“She isn’t my girl. Not yet, maybe never.” He tossed his empty cup into the trashcan, but making the basket didn’t lift his spirits this time. He hadn’t heard from Danielle since they returned to town, and this time they’d exchanged cell numbers. But she wasn’t answering his texts, so he figured she wouldn’t answer his phone calls either.
“Trouble in paradise?”
“Don’t you have something better to do? I’m back now, take the afternoon off and go home to Aurora.” He wanted to be alone so he could figure out what happened between them.
Bryce held his hands in the air in easy defeat. “Hey, I can tell you aren’t in the mood to talk. By all means, take over. I’d love to go home early and make whoopee with my fiancée.”
“Your pregnant fiancée. You’d better enjoy your time alone together. Once those babies come, your time with her is gone. No sex either.” Hell, he couldn’t stand the idea of having a kid take over your life.
“Who made you an expert on babies?”
“They ruin your love life.”
“That’s your opinion. You know what? I’m leaving you alone to wallow in your self-pity. I left a stack of invoices for you to go over. Enjoy your day.”
After Bryce closed the office door behind him, Brent looked down at his cellphone. No missed calls from Danielle, but several from Janie. What the hell did she want? He told her he wasn’t available anymore. When he delivered the wine to the restaurant last night, Uncle Tony said a blonde had stopped by and left him a message. Phone messages and notes, all from someone he’d had sex with so many times he’d lost count. Yet, not even one time compared with Danielle’s sweet lovemaking.
His office door burst open, and he spun around in his chair. Janie walked in with a little boy in tow. He cleared his throat. “I was about to call you.”
“Sure, you were. You’ve been avoiding me all week.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder and brought the boy closer.
“I was out of town for a few days. I just got back late last night. My uncle told me you’d stopped by and left me a message to call. I don’t have a clue why, after you left a dozen messages on my cellphone too. Didn’t you think I got them?”
“You never called back.” She pouted her lower lip in a way he used to think was sexy.
“I was about to. I just told you that. What’s so damn important anyway? You got the dream job you wanted? You won the lottery?”
“Smart-ass.”
He sat forward. “What did I do to deserve this visit from you, Janie?”
“I thought before you got married you’d like to meet your son. Our son.”
Did a bomb just drop in the room? Holy shit. He jumped to his feet so fast the little boy flinched and hid behind Janie’s leg. “Are you crazy? We don’t have a kid.”
“We sure do. This is Kyle. He just turned two last week. That’s what I came to do the other day. I wanted to invite you to his birthday party. A little hot sex and some cake too.” She laughed as if this entire surreal conversation were fun.
He walked around the desk and leaned against it, crossing his arms in self-defense mode like he could prevent the damage that had already been done. Gross images of the almost kinky sex with Janie producing a kid crossed his mind. He smiled at the timid toddler. He had to admit the kid was cute. Dark curls peeked out from beneath a miniature baseball cap and his eyes were the same color brown as Bryce’s, which meant they were the same color as his too. Could this be true? Could he be a father? Karma was kicking him in the ass for taunting Bryce earlier.
“How much do you want, Janie?”
“I don’t want your money, Brent. I want you. Kyle needs his father.” She pulled the little guy from her leg and pushed him forward. “Go say hi to your daddy, Ky.”
The two-foot-tall two-year-old ambled forward. He looked up with the most innocent expression. “Hi, Daddy.”
No. He wasn’t going to fall for this sick joke. Why wouldn’t she have told him about the boy before this? “Ha. I bet you tell him to say that to all the men you date.”
“No, just you. You’re his daddy.”
It wasn’t the kid’s fault his mom was promiscuous. He hunkered down and held out his hand. Kyle ran back to hide behind Janie. He walked around the desk and pulled out a bag of candy from his stash in the top drawer. When he held out the treat, Kyle hurried to grab it.
“You’re a great influence on him already, giving him treats right before his lunch.” She sashayed over and hooked her arm through his. “You’ll learn to be a good daddy with time.”
He glanced at the wall clock. It was almost noon, but he wasn’t a bit hungry. Not now. Not if he really had a kid and it was looking like he might. The smell of Janie’s heavy perfume permeated the room. Odd how he used to think it was sexy. Hell, he used to think she was sexy. Well, she still was in a total appeal-to-male-lust way, but he wasn’t in love with her.
She leaned into him and whispered in his ear. “Let’s go to lunch. When we come back, Kyle can take a nap on your couch, and I’ll give you that blowjob you’re just aching for.” She slipped her hand between his thighs and rubbed his bulge to arouse him. Traitorous damn dick, it would respond to anything or anyone.
“I only have half an hour. I’m the only one here today.” He resigned himself to taking her to lunch for the little boy’s sake.
“Good. We can talk about our wedding plans.”
Wedding? What the hell? Just because she had a kid who resembled him and said the boy was his didn’t make it so. He wanted to see a birth certificate, do DNA tests—the whole nine yards. No way was he going into this blindfolded.
Did she offer him a blowjob?
****
Danielle’s apartment was a mess. She’d torn it to pieces looking for her cellphone. It had gotten lost somewhere between the Monarch Lavender Farm and here. She double-checked the suitcase, her purse, everywhere she might have laid it when she got home late last night to find Jon waiting at her door. After arguing with him for twenty-minutes in a futile attempt to make him leave, she let him inside so he wouldn’t wake her neighbors.
Big mistake.
Jon was all over her like a rooster chasing a hen. Touching and caressing her at every opportunity. She avoided the bedroom like the plague, using the excuse her cat was in there and liked to scratch strangers. The couch was off limits too. She stood in the kitchen baking cookies until the wee hours, just to avoid any intimacy with him. It wasn’t that he was ugly or anything. He was outright handsome in an almost ‘too much’ way. He was sexy and used it to the best of his ability to convince her to go back with him.
But all she could think about was the way Brent kissed, and the way he looked at her. The silly little things they’d argue about and laugh over. His magic touch and the extremely erotic sex they shared. Jon couldn’t hold a candle to Brent. And it was difficult to trust someone who had deceived her in the past.
After Jon finally left with a promise to call tomorrow, she remembered her cellphone. She was supposed to text Brent and let him know she’d made it home safely. But she couldn’t find the crappy thing. She’d fallen into a restless sleep, clueless to the whereabouts of her cellphone.
First thing this morning, she started the search all over again. It had to be here. All her contacts, her clients, everything was on that darn phone. Had she backed any of it up? Crap no. She had the paper forms and contracts her clients filled out. But not any other important information, like Brent’s cellphone number he’d given her before she left the lavender farm. Her fancy cellphone did everything she could dream of doing for her business—except avoid getting lost.
“Crap. Crap. Crap.”
She stomped back into the bedroom to dress and go to the cellphone store. At least, she could buy a new phone. She had to have a cellphone. They were important in today’s world.
“Hey, Jax. Are you sure you didn’t hide mommy’s phone?” She scratched the orange cat’s head, and he flopped over for a belly rub.
> How did one resist a cat who went belly up when touched? She certainly couldn’t. As she petted him, she recalled having sex with Brent in the back of Antonio’s delivery truck. Maybe she’d lost the cellphone there. She would stop by the restaurant on her way to the cellphone store in Alexandria.
****
Janie insisted they eat at Antonio’s to celebrate their engagement. Brent went along with the farce, but he wasn’t going to marry her on her word alone. He would investigate her background to be sure the kid was his. They walked into the restaurant and were seated in the first alcove room at his request. He refused to use the room he’d dated Aurora in. That one was for family and special occasions like Bryce’s and Aurora’s engagement party. The very room he’d had a quickie in with Danielle, and the room he planned to propose to her in.
What the hell was he going to tell Danielle now?
While Janie sat her son in a booster chair, he excused himself to go talk to his uncle. If anyone understood about love and sex, and the problems that arise from them, it was Uncle Antonio. As he entered the kitchen, he swallowed his pride and decided to be totally honest with the man who raised him from childhood.
“Hey, Uncle Tony.”
“Brent?”
“You got it right for once.”
Antonio was usually wrong and they loved to play jokes on him, confusing his guesses even further. But Brent wasn’t in a playful mood today. He was in deep shit if this woman was telling the truth.
“Ah, I know more than you think sometimes.” The hearty Italian chuckled and continued to mix marinara sauce in a huge pot.
The aroma made him hungry. He sat on a nearby stool, keeping out of the way and watching in awe as his uncle worked magic. The man could make a fasting priest drool. His food was that good, as was his staunch advice. He loved his uncle and trusted his wisdom. “You think we play tricks on you, but I just might be Bryce.”
“I know you are Brent for sure this time. Bryce called me. Aurora went to the hospital. So, I know he is there with her and that makes you Brent.”
“Is Aurora okay?” He was glad he sent Bryce home early today, it must have been some sort of twin instinct. His fiancée needed him.
“Ah, yes. They will bring the bambinos early if she continues to feel bad.” Antonio’s movements about the kitchen were with graceful speed, while his sous chefs followed his commands.
Why anyone would want to work for a chef was a mystery. Their life at work was rushed and complicated. Who the hell cared if the food was arranged perfectly on the plate, or if there was a sprinkle of this or a spray of that? The food didn’t taste any different. Well, maybe a little. Everything his uncle made was delicious and had its own unique flavor, especially his classic baked ziti.
“What brings you here today? Do you have Danielle with you?”
Time to be truthful and upfront. Time to ask for advice and take it. “No. I need to talk to you, Uncle Tony. It’s important.”
His uncle stabbed him with wisdom-filled eyes and grabbed one of his sous chefs by the arm in passing. “Michael, take over the kitchen for me. You are in charge. I have an emergency.”
Hell, it wasn’t an emergency. But he did need shrewd insight and he needed it now. He followed his uncle down the hall toward the office. Once inside, Uncle Tony turned the lock and stood with his hands on his hips.
“You’re not gonna tell me you got Danielle pregnant. I don’t want to hear this from you.”
Brent dropped into the chair and covered his face. When he looked up again, he was ashamed to admit the lifestyle he’d led in the past was on the wild side. He didn’t care about anything or anyone. Just getting his rocks off. Well, he’d gotten them off plenty of times with Janie, and now he had a kid to show for it. Maybe.
He wrung his hands together and dove right in to the point. “It appears I have a son.”
Uncle Tony’s eyebrows raised and he clasped his hands together over his mouth. “I am already a grandfather?”
He cleared his throat and mind to focus on the one matter at hand. “I’m not sure. All I know is this girl I’ve dated off and on since college came to me today. She brought this two-year-old with her and said the boy is mine.”
“Is he?”
“I don’t know. She says he is, and she wants to get married.”
“Don’t they have tests for this sort of thing?” Uncle Tony dropped into his chair behind the desk and rubbed his chin. “I believe it is called DNA. A little blood test to be sure. Brent, do you want to marry her?”
Brent lowered his head. How did he explain he was madly in love with someone else? If he was forced into this marriage out of a sense of duty, he would lose the best thing to ever happen in his life. But that’s what he came here to do—tell his uncle everything.
“No, Uncle Tony. I’m in love with Danielle. This girl was a friend with benefits. There was no love in the relationship. I told her it was over between us weeks ago. I’m not sure why she came around to tell me this now. If the kid is mine, why didn’t she come around when she got pregnant or had the baby?”
“Ah, that’s a good question. Perhaps she didn’t know how to find you, or maybe she had another lover and it didn’t work out.”
He snorted a rude sound, sort of like the female in question. “Trust me, she’s had plenty of lovers. I wasn’t her one and only.”
“Why did you go with a girl like that, Brent?” He removed his chef’s hat and ran his fingers through his graying hair. “Never mind. I know lust is a powerful thing, but it isn’t love. Do you know that now, nephew?”
“I do have morals, Uncle Tony. But she was there, and I was lonely and bored.”
“And the sex was too good?”
“Something like that. I’m only human, you know.”
“You think with the wrong head, Brent.” He leaned forward with a frown and pointed his finger. “Beautiful Danielle is in love with you. The way she responds to you when you come into the room tells me this. I think she loved you the first time she met you at her dinner party last year. Her love has blossomed. You cannot hurt her, Brent.”
“I don’t plan to. That’s why I’m here.” He didn’t want to think about hurting Danielle. He wanted to propose to her, he wanted to marry her and be with her for many years to come. “I don’t love this woman one bit, but what if the child is mine?”
“Then you have two choices. You can pay for the child’s upbringing, or you can marry the woman who claims he is yours and raise him as your son.”
Either way he got screwed. What a fitting expression for something he’d done repeatedly with this woman who was about to ruin his life. “I already offered her money. She refused and said Kyle needs a father.”
“A boy does need a father, this is true. But are you the real father?” He leaned back in his chair with a big sigh. “Do not tell Danielle until you get this all straightened out. No sense in hurting her if it is all a lie. Do you understand?”
“That’s what I planned to do.” He cleared his throat and stood. “Do you want to meet the boy? He might be your grandson. He does resemble our family.”
“You brought them here? To my restaurant? What has gotten into you, Brent? How can I ignore the boy? Yet, if I fuss over him and it turns out he is not our blood, he will be hurt and confused.”
“He’s only two, Uncle Tony. I don’t think it’s that big a deal.” He walked to the door and paused, looking back at his uncle. “I was hoping maybe you could get the truth out of Janie.”
Antonio sighed. “The things I do for you boys, eh? You are like my sons I never had…and now, I know why I never had them.”
Brent chuckled, but sobered when he looked into Antonio’s dark eyes. The old man had been good to them. He deserved respect and honesty. “I love you like a father, Uncle Tony.”
“I know you do. Where is this girl and her child? I will see what I can find out.”
He stepped back into the room to hug his uncle. “Thank you.”
&nb
sp; ****
Danielle pushed the visor down to keep the sun from her eyes as she drove toward Alexandria. Such a beautiful morning to spend running all over town, trying to catch up with her clients and gather the information she lost when she misplaced her cellphone. Only one more stop to make before the phone store. As she pulled into the parking lot of Antonio’s Restaurant she noticed Brent’s shiny red sports car.
He’s here!
She’d stopped by the market earlier and found Brent’s office empty. Bryce was nowhere on the premises either. The clerk at the register was oblivious to either of the twins’ whereabouts like it was a normal thing to have no one in charge. She refused to think about dumb blonde jokes right now, but there had to be one that fit the situation to perfection.
Brent must be here to have lunch with his uncle. Her stomach growled. Breakfast at five o’clock this morning was long gone, and she was hungry. Perfect timing. Lunch with her sweetheart at his uncle’s fabulous restaurant. She glanced in the visor mirror. She didn’t need poppy seeds peeking out from between her teeth from the bagel she’d eaten. Brent might not kiss her. Thinking about Brent brought a blush to her cheeks. Romantic bliss in his arms was unforgettable and made her hunger for more.
When she entered the Italian restaurant, a young host met her. She recognized him from a previous visit. “Hello, David. Is Antonio around…or maybe Brent?”
David shook his head no and acted kind of strange, fiddling with the menus and avoiding eye contact. “I’ll go check in back and see what Antonio wants to do.”
Weird. Why would he ask the chef that sort of question? Either Antonio was here or he wasn’t. And Brent had to be here somewhere, but she didn’t want to wander through the restaurant uninvited. She walked around the foyer and read the flyers advertising trips to Italy.
Maybe one day…
David came back into the waiting room. “He says to wait here.”
“Who?” What was wrong with this guy? He was being a little vague.
“Antonio.”
“What about Brent? I saw his car outside.” She pointed toward the parking lot.
“I don’t know what to tell you. I’m just doing my job, that’s all.” He glanced down at the seating chart as a couple entered and requested window seating. He gathered up two menus and pointed in the opposite direction of the private rooms. “Antonio said to wait here, Ms. Comb.”
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