In the morning, there was a loud knock on the door. It was insistent, sharp. Olivia was awakened by the cries of Max. She leapt out of bed and pulled a robe on. When she opened the bedroom door, Jackson finally stirred.
Jackson yawned. “Do you want me to go take him?”
Olivia bit her lip. “Do you mind?” She frowned, then winced as the knocking started again, louder than ever. “I don’t know who’s here,” she added.
Swallowing hard, Olivia ran a hand through her brown hair and pulled the door open. There stood Derek, looking brutish and angry.
“Who’s car is that?” He pointed towards Jackson’s car in the driveway. “I don’t remember you having new friends,” he added with a sneer.
“Derek, what do you want?” Olivia shifted her weight and stared right at her ex. It was funny, how little she felt inside with him standing right in front of her. “Can I help you?”
“Liv, I need to talk to you,” Derek said. His tone changed from nasty to almost kind, and Olivia sighed. “It’s important.”
She swallowed hard. “Why? I think the time for talking is over, Derek. And if it wasn’t then, it definitely is now.”
Derek shook his head. “Look, I get it, you’re still angry with me. I know. But hear me out, okay? Max deserves a father, Liv. And I slept with Lisa to make you jealous!”
Olivia rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right,” she said. “More like you did it because you follow your dick, not your brain.”
Derek pouted. “Come on, Liv, hear me out, okay? Just for old times’ sake?”
Olivia bit her lip. “I don’t know,” she said, feeling uncomfortable. “I think you made your decision pretty clear, Derek.”
“I didn’t, though,” Derek said. He tried to step inside the door. Reluctantly, Olivia let him.
“Just hold on,” she said as her eyes flashed with irritation. “Wait outside.”
A knot was forming in Olivia’s stomach but she did her best to ignore it as she walked through the house on unsteady legs. “Jackson?” Olivia called loudly. “Max? Are you here?”
“We’re back here,” Jackson called from Max’s bedroom. When he saw the expression on Olivia’s face, he jumped up. “What’s wrong?”
“Derek’s here,” she said miserably. “I think I need to talk to him…” she trailed off, unable to meet Jackson’s eyes. “I mean, I feel like I have to. Or rather, I feel like I owe it to him, somehow. Does that make sense?”
Jackson sighed heavily. “It doesn’t have to make sense,” he said moodily. “It’s your choice, Olivia.”
As she watched Jackson leave the house, she felt a pang of regret and longing. Part of her wanted to run after him, to throw herself into his arms and beg forgiveness. You were engaged to Derek, she thought unhappily. You at least owe him some closure. Jackson will understand. It’s okay.
But it didn’t feel okay.
Derek followed Olivia into the living room and flopped down on a couch. He kicked his feet up on the coffee table and she winced at the muddy bottoms of his shoes. Jackson would never do that, a little voice inside Olivia’s head chirped. You know he’s too well mannered.
She shook her head, as if to rid herself of any lingering ideas about Jackson. When she lowered herself into a chair opposite from Derek, she stared at him.
“So what did you want to talk about?”
“About this,” Derek said. He gestured around. “You know, I think it’s time for you to come down from that high horse,” he added. “You need to realize how things are in the real world. Sex doesn’t mean anything to men, Liv,” he said, as if letting Olivia in on some kind of hidden secret. “And I love you.”
“If sex doesn’t mean anything, why did you run off and have it with someone else while we were still dating?” Olivia glared at Derek. “Or rather, still engaged.”
Derek laughed. He ran a hand through his short hair. “You’re such a puritan, Liv, loosen up! It was just sex! That’s how men are, honey, we have this biological imperative…” he trailed off and winked at Olivia. She shifted uncomfortably.
“I don’t know,” she said finally. “I think Max and I are doing much better without you.”
“I highly doubt that,” Derek scoffed. “I can imagine he’s suffering, you know, you’re the one who keeps parading men in and out of his life. That isn’t good for a kid, Olivia. I thought you’d know better than that.”
Olivia frowned and stood up with her hands on her hips. “What are you even talking about?”
“That guy, who was here just now,” Derek said. He smirked. “Can’t have been good for our son, Olivia. He needs a real father, someone who won’t abandon his family for the next best thing when the going gets tough.”
Olivia stared at Derek. As much as she hated him, there was a small part of her that was ashamed at his words. It was true. She’d brought a new man into Max’s life with little regard for how it would play out, and that made her a bad mother. She bit her lip as tears came to her eyes. Sitting back down on the couch, she looked down at her shoes.
“I knew you’d come around,” Derek said confidently. He stood up and wiped his hands off on his jeans. Olivia noticed a muddy smudge on the coffee table. “I’ve actually got some of my stuff in the car, I thought I’d bring it back over.”
Olivia put her head in her hands as she listened to Derek’s heavy footsteps walking outside. Suddenly, there was a loud sound, almost like a roar. Jumping to her feet, she ran to the front door and watched in horror as a big, brown bear chased Derek down the street.
“Oh my god,” Olivia mumbled. She clapped a hand over her mouth and shut the door, running back to check on Max.
A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Warily, Olivia grabbed a hammer and set Max down in his room as she inched towards the door. When she pulled it open, she was surprised to see Jackson standing there, heaving and breathing heavily.
“There was a bear,” Olivia said in disbelief. “It…it chased Derek away!”
“Can you let me in?” Jackson’s voice was shaking. “I need to talk to you.”
They stepped into the foyer and Olivia shut the front door. “What is it?” She looked into Jackson’s face, feeling ashamed.
“I had a bad feeling about that guy,” Jackson said uneasily. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “And I didn’t leave, I, uh, kind of hung around. When he came out of your house, he was on the phone with someone. And he was saying, well, he was saying that you fell for it, and that you have no idea about Lisa.”
Olivia’s jaw dropped. “Are you kidding?”
“No,” Jackson said. He winked. “Dead serious. Serious as a bear, even.” He cleared his throat. “You know, I didn’t know how to bring this up, but here goes…”
Olivia swallowed, looking away.
Jackson tilted her chin up, “I’m a Bear Shifter. You know what those are. Well, Max is a Bear Shifter too. That might sound scary, but I promise you that it’s not. You’ve had some idea, right?” he said. “You knew he was special.”
“Yes, I knew he was special. Different. But-“
“I know because we can usually sense one another. And,” Jackson said, biting his lip, “because I’m his father.”
Olivia’s jaw dropped. “But how?”
“There was a research project a few years ago. They wanted to analyze Shifter sperm. It was for science,” he said, a touch defensively. “Anyway, there was a mixup at the lab and my sample went into the donor pool.”
“Wow,” Olivia said, her pulse racing.
“Wow is exactly right.” Jackson looked away, his voice getting quiet. “So there it is. Are you ok with all this?”
“I think so. I’ll need some time to process all this.”
“Well,” Jackson said in a vulnerable tone, “You won’t have to do it alone.”
“But-” Olivia said. Her heart skipped a beat. “We barely know each other, Jackson.”
“Then will you have dinner with me? A real date,�
� Jackson asked. He winked at her again. “This time, we go out. Although, I have no problems with winding up in bed again…” He trailed off. Olivia threw herself into his arms, covering his face with kisses.
“Yes!” She replied happily, closing her eyes and holding Jackson tightly against her. “Yes.”
Clay
Secret Baby Bears IV
by
Becca Fanning
Prologue
“I understand why you want to be involved with your children,” Partridge said. “But you realize that if you proceed down that route, you’ll be waiving the more than generous compensation offered by the University?”
“I don’t care about any money,” Clay said. “I want to see my kid.”
“Very well,” Partridge replied. “I’ll make some calls to the university and see what I can do.” He cleared his throat. “I assume that all of you feel this way?”
All of the men nodded.
“I’m not sure how they’ll respond,” Partridge said carefully. “They may try to pursue legal action to keep you away.”
“I don’t care,” Clay repeated. “I want to see my child.”
Partridge nodded. He looked defeated. “Fine,” he said. “I’ll start drawing up a possible contract, and we’ll make sure that you all have the contact information for all of the women who accidentally were impregnated with your sperm.”
Chapter One
The morning sun shone brightly into the room as Chloe Parks stretched in bed. She yawned, reaching up over her head and stretching as far as her thin arms would take her. With a contented sigh, she pulled off her eye mask and sat up, gently rubbing at her eyes.
“Noah?” Chloe climbed out of bed, pulling a silk kimono around her lean frame as she ducked into her son’s bedroom. “Noah, are you awake?”
Noah was still asleep. His thumb was in his mouth and he was sucking contentedly. Chloe sighed as she reached down into the large crib and gently tried to pull his hand out of his mouth. She remembered what Dr. Horvath had said: “Your son’s accelerated growth may trigger some inert desire to remain as young as possible.”
“Noah, sweetie,” Chloe said softly. “It’s time to wake up. We’re going to the zoo today!”
Noah opened his big, golden eyes and stared at his mother. As always, Chloe was slightly stunned by the intelligent expression on her son’s face. Even though he was only two, he was frequently mistaken for a much older child – sometimes as old as four. She’d been more puzzled than anyone by his seemingly-constant growth spurt, and his odd behavior. No time to think of that today, she thought hurriedly. We’re going to have fun.
Noah put his arms up and Chloe scooped him up, snuggling him for a moment before carrying him over to the changing table. He was so big that his arms and legs hung off the edges and Chloe watched carefully to make sure that he wouldn’t tumble off.
“You are getting so big!” Chloe said under her breath as she searched for a clean outfit. “You’re already wearing toddler clothes, isn’t that something?”
Noah gurgled. “Mama!” He cried loudly, beating his stubby fists against the side of the table. “Zoo!”
Chloe broke into a wide grin. “That’s right sweetie, we’re going to the zoo today. Can you tell me who lives at the zoo?”
Noah closed his eyes and wrinkled his tiny features. “Tigers!” His voice was a startling burst of energy and Chloe jumped a few inches off the ground.
“That’s right, honey,” she crooned as she reached over and pulled Noah’s pajamas off. “Tigers! And bears, and lions, and lots of other critters. We’re going to have a fun day.”
By the time Chloe was ready to leave the house, half of her wished that she could climb back into bed and sleep. Noah was exhausting. She’d always heard that two-year-olds were their own special kind of trouble, but she wished that someone had really warned her how tiresome Noah would be. Chloe loved her son more than anything else in the world, but sometimes she felt like the job of parenthood would have been better suited to a married couple than a single woman in her early thirties.
She remembered the day that she’d decided to have Noah.
“Chloe, I haven’t heard from Richard Abrams about a sequel confirmation. You may be looking at a dry spot of a few months.”
Chloe shifted uncomfortably in her seat. It was hard to concentrate on what Dick, her agent, was talking about. She was in tremendous pain from the stiletto heels strapped to her feet and the compression garment sucking in her already-tiny waist.
“That’s fine,” Chloe chirped. “I was actually hoping to have a few months off. I have family on the West Coast and I’d love to go see them.” She wasn’t lying. After spending fifteen years trying to make it in “the business,” she felt like she more than deserved a break. She could practically feel it now – the relaxing heat of the California sun, the warm sand baking beneath her body.
Dick frowned. “And Chloe, have you ever thought about getting married?”
Chloe burst out laughing. When Dick glared at her reproachfully, she felt a blush come over her cheeks. “No,” she said, covering her mouth with a delicate hand. “I’m sorry, Dick, but that’s not even close to being a priority right now.” She composed herself. “I’ve always wanted a family, but I don’t think now is the right time.”
“You’re not exactly getting any younger,” Dick replied. “What about Mack Stratton? He’s single, and he’s told me before that he thinks you’re the most beautiful actress in New York.”
Chloe pulled a face. “No,” she said firmly. “No, thank you.”
“Will you at least consider it? It might help to improve your image?”
Chloe frowned. “Dick, what are you talking about?”
“Well, it’s just….” Dick trailed off. He straightened up in his chair and folded his hands in his lap. He was a fey, slim man in his early fifties and until now, Chloe had trusted every word that had come out of his mouth. They’d had their differences, but overall she felt as though they’d worked together quite successfully. “Chloe, it might help the way you’re perceived. Women don’t like to look at gorgeous, single actresses. They feel belittled about their own choices in life.”
“That’s stupid,” Chloe scoffed. She sighed. “I wish I had a family, Dick. But my career isn’t where I’d like it to be, and I just…well, I just don’t know. I mean, I’ve never really dated that much, you know? I don’t have any idea of what marriage is supposed to be like.”
Dick’s eyes widened. “You want to have a family?”
She nodded. “Of course I do,” she said. She was telling the truth – recently, passing mothers with strollers in Central Park had given a kick to her insides. She knew that her time was ticking, but it just didn’t feel like the right moment.
“Why not have a baby?”
“What?” Chloe frowned. “With whom?” She held up a hand before Dick could reply. “And do not say Mack Stratton, please.” She rolled her eyes. “He’s so pretentious. He’d be a terrible father.”
Dick shrugged. “Don’t they have sperm banks for these types of things? Why not have a baby, by yourself? You’d be a great mother, and it would really open you up to a whole new category of roles.”
Chloe bit her lip. Everything in her wanted to say yes, but there was one small hesitation. “What about my career? What if it never bounces back?”
Dick gave her a small smile. “Then you’ll know that you had a good ten years of it, and you can retire fabulously,” he said. “You’ve done an excellent job managing your resources. And don’t forget, there are always reunion shows. Directors love those.”
Bear Anchor (BBW Shifter Romance) (FisherBears Book 2) Page 38