Page 29 of Time Out

“Hey,” I said, and shook off the elevator ride. “I’m Davis.”

One side of Belle’s lips twisted. “I remember.” Her black heeled shoe with the red bottom tapped on the carpeted floor. “Heard you and Maggie had quite the night the other night.”

“Yeah. About that.”

Employees were standing at cubicles and desks, the phones were ringing in the background, and in the center of it all were three rows of tables lined with multiple computer screens.

“Any chance we can talk in private?”

“About how you screwed up?”

“You don’t beat around the bush, do you?”

“I don’t see the point in wasting people’s time, and as far as privacy, my desk is there.” She pointed to a computer at one end of the first table.

“Can I buy you a coffee then? Or lunch? It’s just… I’d like to talk to you for a couple minutes, and I don’t really want to be overheard.”

She stopped tapping her foot. “You don’t just want to ask me for Maggie’s number and address and be on your way?”

If this was a test, I wasn’t sure how to pass it. “Kind of?”

Belle chuckled. That was probably the wrong answer. “Come on, Hall. I was giving you shit about that desk being mine, and I kind of like you. But I did warn you about hurting her.” She spun on those sharp stiletto heels and started walking, telling me all this while expecting me to follow her, and of course, I was. I’d be a fool not to.

“Hurt her? Is she okay… the baby?”

She stopped on a dime, and a flicker of kindness appeared. “Sorry. I didn’t think what you would think that meant. She and the baby are fine.”

She walked into an office, small with no windows, and again I was sort of surprised. If she really was the heiress to this huge corporation filled with a history of producing some of the best music country artists since its inception, I’d expected more.

“My family isn’t big on nepotism. I’m working my way up, learning every possible slice of the company until I’ve proven myself.”

So apparently my surprise and confusion was pretty clear. Made sense. I could never get away with lying, even to my sisters. Mom said I had a crappy poker face.

“Sorry. But that’s cool, I respect it.”

“I’m not sure I respect you yet. You hurt my friend, Davis. She doesn’t have many people in her life to turn to, and I left her with you, thinking you’d take care of her.”

“I know.” I shoved my hands into the pockets of my pants and rocked back on my heels. “And I’m sorry. I screwed up and want to make it right.”

“Good. And also, by the way, I’m totally on your side. She freaked out on you. I blame the hormones.”

“Are you fucking with me?” The girl made my head spin. God bless her fiancé. Perhaps I could get him added to my mom’s prayer list. He might need all the help he can get.

“A little.” She shrugged and smiled, tore a piece of paper off the top of a notepad. “I told Maggie the same. She really didn’t go to you for money, her intentions were totally pure, but I don’t blame you for thinking that first, either. You’re a pro athlete, I deal with celebrities. The amount of fake scams we get about knocking some stranger up is innumerable and they usually want payoffs.”

Funny. That’s what Dawson had said.

“That thought hadn’t crossed my mind. I’ve got nephews and know babies are expensive, and the night we met, she wasn’t exactly in a good place.” Emotional or otherwise. Fuck… had I taken advantage of her?

It hadn’t seemed that way that night, but…

“It’s all right.” She handed me the paper and as I reached for it, she kept it tight in her grip between her finger and thumb. “Maggie understands, and she’d probably kick me in the shins for telling you this, but she was also pretty embarrassed when I gave her my perspective. Go easy on her. When I tell you she doesn’t have a lot of people in her life, I mean she has me. That’s it.”

“Not anymore.” I gave the piece of paper a sharp tug until she let go.

“Honest?”

“She’s the mother of my child. Our lives will be tied together forever, so yeah. I’ll always be there for her, even if what happened to create this scenario never happens again.”

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