by Sam Crescent
Wayne didn’t know what he’d expected.
Timothy had blown into his world, and now he was gone. All he’d wanted was for someone else to have responsibility for the boy. He’d known he wasn’t the boy’s father, and yet, seeing the piece of paper with proof had fucking hurt.
The door to his apartment closed, and he still held onto Temperance’s jacket.
This was what he’d been pushed to. Holding onto a jacket as if by magic it could make her appear.
He placed the jacket back on the bed and went to his room to take a shower.
Wayne was done.
This was his damn life.
Timothy wasn’t his kid to worry about, and Temperance was a thirty-year-old woman. She could take care of herself. The sex had been fucking good, smoking hot even, but she didn’t need him.
He’d not promised her anything.
Removing his clothes, he stepped into the water, washing off the sweat and grime from the past couple of days.
He had his life back, and that was exactly what he wanted.
The guys were meeting up for a lunch date. James already called him with the time and the place. No kids were going to be in sight. He’d get to relax and enjoy.
No burgers.
No screams.
No going to the toilet and waiting while a kid peed.
Within half an hour he was showered, dressed, and heading out toward the Italian restaurant.
The guys were already there, including James and Robert. The moment they saw him, they got to their feet, giving him a round of applause.
“If anyone could find the means of getting rid of a kid, it would be you,” one of the guys said.
James winced as he sat down, and Wayne didn’t say anything. They raised their glasses in the air.
“To a life lived on the edge, and to being a bachelor,” James said.
He clinked his glass with theirs, but didn’t take a sip of the wine. He didn’t like the twisted feeling within his gut, so he just sat through lunch, laughing in all the appropriate places.
There was something missing, and he sat with his friends, but felt a ghost to it all. Pushing those feelings aside, he ignored the pain and carried on.
Chapter Twelve
Three weeks later
With rest and doing the appropriate exercises, Temperance’s leg was healing nicely. The crutches she had helped her to get around, and life had returned to something normal. Lilah drove her to the hospital appointments along with anywhere else she needed to go.
The job hunt remained the same. A constant line as she tried to find work. She’d never realized how hard it was to figure out what she wanted to be. Other than a nanny, she couldn’t see herself doing anything else.
Robert visited the apartment regularly, offering her a higher salary along with bonuses. So far, she’d turned him down, but next time he arrived, she’d be taking the job.
Grabbing a towel on the bench, she wiped her brow as the physical therapist congratulated her.
Within the next month, the cast may be able to come off. The break wasn’t as severe as they’d first thought, and with the rest, she’d given herself a faster chance to heal. She hated sitting around all day. There was nothing to do to occupy her thoughts, and they were constantly dominated by those of Timothy and Wayne.
Never in all of her life had she been so … heartbroken.
Every time she left the kids she cared for it had always torn her apart, but this was so much more. In a matter of days, she’d found something in those two that she never had before. She’d found that sense of home, of belonging.
“You’re making excellent progress, Temperance. I’ll see you on Friday,” Brian, the physical therapist, said.
“Thank you.” She smiled at him, grabbing her crutches and heading out of the hospital.
She rounded a bend in the corridor and paused when she came face to face with Wayne.
She hadn’t seen him since that day in the hospital when he’d tried to give her a bigger settlement.
“Temperance,” he said.
“Mr. Myers.” She nodded at him. Her heart pounded, and the aching need that filled her shook her to the core. She didn’t know what to say to him, or what to do. This was uncharted territory for her.
“Wait.”
She stopped walking away and turned back to look at him.
He was still as handsome as ever. That would never change. She’d always thought he was a handsome man, even if in the beginning she should have listened to her instincts. He’d made her change her opinion of him instead of sticking with her cold assessment.
“How have you been?” he asked, standing a little too close to her.
“I’ve been fine. Everything has been fine.” She glanced down at her leg. “I’m healing, and Robert Thompson keeps on visiting. So I’ve decided that once I’ve healed I’m going back there. You know, be the nanny again.”
“I thought you wanted a career change.”
She shrugged. “Yeah, well, it’s a lot harder than I anticipated.”
He stared at her for several seconds. “You’re giving up?”
“No, I don’t see it as giving up. I see it as sticking to the path I’ve always been part of.” She shrugged again.
“What about the family? The children?”
“What about it, Wayne?” she asked, looking him in the eye. He possessed such dark brown eyes that she found herself drawn to them in more ways that she wanted to admit. Licking her dry lips, she dropped her gaze and stared at his chest, which didn’t help.
She remembered kissing that neck and hearing him chuckle before holding her down to the bed.
The memories were something she couldn’t escape. They came at her from all angles, and there wasn’t a thing she could do about it, even thought that was all she wanted to do.
“You’d be a fantastic mother.” He reached out and stroked her cheek.
Closing her eyes, she felt the fire build inside her.
Pulling out of his touch, she gripped her crutches even harder. “And you’d make a fantastic father. You had a choice, Wayne. You chose not to take it. You tell me to think about what I wanted to be. What about having love, Wayne? Didn’t you feel it once with Timothy?” She couldn’t bring herself to ask if he felt it with her.
This was just too damn hard.
“He wasn’t mine.”
“He could have been,” she said. “That’s the point. Timothy could be yours now. Do you even know if they’ve found a home for him? If someone even cares that he’s alive or dead?”
She watched him flinch at her words. “You haven’t, have you?”
“I’ve got my life back.” The coldness was back. The only problem for Temperance was she no longer believed it.
“I thought you were a cold-hearted bastard in the beginning. Then you began to tell me things. Were they the truth or just words thrown together to make yourself feel less cold?”
He didn’t say anything, and she shook her head.
“You know what’s worse, I knew you’d break me. I knew, and yet even with that promise of absolute pain, I still took the job. I was a fool.” She began to move past him, and this time she didn’t look back.
Tears filled her eyes, but he didn’t once call her name or stop her. Pressing the elevator button, she stood, waiting for the ride that would take her down to Lilah.
“I didn’t lie,” Wayne said, making her look behind her. “I didn’t lie once. Everything I said to you, Tempe, that was the truth. It was real. I couldn’t lie to you even if I wanted to. Crazy, huh?”
“Why are you at the hospital?” she asked.
“I had things to do.”
The elevator opened and she entered the cab, pressing the ground floor button. She didn’t say anything else.
“Goodbye,” she said.
The doors closed, and she slumped against the far wall, taking a deep breath as she did. She’d tried to phone child services about Timothy, but they wouldn’t di
vulge any information to her. In her gut she knew that Wayne would be able to get anything he wanted.
Wayne.
Seeing him had filled her with so much pain, joy, and love.
God! She loved him, and even after everything that had happened, she still wanted to love him, to take care of him.
Rubbing at her eyes, she forced the tears back as the elevator doors opened. Lilah waited for her by her car with a big smile on her face.
“How was your day?” she asked.
“It was great.”
“Well, guess who just landed a guest appearance on an awesome medical drama that could be a little something more depending on how it goes?” Lilah asked, giggling.
Temperance burst out laughing as her friend squealed her name, danced around, and then hugged her close.
“I’m so happy for you,” she said, holding her close.
“I can’t believe it. My luck is finally turning, and it’s going to be so awesome.” She fist-pumped the air before helping Temperance get into the car, taking the crutches from her and placing them into the back. “I’m so excited. You’ve got to help me learn my lines, and you know, bake those wonderful chocolate chip cookies that are awesome.”
All the way home she listened to Lilah talk about the audition process, and reading the script, and the absolute secrecy that the company demanded.
By the time they got back to their apartment, Temperance had a little headache, so when she saw Robert waiting outside of their apartment, she couldn’t contain her sigh.
“Do you want me to get him to leave?” Lilah asked in a whisper voice.
“No. It’s fine. Thank you.”
Once inside the apartment, Temperance watched as Robert took a seat opposite her. “How was your doctor’s appointment?” he asked.
“It was fine.” She didn’t correct him that it was in fact her physical therapist. She didn’t think for a second he cared enough.
“I know I’m nagging. We’ve tried other nannies, and we’re really at the end of our tether with this. Honestly, we need you back, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get you there.”
She stared down at her hands. No wedding ring. Nothing.
This was her life. She had to accept it, and there was no way she could come away from it.
“Weekends will be my own,” she said. “I’ll come back here. I won’t stay at the house.”
“That’s fine.”
“I don’t know when you want me to start. Providing I don’t do anything wrong, I should be good to go after another three weeks. The break was really rather minor.”
“We’ll take you now. The kids want to see you, Temperance. I’m so sorry about what I did.”
She shook her head. “Don’t worry about it.”
Even though Wayne had broken her heart, she couldn’t be upset by what happened between them. Wayne had made it easy for her to fall in love with him, and for that she would never be angry with anyone.
At least she’d gotten the chance to feel love.
****
Wayne watched her go, and every single part of him was screaming to go and get her. Damn it.
He was being a fucking asshole, and there wasn’t any excuse for that.
Brian came out of the room with a towel around his shoulders. “Your girl is doing well. The break wasn’t that severe. A couple more weeks and she’ll be good as new. She’s a strong one. Pretty damn amazing, if I do say so myself.”
“How is she?”
Brian was a friend, and Wayne had helped him through college when he needed it. No one knew of Wayne’s part in helping Brian off the streets and turning his life around. He kept his business to himself, and he only allowed the world to see what he wanted them to. The pictures of himself, Timothy, and Temperance were already too much.
“She’s … withdrawn most of the time. Rarely speaks. Gets to work, and then leaves. She seems upset all the time.”
“Don’t tell her you work for me, or that I’m the one paying you.”
“She’s the one from the newspaper, right?”
“Yes.”
“I figured as much. The image was always a little blurry. They zoomed in on you and the kid.”
“Thank you for the update, Brian.” Wayne left, climbing into his car and going straight to the office.
Robert would get his nanny, and Temperance would once again be caring for other people’s kids while putting her own future on hold to help others. He nodded at Frances, and she held up a stack of letters for him.
“I’ll be in for the contract sign in just a moment.”
He didn’t say anything, heading into his office and putting the large stack of mail on his desk. Three weeks and his life had returned to somewhat normal.
Rubbing at his eyes, he leaned back in his chair and released a sigh. It wasn’t normal. His life was so fucking empty. The apartment still had the toys on the table. The cleaner had tidied them away when she came to clean, and he’d put them back exactly where they’d been. He’d even gone into Timothy’s room and put everything back after she cleaned it up.
He missed them both.
Timothy’s giggle. The way he ran past him making plane noises. Temperance’s laugh along with her humming as she did something.
The scents that filled his apartment were gone. No cookies baked, or spaghetti and meatballs. Did anyone else know what Timothy liked?
“Here you go, sir,” Frances said. She had a clipboard in front of her. He looked at them and just stared, the writing going blurred.
“Do you think I’m a monster?” he asked. There was no answer, and he turned to his very reliable PA. “You can answer freely.”
“I really don’t know what to say right now.”
“Just the truth.”
“I don’t think you’re a monster. I believe you’ve made decisions that are not necessarily very good.” She pulled the clipboard to her. “Did it really hurt for you to keep the boy?”
He shook his head. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. I miss them.”
“Them?”
“Temperance and Timothy. What the magazines were saying were true.”
“About her being a gold-digger?”
“No. We were having a relationship.” He shook his head. “It was only a couple of days away, a week in total, and yet … my apartment has never felt empty before. Now it is. I can imagine them there, you know, dancing, laughing, singing. I’m going insane.”
Frances took a seat in the chair opposite his desk. “If you feel this way, then why did you do it? Why did you prepare and plan everything?”
“Because I didn’t think for a second that I’d want it all, or that I’d want it for longer than a couple of days. I know, I’m an asshole.” He growled, throwing back his chair. “It’s not supposed to be like this.”
“Do you love them?” Frances asked.
Wayne paused. His heart pounded, and as he looked at Frances, he couldn’t lie to her. “Yes.” Just by saying that, he felt ecstatic. He loved them both.
“Have you thought to putting a call through to see what is happening to Timothy, or maybe even ask if you could start adoption papers?” Frances asked.
He took another seat. “I could do that?”
“Yes. You can.” She smiled at him. “When are you going to realize that you can do anything so long as you put your mind to it?”
“Temperance?” he asked.
The smile dropped. “It may be easier to win Timothy back. I saw her in that hospital room. You hurt her, and even if she does love you, you’d have to win her back.”
He rubbed his hands together, trying to figure something out. “I need to be able to get Timothy back. I need to prove to her that I know I was wrong, and it’s not just a bunch of words.”
“Maybe start by sending some flowers.”
“She’s going to be taking a job with Robert,” he said.
“Then send them to her work. Would you like me to give Robert a call to make su
re he has no objection?”
“No. I couldn’t give a fuck even if he did have a problem.”
Nothing was going to get in his way. First, he had to get his kid back. Then he had to get his woman back.
Temperance was his woman, and he was going to make sure she got everything her heart desired.
Chapter Thirteen
Temperance started back at the Thompsons’ a week later. The moment Robert took her to his home they were all waiting, and they rushed toward her, wrapping their arms around her, each of them complaining about what had been going on and how their life had nearly been destroyed. She listened to them talk, and then she was swept upstairs to their rooms, where they showed her everything she’d missed out on.
Each of the children signed her cast for her, and Catherine came up to the room, handing over the file. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to make a new one.”
“Okay.”
“It’s good to have you back,” Catherine said before disappearing.
A lot of people thought taking care of kids was easy, but it wasn’t.
The kids had gone to have something to eat, and grabbing her crutches, Temperance headed down toward the kitchen. She never ate with the family.
A large bouquet of roses arrived as she was heading downstairs.
“Oh, Robert, you didn’t have to,” Catherine said.
“I didn’t.” Robert frowned, grabbing the card and opening it up. He began to smile and looked up toward her. “They’re for you, Temperance.”
She moved downstairs, being careful, and taking the crutches that Britney had been kind enough to help her with. Taking the card, she opened it up.
I’m not a monster. I’m going to get him back, and then I’m coming for you. Those were the words, signed with a simple W.
Licking her dry lips, she stared at the roses. Was he going to get Timothy? It seemed … crazy. He’d wanted the boy gone. She leaned in, sniffing one of the roses just as the doorbell rang.
Robert opened the door, and she heard Wayne’s voice.
“I’ve only just got her,” Robert said.
“I want to take her for a walk, if she’d go with me.”
She nodded, holding onto the crutches. Following him outside, she was aware of everyone watching them. Nothing like this had ever happened before.