Accept My Baby

Chapter 6

Amanda didn’t know why but waiting for the days to pass by before she met up with Rafael had proven to be one of the hardest things she had done. Especially because he had taken her number and she had taken his.

She was still trying to rack her brain, trying to figure out why she was so drawn to him. There was something about him and she still had no idea what it was. But the one thing she was very sure of was the fact that she was trying more than anything to convince herself everything that was going on, the feeling of being drawn to Rafael, was not as a result of her issues with Brett. She would have hated to have to settle for him as a condolence prize. Some kind of rebound. Because Rafael was not the kind of man you went on rebound with, he was the kind of man you went on rebound for. He was most definitely not Brett or any of her other exes. So there was definitely a guarantee that he would love her in whatever she had on…or did she?

She held a dress against her body and then another one and sighed.

“He is not like Brett,” she told herself. “Anything you put on is fine. Absolutely anything.”

She’d had to deal with years of questioning everything about her but now she knew that he had been doing that because he wanted her to dress more like Sienna. She had a perfect size zero body that would let her get away with anything and everything bold but Amanda was more conservative.

She loved to dress up and fix herself up but as far as Brett was concerned it was never enough. He always wanted more. He wanted her to show more skin…like Sienna. He wanted her to wear her hair up more often…like Sienna. At that moment, she felt really stupid. How could she not have seen what was unfolding right in front of her eyes. It was so clear. In black and freaking white.

But now, the whole idea that she was literally growing by the minute was a bigger burden on her shoulders than she could have ever thought of. She knew that she would soon start showing and that she would need to dress the part and also reveal to the world that she was expecting her cheating ex-boyfriend’s baby.

She sighed loudly and held another dress against her body. A smile played on her lips. It was one of her favorite dresses: a sleeveless, light blue, tight fitting maxi dress with a low cut neckline that showed off her perfectly full cleavage. She always thought she looked perfect in that dress especially when she straightened her curls out and let them loose on her shoulders. Brett had loved those kinds of outfits at first but somewhere along the way, they no longer did it for him. But it was not about Brett anymore. It was all about her. She put on the dress and quickly straightened her hair before she did her make-up. She could not help but feel proud when she saw her reflection because perfection did not begin to explain how perfect she looked.

She had just put on a pair of sandals when she heard Emilia’s doorbell. She had given Rafael her address because he had insisted on picking her up even though Amanda had insisted that they were not going for a date.

“Well, we are going to eat later, right?” he had asked. “I might as well make sure I do it right the first time just in case…you know to pave the way for the second time I take you out which in your words would be a first date.”

She took one last look in the mirror before she made her way to the front door all the time thankful that Emilia was not home because she would have definitely made a big deal of the situation.

“Whoa,” Rafael said under his breath when she opened the door. “You look amazing.”

She smiled as she looked at his black fitting pants and maroon shirt. He looked better than she had ever seen him. It might have been a casual look for him but he looked amazingly handsome. Better than David Beckham as far as she was concerned.

“You look great too,” she said as she looked at him.

“I feel like I am not doing you any justice,” he said and she gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear even though it was not really out of place.

“Trust me, you look perfect,” she said in a voice a little lower than she wanted it to be.

“I got you something,” he said as he handed her a box he had been holding behind his back. She reached for the box and opened it, a smile played on her lips. “It’s Swiss chocolate.”

“Yeah, my favorite,” she whispered. “How did you know?” she asked as she looked up at him.

“Well, I know for a fact that ladies love chocolate and if I am going to get you some, why not give you the best kind there is?” Rafael said and she bit her lower lip.

“Thank you, this is…” her voice trailed off. “I don’t even know what to say right now.”

“You are letting me take you around town. So this is as great as it is going to get for me.”

“You sure have a boring life if this is as good as it gets,” she said and he stepped forward. Her heart rate suddenly sped up. She did not know why but judging from how bold she knew he was, she could almost guess he was going to try and kiss her. But what really scared her was that she was sure she would not pull away. But he did not. At least not the kind of kiss she was anticipating. He slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her close before he kissed her cheek. It was a soft lingering kiss that left her feeling flushed.

“I would not be a proper gentleman if I did not do that to appreciate the beauty of the woman in front of me right now,” he said.

She put the box of chocolates down on the table next to the door before she looked at him.

“Shall we?” she asked and he smiled.

“I thought you would never ask,” he said as she stepped out of the door and pulled the door shut.

*****

After leaving Emilia’s, Rafael had taken Amanda to the Imperioli Enterprises building. At first she did not understand why he was taking her there and he would not tell her either.

“I thought we were taking me for a tour of the city,” she said as he led her to the elevators.

“Just trust me, okay?” he said in a soft voice as the elevator doors closed. “You do trust me, don’t you?” he asked as he looked into her brown eyes and she nodded.

“I do,” she said in a whisper.

“Good.”

They rode up to the roof and she forced out a laugh when she saw a helicopter on the roof.

“Are you serious?” she asked as she looked at the chopper.

“There is no better way to see the town unless it is from up there,” he said, leading her towards the aircraft.

“But there is no pilot,” she said as he helped her in.

“You are looking at one baby,” he said before he walked round to the other side and got in.