to be wary of answering my office phone. Damn Tassie Johnson.
I picked up the receiver and placed it at my ear. “Vanessa Cain.”
“Baby,” came the smooth, sexy voice.
My stomach tensed slightly at the sound of Lewis’s voice. It shouldn’t have, of course, considering he was my fiancé.
Then again, he wasn’t really my fiancé—well, not in the true sense of the word. He’d proposed marriage, and had assumed that I’d accepted. I’ll admit, I didn’t do much to let him think I hadn’t accepted his proposal, but I hadn’t really had a choice. He was the way out of a problem—the problem being the woman who wanted to take my home from me and my daughter. Lewis could easily give me the money to pay off Tassie Johnson.
The simple fact was that I couldn’t afford to turn down Lewis’s proposal. Not when I knew that it was part and parcel of his offer of financial help.
But I’d loved him once. I could love him again.
“Vanessa?” Lewis said, reminding me that I hadn’t greeted him. “You there?”
“Hey, Lewis.”
“What’s wrong, baby?” he asked.
“Nothing.”
“Then why do you sound stressed out?”
“I do?”
“Uh-huh.”
“It’s been a long day,” I said. “I’m getting a bit of a headache, that’s all.”
“Maybe I need to come by and give you a nice back rub.”
I smiled and said, “Nice try, Lewis. But I’ll be fine.”
“It would just be a back rub. Right in your office. With the door open if you want. So everyone will know there’s no monkey business going on.”
After realizing that I couldn’t exactly turn Lewis’s proposal down, I’d told him two things: that I wanted a long engagement, and that I wanted to wait until we were married to have sex.
Total stall tactic. I admit it.
“I’ll pass on that, thank you.”
“Damn,” Lewis muttered. “You’re being tough on a brother. But I get it, so I’m not complaining.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
“Any word from Tassie Johnson’s lawyer?” he suddenly asked.
“As a matter of fact, yes,” I said. “I got off the phone with him a few minutes ago.”
“And?”
“And he’s proposing a meeting. Next week.”
“Good.”
I drew in a shuddery breath. “Yeah, I guess it is.”
“You’ve got to do this sooner or later, babe.”
“I know.”
“Did you tell the lawyer that you definitely have the cash and offer to buy out Tassie’s share again?”
Lewis had advised me to do that, but I hadn’t. “I didn’t bother to call him back, because it’s clear Tassie is playing games. I kinda hoped they’d just go away.”
“Now you know he’s not going away, so the meeting’s a good thing. I’ll go with you, we’ll bring a check. Tassie’s gonna be there?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll make it a cashier’s check. When Tassie sees it, I bet she’ll happily accept it and disappear.”
I found myself smiling. Lewis was definitely being super-supportive, and I was extremely grateful for that. The idea of him being with me at the meeting set my mind at ease. Perhaps with Lewis by my side and a fat check in his hands, Tassie would give up on her latest plan. After all, I knew she was a greedy little witch, using her lawyer to push me around. The bitch was probably laughing her head off in her Atlanta mansion right now.
But she’d see who would have the last laugh.
“Not that you should buy her out,” Lewis went on. “Now that we’re engaged, we’re gonna find our own place to live.”
“You know why this is important to me.”
“On principle, yes, I get it. It’s just kind of a shame, since you’re going to sell the place anyway.”
“Not really, since we’re going to have a long engagement,” I pointed out. “As we discussed.”
“I know. But that doesn’t mean we can’t live together.”
“Yes, it does, because living together will compromise the no-sex rule,” I said sweetly.
“Baby, I hear you. And I get it.” Lewis paused. “When I was with you, I messed up. Big-time. That’s why I’m willing to do anything I have to to prove to you that you’re the only woman for me. I know you love me. But you can’t trust me. And I’m going to change that.”
Lewis was saying all the right things. I had loved him. Loved that he made me feel sexy and desirable with just one look. Loved that he made me laugh. I could have married Lewis and lived happily ever after if he hadn’t been such a player.
But lately, my outlook on love had changed. I wanted the fantasy…but it had eluded me. Maybe I was far better off marrying someone I liked a lot and got along with as a friend—and that was definitely Lewis. Even after he’d cheated on me, we’d remained friends. Maybe that was a sign that we’d be able to have a successful marriage.
“Mostly, I’m thinking about Rayna,” I said, which wasn’t a lie. “Her little heart’s been broken over Eli, and now Chaz is suddenly gone…She’s the reason I want to make sure I keep our home, so there’s some sense of stability for her.”
“I think it’ll help if she starts seeing me again. We should do some fun things together—”
“No,” I said, cutting Lewis off. “I’m not ready for that.”
I’d trusted Eli, and he’d hurt me. Now Rayna was without the father she’d known. She hadn’t known Chaz long, but she’d taken to him immediately. Until I was certain that I’d be marrying Lewis, I didn’t want my daughter forming an attachment to him, because the last thing I wanted to do was put her little heart at risk again.
“It’ll happen,” I quickly said, not wanting to offend Lewis. “Just…give it some time.”
“What about dinner tonight?” Lewis suggested. “We can go over strategy regarding your meeting with Tassie and her lawyer.”
I was about to say no, but stopped myself. Lewis was going to give me the cash I needed to take care of my Tassie problem. And I was engaged to him—officially, if not wholeheartedly. I couldn’t avoid him.
“Actually, that’s a good idea.” I could take Rayna to feed the ducks after dinner with Lewis. “Why don’t I call my babysitter, and if it’s okay with her, you can meet me on Ocean Drive and we can have an early dinner? That way I won’t be out too late, and I can spend some quality time with Rayna before she goes to bed.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“I’ll call you back to confirm.”
“All right, sweetheart.”
Sweetheart.
I swallowed at the term of endearment as I hung up the phone. If only when Lewis said that, I felt warm and fuzzy inside.
But I didn’t, and I wasn’t sure I ever would again.
5
Lewis and I made plans to meet at The Clevelander, a spot that had a lot of history for us. Sexual history. I could have protested when I called Lewis back and he suggested the spot, but I didn’t. I knew that Lewis was hoping I’d cave to the emotional history the place represented for us. And for that reason, I knew I needed to go there as a test of my own feelings for him as well as a test of my own resolve to keep our relationship platonic.
As I waited for Lewis at a table on the patio, I gazed at the palm trees that lined the South Beach strip. The scent of the ocean filled the air, and I could hear the sounds of calypso, reggae and hip-hop coming from the surrounding clubs. At night, the strip lit up in an array of neon colors, highlighting the beauty of the art deco buildings. On South Beach you had the beach, the swanky clubs, architectural history and natural beauty. As far as I was concerned, South Beach was one of the most beautiful places in the world, and very likely the hippest.
I loved living here. It offered fun for the kids, excitement for the adults. Being on South Beach was like living in paradise. As I took in everything I loved about the place, I was more convinced than ever that I wouldn’t lose my home.
At least not to a greedy, conniving, self-serving bitch.
“Hey, gorgeous.”
At the sound of Lewis’s voice, I looked over my shoulder. He looked sexy as hell in a tailored, pin-striped navy suit. Honestly, Lewis Carter looked like a top-paid model, or even a movie star. I had no doubt that his smile had gotten many a woman hot and bothered—me included.
Yes, Lewis’s great looks had attracted me to him, but it was his ability to make me laugh that had made me fall in love with him.
As I stood to meet Lewis, I sensed eyes on us. A quick glance around and I saw that women in The Clevelander and those strolling the street were checking Lewis out. He had the kind of sex appeal that drew women’s attention like white on rice.
Not seeming to notice the women, Lewis slipped an arm around my waist, drew me close and kissed me full on the mouth. It was the kind of kiss that at one time would have had me smoldering, but I didn’t feel much more than a tingle now.
I was kind of hoping I would. Anything to show the feelings I’d had for Lewis once could return.
I broke the kiss and smiled up at Lewis. “As usual, all eyes are on you.”
“But I only have eyes for you, baby.”
Lewis gestured for me to sit, so I did, and he helped me ease my chair back under the table. Then he took a seat opposite me.
His eyes zoomed in on my left hand, then narrowed. I knew what he was thinking before he spoke the question.
“Where’s your ring?”
“Oh.” I drew my purse onto my lap, reached into it and opened the engagement ring box. Beneath the cover of the table, I slipped the engagement ring onto my finger. “I noticed someone following me when I left my office building,” I lied. “I slipped it off my finger…in case the guy wanted to cut my finger off to get the ring.”
Lewis’s eyes widened. “You were followed?”
“I think so,” I hedged. “I’m not sure. But, I wanted to be safe. Just in case.” I placed my left hand flat on the table, showcasing the amazing engagement ring. “It’s a big rock.”
Lewis took my hand into his. “And no less than you deserve.”
Smiling somewhat uncomfortably, I pulled my hand back and linked my fingers together, then rested my chin on my joined hands. “I want to thank you for offering to go with me to the meeting with Tassie and her lawyer next week.”
“Of course I’m going with you. You’re my girl.”
“I think your being there is going to help a lot. But I have a couple other ideas I want to run by you.”
“Shoot.”
“First of all, I was thinking that it’d be really stupid for me to go to that meeting without a lawyer. I looked through the phone book for some, but I don’t know who’s good. I need someone who’s tough. Someone who will push back when Tassie pushes. For the most part, she’s been running the show with her demands, treating me as though I have to deal with her terms. That crap’s got to stop.”
“That’s a great idea.”
The waitress arrived, a pretty Latina whose eyes lit up when they landed on Lewis. Normally, Lewis might give a woman like her a sexy smile. But he looked her way only to order a half-carafe of white zinfandel for the table.
When the waitress was gone, I asked Lewis, “Do you know someone? Someone tough? In your business dealings, you must have a lawyer. If your lawyer isn’t appropriate, hopefully they’ll know someone who can help me out. I don’t know what kind of attorney would be good in this situation—divorce, civil?—but I do know that I need a bull.”
“I know a couple lawyers who’ll be perfect for the job. Sharp, tough. Bruce Barnes. Neil Gorman. Neil’s a shark.”
“Perfect,” I said, relieved. “You think you can put me in touch with him tomorrow? I need to get on this fast. I don’t even know how I’ll pay someone, but—”
“Don’t worry about that,” Lewis said. “You’re my fiancée. I’ll take care of you.”
Nodding, I didn’t meet Lewis’s eyes. I was aware that with each step I was taking toward resolving my situation with Tassie, I was owing more and more to Lewis. Not that he would ever expect me to repay him—at least not monetarily. And yet I felt I owed him, so much so that I couldn’t confess that I wasn’t altogether sure about this marriage thing. I would far prefer to continue being friends with him and see how things went, but I just didn’t know how to tell Lewis that.
“Vanessa?”
The sound of Lewis’s voice jolted me from my thoughts. “Sorry. I was just thinking.”
“It’s gonna be all right,” he said. “Trust me.”
“I hope so.” I gestured to the South Beach strip. “I can’t lose my home, Lewis. Not to Tassie Johnson.”
“You’re not going to.”
“What I don’t get about her is that she’s a mother. As a mother—one who’s living in a multimillion-dollar mansion—how can she be so cold and callous as to take away my home? She doesn’t have to like me, but where’s her concern for my daughter?”
“You know this is about Eli,” Lewis said. “This is Tassie’s way of hurting you for hurting her.”
“That’s the thing. I didn’t hurt her. She and Eli were married in name only by the time we got involved.”
“She still wants to make you pay.”
“Tell me about it,” I agreed. Which was exactly the reason I would do whatever it took to get the bitch off my back.
When I saw the waitress coming, I lifted the menu and perused it. “How do you feel about an order of calamari?” I asked. “Maybe that and some bruschetta?”
“Add an order of beef fajitas to that and I’ll be good to go.”
The waitress placed the wine and two glasses on the table. “Are you ready to order?”
The question was directed toward Lewis, as though I weren’t even at the table. I rolled my eyes. Some women.
“We’ll have an order of calamari and bruschetta to start, and after that, we’ll share a large order of beef fajitas.”
“All right.” The waitress collected the menus. I saw her gaze linger on Lewis even as he faced me once more.
I shook my head as she walked away. “Someone’s got eyes just for you,” I pointed out.
“Who?” Lewis asked.
I flashed him a mock-scowl. “Don’t pretend you didn’t notice how the waitress was drooling.”
Lewis dismissed the comment with a nonchalant shrug. Then he poured us both wine.
He raised his glass in toast. “To life without Tassie,” he said.
I clinked my glass against his. “Now I’ll drink to that.”
We both sipped our wine. As Lewis lowered his glass, he said, “You mentioned you had ideas about how to fight Tassie. What else were you thinking?”
“Right. Well, when Tassie’s lawyer told me she no longer wants me to buy out her share of the condo—that she wants to move in instead—I got pissed. It’s like you said, the bitch is just trying to mess with me. She refuses to accept that fact that I didn’t destroy her marriage. Hell, I knew nothing about her. She can say what she wants to the press, but she knows the truth.” For a moment, reliving the hell she had put me through, I seethed. Then I pulled myself out of my anger and continued. “I immediately called that reporter, the one from the Miami Herald I told you about?”
“Right.”
“I saw Tassie at Eli’s funeral. She seemed very cozy with a man by her side. I know she’s got some skeletons in her closet. I was hoping the reporter could help me dig them up.”
“And?”
I frowned. “And I haven’t heard from her yet. I called her again today and got her voice mail. I’m starting to think there’s nothing Cynthia can tell me. Well, at least nothing that she could find. I think it’s time I hire my own investigator.”
“Now you’re talking,” Lewis said. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of that.”
“If I could get pictures of Tassie with someone else, establish some sort of proof that she was definitely involved with another man while Eli was in Miami, maybe I can use that evidence to get her to back down. She’s made a name for herself as the ‘victim’ in the media. I don’t think she’d want anyone to know that she was really crying in some other man’s arms.” I paused, remembering the hot stud beside Tassie at the funeral. I was certain he was her lover.
“And the way she didn’t let Eli see his kids,” I went on. “The way she threatened to cry child abuse if he didn’t do what she demanded…A person should be put up on charges for that kind of behavior, not rewarded with more material possessions.”
“Or get the shit beaten out of them,” Lewis offered. Then smiled.
“Wouldn’t that be nice,” I commented. If the law allowed it, maybe I’d ask for five minutes alone in a room with Tassie—and one of Eli’s favorite bats that he’d used when he played for the Braves. “I’ve thought about suing her for pain and suffering, but I don’t know. Although this is America. Anyone with seventy-five bucks can fill out the forms to sue someone at the courthouse. Of course, you need the money to keep the suit going—something she has and I don’t.”
“You don’t need to get into an ugly lawsuit situation. It’s too time-consuming. What you need is for Tassie to back down. Immediately. I know an investigator. He can dig up some dirt.”
“You do?”
“Baby, I’m a well-connected man.”
That I believed. I didn’t know the extent of Lewis’s contacts, but I did know that with him being a real estate investor and developer, he knew a lot of people. Six degrees of separation and all that, he would certainly know someone who knew someone who could provide the help I needed.
“Now,” Lewis said, his eyes brightening while his voice deepened, “let’s talk about us.”
I glanced away, suddenly uncomfortable. With Lewis, it would always come back to “us,” I realized. We’d had some serious sexual chemistry that sizzled like eggs in a hot skillet.
“How late can you stay out?” Lewis asked me, the deep timbre of his voice making it clear exactly what was on his mind.
But still I asked, “Why?”
He reached for my hand. Ran his tongue along his bottom lip. “I was thinking…maybe we could go to my place for a few hours. Or, I can go up to yours.”
I started to ease my hand out from under Lewis’s, but he tightened his fingers, keeping my hand in place. “Lewis…”
“Would it be so wrong?” he asked me.
“I didn’t say it was wrong—”
“Good, because I want to make love to you, baby.”
I swallowed. “I know. But you remember what I said, don’t you?”
“Yes, I remember. But come on, what’s the point in waiting?” Lewis leveled one of his charming smiles on me. “It’s not like we haven’t been intimate many, many times before.”
My face flushed, and I admit I felt something. How could I not? The times Lewis and I had been together had been electric.
“I was hoping I could change your mind,” Lewis said, running the pad of his thumb over my inner wrist.
I pulled my hand away while returning Lewis’s smile. “Oh, no you don’t. You’re not going to charm the pants off of me.”
“No?”
“No.”
Lewis reached for my hand again. Lifted it. Pressed his lips to the inside of my wrist. “Well, I’m going to have fun trying.”
I felt another tingle then. Lust. I reached for my glass of water and took a sip.
“You want it, too,” he said with his trademark confidence that had always turned me on. “You know you do.”
I stared at him, checking out his handsome face. Could I fall into bed with Lewis? Sure. Could I fall into bed with Lewis as a way to try and forget about Chaz? Absolutely. It was the kind of thing I would have done in the past.
Lewis was guaranteed to perform in the bedroom, and he knew exactly how to please me.
But I couldn’t—and wouldn’t—sleep with him while Chaz was still in my heart. Not until I’d made the definite decision to put Chaz behind me and move on.
“What I want,” I began slowly and smiling sweetly, “is to wait until we’re married.”
“Are you sure about that?” Lewis challenged.