30
Kira: Now or Never
Sand, sea, and a piña colada make everything right with the world. In most cases. But my drink is non-alcoholic, and try as I might, I can’t manage to even pretend that everything is okay.
I dig my toes into the sand determinedly and reach for my book. It’s a thriller whose back cover is filled with breathless reviews, but I know I won’t be able to focus on it. I came here to be alone and think, but I quickly realized the problem is that I can’t stop thinking. And no matter how much thinking I do, I can’t find solutions.
One thing I decide — which was never really in question — is that of course I’ll tell Hale and Pierce that I’m pregnant. They deserve to know.
I’ll also tell them that they have no obligation to me. I don’t want them to think I’m pressuring them. I don’t need anything from them.
Beyond that … work, money, baby … I haven’t figured any of that out yet.
The waiter comes by and I order another fruity drink. I give up on the book, recline my chair and close my eyes. Barely a minute passes and I hear a man clearing his throat. The waiter is fast.
“Can you put it on my tab, pl—”
“Can you tell me who approved your request for time off?” Hale says.
“And your clothing …” Pierce, himself dressed in swim trunks and flip flops, looks me up and down. “It certainly doesn’t adhere to the company dress code.”
“What are you …?” I scramble to sit upright, pushing my sunglasses up on the top of my head as I go, unable to believe what I’m seeing.
If I were hallucinating from the sun, these men are exactly the vision I’d want to have. Pierce’s skin is pale in his swim attire, but his washboard abs and broad chest more than make up for it. Hale’s wearing an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt and I’m hypnotized for a moment by a bead of sweat dripping just below his navel.
“What are we doing here?” Hale says. “The question is, what are you doing here?” They pull lounge chairs over, but it’s clear they’re not intending to lounge. They sit on the edge of their seats, focused on getting answers.
“I … I needed some time away,” I say. “I know I shouldn’t have left so abruptly, but my work is covered. No pending projects or anything. I made arrangements with Lucy …” Lucy. They must know that, or they wouldn’t have known where to find me.
“We don’t give a shit about your workload. We’re worried about you,” Pierce says.
I open my mouth to speak, but I don’t know what to say. I still can’t believe they’re really here. They knew I was hurting, and they came after me. I’m so touched by their concern that I could cry.
“I talked to your father,” Hale says, his eyes going soft, “and I have some idea of why you left.”
Pierce speaks up. “I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but your father can be a real asshole.”
I laugh a little. “I don’t mind at all.”
“He backed out on your loan agreement, didn’t he?” Hale asks.
“Yeah.”
“You can still figure something out, though. You have other options,” Pierce says.
The waiter returns with my drink, sets it on the table, and looks to Hale and Pierce. “Can I bring you anything?” he asks.
“When in Rome,” Hale says with a smile and a shrug, looking at my umbrella-decorated drink. “I’ll have what she’s having.”
“Very well. Would you like it without alcohol, as well?”
“Not drinking, Kira?” Hale says. “What kind of vacation is this?”
“Bring them stiff drinks,” I tell the waiter. “Doubles.”
Hale arches an eyebrow.
“What’s going on?” Pierce asks as the waiter shuffles off in the sand.
It’s now or never. Where better to break terrible news than in gorgeous surroundings?
“My dad wasn’t the only reason I left. Or even the main reason,” I say. I reach for my drink, wishing like hell I could have alcohol right now. “I was on the pill … but evidently it didn’t work.”
“Damnit!” Pierce erupts, and I flinch. I knew he wouldn’t be happy, but fuck. I glare at him, ready to go off on him for getting mad about something that was an accident, when he looks up, his eyes pained. “I’m so sorry, Kira. It’s my fault for being so damn irresponsible!”
“Are you okay? How are you feeling?” Hale asks, the concern in his eyes melting something inside me.
“Yes, how are you?” Pierce says, and he must see a hurt look on my face because he immediately apologizes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell. It’s just a shock.”
“Yes, it’s definitely a surprise,” I say. “And it’s not your fault. I mean, it’s all of our faults, and I was on the pill, but apparently things can happen.”
“Of course they can,” Pierce says.
We’re all silent for a long moment. The waiter brings their order and Hale gives him a few bills. Hale and Pierce both take big swigs, and I almost giggle at the sight of these two masculine men drinking frothy tropical drinks.
“What would you like to do?” Hale asks.
“About the baby?” When he nods, I say, “I don’t know. I mean, I guess I do know. I plan to have it. But I don’t need anything from either of you.”
“Is that right?” Pierce says. “What if we need something from you?”
31
Pierce: A Little Late to Be Asking
Kira’s looking at me with the strangest mix of defiance and confusion on her face. I want to take her in my arms and kiss her, but I know we need to work things out.
“What does that mean?” she asks.
“You’re acting like you assume we have no interest in the baby. Or in you, for that matter,” I say.
She shrugs, trying to appear unconcerned, but her face gives her away. There’s so much vulnerability in her big eyes, that I don’t wait. I go down on my knees next to her lounge chair and pull her to me, wrapping my arms around her in a hug, and then, taking her head in my hands, I kiss her.
Her lips are soft and she tastes of coconut. She may be carrying my child, I think, as I deepen our kiss. Her eyes sparkle with unshed tears when I release her.
Hale is already at the other side of her chair and he takes her in his arms next, kissing her as passionately as I’ve just done. I’m surprised to find that even with the prospect of her making me a father, I still feel no jealousy when Hale is with her. There were pangs of resentment early on, but once we were all together, my jealousy went away.
Coming out of the kiss with Hale, Kira’s eyes dart around the beach. “Maybe we should go to my room,” she says.
“Can’t resist us, can you?” Hale says, smirking at her.
“No, yes, I mean … what if people are watching?”
“I always thought Pierce was a worrier, but I’m starting to think you’re worse,” Hale says, smiling to soften his words. He looks around us. “Who cares what we’re up to? It’s not like we’re having sex on the beach … unless you want to, that is.” He raises a brow suggestively and Kira finally laughs.
“You’re not alone,” I tell her, trailing my fingers over her leg, watching goosebumps rise in their path. “We’ll support you, whatever you want to do.”
“We barely know each other,” she says.
“I know that you’re smart and successful and caring,” I say, looking into her eyes. “I know that you challenge me right out of my comfort zone, and I know we fit together really, really well.”
Her eyes soften as she smiles tentatively.
“And I know you make me want things I didn’t used to want,” Hale says, “like cuddling and commitment.”
“You want commitment?” Kira says, surprised.
“I’ve never said this before, but yes, I am definitely open to it … with you.”
Her eyes widen and she looks between us. “But we don’t even know whose baby this is …”
“It could be either of ours,” I say. I glance at Hale. �
��I’m okay with not knowing.”
“I’m okay with that, too,” he says. “The important thing is that you and the baby are okay.”
She’s silent for several moments, but clearly thinking things over. Finally, she says, “So what do we do, all live together as one happy family?”
“That’s definitely an option,” Hale says. “We realize it’s early days, and the pregnancy adds a new dimension, but Pierce and I were talking about things on the way down. We’d like to be more to you. We’d like to see where things can go.”
“There’s something about you that makes us better men,” I say. “The three of us have something special going on and we’d be fools to let it go.”
Some of those welling tears slip from Kira’s eyes, and I reach out to collect them with my thumb.
“So what do you say, Ms. Walker. Will you be our baby mama?” Hale, down on one knee, grabs her hand as if proposing.
She laughs again. “It’s a little late to be asking, isn’t it?”
“So we’ve done things out of order,” I say, taking her other hand. “That doesn’t mean it can’t all turn out right in the end.”
32
Three Years Later
Kira
“Your two o’clock is here, Ms. Walker.” Lucy’s voice is teasing. She sounds like my secretary, but she’s actually our office manager and so much more.
“I’ll come back by before I leave,” she says. At the door, she says hello to Hale and gives Bethany a kiss on the cheek as she passes by.
“Hi, sweetie! Hey, babe,” I say, getting up to greet my family with hugs and kisses.
“Hi, Mommy. Where’s Daddy?” Bethany says, squirming out of Hale’s arms.
“He’s coming,” I say, watching our little girl as she heads straight to the play area I keep for her in the corner of my cramped office.
She calls both Hale and Pierce “Daddy.” For the sake of gathering her family medical history, we did testing and know that Hale is her biological father, but in our house, both men are “Daddy.” It can be a little confusing, but I’m starting to notice a slight difference in the way she says their names.
It’s Hale’s day with Bethany. Pierce worked out a brilliant schedule where we rotate days off to spend time with her. Up until recently, she was with one of us every day, but now that our brand is taking off and she’s a little older, we’ve started her in daycare two days a week.
“Is that our little girl I hear?” Pierce says, coming in and immediately bending to scoop Bethany up in his arms. As I listen to her giggle and squeal, it boggles my mind to recall that when I first met Pierce I thought he was cold and distant.
“Bethany’s packed for her overnight at Gram and Gramps’ house. I’m taking her over there when we leave here,” Hale says, both of us watching her and Pierce play while we talk. Gram and Gramps are Pierce’s parents, and they’re a great help to us for both babysitting and advice.
My dad has been a doting grandparent, too, mostly by phone and gift delivery, but he visits a few times a year. I know he’s proud of me, and the delight of having a granddaughter has made it easier for him to forgive the fact that my “little idea” grew into a company that stole Hale, Pierce, and Lucy away from Walker Industries.
His latest wife uses our anti-aging skincare line, and it gives me a special thrill knowing that our products are sitting on their bathroom counter.
“Are you going to be able to get away at five?” Hale asks, putting his arm around me and kissing my neck in that exact spot he knows I love.
“Yes, I’ll make sure we can,” I tell him as I breathe in his spicy cologne. Things have been so hectic lately we can barely keep up, but my men have never let me down in our three years together, and when I make a promise to them, I keep it.
Things weren’t all kittens and rainbows from the beginning. When Pierce and Hale started talking about us moving in together, I found a reason to pick a fight. But they held on. They made me talk things out when I wanted to run, and after a few incidents like that, I realized I had trust issues. It wasn’t hard to figure out the origin of those issues.
But unlike Daddy Dearest, my men were always there for me. When I got scared by some bleeding early in the pregnancy, they were my rocks. When I was huge at nine months, with swollen feet and an endless appetite, they were always by my side doing everything they could to make me comfortable. They show me everyday that men can be reliable and trustworthy.
And how they treat me is nothing compared to how they care for our daughter. It’s clear that she’s the moon and stars to both of them, and I know they would do anything for both of us.
“Wear your red dress tonight?” Hale says, still holding me close, his nose nuzzled in my hair.
“Yeah?” We’re having dinner with his sister, so I’m a little surprised by the request for Hale’s favorite dress.
“Yeah.” he smiles before kissing me again.
Hale
“We’d better get going, sweetheart. Gram and Gramps are expecting us,” I call out to Bethany.
“Ella and Bobby, too?” she asks.
“Yep, Ella and Bobby, too.” Our daughter loves seeing her cousins, Pierce’s sister’s kids, and Pierce’s parents seem to love having all the kids over together.
“G’bye, Daddy! G’bye, Mommy!” Bethany sings out as she gives hugs and kisses. Our little girl, who’s so smart, so kind, and so beautiful — so much like her mother — amazes me on a daily basis.
I give Kira another quick kiss. “See you soon.”
Pierce comes over and puts a hand on my shoulder. “Tell my parents I said hi,” he says.
“Will do.” I nod and grasp his forearm briefly to return his touch. Pierce, who I’d have described as a work adversary when Kira first came into our lives, is now like a brother, or something better than a brother. A brother who knows all the intimate details of my life, and with whom I share the most important person in our lives. He’s a second father to our daughter, and I owe him a lot.
I was the one who urged him to explore a sexual relationship with Kira, but ironically, it was he who made it possible for me to enter into an emotional relationship with her. I didn’t trust myself to care for her, but knowing Pierce was involved made it easier for me to take a chance.
Although it seemed like a big step for me to share my heart with Kira, I gave my heart away with no thought whatsoever the instant I first saw Bethany. Now that I’ve experienced love as a father, I no longer doubt myself. I know I’ll always be there for her, and for Kira, too.
“Okay, Daddy, let’s go,” our little girl says, tugging at my pants.
Her wish is my command.
Traffic is heavy coming back into the city and I’m the last one to arrive at the restaurant. A seat has been saved for me next to Kira, who looks stunning in the outfit I requested. She’s worn her hair up and it takes effort for me to focus on the others instead of ravishing her.
Pierce is on the other side of Kira, and across the table, Sierra and her fiancé Scott, an accountant who just opened his own business, are sitting close, both laughing at something Kira just said.
Sierra spots me first and looks up with a warm smile followed immediately by a pout. “Aww, how come you didn’t bring Bethany?” she says in lieu of a greeting.
“It’s nice to see you too, sis,” I say with a laugh. I give her a peck on the cheek as Scott hurriedly stands to shake my hand, fumbling with his napkin as he gets up.
“Good to see you, Hale. How are you?” he says.
His polite manners and his habit of treating me like Sierra’s father rather than her brother make me feel old, but I couldn’t be happier with the man she’s chosen to marry. I’ve been resting easier ever since she got together with him.
I give a nod to Pierce before kissing Kira on the cheek. “Sorry I’m late,” I tell her.
“You’re fine. I ordered gin for you,” she says.
“Perfect.”
And as I take a seat among
my family, everything is definitely that — perfect.
Dinner is delicious and the conversation is good, but I’m secretly pleased when the time comes to pay the check and say goodbye to my sister and Scott in the lobby.
Kira and Pierce hired a lift to the restaurant so after the valet brings my car around, we all get in. We’re quiet for the first few miles but when I make an unexpected turn, Kira speaks up.
“Where are we going?” she asks, resting her hand on my thigh.
“Just a few miles out of our way.”
She reads the excitement in my voice and sounds suspicious, drawing out her one-word question and arching an eyebrow. “Why?”
Pierce leans up from where he’d been reclining in the backseat. “We have a surprise for you.”
“Oh, you do? Well good. I love surprises.” She slides her hand a few inches up my leg and I press down harder on the gas pedal.
Pierce
The street is quiet, the parking lot is empty, and the building is dark except for security lights.
“What’s happening here?” Kira asks when Hale turns off the engine.
“Well, that’s up to you,” he says.
I open her car door, and we walk together to the building, Hale on the other side of Kira, both of us holding her hands.
“I’m not dressed for a rave,” she says. “Is there a speakeasy hidden here?”
I chuckle. “No. Any other guesses?”
“Hmmmm …”
Approaching the door, she spots the “For Sale” sign. “Commercial Space Available. Gonzalez Realty,” she reads aloud. “Is this what I think it is?”
“It is,” I confirm, entering the code in the lockbox.
Between 2 Bosses Page 10
