Heart: BWWM Secret Baby Romance

by Kara Jones

  “I’ll get around to it,” I said. “I’m a busy lady.”

  “Speaking of which,” she said, sobering. “We’ve got an exam to contend with. Did you study?”

  I scoffed. “Of course, I studied, Alexa. It’s not like I was out partying all last night.”

  She self consciously ran her fingers through her hair. “That noticeable?”

  I pointed to her neck. “It was the hickey that did it.”

  “God damn it!” She pulled out her compact from her purse as we began to walk to class, examining the small purple bruise in the mirror. “I have to have dinner with my parents tonight,” she moaned.

  Oh, to be young again. Well, younger, although I supposed that I had had to grow up pretty damn quick.

  Alexa took a sharp inhale of breath beside me. “Oh… My… God.”

  “What?” I asked, turning to examine her. I thought that maybe she’d found another hickey or something.

  “Don’t look,” she said lowly. “But, the hottest guy to have ever existed is behind us.”

  I chuckled. “Yeah?” I said. “Another Jared Leto lookalike?”

  She shook her head, her eyes wide as she stole another look in her mirror. Alexa often stopped and pointed out hot guys to me. She was practically drooling though, which was a new one for her, even.

  “God, he’s like six foot a million,” she said, dreamily. “Tattooed out the yin-yang. Definitely works out.”

  I swung around, my eyes searching for the man she had described. It couldn’t be. It wouldn’t be.

  It was.

  “Oh my god, Chris!” Alexa hissed. “I told you not to look!”

  I barely even heard her. Walking toward me, every bit the sex god—no, demon—that I remembered was Hunter Davidson. His dark eyes were trained on me like lasers, and his body rippled with each step he took.

  “Do you know him?” Alexa asked excitedly. “I think he’s coming over here.”

  My heart was thumping erratically in my chest, and I could feel every blood vessel pulse in time. It was everything I could do to keep breathing. Hunter had always had that effect on me, but now, it was enhanced. Why? Because I’d never thought I would see him again, and definitely not this soon.

  “Mel,” he said smoothly when he reached me. I did my best to stand up straight, as his eyes dragged over my body, assessing me. “You look good.”

  “What are you doing here, Hunter?” I spat.

  He looked over at Alexa who was still standing there with her mouth hanging open. I didn’t want her to leave, but I’d be damned before I admitted that to him.

  Chapter Two

  “I’ll catch up with you later,” I said to Alexa.

  “Yeah, sure,” she said, her eyes still glued to Hunter. “Uh, don’t be late I guess.”

  I nodded and she left. Once she was out of earshot, I turned sharply back to Hunter. “You have no right to be here,” I snapped.

  He smiled. “It’s good to see you, too.” I felt a quiver from the way his eyes, hotter than hell, landed on my own and drew me in. Old habits die hard.

  "I have an exam," I said, shaking myself free from his thrall. "And, you have to go."

  "I'm not going anywhere," he said, his voice just as deep and melodious as I remembered. And, shit if he wasn't rocking those jeans and that tight tee.

  "Whatever," I said, turning and storming away. I knew he wasn't following me. I could feel his gaze on my back, but I heard no footsteps.

  “I’ll be waiting,” he called after me. He barely had to raise his voice for me to hear it. My ears were so finely tuned to every part of him, even after all these years, that I probably could have picked out his whisper from a cheering crowd.

  I was as conflicted as I was the day the police came for him. I'd thought that, over time, my feelings for him might fade. Apparently, they hadn't. If they had, maybe I could have said something a little snappier, a little more firm, but instead, I had wavered before him as I always did.

  God damn it. I was going to have to get my shit together. My daughter needed me to.

  When I got to the class that our exam was being held in, Alexa smiled and patted the desk next to her. I walked over slowly, hoping that maybe the clock would strike one before I got there, and our invigilator would command us not to talk.

  No such luck.

  "Who was that beefcake?" she asked me quietly when I sat down.

  I pulled out my pens and my student ID from my bag, setting them on the desk.

  "An old friend."

  Alexa snorted, "As if that was an old friend. That was an old boyfriend."

  I shot her a look.

  "What? I've got eyes. I saw how you were looking at each other. I'd say there's some unresolved tension there." Her eyes flashed. “Sexual tension.”

  "One psychology class and you think you're Sigmund bloody Freud," I muttered.

  Alexa sighed dreamily. "Where did you first meet him? A.K.A, where can I find one?"

  I had to laugh at that. "At a bar; of course," I said, "Where all the shady dudes are."

  Alexa turned to face me and waggled her eyebrows. "The only thing shady about him was how he literally blocked the sun, he was so big."

  I shook my head in amusement. "Hon, you have no idea."

  Just then, the invigilator started handing out the exams. Alexa and I wished each other good luck, but then it was down to work.

  Well, sort of.

  Could I be blamed for not being able to fully concentrate on my exam? All the memories that I had tried to suppress after Hunter's incarceration came flooding back to me, his massive hands cradling my face the night before they took him, holding me close. In retrospect, I knew it was because he knew that they were coming for him. At the time though, it had seemed so out of the blue, so gentle. God, for everything we'd been through, I'd go back to that moment a million times if I could.

  But, that was the past.

  I started writing furiously after I realized that I'd spent so much time off in space that I was at risk of running out of it. Even Alexa finished before me, which was highly unusual. She gave me a quizzical look as I left, but I merely shrugged at her.

  Not only was I daydreaming, but I was also stalling. If Hunter said he would be waiting, then he would be waiting. I’d have to face him sooner or later. I just didn’t know what to say.

  Hunter

  I was very good at waiting… for certain people and things, anyway. That's what happens when you're in prison. You wait. And, I would always wait for Melanie.

  It hadn't been quite the reunion I'd been hoping for, but what could I expect? That didn't mean I would back off, though. She might have contempt for me now, but she'd come around. She always did.

  In the meantime, I watched all the college kids walking around; enjoying what I assumed was their last week or so of school before summer break. I smiled at a few of the girls when I caught them looking, but my thoughts never strayed from Melanie. Even though the perky little college co-eds like her blond friend were younger, nobody at this school could ever beat out my Melanie for pure sex appeal.

  She looked exactly the same as I had pictured her for the past three years. And fuck, did she look good.

  After a couple of hours, students began to filter out of the building that I'd watched Melanie disappear into. At first, I thought that she might try to sneak out a back exit, but I knew her. She was a fighter, not a runner. I'd caught her off guard earlier, but she'd be at my throat before she ever ran away from me. Again, at least.

  Just as I expected, sometime later, Melanie walked out of those doors, blinking at the sunlight. When her eyes adjusted and she saw me, she frowned. She began to stride toward me, but a male voice called her name from behind her. I bristled as a guy around her age seemed to pop up out of nowhere. He was average height for a guy, but still, about an inch shorter than her. Still, it pissed me off. I approached them.

  "……. didn't call me," I managed to make out from the conversation. The guy
seemed pretty dejected. What a fucking idiot, as if he had a chance with her.

  "I don't have time for this right now," she said, her eyes darting anxiously to me. "I'll talk to you about it later."

  She turned to walk away, and he grabbed her arm. He hadn't seen me yet. He was about to.

  "Get your fucking hands off of her," I snarled.

  Suddenly noticing I was there, the guy looked up at me in surprise. He immediately released her arm.

  "Do I know you?" he asked.

  "You don't want to," I said lowly. "Now go."

  "I can fight my own battles, Hunter!" Melanie protested. I had to smile at that, even if I ignored it. "If I see you near her again I'll rip your balls off."

  The guy, whoever he was, didn't need much more prompting than that. He tore out of there, leaving Mel and I alone.

  "God damn it, Hunter!" she cried. "What gives you the right?"

  I quirked an eyebrow at her, "What do you think gives me the right? You're mine."

  "Ha!" she exclaimed. "As if I stopped being yours the moment you abandoned me and your daughter so you could go play whipping boy for your best friend, the Russian prince!"

  "You know it wasn't like that," I said lowly. "And, it's not like you didn't benefit from it."

  Her eyes blazed. "Benefited from it? Because they gave me some money to compensate me for you? Like you were some fucking goat that they'd misplaced?" Her nostrils flared. "I don't have time for this. I have to go."

  "I'm coming with you," I stated evenly as she began to turn away.

  She froze and looked up at me. Her chest rose and fell with her angry breathing, but I tried not to let my eyes linger downward. Considering how fantastic her tits looked in her tanktop though, it was no easy task.

  "What makes you think that it's okay for you to come back like this and just impose your presence on me?" she asked. "After all this time? After everything?"

  I could see the hurt in her eyes, and I longed to pull her to me, but I was patient.

  "Because I told you I'd always come back for you," I said. "And, I meant it."

  She laughed grimly. "So, now you're back… and what? You want to tell me you've changed? That you're a better man now?"

  I laughed. "Oh, Mel," I said coolly. "I haven't changed at all. Not a damned bit. And, you wouldn't have me any other way."

  The look in her eyes told me everything I needed to know. It was still there—the love she'd held for me three years ago. It still burned bright in her, untempered by the passing of time. Even now, as angry as she was, it threatened to consume her.

  "I have to go," she said. "I have somewhere to be."

  She turned around, and I easily kept up with her.

  "Going on another shitty date?" I taunted.

  "Going to pick up the daughter you left behind." Her voice was cold and, for a second, she reminded me of Sergei. I wasn't sure why she hated him so much when they had always been so similar. The only real difference was that she actively suppressed her darkness, whereas he happily let it consume him. Madly, more like.

  "I'm coming," I announced.

  "It’s a free country," she said. "But, I hope you brought bus change."

  "You catch the bus?" I asked. It seemed so unlike her.

  She nodded. "Life as a single parent is hard," she said, her voice dripping with malice.

  I put a hand on her arm—gently, not the way that man had. It never took more than a whisper of my touch for her to stop.

  "I've got something better."

  Chapter Three

  Melanie

  "Nice car for an ex-con," I muttered as I slid into the passenger seat of his shiny new Camaro.

  "A gift from a friend," he replied.

  I snorted, a friend; of course. How long had Hunter been out before Sergei was plying him with gifts again? That man was straightforwardly devious.

  I directed Hunter to the daycare, but was otherwise silent. I had to suppress a laugh when we got out of the car, and I watched him approach the front gate, which was painted a vibrant orange. He looked like he'd stepped out of a biker bar and straight into a children's book. The effect was comical.

  Nonetheless, he walked with the same ease and surety into the inner play area as he did everything. I had to give him props for that. I'd never seen that man nervous, never seen him anything but strong and unyielding. He might not fit in with his surroundings, but he'd make his surroundings fit in with him. It was his aura.

  God, it was attractive.

  I dragged my eyes from him to the surrounding area, looking for Emmy in all of the ruckus. She was in the sandbox in the back corner, and I frowned. Always the damn sandbox. She'd be trailing sand around the house for days.

  "Emmy!" I called across the yard.

  Her little, curly, blond head perked up and she ran directly for me, abandoning whatever sand creation she'd been working on. I saw the two band-aids that Joan had stuck onto her knee, and was assured that her wounds were just as non-life threatening as Joan had said.

  "Mommy!" Emmy yelled, running into my arms.

  I picked her up and hugged her, holding her to my chest. She was getting heavy. I wouldn't be able to do that for much longer.

  "Who's that?" she asked, pointing and staring at Hunter in the way kids do. "He's big."

  I laughed. "That is my friend, Hunter, Ems," I said.

  I saw Joan making a beeline for me from the house, and I plopped Emmy onto the ground. "Why don't you go say hi to Hunter while I go talk to Joan, okay?"

  "Okay!"

  I allowed Joan to pull me to the side. She was an older lady, probably in her late forties. Her and her husband ran the daycare, though they hired help during the busier hours of the day. She was constantly concerned about my love life.

  "Who is that?" she asked. Unlike Alexa, she did not seem as enthusiastic about Hunter.

  "It's my ex," I said, looking over at Hunter.

  That was a mistake. My heart immediately melted. He had squatted down face to face with Emmy, and was listening to her chat excitedly about her day. His face was bright and amused, and I could see his love for her written all over it.

  I turned back to Joan who was mid-sentence. "…….expected that from you."

  I blinked at her. "Sorry, could you repeat that?"

  She smiled warmly at me. "I was saying he looks like exactly the opposite of your type, but now, I'm beginning to wonder if he was the one who made guys who look like him not your type."

  I ran a hand through my hair. Joan was always so wise. "I'm not sure what I should do," I said, more quietly. "He just showed up out of nowhere. I can't just let him back in my life."

  Joan's eyes widened. "Absolutely not!" she said. "Nobody's asking you to."

  "He is."

  She chuckled. "I doubt he seriously expects you to just jump back into the grind with him," she said. "Just talk to him. I think you'll regret it if you don't. You don't have to do anything, but at least, you can hash out the problems you guys have."

  I furrowed my brow. "Our problems are so old they're not even relevant anymore. I have a different life now."

  She patted me on the back. "If you didn't still have problems that needed figuring out, you wouldn't be asking me what to do."

  I gave her a sidelong glance, all the while staring at Hunter and Emmy. He was so patient with her, so interested in everything she had to say. It hurt my heart to look at.

  "Time to go!" I announced loudly. "Hop to it, little bunny."

  Emmy enthusiastically began to hop down the pathway to the front gate. Hunter hung back and waited for me.

  "Oh crap," I said, turning back to Joan. "Can I borrow a car seat?"

  Joan's spare car seat, covered in little dinosaurs, looked ridiculous in the back of Sergei's convertible. I still called it Sergei's car, eventhough Hunter said it was a gift. It wasn't Hunter's until he had paid for it, as far as Sergei was concerned. That much I was sure.

  Hunter didn't seem to mind though. He had a lo
ok of mild amusement on his face, as I strapped Emmy in, and then climbed into the front seat, but he didn't say anything.

  "You and I need to have a talk," I said, as he pulled onto the road.

  Hunter nodded, his eyes glued to the road in front of him. "Yeah."

  We said no more, besides me giving him directions to my place. I needed the time and space to think anyway. What could he ever say to make up for what he did, or rather, what he didn't do?

  It made me angry just thinking about it.

  I had thought about it so many times during the years. I'd even written him letters, but I'd torn them all up and thrown them away. I had thought that I would have more time than this. I thought he'd be gone for another five years, at least.

  And yet, here he was, driving me and our daughter to my quaint little home in the suburbs. Palm trees and mountains rolled past the windows, and I pressed my forehead to the glass and watched the world pass by.

  Hunter

  I knew it wasn't a good thing when Melanie was quiet. She was never quiet. It was a trait, I could see that she had passed it on to our daughter. That delighted and amused me.

  Maybe Melanie had turned into a quiet person though. Just because I was the same, didn't mean she hadn't changed. But, I knew her. I knew looking at her that she was still the girl who had come up to blurt out cheesy pick-up lines at me; just turned twenty-one, just starting to embrace her womanhood. One minute, I'd been playing pool, and the next, there was a tall and cheerful looking brunette at my shoulder, asking me if I knew how much a polar bear weighed.

  Chapter Four

  She was still there. Maybe she was a little older and wiser, probably too wise now to approach the biggest guy in the bar looking like she did, but she was still my girl.

  And, I was going to get her back.

  The house we pulled up to was small, but fairly new looking.

  "Nice place," I commented.

  She turned around to unstrap Emmy. "It's a rental."