Page 102 of Surrogate For My Best Friend’s Man 2

There it was the question I hated. At first I hesitated. “We’re using a surrogate.”

“Oh!” Her expression changed, but not in a bad way. “That’s exciting.”

“It is.” I let her know.

“Your husband must be nervous.”

My fingers tightened around the cart and I smiled. “He’s excited.” The lie came out easily. Maybe because it didn’t feel like a lie. Deuce just hadn’t gotten there yet. I moved on before she could ask anything else. By the time I checked out, I’d spent way too much money but I didn’t care. I loaded everything into my car and drove home feeling better than I had all day. Until I pulled into my driveway and my father’s car was there.

“Great.” I mumbled to myself. I carried a few bags inside and found him sitting in my living room. He looked at the bags and then at me. “More baby stuff? How much more could two babies possibly need?”

I set my purse down. “You’d be surprised.”

He watched me pull out the little outfits. I held them up. “Aren’t these cute?”

He didn’t answer. His eyes landed on the words across the front, daddy’s boy and daddy’s girl. His expression changed and I already knew what was coming so I put the outfits back in the bag. “Don’t.”

“I haven’t said anything.” He replied.

“You were about to.”

My father leaned back. “Have you spoken to Deuce?”

My mood immediately soured. “No.”

“Has he contacted you?”

“No.”

“Then why are you doing this to yourself?”

I stared at him. “Doing what?”

“Building something in your head that isn’t there.”

I sucked my teeth there it was again. Everybody thought I was crazy except me. “Deuce is upset.”

“Deuce is incarcerated.” He said with raised eyebrows.

“Because of you.” I spat.

My father’s face hardened. I knew that one bothered him. “Kim, we’ve discussed this.”

“No, you discussed it and I listened.”

He had never understood my relationship with Deuce. From the beginning, he’d treated Deuce like he was some piece of trash I’d dragged home. He didn’t care that I loved him or what Deuce meant to me. All he saw was his record, his business dealings, and whatever else the FBI had collected on him.

My father saw a target, I saw the man I wanted. And now because of him, Deuce blamed me for everything.

“I never gave you information about his trucking company.”

“I know.”

“Does Deuce?”

I looked away, that was the problem. “He thinks I did.”

“Then perhaps you should accept that this relationship is over.” My father replied.