Page 3 of A Merry Penthouse Christmas
O'er the hills we go..."
I guess I should be glad I made it through the weekend.
I begin loosening my tie as we exit the building, and by the time I’m inside the vehicle, it is undone for me to hand it out the window to Skylar. “I expect everything to be ready when I get home. The tie was a gift.”
“Do you need—”
“No. This I have to do on my own.”
Skylar stays behind as we drive off, and I direct the driver to First Methodist Hospital. It is a tense ride, at least for me, and I try to distract myself by catching up on my other missed messages. My texts are mostly business-related but a few are for pleasure. I can get practically anything and everything I want by way of the contacts on my phone, sex included.
Such as the reminder from a certain dancer named Rowan that we had plans for tonight. They are a particularly exquisite dalliance I indulge in from time to time, but I send them my apologies and the promise of a raincheck. I also have texts from dalliances Sandra and Kevin, but they can wait.
I scroll back up to Clara’s message and text her that I am on my way. We already agreed I am getting full custody. There is hardly any paperwork left. She isn’t fit to raise a child, and we both know it. Maybe I won’t be much better, but as soon as she told me she was pregnant and willing to have the child, whether to give it up for adoption or to turn it over to me, I’d felt a rare possessiveness and hadn’t hesitated to say I would raise the child myself.
I must have been out of my mind because “baby proofed” is the last thing my life is, let alone my penthouse.
Doesn’t matter now though. Because the one thing that is different about my routine these days is how, until recently, I would have been going home to a blessedly empty apartment. And now, I’m about to have company for the next eighteen years.
Chapter 1
BEAU
Ifeellikemystomach just dropped below sea level, especially at finally seeing the baby through the glass of the nursery, wrapped up in pink. I don’t know why I came here.
Well, Iknow, but it makes the weight of the folded-up papers in my pocket feel like a brick ready to weigh me down as I sink into my ocean of bad luck.
“You look about as devastated as I feel,” a low voice says, as another man takes the seat on the bench beside me. I hadn’t been aware of my surroundings enough to see him coming.
He makes me immediately self-conscious of my appearance, because he looks like a model or actor, complete with chiseled features, a slick dark suit, and he smellsamazing. Is that cedarand vanilla? The phrase “tall, dark, and handsome” was invented for guys like this, the James Bond types, without a hair out of place. He’s either Bond or Bruce Wayne with his flawless black hair and piercing blue eyes.
Comparably, I must look like a schlub in my old paisley tie that could just as easily be from the 1980s as the 2010s. Not to mention the hole in the seam of my slacks on the side facing him.
I run a hand back through my messy brown curls in a vain attempt to look presentable. “Devastated?” I repeat.
He gestures through the glass, as a nurse goes in to set a blue-wrapped bundle in the bassinet beside the one I’d been staring at. “I’m the father.”
“Oh. I’m not.” I feel the weight of the man’s eyes on the side of my face. It’s easier to keep staring forward, as I lift a hand toward the pink bundle. “My ex-wife’s. Almost ex.Shethinks ex, but I… I’ve been awful, and I haven’t finished signing the paperwork or sent it to the judge yet to make it official. She was four months along before she told me the baby wasn’t mine. I guess I just needed to see it—her—in order to let go.” Reaching into my pocket, I pull out the divorce papers to stare at them instead.
“You brought the paperswith you?Maybe you’re more devastated than I am.”
I sniffle, shaking myself from my reverie. “Sorry. But wait. Why areyoudevastated? Not ready to be a dad?”
“Hardly,” the man snorts. “I didn’t get the luxury of four months. My ex—long past ex—called a few weeks ago. I’m getting full custody, and it may be the biggest mistake of my life.”
“She doesn’t want the baby?”
“We broke up for many reasons, but her being less than responsible played its role.”
“But you asked for full custody?”
“The request spilled out of me, and during these weeks when I could have taken it back, I didn’t. I’m bringing it home—himhome. I have no idea what I’m going to do afterward. I’m not usually family friendly.” He grins. He is devastatingly handsome. Like, the kind of handsome that makes me wonder if Bellamy has a point about trying guys again. I can’t flirt with the random man I met in the maternity ward though. He just became a dad! He’s probably straight.
I notice he isn’t wearing a tie when he reaches up to undo his top shirt button. I wonder if he was wearing one earlier since he is so otherwise put together. “Well, you’re here,” I say. “You’re going to bring him home. That’s a good start. I couldn’t wait to be a dad. I’ve always wanted a family of my own. I guess I wanted it so badly, I didn’t realize how one-sided my marriage was until it was over. Now, I have to let her go. Both of them…”
After taking a deep breath, I start patting myself down for a pen. I could have sworn I brought one with me.
A very nice and expensive looking pen is thrust in front of my face. I take it, noticing the lettering on the side that saysAnders Enterprises. “Thanks.” I sign the papers quickly, messily but legible. “Anders, huh? You work for them? It’s like a really big player in investments or something, right?”
