by Natalie Ann
“Nothing other than saying good for you. That’s a great way to help with your father’s business. Or maybe get you a job on the side rather than working for your father.”
He’d been waiting for that to come up and bit back the words he was going to lash out. “My father’s business is plenty busy and I don’t need to work for anyone other than him. Good talking to you.”
He walked out of the building and got in his truck. His father was covered for the rest of the day and there was no reason for him to check in. He might as well go get Ben as he said, but found himself driving to Butler Construction instead.
He hadn’t been in the building since he stopped over to see her father one day with Whitney when they were dating years ago. There’d been no reason to since.
He parked and walked in. A woman was sitting in an open area typing on a computer. “Can I help you?”
“Is Whitney available?”
“I think she’s in with the realtor. Let me check. Can I have your name?”
“I can leave,” he said.
“No, no. She is probably almost done. What’s your name?”
“Trey Bridges,” Ryan said, opening the door having heard the conversation. “He’s Whitney’s boyfriend. She’ll make time to see him.” He wanted to scowl at Ryan but just caught his smirk instead. “I’ll let her know, MaryAnn.”
There was no leaving now, so he turned and sat in a chair and pulled his phone out. Five minutes went by and the phone rang on the front desk, MaryAnn answering it and then saying, “I’ll send him back.” She put the phone down and said, “Whitney said to go back to her office. It’s down the hall and the second door on the left.”
He got up and made his way there, having seen Ryan sitting at a desk across the hall when he walked by. He knocked on the doorframe. There was another woman in there. A pregnant woman.
“Sorry to bother you.”
“It’s no bother. Ruby and I were chatting about nursery colors and baby names. Ruby Turner, this is Trey Bridges.”
“Ah,” Ruby said. “The boyfriend I’ve been hearing about. Or I should say just heard about a week ago. But I knew something was putting a twinkle in Whitney’s eye lately.”
He laughed. He was coming here to let her know that their relationship was out in the open more than he thought, but it seemed he was late to the punch bowl.
“Twinkle, huh?”
Ruby and Whitney laughed at the same time. “Maybe not a twinkle,” Whitney said. “More like a spark.”
The two girls laughed again and he figured there was some punch line he was missing. “I’ll talk to you in a few days,” Ruby said, grabbing her purse. “Nice to meet you, Trey.”
“What brings you to my door today?” Whitney asked when they were alone.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt anything. I know you’re busy and have a business to run.”
“I’m not the only one running the business and wear a lot of hats. It’s all good.”
If anyone could handle working a lot and keeping people calm and organized it was Whitney Butler. “I’m sure. I finished earlier working on a job for my father today and had to stop at the firehouse to check on something. When I was there it was brought to my attention the rumors going around about me.”
The smile she had on her face dropped. “Oh. What?”
“That I was dating someone.”
“It’s a rumor?” she asked. “One that is bothering you?”
“No. I’m surprised it took as long as it had to get back to me. More so the comments about who it was.”
“And what’s that?” she asked, crossing her arms. There was a temper there he didn’t remember seeing before. Guess some of her had changed.
“Whoa. You look ready to bite my head off.”
“I’m going to if you let shit get in your head.”
He laughed. “And you swore.”
“I’ve been known to swear. Why don’t you shut my door or Ryan is going to hear this. I’m not in the mood for him to come in and play referee.”
“He better not,” he said. Trey wasn’t going to let her family intimidate him or interfere in what they had. He wasn’t stupid and had seen not just Harris eying him but Ryan also doing it even after their talk. They were protecting her and he got it.
Especially knowing what he did about her ex. But he wasn’t the same as that dickhead and wasn’t going to be lumped into that category.
Unless they were waiting for him to leave her again. Shit. Talk about a double-edged sword.
“He won’t if he knows what is good for him. I get my family can be overbearing. They don’t want me to get hurt, but life is about getting hurt and I’ve told them all to back off.”
“So your family is saying stuff?” he asked. He wished he’d known this before.
“Not like you think. And I’m not saved from it either. They all know you ended things with me years ago and they know why too. Many felt you were justified and looking back I know you were.”
“That shouldn’t have anything to do with today.”
“It shouldn’t, but so many people can’t seem to get past it. So tell me what is going on today that brought you here. Who is saying what? You used the word rumors?”
His shoulders dropped. He’d told himself he was going to be honest with her and he had to be. There couldn’t be lies or secrets between them. He’d never had them before. Maybe he could have been more vocal but then reminded himself they were kids.
“It started out simple enough. One of my men likes to gossip worse than a bunch of mean girls in high school.”
She laughed. “There were plenty of them and that going around in the day.”
Whitney hadn’t been part of the mean girl group, but she never had it targeted toward her either. She was what he’d always thought. She was liked by everyone.
“There was. That wasn’t even bothering me. What did bother me is the comment that dating you could build my father’s business or get me a job.”
“That’s crazy,” she said. “You don’t need me for any work or my family.”
“No,” he said firmly. “I don’t. And I want to make that clear. Then there was the donation made to our firehouse.”
“What donation?” she asked.
“I guess one went to our station a few weeks ago. The chief was thrilled we got it this year. It was the only thing that made me feel good. That we weren’t singled out because of our relationship.”
She started to laugh. “I’ve got nothing to do with donations or accounting or anything financial here. My father and Uncle Michael deal with those things. We make a lot of donations in the area. It’s probably a coincidence more than anything, but it had nothing to do with me. I could look into it if you wanted.”
“No,” he said. “You don’t need to.”
“But it was enough to bring you over here,” she said.
“Not really. I came over to tell you about our relationship being out there more. It was a heads up. But it seems you didn’t need to be told that since your realtor has been hearing about me here.”
“And that bothers you?” she said. She wasn’t as worked up, but more like...hurt.
“No, it doesn’t.” He ran his hands through his hair. “I’m making a mess of this. I should have just gone and gotten Ben like I said and not detoured here.”
Whitney got up and moved closer to him until she was sitting on his lap in the chair across from her desk. “But you did detour here. So let me get this straight. You got your back up more because you don’t want people to think you are with me for any kind of financial gain?”
Her fingertips were running up and down his inner thigh. Combined with her ass on his dick, he was starting to wonder if her door had a lock on it. “If it’s crossing other people’s minds then it might be crossing yours or your family’s.”
“The only thing crossing my mind is if you could stay at my place tonight because I’m feeling a little needy. I know you well enough to know th
at you wouldn’t take anything I had to give you.”
“I’d take one thing,” he said, his hand sliding up under her shirt.
“Good. That’s the only gain I want the two of us to have.” She moved her lips close to his. “Understood?”
“Clearly,” he said, kissing her fast. “Why don’t I go get Ben and put some stuff together and we can come back and pick you up for dinner? No reason to cook. I can take you out.”
“Do you want to go out with Ben?”
“It will be his first time. I suppose with your help we can get through it,” he said.
She smiled and kissed him again. “We will. Let me finish up here and I’ll meet you back at my house in an hour.”
“That works.” He pushed her off his lap even when he wanted to hold on longer.
17
Daddy Duties
The following Saturday Whitney parked in the driveway to Trey’s home. She hadn’t expected the two-story Victorian that had a ton of charm.
She got out and went to the front door, saw the stairs leading to Gillian’s apartment and moved to the door on the left, then knocked.
Trey opened it up. “You didn’t need to knock.”
“I wasn’t sure if you were doing something and didn’t want to walk in and scare you. This place is beautiful.”
“Thanks,” he said. “It was a one family at one point and converted before I bought it. It needed some work and between myself, my father and some guys at the firehouse we got my apartment done first. Then we did Gillian’s after.”
“So she moved in because of Ben?”
“Long story. The shortened version is she was in a long-term relationship that was going nowhere and decided to leave. Anyway, let me show you around.”
She figured there was more going on than just Gillian leaving, but it wasn’t her place to comment. She had her own skeletons rattling around in the closet.
Heck, she was ready to clock one skeleton over the head that was trying to come out of Trey’s closet last week when he stopped into her office and told her about what had been said to him at the firehouse.
There was no way she was letting that crap get in his head again. Yeah, he’d seen she had a temper when she never did before, but she’d grown a lot in life, even if sometimes people didn’t believe it.
Too much in their past had to do with what others thought and said and she’d be damned if she let history repeat itself.
She’d never be walked all over again.
“Where is Ben?”
“Sleeping,” he said. “This is the living room. Dining room through here, and Ben’s room is off of it.”
She followed him through the large doorway. “Oh, are these pocket doors?”
“Yes, and they work. Ben sleeps through anything, but earlier on I would shut them just in case when he was napping and I wanted to watch TV.”
There was a small table in the large room. The hardwood floors had throw rugs on them. She should probably consider getting a few at her place too for Ben. She didn’t think of that with him crawling around and how it might be hard on his knees. Not that he slowed much.
“Your kitchen is nice and modern. It almost looks out of place.”
“It’s small and does the job. I figured I had to gut it anyway, might as well make it look modern. My room is off the kitchen, the bathroom past my room with the laundry room in it.”
She moved toward his room and looked in. It was nice and masculine. “Hmmm, do we have time?”
Her hand was going into the front of his jeans, his mouth slanting against hers.
He barely got his fingers under her shirt when they heard, “Da da da da da.”
She started to laugh. “Guess the answer to that is no. And when did he start saying Da da?”
“A few days ago.”
She wanted to ask why he didn’t say anything to her but remembered he’d worked the last two nights, and the two days before. They didn’t have a lot of communication when that was going on. Short phone calls or text messages about summed it up.
They both moved out of his room and into Ben’s to see him standing in the crib bouncing up and down. “He’s such a happy boy.”
“He really is,” he said.
“And today he is one year old. How does it feel?” she asked, looking at him.
“No different than yesterday felt,” he said, laughing, and picked Ben up out of the playpen. “Are you wet?” Trey asked, feeling around the diaper. “Nope. Doesn’t feel heavy to me.”
She’d never thought she’d find it sexy that a guy was doing his Daddy duties. Maybe in her mind she figured it would be this way, but seeing it was something completely different.
“Happy Birthday, Ben,” she said, putting her arms out. Ben was ready to come to her and she loved that he was so comfortable in her presence, but he still would rather have his father first and she knew that. She also knew that Ben came first in Trey’s eyes.
It was something she had to come to terms with and was. Looking back, she didn’t think she was ever first in Kevin’s eyes. Maybe in the beginning, but then things changed and she wished she’d seen it before it was too late.
Too many years lost and she had to remind herself she couldn’t get them back.
She’d made a lot of mistakes herself in her past. She wasn’t blameless, but she didn’t throw her marriage away either.
Her only mistake was hanging on for the years she had trying to work it out when she should have kicked his butt to the curb.
Ridiculous fears that no man would want her if she couldn’t have a child had filled her brain and clouded her judgment. Stupid, she knew.
“Ba ba ba.”
“Someone wants something to drink,” she said.
“He always wants food or drink.”
They moved into the kitchen, Trey getting a sippy cup and cutting some juice with water and then handing it over. Bottles were only for bedtime now. Probably more a comfort and she suspected they would be gone too.
“When are we leaving for your parents?” she asked. There was a first birthday party for Ben. Just Trey’s parents and Gillian. Since she only saw Trey’s truck in the driveway she suspected Gillian was already there.
“In a few minutes. If you want to entertain him, I’ll get his stuff together. I need to change him too.”
“Actually, if you wouldn’t mind—but you can say no,” she rushed out to say. “I got him a shirt I thought would be cute today.”
“That’s fine,” he said. “Where is it?”
“In my purse. I set it on the couch.”
He walked back to the living room and brought her purse to her. “Here.”
“You can get it out.”
“A man doesn’t go in a woman’s purse. They could get lost in there.”
She giggled. “I highly doubt that. Open it up, it’s right on top. I washed it already too.”
He unzipped it as if he thought a toy clown would pop out with annoying music, then reached his hand in and removed the red shirt. He unfolded it and laughed.
“What do you think, Ben?” he asked, holding it in front of his son to see the wording that said, “Today I’m 1...step closer to being like my Daddy.”
“I saw it online. I couldn’t resist.”
“It’s perfect. My mother will love it too.”
“I can change him while you get his stuff together. And his gift is in the back of my SUV.”
Within ten minutes they were going out the door. “What did you get him?” Trey asked. “That box is huge.”
“I should have just left it at your house, huh?”
“No, it’s fine,” he said. “He’ll love ripping into things.”
She wanted her gift to be a surprise. “What did you get him?” she asked.
“Air Jordans and a basketball hoop.” Her jaw dropped and she looked over to see him laughing. “Just kidding. I got him a few toys. He’s going to get spoiled by my family anyway. He won’t understand who gets him
what.”
“You’re probably right. I’m sure I’m going to spoil my kids rotten when the time comes.”
He looked over at her. “I have no doubt.”
She was finally back to knowing her time would come. It had to. She just had to find the right guy. As much as she wanted kids someday she wasn’t ready to do it alone. Not like Trey was.
Of course his situation was different. She would have done the same thing as he did in his place.
She figured she had time yet before she’d have to start making other plans. As far as her family knew, she might not be able to have kids anyway. Until she was pregnant, she wasn’t saying a word about it. It wasn’t worth bringing up the past.
They got to Trey’s parents’ house. The minute the three of them walked in the door, Ben was reaching for Gillian and she could see that the little boy most likely looked to his aunt as his mother.
“Whitney,” Leslie Bridges said, coming forward. “It’s so good to see you again.”
“You too,” she said. She’d liked Trey’s parents when they dated years ago. They always treated her well. Like one of their own. “You look great.”
Leslie laughed. “I was going to say you don’t look like you’ve changed.”
“I’ve changed plenty,” she said, laughing.
“Where’s my grandson?” she heard Todd Bridges say and come from the back of the house, then take Ben out of Gillian’s hands. “Whitney,” he said. “Good to see you again. About time my son got his head out of his ass when it came to women.”
Her eyes went wide. She wasn’t sure what to say to that and didn’t have much of a chance because Gillian added, “We were all excited to hear you two were dating again. Maybe now Trey won’t make the same mistake twice.”
“Can we focus on my son’s birthday and not my bad judgments?”
She didn’t like that he was getting blamed for everything when she was positive they knew her part in it. “The past is what it is. We were kids,” she said, moving closer to Trey and putting her arm around his waist. “I’m sure we are going to still do some stupid things, but maybe we are smart enough to work through them this time.”
