Page 29 of Her Baby His Gift

Her mouth was a sin all by itself. He was sure they could make a man forget their own name– until she opened it. Hell, if Carter were honest, she didn’t really have to say anything. Those eyes that were more green than brown could cut a man deep with a single glance.

Carter did not envy Damian.

If uptight and judgmental were a human, it would be Harlem. He had no idea how Damian put up with it considering he was the exact opposite. If love really was a thing, he supposed it was the glue that held them together.

“Hey.” Damian greeted Carter and his date. “Harlem and I were running a little late. Is the client here?”

“You’re good. I haven’t been notified that they’ve arrived.” Carter introduced the woman hanging onto his arm. “Joy, this is my best friend, Damian Fox, and his girlfriend, Harlem Thomas.”

They exchanged greetings and began to walk inside.

Harlem couldn’t wait to get this dinner over with. She and Damian had decided to wait until later to take the pregnancy test. Nerves couldn’t even begin to describe the feeling she had in the pit of her stomach.

Once they entered the restaurant, they were greeted by the hostess. Another woman who would have had no problem covering the glossy pages of a magazine. She also was not shy about flirting with Carter in front of his distracted date and slipping him her cell number.

Harlem would have knocked Damian out if he ever did anything like that to her. Joy was so busy checking her phone that she missed it.

Harlem leaned over and whispered into Damian’s ear. “Really?”

“Not our business.” He responded as if nothing happened.

His seeming acceptance of Carter’s bad behavior drove Harlem nuts. She could never understand how friends could condone such foolishness.

Once they were seated, Damian and Carter started talking about strategy. She was left to entertain Carter’s date, who could only seem to talk about clothes and makeup. The woman’s mouth was moving a mile a minute, and Harlem did all she could to be pleasant.

“Harlem, I love your dress. What designer is that?” She asked

I’m going to need two damn bottles of wine or maybe even a few glasses of Hennessy to get through this evening.She remembered liquor was off-limits until she knew for sure about her pregnancy. “Um . . . I think it is Balenciaga.”

“I thought the style looked familiar.” Joy giggled like a valley girl from the ’80s. “I didn’t realize he made clothing in your size, so I wasn’t sure.”

Her size?! She was five-nine and wore a size eight.Was she trying to insult me instead of the hostess who had just exchanged numbers with her man?Harlem sat up straight and elevated her voice in the same air-headed bubble-gum-like manner. “You know? I was surprised to find they made clothes for shapely women with curves too.”

Joy was caught off guard and decided to up the ante. “Well, I did his show a couple of years ago for Paris fashion week.”

Why was she trying to compete with her? Weren’t women supposed to make friends with the best-friends’ girlfriend?Harlem didn’t even try to inflect enthusiasm into her voice. “That had to be very exciting for you.”

“Yes. I’ve modeled for all of the top fashion houses.” Joy continued to brag. “How about you? What houses have you modeled for?”

Damian was ear hustling and almost choked with laughter. He was curious how Harlem was going to respond.

She turned to both Carter and Damian. Her eyes clearly said,you have five seconds to handle this, or I will, and you won’t like it.

Carter didn’t want a fight to break out before he had introduced Damian to the client. “Joy, Harlem is not a model. She is an architect.”

“You mean like designing little houses?” Joy asked.

What happened to sisterhood?Harlem had had enough. “Actually, I design big ass multi-million dollar buildings for fortune one hundred Corporations.”

Damian reached under the table and squeezed her thigh. Harlem glared at him and decided she had better take a minute to collect herself. “I need to use the ladies’ room.” Harlem got up and left the table without giving Joy a chance to follow.

She wasn’t feeling that great. Her stomach was really upset. Harlem splashed a bit of cold water on her face hoping it might help her feel refreshed. After giving herself a minute to calm down from the unnecessary insults, she reapplied her makeup and walked out of the bathroom. Harlem was brought up short when she came face to face with Carter.

“Damian asked that I come to make sure you were alright.” Carter thought it was unnecessary until Damian dropped the bomb that Harlem might be pregnant and maybe more irritable than usual.

Her response was dry. “I’m fine.”

He couldn’t understand why she would let someone like Joy get under her skin. If the least little thing set a pregnant woman off, Carter thought Damian should be awarded a Knighthood the moment they confirmed it. Harlem was bitchy on a good day. “He would have come himself but the client is here. He also wanted to make sure you had calmed down before coming back to the table.”

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