Claim My Baby

by Taryn Quinn

  I was just going to ignore that tidbit. “Yes, your friend who is a boy. You like him, don’t you?”

  “Yes, we are gonna get married soon.”

  I filed that information away to harass Seth with at a later date. Probably when he finally cornered me about Sage, which I expected to be anytime, now that Ally had popped out the kid.

  “Does your father know? He must be so excited.”

  Laurie put her finger up to her mouth and let out an exaggerated “shh” as if Seth could actually hear her. “Is a secret.”

  “Ah, I know how that is.” And I was glad at least the secrecy part of everything was finished. Even if the way it had all come out was horrifying at best.

  Method aside, I was still glad the sneaking around didn’t have to continue. If anything was going to continue between me and Sage at all.

  “Wes is okay. For a boy,” she added, back to staring at my phone. “I don’t know if my brother will be.”

  That she pronounced brother as “bwother” every time was far cuter than it should have been.

  “I wasn’t happy with mine either at first.”

  Laurie frowned. “My daddy?”

  “Yes. I was stuck with him from day one. He was whiny and smelly and I didn’t want him around. Until your grandfather took him to school one day and I had to stay home because I was sick. You know what happened?”

  Slowly, she shook her head.

  “I was bored and lonely the whole day. I didn’t have anyone to talk to or play with or even to annoy. It wasn’t fun at all.”

  “You wanted him to come back?”

  I nodded. “And when we were at the same high school and he came back here to come to school with Ally, I didn’t like it then either.”

  “Because he’s your best fwiend?”

  I wouldn’t have characterized Seth that way—as the wise Sage had once said, I didn’t have many friends—but I supposed it was true.

  “Yes.” I swallowed hard and tucked my phone against my hip. “I guess you’re right.”

  Laurie screwed up her nose. “But what if they like him better?” she whispered.

  “That is not possible. I promise. Though, I don’t know, you do make a lot of noise.” I caught her around the waist and tipped her upside down, making her squeal with laughter.

  We were playing helicopter when my father came in, smiling wider than I’d ever seen him.

  “There’s my little girl. Going to come say hi to Grandpa?”

  She clambered down and ran over to grab him around the knees. He’d never been an overly active grandparent until the last year or so, and we’d all wondered why. Now he was positively beaming.

  He could’ve had a change of heart. That happened occasionally. Even to hard-shelled Hamilton men.

  Not that I knew anything about that.

  Once Laurie ran off to the kitchen to get a juice box, I gave my father a quick hug. “How’s the baby?”

  “Handsome, healthy, and strong. A Hamilton through and through.” My father grinned. “How are things here?”

  “Fine. She’s been watching Trolls.”

  “Again?”

  I had to laugh. “It is her favorite. You’ve come to relieve me, I heard?”

  “From who? Your brother?”

  “Sage,” I said carefully, testing the waters. I didn’t know if he’d overheard the office brouhaha the other day—I certainly hoped not—but I was interested to see how he’d react to the idea of us in any case.

  I got my answer swiftly.

  “Are you dating her?” he demanded.

  I started to say no. We hadn’t discussed this, and public was a word that wasn’t part of our relationship. If we even still had one. But my curiosity won out.

  “And if I said I was?”

  “I’d say it’s about time you got that right.” He clapped my shoulder hard enough to dislodge a bone or two. “She’s a good girl. You be careful with her, or you’ll answer to me.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  I said my goodbyes to Laurie and walked out more shell-shocked than I wanted to admit. My father hadn’t given Seth a hard time about Marj, Laurie’s mother, but he’d been reluctant to offer Ally the same seal of approval. He finally had, and now seemed to treat her as he would a daughter.

  Sage had always been different. Somehow she was special to him. My father wasn’t exactly friendly, but when it came to Sage, he’d never had anything but smiles and warmth.

  That was her power. She could turn foes into friends, enemies into lovers.

  Players into men who wanted to fucking commit, even if they didn’t have the foggiest idea how to be worthy of her.

  I arrived at the cabin and pulled into the driveway behind her car. I climbed out and walked up to the driver’s side door. Sage was still seated inside, her eyes closed as she sang along to something with the light of the makeup mirror illuminating her face.

  Her beauty was staggering.

  I knocked on her window and all at once, her joy disappeared. She turned off the car and opened the door, her expression wary. “Hi.” She passed a hand over her hair as I stepped back, giving her room to disembark. “I was a little early.”

  “And I was a little late.” I rubbed my thumb over her cheekbone and she visibly shuddered, even in the near darkness alleviated only by the scattered security lights. “Are you wearing different makeup?”

  “What? No. Why?” She took a minute step away from me, but it might as well have been a mile.

  I’d never been this fucking greedy for contact before. The more she sidestepped me and sought distance, the more I wanted to pull her close and never let her go. Just bury myself inside her and sink into her kiss and forget the rest of the world existed.

  Powerful? Hell, she was a goddamned titan.

  “You looked luminescent while you were singing.”

  She released an awkward little laugh. “You forget your contacts today or something?”

  That she’d even noticed I wore them boggled me. She paid attention, far more than I gave her credit for.

  When I didn’t respond, she exhaled. “Look, I wanted to apologize.”

  “It’s done. Over with.”

  “Oh, really? Is that why you haven’t called me—” She stopped herself and held up a hand. “Don’t answer that.”

  “I haven’t called you because I thought it was better we both take some time to think.”

  “You mean because I indicated you were akin to a living vibrator. Hop on and use, hop off and move on.”

  “Your choice of description leaves much to be desired. But yes.”

  “That wasn’t it at all. I swear. I told you I was glad it was you, and I meant it. I told Ally that too tonight.”

  Swallowing suddenly became a lot more difficult. “You did?”

  “Yes. I told her the truth—that you were exactly what I needed that night, and a lot of nights since. I screwed up. Sometimes my mouth gets ahead of my brain, and I’ve been bottling too much inside. I’m sorry.” She moved forward and tipped her head against my chin. “I’m so sorry, Oliver.”

  It was easier than I expected to just stroke a hand over her hair and breathe her in. She smelled like the lake mixed with the crispness of the snowy night. Fresh, pure. Completely intoxicating.

  Mine.

  “You saw the baby?” I asked huskily.

  “Not in person yet. I just missed him. He wasn’t breathing as well as he could be, but he’s fine. I saw a picture though. He’s gorgeous. Pink and perfect.” She swallowed audibly. “You saw one too, I’m assuming?”

  “I did. Probably the same one. Laurie was disappointed he doesn’t look like her.”

  “Oh, well, babies change so much.”

  “Exactly what I told her. I’m not sure she believed me. But then I told her how I thought I didn’t want Seth around until—” I broke off as she fidgeted and shoved my hands in my pockets. “You probably don’t care about any of this.”

  “I do. I really do.
It’s just… God, this is so hard.”

  I’d thought we were finished with our big talk after we’d discussed the office incident. But from the way she was wringing her purse between her hands, we clearly were not.

  I wasn’t ready to hear what she had to say, whatever it was. Maybe if I led her inside, distracted her with other pressing needs, she’d forget.

  All I wanted to do was to go back to where we’d been in my office, minus the secrecy. With that gone, things were perfect. Or they could be, if she’d just let them.

  “What were you singing?” I asked, wanting another minute’s reprieve. “You turned off the radio before I could hear the song.”

  She laughed softly. “‘It’s Raining Men’.”

  “Oh. Huh. Do you sing often? I never noticed, except at Celine Dion. And you sang along with Elvis. Well, fake Elvis. So, yes, I guess you do like to sing.” I exhaled. “All right, whatever else it is you’d like to say, just say it. I considered seducing you to delay it, but that’s ridiculous. So…out with it.”

  She stepped closer and stroked her hand over my tie, from the knot all the way down. My stomach trembled as if she’d used her tongue. “I hope you still want to seduce me after I’ve told you. I could really use the stress relief.”

  I frowned. “Told me what?”

  “You’re going to be a daddy.”

  15

  Sage

  Oliver gazed at me as if I were speaking in tongues. How he could be so vexed was beyond me. He’d seen the evidence. For pity’s sake, he’d pulled parts of it out of my damn body.

  “Broken condom, remember?”

  He didn’t say a word. I wasn’t even sure he was still breathing. And despite the near darkness, I would’ve sworn he’d gone pale.

  “I didn’t want to wait to tell you. I just found out tonight, before Seth called me about the baby. The other baby. Not ours. God.” I let out an awkward, semi-maniacal laugh and pushed a hand through my hair.

  I wished I’d pulled on a hat before I headed out to the hospital. This wind was brutal, and we were standing outside on a property that backed up to the frozen-over lake. If that wasn’t enough, it had started to snow again, the flakes clinging to my cheeks and chin. Even my eyelashes. I blinked them away, hoping the view had changed.

  Nope. Oliver was still standing motionless.

  Dread curled around me like smoke, acrid and bitter in my throat. I glanced at my car, half tempted to climb in and drive away. But he was blocking me. I couldn’t escape.

  “Oliver, for fuck’s sake, say something.”

  He didn’t make me wait long. And when he spoke, I wished he hadn’t.

  “This is all Seth’s fault.”

  “Excuse me?” I crossed my arms over my front, but it wasn’t lost on me that I was protecting more than myself now. “If you’re going to start with some nonsense about if Seth and Ally hadn’t made you go to Vegas, none of this would have happened—”

  “What are we going to do about this?” he interrupted.

  Which was even worse than the last thing he’d said.

  I narrowed my eyes. “If that means what I think it means, we aren’t doing anything. I’ve already made up my mind to have this baby. You don’t have to be involved. Judging by your reaction thus far, it may be better if you aren’t.”

  God, that hurt to say. But it was better than risking him hurting our child with callousness.

  He puffed out a frosty breath. “It’s freezing out here.” He glanced at me and gripped my arm. “Your coat isn’t even buttoned. Let’s get inside.”

  I shook him off. “Perhaps we shouldn’t discuss this now. Your nephew was just born this evening. If we’re going to say cross words, maybe this isn’t the time.”

  “Cross words?” Even without looking at him, I knew he had cocked that damn eyebrow. “Am I wrong in thinking we’re equal participants in this, or does one of us have a right to be angry and I missed it?”

  “Don’t take that paternalistic tone with me. You’re the one who blamed our child on Seth and then asked what we were going to do, as if this is a problem to be taken care of. Sorry that I don’t view my baby the same way a Hamilton does a piece of property.”

  He removed his hand from my arm. “You’re hearing me all wrong.”

  “Oh, I’m hearing you wrong. You aren’t saying the wrong things, it’s just my interpretation.” Typical.

  Jeez, maybe he was even partially right in this case. At this moment, anything other than joy from him felt like a dismissal. A denial. I couldn’t deal with it, not when I was this vulnerable and determined to protect the fragile life growing inside me.

  The life I had just barely found out about. These feelings were all so new and jagged.

  “Let’s go inside.” His voice had cooled substantially.

  I understood this was a shock. It hadn’t been a stroll through the park for me either. But if he thought I’d give him an inch when it came to the welfare of my kid, nope. He was liable to say things he might not mean once he’d had time to think, but sometimes first reactions came from the gut.

  And my gut said to protect my child at all costs.

  “We don’t have to talk about this tonight, if you need some time to process.” I planted my feet and gazed straight ahead at his snow-covered Porsche.

  A Porsche, for God’s sake. That was the kind of money he had. My parents had done well for themselves before they’d chucked it all to live in a home on wheels, but this was next level. His home was fancier than I was used to, as was this cabin most likely, though it looked quite rustic from the outside. Still, this was a Hamilton property, so it had to be nice.

  “Do you want that badly to get away from me?”

  His quiet question tore open a hole inside my chest, as did the way he’d tucked his hands in his jacket pockets.

  I missed holding his hand. We seemed to hold hands as often as we could, whenever we were alone. Even when we were just watching the late news before crawling into bed.

  “No,” I returned, equally quietly. “I came here tonight to apologize and to tell you about the baby, but not only for those reasons. I wanted to be with you. Didn’t I make that clear?”

  “Not so much, no.”

  I pressed my lips together and tried not to shiver. Whether it was from the chill outside or the worry closing in on me from all sides, I didn’t know.

  “Come in,” he murmured, motioning me forward. He must’ve seen me quaking like the last leaf in a storm.

  Not exactly the image of strength I wanted to project.

  I followed him up the steps to the porch because I owed him that much. And God, I did not want to be alone with my thoughts. Not tonight.

  He unlocked the door and nudged me inside, turning on lights as we went. I couldn’t help letting out a gasp.

  If there was a living embodiment of cabin porn, this was it.

  A huge, rough-hewn fireplace appeared as if it had been carved out of the rock and inlaid with a polished black marble mantel. The floors were wide-planked and glossy pine, shined to a sheen Mr. Clean would’ve approved of. A large flat-screen took up half of one wall and long forest-green sunken leather couches were paired with matching armchairs. They surrounded a coffee table made of the same marble as the hearth. A soft rug stretched out in front of the fire, and stubby candles of different colors and widths seemed to be everywhere.

  The room practically screamed “cozy winter hideaway”, and my inner real estate stager’s heart did a little dance of joy.

  “Who designed all this?”

  Rather than answer my question, he went to the laptop set on top of a rolling ottoman that matched the rest of the furniture. He unplugged something from the side and then went around the room lighting candles, as if this was any other night.

  As if this was the Valentine’s Day we had missed sharing.

  “What are you lighting those with?” I followed him around the room, watching him touching the wand to each of them. “How di
d you get fire from your computer?”

  “USB lighter.” He showed me, and I was more intrigued than I should’ve been.

  Let no one say I am not easily amused.

  Once they were all lit and the room seemed to be shimmering with dozens of tiny flames, he shed his jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, baring the heavily tattooed forearms that didn’t seem to go with his austere personality.

  Mercy, they were hot as hell.

  Seth had a similar number of tattoos, though his were more colorful, and Oliver’s featured denser, darker ink. Not many hues at all. Which fit the man far too well. If one believed the image he put out to the world, in any case.

  Over the last few weeks, I’d begun to see there was much more to him than met the eye. The problem was we kept reverting to our old, well-worn roles. Where we were adversaries, on opposite sides about everything. I didn’t know if I dared lower my walls where he was concerned, but I had to try.

  For my baby, I would risk more. And if he slammed the door shut, well then, I would face that as well.

  He tossed a couple of logs on the fire and crouched to get it going, handling the task with an economy of movement that made his shoulders ripple under his shirt. His ass clenched too thanks to the position, which I might not have noticed if I hadn’t been right behind him and already halfway to being physically compromised. Apparently, my libido had no issues with him whatsoever. Or maybe I could blame pregnancy hormones kicking in early. Or many years of denial. Whatever the reason, I was licking my lips when he turned back to me.

  My expression must’ve given me away. He stopped short, his brow furrowing as he reached up to loosen his tie. That move did not help my unwanted state of arousal. Just the quick flicks of his fingers as he pulled the fabric apart made my belly tremble in a way that had nothing to do with the cold.

  I needed to be on guard until I knew his exact position. His phrasing outside hadn’t been the best, and for all I knew, things might only go downhill from there.

  Instead, I was getting wetter than a Slip ’N Slide with a self-activated hose.

  “This cabin was built by my father for one of his mistresses.” Casually, he rolled up his sleeves as he looked around the wide-open space. “Once they ended, the place was rarely used. It fell into disrepair, and last year I started coming here when I needed time to think. Little by little, I started tinkering. Making changes to suit me and my needs.”