Page 106 of Second Time Around
“I was informed that it was a success.” Nathan leaned one hip against the desk. “Chloe asked the guests not to bring gifts but a few did, of course. When she showed me the tiny little clothes, it socked me in the gut. I’m going to be responsible for a brand-new life.” He stared down into his glass. “I know that I don’t want to raise a child the way I was raised, but that leaves a lot of open territory. What kind of fathershouldI be?”
“You’ll be all the things you wanted in your own father but didn’t get. That’s a good place to start.” Will understood Nathan’s doubts, though. He had no role model he would want to work from either. “And you have Chloe to guide you. She won’t let you be anything but stellar.”
“That’s what gets me through the terror,” Nathan said with a wry smile. “Chloe has far more confidence in my parental abilities than I do.”
Kyra had confidence in Will’s ability to teach. Was that what it meant to love someone? To believe in them?
“What made you realize you loved Chloe? I mean, loved her to the point where you wanted to spend the rest of your life with her.”
Nathan’s attention focused on Will. “Are you asking for a friend?”
“No.” Will made a restless gesture. “I think I’ve screwed up.”
“I screwed up, too.” Nathan took a sip of scotch and stared out the window. “I let her go and the world turned gray. So I went out and got drunk with Gavin Miller, who can be an ass but is also a keen observer of human nature. He asked me what I would do if Chloe walked into the bar at that moment and said she had made a mistake and wanted me back.” Nathan brought his gaze around to Will. “That clarified everything for me. Maybe ask yourself the same question and see what your answer is.”
Without meaning to, Will turned toward the empty doorway. He imagined Kyra walking through it, dressed in her sexy bartender’s uniform, giving her hips that extra little swing she adopted for Stratus. A ripple of heat shuddered through him, stirring his groin but also making his heart clench with longing. “I would be happy to see her. Very happy. Is that the right answer?”
Nathan shrugged. “If you’re desperate enough to ask me for advice, I’d give it serious consideration.” He set down his empty glass and picked up the battery, fitting it back into its case with great care. “I’m going home to show this to my pregnant wife, who will probably cry over it because her hormones are on a rampage.” He flipped the latches shut. “But that’s a sign of true love, too. She cries over a cube of metal filled with power cells, fuses, and circuits simply because I developed it. Think about that when you’re answering the question.”
Would Kyra cry? He couldn’t picture it. She would examine whatever he had created with focus and attention before giving him herclear-sighted opinion. Then she would tell him that he should keep creating because he had that desire in him. And she would support him in whatever endeavor he took on.
“Will?” Nathan stood with the case in his hand. “Still trying to answer the question, I see.” He held out his hand. “Good luck. When you’ve decided, bring her by so Chloe and I can meet her.”
“You seem to know my answer already.” Will shook the other man’s hand.
Nathan shook his head. “Just hopeful.”
Then he was striding out the door, leaving Will alone with his thoughts and his scotch. He stood in front of the window, considering Nathan’s question. He knew what he wanted his answer to be but he’d been so wrong before.
He couldn’t do that again ... declare his love only to find out he had grossly misjudged his feelings. Or that they had changed. Maybe there was some essential piece missing in him, the emotional element that allowed a person to feel deep, lasting love. He swallowed the last of his scotch in an attempt to wash away the throat-gripping fear that he was defective.
Kyra didn’t need to be hurt by a man who didn’t understand his own heart. She deserved someone who could declare himself to her without reservation or doubt. A man with the courage to answer her statement of love with one of his own, untarnished by past failure or fear of the future.
She deserved a hell of a lot better than Will Chase.
As he considered refilling his glass, his cell phone buzzed. A flicker of hope that it might be Kyra made him pull it out of his pocket. Instead Schuyler’s name came up on the screen. His mood was so bleak that he wasn’t sure he should inflict it on his sister, but he wanted to nurture the new relationship growing between them, so he answered.
“Congratulate me,” Schuyler said, her voice vibrating with excitement.
He winced at the contrast to his feelings but injected an answering appreciation into his own voice. “Consider yourself congratulated. But what’s the happy occasion?”
“I routed Titus Allen. He agreed to every term of my contract, including the total media silence, which must about kill him. No crowing about how he singlehandedly saved an underprivileged young girl from a lifetime of disfigurement and pain.” Satisfaction rang in Schuyler’s words.
“You are magnificent, sister o’ mine. How did you bring about this total surrender?”
“Well, your money helped.” Schuyler’s tone had gone dry. “And a witness who said Shaq wasn’t the dog who bit Felicia.”
“You found a witness?”
“Your ex-girlfriend found one. Sorry, maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned her, but I like to give credit where credit is due.”
Kyra. Of course she would find a way to help. Another wave of loss broke over him, sucking the oxygen out of his lungs. He had to take a breath before he could say, “I’m not surprised. She’s very resourceful.”
“The director, Emily, called me a miracle worker. You know how great that makes me feel?”
“I can hear it through the phone.”
“Thank you for bringing me in on this,” Schuyler said. “It’s helped me make a decision. I’m resigning from the firm. I want to do this kind of law ... miracle-working law.”
