“I know, but I don’t want to prolong this and make it harder for you down the road. I’ll never want kids.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“It’s not just about children.” I needed her to understand. “Like I said, you’re a great girl, but I just don’t see the two of us having a future together. We’re too different.” I reached across the table and covered her hand with mine, hoping that she didn’t force me to say more. I didn’t want to go as far as telling her I didn’t feel a strong connection.
She nodded slowly. “I see.” Then I saw it—the slightest trembling of her lips. I immediately looked at her eyes, and the shimmer of tears gathering in them gave me a sinking feeling deep in my chest. Damn, don’t cry. Be pissed or indifferent, but please don’t cry.
She blinked, the tears escaping over her lower lashes. Discreetly, she tried to wipe them away.
“Don’t take it personally, Rachel. You’re going to find the right guy for you.”
A tiny grunt of disbelief escaped her glossy lips. “That’s the part that sucks. I thought you could be him.”
I squeezed her hand, wishing this conversation was over. “I’m flattered.”
She pursed her lips and slid her hand out from beneath mine as she stood. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go now.”
“Let me walk you to your car.” I started to stand, but she held her palm out to stop me. “I really just want to be alone.”
I eased back into my chair and nodded in understanding. “Bye, Rachel.”
She flashed me a sad smile and walked away, her hips swaying in her red fitted skirt as her high heels moved silently across the carpet.
Turning my attention back to the table, I flipped open the check holder to see the total of the bill. After counting out the correct amount along with a generous tip, I emptied my wineglass and headed toward my car.
That went worse than expected.
My phone rang as I exited the restaurant, and I quickly fished it from my pocket, fully expecting it to be Rachel.
Instead, it was a number that hadn’t been programmed into my phone, a number that I didn’t recognize. I answered, “Hello.”
Nothing.
“Hello,” I repeated, wondering if someone had dialed the wrong number.
I heard sniffling.
Had Rachel called me from another phone?
“Rachel?”
The sniffling got louder. “Max?”
My heart dropped to my feet, the voice penetrating a sweet spot somewhere inside me before I glazed it over with hardness once again. Only one woman would call me Max, and I had told her I never wanted to speak to her again.
In the last seven years, I had seen her one time when she showed up at my parents’ house during a family dinner a few months ago. Only she hadn’t come to see me. She had come to see Cade.
“I think you dialed the wrong number.” I made it clear to Jessica seven years ago that I had nothing to say to her. Ever.
As I lowered the phone from my ear with every intention of ending the call, I heard her plead, “Max, please…please don’t hang up.”
Something about the vulnerability in her voice gave me pause, and I was frustrated that I allowed it to make me waver. My finger hovered over the bright red button that would disconnect us.
“Max, I’m begging you. I don’t have much time. Please hear me out.”
I could hear her desperation, and even though my head demanded that I hang up and refuse to allow her tears to suck me in, there was just enough respect for the love we once shared to make me put the phone back to my ear. “Why the hell are you calling me, Jess?”
“I tried to call Cade and Seren, but neither of them answered.”
“They’re out of town. Leave them a message or call them back in a few days.”
“I can’t wait that long.” The words quickly spewed from her mouth as if she were afraid that if she didn’t speak rapidly, I wouldn’t give her the chance to finish. And I wouldn’t deny that it wasn’t far from the truth. “I’m not asking this for me. I’m asking for my baby, for Joseph. I have no one else to call, and I need someone to pick him up.”
“I don’t do kids, Jess.”
“I know.” A muffled sob escaped her. “It’s just that if I can’t find someone to pick him up, they’re going to call CPS.”
“Who’s going to call CPS?”
She hesitated, my question hanging in the air as she cried.
“The police,” she answered, her voice shaking. “I…I’m being arrested.”
“Not my problem, Jess.” I knew I was being cold, but I was also being honest. Jessica had stopped being my problem when I found out that as soon as we had broken up, she had rushed into the arms of my brother.
“Please! If it were just me, I wouldn’t have called, but please don’t let them send my baby to total strangers.”
“I hate to break it to you, Jess, but as far as your kid’s concerned, I am a total stranger.”
“But you’re not to me. Please, I have no one else. If you don’t get here soon, they’ll turn him over.” She broke into full-blown ugly-crying, and I could picture the exact curve of her mouth as it bent into a frown, the crease between her brows, her blue eyes glittering with tears.
Damn, I wished Cade wasn’t out of town. Seren would be the perfect person to deal with this fiasco.
I stuffed two fingers in my collar, thinking perhaps I’d tied my tie a little too tight, and blew out a breath. “Fine. Where do I need to go?”
“Thank you,” she whispered. I heard her talking to someone else before she came back on the line and gave me the address. “Please hurry.”
Hanging up, I thought about what a hell of an evening it was turning out to be. I’d dealt with two weeping women in a matter of minutes, and I was actually on my way to pick up a baby. If someone had told me twenty-four hours ago that this was my future, I would have placed a hefty wager that said otherwise.
I hurriedly plugged the address in my phone and raced toward the Kentucky border, wondering how the hell it worked out that I was the only person Jessica could call. I’d heard about the new trend of families searching for male nannies or mannies for their sons, but if one looked at my resume, the word, manny, was nowhere to be found. Yet here I was driving like a bat out of hell to pick up a tiny human who couldn’t speak and, even worse, had to relieve himself in a diaper.
What was I going to do with a baby?
I drove as quickly as I dared, though I had no idea why. Any love that I had once felt for Jessica died the day she turned to my brother. In fact, that same day had all but destroyed my relationship with Cade. We’d only recently returned to the brotherhood we once had, and the last thing I wanted was for Jessica to somehow destroy it all over again. I reasoned that she was no longer a threat. Cade was now married to Seren, and Cade and Seren were both friends with Jessica. I didn’t see how Jess could pose a threat now, but at the same time, women always had a way of coming between Cade and me.
My thoughts turned to the first time she and I had made love. I’d marveled at her body, how incredibly beautiful she was. I’d had no patience for taking it slow. With our raging hormones and our need to be together, everything had happened quickly, and I’d taken her fast and hard. I could still picture the smile on her face as I collapsed beside her, both of us breathing heavily, and I could still hear the first words she’d whispered as she placed her palm on my cheek, “Pax to the max, baby.”
Damn, that girl had made me feel like a king, even though looking back, I’d known virtually nothing about how to pleasure a woman.
She’d called me Max ever since that day, mostly when it was just the two of us. And I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that hearing her call me that affected me, even now.
I drove faster, mostly because the memories of her were making me uncomfortable. It had nothing to do with the plea in her voice. Not a damn thing.
Jessica lived in a tiny town in Kentucky not far fro
m the Tennessee border. When I pulled into the parking lot of a small drugstore, I scanned it, searching for her.
A police car was parked near the entrance, and I parked in an empty space not far away. I got out of my car and walked toward the cruiser. It was running, most likely so the air conditioner could relieve him from the scorching August heat, and I could see him behind the wheel. As I got closer, I spotted Jessica in the back seat, a baby in her lap.
She spoke to the policeman, and his head snapped up as he looked at me.
I paused as he opened the door. “Paxton?”
“Yes, sir.”
He got out of the car and motioned me over to the covered walkway along the front of the drugstore. Once there, he opened the back seat and motioned for Jess to get out of the car.
“Ms. Beacham says she has a child’s seat in her car.”
Jessica scooted out of the back seat, shifting her baby to her hip as she stood. A voice came over the officer’s radio, and he took a couple of steps away from us as he responded.
“What happened to you?” I asked, unable to tear my gaze away from her face. “You look like hell.” She was wearing a pair of yoga pants, a wrinkled oversized tee dotted with wet spots, and a pair of flip-flops. Her hair was pulled into a messy ponytail at the base of her neck, and her eyes were red and puffy from crying.
She tucked the unkempt strands of hair that had come loose from her ponytail behind her ear, her eyes raking the length of me. “Kinda fitting, don’t you think? Since the devil himself is standing in front of me.”
“Hey, you called me, remember?”
Pursing her lips together, she nodded. “Thanks for coming, Paxton.”
She looked down the length of her body as she shifted the baby higher on her hip. “Sorry if I don’t meet your dress requirements, but Joseph hasn’t slept well in days. He’s been sick, and I’m tired, and the last thing I need right now is for you to pass judgment on me.”
“I wasn’t passing judgment—merely making an observation.”
The baby coughed, slobbering as he tried to chew on his fist.
“You have to promise me you’ll take good care of him.” Tears welled in her eyes as she hugged her baby and kissed his temple. “Mommy will get you as soon as she can,” she cooed to him.
I glanced at the cop who was now in discussions with an employee from the drugstore, a slender, elderly man with a balding head dressed in a button-up and slacks. From the look of his clothing, he was most likely a manager or maybe the owner. His name tag read Frank.
“Promise me, Paxton,” Jess said again.
“You know I know nothing about kids, right?” I asked, thinking she must be desperate if she wanted me to actually take her child.
“He has formula and baby food in his diaper bag. All you have to do is feed him and change his diaper until I can get out of jail.”
“Why are you being arrested?”
She pressed her lips together.
“Why, Jess?” I prompted.
“Shoplifting.”
“Why in the hell would you steal something? Why didn’t you think about the baby before you did something so asinine?”
“I don’t need this right now,” she spat out between clenched teeth. “The only thing I need from you is for you to take care of Joseph until I can get out of jail. He needs some medicine for his fever,” she said, handing me a scrap of paper with the name and dosage of the medicine. “Do you think you could buy some for him?”
I stared at the paper in disbelief. She really wanted me to do this.
“Please,” she pleaded.
Damn, what choice did I have? I nodded.
“And make sure you give him that exact dosage,” she said, pointing at the line where she had written it down.
“All right.” I shoved the piece of paper in my pocket as she handed me the keys to her car.
“That’s my car over there.” She pointed to an older model silver Ford that sported numerous dents. “The car seat’s in the back.”
I took the keys from her. “When do you expect to get out of jail?”
She looked down, licking her lips. “He said I could post bail after I’m processed.”
“Hallelujah,” I whispered. “How long will that take?”
“He said if I couldn’t afford bail, I could talk to the judge on Monday about lowering it.”
“Monday! You do know this is Friday, right?”
“There’s nothing I can do about it, Pax.” Exhaling loudly, she glanced at the cop as she lowered her voice, “Do you really think you would be my first choice of people to take care of my baby?”
“I would certainly hope not.”
“Exactly.” She pushed loose tendrils of hair away from her face. “If you’ll just do this for me, I’ll never ask you for anything again.”
“How much is your bail?”
“I don’t know yet, but no matter how much it is, it’s more than I have. So there’s nothing for me to do but wait until Monday.”
Joseph coughed again, and Jessica rubbed his back in an attempt to soothe him.
“Okay, folks,” the officer said, approaching us. “Let’s get this show on the road. I’ve dallied too long already.”
“I’ll get the car seat.”
I strode to her car and opened the back door, paying careful attention to the way the seat was fastened, so that I could replicate the process in my own car. Once I had secured it in my back seat, I rejoined them.
“Where are you taking her?” I asked the officer.
He pointed down the street. “The jail is a couple of miles that way on the right.”
“How long will it take them to process her?”
He shrugged, his badge catching the late afternoon sun. “Depends on how busy they are. A few hours. She’ll call you when she’s ready to be bailed out.”
“I’m not asking you to bail me out,” Jessica informed me.
“I’d rather bail you out than babysit all weekend unless you have a better idea.”
She remained silent.
“Call me,” I instructed.
Jessica handed Joseph to me. “Don’t forget about the medicine, and get some baby nail clippers and clip his nails so he doesn’t hurt himself. I’ll pay you back as soon as I can.”
The officer removed his handcuffs from his belt and walked toward her. She put her hands behind her back without him having to ask, and he ratcheted them around her wrists. When she glanced back at me, I could see the tears streaming down her face in rivulets. She mouthed the words thank you.
I looked at Joseph, half expecting him to burst into tears, but he didn’t. He smiled at me and reached for my face. Apparently fascinated with the stubble on my jaw, he continuously ran his soft hand along my cheek.
The officer closed the back door, walked around the car, and slid in the driver’s seat. Joseph and I watched as the cruiser pulled away and exited the parking lot.
I frowned. “Well, now what?” I asked him, and his eyes widened in response as he coughed, again.
Medicine and nail clippers. Since I was standing in the parking lot of a drugstore, I carried Joseph inside and hunted down the medicine aisle. I took the crumpled note out of my pocket and began the search for his medicine.
“Holy shit,” I grumbled. Dozens of boxes lined the shelves in an assortment of brands and colors. Joseph grabbed my lip and pulled as I plucked one from the shelf and compared the label to her note. The one I had was orange flavored, and she’d written down grape. I had no idea if that really made a difference, but I placed the box back on the shelf and grabbed the grape flavor, which was right beside it.
“I like grape flavored, too,” I told Joseph, “although I usually like mine in the form of wine.”
He smiled his approval as he reached for my face again, his nails scratching me. “Nail clippers.” I walked along the main aisle until I saw the sign hanging from the ceiling that indicated the aisle with the baby products. There were two choices, and I
didn’t know the first thing about how to tell which was better. After a silent game of Eeny, many, miny, moe, I snatched one off the shelf and headed toward the cash register.
“He’s cute,” the cashier said as she scanned the medicine. She was young, probably still in high school.
“Thank you,” I said, having no desire to participate in small talk.
“He looks just like you.” She blew a bubble as she scanned the clippers. It popped, and she worked her lips until the gum was back in her mouth. “I can tell you’re a good daddy.” She told me the total and bagged the items. “Not many daddies come in here to buy their babies medicine. It’s usually the mommas.”
I mustered a smile and handed her the cash. Talking about babies made me squirm. I just wanted her to check me out, so I could get the hell out of there.
She gave me the change and smiled. “Thank you. Come back and see us.” She picked the bag up and handed it to me.
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. I hope your baby gets better.”
As if on cue, Joseph sputtered. I looked at the girl, nodded, and headed to my car.
With all his wiggling, it took me twenty minutes to strap him in. Once I’d finally accomplished it, his face crumpled and he screamed bloody murder, which ended in a coughing spell.
Grabbing a rattle from his diaper bag, I shook it in his face, and he promptly grabbed it and hurled it across my car. It landed in the floorboard with a violent clashing noise.
“Well, okay then.”
He looked at me as tears streamed from the corner of his eyes, his mouth open as he emitted a piercing scream.
“Shh,” I said softly, though I doubted he could hear me over his own vocal cords. “Maybe Mommy will call us soon.” Damn, I hoped so. I had no idea what to do with a squalling baby.
Searching through his diaper bag, I found a bottle. I offered it to him, but he turned his head as he waved his arms in anger.
“It’s okay, Joseph. We’re going to get your mommy back.”
I opened the medicine, read the directions, and measured out the correct dosage in the syringe. Joseph had calmed down, and I squirted a little bit on his tongue. Noticing that something was different, he began working his mouth. Once he had swallowed that, I gave him the rest, and again he began smacking his lips while sticking his fingers in his mouth. I grabbed his hand. “Swallow the medicine first,” I said. Once it was down, I released his hand, and he tuned up to cry.
Betrayed (Whiskey Nights #4) Page 2
