“Hi.” I knew I shouldn’t be rude, but I just couldn’t help it. Today was not my day. Not that it was Alex’s fault. He didn’t deserve to have to deal with my less than stellar attitude.
Before I had a chance to apologise for being a dick, my phone chimed.
Payton: Hey sexy. You busy???
Didn’t she already have a husband whose balls she could bust? Payton was probably the last person on earth I should be a dick to. After all, she gave me that beautiful little niece I was dying for a cuddle with. Not that I’d ever admit that to anyone.
Connor: About to get some lunch. What do you need?
Payton: Perfect. If I supply lunch, can you look at the kitchen tap upstairs?
Damn it! That woman knew exactly how to get what she wanted. All she had to do was bat those long eyelashes and offer food to make us all cave. Not one of us McIntyres were immune to her delicious delights. Part of me was convinced Beau married her for her cinnamon scrolls alone, not that I could blame him. But me, I was more of a vanilla slice fan. All that flaky pastry filled with creamy custard…my mouth watered.
Connor: On my way. Have the vanilla slice ready. :P
Dropping my phone back in my pocket, I turned back to Alex, who’d been silently watching me. “I’ve got to head into town and fix some taps or something for Payton. Want to come?”
“Sure.”
“I’m not sure what’s taking Ryan so long.” He seemed disappointed.
“Where’d he go, anyway?”
“Went into town to help Zoe.”
“He do that a lot?”
“Not really. More in the last couple of weeks, but that’s cool. I get it. Won’t be forever.”
Seemed like Alex wasn’t really all that keen on talking about it, which was fine with me. Last thing I wanted to do today was get sucked in to someone else’s drama. “Let’s clean up and head in. Lunch is on Payton.”
The smile on Alex’s face told me everything I needed to know. He’d already been introduced to Payton’s cooking and he wasn’t immune either.
An hour later I wiped my hand on the rag hanging from the back pocket of my jeans. The leaking tap was leaking no more. I’d replaced the washers and cleaned it out. Should be good for now. This apartment wasn’t ideal. It was old, run down, and neglected, but for what it was, it worked.
It was kinda sad looking up here. While it was still furnished, even if only sparsely, it lacked personality. At one point this place had been a mismatch of colour and chaos, but now it was bland and boring. Gone were the thousand picture frames and brightly coloured cushions. The kitchen was almost bare, with only a kettle and a couple of mugs. Even the magnets that brightened up the fridge were gone. Packing my tools into the black tool box, I locked up and bounded down the stairs. A hot meat pie and an oversized piece of delicious vanilla slice were calling my name.
“Oh. My. God. He’s so freaking adorable,” a very girly, excited voice exclaimed.
I couldn’t help myself. “I know I am, but what have I done now?” I asked arrogantly as I set the tool box at the side door and stepped inside, instantly being overcome with the scent of baked bread. Was there a better smell in the world?
Staring back at me was a truly terrifying sight. No man who treasured his manhood should have entered that room when I did. At my question, all their heads snapped up, glaring at me. No one seemed happy to see me. That stung my ego a little. Payton had her hands on her hips. Carly’s were wrapped around a mug, which I could only assume contained her toxically strong dose of caffeine. Mia and Josie both stood hovering over a pram, cooing over the contents. I’m guessing there was a baby in there somewhere, not that I could see the way they were all circling around. Then there was the woman with the long brown hair whose back to me. She was the only one who wasn’t shooting daggers in my direction. In fact, she hadn’t flinched at all. It was like she refused to acknowledge me. Whatever. Like I cared.
“Not you, shit head. Lachlan. He’s gorgeous,” Carly confirmed.
For someone who claimed she wasn’t clucky, you couldn’t get near a baby if she was around. Not with all your body parts intact, anyway. Without asking, she scooped down and untangled the blue blankets and cradled him close to her chest. Fine, even I can admit he was kind of adorable, with his barely there hair and tiny fist poking out.
“Who owns him?” I braved.
“Owns him? Really, Connor? He’s not a dog, you know.”
“Oh, you know what I mean.” Why were women so bloody difficult? Did they do it just because they could? Wouldn’t surprise me.
“He’s mine.” I watched as the woman with her back to me, the one with the ass I was itching to take a bite out of, spun around and stole my breath. Zoe fucking Sinclair.
I couldn’t take my eyes off her. So much had changed, but she was still the same. She was stunning. Although she looked tired, there was something about her that I couldn’t look away from. Her tits were bigger, probably a result of the baby. Wait! The baby.
“How old is…”
“Lachlan. His name is Lachlan, Connor,” she sassed me.
“I’m sorry, Zoe. How old is Lachlan?” My heart was pounding in my chest and my gut tightened.
“He’s a bit over four weeks.”
Mental maths was not my strong suit. He was four weeks old. One month. Women were pregnant for nine. Last time Zoe climbed out of my bed after one of the most enthusiastic, fun-filled nights I’d ever had was ten months ago. Trust me, there’s nothing that could make me forget that night. Holy. Fucking. Shitballs.
“Who’s the father?” I blurted out, my mouth getting ahead of my brain, which was still reeling.
“Connor McIntyre. You did not just ask that!” Payton snapped with a smack across my arm.
I was shaking now. I don’t know if it was from fear, frustration, or pure fury. If he was mine and Zoe hadn’t told me, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to stop myself from losing my shit. In fact, I was certain I wouldn’t be able to. My inner Hulk was already starting to turn green.
“None of your business.” I could tell Zoe was just as pissed as I was. Everyone was looking, waiting to see who cracked first. Without a word, Zoe snatched her son from Carly and settled him back in the pram. Silently, I watched as she gathered up her things, slipped her phone into her pocket. She looked like she was getting ready to run.
“Are you sure about that? Is he mine?”
Whack!
The whole side of my face felt like it was on fire. I hadn’t even seen it coming. Zoe had spun around at my words and slapped me so hard across my face she had me seeing stars. Who knew such a little girl could pack such a punch? I certainly hadn’t.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” she seethed, spitting the words out through clenched teeth. “How dare you…”
“What? How dare I ask if he’s mine? If I’m the father? Think about the fucking timeline, princess. Ten months ago, you were in my bed screaming my name. Now here we are. You’ve got a baby on your hip and a fucking stick up your ass.”
Smack!
That one I deserved. Zoe had a hell of a right hook on her and she wasn’t afraid to use it. The second slap left my ears ringing and my cheek stinging.
Without answering, Zoe headed for the door. Josie must have agreed with her hasty escape, as she pulled open the heavy glass door, ringing the tiny bells. That was all I needed to wake me from my stupor and spur me into action. I crossed the distance between us and grabbed Zoe’s arm, spinning her to face me. There was no way she was running out and not giving me an answer.
“Don’t touch me.”
I dropped my grip, not wanting to be that guy. I might have made some asshole comments, but the last thing I ever wanted to be was the type of guy who’d manhandle a woman because he didn’t get his way. That was a dick thing to do.
“Sorry.” I stepped back, giving her some space. When I spotted the unshed tears balanced on her long eyelashes, I felt like I’d been sucker punched. “Zoe.” I st
omped down my own out of control emotions and tried to get to the bottom of it. I needed to get it figured out. If there was even the remote possibility that I had a son, then I wanted to know. I needed to know. As quietly as I could, I asked, wishing we had somewhere a little more private to have this conversation. “Is there any chance Lachlan could be mine?”
I could feel the sadness radiate off her. Her shoulders slumped as she nudged the pram back and forth. Even if I’d only known she was a mother for a few minutes, I could already tell she was a damn good one.
“No, Connor. He’s not yours.” The moment Zoe answered she stepped through the door, settled her sunglasses over her sad eyes, and walked away.
I stood rooted to the spot, and watched until she disappeared around the corner. As she shuffled down the street with her head bowed, she looked broken. Even that thought alone, that I was the one responsible for upsetting her, stung.
“Happy now, Connor?” Carly snarked, pulling my attention back from the deserted street.
“Fuck no!” I sulked.
As much as I wanted to be pissed that Lachlan could have been mine, the realisation that he wasn’t hurt even worse. If I’d been his father, you can bet your ass I’d be stepping up and being not only his father, but also his dad. There’s no way I wouldn’t be a part of his life, and Zoe’s. Even before today I’d decided I wanted to be part of her life, and Lachlan didn’t change that. But maybe there was someone else. The guy who actually was Lachlan’s father. Maybe he was at home waiting for his family to come home. He’d be the one rocking Lachlan to sleep and holding Zoe in his arms. Fuck that!
“You were a bit of an asshole,” Payton commented, completely downplaying just how much of a dick I’d been.
“More than a bit. You’re lucky Zoe only slapped you. I would have fucking junk punched you if you said that shit to me.” If there was one thing in life you could count on, it was Carly hitting you straight between the eyes with the truth. No matter how brutal.
“Yeah, well…” The truth was, I had nothing. No excuses. Nothing that could make my behaviour excusable.
“Fuck this.” I needed to get out of this estrogen-filled hell and think. Or maybe I needed to stop thinking. God knows my thoughts weren’t exactly pretty. Storming out the door, I turned in the opposite direction Zoe had gone, as much as I wanted to see her again, right now I needed to stay away. Far, far away.
I’d made it halfway down the street when a soft hand reached out and grabbed my arm. “What the hell?” I boomed, turning around.
Mia was standing there, a half smile playing on her lips. She should have been intimidated by my size alone. I towered over her like a fucking giant. Not only that, I was in a foul mood and ready to explode. She didn’t flinch. I didn’t know Mia all that well, but from what I did know, she had balls of steel. Even Carly was a little afraid of her, and that was saying something.
“You know, Connor, sometimes you can be a real prick.” She dropped her hold and stood in front of me, blocking my path.
If I’d have been in a better mood, I would have picked her up and physically moved her out of my path. Not today, though. Instead, I ran a frustrated hand through my hair, all the fight dissolving from my body. “Yeah, I know.”
“It’s not what you think.”
“What’s not?”
“Zoe. Whatever you’re thinking, you’re wrong.”
“And what do I think it is?”
Ignoring my question in a way only Mia could, she continued, “You need to calm down and then go talk to her. Get the full story. Before you make an even bigger ass of yourself…if that’s even possible.”
Without giving me a chance to reply, she bounded back towards the bakery, leaving me standing there contemplating my own shadow. I fucking knew I should have stayed in bed today. Checking my watch, I saw that it was just past midday. That meant technically I wasn’t a drunk if I went to the pub now. So that’s exactly where I headed.
***
“Why don’t you go give Uncle Connor a big kiss while I make breakfast?” At the mention of my name, my eyes flickered.
I could feel someone hovering over me. Forcing myself to sit up, my neck ached, and my arms felt like they weighed a tonne. The aches and pains through my body weren’t the worst part, though. My mouth tasted like ass. Or at best a dirty ashtray. Sitting upright, I saw my asshole brother standing there looking too smugly satisfied for my liking, but he was holding the most beautiful girl in the world, so he got a free pass. This time.
“Feeling like shit?” he asked as he dropped Robin into my outstretched arms. No matter how bad I felt, she always made it better. I swear this kid could be the cure for man flu. At least around our family she was.
“Yeah,” I grumbled the whole time, Robin having completely captured my attention. She was blowing raspberries and completely covering herself, and me, in drool. It’d be completely gross if she wasn’t so damn cute.
“From what I hear, you should.”
Trust Beau to pull no punches. Asshole. Even though my head was filled with fog, I remembered way too much about yesterday to argue. He was right. I deserved to feel like shit. Hell, I deserved a hell of a lot worse than that, but I’d take what I could get.
“Want a coffee?”
“No. Need. Need a coffee.”
Beau chuckled as he walked away, leaving Robin in my arms. While she babbled and cooed at nothing at all, I looked around. No wonder I was aching. I wasn’t even in Beau’s spare bedroom. Instead I’d spent the night dumped on his too short, too narrow couch. My boots were sitting neatly beside the coffee table and there was a pale green blanket scrunched in a ball at the end of the couch. No doubt I’d kicked that off sometime through the night.
“You still love me, don’t you?” I asked Robin hopefully. Right now, she might be the only one who did.
A couple of minutes later and Beau reappeared dressed, shaved, and cradling two mugs of coffee.
“Where’s Payton?” Surely, she had a few choice words to say to me, and I’d rather get my balls busted sooner rather than later.
“Work. It’s just me and Robin this morning.” I could see from the huge ass grin on his face that Beau was happy. Not just surface smiling either. He was genuinely, deep down happy. Why wouldn’t he be? He had a beautiful daughter, one he’d give up everything for. A wife who was fun and flirty and sexy as fuck. And a home. Sure, it needed some work, but it didn’t matter. In the scheme of things, Beau had gotten everything he never knew he wanted. And I was jealous as fuck. “How much do you remember about yesterday?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I know what went down at the bakery…do you?”
Taking a large gulp from my mug, I didn’t even care that he’d forgotten to add the sugar to the bitter brew or the fact that it burnt my tongue. Shamefully I nodded. I wished like hell I didn’t, but there was no use denying it. Besides, there was more than one witness who wouldn’t mind reminding me. The memory of Zoe’s slap had me rubbing my cheek.
“What about what happened after that?”
“What do you mean?”
“Your one man show at the pub last night?”
“You’re full of shit.” At least I hoped he was. I remember storming into the pub, trying not to self-combust, and slumping down on the stool in the corner, ordering my first beer. And my second. And my third. And probably a whole lot more after that, based on the way my head was pounding.
“You wish I was, Connor.” Somehow, I knew he was right. I probably did wish he was full of shit, but he wasn’t letting up.
“Ah! Right there. There’s the look. The one where you know I’m right and you’re shit scared I know the details and you don’t. Fuck, I love that look.”
“You only love it cause for once it’s not you in the dog house.”
“True. But in all fairness, you’re not in the dog house. They wouldn’t even fucking give you one right now. You really ballsed this one up, little brother.”
Condescending prick. I hated when he called me that. Just ’cause I was younger, Beau seemed to think he had the world at his feet. If you looked at him, and the kick ass life he’d somehow scored for himself, it’d be hard to argue with. Once you knew him though, you knew he screwed up just as many times as the rest of us mere mortals. The only advantage he had was he had Payton there ready to pick him up whenever he did slip. Lucky bastard.
“Meaning?”
“Meaning you were an asshole to Zoe. In front of every female we know.”
“It wasn’t every female in town.”
“Nah, just the ones likely to string you up on the clothesline by your balls.”
I shuddered. He was right. Picking a fight with Zoe in front of Mia, Josie, Payton, and Carly wasn’t my smartest idea, but I couldn’t help it. I was fucking blindsided. I couldn’t stand there and say nothing. Besides, it wasn’t like Zoe didn’t get her own. She slapped me. Twice. “Fuck me,” I muttered, dropping my head, only to be headbutted by Robin as she bounced around.
“Come here, pretty girl. Uncle Connor looks like he may hurl.”
“No, I don’t,” I tried to argue but it was pointless. I wasn’t exactly convinced it wasn’t a possibility.
“What are you going to do now?” Beau asked as he stood rocking Robin back and forth in his arms, making me sea sick. If he kept going like that maybe I really would empty my stomach onto his floor. That’d teach the smug asshole…having to clean that up.
“What’d you mean?”
“Come on, Connor. You can’t be this dumb.”
“Not dumb. Hungover. Very, very hungover.”
“Dude, you had a fight with a girl. Got bitch slapped. Then passed out half naked at the pub all before the sun even went down.”
What. The. Fuck.
I don’t remember that happening. Some of it, yeah. But the half-naked passing out bit, nope. Wasn’t me. Couldn’t have been.
“Bullshit!”
Robin started to wriggle and cry, and Beau headed to the kitchen to grab her bottle. Right now, I might want to strangle him, the self-righteous shit head, but I couldn’t deny he was a good dad. Even though we hadn’t had the best role model as a father growing up, it didn’t matter. Beau was doing a kick ass job of making sure his girls were loved and happy. As soon as the thought settled over me the image of Lachlan popped into my head. I could be a good dad too. Someone just had to give me the chance. No, someone didn’t. Zoe did. Zoe had to give me a chance to prove that I could do it. I could be everything she needed me to be. Everything Lachlan needed me to be. And fuck me, did I want to be that guy.
Meet The McIntyres - The Complete Series Page 94