Page 61 of Secret Baby with my Brother's Best Friend

He scrunched up his little nose, clearly wishing to argue with me so he could take the tie off. However, I knew my boy would never admit to being a little kid.

At length, he released a heavy sigh and answered, “Yes, I’m a big boy. But I can take it off when we leave, right? Right away?”

Grinning, I nodded. “Yes, you can, I promise.”

I took his hand, and we walked through the parking lot to the country club the rehearsal dinner was being hosted in. It was one of the swankier places in town and had a golf course stretching out behind it. It wasn’t a place I frequented, as I couldn’t afford it, but Jason was a member, so it was a foregone conclusion that they’d have something at the country club. I’d busted out my nicest dress and forced Henry to wear a little suit and tie, so that we could at least try and look like we belonged.

As we reached the door of the clubhouse, I squeezed Henry’s hand, feeling a buzz of anxiety when I spotted a cop standing just inside the entrance. It reminded me of my vandalized door and what Ryan had said about his VP wanting revenge. I’d done my best not to let him see how freaked out I was by that revelation, but standing out in public with Henry at my side, it was hard to tamp down my fear.

What if this Bill guy figured out that Henry was Ryan’s son? What would he do then?

I shook my head, banishing the thought as best I could. I needed to focus on the rehearsal dinner. We were supposed to be celebrating, and I didn’t want Jason to find out that I or Henry could be at risk.

Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and stepped inside the building, Henry in tow. The interior of the clubhouse was full of people, and that didn’t help my nerves. I scanned the crowd in search of any unfamiliar face, but nobody stood out. Eventually, my eyes landed on Jason and Mandy on the other side of the room, and to my relief, Ryan was standing with them.

“Come on, Henry,” I said. “Let’s go say hi to Uncle Jason and Mandy.”

“Okay.”

We weaved our way through the crowd until we reached the trio. Ryan spotted us approaching, and when he glanced down at Henry, he appeared surprised, but he quickly righted his features and put on a bright smile. Jason and Mandy turned to us at that moment and caught sight of us as well.

“Oh, my gosh!” Mandy exclaimed, rushing toward us with a huge smile. “Henry, look at you! You’re so handsome.”

Henry beamed at the compliment, his earlier annoyance at having to dress up seemingly forgotten.

“I wanted to look nice,” he said, puffing up his chest and acting all proud of himself. “Mama says it’s your special day.”

Mandy leaned down and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

“It is a special day,” she said. “And it’s even more special because of you, buddy.”

Henry’s cheeks turned pink, and I turned my head to hide my grin. It had been obvious for a while that Henry had a little crush on Mandy, though I was pretty confident he didn’t really understand what that meant. Still, he always liked to show off when Mandy was around and loved it when she showered him with attention.

I caught Ryan’s gaze and felt heat rush through me. He was staring at me with obvious desire, and it stole the breath right out of my lungs. What was he doing, looking at me like that in front of Jason? I bit my lip to stop from smiling at him as I narrowed my eyes into a playful glare.

He winked at me. I rolled my eyes.

Turning his gaze back down to Henry, Ryan bent down and said, “Hey, little guy. How are you doing?”

Henry turned his smile up to Ryan. “Hi, Ryan! I’m good!”

My heart warmed at the sight of the two interacting like this. I realized how much I’d been wanting this for Henry, but my anger and regret had blinded me to everything else. I’d been so worried about protecting my own heart from being broken again that I’d lost sight of what was best for Henry.

“Did you have a good day at school?” Ryan asked.

Henry shrugged. “It was okay.”

Ryan grinned. “Just okay?”

Henry crinkled his nose and said, “My friends Becky and Timmy were fighting and our teacher made them sit out of recess, but we were all supposed to play on the swings together, so I had to find something else to do and it was kind of boring.”

“Sorry to hear that, bud,” Ryan shook his head and patted Henry’s little shoulder, as though commiserating with him. “Did Becky and Timmy make up?”

“Yeah,” Henry nodded. “They said they were sorry and we got to color together before lunch.”

“Well that’s good!” Ryan exclaimed. “What’d you draw?”

Henry’s cheeks turned pink and he ducked his head to hide his shy smile.

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