Never to Love (13 page)

“I have no idea why it matters to either one of you, but it’s light brown. Well, it was the last time I saw it. Who knows what it looks like now.”

Thankfully, their ridiculous curiosity was sated and the car fell into a comfortable silence. When I looked in the mirror again, I figured out why. The kid had fallen asleep.

Thank God.

Thomas

Juli was ready to bolt, but I wasn’t ready to let her.

After having her orgasmic endeavor interrupted mid-thrust, not only had she voluntarily driven me to the police precinct but she sat with my son and was currently driving us home. And not once had she complained—out loud anyway.

My outburst of laughter frightened her a little I think, but I couldn’t help myself. When I’d left her with Colton at the station, she looked like she was living out her worst nightmare. Julianne Griffith was definitely not a kid person. So when she began joking around with an eight-year-old, it had been so unexpected, I’d lost control.

“Will you come in with us?” I asked hopefully. “He’s not going to sleep through being moved from the car to his bed, and he’ll be really disappointed if he wakes up and you aren’t there. You did promise him you’d stay for a little while.”

Shoulders slumping, her eyes closed, and she sighed in defeat. “Fine, but just until he goes back to sleep. I really do have a busy day tomorrow.”

“Thank you.”

Colton was taller than the last time I’d carried him, but he didn’t feel much heavier when I lifted him from the car. “I can’t get to my keys, will you get them for me?” I asked when the three of us made it to the porch.

“Let me guess, they’re in your front pocket.”

A wicked grin was the only answer I had to give before she reached in and fished them out while carefully avoiding my dick. If I hadn’t been holding my kid, my dick and I most definitely would have protested.

As if calling me a liar, Colton was out cold for the walk from the car to his room, barely stirring until I settled him into bed. The bed he hadn’t slept in for months, thanks to Natalie.

“Is Juli still here?” he asked, hovering in the space between sleep and wake.

“Yeah, she’s in the other room.”

The shit-eating grin on his face was like looking in a fucking mirror. “Good.”

“Why did you hug her and ask her to come home with us?”

“Have you ever hugged her?” he asked.

“Yes.” Had I? Surely at some point, while doing things he would never be old enough to hear, there must have been something that qualified as a hug.

“Why?”

“Because she’s hot,” was probably not the right answer to give a pre-pubescent boy, which of course I didn’t think about until after I’d said it.

His grin widened and he rolled over. That boy was definitely my child. I ducked and kissed the top of his head and then ruffled his hair. “Night, kid.”

“Night.” When I was halfway to the door, I heard him ask, “Is Mom coming home tomorrow?”

“I don’t know, buddy.”

“I hope I get to stay with you for a while.”

“Me too, kid.”

When I closed the door to Colton’s room, I nearly collapsed as I let reality sink in. What an absolute clusterfuck.

“I think I’m going to head—” Juli went silent when she saw me leaning against the wall in the hallway. If I looked anything like I felt, I looked like absolute shit.

“What’s wrong?” she asked quietly, coming to stand beside me.

Not wanting to risk Colton waking up and hearing a word of what I was about to say, I grabbed Juli’s hand and led her through the door across the hall and to the left.

“I don’t think now is the best time, Thomas,” she said while surveying the master bedroom.

“Agreed. I didn’t bring you in here for that. It was close, and I didn’t want to wake Colton up.” The urge to pace was strong, but I lacked the energy to follow through. “I just need to lie down for a bit.”

“Then I should go.”

“Please stay. There’s so much shit going through my head, and I can’t even begin to process it.”

“What happened? Why was Colton at the police station?”

Unable to remain upright, I flopped onto the bed and draped my right arm across my eyes.

“His mother, Natalie, was arrested earlier in the evening. He had to sit there alone,” my voice caught on the thought of what he must have gone through, “for hours. And you know why? Because fucking Natalie wouldn’t tell the police who his father is. Social Services was called, and they tracked me down from our mountain of court records. If you hadn’t been there—if you hadn’t acted so quickly—he would have had to spend the night in an emergency foster home.”

Juli’s voice came from beside me. Moving my arm to look, I found her lying on her side, facing me. “You made it and he’s safe—that’s what’s important.”

“True. I hate Natalie for what she did, though. She’s always made it difficult for me to spend time with Colton, and she goes through phases where she seems to be actively hiding him from me. The last eight times I went to pick him up for the weekend, they were nowhere to be found. And when I did get my Tuesday visits, they were always so short we barely had time to do anything. A couple of years ago when she behaved this way, I sued and was awarded joint custody, but my visitation wasn’t increased. A few weeks ago, my attorney filed paperwork seeking full custody.”

Juli was lying quietly watching me, waiting for me to continue if I wanted, but not pushing for me to talk. If the situation had been reversed, I’d have had a million questions.

“Apparently, she’s been scamming guys for years. She had three other men believing they were Colton’s father. She even had fake paternity test results and told them she wouldn’t take them to court for child support as long as they paid her under the table. So, not only had she cheated on me, but she used her own son,
my
son, as a pawn in some fucked-up game.”

“Holy shit,” she whispered. The utter disbelief in her words was genuine.

“Yeah. So, if you ever wondered why I have my rules, she’s the main reason.”

“How were you able to keep yourself together tonight? I mean, you seemed tired earlier, but you didn’t let on things were so bad.”

“I didn’t allow myself to think about it until Colton was asleep in his bed.”

“Maybe I should sign you as a client.”

How she got me to chuckle, however weakly, I didn’t know.

“He seemed fine, too, though. A little clingy, but how upset could he be if he was asking about my hair?”

“I think he likes you.”

“I’m not sure if you noticed,” she said in a way that told me I definitely had, “but I don’t do the whole kid thing. As a general rule, I don’t like them, and they certainly don’t like me.”

“I think you’re wrong on both counts. Did you have many friends growing up?” I asked.

“Not really.”

“Any nieces or nephews?”

“No.”

“Younger siblings?”

“Only child.”

“I don’t think you hate them. You’re just inexperienced, which makes you uncomfortable.” I couldn’t help but chuckle at the recent memory. “You looked like you were about to puke when I left you alone with Colton earlier.”

“That’s because I was.”

“On the way home, you loosened up and were joking with him.”

“He’s not so bad, I guess. But if you tell anyone I said that I will castrate you.”

“Natalie will probably be released on bail tomorrow, but the detective said I’ll get to keep Colton until we get an emergency hearing in family court. Said based on the circumstances, I shouldn’t have any trouble getting full custody, even if it’s just until her criminal case is resolved.

“I’m sorry for babbling so much. Tonight was supposed to be a quick fuck, and I dragged you into all of this.”

“It’s okay.” She yawned and shifted toward the edge of the bed.

As soon as Juli stood, she wobbled on her feet. Based on her height, or lack thereof, she couldn’t blame her shoes.

“You should stay. I know it’s not extremely late, but we’ve had a rough few hours. I have a guest room you could use.”

“I’ll be okay.” She yawned again and then looked longingly at my king-size, pillow-top mattress.

“Maybe I’ll just take a twenty-minute power nap,” she said as she slipped out of her dress, draped it neatly over the back of a nearby chair, and then climbed back onto the bed.

Without another word spoken between us, we both fell asleep.

*

When I woke the next morning, I found Juli sound asleep in my bed. It was hard to believe the young woman who slept so peacefully was the same vixen who’d been sucking me off the night before.

I didn’t want to wake her, but I remembered her mentioning she had a busy day and didn’t want her to oversleep. Moving closer, I ran my fingers through her hair. When she didn’t stir, I moved my hand to her upper arm and half-whispered her name.

Finally, she rolled and stretched, slowly coming around. Confusion marred her face as she realized she wasn’t in her own bed.

“Hi,” I whispered.

“Oh, shit.” Scrubbing her hands over her face, she groaned. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep. What time is it?”

“Almost six thirty.” My response incited another groan as she pulled the pillow from under her head and clamped it over her face. “What time do you have to be at work?” I asked.

Shifting the pillow, she said, “First meeting’s at ten. What about you?”

“I’m going to stay home with Colton today.”

“Doesn’t he have school?” she asked.

“After everything that happened last night, I think it’s best if he took the day off.”

Moving the pillow to her waist, she stared at the ceiling and sighed. “I should go. If I leave now, I might be able to sleep another hour before I have to get ready for work.”

“Or you could go back to sleep now, and I’ll wake you in an hour.”

“I’ve already stayed too long. Besides, wouldn’t it be bad if I’m still here when Colton wakes up?”

“I think he’d be disappointed if he woke up and you were gone.”

“Why do you think that? I don’t get why you think he likes me.”

“Well, I talked to him a little when I put him to bed last night. Let’s just say he’s male, you’re hot, and he’s definitely my kid.”

“Oh, God. I can’t believe there are two of you.”

“Just sleep for another hour, and when you wake up, you can take off even if he’s still asleep.”

“How very generous of you,” she deadpanned.

“If you’d prefer, I can express my generosity in other ways.”

“Hmm. Sleep or morning sex…”

As she made a big to-do over her imaginary mental debate, I reached for her body, taking the decision out of her hands and into my mouth.

Juli

Some days, I think it would be easier if I took my two clients and broke out on my own. What was supposed to be a standard meeting to provide status updates and such turned into a whine-fest. Everyone wanted their clients to have as much exposure as mine, but they didn’t do the fucking work to make it happen. Was I solely responsible for Marina and Tate’s success? No. Did I play a large part in it? Yes.

The only good thing about this meeting was the timing. After hearing a rundown of everyone’s top three clients, it was easy to pick one to help me with my project.

“Hey, Saul, got a minute?” I asked the older rep I’d canceled on a few times. One of his clients was an up-and-coming actor who had a small part in Marina and Tate’s last joint film. My question was rhetorical; everyone always had time for me. They’d be stupid not to.

“What can I help you with?” he asked, basking in the light of my attention.

“I need a partial solar eclipse. Brady up for it?”

“Tell me when and where.”

“Tomorrow night? Someplace low-key. You can alert three outlets.” With Brady’s current level of fame, three would draw in a decent number of photogs, but not enough to cause a stampede. If I were to call three, the police would have to be brought in for crowd control.

“Brady and his girl are on the outs. I’ll need to find a suitable stand-in.” Saul stood in front of me with a contemplative expression.

“I don’t want it to be anyone with a name of their own.” Two celebrities going on a first date, no matter how low on the food chain they are, would draw way more attention than I needed.

“Is there anyone in your camp up for the job?” he asked.

Apparently having his client in the foreground of photos that would go viral in less than four hours wasn’t enough motivation for Saul to find a girl himself. Instead, he was negotiating for an even stronger perceived link between our clients. Suddenly the story goes from looking like a coincidence, to being billed as a double date, to Brady and Tate being BFFs.

“How about Drew?” Marina’s female bodyguard was both tough and gorgeous, but she’d managed to keep a relatively low profile over the years. It could backfire if she were recognized, but if shit did hit the fan I’d want her as close as possible anyway.

“Deal.”

“I’ll text you the details. Tell Brady to be ready to hit the road by eight.”

“You got it,” he replied and then headed out.

As usual, my plan was flawless. The paps would swarm Brady, and later, when they looked through their spoils, they’d see an incognito Marina and Tate in the background of the frame. If they were too stupid to see the Easter egg I’d so generously given them, once everyone was safely home, I’d subtly point the idiots in the right direction.