Page 67 of Pure Seduction (Chamberlin Brothers 1)

“Hi,” he said, and I knew I needed to pull my shit together, and fast, or risk looking like a total fucking weirdo.

“Hi. I’m looking for—”

“My mom?”

Something about the way he said that was both judgmental and protective.

“Uh, yeah. I know it’s early, but I thought I’d catch her before work.”

He eyed me closely, then crossed his arms over his chest. Protective was the exact right word. With that one simple move, he was telling me loud and clear that to get to her, I had to go through him.

“She’s not here.”

“Oh.” Well, shit. Where the hell had she gone? It was too early for her to have gone to work, and—

“Do you want to come in? I can text her.”

And warn her I was there? I wasn’t sure that was such a good idea.

“She left to try to find you this morning. She’ll want to talk to you.”

Before I could even register that he knew who I was, the kid turned and walked off into the house, leaving me to make the decision on my own.

Stay or go…

I looked over my shoulder at my car and knew that was the easy way out of all of this. Just get in my car and leave. Hell, if I really wanted to, I could drive straight to the airport and be on a plane by noon. But when I looked to the open door in front of me, I knew I’d forever wonder what would’ve happened if I’d decided to walk through it.

With my decision made, I stepped inside the house and quietly closed the door behind me. As I moved out of the foyer and into the living room, I spotted the couches with pillows and throws facing a fireplace and TV, and had to hand it to Laurel. She’d created a home that felt like a warm embrace the second you stepped inside.

“I was making breakfast. Are you hungry?”

I quickly turned, feeling as though I was doing something I shouldn’t, and then I realized I hadn’t actually introduced myself yet.

Yeah, the guy knew who I was, that much was clear. But we were still circling each other with no names or formal introduction.

Trying to act like the adult in the house, I stepped forward and held my hand out. “I’m Noah, by the way.”

He looked at my hand and then reached out and took it. “I know who you are. I’m Jake.”

When we let go, we slipped our hands into our pockets at the same time and froze, and that rush of blood and ringing in my ears started up again.

Shit. Holy fucking shit. Ryan’s right. But that means—

“So you want some breakfast?”

I blinked several times and could feel my heart pounding a million miles an hour. Fuck, at this rate I might just have a heart attack.

How could this be happening? How could it be…real?

“The kitchen’s this way,” Jake said, and then walked off down the hall, and as I watched him go, I could barely wrap my head around what I was finally realizing.

Laurel had a son, and so, apparently, did I.

33

Laurel

I DRUMMED MY fingers against the steering wheel as I stared at the front door of Wilhelmina’s, and for the first time ever I was nervous to go inside. I’d been thinking about this all night, ever since Jake and I returned home. But as I sat here now running through all of the things I wanted to say, I wondered if any of them were enough.

How did you tell a man that seventeen years ago you had his son but then made a deal where you couldn’t tell him about it? It was an impossible conversation. There were no words. None that would soften the blow, anyway.

I closed my eyes and thought of the conversation I’d had yesterday with Jake. He’d been pretty quiet when we got home, still processing all that he’d learned. But I could tell his curiosity was starting to get the better of him when he began to ask some questions.

How did you two meet? What was Noah like as a kid? Am I like him in any way?

I’d answered every question and then some, and my only hope now was that, after the initial shock and anger he would no doubt feel, Noah somehow managed to find a way to accept Jake and eventually meet him. After all, this was my doing, not Jake’s, and he shouldn’t be punished for that.

With newfound determination, I shoved open the car door and made my way up the front steps, and the second I stepped inside, I was bombarded with the delicious aroma of baked goods. I wasn’t here for comfort food, however, even if the thought of a freshly made cinnamon roll sounded like heaven right now.

A quick look at the check-in desk told me that Willa must still be in the kitchen. So I snuck over, and was about to “hack in” and get Noah’s room number, when the sound of someone clearing their throat made me snatch my hands away from the keyboard.

---