Her Baby Secret (Friends & Lovers Book 1) (12 page)

“Oh but you are! And I am so happy!” Angelica grinned before getting serious again. “Do you mind if I ask why...did you and Devin break up? I feel like you both are in love with each other. I can see the love you have for one another.”

“Of course we love each other,” Robyn began, “We've been friends since we were children...”

Her voice trailed off as Angelica shook her head.

Robyn thought about how much she could actually say. She didn't want to reveal too much to Angelica. She didn't want to make Devin out to be some villain but neither did she want Angelica to think that she was stubbornly rejecting him.

“We had a serious misunderstanding and we both got our feelings hurt,” Robyn said, keeping it as vague and as simple as possible. “That caused him to break up with me.”

Angelica was shaking her head, looking extremely sad. “If it was a misunderstanding then why can't you work it out?”

“The day it happened, I tried to talk it out but he didn't want to. I thought I was worth more than that to him. But he wouldn't even speak to me.” Robyn stared down at the thick orange carpet, thinking random thoughts so that she would not cry.

“I'd rather be single than ever feel like that again.” Robyn clinched the edge of her T-shirt in her hand nervously.

“Men are often pigheaded. But the smart ones will see the error of their ways.”

“Devin did see,” Robyn said. “But it's too late.”

“It doesn't have to be,” Angelica said, her voice dropped down to a whisper.

“But it is,” Robyn said firmly. “I can't give him another chance to treat me like that.”

“Okay,” Angelica whispered, standing up. “If you ever need anything, please call me. Call me even if you don't need anything.”

“I will,” Robyn agreed. Angelica would no longer just be a close family friend. She was her baby's grandmother. There was something so deep about that fact that it made Robyn both extremely happy and sad at the same time.

A few minutes later, when Robyn stepped under the hot spray of the shower, an incredible urge to weep came over her and she lay her forehead against the cool tile wall and gave in. She cried for herself, her broken heart and all her worries. She cried for Devin. She knew his heart was in the right place. She cried for their families and the disappointment that they obviously felt about the situation. Her shoulders shook with the power of her sobs and her throat began ache.

Obviously she would love nothing better than to be with Devin. To be free to love him and rely on him. And have him do the same with her. Those few months with him had been wonderful. But he'd jumped ship so quickly and wouldn't even discuss it with her. How would he act the next time they had a problem? Would he quit then too? She couldn't risk it although she was so desperate to take that risk.

She slowly calmed down but there was a hitch in her breathing. She bathed as quickly as she could and got out of the shower, fatigue setting in. She dried off and blew dry her hair, then got dressed in a long T-shirt. She'd packed a couple of extra things just in case and she was grateful that she had.

After she'd brushed her teeth, she opened the bathroom door and cautiously peered into the hallway. It was empty. She didn't want to bump into anyone. She didn't want to have any more conversations. She didn't want to see any more looks of pity or disappointment or even curiosity.

She rushed down the hallway to her room, hoping that Devin had left while also hoping he'd still be there waiting for her. She'd been gone for awhile so she braced herself for the possibility that he had gone.

But when she entered the room, he was leaning back in the chair with his feet propped up on the foot of the bed, talking on his phone while a movie blared on the television. She was annoyed at herself for the relief that she felt but it just couldn't be helped. She was head over heels and she'd been for some time. As long as she hid it, she'd eventually be fine. She hoped.

“Nah, we go back on Monday,” Devin was saying. He winked at her, a broad smile on his gorgeous face. “Corporate decided to stay closed since so many people are stuck outta town.”

Robyn hoped he wasn't talking to Casey. She couldn't wait until she saw the bitch. She was going to give her a piece of her mind.

Devin laughed. “Yeah, I am gonna enjoy it. How's the cruise?”

Robyn didn't realize that she'd been standing still for a moment, listening to Devin's side of the conversation just then. Once she heard him mention a cruise, she knew he was talking to his best friend, Linc, who was on a Christmas cruise with his parents. Devin wasn't the type to get loud, even when he lost his temper. But she still hoped he wouldn't be
that
civil to Casey after what she'd done.

Robyn got into the bed, pulling the covers up to her chest. Her shirt reached mid-thigh but she still felt self-conscious. Devin didn't look in her direction though. He continued his conversation. She looked at the TV and tried to get into the movie. But the constant explosions and shooting weren't her thing and she quickly got bored. She grabbed the remote to turn to another channel but decided to leave the movie on since she was sleepy anyway.

She thought about everything that had occurred that day and was glad that it was over and done with. All of her secrets were out. She didn't have to hide anything from anyone anymore. It was a great relief. It hadn't been nearly as bad as she'd predicted but it had still been stressful. She could finally move on. Her immediate task was to get ready for the baby and that was all she would focus on. She had to convince herself one way or another that that was all that mattered.

Devin knew the minute she'd fallen asleep. He could hear the difference in her breathing. He kept his voice down while he spoke to his best friend. He and Lincoln Thayer had been best friends since the first grade. They'd been through so much over the years and were as close as brothers.

Devin let Linc finish his story about the sexy cabaret singer that he'd been flirting with. Devin made the appropriate responses, or at least he hoped he did, before saying to his friend,

“I have some news.” He knew that he suddenly sounded very grave and told himself to lighten up.

“Oh, man, this must be serious,” Linc joked.

“It is.” Devin waited a beat before saying, “I'm going to be a father.”

“
What
!” His friend exclaimed loudly. “Man, please tell me it's not Casey. She is too desperate-”

“No,” Devin interjected, surprised that Linc had anything negative to say about Casey. His two best friends had always seemed to get along well. “It's Robyn.”

“Robyn?” Linc's voice was filled with disbelief.

“Yeah.” Devin grinned.

“Robyn Phillips? The girl you're practically related to?”

“Yeah, Robyn Phillips. And we're not related,” Devin reminded his friend in a gruff tone.

“I know but...damn...” Linc whistled. “What the hell is going on? How'd this happen?”

“We were together for a few months,” Devin admitted. “But nobody knew.”

“I knew you were getting some ass from somebody,” Linc said, laughing. “But I didn't know who. I figured you'd tell me when you were ready.”

“I think we would have told people soon, but we broke up.” Devin explained the rest of the situation, telling Linc about the breakup and his recent discovery that Casey was the cause of it.

“I'm not even surprised,” Linc muttered, his voice filled with disgust. “She's always been a bitch. But she hides it when you're around.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Devin asked, hating the idea that he'd been fooled by Casey.

“Whenever you had a girlfriend she would cock-block. I knew she wanted you from the first time you introduced me to her.”

“Why didn't you say anything?”

“I tried, man,” Linc said, quietly. “When we were, what, nineteen... You brought her to a party at my house. She followed you like she was your goddamn shadow. You know how many of those girls were there just to try to talk to you? And Casey wouldn't back off long enough to let them say more than hi.”

Devin remembered the night that his friend was talking about. Other than Linc and Casey, the only people that he'd spoken to had been a few guys he knew as well as Robyn and Peyton. And Peyton had been there with Keith so Casey had known she was no threat. Linc had told Devin to watch out for Casey but Devin had thought his friend was exaggerating.

“Fuck,” Devin whispered.

“Yeah,” Linc agreed. “After that, I didn't bother saying anything else. I figured you'd see it after awhile.”

Except he hadn't. He wondered how many women Casey had pushed away. He didn't care now. He hadn't been interested in settling down until getting close to Robyn.

“So did you and Robyn kiss and make up?” Linc teased again. “Damn, I can't believe you're with Robyn. She always was hot as hell.”

“Linc, shut the hell up,” Devin said, although he knew how most guys viewed Robyn. She was gorgeous. Linc had casually noted it a few times throughout the years. “And no, we're not back together yet. It's gonna take time.”

“You mean
you
can't win her over?” Linc asked, obviously enjoying his friend's suffering.

“Not yet. But I will.”

“What does that mean?”

“Don't worry about it. You'll see.”

“Sure,” Linc said skeptically. “You let me know when it's time to book a church.”

Devin knew that Linc was joking but that was his plan. And he felt confident that it would happen sooner rather than later. He just had to show Robyn that he was in this for the long haul. She was not going to be able to shake him. He wasn't going anywhere.

When he finally got off the phone with Linc, he went to take a shower, leaving Robyn's door unlocked. He was not going to sleep alone. She was his woman and it was about time that he started showing her what she meant to him. Everything would be different now. He'd make damn sure of it.

Chapter Ten

Robyn's bladder woke her up in the middle of the night. She opened her eyes, disoriented, and struggled to sit up. She was laying on Devin's chest and his hard arms encircled her waist. His chest rose and fell in the rhythm of his deep breathing as he slept. The more she tried to pull away from him, the tighter he held her. He usually was a possessive sleeper. She'd missed that. But right now, she just wanted to get to the bathroom before she had an accident.

“Devin,” She tapped his chest.

“Hmm...” He mumbled, still asleep.

“I need to get up,” She said, pushing away from him. He let her get up and she ran out of the room, down the hall, to the bathroom. No sooner did she sit down on the toilet did Devin burst in, looking worried.

“What the hell!” Robyn protested, her face heating up. “Get out!”

“I'm sorry,” Devin rushed to assure her, backing out of the door and closing it. “I thought you were sick.”

She wiped herself and flushed the toilet, her face feeling as if it was on fire. She tried not to overreact but she felt extremely embarrassed.

“I'm sorry,” Devin repeated from outside the door.

“Leave me alone,” Robyn said, staring in the mirror at her flushed cheeks, wild hair and over-bright brown eyes.

“Baby, don't be like that,” Devin said, his voice low. “It's not that serious. We all pee.”

“Shut up!” Robyn shouted, squeezing soap onto her hands so that could wash them. She'd been sitting on the toilet with probably the most embarrassing expression of relief
ever
on her face. And he said it wasn't serious.

“What's going on out here?” She heard her father's low voice.

“God,” Robyn muttered under her breath.

“Robyn's using the bathroom,” Devin replied innocently.

“I'm sure she would've made it to the bathroom on her own,” Quintin said sarcastically. “What's all that yelling about, Robyn?”

“N-nothing, Daddy,” Robyn quickly answered, opening the bathroom door. “I'm sorry I woke you up.”

“What's the matter?” Her father demanded.

“Nothing,” Robyn repeated, uncomfortable and annoyed.

Her father crossed his arms over his chest and looked suspiciously from her to Devin and back again.

“I walked in on her in the bathroom,” Devin supplied, shrugging his broad shoulders. “I thought she was sick.”

The frown that her father gave her would have been comical if she hadn't been so mortified.

“I'm going back to bed,” Quintin said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

Robyn watched her father walk down the hall and kept her eyes on him until he'd entered his room and closed the door.

“I'm sorry,” Devin said again, but he was smiling.

Without responding, Robyn rushed back to her room. She was aware that Devin was right behind her. That fact simultaneously thrilled and aggravated her.

“You can go to your own room now.” She didn't want him to get comfortable. She had to set boundaries starting right now.

“I'm not leaving,” Devin said firmly, making her mouth drop open in surprise. She hadn't expected him to refuse.

“This is my room and I say that you need to leave.” She set her lips in a firm line, almost daring him to defy her.

He did more than that. He closed the door, locked it, and climbed into the bed. He grinned and patted the bed beside him.

She forced herself not to think about how sexy and adorable he looked laying in the bed. It had been two months since they'd made love and her hungry body seemed to be pushing her towards him. She felt her nipples harden through her nightshirt and she turned her back towards Devin.

“Get out,” She said through clenched teeth.

“You know you don't want me to leave,” Devin said, probably sensing her dilemma. “Come here... Let me take care of you.” He tried to coax her and she was so tempted.

“No, no, no,” Robyn insisted, shaking her head. “Please get out.”

Devin got up off the bed and walked over to her, wrapping one arm around her waist and using his other hand to lift her chin. His gaze met hers and he bent to brush his mouth against hers.

She squeezed her eyes shut, her heart beating wildly, and leaned into him. She felt his hand go up into her hair, lightly gripping, angling her head so that their mouths aligned better. She groaned when his tongue slipped into her mouth and she gripped his shoulders. But just when she braced herself for the onslaught of her senses, he pulled away, a gentle smile on his face.

“I'm not going to leave,” Devin said, holding her face in both his hands. He stroked his thumb over her face. “But I'll sleep on the floor if you want.”

She needed him to be away from her. If he hadn't ended their brief kiss she would have completely given in and been rolling around on the bed with him. She pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes, exasperated and upset with the whole situation. She wanted nothing more than to roll around on the bed with him. Her aching breasts demanded it.

“Fine,” She muttered, getting into the bed and pulling the covers up over her head.

Devin laughed a little, clearly knowing exactly what he was doing to her. From the very first time they'd kissed, it had been obvious that he had the same affect on her as a drug. But it was even worse now. He'd barely touched her and she was soaking wet. She guessed it was her hormones running wild due to the pregnancy. She squeezed her thighs together, annoyed by the sexual tension inside of her.

She heard him walk out of the room and thought briefly of getting up and locking him out. But that would just be mean and immature, although she felt he just might deserve it. A few moments later, he reentered the room and she peeped over the top of the blankets to see him making a bed on the floor, piling several blankets on top of each other. He threw a pillow down then winked at her.

“Goodnight, babe,” He said, walking to turn the light off.

She heard the rustle of the blankets as he settled in for the rest of the night. And then it was very quiet in the room. Her nipples still peaked, she tossed uncomfortably on the bed. She'd always liked sex, from when she first lost her virginity at age 19 to Bobby Adams. Well, their first time had been pretty bad but the subsequent times had been great. And when she'd first made love with Devin, she'd been on top of the world. He clearly knew exactly what he was doing in bed. The memories, combined with her raging hormones, made it nearly impossible to sleep.

After a short while, she heard Devin's even breathing again, letting her know that he'd gone back to sleep. She childishly wished that he was awake, suffering, too. She tried counting sheep, but gave up when she got to a hundred. Finally, she thought about her favorite recipes, and the specific amounts of ingredients that each item required. She felt herself beginning to drift and snuggled down into the bed to go to sleep at last.

Emerald was waiting for her when she got into her apartment the next day. They rushed towards each other and hugged, a few tears stinging Robyn's eyes before she blinked them away. She'd called her best friend right before she got on the road to let her know that she'd be home soon. Thankfully, the snow had been cleared from the highway, although there was plenty of snow all around it in huge mini-mountains.

“How are you feeling?” Emerald asked, concerned.

“I really have to use the bathroom,” Robyn said honestly, shrugging out of her coat and letting it fall to the floor. She ran to the bathroom. It felt so good to be back in the privacy of her own home.

Waking up with morning sickness had been an embarrassing nightmare that morning now that everyone knew she was pregnant. Devin had followed her into the bathroom and refused to leave, and when she'd finished puking her guts up, several people, including her parents, had been waiting outside the bathroom door to make sure she was alright. She'd been weak, upset and mortified. And also annoyed.

She'd been only too happy to leave immediately after lunch. Devin had driven behind her in his black BMW but had gone to his own home once they'd entered the city. She'd felt both relieved and disappointed, a familiar set of feelings these days when it came to him. She was so desperate to be in his presence and yet dreaded how she'd react when she was around him.

“I made you some of that pregnancy tea,” Emerald said when Robyn went back to the living room.

“Thanks,” Robyn replied gratefully, taking the steaming mug that her friend held out to her.

“So everyone knows, huh?” Emerald asked.

She'd only been able to text her friend the basics that morning, realizing that she'd never called her back the day before.

“I didn't stand a chance of keeping it a secret,” Robyn said, taking a sip. “Devin's grandma knew I was pregnant from the minute she got there.”

Robyn went on to tell her friend about every detail that came to mind, from Peyton finding her and Devin kissing, to Ines catching her vomiting to the entire secret being revealed to everyone.

“I know Marjorie's going to be here all the time now,” Emerald said, laughing a little.

“I think so too,” Robyn said, leaning back to get comfortable on the couch. “But for now, she said she'd see me on New Year's. So that gives me a few days without her nagging.”

“Good luck,” Emerald said, crossing her arms. “So what did you want to tell me about Devin?”

“We finally talked about our breakup,” Robyn murmured, knowing that Emerald would probably threaten Devin more than she'd already had.

“That bastard,” Emerald said, sneering. “
Now
he wants to clear the air? What a punk-ass jerk.”

Robyn nodded her head slowly. “That's what I was thinking too...but I'm glad we finally talked.”

“Are you back together?” Emerald asked suspiciously. “He doesn't deserve you.”

“No,” Robyn quickly corrected her friend. “But I found out why he broke up with me. Casey played us both.”

She explained Casey's role in the breakup and Emerald got more and more upset and angry.

“Just wait until I see that bitch!” Emerald shouted, getting up and pacing the room. “I knew she was attracted to him but I didn't think she was that evil. That desperate!”

“When you see her, you're going to behave yourself,” Robyn said calmly, although she'd like to beat the crap out of Casey, herself. Because of Casey, her heart had suffered greatly.

Emerald balled her hands into fists and wordlessly shook her head.

“She's not worth you getting yourself locked up,” Robyn said flatly as she sat her mug on the coffee table and toed off her boots.

“I just can't believe she would do something like that.” Emerald said, her voice lower. “And he should have known better.”

“That's what's bothering me too,” Robyn said, her heart seeming to contract within her chest. “We were friends since childhood. He should have known I wouldn't have treated him that way. And when he broke up with me, he wouldn't even speak to me and wouldn't let me explain myself. I can't be with him again after all this.”

“Now wait a minute,” Emerald said in a rush. “Maybe he deserves another chance.”

Robyn's mouth dropped open in disbelief. Emerald had done the quickest about-face she'd ever seen.

“He was hurt,” Emerald said, “Same as you. And you know how dumb men can be when they cling to their pride and egos.”

“So?”

“If it wasn't for that bitch, Casey, you and Dev would probably be engaged by now. He loves you.”

The pain that went through Robyn's whole body made her tremble. What life
was
paled in comparison to what it could have been. Casey's interference had ruined everything.

“Give your man a chance,” Emerald said. “I think it will work out now.”

“But you
just
said he doesn't deserve me.”

“That's before I found out that you both got blindsided by that desperate bimbo.”

“But-”

“He loves you, Robyn. And you love him. Yeah, he made a mistake in breaking up with you without talking everything out with you first. But put yourself in his shoes.”

“No,” Robyn said, standing up to approach Emerald. “What about everything that I went through? You were the one who was here helping me pick up the pieces. You saw what a mess I was.”

Emerald nodded her agreement. “And you're still a mess now. Because your heart needs
him
as much as his heart needs you.”

“That's enough, Emmy,” Robyn whispered, on the verge of tears. She wanted nothing more than to be with Devin. He'd been her dream man for as long as she could remember. Of course she wanted to be with him. But she no longer trusted him the way she had before.

“Okay,” Emerald said, taking Robyn's hand. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you.”

They stood quietly for several seconds until Robyn had gotten control of herself again. She sat down to finish her tea while Emerald got cozy with a bag of cheese popcorn, which she shared with Robyn.

“So I got fired today,” Emerald casually announced once she'd turned on the TV and began flipping through channels.