Be My Baby Read Online Free PDF Page B

you want, Sherice?”
    “Did you see the final price on the house? It’s about fifty grand less than you said it would be.”
    He closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Read the papers lately, Sherice? The market sucks all across the country right now. Your lawyer cleared the deal. It was the best offer we could get.”
    “It still leaves me with a lot less money than I was supposed to have.”
    Sherice’s voice had a slightly metallic edge. He wondered if she’d always sounded like that—had he just been too overcome with lust to notice until now? He had a sudden memory of Sherice in a bikini, shimmering blonde hair above improbable breasts. Lust had a way of making you brain dead. It sure as hell had with him.
    With an effort, he kept his voice level. “By the terms of the settlement you got a percentage of the sale price, not a fixed amount. Nobody promised you a particular payoff.”
    “Whatever happened to ‘Just take it all and give me Daisy’, Lars? Our deal was that I got the assets and you got the kid.” Sherice didn’t bother with sounding amused anymore. Her voice could freeze boiling oil.
    “You did get the assets,” he snapped. “Most of them. I got enough to set up a business so that I could support Daisy. I’m not renegotiating, Sherice. I need everything I’ve got to keep us going down here.”
    “I could always go back to court,” she mused. “Judges like for kids to be with their mothers. Are you ready to give up custody, Lars?”
    He eased the phone into his other hand, flexing the fingers that had been holding it in a death grip. “Yeah, and I could request you pay child support. Before you start figuring out how big your pay-out would be, consider what you might lose too.”
    “I won’t lose, Lars.” Her voice dropped an octave. “I don’t lose. You keep that in mind.”
    He sat staring at the receiver in his hand, hearing the click of Sherice’s disconnect. His shoulders were clenched so tightly his neck felt stiff. His stomach was roiling with acid. This was what happened when you let your brain fog over with testosterone. When you let your dick rule your life. The ex-wife from South Hell.
    And Daisy. Lars blew out a breath. Never forget Daisy . No matter what else Sherice had done, she’d managed to produce his daughter. And now he had to protect her from her mother.
    So be it. If he had to go to South Hell to hang onto Daisy, he’d do it. With bells on.
     
     
    The first crisis came at mid-morning. Daisy didn’t like animal crackers. She wanted Cheerios, like Jack. Jack wanted animal crackers, like Daisy. Jess gave them a selection of each, then watched as Daisy surreptitiously relieved Jack of his Cheerios, while pushing a load of animal crackers his way. Well, at least she wasn’t exactly taking candy from a baby—cereal probably didn’t count.
    The second crisis came when Jess wanted to get some work done on the computer. Daisy didn’t want to color. She didn’t want to play with blocks. On the other hand, she had a major interest in Jack’s collection of stuffed animals, particularly Mr. Wiggles. Jess held her breath, but Jack, hopelessly in love with Daisy, let her arrange the animals in a heap in front of him. Daisy proceeded to make up an elaborate narrative that featured a series of highly improbable adventures for Mr. Wiggles and his close personal friend the lavender bear, a.k.a. Spiderman.
    Jess found three bugs in the Web app she was putting together for Synchronicity. Fortunately, it wasn’t due for another week. She wondered idly what would happen if she turned Daisy loose on the video games front. Maybe they could convert Mr. Wiggles into an action hero. Lord knew, Daisy was active enough for both of them.
    At lunch, Daisy studied the chicken with rice soup suspiciously. “Is this fish?”
    “Nope.” Jess shoveled a quick spoonful of minced turkey into Jack’s mouth. “It’s chicken. So help me.”
    “I don’t like fish.”