The Property Brokers by Sandi Lynn
Chapter 26
Bella
The moment we stepped inside my apartment, Duchess came running over and started rubbing her head against Grant.
“Hi, Duchess. Let’s not do that,” he said as he bent down and lightly pushed her away.
“Really, Grant? You’re not going anywhere else when you leave here, and I know you’ll be taking that suit to the cleaners anyway.”
“It’s the fur, Bella.”
I rolled my eyes and went into the bedroom to change out of my dress. Grant followed me and leaned up against the doorframe.
“You need to take a bath. In fact, I’m going to start it for you.”
“I really don’t feel—”
“No arguments.” He held his finger up. “Trust me. You’ll feel better.”
I sighed as I sat on the edge of the bed while he went and started the water in the bathtub. Taking off my clothes, I grabbed my robe and slipped it on before walking into the bathroom.
“Your bubble bath awaits, madame.”
A small smile forced its way to my lips.
“Thank you. What are you doing?” I asked as he sat himself down on the toilet.
“Waiting for you to get in.”
“Oh. Well, I’m not taking off this robe until you leave.”
A chuckle emerged from the back of his throat.
“Bella, I’ve seen you naked. Both when you were sixteen and most recently, twice. Your body is not a stranger to me. You know that.”
“Grant, I—”
“Just get in the tub, Bella.”
Untying my robe, I let it fall to the ground and climbed into the bathtub, sinking down until the water was covering my chest. Grant got up, hung my robe on the hook next to the tub and then grabbed the loofah sponge.
“Sit up.”
“Why?”
“You’ll see.” He smiled as he held up the loofah.
I sat up and wrapped my arms around my legs that were now at my chest. He poured some of my lavender scented body wash onto the loofah and placed it on my back, gently moving it around in circles.
“Are you going to tell Ian about the baby?” he asked.
“No. I’ve given that a lot of thought all week and he’s gone. I’m not going to burden him with the news.”
“I understand that, but he does have the right to know.”
“I know that. Trust me, I’ve worked out every scenario I could. He’s gone, Grant, and he won’t be back for two and a half to three years. Plus, his career is in California and mine is in New York. He’s doing what he always wanted to do, and you heard what he said. There’s nothing and no one stopping him from doing what he’s always dreamed of. I’m not about to take that away from him. I’ve done enough damage.”
“And what are you going to tell the child when he or she is older and asks about his or her father?”
“Can we please just take this one step at a time?”
“It’s reality, Bella.”
“I know. Please don’t tell anyone about this. Not even your dad. Promise me, Grant.”
“I won’t. It’s not my place. When you’re ready to let people know, you’ll tell them.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He kissed the side of my head.
* * *
Grant
The next morning, I met Lamar and we went running together.
“What’s going on?” he asked. “Is everything okay. Your text message sounded off.”
“If I tell you something, you have to promise me, give me your word you won’t tell a single soul. Not even Ami.”
“Yeah. You have my word, bro. What’s going on?”
“Bella’s pregnant.”
“What?!” He stopped.
“It’s not mine. It’s Ian’s. Her ex.”
“Oh damn. So now this guy is going to be involved in her life?”
“No. She’s not telling him. He just left for Doctors Without Borders, and he’ll be gone two to three years. Plus, he lives in Cali. She said it’s best he doesn’t know about the baby.”
“I guess I can see where she’s coming from. But if I had a kid, I’d want to know.”
“Yeah. Well, we all have our secrets.”
“Dating someone with a kid is hard,” Lamar said as we ran.
“We aren’t dating.”
“My point is you want to date her. But now you’ll be dating her kid too. Things will be a lot different, my friend.”
I let out a sigh.
“I’ve already thought about that, and I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“If you’re still in love with her you’ll accept all of her.”
“I know.”
“I have to head back and get ready for work. By the way, I think I’m going to make things official with Ami tonight.”
“Really?” I grinned.
“Yeah. I know it’s too soon, but I’m falling in love with her.”
“There’s no such thing as too soon.” I patted his shoulder.
