Chapter Nine
The buzzer on Redford’s desk sounded. “Yes, Irene?”
“Mr. Sloan Outlaw is here to see you, Mr. St. James.”
Redford raised a brow. The last time he’d talked to Sloan was when his friend had told him Leslie wasn’t happy with him. That had been two weeks ago. He knew the last thing he should be contemplating was contacting Leslie for Carmen’s contact information anyway.
He had awakened just that morning and decided enough was enough. It was going on another month, and he couldn’t explain why the woman was still on his mind. No one could convince him such a thing was normal. There had to be a reason why thoughts of having sex with other women were a turnoff instead of a turn-on; and why thoughts of making love again to Carmen constantly dominated his mind.
If Leslie refused to give him Carmen’s contact information, then he would hire a private investigator to get it. He had come up with a solution to this madness, one he believed would work. However, that meant seeing Carmen again.
“Mr. St. James?”
He’d forgotten his secretary had been waiting for his response. “Please send Mr. Outlaw in, Irene.” He stood and came around his desk to sit on the edge of it. Obviously, Sloan had business in the city for him to be in Anchorage since he and Leslie had dual homes in Wasilla and Fairbanks.
Redford barely gave Sloan a chance to enter his office and close the door behind him before he said, “Funny you showed up here today. I had planned to call you later. I need Carmen Golan’s contact information, Sloan. If you refuse to give it to me because of Leslie, then I’ll hire a private investigator.”
Sloan lifted a brow before dropping down into the chair across from Redford’s desk. Frowning, he said, “You sound desperate. Didn’t you seduce and drop her like you do all the others? So why do you want to contact her? Follow-ups aren’t your thing, Redford. Besides, you claim it wasn’t your fault if she assumed your night with her was the beginning of something more.”
“Yes, but...”
“But what?”
Deciding to place all the BS aside and answer truthfully, Redford replied, “I honestly don’t know what is happening to me, man. I refuse to believe I’ve been p-whipped, but I feel like I have. All I know is that I can’t get Carmen Golan off my mind. I’m convinced her scent is embedded into my skin and the taste of her is a flavor I can’t forget. I haven’t thought about sleeping with another woman since spending that night with her, and I can’t seem to desire anyone else.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Sloan asked in a disbelieving voice.
“I wish I was kidding, but I’m not. And it’s mind-boggling as hell. I’ve never been in a state of sex deprivation before. I need to see Carmen again and bad.”
Sloan frowned. “Why? So you can seduce her into sleeping with you again?”
Redford heard the disapproving hardness in Sloan’s voice. Seducing Carmen again sounded pretty damn nice, considering his present sexually deprived state. However, he knew doing such a thing would only add to his troubles.
“No. I refuse to be that weak and break my rule of not having sex with the same woman twice. Besides, I’ve never bought into that asinine premise that in order to work a woman out of your system you need to sleep with her again. It’s conjectural and unproven.”
“So why do you want to see her again?”
“I did research on the matter,” Redford said.
“Now why doesn’t that surprise me?” Sloan responded, sarcastically.
Redford took Sloan’s taunt in stride. During their days in college, not only was Redford known as the king of quickies, he was also regarded as an OCR. An obsessive-compulsive researcher. He loved gathering and analyzing data. Sometimes just to prove his point about something, and at other times just for the enthusiasm of acquiring knowledge.
“I’m going to ignore you, Sloan, since over the years a number of your companies have benefited from my skill at data crunching.”
Sloan chuckled. “Touché. So why do you want to see her if not to seduce her again?”
Redford leaned closer to Sloan as if he was about to share some secret formula. “Some of the top relationship experts all suggest the same thing. It’s all about the power of controlling your own body and mind, and not believing someone else has the ability to do so. That means I need to take Carmen out on a date.”
“A date?”
“Yes. A date where we spend a nice evening together and where we won’t end up in bed. I need to control my urges and desires and not let them control me. I have to prove my ability to do that with her.”
“Do you honestly believe Carmen would go out on a date with you?”
“I don’t see why not.”
“Well, I do. Carmen slept with you that night believing the two of you were soulmates. She was hurt to find out that wasn’t the case.”
“I don’t believe there is such a thing as soulmates, Sloan.”
“You’ve done research on the subject?”
“I didn’t have to. I see a date with Carmen benefiting both of us. It will help me move on and it will also clear the air about a few things. Especially all her misconceptions of that soulmates thing. Over time, I hope we can become friends. After all, we’re godparents to your daughter, so it’s time we build a platonic relationship based on that, and for her to stop thinking there will ever be anything more between us.”
Sloan didn’t say anything for a long moment and then he said, “All that research you collected might have worked if there wasn’t the issue of fatherhood.”
Redford lifted a confused brow. “Fatherhood?”
“Yes, fatherhood. Carmen is pregnant.”
Redford jumped to his feet. “Pregnant!”
“Yes, pregnant. So I can only assume you got sloppy that night, which is so unlike you, St. James.”
“I used birth control.” However, Redford could certainly see how a pregnancy could happen. A condom wasn’t equipped to handle the overload from multiple orgasms. Why hadn’t he thought about that? “Why didn’t she tell me she was pregnant?”
“I understand Carmen isn’t going to tell you anything about her pregnancy until she and the baby are out of danger.”
Sloan’s words broke into Redford’s thoughts and he all but toppled over. “Danger? What kind of danger?” Suddenly, a panic he’d never felt before took control of him. Being told he was going to be a father one minute, and then being told he might not be the next, caused him to feel disoriented.
Reaching into his jacket pocket, Sloan retrieved a piece of paper. “She’s experiencing a severe case of morning sickness that’s putting the baby’s and Carmen’s health at risk. The doctor is requiring up to six weeks of bed rest.”
“Six weeks?”
“Yes. There’s even a chance her condition might lead to something more serious. I wrote down the name of the condition on this paper. I read up on it and suggest you do the same. It’s pretty damn serious.”
Redford glanced over at Sloan after reading the information on the paper he’d been given. “I should have been told, Sloan.”
“It’s my understanding that you mentioned to Carmen you didn’t want kids. That probably has a lot to do with her not telling you right away. And again, she wanted to make sure she and the baby were out of danger.”
He met Sloan’s gaze. “Regardless of the relationship, or lack of one, I would never turn my back on my child, Sloan.”
“I know you wouldn’t, which is why I’m telling you. Leslie has no idea that I overheard her conversation with Carmen last night, and she won’t be happy with me for telling you about it when Carmen swore her to secrecy. However, I know if the roles were reversed, you would do the same for me.”
“Of course, I would.”
Sloan nodded. “Leslie flew out this morning for DC. All she said was that Carmen’s family is out of the country for the summer, and that Carmen caught something and isn’t doing well. And she needed to go check on her. What Leslie didn’t say, but what I overheard, was that Carmen was in the hospital and the doctors wouldn’t release her to go home unless she had someone to be there with her for a few days.”
Redford rubbed his hand down his face. “Thanks for telling me, Sloan, and I appreciate that you’ve included Carmen’s address on this note as well.”
“Don’t mention it,” Sloan said, standing. “Your research might have told you how to rid yourself of being p-whipped, but aren’t you even curious as to how a staunch womanizer, a man who is dead set against a serious involvement with a woman, was able to get p-whipped in the first place?”
Redford didn’t say anything because he honestly couldn’t answer Sloan’s question. “Maybe that’s what you really need to research, Redford,” Sloan said as he turned to leave. Before opening the door, Sloan added, “I’m in town until tomorrow, Redford. I’ll call later to see if you’re available to do dinner.” And then he was gone.
Less than an hour later, Redford had read up on Carmen’s condition. He’d even talked with the wife of a man on his executive team who had a gynecological practice. She’d explained that although severe nausea denoted a high-risk pregnancy, with the proper care the risks were lowered. Such care included bed rest, drinking plenty of liquids to stay hydrated, and avoiding foods that would aggravate the condition and make it worse. That’s when the possibility of hyperemesis gravidarum would become a concern.
Redford paced his office. He would make sure Carmen got everything she needed. Even if it meant hiring a maid, butler and cook to be at her beck and call for six weeks. Yes, that’s what he would do. He had reached for the phone to call someone who could arrange such services when suddenly he stopped and drew in a deep breath.
Carmen was having his baby. His baby. She was required to be off her feet for about six weeks while fighting for their child’s life. At that moment something came alive inside of him. She was doing this for their child. He knew at that moment he didn’t want anyone but him taking care of her and their baby.
Sloan was right. Control over mind and body might have been a fix, but it hadn’t told him how and why he’d gotten in that position in the first place. Hopefully, spending time with Carmen would shed some light on it. Moving to his desk, he picked up his cell phone to call Sloan.
“Yes, Redford?”
“I’m flying out to DC in the morning. I want to be the one taking care of Carmen and our baby.”
“Good luck with that. Leslie is there. Need I remind you that you aren’t her favorite person right now? She won’t let you in the door.”
He knew Sloan was probably right. Leslie was a fierce protector of those she loved. “I’ll just have to convince her I’m not there to cause Carmen stress, but to give her my support.”
“Leslie still won’t buy it, so I better go with you.”
Redford wondered if the real reason Sloan wanted to tag along was because he was missing his wife already. “Fine.”
After talking with Sloan, Redford called his company pilot to have the jet ready to fly out by noon tomorrow. Carmen’s pregnancy was definitely a game changer.
“Are you sure you don’t want anything else before settling in for the night, Carmen?”
Carmen glanced over at Leslie, who had arrived yesterday to discharge her from the hospital. The doctor had explained everything to Leslie, and she was taking her role of caretaker seriously.
“Honestly, Leslie, the only time I feel bad is when I can’t keep anything down.”
“Which seems to be all the time,” Leslie responded with a worried expression on her face.
The last thing she needed was for Leslie to remind her how many times she’d thrown up already today. Following the doctor’s instructions, she was to eat smaller amounts of food and get as much liquid into her system as she could to stay hydrated. She had been sleeping a lot today, which helped curb the nausea.
“You never did say what you told Sloan about being gone a few days.”
Leslie glanced over at her as she adjusted the covers on her bed. “I told him your sister and her family were out of the country, and you weren’t feeling well, and that I needed to come check on you. I gave him the impression you caught a virus or something. Thank God we have Nadine.”
Nadine Boykins was Sloan and Leslie’s live-in nanny. The fifty-something-year-old woman had been with them since Cassidy had been six months old, and Leslie had returned to work.
“I’m glad you have Nadine, too.”
“Well, I’ll let you get some rest now. I’ll be downstairs in the living room watching a movie if you need anything,” Leslie said, placing Carmen’s cell phone within easy reach. “Just code me.” They had established a special code on their phones if Carmen was in distress.
“Okay and thanks, Leslie, for being here.”
“No need to thank me for anything, Carmen. That’s what best friends are for. You would do the same for me.”
Yes, she would have, but Leslie’s pregnancy had been easy. She hadn’t had a single day of morning sickness and had only gained baby weight. Not a pound more. She’d looked beautiful and radiant while carrying Cassidy.
Carmen switched her glance from Leslie to the view out the window. Night had settled, and she hoped the heat was departing. From what the weatherman had said, today had been one of those DC scorchers. She loved her townhouse. Especially, the side of the house where her bedroom was located. Since her bedroom window didn’t face her neighbor’s house, there were nights when she slept with the blinds open without worrying about anyone seeing inside.
Those were the nights she would stare up into the sky and see the stars. Now, whenever she looked at them, she was reminded of that night Redford had told her to make a wish upon a star. Nothing she had wished for had come true.
Feeling a thickness in her throat, she fought back a sob. It no longer mattered to her if she ever gained the love of her baby’s father. She would have his baby. She gently caressed her stomach, amazed that a little human being was growing inside of her. A little boy or girl she would love and protect. Not being a part of his baby’s life would be Redford’s loss.
Another sob she couldn’t hold back escaped. Suddenly, Leslie was there. Giving her the hug she needed. “Don’t cry, Carmen. Everything will be alright.”
Carmen wiped her eyes. “I didn’t know you were still in the room. I thought you had left to go downstairs to watch a movie.”
“No, I hadn’t left yet. I’m not used to you being sad. You’re usually the upbeat, happy-go-lucky, optimistic one. If you recall, it was your optimism that helped me get through some rough times when I broke up with Sloan. I want that Carmen back.”
Carmen shrugged. “That Carmen doesn’t exist anymore. She got knocked up by a man who doesn’t want her or their baby.”
“You don’t know that, Carmen.”
“Yes, I do. I know how he feels about a serious involvement with a woman, and I got it from his own mouth that he didn’t want kids. So, there’s no reason to think he’ll want this one.”
Pulling back, Carmen swiped what she was determined to be the last of her tears regarding Redford. “I’m fine now. Go on and watch your movie. I just needed to get the last of my crying out. Now I’m feeling sleepy. Before leaving, could you close the curtains for me?”
She no longer wanted to look out the window and see the stars.
Leslie heard a knock on the door. Using the remote to pause the movie, she quickly stood, not wanting the sound to wake Carmen. It was close to ten at night. Who would be visiting at this hour?
Carmen had told her about Abigail Peters, her new neighbor who worked as a foreign service diplomat for the State Department. Carmen had said the woman would be traveling out of the country for the entire summer. Had those plans changed, and Abigail was letting Carmen know about it?
She moved to the door, leaned against it and asked, “Who is it?”
“It’s me, baby. Sloan.”
Sloan? What on earth was he doing here? He was to fly to LA today to take care of business with his film and production company. Had he gotten concerned about Carmen and come to check on her, too? If he stayed around for any length of time, there was no way he wouldn’t figure out Carmen’s condition. Maybe she could convince him to go hang out with his brother, Senator Jess Outlaw, who only lived a few miles away.
“Leslie?”
Sloan had to be wondering why she hadn’t opened the door. “Just a minute.”
After taking a deep breath, she undid the lock to open the door. She frowned. Not only was her husband standing there, but of all people, so was Redford St. James.