Father by Choice

by Amanda Berry

  “I can change it back, but—” She bit her lip and glanced at her watch.

  This could take hours to resolve with Peterson and that’s probably why he’d done it. If Jules went into his office now, she’d be in there for hours arguing about why it was correct in the first place. All the while, Peterson would be suggestive without being overt enough for her to press sexual harassment charges against him.

  Brady took the papers from her. “I’ll take care of it.”

  “Thanks.” The tension drained out of Jules’s face and shoulders. “I owe you.”

  “Don’t think I won’t hold you to that.” Brady left Jules and knocked on Kyle’s office door.

  “Come in.”

  Kyle stood behind his desk, putting his laptop in his bag. His cell phone was cradled between his cheek and shoulder. He gestured for Brady to come forward.

  “No...” Kyle said to the person on the other end of the line. “Thursday won’t work. Yes, see you then.”

  He tucked the phone into its holder and gestured for Brady to take a seat. “If you’d been two minutes later, I would have been out the door.”

  “Glad I caught you, then.” Brady took the offered seat and waited for Kyle to sit.

  “What can I do for you today, Brady?”

  Brady swallowed. “I know this is the worst timing, but I have a family emergency and need to take some time off.”

  Kyle leaned his elbows on the desk. “Is everything okay?”

  “I honestly don’t know.” Brady chuckled, suddenly aware how absurd the situation sounded. “I recently found out I have a seven-year-old daughter who knows nothing about me. Her mother thought I knew, but I didn’t.”

  “Congratulations.” Kyle leaned back in his chair and it rocked with him. “So what were you thinking? A day? Two?”

  Brady released the breath he’d been holding. “I have vacation built up, but I’m planning to continue working on the project while I’m in Illinois.”

  “How long?” Apparently, Kyle had noticed that Brady had dodged that question.

  “Two weeks.”

  “Starting...”

  “Tomorrow or the next day?”

  Kyle templed his fingers to his lips as he contemplated Brady. The clock in the corner ticked mercilessly. Kyle’s expression didn’t change. Brady felt as if he were being silently quizzed on a subject he didn’t know a single answer for.

  Kyle stopped rocking. “You’ve just made a transition to this team. We usually like to build vacations into the schedule ahead of time.” Kyle smiled. “But this qualifies as a family emergency.”

  “Great. I’ll keep the Detrex project going via email and phone.” Brady started to get up.

  “No, the Detrex project is a huge account. Since Dave Peterson and Jules Morrison are both on the project, they should handle things while you are gone.”

  Brady sank back into the seat. If he let Peterson take over the project, it would sink faster than the Titanic. Jules would have to deal with that scumbag every day. “With all due respect, Kyle, Peterson is a decent manager, but the contacts deal with me directly. We have so many balls in the air right now, one could drop and someone might not notice.”

  “Then you had better get them up to speed before you leave.” Kyle rose from his chair, obviously dismissing him.

  Brady stood. “Detrex is my project. I’d rather stay here than risk it failing because I left at the wrong time.”

  “The project won’t fail without you.” Again, Kyle dismissed his importance.

  But Brady knew how this game was played. He’d studied it from every angle. He wasn’t going to lose this project and the boost to his career. But if he let Maggie down this time, she might never let him see Amber.

  “Let Jules lead it.” Brady knew this was a risky move, but he had to play it. “If she has any questions, she can contact me or go to Peterson. It’s only two weeks.”

  He hoped that Kyle would accept this. He could work the project with Jules while he was gone. Peterson wouldn’t care if the project failed because it was Brady’s and Jules’s necks on the line. Until it’s time to take credit.

  “It’s probably time Jules took on some additional responsibility.” Kyle walked with Brady to the door and turned out the lights in his office. “But this project is too big to let fail. If I see any indication that she can’t handle it, I will pass it off to Peterson.”

  Brady nodded. “Enjoy the game, Kyle.”

  Turning on his heels, Brady headed to Peterson’s office. It was time to take his project back.

  * * *

  Within thirty minutes after Brady left, Maggie had finished putting away her things. What was she doing here?

  She grabbed her phone off the nightstand and dialed Penny’s number. It was early afternoon so she should be able to get her before Amber got home. “Did you tell him?” Penny asked immediately.

  Maggie fell onto the bed. “Yes. I’m in his apartment right now. How is Amber doing?”

  “She’s fine. I’m fine. What are you doing on the phone with me?” Penny laughed. “I know it’s been a while, but get out there.”

  “He went to work.” Maggie rolled onto her side and stared out the window overlooking Central Park. “I told him.”

  “Okay.” Penny stretched out the word as if trying to pick up the underlying meaning. “What happened?”

  Maggie relayed the morning meeting followed by the nerve-racking lunch. And ended with her being dumped off in an apartment that looked like a pristine hotel room.

  “It’s like no one lives here.” Maggie walked to the empty fridge. Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she’d only eaten a few bites of lunch.

  “Did you go in his room yet?” Penny sounded as if she was on the edge of her seat, waiting.

  “I’m not going to snoop.” Maggie turned to look at the closed bedroom door. She leaned against the refrigerator and wondered what he would have in his bedroom.

  “I bet he has kinky sex toys.”

  “Penny!”

  “Or naughty magazines.”

  “Seriously?”

  Penny changed tactics. “Would you want someone like that around Amber? After all, it’s important to have a good male role model and not all men can pass muster.”

  Maggie tapped her finger against her bottom lip. “He did say that he wanted me to find out about him before taking him to meet Amber.”

  “See?” Penny’s triumph was obvious even hundreds of miles away. “He wants you to snoop. Why else leave you in his apartment alone?”

  “Because he had to go to work.”

  “Wrong!” Penny said, sounding like a buzzer. “Excuses, excuses. Get in there. I’ll be right beside you. Make sure to use descriptive words like black leather love swing.”

  “Okay, but don’t get your hopes up.” Maggie crossed the room and turned the doorknob. Just in case, she checked over her shoulder to make sure no one was in the apartment.

  “A girl can dream.”

  Maggie shoved open the door and stepped into a room similar to her own. The hardwood floors from the living room continued into the room, providing the only warmth to the otherwise white, sterile room.

  “Dying of suspense over here,” Penny said.

  “It’s bigger than my room. King-size bed.” No art. No photos. No spark of personality. Lifeless. Loveless. “Light tan bedspread with matching curtains. Black dresser. Two doors.”

  “One of them has to lead to the sex chamber.” Penny’s voice quivered.

  “Do you think that if he had a sex chamber I would tell you?” Maggie rolled her eyes as she opened the first door to a bathroom.

  “You’ll tell me or I promise to read Amber Stephen King tonight.”

  “You wouldn’t. Besides, I would be so shocked to find a sex chamber that I probably would tell you, so you could tell me what all the things were for.”

  “You know it,” Penny said smugly.

  “Door number one is a bathroom. Nice. Clean.”
Lifeless.

  “I’ll take what’s behind door number two.”

  She opened the door to a walk-in closet the size of her bathroom at home. “Big closet.”

  The rich scent of sandalwood drifted over her as she entered the closet.

  “Dirty mags?” Penny whispered, as if they were on the hunt together, instead of just Maggie waiting to get caught going through Brady’s stuff.

  The closet was neatly organized with nothing out of place. Suits lined up, next to neatly pressed pants, a few pairs of shoes. “It’s as if he doesn’t live here.”

  “That’s it! Maybe he’s a vampire.” Penny snickered.

  Maggie backed out of the closet and looked around for some evidence of anyone living there. “Worse, he’s a workaholic. No one’s house is this clean unless they don’t live here.”

  “Or he stays at his girlfriend’s.” Penny’s tone didn’t help matters.

  Maggie sank down on the edge of his bed. “I hadn’t even thought about that. I didn’t even ask. Why didn’t I ask?”

  “Because you were telling the dude he has a seven-year-old? I think you had more pressing things than ‘are you dating?’”

  “What if he is?” Maggie’s heart clattered to a stop. She stood. “What if I’m getting in the way of his life here?”

  “Whoa. Cart. Horse. Slow down, Maggie. It’s only one possibility. As you said, this isn’t about you hooking up with Brady. This is about Brady getting to know his daughter.”

  This wasn’t about her. It was about Amber, and she shouldn’t be in Brady’s room at all. She rushed out and closed the door. “You were the one who wanted me to bring sexy nightgowns and bikinis.”

  Penny sighed. “Only because I want my friend back. The one before all the crap piled on her and made her into the glorious woman she is today. I love you, but you seriously need to get laid.”

  Checking to make sure she was alone, Maggie said, “I do not need to get laid. I need to support my daughter and make sure her father is a decent man who won’t let her down.”

  “You can do both, you know.” Penny had been trying to get her to go out for the past several years. Saying it wasn’t healthy for a woman in her twenties to be cooped up all the time. Between Amber and her mother, there hadn’t been time to do the wild and crazy things that Penny did.

  Maggie would never regret her daughter or the time she spent helping her mother. Given the choice, she would do it all over again.

  “I can’t do anything with Brady, Penny.” The realization of what that would mean washed over her like a cold shower.

  “Why not? He’s there. You’re there. You had a good time last time.” Penny’s voice was soft and coaxing.

  Maggie let her gaze drift around the white-and-black room with its unused furniture. She squeezed her eyes shut and thought of her well-loved furniture that had been her mother’s. She caught a hint of Brady’s cologne, a warm rich scent in contrast to his surroundings. She opened her eyes. Regrets were a bitch.

  “Because—” Maggie sighed “—if I ruin this for Amber, I’ll never forgive myself.”

  Chapter Six

  Brady scrubbed the weariness from his face as he rode the elevator to his apartment. Maggie would be waiting for him. It was such a foreign concept.

  He hadn’t had any kind of long-term relationship since he’d left Tawnee Valley. Only himself to worry about.

  As he opened the door, he heard the sound of the television on low. He set his keys and BlackBerry on the side table. The curtains were all shut, blocking out the night skyline. By the flicker of the television screen he could see the table set for two and Maggie curled up on his couch.

  She must’ve fallen asleep trying to wait for him. He should have told her not to bother. It hadn’t crossed his mind to call. He always worked late. Checking the kitchen, he found the groceries he’d ordered, and in the fridge were two wrapped plates of food.

  It stirred something in him that hadn’t been touched in a while. Something he’d forgotten he wanted, but he couldn’t quite name it. Warmth settled in his chest, pushing away the coldness of the New York fall evening. Some guys could work all the time and have a home life. Brady had never considered it. Too many ties, not enough mobility.

  He strode over to the couch and squatted in front of Maggie. His future was tied to hers through Amber. Her hands were tucked under her cheek. In sleep, the tension around her was gone.

  She was beautiful. Every time they touched, sensation rushed through his body. Could it just be an echo of attraction based on their shared past?

  “Maggie,” he whispered, almost afraid to wake her.

  Her nose crinkled in response, and she tried to snuggle deeper into the couch.

  He glanced at the table. He’d been a fool to think he’d have any time for getting to know about Amber or that Maggie would get a chance to know him. Work had always come first.

  Peterson had been adamant the figures were incorrect. They’d argued over the numbers for five hours. Once they’d come to an agreement, Brady had written a detailed email to both Jules and the team that explained the changes. He would need all day tomorrow to catch Jules up on the state of the project and what needed to be done.

  Complications, all of them. And yet, even knowing that Maggie waited, he hadn’t been willing to let any of them drop. What kind of father would he be if he did that to his daughter? Was he even suited to being someone’s father?

  “Maggie?” he tried again. Still no response.

  He went to his room and searched the upper shelf of his closet for the quilt he’d kept. The cotton was worn in spots, but it always felt warm in his hands. The patterned fabric seemed out of place in his apartment in London and even now, it was a misfit for his lifestyle.

  When he returned to Maggie’s side, he shook it out and gently laid it over her. Children had never been part of his plan. Maybe a wife who would have her own career to deal with, but never a child who would suffer from his lack of attention.

  After getting a beer, he settled into the armchair and flipped the channel on the television. He should be in bed exhausted, but it felt good having someone else here. Maggie being here felt good. Most women would have waited up to ream him a good one for staying out late. Maybe he still had that to look forward to when Maggie woke.

  Maggie stretched beneath the quilt and rolled onto her back. Her eyes blinked open and tried to focus on him.

  “Hi.” She sat up, rubbing her eyes. “What time is it?”

  “Midnight.” Brady held the bottle between his hands as he leaned his elbows on his knees. “I should have called.”

  Her sleepy smile made him forget to breathe. “I didn’t expect you to.”

  Would she have expected him to if they were more than strangers? But they were more than strangers. He cleared the lump from his throat. “Did you want to eat?”

  She nodded and started to rise, but froze when she saw the quilt. “This is gorgeous. Hand quilted. Where was this hiding? I didn’t see it before.”

  Her smile dropped, and color rose in her cheeks.

  “I mean...” She cut herself off with a groan and sank into the couch. “I shouldn’t have, but Penny...”

  “It’s okay, Maggie.” Brady stood and offered her his hand. “It’s not like I have corporate secrets lying around my apartment.”

  He helped her up but didn’t let go. Her body’s warmth reached for him like a lover’s embrace.

  “What you see is what you get.” Brady wasn’t sure if he was trying to warn her off or make it clear that he didn’t have anything to hide.

  She cleared her throat. “I should have asked before snooping around.”

  Her gaze lifted to his and it felt like that night again. Energy pulsing between the two of them. Before there had been cattle lulling and the distant howls of coyotes as the backdrop, not the theme from Law & Order. He wanted to pull her in those last few inches and kiss her. To see if the spark between them could be coaxed into a fire. But he
didn’t. He’d never been one to shy away from attraction, but Maggie was different.

  She blinked and stepped back. Busying herself with folding the quilt, she said, “I made dinner, but wrapped it up so when you got home, it would be ready.”

  He didn’t know what to say. How could he think of sex when she was vulnerable in his apartment. With nowhere else to go in the middle of the night. She wasn’t some random woman or coworker. This was Maggie Brown, resident of Tawnee Valley, his brother’s classmate and the mother of his child. The type of girl you settled down with, and his commitment was to his work and his new life in New York.

  She draped the quilt over the couch back and went to the kitchen.

  His fingers itched to put the quilt away. To hide that piece of Tawnee Valley he’d kept. A memento of better times. He picked up the end, intending to pull it from the couch back.

  “Penny was okay with staying an extra day or two. Amber only insisted I bring home something spectacular,” Maggie said from the kitchen.

  Brady forgot about the quilt. “Hopefully, I don’t disappoint her.”

  “I think she meant a souvenir like a snow globe.” Maggie reappeared with the two plates of food and set them on the table. “I’m not sure what to tell her about you.”

  Brady held out a chair for her, and she took the offered seat.

  “What have you told her?” The aroma of fried chicken stirred his taste buds. Potatoes and vegetables rounded out the meal. His stomach rumbled. “It’s been forever since I had fried chicken.”

  “I hope you like dessert because I made cookies, too. Idle hands and all that.” She shrugged her shoulders as if embarrassed.

  “I should have told you I would be late.” Brady bit into a piece of chicken. He couldn’t contain his moan of pleasure. He never would have guessed he missed good country cooking. “Heaven.”

  Maggie flushed with pleasure. “Thank you. Amber hasn’t asked about her father too much.”

  “But when she does?”

  “I don’t know. I tell her that her father lives far away.”

  “Which is true.” Damn Sam for his interference. Not that it would have changed much. His work had been in England and hadn’t left room for a family. Even now he had no idea how he could work a child into his life, but he had to try.