Page 13 of Baby By my Best Friend's Daddy

“I’m not,” I said. “He grew up with you.”

“That’s the problem. I’m hismom.”

I tried not to be offended that she insinuated I wasn’t hisdad, but I understood what she was saying.

When we ended the call, my mind was full of memories of the night with Rebecca. It had been an incredible night. I would have wanted more of it, more ofher.

She’d made it perfectly clear it couldn’t happen, though, and she was right. We didn’t belong together.

I stared at my laptop screen for a while before I finally decided to give Stanton a call. The sooner I handled his drama, the better.

By the time the day was done, I was on edge and irritated. It had been a good day as far as business went. I’d received spreadsheets that showed our revenue for the month, and we were rolling in money. The company was doing great. It was the kind of business I was happy to pass on to Brad one day.

I drove home, feeling like I should be in a good space, but I wasn’t.

When I stopped in front of the large colonial house I’d bought back when I’d made my first million, the windows were dark. I pulled into the automated garage and walked into the house.

There were no sounds of laughter, no smell of home cooking in the air, no light on, and no family to welcome me home.

God, I was getting sick and tired of being alone. What good was all the hard work I did, the big house, the money when I had no one to share it with?

I flicked on lights as far as I walked, trying to breathe life into the large house.

In the kitchen, I found a beer and cracked it open. I didn’t feel like cooking—beer could work for a meal, right?

I groaned. I was just going to go to bed feeling bloated and pissed off if I had beer for supper.

I tapped my foot on the marble floor, looking around. I didn’t want to watch television or work more. I was tired of staring at a screen. What else was there?

It took only a moment for me to get over being lonely in the big house. I grabbed my keys, phone, and wallet and walked into the garage again. I got into my car and drove back into town.

While I drove, I dialed Ted’s number.

“Where are you?” I asked.

“I’m getting lubricated at Lavande.”

“It never sounds good when you say it that way.” Lavande was a five-star restaurant with a beautiful separate bar area, and it was Ted’s favorite hangout when he wasn’t at Cavaliers HQ.

He laughed. “Join me. I have a seat with your name on it and a bartender who’s eager to be our personal server for the evening.”

“I’m on my way,” I said.

When I walked into Lavande, the servers all greeted me by name. I walked through to find Ted at the bar. His black hair was getting grayer by the day, but when he turned his gunmetal eyes to me, they danced with youthful laughter.

“You look like you need a drink.”

“I could do with a bottle,” I said and sat down.

Ted was a Cavalier, and we often saw each other at Cavaliers HQ, but he wasn’t like the rest of them. He was single and childless—I only knew it bothered him because he’d told me how much he would have liked to have a legacy. He just couldn’t have kids. Because of his situation, he’d decided to live life to the fullest, doing things other guys with families couldn’t. He drank all the time, tried out every bar and restaurant in town, traveled whenever he felt like it, and spent all his cash on private jets and yachts.

“Rough day?” Ted asked.

“You have no idea,” I said. “Good day at the office, but a rough day, anyway.”

“Do you know what you need?” Ted asked.

“To drink until I forget?”

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