The Boyfriend Diaries: A Romance Box Set Collection

by S. E. Law

  The concierge didn’t even blink an eye. He called up, and to my surprise, I was immediately given a go.

  “The elevators are on your right, Miss,” the concierge said. “Press “P” once you’re inside.”

  I thanked him, and trembling a bit, stepped into the gilded cage. Even the inside of the elevator was ornate, with wood-paneling on all four sides and elaborate lattice-work in the corners. But I steeled myself because I wasn’t here to appreciate the décor. I was here to tell a man about his secret son.

  When the elevator doors whooshed open, I almost lost my nerve. The hallway itself was gorgeous, with plush carpets on the floors and a chandelier lighting the way. But there was only one door in the hallway, and immediately, I knew it had to belong to the penthouse.

  I took another deep breath. You’re doing this for Georgie, I reminded myself. Georgie means more to you than anyone else in the world. Do this for him, the voice urged.

  But when the door opened, and I saw Patrick Lancaster in the flesh, I almost lost my nerve again because he’s just so beautiful. The light in his apartment backlit his silhouette, emphasizing his imposing physique. Those broad shoulders seemed to fill up the doorframe, and his blue eyes seized mine, like we’d never been apart. I wanted to faint, but I made myself smile tremulously instead.

  “Hi, can I come in?” I asked in what I hoped was a normal tone.

  His shock was almost as great as mine, but he stepped away silently to allow me admittance. I entered the foyer and tentatively looked around, trying to hide my surprise. His apartment was amazing. Heavy white rugs carpeted the polished marble floors, and his living room was decorated with black, low-slung leather couches. An Art Deco chandelier dripped from the ceiling, and even the small tables scattered about looked like they were pieces of art.

  “Come in,” he growls. “Can I get you a drink?”

  Tentatively, I sit on the nearest couch and spread my skirt over my knees.

  “Yes, please. Water would be great.”

  He disappears into what I assume is the kitchen, and then reappears with a tall glass in his hand before handing it to me. My pulse races and my cheeks flush when our fingers brush. Oh my gosh, can he feel it too? But Patrick’s navy eyes give nothing away, and his dark features remain stormy. I swallow. This man must hate me for some reason or other, and now I’m about to deliver the biggest news of his life.

  76

  Patrick

  “So how can I help you?” I ask in a growl, lowering myself onto the couch across from Penny. Although my demeanor is gruff, inside my heart is racing. She’s here! The woman that I’ve thought non-stop about for the past year, is right here in my living room, not ten feet away. I want to catch her up in my arms and press kisses to every exposed inch of her flesh, but this isn’t the time for that. Clearly, Penny’s nervous and her pink pout trembles invitingly, even as she opens it to speak.

  “Well, I have some news for you, Patrick.”

  I nod, my eyes fixed ravenously on her beautiful face and curvy figure. Has she put on weight? She looks amazing, and even more lush and curvy than I remember.

  “Yes? What is it?” I growl. I wish I could stop acting like an animal, but the emotions in my chest are relentless. I want to jump up and scream, before cuddling her curves against my hardness. I want to bundle Penny up before taking her to Paris, and showing her the lights. I want to keep her close by me for the rest of her life, but is that what she wants too?

  She bites her lip uncertainly, those brown eyes sliding left and then right before focusing on a lamp next to the sofa.

  “Well, you see, ever since we met last year, things have been complicated,” she begins. “I never thought we’d meet, and then when we bumped into one another at Lancaster Industries, it was very interesting.”

  I stare at her.

  “We did more than bump,” is my rough answer.

  She blushes.

  “We did,” she acknowledges, “and that’s why I’m here now, in fact. I wanted to talk with you about –”

  “Spit it out,” I command roughly. “No bullshit, Penny.”

  Her chin jerks up as she looks in my eyes, but then she composes herself while spreading her skirt on her knees once more.

  “Well, you see, I got pregnant from our “bumping,” so to say, and I wanted to let you know that you have a son now, Patrick. His name is Georgie, and he’s the cutest thing. I thought you might want to know.”

  I don’t even know how to describe the rush of emotions that assault me then. There was confusion, rage, ecstasy, anger, disbelief, and then finally, a great dawning awareness.

  “You what?” I ask, as I slowly rise from my chair to tower over her.

  To her credit, Penny remains calm.

  “You have a son, Patrick. He’s three months old now, and as cute as a button. I thought you might like to know, seeing that you’re getting married soon.”

  I ignore the second half of her statement because suddenly, the world has gone simultaneously dark and light at once. I have a son, whom I’ve never met before. He’s three months old, and has never had a father in his life. Emotion courses through my veins, and I feel faint, yet also filled with an incredible urgency. I have to meet Georgie Lancaster, my son, NOW.

  77

  Penny

  The thunder growing on Patrick’s face is so dark that it’s terrifying. His black brows lower and the blue sharpness of his eyes becomes so pointed that I lose my breath.

  But Patrick isn’t one to lose it. Instead, he grabs his keys and bolts for the door before spinning on one heel and barking out, “Are you coming?”

  Immediately, I get up and snatch my purse, trailing him as he stalks over to the elevator.

  “But where are we going?” I ask. “It’s late on a Saturday night. Did you want to go out?”

  Patrick ignores me as we ride the elevator down to the garage. He presses the key fob, and a loud chirp from a shiny red Maserati sounds out in return. He strides over to the car, as I trail along in his wake, almost running and definitely out of my breath. To my heart’s dismay, I see Marina’s flashy yellow Lamborghini parked right next to the Maserati. Oh. So she really is getting married to Patrick.

  I buckle myself into the low-slung seat while Patrick revs the engine. Then he turns to me, his face still darkened with rage.

  “Where is he?” he growls. “Where is my son? I want to meet him.”

  The words leave my lips before I can even stop to think.

  “He’s at my father’s house,” I say. “341 Maple Lane, over on the West side. We live there, both of us, with my dad. He’s safe. He’s sleeping because it’s late.”

  But Patrick doesn’t even wait for me to finish my sentence. He’s already programmed the GPS and with squealing tires, we exit the garage and pull out onto the street. His foot is on the accelerator and within ten minutes, we’re pulling up before the darkened house where my baby lives.

  “Please,” I say. “Calm down a bit. You can come in and look at Georgie, but like I mentioned before, he’s asleep right now. Ten p.m. is late for a baby, and he likely went to sleep at seven. Plus, I don’t want you to scare him if he does wake up. The way you’re spouting fire and brimstone right now isn’t going to work, Patrick. Please calm down.”

  To my surprise, the handsome man seems to hear my words and his fingers relax their death grip on the wheel before he turns to stare at me.

  “You. Had. My. Son,” he accuses.

  “I did,” I acknowledge in what I hope is a calm tone. “But now is not the time to lose it. We have to keep it together for Georgie, in case he wakes up. Promise me you’ll stay calm.”

  To my surprise, Patrick’s fingers are shaking on the steering wheel. His blue eyes are intense, and he’s breathing hard and fast. There’s clearly something in this man driving him forward, and I can only guess what it is.

  “A son,” he says in a raspy whisper while staring blindly ahead. “I have a child.”

  �
��You do,” I affirm in a soft voice. “Now come inside. Let’s go up quietly, and I’ll introduce you to Georgie.”

  With that, we exit the car, as I lead this man to the darkened front door where my fate awaits.

  78

  Patrick

  As we pad up the stairs to Georgie’s nursery, I can hardly breathe. I have a son! A real, live child, who is my flesh and blood. Anticipation races through my veins even as my heart thrums. What will he be like? Will he look like me, or like Penny?

  The curvy girl stops before a closed door and turns to raise a finger to her lips in a shhh! sign. For the first time tonight, a soft smile caresses her lips as she opens the door without a sound.

  We step inside, and I see the baby immediately. He’s sleeping on his stomach in the crib, with the soft glow of a baby lamp casting him in shadow. Georgie’s chubby features are relaxed in sleep, and his small fists are loosened as he breathes peacefully. My heart contracts once and then judders tremulously. Love spills through my veins as tears come to my eyes.

  Penny smiles at me through her own tears.

  “We don’t want to wake him, but do you want to stroke his back gently? Like this,” she demonstrates.

  Slowly, I lower a large hand to rest it gently against Georgie’s back. He’s so soft and so small that my hand almost covers his entire back through the blue onesie. Gently, I rub the baby’s back and he sighs softly in his sleep. My heart expands once more, filled with love for this boy who is mine.

  But there’s still the issue of his mother. What the hell? Penny had Georgie months ago, and she didn’t think to tell me? All these questions pound through my head as we slowly leave the room before shutting the door and going back downstairs.

  Before I can get a word out, the curvy girl turns to me.

  “If you’re going to yell, then I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” she says in a firm tone. “My father is sleeping, and I don’t want to wake the baby.”

  I take a deep breath. In fact, I do want to yell. I want to scream my frustration, as well as my incredible love for this woman, to the heavens. But I also want to keep it together for my son while finding a path forward for us, so I nod silently.

  “I won’t yell. Talking is fine.”

  She stares at me, as if considering my pledge, and then nods, satisfied.

  “Let’s talk in the kitchen,” she says while stepping to the right and flicking on the light in the next room. The kitchen flashes to life and it’s homey, with cheery yellow flowers on the wallpaper, brown cabinets, and an old wood dining table in the middle. Penny sits there, and I slowly lower myself into the chair across from her.

  Finally, I take a deep breath and stare at her.

  “Penny, why? Why, if you had my child, didn’t you tell me?”

  She opens her mouth to speak, and with that, my future begins.

  79

  Patrick

  She confronts me with rage in her voice.

  “Why didn’t you call me?” she demands, vibrating with energy. “You said that you would after we met, but you never called. I waited for so long, Patrick.”

  I look at her with surprise. Penny is trembling with indignation, her breasts heaving as the air whooshes in and out of her chest. This is going to be difficult to explain, but I have to try.

  “Penny, you couldn’t have expected me to call,” I begin. “The way we met, it was so—”

  She cuts me off.

  “Wonderful?” she asks in a choked voice. “Magical? Incredible? Yes, and that’s why I expected you to call. I was a young girl, Patrick, and you took my virginity. I’d never been with a man before, and you claimed my innocence and then left me stranded like a piece of discarded trash!”

  I stare at her. I suspected that I claimed her virginity that afternoon, although there had been no blood. It was more that Penny was incredibly tight and small, although of course, the curvy girl took me like a professional with her slick folds and pulsing hole. I hang my head with shame.

  “I’m sorry, honey. I didn’t know it was your first time, and even if I had, what I did was inexcusable. But it was precisely because you were so young and innocent that I couldn’t contact you afterwards. I’m a thirty year old man, Penny, and I’d just claimed a nubile young teenager in the supply closet at my company. I’m supposed to set an example, and yet I went completely off the rails that afternoon. I’m sorry, Penny. If I could do things over, I would.”

  She stares at me, her big brown eyes still enraged. But when she speaks, her voice is a torn whisper.

  “But didn’t you care about me?” she asks. “Why would you disappear like that?”

  I look at my hands, my expression one of mixed agony and shame.

  “Again, I don’t have an excuse, except to say that I was a man trying to lead a company. You are my employee’s impressionable young daughter. You were at Lancaster Industries that day to participate in Take Your Daughter To Work Day, which is supposed to be a career event. No parent anticipates their daughter losing her virginity on company premises, to the boss, no less.”

  Penny nods, and this time, tears begin to spill down her cheeks.

  “But I was so lost without you, Patrick,” she says in a sob. “You broke my heart when you didn’t call.”

  At that, I can no longer sit still. I pull her curvy form into my lap, wrapping my huge arms around her trembling form while pressing kisses to her cheeks. My own heart breaks as I hold the woman I love more than all else in my arms.

  “Sweetheart, I’m so sorry,” I rasp. “It killed me not to call you, and I’ve done nothing but think about you in the year since. You’ve been on my mind every waking moment, and I would give anything to re-do what happened. Please forgive me,” I say in a broken voice. “Please Penny. Say that you’ll forgive me, and that we have a future together.”

  But at those words, the feisty girl hurls herself from my lap and spits fire at me as her eyes flash daggers.

  “Future? What are you talking about, Patrick? We don’t have a future because you’re getting married, or have you forgotten? You’re despicable, Patrick Lancaster, and I wish I’d never met you.”

  I stare at her with utter confusion. Penny’s curves are shaking because she’s so angry, and her curly brown hair is practically standing on end with the force of her convictions. But what is she talking about? I’m not married, nor am I engaged. So why does she think I’m getting married, and to whom?

  80

  Penny

  I can’t believe the nerve of this man! Patrick has a look of confusion on those handsome features, as if I’m making this all up.

  “Penny, what are you talking about?” he asks in a low voice. “I’m not getting married.”

  I’m so angry I could spit. How can he think I’m so naïve? Does he really think I was born yesterday? I feel the urge to let out a blood-curdling scream, but then remember my father and son sleeping upstairs. Instead, I take a deep breath and force myself to face him, even as rage continues to flood my veins.

  “Your fiancée told me, you lying bastard!” I hiss venomously. “Her name is Marina Alpern, or have you conveniently forgotten? I just saw her car parked right next to yours in the garage, you cheating, lying, scumbaggy piece of shit!”

  Patrick’s eyes go wide with my insults but then realization dawns on his face.

  "You think that my fiancée drives a yellow Lamborghini, is that right?” he asks in a low voice.

  “Yes,” I hiss again, still spitting nails. “In fact, I did her hair myself this afternoon when she walked into my beauty salon. And you know what she said? She said in no uncertain terms that she’s getting married to a Patrick Lancaster. Now that wouldn’t be you, would it?”

  To my surprise, the handsome man looks relieved and then even smiles a bit, his lips quirking up at the corners.

  “Penny, don’t lose your cool because she’s not getting married to me. Marina Alpert is not my fiancée, no matter what she said.”

  “The
n whose fiancée is she?” I question angrily. “Is there some Patrick Lancaster who just materialized out of nowhere in Gainesville, Ohio? Do you have a secret twin?”

  He has the temerity to laugh then, throwing his head back to reveal flashing white teeth and the strong, bronzed column of his throat. I simultaneously love and hate how attractive he is at once. My brain says no, and yet my heart and body are saying yes, pulling me towards this man. But he still has to answer for his deceptive actions because I’m not going to let this man twist me on a string any longer.

  “Calm down sweetheart because there’s no need to lose it. Marina is getting married to my father, Patrick Lancaster Senior,” he says with an amused grin. “I bet she didn’t mention that her groom-to-be is near seventy, did she? Trophy wives usually don’t.”

  I stare at him, my mouth dropping open with shock.

  “I’m sorry?”

  He actually smirks a little.

  “Oh yeah. Marina’s going to be my father’s sixth wife. I’m his son from his first marriage, and actually his only child. But yes, Patrick Lancaster Senior is tying the knot again, and Marina is his beautiful bride. She’s sniffed his money, and that’s what she really wants. But it doesn’t really matter because all of our family money is tied up in trusts. Even if they get married, she’s not going to get a red cent.”

  I stare at him.

  “But does your dad live here, in Gainesville?” I ask, my head spinning with confusion. “When did this happen?”

  The handsome man nods calmly.

  “Yep. My dad moved here a couple months ago because he still likes keeping a finger in the corporate pie. He hasn’t really worked in more than ten years, and I’m the one running Lancaster now. But there’s no harm in letting Patrick Senior hang out. After all, he worked his fingers to the bone getting this company off the ground, and if he wants to chat with employees and sit at a desk, then why not? He deserves it.”