Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
natalie
WITHIN TWO MINUTES OF meeting my new lawyer, I knew two things to be true.
One, he did not remember meeting me six months prior in an Irish pub. He didn’t remember the drink we shared or how it had turned into two drinks, then three drinks, then maybe four.
Admittedly, that was probably why he didn’t remember.
But two, it bothered me that he didn’t remember.
It annoyed me that when we approached him in the lobby a few minutes ago, he introduced himself as though we’d never met before.
When he held out his hand for me to take in a firm shake, he didn’t blush or react like his skin was on fire.
And if there was any flicker of recognition in his system, he sure as hell didn’t let it show.
I didn’t typically let the behavior of men get under my skin. After years of enduring my ex-husband’s emotional abuse, gaslighting, and—the cherry on top—affair, I didn’t let men affect me.
Except…he had that night. Affected me, that is.
So shameful to admit, honestly.
I really shouldn’t let my brain wander into the details, not right now as he led me into his office, my brothers flanking me on either side.
I definitely should not be thinking about the way he’d pulled me onto the dance floor.
Or how he led me into the hallway next, outside the single stall bathroom that had one too many dicks drawn on the walls and a toilet with the handle you had to jiggle three times and cross your fingers to get to flush.
I didn’t need to think about the way he’d pushed me against the wall or dragged his lips up my neck until they hovered over mine, waiting for permission.
He never got it.
He’d given me a second to think, and then reality had cut through the alcohol haze, reminding me who I was: a single mom who had made a promise to herself not to do this.
I’d only gone out for a short celebration, something I’d wanted to do for myself but also had done at the behest of my daughter and my therapist, who both told me, in a different array of words, that I needed to loosen up.
But instead, I’d spiraled and then locked up in a handsome stranger’s arms. It had been the consequence of a surge of arousal and then the crash of awareness that I was out of my depth when it came to casual, sexual encounters in the twenty-first century—because yes, it did feel like my failed marriage lasted for an entire century and then some.
Now, that stranger was here, in front of me. And he wasn’t a stranger anymore.
Cameron Bryant, Attorney at Law.
My Attorney at Law.
Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit.
“Dr. London.”
His deep voice brought me back to reality, out of the memories of that drunken night that he was acting like didn’t exist. I glanced up at him to find a passive expression, patient as he waited for me to respond.
Again, no…awareness. No curiosity, no trying to puzzle out if maybe I was a face he’d seen before but couldn’t place.
His gaze was steady. Professional. No hint of recognition.
“I—I’m sorry,” I stuttered. I couldn’t believe I’d just stuttered, but I wasn’t used to talking to men this attractive, certainly not ones who knew the sensitive spots on my neck.
And I especially wasn’t used to men who called me Dr. London in contexts that had nothing to do with medicine. “Can you repeat the question?”
Mr. Bryant—if he was going to be respectful and formal, then so was I—flashed a generous smile that made heat rush to my cheeks.
God, what was wrong with me?
Actually, I knew what was wrong with me.
He had dimples, perfect indents in his light brown skin that made me want to melt.
Everything about him was warm, just like I remembered, and despite how he was acting, he felt oh so very familiar.
His smile was still kind, still picture-perfect, and his suit remained tailored precisely.
The only thing that was different was perhaps his insistent professionalism and his short, black hair, which had grown a little since I’d last seen him, enough that there was a bit more curl to it now.
“Of course. I just wanted to confirm the information from your email. You have full custody of Chloe at the moment?”
I cleared my throat. “Legal, yes.”
And I’d naively thought that after our initial custody proceedings ended last year, that wouldn’t be contested. But here we were.
“Which is, of course, the only acceptable arrangement,” Noah muttered beside me.
Cameron glanced at him, a twitch of his lips. But then he directed his attention back to me, ignoring my brother.
They were friends. Or friends of friends, I guess. Noah went to college with his sister, as I understood it. And one of Noah’s other friends from college, Julian, also worked at Gardner Law Firm. But clearly, my brother and Cameron weren’t close enough for us to have ever met before.
Not that I met a lot of my brothers’ friends, considering how busy work kept me now and how isolated my ex-husband made sure I was for years.
“And joint physical?” Cameron checked with me.
I nodded. “He gets two weekends a month.”
Blake, my oldest brother, muttered something under his breath about how it was two weekends too much.
“And a full week during winter and summer breaks,” I added.
“And you’d like to maintain this?” Cameron checked with me.
“Yes,” I confirmed. “I mean, I wouldn’t mind if it was less.
Which, I think, is what got us into this mess in the first place.
When Korey had to request permission to move a few hours away, I suggested that maybe we consider reducing his visitation or that he should be the one who is doing the driving.
” A heavy sigh fell through my lips. “Which, of course, pissed him off. I should have known better. Because now he’s gone way off the deep end and is trying to turn the tables, so Chloe lives with him instead. ”
Cameron nodded, taking that in. If he was surprised by Korey’s unusual, slightly extreme behavior, he didn’t act like it. “Do you think Chloe likes the schedule as it is now? Is there anything she talks about wanting to change?” he asked, adjusting his tie a little.
“Sometimes she grumbles about having to leave for the weekends with her dad, but I’m not sure she’d want to give them up, either.” I cocked my head to the side, considering. “She wants to see him, but she doesn’t love having to leave. If that makes sense?”
Cameron nodded, his voice understanding. “It does.”
“Abrams doesn’t give two shits about his daughter,” Noah added, but Cameron kept his attention on me, dark brown eyes flicking around my face, looking for something.
A reaction? I wasn’t sure. “He only began showing up for things in the last few weeks, when he started this whole mess. It’s like he’s playing a game. ”
“And what does he get by winning?” Cameron asked me, almost like Noah wasn’t in the room.
“Control,” I said. I’d been thinking about this question since I learned what Korey was trying to do.
“He regains some semblance of control in our lives. He didn’t like losing it.
All of his other reasons are just excuses, and I suspect he knows it.
But he’s trying to spin it to sound like it’s in Chloe’s best interests.
He’s saying that she’ll be close to his hometown, so his parents are nearby, along with the rest of his extended family, a big network of support.
That the schools are better there. That they have great skating programs for her.
That his work schedule is more predictable and less intense.
All this shit, just because he knows if he controls Chloe and brings her into his world, he’ll control me, too. ”
“He’s a narcissist,” Blake grunted from my other side.
Cameron nodded thoughtfully before leaning back in his chair. “Noah and Blake.” His eyes flicked to my brothers for the first time since we’d entered the room. “Could you please give me a moment alone with your sister?”
Both my brothers hesitated. I felt their eyes shift to me, looking for some kind of implication that I was okay with the idea of being left to my own devices.
It wasn’t until I nodded that they pushed out of their chairs and strode from Cameron’s office.
The door clicked behind them, but I still felt their presence, lingering.
Sure enough, when I peeked over my shoulder and through the slim window that ran the length of the door, Noah and Blake could be seen leaning in the hallway just outside, arms crossed, looks of concern on their faces.
“Noah’s a great guy, and I’ve always liked him,” Cameron said without much preamble.
He leaned forward across his desk, pinning me with a sincere look.
“And I’m sure I’d feel the same about Blake if I got to know him.
But your ex-husband is claiming that you rely entirely on others to support Chloe, and having your brothers too involved in this process is not going to make it any easier to combat his narrative. ”
“Doesn’t that make him a hypocrite?” I wrinkled my nose. “His support system being nearby is in Chloe’s best interests, but having mine be involved in her life means I’m not a good mom?”
“He’s absolutely a hypocrite,” Cameron said calmly. “I’m not denying that at all. I’m just looking out for the optics of the situation so we can set you up for success.”