by Melissa Kate
Brielle shrugged. “How does someone forget about their child? But, I wouldn’t put it past him. I was just so shocked, you know, he was the last person I was expecting to walk through those doors. I mean, why would he be looking to buy in Florida?”
“Why do most people, Bree? It’s a beautiful place and the ocean is practically everywhere. And maybe he lives here anyway and he’s just looking to jump ship, so to speak.”
Brielle thought this over. None of this sat well with her. If he did live in Florida and was just moving house, how could he not have been curious to see his son, even one time? She tried not to over analyze Nathan Wolfe. He was one of a kind. She didn’t want to deal with him. If he opted to use their agency to view other houses, then she would make sure that she was not the agent on the job.
She sat at Emma’s kitchen counter and watched Noah in the living room, completely absorbed in his games. Tired and frustrated, she bent her head and massaged her temples, trying to ease the brain cramp that was seizing her mind.
“I need a night out,” she said resignedly. “I need a night to let loose and have fun and forget all the baby-daddy drama that once was.”
“The last time you did that you ended up pregnant,” Emma reminded her, handing over a glass of water and an Advil. A great friend indeed.
“Touche.” She ingested the painkiller and waited for it to kick in.
“You need to get laid Bree. That will loosen out some of your tension.”
“As you clearly stated, me and sex do not a good combination make.”
Emma waved her away, “It’s a matter of semantics. You just have to be safe.”
Brielle rolled her eyes. “Let’s drop the topic, ok? I have no potential suitors and the one time I had casual sex turned out to be an unpleasant experience, so I’m not lining up to try that again.”
“Do you want a clown for Noah’s birthday,” Emma said, tactfully changing the subject.
“Would you want one?” Brielle answered pointedly. “Clowns freak people out. I don’t want to traumatize my child.”
“I hear that. Is everything else sorted then?”
“Yep, is Matt coming,” Brielle asked, referring to Emma’s brother.
“Yes, he will be there bright and early to help you set up.”
“Great. I can’t wait. This is going to be Noah’s best birthday yet.”
The next open house that Brielle opted to have was on a school night and she was forced to take Noah with her as she had nobody responsible to watch him.
“Noah,” she called as he wandered the large home. “I need you to be on your best behavior tonight, ok kiddo? Mommy needs this commission if you want to have an awesome birthday party.”
He waltzed into the room like a kid in a candy store. “Sure, Momma.”
“Here,” she said, handing him a cheesy snack. “Now, don’t touch everything afterward, ok?”
He nodded and was again whizzing in and out of the grand rooms.
Her first guests were a young couple who couldn’t keep their hands off each other. They weren’t overly sensuous but soft touches and lingering looks that spoke volumes of the passion between them.
“You both look very happy,” Brielle commented as she led them into the large kitchen.
“I’m just finalizing my divorce,” Paul mentioned as his girlfriend walked into the spacious room, running her fingers along the dark wooden cupboards. “Claudette came into my life and saved me from what could have been a terrible situation and now I’m looking for a new start,” he explained.
“Well, this would be a perfect home for new beginnings,” Brielle beamed at them both. She could see these two actually being happy here and immediately put them on her mental pre-approved list.
They discussed financials and Brielle was hopeful when their interest didn’t drop at the mention of the cost and the value of the upkeep. They exchanged details and she was looking forward to them being potential buyers.
An hour had passed after the couple left and she started to feel resigned. Nobody else was going to come by tonight. She decided to enjoy a few moments in the majestic home before she packed up for the night. She could hear Noah playing upstairs in one of the bedrooms so she slipped off her heels, hiked up her skirt and sat at the pool edge, dipping her feet into the cool water. Aaaah, what bliss after a long day at work. Maybe her next home could have a pool, and then she could teach Noah to swim.
Leaning back on her elbows, she let her head tilt back, her face toward the full moon light. She sighed aloud at the moment of pure tranquillity—a suspended moment in time.
“If the pool has that effect, then I need to buy the house right now,” said a sexy male voice behind her.
Brielle turned with a start and noticed Nate standing in the open veranda, hands in his pockets and a grin on his face. Her nipples instantly hardened. She scrambled to get out of the pool and with her legs still dripping with the water, pulled down the hem of her pencil skirt.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded. “Stalking me now?”
His smile faded. She noticed he was alone tonight. “Don’t flatter yourself, Sweetheart. I’m here for the house. It’s all about the house.”
“I told you it’s practically sold,” she fibbed.
“Yes, I remember you saying that. And after I went home to mend my broken heart from the disappointment, I called the agency to enquire about other listings and low and behold, a lovely lady named Martha told me that she had the perfect spot for me, right here in Brentwood Hills.”
“Yeah, well it almost was,” she grumbled.
“Why are you so disagreeable with me, Brielle?” he asked suddenly. “The woman I remember in Brazil was flighty and friendly and fun.”
“Well life isn’t always flighty and friendly and fun, Nate,” she countered. “Maybe things in Brazil weren’t as scintillating as you remember.”
“Is that what this is about? You’re upset about all those years ago? I thought we agreed it would be just a vacation fling, no strings attached. If I had known you wanted more and would be blowing this so out of proportion, then I would have stayed away.”
“Well you did stay away, for five years.”
“What is this? Were you expecting a commitment? Brielle, I made my intentions very clear and you chose to be with me for the short time we had. I barely even knew you.”
At that moment, Noah chose to hurtle outside between the adults, cutting short the words she had waited five years to deliver to him. To finally be able to pour out her hurt and anger that he had betrayed their child.
“Momma,” he shouted. “Can we go home now, please?” he tugged on her arm and her panic began to rise. What would Nate say when he saw his son? Would he react and beg to be a part of his life? From the reaction he just had, she doubted it and the pending disappointment made her chest constrict. How would she explain this to her innocent unsuspecting Noah?
She glanced up at Nate and merely saw a hint of curiosity.
“Noah, mommy is having an adult conversation. Can you please go and wait inside and I will be there in just a minute?”
Noah turned to face the man and his eyes lit up. “Woweeee, it’s Mr. Wolfe, Mom!” He then proceeded to tilt his head back and howl into the night in mimicry of all the F1 Wolfe fans.
Nate actually chuckled, despite the tension of a few seconds ago.
“Can you sign my backpack?” Noah asked eagerly.
“Sure, buddy.”
He ran back into the house to find his backpack.
“I didn’t know you were married,” he commented to Brielle.
“I’m not.”
Nate was so intrigued by the blonde standing before him, barefoot and dripping from the knees down.
“Single mom?”
She just stared at him pointedly.
What
was he missing? He just could not understand why this woman was throwing off volts of bitchitude his way. Was she so hung up that he hadn’t called after their few days in Brazil together? She looked steady on the outside but on the inside, she was all shades of crazy.
The little boy came running back outside with his small backpack. Nate bent down and met the kid’s excited green gaze. His eyes captured Nate in a way he could not quite place. There was hero worship in its purest form if he ever saw it. But there was something more in his face. He couldn’t quite place it but it was oddly familiar.
“Are you gonna buy this house, Mr. Wolfe?” he asked, out of breath and smiling with his small white teeth.
“I’m hoping to, but your mom here doesn’t want to sell to me.”
He whipped around to face Brielle.
“Momma! Please let Mr. Wolfe buy the house. Then, I can tell all my friends that I’ve been to his house. Man o man, they will be so jealous.”
His dark brown hair fell over his forehead and again that spark of familiarity. Where had he seen him before?
“Have you ever been to one of the races?”
He shook his head. “Momma says we can never afford those high priced luxuries.”
“Noah, that’s enough now. Let Mr. Wolfe be on his way,” she said, coming toward them.
“Thanks, Mr. Wolfe,” he said to Nate after he had returned the signed backpack. “I learnt that you won your first championship the very same year I was born so I figure we’re like linked, you know.”
Noah was a little anxious. “How old are you Noah?”
“I’m gonna be five next week,” he smiled again, his wide toothy grin.
Nate did the math in his head and looked sharply at Brielle. The answer was written all over her face.”
“Is this my-“
“Noah,” she interrupted him. “Can you please go wait inside, now?”
“Ok, Momma.”
She bent down and they shared a kiss on each cheek before nuzzling their noses together. “I’ll be right in.”
He nodded and whizzed into the house, happy to have Nate’s signature on his backpack.
“Is Noah my child?” he hissed, the anxiety starting to bubble over within him.
She nodded, an odd look on her face.
Nate felt sick. How had he become a father? How the hell had he missed this?
“Did you do this on purpose?” he accused her, his thoughts racing over each other. “You lied about being on contraception. You did this to trap me.”
She looked like he’d slapped her. “You self-righteous, egotistical moron! Do you think yourself so important that I would choose you of all the sperm in the world to impregnate the egg of my child? What makes you so special, Nate Wolfe? What kind of heifer do you take me for that I would need to get myself pregnant to keep a man? And a man like you to boot!”
Before he could react, she picked up her shoes and stalked off back into the house.
Nate couldn’t bring himself to follow her. He felt like he’d been drop-kicked in the ‘nads.
His head spun and then it clicked. The reason why he looked so familiar. He was the spitting imagine of Nate as a child. It was like looking into a mirror, twenty-five years ago.
He sat hard on the lawn chair beside him. How had this happened? Was Brielle so conniving to trap him into this? Was it even true? Was Noah his child? It had to be, the resemblance was uncanny. Their eyes were the exact same shade of jade-green.
The anxiety started to consume him, the same painful anxiety that gnawed at him when his mother was dying. The same anxiety he felt when he had to identify his father’s alcohol-ravaged body in the morgue. He could not be a father. He was incapable. Look at what a shitty example he had to live up to. How could she do this to him?
He needed to speak to Brielle again.
But first, he needed a shot of something strong to calm his nerves.
CHAPTER 8
TWO DAYS LATER NATE WAS nursing a hangover of biblical proportions. He had thought of nothing but those green eyes and small choppy teeth for the last forty-eight hours and knew that no matter what he tried, he was sure to fuck up this kid’s life. Noah hadn’t seemed to recognize him the night they’d met. Sure, he had known he was Nathan Wolfe, racecar driver but he didn’t know him as… dad. Every time he thought of that word since he had met the kid, he’d taken a drink and he had easily finished off two bottles of whiskey all on his own, trying to drown out the reality.
He needed to talk to Brielle. Figure out what the hell had happened.
But first he needed to shower, it was the least he could do to get the stink off him.
He rolled over in his bed and attempted to get to his feet but fell flat on his face on the hard floor. Yup, he was drunk. Drunker than he’d ever been in his life.
He reached for his cell phone and dialed Luca’s number. Thank God it was pre-programmed or he would never be able to dial it.
“Yo, what’s up?” he answered jovially.
“Do you have to shout?” Nate snapped, leaning himself against the side of his bed
Luca responded with a hearty laugh. “Dude, are you hungover?”
Nate groaned. “You know how people say the best way to cure a hangover is to stay drunk?”
“Yeah.”
“They lied, it makes it worse.”
“Who were you partying with that got you so shit-faced?”
“Party of one.”
“Drinking alone?” Luca’s tone turned sombre. “What happened?”
“I need coffee. Black. Extra strong before I can even think about it again.”
“I’ll be there in a few.”
In the thirty minutes it took Luca to get to Nate’s penthouse, he had managed to shower and at least dress himself without heaving. His hair still wet when he opened the door to see Luca before him, double-fisting the coffee. He took both cups and downed one in almost a single gulp.
“You look like shit,” Luca commented, sliding up onto a bar stool and leaning his elbows against the wooden bar behind him.
“Thanks for stating the obvious.”
“So, what happened?”
Nate launched into the whole sordid story and filled Luca in. If there was one person in the world who knew all of Nate, it was Luca.
“Wow. A kid?”
“I’m going to request a DNA test to prove it but the resemblance is there. He could have passed as a five-year-old me.”
Luca nodded. “So, where do you go from here?”
“I don’t know what I should do. I’m no doubt going to be a piss poor excuse for a father.”
“Just because your dad was, doesn’t mean you will too.”
“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, Luca. Case in point. I got shitty news and what’s the first thing I do? I hit the bottle. Plus, I’m on the road or in the air most of my life, what kind of future is that to offer a child?”
He walked around his living room, feeling like a caged animal. “I think maybe it’s best for the kid if I forget he even existed.”
Luca hopped off his perch and walked around the sofa. “I think you sober up and then speak to Brielle before you make any decisions. You don’t even know what the kid knows about you.”
Nate weighed this in his head. He knew he should just walk away now. Let Brielle hate him and at least have a clean slate away from the kid but he found himself reluctantly agreeing.
He had found her number listed in the directory and tried her office numerous times but she was always unavailable or in a meeting. But, he knew better, she was avoiding him.
It was a few days before Noah’s birthday and Brielle was flustered. She had a million things still to do on top of trying to sell the Brentwood Hills house and trying to avoid Nate. He was becoming a little too real for her liking. What i
f he actually wanted to be a part of Noah’s life? What would she do then? She was so protective of Noah. Could she just let another person into his life? Could she share him after all these years of it being just the two of them? How would Noah manage the change?
Parking her little red Mazda in front of her driveway, she walked around to get the big box out of the back. It wasn’t too heavy but its sheer size had her doubling back, trying to keep her balance. She managed to get the box out and close the car door before her arms were suddenly light and she realized that someone had taken the load from her.
“Thank you,” she managed before she saw the face of her helper. She didn’t want to admit it but even in the rays of the hot sun, with his cheeks showing what looked like two-day old stubble, he still looked magazine worthy. His sexy green eyes were covered by mirrored aviators but she had no doubt that they too would add to the allure that was Nate Wolfe. “Oh.”
“Yeah, I get that a lot around you.”
“How did you find me?”
“You’re listed. Not that difficult to track.” His arms bunched in his t-shirt and she got to appreciate the bulge of his unbelievable biceps.
She rolled her eyes and opened her front door, making way for him to walk through and put the big box on her small kitchen counter.
“Look, I’m really busy Nate. Is there something you want?”
“You having a party?” he asked, changing the subject.
“Yes,” she said cautiously. “It’s Noah’s birthday tomorrow.
He’d removed his sunglasses and she saw an odd expression pass across his glassy green eyes. He seemed off his game today. Not his usual suave self.
“You ok?” she asked
“Fine,” he answered, looking around the small home. “Where’s Noah?”
“He’s next door, playing with the neighbor’s kids.”
He nodded, looking scattered. After a long silence he finally managed, “How did he happen? I mean, you said you had contraceptives.
She was so angry that he was at this again. After all the accusations he threw at her the other night, he’d tracked her down to make her feel more psychotic. She took a deep breath and tried to match his even, calm tone. “The IUD shifted somehow. The odds of becoming pregnant within the first year of insertion are about two out of a thousand. It was pure chance to be honest.” She pulled some juice out of the fridge and poured two glasses, handing him one before sitting down at the counter.
