My Unexpected Family: California Billionaires Book 3

by Harlow James

The two of them roll their eyes and then rest their hands on the golf clubs in front of them. “Do we really have to spell it out for you?”

  My gaze bounces back and forth between the two of them. “I don’t understand.”

  “Silas, Chloe is your person. Wes found Shayla, I found Waverly, and now you have Chloe.”

  “Chloe is not my person. She just happens to be the mother of my child and the best friend of Shayla. That doesn’t automatically mean we all have to pair up because we’re the only two single people left in the group.”

  “Let me ask you this?” Wes interjects with a smirk now on his face. I swear, I’m about to punch these fuckers and their idiotic ideas. “Why did you sleep with her in the first place?”

  “I’m sorry, but am I not allowed to have sex? And I believe the two of you were harping on me to get my dick wet anyway, as you so eloquently put it.” Placing my hands on my hips, I prepare to fight the notion that there’s more going on between Chloe and me. I can’t be that transparent, can I? I definitely know the woman has some sort of hold on me, but Wes and Hayes are married now, so naturally they want to set up their only remaining single friend. Married people do this shit all the time—it’s fucking infuriating, and something I never thought I’d have to deal with coming from the two of them.

  “You are, but you’re not the type to do the one-time thing. So why Chloe? You knew you were going to see her again given she’s Shayla’s best friend and now she’s Wes’s wife.”

  “I—I was taking shots. We were talking. One thing led to another…”

  “Yeah, but Chloe wanted your dick long before Aruba. So why then?”

  Narrowing my gaze at them, I ask, “What are you trying to get at?”

  Hayes sighs and rolls his eyes. “I swear, he’s stupider than I was.”

  “That’s still debatable,” Wes mutters out of the corner of his mouth.

  “Then I guess I’m the stupid guy that’s fucking your sister,” Hayes replies, grinning from ear to ear.

  “Dude!” Wes smacks him on the shoulder. “Shut up!”

  “We’re getting off topic.” Hayes focuses back on me with a gleam still in his eyes. “The point I’m trying to make is that you didn’t just decide to sleep with her on a whim, knowing it wouldn’t necessarily be a one-time thing. You wanted her. You thought about her. You wondered what it would be like to fuck her…”

  My pulse spikes as his words all register in truth. “Well, she’s a beautiful woman. Any red-blooded man can see that. That first night at the restaurant had me curious, but…”

  “Fuck, I knew it.” Hayes smacks his hands together, which makes his club drop, but he doesn’t even flinch. “You like her?”

  “She’s insane, you guys,” I declare, desperately trying to deny what I know to be true. “She’s loud and says whatever the fuck she wants, she fights me on everything, she…”

  “Is exactly what you need,” Wes says, stealing the same words I spoke to him once before, forcing me to retract slightly in my stance. “She balances you out, Silas. I hate to break it to you, but lately you’ve gotten stiff, man. You’re a work-a-holic, or you obsess over shit you have no control over. You forget to have fun and live and take risks. And newsflash, once you have this baby, there’s going to be a lot you don’t have control over anymore, but Chloe can ground you, make you see that life is worth living without constantly worrying about what’s going to happen.”

  I stare off in the distance. “It was just supposed to be sex.”

  “Well, seems you got a lot more than you bargained for,” Hayes replies through a laugh.

  “I wanted her to live with me because it would be easier when the baby comes, you know?” They nod. “But now…” I contemplate how things have changed since she moved in. “I look forward to seeing her in the kitchen getting her coffee, and sitting on the couch when I walk through the door. I even shared my gummy worms with her…”

  “Oh, fuck. That’s big.” Hayes laughs.

  “Has she met your family yet?” Wes asks.

  “She’s supposed to next weekend. She has an appointment this week to see if she can be more active, so hopefully that will go well.”

  “What do you think Nonna is going to think of her?”

  I huff out a laugh. “I honestly have no idea.”

  “And your sisters?”

  “Valentina had a field day when I told her I was going to be a dad. I think when she meets Chloe and gets sucked into her orbit and quick wit, she’ll understand the draw. And Mia and Bianca will probably love her too just because she drives me insane.”

  “Silas.” Wes steps up next to me, placing a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t let your fear derail you from going after what you want. Speaking from experience, meeting Shayla was the last thing I thought I needed, but the right woman can make everything click into place, man.”

  Inhaling deeply, I blow out a hot rush of air, feeling my body tremble through the breath. “I’ve always avoided women for this exact reason. I thought my ex would always be the closest I got to settling down, but after that ended, I swore I was done. Work and my family, that would be the only priority.”

  “I get it, man. If anyone does, I do. But look at me now,” he says as the corner of his mouth tips up. “And yes, I fear something happening to Shayla or myself and having to live a life without her…but I wouldn’t trade any time I’ve had with her even if I knew it would end sooner rather than later.”

  “And we’re not saying rush down the aisle with her tomorrow,” Hayes interrupts, “but at least explore what you’re feeling. Get to know her. I mean, even if things don’t work out between the two of you romantically, she’s still the mother of your kid. You should know who is going to be raising this child with you, and something tells me Chloe is a little off the wall.”

  “You think?” I say sarcastically.

  “It’s okay. She can just be the fun parent and you can be the tight-ass.” Hayes smiles at me as he lifts his water bottle to his lips.

  “I don’t know how to even broach the subject with her. It feels weird. We’re basically roommates right now. Like…do I ask her to go on a date with me?”

  “Is that what you want?”

  Do I want that? Won’t that seem kind of out of left field if I just ask her on a date out of the blue?

  I reach up and tap my chin in thought. “Maybe I can bring her to the restaurant opening in two weeks with me. We can have dinner and then I can feel her out between now and then, see if she’s on the same wavelength as me.”

  “Or maybe just try to get to know her a little more in between now and then? I mean, we all know how crazy she is, but there has to be more to the woman than her ability to make your jaw drop with the words that come out of her mouth.”

  “Yeah, that’s true.”

  “I think that’s a good plan, especially wait and see how meeting the family goes. But if I know Nonna and your sisters as well as I think I do, I don’t think it will be a problem. Your family is growing, Silas—you just need to decide if Chloe will just be the mother of your child, or something more.”

  * * *

  “Chloe?” I close the front door behind me as soon as I return home from our golf game, my mind reeling with everything I discussed with my friends. I know I’m not ready to bombard her with where my head is at tonight, but I did think about making us dinner and trying to talk to each other a bit more, and not just about the baby and how her pregnancy is going since that seems to be all we discuss when we speak, but more about who she is.

  I hear the door on my pantry shut, the squeaking hinges giving it away, so I traipse through the living room into the kitchen just in time to see Chloe standing in front of the pantry door with her cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk.

  “Whatcha eatin’?” I ask, crossing my arms over my chest as I watch her with amusement.

  “Nutthin’,” she replies with a mouth full of food.

  “Really?” I cross the distance between us and le
an in to catch a whiff of my gummy worms. “I think you’ve been in my stash, Chloe. Is that true?”

  She shrugs and continues to chew, but then multi-colored saliva escapes between her lips and falls to the floor. “Uh ma gerd,” she cries, rushing to the sink to finish chewing over the counter. When she swallows, she turns to me in mortification. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to spit on the floor.”

  But all I do is laugh. “Rookie mistake, Chloe. You put too many in your mouth.” I reach for a few paper towels and then bend down to clean up the mess since I don’t want her to do it.

  “I freaked. I heard the door and wanted to make sure I had enough so I just started shoving them into my mouth, but then I couldn’t close my lips.”

  Chuckling, I finish wiping the floor, throwing the towels away and then reaching for the sponge to clean up the stickiness left behind. “I told you that you could have some, as long as you left some for me.”

  She sucks her lips in and then looks away from me.

  “Chloe?” I stand, placing my hands on my hips. “Did you…did you eat all of my sour gummy worms?”

  Her eyes travel up to the ceiling and over my head, avoiding my gaze at all costs.

  “Chloe?”

  “Gah! Fine! Yes, I ate them all!” she shrieks, throwing her hands in the air and then pointing a finger at me. “But in my defense, this is all your fault. You’re the one that let me try them, and now I’m addicted. Those things are like crack for pregnant women!”

  Laughing out loud again, I deposit the sponge back in the sink and stand much closer to her now so she has to tilt her head back to look up into my eyes. And her eyes—the dark forest green with flecks of gold around her irises that I could see our child inheriting, sparkling every time the light hits them—they hold me captive for a minute before I clear my throat and remember what we’re talking about. “It’s okay. I can get more. If they make you happy right now and you can keep them down, then I’ll make sure to have a truckload delivered.” As I stare down at her, I fight the instinct to reach out and touch her stomach, her soft belly that is currently growing our child—and that thought alone, I think that’s part of the draw to her. This woman has a part of me in her, and I can’t wait to watch her belly grow as our kid does—a realization that has me wanting to run away from and toward her at the same time.

  Her eyebrows lift and then her bottom lip trembles slightly. “You…you are…I mean…” A tear trails down her cheek and now I’m baffled why she’s crying, but I’m sure it’s mostly hormones. “Thank you, Silas.”

  “Of course.” I reach up to brush the tear away and her eyes close from my touch. I truly wonder if she relives our night together as much as I do. “You okay?”

  Shaking her head, she steps around me and then heads for the couch. “Yeah, I’m fine. So how was golf?”

  My eyes focus on her ass until she’s turning and plopping down on the cushion, reaching for the remote to turn on the television. “Oh, it was…enlightening.”

  “Enlightening?”

  “Yeah, I mean, it’s been a while since I played and it was clearly obvious how rusty I was.”

  “Ah, I see. Were Wes and Hayes giving you a bad time?”

  Taking a seat on the chair across from her, I settle in before answering. “Something like that,” I reply, instead of telling her that my two best friends think we belong together, and I’m beginning to question our relationship too, so perhaps we should try dating while you’re pregnant to see if this could work out long term? “How was your day?”

  “I called some clients to reschedule some of the appointments I missed that first week. Took a nap. Ate all of your candy. It was very productive.”

  “That’s great. Oh, by the way, Erica ended up filling in for your temp today who apparently quit.”

  “Shit,” she mutters. “Tell her I said thank you and I will send her a big basket of cheese as a gift.”

  “Cheese?” I ask.

  “Uh, yeah. Everyone knows flowers are out and cheese is in, Silas. Ask your old buddy Wes about that one,” she says with a wink.

  Turning to look at the television, I watch the Philadelphia Eagles jog out onto the field in the Dallas Cowboys stadium. “You watch football?”

  She nods proudly. “Yeah, I do. I don’t know everything about the game, but enough to enjoy watching a game from time to time, and the Eagles and Cowboys rivalry always guarantees a good show.”

  “Really? When did you start watching it?”

  “When I was about fourteen,” she says before adjusting herself in her seat so she can see the screen better. “I had no idea what was going on, but the men had asses you could bounce a quarter off of slathered in tight spandex, so I was curious.” She shrugs.

  I laugh and then push her further for information, knowing that this is what we need to talk about if there’s a future together—the things that make us who we are. “Your dad a big fan?”

  Her smile drops and then she slowly turns to look me in the eyes. “Um, no…well, at least I don’t think so.”

  “Why?”

  Silence rests between us before she finally admits, “Because my dad wasn’t around either, Silas.”

  “Oh,” I reply, shocked that we share some commonality there. “An uncle then?”

  “Nope, just people that I lived around at the time.”

  What does that mean? A neighbor used to watch football with her?

  But before I get a chance to press further, really get to know her more, she changes the subject. “Did you have plans for dinner?”

  “Oh, well, not really, but I can whip something up really quick if you want.”

  “Do you have any pasta? That actually sounds pretty good. I swear, some of my appetite is coming back for other food besides buffalo wings.”

  I smile and stand from my chair, walking into the kitchen to wash my hands. “That’s good. Let me go change first and then I’ll come down and make us some dinner and we can watch the game.”

  “Who’s your team?” she calls out to me over the back of the couch as she rests her chin on it—and she looks utterly perfect right now as she does it—the move so natural and casual, it catches me off-guard for a moment.

  This is the shit that is fucking with my brain—how natural it feels with her here.

  “Well, my nonno always cheered for the 49ers, so I guess you could say I favor them.”

  “Nonno?”

  “Oh, it means grandpa in Italian,” I reply, realizing there’s much more than just names I’m going to have to explain about my family to Chloe before she meets them next week. I know I should have just explained things to her a few weeks ago, but she hasn’t exactly been forthcoming about her family either, up until a few minutes ago when I actually learned a little detail about her.

  “Will I meet him next weekend?”

  “Uh, no. Unfortunately, he’s passed.”

  “Damn, I’m sorry, Silas.”

  “It’s part of life, Chloe. I’ll be right back,” I reply before heading upstairs while trying to dull the ache of loss that rests in my chest from time to time when I think about Nonno or my parents. You’d think that grief would get easier with time, but instead it comes in waves and hits you harder at more moments than others. Just knowing that Chloe is going to learn about the loss I’ve experienced in my life has me on edge again like I was earlier before golf.

  After I make us dinner and we watch an entire game together in which Chloe screams at the television more times that I can count, I catch her yawning several times.

  “You getting tired?”

  “I’m always tired now, Silas.”

  “That should get better in the next few weeks, if not days,” I explain based on what I’ve been reading.

  “Okay,” she says, but in the next second she’s gasping and then staring down at her stomach with worry.

  I instantly leap out of the chair and brace for action. “What? What’s wrong?”

  “I…I just felt this f
lutter sensation in my stomach, kind of like bubbles floating across my skin,” she says, flicking her fingers in the air.

  “What?”

  “Yeah. It was weird. I thought I felt it earlier, but that time I definitely felt it.”

  “That’s the baby moving, Chloe,” I say, smiling like a fool.

  “It is?”

  “Yeah, didn’t you read the chapter in the book about the fourth month of pregnancy? Movement starts to be more apparent around this time, especially for a first time mom who doesn’t know what she’s looking out for.”

  “Oh…oh yeah,” she says nonchalantly, but it has me narrowing my eyes at her and my adrenaline spiking.

  “Chloe? You’ve been reading the book, right?”

  “Well, you see…what had happened was…”

  And I’m instantly shaking my head, fueled with disappointment. Here I am, listening to the audio book because driving is one of the only times when I can absorb the information, and the woman who’s actually pregnant and has all the time in the world right now can’t be bothered to learn anything.

  “Seriously, Chloe?” I question her, raising my voice a tad louder than I intended. “What the hell have you been doing all day then? I figured you’d be done by now.”

  Her icy glare could cut diamonds, but I feel her fire coming. “You are not my boss, Silas. I can do what I want with my time.”

  “But you should be reading, learning about what is going to happen to your body. What if those flutters were a sign that something is wrong, and you didn’t know?”

  “I’m fine. In fact, when I go to my appointment on Wednesday, I’m fairly certain the doctor is going to lift my limited activity ban!”

  “Okay, but that’s not what I’m talking about.” I start to pace, running my fingers through my hair in frustration. “You’re carrying our baby but don’t know what that entails! The things you should and shouldn’t be doing…Why don’t you care?”

  She leans back in her chair, perplexed by my words. “You think I don’t care? When I fell down, I was terrified that something happened.” She reaches over to the coffee table and picks up the book we’re currently arguing about, holding it in her hand.