Page 28 of His Baby Her Gift

“Um . . . you said someone was coming that was worse than Elaina.”

“You look good in my bed.” He smiled wickedly then pulled her body into his for a kiss. “I don’t ever want you to leave my bed. Seriously, I’ll only be gone a few minutes.”

Harlem could feel the tension in his body. She was coming to know Carter well enough to know when he was putting on a front. There was something seriously up. “Carter, who was on the phone? Who’s coming to the house?”

“Nobody.” He turned away, walked out of the bedroom and into the hallway. However, his words rang loud and clear. “Just my mother.”

Harlem stood stunned for about two point three seconds. Then, she made a mad dash to put her clothes on before running over to the mirror. “Shit. My hair is a mess, and my purse is downstairs!” She didn’t have anything to comb her hair with. Harlem ran her fingers through it, trying to smooth her hair down. She then ran-walked into the bathroom and splashed a bit of cold water on her face, hoping it would make her look less flushed. Her lips were still a bit swollen, but there was nothing she could do about that. All kinds of thoughts were running through Harlem’s mind.I thought he hadn’t talked to his parents in years?Even though Carter didn’t have a relationship with his parents, his mother would be at his house in minutes.

Harlem was about to meet his mother! She glanced up into the mirror one last time. “This is the best I can do.” Satisfied that she was indeed as presentable as she could be, Harlem high-tailed it downstairs to meet Carter’s mom.

*****

Harlem could hear Carter talking. She followed his voice down the long corridor to the kitchen.

“What are you doing here?” He didn’t even try to hide his irritation.

“The question is, why didn’t my only son tell me that he was having a baby?” Charlotte Owens-Du Mont-Tillis lifted a perfectly sculpted brow as she pierced Carter with a sparkling blue-eyed stare. Those eyes were the same ones that she had passed down to him. Frustrated, she placed her hands on her slim hips while waiting for an answer.

“You have a son? Interesting. I didn’t know you remembered.” Carter wasn’t up for playing games. “What do you want, Charlotte?” He walked over to the nook in the kitchen that housed a desk. He opened the drawer and pulled out his checkbook. Carter wrote out a sum for fifty thousand dollars.

Charlotte watched him intently as he wrote it.

He brought the check over to the island and placed it on top. “Are you out of money?” His mother had married and divorced into wealth. She had also lost most of it with her third ex-husband. Since then, Carter had been sending his mother a monthly stipend.

“Do you really think so little of me?”

The pained expression in her eyes seemed genuine, but Carter had seen that look before. Every time he let his guard down, his mother would pull some bullshit out of her ass. Her actions always made him rethink the justification for the entire human race.

“Look, I know I haven’t been the best mother.”

Understatement of the year.Carter’s expression remained stoic as he listened to her excuses.

“But, when the mother ofyourchild reached out to me, I figured this was my chance to make it up to you. She’s a lovely girl. I like her.”

Carter knew damn well Harlem wouldn’t have called his mother. And, of course, Harlem would walk into the kitchen just as his mother finished speaking. He could tell that she had heard at least the tail end of their conversation by the tense smile on her face.

“Hello.” Harlem was about to introduce herself but stopped mid-sentence when Carter’s mother gave her the craziest look.

Charlotte’s smile froze as her head lowered. She zeroed in on Harlem’s stomach. Harlem could see her trying to form thoughts and words. Charlotte opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She blinked a few times at an obviously pregnant Harlem.

Elaina had reached out to her.Harlem knew it with every fiber of her being.

Carter felt a massive-sized migraine coming. “Charlotte, this is Harlem Thomas, and we’re having a baby.” Carter did not want to introduce her to his mother or anyone else in his family. They were nothing like Harlem’s mom and dad. Dysfunctional was too good a word to describe his parents.

As if the situation wasn’t already bad enough, it quickly got worse. “Sorry. It took longer than I expected to park the car.” Elaina strolled into the kitchen through the garage door wearing a smile that would have made Colgate proud. Her happiness was only enhanced by the sight of Harlem.

The unmitigated gall. Harlem wanted to stay out of the gutter, but Elaina was really about to take her there.

Charlotte’s look of confusion as she glanced between Harlem and Elaina would have been comical if the situation hadn’t been so insane. However, her expression couldn’t compare to Carter’s shock at seeing Elaina. She breezed into his house, looking like a carbon copy of Harlem. “What in the entire fuck?”

Carter couldn’t script this sort of crazy. “Elaina?”

Chapter 13

“Good morning, Carter.” Elaina beamed as she walked further into the kitchen. “I hope you like my surprise.”

He sucked in a deep breath to rein in his temper. “Elaina, you cannot continue to show up here unannounced and uninvited.”

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