Page 46 of His Best Man's Baby

“Terrence and Janita.” Daniel’s voice rose above the din, and all of a sudden silence reigned. “Good to see you two again.”

Janita’s brows rose. “You’re seeing two men, sis? Damn.”

Tae rolled her eyes. “Funny how you came to that conclusion.”

Terrence shook Daniel’s hand, and they passed a few words between them. Daniel dug into his pocket and brought out his wallet. He peeled off a few bills from a thick wad of cash. “Let me buy you two dinner.”

Terrence held up his hands. “That’s not nece—”

Janita snatched the money and began counting it. “Thanks. Come on, Terry. We’ll see you later, Tae.”

Two minutes after Tae exhaled in relief that her family was gone, her cell phone rang. She looked at the display to see that it was her mother calling. The muscles of her stomach clenched. She knew without a doubt Janita had wasted no time to tell her mother she was pregnant.

She moaned, her finger hovering above the Connect button.

Daniel crossed the room and slipped the phone from her fingers. She stared as he answered. “Mrs. Croft, how are you? This is Daniel. Yes, I’m well. Thanks. Sure. I understand. That’s kind of what I wanted to talk to Tae about today.”

Tae’s mouth hung open. What the heck were they discussing? She reached for the phone, but Daniel turned his back and disappeared into the kitchen. Glancing at Jax turned out to be a mistake. His face looked like a thundercloud.

“Why does he think it’s his right to talk to your mother?” he growled. “This has nothing to do with him.”

“As if I know?”

Her mood shot, Tae stomped into the bedroom and headed to the bathroom to take a shower. By the time she returned decent, both men sat in her living room talking as if it was not awkward having them there together. She didn’t know whether to sit beside Daniel, who had parked on the couch, or lean on the arm of the chair Jax occupied. She paused, tugging on the dress she wore, feeling like Daniel could tell just by looking what Jax and she had done earlier.

Daniel stood up. “Tae, your mom is expecting your call, but for now, I was wondering if you’d take a drive with me.”

“It’s getting late,” Jax snapped.

She looked from him to Jax. The living room never shrank so fast. From Jax’s outburst and expression, he didn’t like the invitation, but he didn’t fight to keep her there. She did want to talk to Daniel, to ask where he’d been and if everything was okay at home. Most of all, she’d missed him and just wanted to hear his voice. “Um, sure. Hang on a sec.”

Their low murmurs reached her as she went back into her room, and she smiled to herself at Jax’s insistence that Daniel not let her overdo it wherever they went. Daniel’s “I’ll take care of her,” warmed Tae’s heart, and she hurried to get her sweater.

Chapter Fourteen

“I filed for divorce.”

Tae gaped at Daniel as he sat in his car in a grocery store parking lot. “You what?”

He reached for her hand and laced fingers with hers. Her heart raced out of control. When he massaged her skin with his thumb, she swallowed and looked away.

“I can’t pretend anymore, Octavia. I care about Alise, but I was fooling myself thinking I was in love with her. I thought somehow going through with marrying her would erase you from my heart. I was wrong, and I wasn’t being fair to her or myself. I won’t stay in a relationship that is doomed to fail because I can’t stop loving you.”

Tears welled up in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Tell me you don’t love me.”

She gasped.

“Say I have no chance with you.”

“Will you go back to Alise?”

“No.”

She eased her fingers from his and clutched hers together in her lap. “It’s wrong, Daniel. I feel bad like I destroyed your marriage. I can’t be the other woman.”

He frowned. “So you’re going to throw away what we could have because of guilt?”

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