Alison Kelly - The Baby Deal

‘Excuse me!’

‘Gladly,’ the girl quipped. ‘Next, please!’

When Amanda-Jayne had demanded to see a supervisor, she’d had to wait twenty minutes for a harried-looking man in his late thirties. After complaining firstly about his junior clerk’s attitude and then pleading her case, the man had quickly scanned the documents she’d brought, then slid them back in the folder and grinned at her. ‘Lucky you, Ms Vaughan. Stop wasting both our time.’

It had taken every bit of her resolve not to dissolve into tears on the spot, but in the wake of the letter of demand from the car dealership they now flowed freely, blurring her scenic view until the harbour seemed to swallow up everything—everything except her fears. What was—?

She jumped as her front door reverberated from a series of loud thumps. Followed by an incessant ring on her doorbell.

‘Let me in, A.J.! I know you’re there!’

Reb Browne.

Her heart had dropped into her shoes, but all her brain could assimilate was that after the day from hell she really should have been expecting that the devil himself would pay her a visit.

CHAPTER THREE

REB hastily ‘pulled his punch’ when the door, towards which his fist was again heading, was reefed open and Amanda-Jayne stepped into its path.

‘How on earth did you get in here?’

Her tone implied people wearing jeans and carrying leather jackets and bike helmets were usually shot on sight by the doorman, but what gave Reb pause was her face. There was no question she was every bit as beautiful as he remembered, but despite her cool, controlled expression and regal poise there was also no question she’d been crying. A lot.

For some reason the notion of Amanda-Jayne Vaughan crying was as incongruous as it was disturbing and it took him several seconds to refocus on what she was saying.

‘…security block. Now how did you get my address and who let you in?’

‘The guy on the door seemed to think this qualified as a pass key.’ Grinning, he handed her the business card she’d previously given him. ‘It was the back that impressed him most,’ he added as she frowned at the card.

“‘Hoping to hear from you soon,’” she read, the pitch and disbelief in her voice rising with each word. “‘Drop in and surprise me. A.J.!” This isn’t my writing!’

‘Lucky for me, the doorman didn’t know that,’ Reb said, stepping around her to stroll into the centre of her living room.

‘Mmm, nice view you’ve got here. Although I don’t go much on this bleached decor—’

‘How did you get my address?’ she demanded. ‘I didn’t give it to you.’

‘No, and neither would your mother, so—’

‘Stepmother.’

The force of her correction was telling. ‘Ah,’ he said sagely, ‘so that’s the way the wind blows. Well, that’s something we have in common; I wasn’t real taken with the woman either.’

‘I’m not interested in your opinion of Patricia,’ she said, her eyes flashing with rage. ‘I asked how you found out where I lived.’

‘Just a matter of posting off those medical records you wanted and waiting until you went to the post office to pick them up.’

‘You’ve been following me?’

‘Not personally. But if you ever need a good P.I. let me know.’

‘How dare you? You have no right to invade my privacy that way.’

‘Sweetheart, you’re carrying my child, which as far as I’m concerned gives me a whole heap of rights. So as of right now you can forget any ideas you’ve got about cutting me out of its life. You mightn’t have much of an opinion of me or my gene pool, but you’re way off base if you think I’m going to walk away from my own flesh and blood.’

Amanda-Jayne felt herself teetering on the brink of hysteria and immediately her stomach started acting up again. Taking a steadying breath, she tried to assimilate the fact that Reb Browne had tracked her down and was actually in her living room. Nothing was working out as she’d envisaged; all her hopes of an uncomplicated pregnancy were going from bad to disastrous. Her morning sickness was never-ending, all the money she’d expected to have she didn’t and the father she’d counted on fading into the background hadn’t. This wasn’t the way things were supposed to go! It was just supposed to be her, her baby and a future filled with happiness. Instead…instead… Oh, God, she prayed, please don’t let me start crying in front of him.

Reb watched as a dozen emotions rushed across her pale face, but he couldn’t guess at what she was thinking. Still, there was no doubt his announcement had shaken her up, but since that had been his intention it irked him that he was now feeling guilty about it. He’d meant what he said; no way was he going to be shut out of his kid’s life.

Unnerved by her ongoing silence and suspecting she was hoping it would either force him to speak first or simply give up and walk out, he made a production of tossing his jacket and helmet onto her well-stuffed sofa then dropping down beside them.

Amanda-Jayne opened her mouth to demand that he leave, but before she could form the words her common sense suddenly started jumping up and down and yelling, Think, you idiot! He’s here because he wants to contribute to the baby’s upkeep… And right now you need money. Even if it is his!

That the man who was currently draped over her sofa like a model in a jeans commercial was the answer to her prayers didn’t sit at all well with her; in fact it further agitated her already distressed stomach. However, the reality was she wasn’t in any position to pander to her pride. She was up to her eyeballs in bills and facing countless more in the next few months. Swallowing the taste of bile along with a chunk of her self-esteem, Amanda-Jayne forced herself to speak calmly and civilly.

‘Am I to understand it,’ she said, ‘that you hired a private investigator to follow me simply because you’re determined to contribute to the baby’s upbringing?’

‘I think I made that more than clear to you when you came to see me. And you,’ he said, ‘made a point of throwing the offer back in my face then skipping town.’

‘I…er…didn’t want to be responsible for placing you under a financial strain.’ It was a lie and the smile on his handsome face told her he knew it.

‘Very considerate of you, but I think it’s best if you let me worry about my finances and you take care of your own.’

If she hadn’t felt so ill she’d have laughed at the irony of his comment, but all she wanted to do was get rid of him before she humiliated herself and lost the contents of her stomach.

‘Very well, then,’ she said briskly. ‘Since you’re so insistent and have gone to such extreme lengths to find me and pursue the matter, I’m prepared to accept your financial assistance. I’ll speak to my solicitor tomorrow and have him draw up the necessary paperwork.’

‘Oh, that won’t be necessary; I’ve already got my solicitor taking care of that,’ he said.

The one-upmanship in his voice tempted her to say she hadn’t realised criminal lawyers handled maintenance cases, but she decided to quit while she was ahead for the first time in weeks. ‘In that case, I’ll give you the address of mine.’

She’d just started to cross to her desk when he mentioned the monthly sum he considered reasonable and she nearly staggered with surprise. It wasn’t a fortune, but it was far more than she’d have been getting even if she’d qualified for social security. While she had no idea what garage proprietors made, she doubted Reb would have very much left for himself once he’d paid out that large a sum to her. Given her own recent experience of being cash-poor, she didn’t feel comfortable putting anyone else in that position; not even him.