Rock Solid

by Phillips, Carly

  And then it was finally time to head to Logan Square for lunch with Katie. He was wearing his normal, everyday work attire—a pair of jeans, a company T-shirt, and work boots—and he’d done his best to remain dirt and dust free. The drive to the café took twenty minutes, which made Connor ten minutes early. Wanting to make sure they got a table before the lunch rush arrived, he let the hostess seat him in a booth with him facing the entrance, and told the girl that he was expecting someone named Katie.

  While he waited impatiently for her arrival, he checked out the menu to decide what he wanted for lunch, then cleared out all the voice mail messages from that morning that weren’t either clients, suppliers, contractors, or other work-related business. Since last night, he’d already had over a dozen calls from women who’d managed to find his cell phone number before Wes could take it off the website, and now that it was gone, Connor hoped to God that the craziness ended.

  With the last message deleted, he set his phone on the table and glanced back at the entrance just in time to see a blonde woman walk into the restaurant by herself. One look at the familiar face that had been imprinted on his brain for the past three years and seven months, and his pulse seemed to double its beat in wild anticipation. She spoke to the girl at the podium, then the hostess glanced his way and pointed toward the table where he was sitting. Katie headed in his direction, giving Connor time to look his fill of her . . . from the silky blonde hair that had once fallen halfway down her back but was now cut to her shoulders in a soft, smooth style, to the features that seemed impossibly more beautiful than she’d been before.

  It was mid-September and still warm out, and she was wearing a casual summery dress that skimmed the curves of her body that he knew intimately, and revealed those long, slender legs he still dreamed about having wrapped tight around his waist as he drove into all that softness between her thighs. God, one look at Katie, and his own body responded as though it had been waiting all this time just for her to come back into his life. The notion was insane but undeniable.

  He lifted his gaze back to her face, and he couldn’t say that she looked happy to see him in return. There was a tentative look in her eyes as she approached, and when she’d almost reached their table, he stood and gave her a genuine smile.

  “Katie . . . ” he said, taking her hand and leaning in to brush his lips across her cheek—a liberty he probably shouldn’t have taken until he’d confirmed she was still single. For all he knew, she’d wanted to see him for business or real estate reasons, and not because they’d once shared such an intense, passionate connection.

  “Hi, Connor,” she replied as she pulled back, a more discreet smile on her own lips.

  She scooted into the booth across from him and he returned to his side, unable to take his eyes off her. “You look great,” he said—which was a huge understatement, he thought. There was something about her now that was so mature, lovely, and alluring, immediately drawing him in and holding him captive.

  “Thank you,” she said softly, modestly, though she didn’t hesitate to check him out, as well. “You look amazing, too. That Chicago’s Hottest Bachelor title certainly fits.”

  He winced, hating just how uncomfortable that label made him, along with all the attention that had come with it. “When our company agreed to do the article, I thought I was giving a standard interview about the business and the real estate market,” he said in explanation. “I had no idea they were going to tie in ‘one hot property’ to me being single. But if it managed to put me back into contact with you, then it was all worth it.”

  Before she could reply, their waitress stopped at their table. “Are you two ready to order, or do you need more time to look at the menu?”

  “I’m ready,” Katie said, seemingly appreciating the interruption and all too eager to order and cut the idle chitchat. “I’ll have the chicken Waldorf salad and an iced tea.”

  The server jotted down her selection and glanced at Connor.

  “I’ll have the roasted pork Cubano sandwich and an iced tea, as well,” he said, handing both of their menus back to the girl.

  Once she was gone, he returned his attention to Katie, all too aware of how uneasy she seemed with him, which he found odd. She’d been the one who’d called him to set up the lunch date, yet there was no misconstruing how guarded her demeanor currently was. Instead of leaning toward him in a more relaxed manner, her shoulders were straight against the booth cushion, as if she wanted to keep as much distance between them as possible.

  It certainly wasn’t the enthusiastic reunion he’d anticipated.

  “So, how have you been?” He hated having to resort to small talk, but until he cracked that reserve of hers and was able to get her to warm up to him, polite conversation was all he had.

  “Good,” she replied, giving him nothing to go on. “Busy.”

  Ahhh, he jumped on that. “Busy” most likely meant work of some sort. “I don’t even know what you do for a living,” he prompted, just as their waitress delivered their iced teas.

  A smile touched the corners of her mouth as she added two packets of sugar to her drink and stirred the tea with a long spoon. “I used to work for an ad agency as a graphic designer. Now, I’m self-employed. I work at home and do freelance jobs for different companies.”

  Silence again, and the longer it stretched between them, the more she started to fidget nervously.

  “Are you seeing anyone?” he asked outright, because that would definitely clarify why she appeared so uncomfortable, but it certainly wouldn’t explain why she’d sought him out after all this time.

  Jesus, he was suddenly so fucking confused.

  Her rich brown eyes widened in surprise at the question, and she shook her head. “No . . . I haven’t dated since Brice.”

  Her confession took him aback, as did the pink coloring sweeping across her cheeks. Over three and a half years without dating? Just another bizarre twist to the entire situation, and something else for him to puzzle over, because it wasn’t as if she seemed eager to date him.

  So why the hell had she even contacted him?

  Their lunches arrived, and as she ate her salad, the awkwardness between them increased, as did her anxious demeanor. Any question he asked to strike up a conversation was met with a one- or two-word answer, and by the time they’d finished their meal, he was beyond frustrated by her strange behavior with him. The Katie sitting within reaching distance wasn’t the one he’d spent the hottest, most emotionally satisfying night of his life with. No, his Valentine had been all soft smiles, breathy laughter, vulnerable sweetness, and openness and honesty, whereas this woman was tense and apprehensive.

  He wiped his fingers on his napkin, set the cloth on his plate, and exhaled a deep breath to rid himself of the irritation building in his chest before expressing his disappointment. “Katie . . . I meant what I said when I told you I was glad you called, but I can’t help but wonder why you even bothered to contact me when you act like you want to be anywhere but here with me.”

  She wouldn’t look at him, her gaze on her half-finished salad as she toyed with her fork. “You’re right, and I’m sorry.”

  He expected her to say she’d made a mistake, to get up and leave. What he never could have predicted was the fear in her eyes when she finally lifted her gaze to his.

  She swallowed hard. “God, there’s no easy way to tell you this . . . ”

  He frowned, because he couldn’t imagine what had caused the dread he heard in her voice, and he was trying hard not to make assumptions—like, was she sick or something? “Tell me what, Katie? Whatever’s wrong, I can handle it.”

  Her hands twisted together in her lap. “You have a daughter,” she blurted out, her voice strained, as if she’d had to literally force the words out of her throat.

  Her eyes were huge as she waited for his reaction, adding to his confusion. His brain tried to process what she’d just said, and how it pertained to him, but no matter how he rephrased her st
atement in his mind, he couldn’t make sense of it.

  He shook his head slowly. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about. I don’t have a daughter.”

  “Yes, you do,” she said, her tone more insistent now. “Our night together . . . I ended up pregnant.”

  He stared at her in shock, feeling as though he’d just been blindsided. There was no misconstruing those words, yet he’d used protection and she’d mentioned that she was on birth control.

  “How is that even possible?” he asked, still shell-shocked by the likelihood of a pregnancy happening when they’d taken twice the precautions—though his condoms had been in his overnight bag for over a year. “I could understand if there was an issue with one of the condoms, but you said you were on some kind of contraceptive.”

  “I was.” She gave him a pained smile. “When I found out I was pregnant, my doctor looked up when I’d had my implant inserted. It had been three years, and while the device claims to last up to four years, with up to being the key words, clearly mine had failed early. And, I’m assuming, we also had an issue with one of the condoms we used.”

  He scrubbed a hand along his jaw, then braced his forearms on the table, not knowing what to say. To think that both forms of birth control had been ineffective was surreal . . . and holy shit, he had a daughter.

  “She’ll be three next weekend,” Katie added.

  Three years old . . . and then he frowned as he mentally did the math, and came up two months short on the timeline. “Are you sure I’m the father? If she’s going to be three this month, that would have put you two months pregnant before we even met.” Which meant that in all likelihood the child was Brice’s, not his.

  “She was born eight weeks premature at seven months,” she said, bridging that gap of time as she reached into her purse for something. “If you want to have a paternity test done, I completely understand, but here’s a picture of her for you to see.”

  Katie held a photo in her hand, and again, reluctantly—as if she really didn’t want to show him—she turned it around for him to view. One look, and it was as though the breath was knocked from his lungs. She didn’t look so much like him, but instead her delicate features were a replica of his sister, Natalie, when she’d been a little girl around that same age. But those big, blue eyes . . . yeah, those were all his, no paternity test needed.

  The chubby-cheeked toddler was smiling gregariously in the picture, sweetness and innocence with a glimpse of precociousness, and she stole his heart just knowing that she existed and was his.

  “What’s her name?” he asked around the lump that had formed in his throat.

  “Her full name is Valentine, but everyone calls her Val for short.”

  He glanced up at Katie and smiled, because the name was absolutely perfect. “I like that.”

  “Considering the night she was conceived, she’s been my little Valentine from the moment I found out I was pregnant.” Their gazes held from across the table, and she shifted in her seat. “Connor . . . I want you to know that when I realized I was pregnant, I tried my best to find you on Google, but without a last name or phone number or any other personal information, it was impossible.”

  He nodded in understanding as he rubbed his thumb along the edge of the photo. “I get it.” And he really did, though he wanted to say that if she hadn’t snuck out on him, things might have ended up much differently. He had a daughter. And he’d already missed out on three years of her life. That knowledge hurt the most, because he never would have neglected a child had he known.

  “I know that this has to be a shock, that you didn’t expect to end up with a child after our night together.” She visibly swallowed hard, her hands twisting in her lap again, though her chin lifted with fortitude. “And I want you to know that I don’t need or expect anything from you. I’m not here for child support or to demand that you be a part of her life. I just thought you should know about her.”

  He sat back in his seat, unease curling through him as he studied Katie’s determined expression. Even though she’d done the right thing by telling him about Val, there was no mistaking that she was deliberately downplaying his part as the child’s dad and minimizing his responsibility.

  Her emotional walls were sky high, and she claimed not to want anything from him, not even his presence in Val’s life, but he couldn’t say the same. Did she honestly think so little of him, that he’d be able to go back to his life the way it’d been seconds before? Before learning he had a kid? That he could erase this conversation from his mind and pretend he didn’t have a little girl in the world? No. Fucking. Way.

  She allowed him this time to think in needed silence, and he took it because his life had just been irrevocably changed, in ways he never would have imagined, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t figure out a way to adjust to whatever being a father entailed. Even if he was three years late.

  There was no question he’d always thought he’d be married before he had a baby, that he’d be there for his child from the moment they’d been born, and that any kid of his would grow up with two loving parents, as he and Natalie had. This situation was far from the traditional ideals he’d envisioned for his future, but it didn’t alter his core values as a man when it came to stepping up and doing the right thing for all parties involved.

  Unless . . . He frowned. “Is there some other guy in your life that Val thinks is her father?” The thought of someone else taking on that role burned in his gut like acid.

  “No,” she said with a quick shake of her head. “I told you I haven’t dated anyone since Brice.”

  Something didn’t make sense to him. “Then why would you assume that I wouldn’t want to be a part of Val’s life?”

  “Most men aren’t prepared for an unplanned pregnancy or child. I’m just trying to be realistic.” She shrugged, but the gesture came across as forced—she clearly wasn’t as unemotional about these issues as she wanted him to believe.

  “You’re trying to be realistic?” He tipped his head, regarding her directly. “The reality is, we have a child together.”

  Her lips pursed ever so slightly. “Well, in my experience, having a child together and raising them in a co-parent situation isn’t always best for the kid involved.”

  Ahhh, now they were getting somewhere. “In your experience? What do you know about co-parenting?”

  She stiffened defensively. “Enough to know it’s not always in the child’s best interest.”

  Connor knew nothing about Katie’s past, but his gut was screaming that the anxiety and fears he’d already glimpsed in her were based on something she’d gone through as a child, and her maternal instinct was to protect Val from the same pain. He couldn’t fault Katie for trying to shield her daughter—their daughter—from any potential emotional fallout. He also understood that despite their one night together, she really didn’t know him well enough yet to trust that he wouldn’t be an unstable figure in the little girl’s life. That would take time.

  And even though he wanted to know what her experience had been, now was not the time. For the foreseeable future, all he could do was prove that he was rock solid and dependable when it came to the people in his life that he cared about. And whether Katie liked it or not, Connor cared not only about the daughter he hadn’t met yet but about her, too.

  He clasped his hands on the table in front of him, glanced from the sweet photo of Val still on the table facing him to Katie, and eased out a tight breath. “Just so we’re clear, I had no idea when I woke up this morning that I’m the father of a three-year-old little girl. Will that take some getting used to when I’ve only known about her for, what, half an hour? Yes, I need to adjust to the realization that I’m a dad, but I’m not the kind of man who’s going to shirk his responsibilities. If I have a kid, I will always be a part of their life, financially and emotionally and any other way that they need me.”

  “Okay,” she said quietly, but he still heard the uncertainties in her voice.
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br />   Their waitress came by to clear their plates, and after both he and Katie declined dessert, the server set the check on the table. He pulled it out of Katie’s reach and placed his credit card on top of it, and was grateful when she didn’t argue over the bill. What good was a shit ton of money if he couldn’t buy the mother of his daughter a meal every once in a while, right?

  He put his wallet back into his pocket, and there was one more thing he needed to address before they parted ways for the day. “I want to see her, Katie,” he said gently. “I’m not looking to turn her life upside down or confuse her in any way, but she’s my daughter and . . . ” The rest of that sentence went without saying, and despite the misgivings in the depths of Katie’s eyes, there was understanding there, too. “Can we start off with you introducing me as a friend, and go from there?”

  He was asking nicely. Not demanding. There was no reason to make Katie any more skittish and worried than she already seemed to be.

  “How about Sunday?” she suggested after a few long seconds had passed. “There’s a private park right by where I live, and we can meet you there around eleven?”

  Relief poured through him, and he quickly accepted the offer. “That sounds great.” He picked up the photo on the table. “Can I keep this picture? It would be nice to be able to show my family how adorable Valentine is.” God, his parents and Natalie were going to flip out over the news when he told them he had a three-year-old daughter, though he had no doubt they’d embrace the little girl when they finally met her.

  “Of course you can keep it,” she said with a smile.

  Once the check was taken care of, Connor walked outside with Katie. “Where’s your car?” Wherever it was, he wanted to walk her to it, because now that it was just the two of them, without talk of Val as a buffer to their attraction, he was reluctant to let her go.