“This was a mistake,” she started and turned to leave. She had no idea where she was going, but she was not willing to face him. Not now, not ever. The hurt and rejection she felt all those years ago surfaced like a deadly virus and he was her patient zero. She lost everything because of him, her family, her friends, her entire life, and it took her years to get over his rejection and she was not willing to allow him to reject her yet again, this time she would be rejecting him.
“Paige, wait!” he called after her as she stalked down the hallway clinging to her son’s hand. His voice sounded like an echo in a dark tunnel and all she wanted to do was to get away.
She blindly headed for the front door, but as she reached it, Hunter wrapped his hand around her upper arm.
“Let go of me,” she bit out bitterly as she tugged her arm free, “I should not be here, I want to go home.”
Hunter looked down at her and glanced at Joshua, and she could see anger flash in his eyes.
“I think we need to talk,” he said flatly then turned to Albert, “Please take the boy and show him the horses.”
“Horses?” her son cried out excitedly.
Paige had to do everything in her might not to break down and cry. Her son was so excited and he had no idea what was really going on. She gritted her teeth and plastered on a fake smile, “Of course, just be careful.”
As soon as Albert was out of sight with Joshua, Paige glared at Hunter, “What game are you playing?”
“What game am I playing?” Hunter countered, “You’re the one who advertised your services online; on top of that you exposed your son to some stranger. Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?” he said incredulously.
Paige was livid, how dare he accuse her of games, “Well excuse me! You were the one who purchased us for your pathetic little business venture and you want to lecture me on bad choices?” she retorted.
“That’s a whole different ball game Paige; I’m not putting my child at risk by introducing him to some stranger!”
“Well newsflash, you put him at risk when you decided I was good enough to have sex with and then you pulled up your pants and left me with the responsibility of raising our son all on my own,” she spat out and stormed past him in the direction where she saw Albert disappearing with Joshua.
She suddenly felt drained and defeated, this was the last thing she wanted, she should have done her own homework and insisted that Adam give her more information on who this mystery husband was, instead of being so gullible in accepting an offer to marry some stranger just so that she could be guarantee a better life for her and her son.
Hunter’s world collapsed around him as her words sunk in, and methodically his mind went into overdrive as he calculated the odds, realizing that the little boy he met a few minutes ago was possibly his son, and as reality struck him, he grabbed Paige by the arm.
“That is my son?” he asked gritting his teeth as he stared down in Paige’s big honey colored eyes, he recalled the way she used to look at him during their brief relationship, but what he saw reflecting in them now, was nothing short of disgust.
“He was never your son,” she said angrily, “the moment you got the chance, you left without saying a word,” she clicked her fingers, “just like that, with no forwarding number and no note, you just left.”
Hunter felt sick, it was like an information overload, and his hard drive was about to crash, he grasped miserably for words, “Paige, I didn’t know, if I knew…”
“I was nothing but pastime social experiment for you, and once you had your fill you moved on, so you don’t get to claim anything where my son is concerned,” she interrupted bitterly and tugged away from him.
Conflicted, Hunter gritted his teeth and stepped aside.
“I’ve already paid you in advance for your first month, so I suggest you go and get settled,” he said flatly looking down at her. As much as it hurt him to be so callous, she gave him no choice. There was simply no getting through to her at this point, which meant he had to use the only thing he had power over to keep her here – money.
Chapter 6
Paige finally flopped down on the bed in her room; everything about this place suddenly overwhelmed her. She felt like Belle from Beauty and the Beast and Hunter was the Beast, forcing her to stay against her will. The only problem was that he wasn’t an unsightly hairy animal, he was a handsome man, and the six years that passed since he disappeared out of her life, had done nothing to him. He looked just as he did when she first saw him and unlike the happy ending in fairy tales, her ending was going to be anything but happy. Hunter had had already paid up her debt and when they arrived at the airport she used some of the money to buy a few new items of clothing for both her and Joshua, and with no means to pay him back; she was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Hunter was so right, she thought, she was foolish to run blindly into such an arrangement, not knowing who the other man was. God, if she knew it was him, she would have run in the complete opposite direction. What made it worse, was that he now knew the truth about Joshua, and she could already see the custody battles that awaited her once he decided to claim his place in her son’s life.
She must have drifted off eventually, because when she woke up it was already dark outside, in a panic she launched off the bed and rushed out the room an down the stairs, and that’s when Joshua came running to her, flinging his arms around her leg.
“Mommy, guess what!? Mr. Hunter said I can have a pony!” her son exclaimed excitedly.
“Oh is that so?” she said kneeling down next to him without sparing Hunter a glance, “what did I teach you about taking gifts from strangers?”
It started, Hunter was going to buy her son with gifts and luxuries, things she would never be able to afford, if she was going to have to live the next month paying off her debt so she could be free she was going to have to put a stop to this.
“He’s not a stranger, he said he’s your friend and my friend,” Joshua said with a pouty lip.
“I know sweetheart, but how will you take care of the pony, we are only visiting here,” she tried again.
“I told Joshua he will always be welcome to visit here, so the pony can stay here for now,” Hunter interrupted.
Paige took a deep breath and stood up, trying her best to stay calm, “I’ll think about it, right now he needs to go bathe and get ready for dinner and bed.”
Hunter nodded then smiled down at Joshua, “I’ll show you the cattle tomorrow champ,” he said and ruffled his hair, before leaving her and Joshua to themselves.
Much later, Hunter stood in the study contemplating the situation. The last person he expected to ever see again was Paige. If it wasn’t for her mother’s interference back when he met her, they would have been good together. There was a point of time where he felt she was the one. But her mother threatened him more than once, initially he thought it would blow over and that she was merely protecting her daughter, but when she finally went as far as to send a message to him in the form of a gangster shoving a gun in his face, his inner hero cowered like a possum and he left that very same day.
A slight knock on the door drew his attention and he turned around.
“Paige,” he said surprised, “I assume Joshua is settled?”
“Yes, he’s sleeping,” she paused and looked around then directly at him, “I have decided to stay for the month and pay back the money by working for you, then by the end of the month, I will go back home.”
Still just as headstrong and stubborn as she was when he first got to know her, he thought and poured them each a glass of Merlot, handing a glass to her. He had to fight against the sudden urge to pull her into his arms, unfortunately a lot of water had run into the sea since the time they were lovers and now she was a grown woman. He could somewhat understand how she must have felt when he left her with nothing but regret, but what stopped her from tracking him down on social media when she found out she was pregnant? He had the right to
know, and now on top of that, she basically sold herself online to marry some stranger and in doing that exposed her – his – son to danger.
The mere thought of what could have happened if she landed in some sleazy pimps hands infuriated him, and in that moment he felt such contempt towards her. He had no idea what to do, but if he was going to work at keeping his son safe, then that would be his only goal.
“Is that so?” he asked her and smirked, “I appreciate the offer, but the contract is binding,” he said and stepped closer to her, “you can be glad you ended up here, because sweetheart, this is as good as its going to get.”
“Hunter, if I had known you were the one who,” she fumbled for words, “who hired me, I would never…”
“Never have come,” he interrupted, “I know that all too well. I’m sure I was the last person on this planet you would have wanted to see, for one, I suppose I broke your heart, that’s a given, and secondly, exposing the fact that Joshua is my son, leaves you at a disadvantage.”
He saw the hurt that flashed through her eyes, but he would not allow her to get to him.
Paige clutched the stem of the wine glass so tightly I her hand, she thought she could actually snap it and shove the sharp end into Hunters’ heart. He was going to ride this contract out, make her life an absolute misery and then steal her son from her.
She fought back tears as she looked down at the dark red liquid in the glass then took a sip, it was as bitter as the essence of regret that ran through her soul.
“No, I wouldn’t have come. But I can tell you this, I spent five years raising my son all by myself, with no help from anyone, and if you think you can just barge into our lives and start throwing punches and threaten to take my son from me, I can guarantee you, I will fight you every step of the way,” she said mordantly.
She hated that she found herself in this situation, and the realization of how bad this will look on her rap sheet considering the fact that she accepted an online marriage proposal to a stranger she technically never met, for financial gain, was something social services would have a field day with. If she had to be honest to herself, Hunter stood a good chance of winning custody of her son and if she was going to take him on, she was going to have to consider changing her approach.
She took a deep steady breath and then placed the glass down on the table beside her, “Hunter, it’s been six years since you left me, without a single word, what did you expect me to do? You moved on with your life, I was just a glitch in your sabbatical matrix, one you were very happy to erase. If I had known that there was the slightest chance of us being together, I would have attempted to contact you,” she said and although it was an attempt to sideswipe him, her words sounded sincere even to her.
The expression on his face, gave her hope, because suddenly the ruthless mask he wore a minute ago was replaced by something she could only discern as realization maybe even compassion , which meant he had a heart after all.
She stepped closer and lowered her eyes placing her hand on his chest. God this was harder than she thought, here she was playing her victim card and pasting it on thickly so that she could play on his emotions, and although it was working on him, her heart was making a ninety degree turn against her better judgement.
“I never asked for you to leave, you left at your own accord. Men like you come and go out of a girl’s life. Do you know how many unwed mothers there are, and almost ninety percent of those children have no father, it was no different for me. I just had to get up from the ashes and make it work, for the sake of my son and my own sanity.”
For the first time in her life she was able to express herself and to be able to voice her feelings felt as if a weight had lifted from her shoulders. She withdrew her hand from Hunter’s chest where he stood like a statue looking down at her and took a step back.
Hunter processed this information slowly and as Paige stepped away from him, he instantly felt the absence of her touch, and without a second thought, he stepped forward and cupped her face then looked into her large, expressive eyes that still contained that sense of mystery he fell in love with when he first met her. He admired the angular features of her face, and her high cheek bones and noticed that she still had that slight pout of her mouth, which was hard to ignore. The years may have brought on a slight physical change, she was larger than when he first met her, and her breasts were also bigger, but even now, his own body reacted just like it did back then. He knew he was being impulsive and foolish but he was suddenly desperate to kiss her.
His fingers threaded into her hair as he slanted his lips against hers, and traced his tongue along the seam of her lips; he felt her body relax against his. She tasted just as he remembered her, distinctively sweet, it was almost too perfect to be true, and as his need grew, so did the passion that manifested in this simple kiss. The hunger and need he felt in her kiss matched his own reckless need and with her body pressed against his there was no denying the truth. She still turned him on, and she still wielded the power to reduce him to nothing but a sex crazed male, who had to use every ounce of his self-control to prevent himself from grinding against her.
Chapter 7
Paige was a hot mess; her insides were like chocolate fudge ice-cream being incinerated by the passion and heat that burnt like an out of control forest fire, which threatened to consumer her. How was it possible that after all these years, he could still have such an adverse effect on her?
She allowed him access to the confines of her mouth as she clung to him for dear life, worried that her legs would give way if he let her go, the flavor of the Merlot mixed with his own essence was intoxicating.
Her heart was drumming in rhythm with his, like synchronized percussion, waiting for the rest of the orchestra to join in, she pressed herself up against him and instantly felt his erection press against her stomach, but as he pulled away, dragging in a deep, unsteady breath, she suddenly came to her senses and abruptly broke the kiss.
This was just one of his ploys to distract her, to make her think he cared for her, and when she least expected it; he would take her son away.
“We can’t do this,” she said as she pulled away and reached for the glass of Merlot she set down earlier then gulped down the smooth dry liquid before turning away from him.
“It was never my intention to leave you Paige,” he whispered breathlessly.
“Yet you did,” she definitively.
Paige was tired of lies and empty promises, and her only goal was to provide for Joshua, other than that she didn’t need a man in her life.
Hunter reached for her and once again pulled her body firmly against his, did he dare tell her it was her mother who tore them apart and risk her hating her own flesh and blood, or did he let sleeping dogs lie and work at making it through the next three months, then move on as planned?
“I know, and I regretted it every day since,” he said as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, “and believe me, if I was able to tell you why I left, I would.”
Paige pulled away from him and held up her hand warding him off.
“Let me guess, now is not the time,” she said and turned away from him. “Look, a lot of time has passed, I’m sure whatever excuse you had for leaving then will be completely irrelevant now.”
She was right he realized, they had both moved on and whether or not it was her mother’s fault that he left. Too much time had passed for them to just pick up where they left off. The only way forward was to continue with this arranged marriage, get the deal and then go their separate ways and at least come to some visitation arrangement so that he can also get to see his son grow up.
Chapter 8
Paige sat at the dinner table with Hunter on her left, and Gregory Johnson on the right. She had to give it to Hunter; he knew how to sell a convincing story. While he so casually told the Johnsons about how the two star crossed lovers met and how they refused to let anything stand in their way of happiness, the Johnsons were sucking up every last
bit of detail like fudge at a fair.
In the four weeks that passed since her arrival, Paige and Hunter somehow managed to be civil and ignore the obvious sexual tension that seemed to grow between them each and every day, and considering the fact that they weren’t complete strangers, this dinner date was going to be a breeze.
“So tell me Paige, Hunter told me you studied journalism?” Anne, Gregory’s wife asked curiously as she picked the olives from her plate.
At least Hunter remembered what she studied, but was he aware she never finished, she wondered.
“Yes, I did, but I am yet to complete my studies,” she said and smiled at Anne ‘having a child made it slightly more difficult to focus on college.”
“I can imagine, it must have been difficult raising him all on your own,” the statement hung heavily in the air, and suddenly Paige wanted to get away. Regardless of the fact that she is soon to be Hunter’s wife for a while, his circle of so-called friends would always look down at her. Feeling sorry for the poor mother with an illegitimate child, if only they knew that the Joshua was Hunter’s.
She smiled and politely excused herself then headed upstairs to where Joshua was busy playing video games, she could hardly believe that the next day was her final dress fitting, and in less than three days she would be married. But she had to constantly remind herself that this was only a temporary arrangement. Although they shared that kiss in the study and they both felt the obvious physical pull, there could never be anything more between them.
Hunter was spending more time with Joshua and building a relationship with his son, they looked like a genuine happy family in the making. But Paige knew better, and with the approach of the wedding she felt more and more as if she was drowning in misery.
Daddy's Christmas Date: A Single Dad Romance Page 45