15. James
15
JAMES
“ D addy, what’s wrong?”
Harper looked up from her bowl of cereal with worried eyes.
I placed my phone down on the table, perplexed at how my daughter could’ve pick up my displeasure even when I hadn’t said a word. I was pretending to eat breakfast while Harper and Kaitlyn did it for real. My focus was on the avalanche of bad news on my phone.
“What makes you think something is wrong, sweetheart?”
“You keep making that mad noise.” She furrowed her brow and made a few grunting sounds, pretending to look at an invisible phone in her hand. Kaitlyn giggled into her coffee cup next to Harper.
“Do I really do that?” I asked in a teasing voice. “You think Daddy sounds like a grumpy bear?”
She nodded and scooped the last bite of cereal into her mouth, leaving a dribble of milk on her chin.
“Like… this ?” I leaned toward her and let out a Disney-monster growl right in her ear, causing Harper to shriek and jump.
“Daddy!”
Once the laughter died down I realized that Harper needed an explanation. Ever since her kidnapping, I tried to be honest with her, shielding her from harsh truths but sharing the types of ups and downs I knew she could handle.
“I’m not mad, sweetheart, I’m just a little unhappy because I saw some photos of me that I didn’t like.”
“Pictures of what?”
There was no way I was going to let on the paparazzi had been at it again. “Just pictures of me being silly. I like to be silly in private with you. But no one else needs to see that, right?”
“I like it when you’re silly, Daddy.”
“You’re my favorite person to be silly with,” I promised. “But I’m still not very happy with these pictures someone took.”
“Daddy, can I make you a nice picture that will make you happy? So you can forget about the bad silly pictures on your phone?”
“I would love that, sweetheart.”
Harper jumped off her chair and started running toward the makeshift classroom in the library.
“Excuse me, young lady,” I called to her. “Your bowl to the sink, please.”
Kaitlyn gave me a nod as Harper trudged back and grabbed her bowl.
“Thank you,” Kaitlyn and I said in unison.
Once she was out of the room, I picked up my phone again. It had been forty-eight hours since I’d impulsively kissed Kaitlyn, and we still hadn’t talked about it. Without Harper as a buffer between us the air felt thick. I wasn’t sure we’d ever talk about it, to be honest. I had thought we were moving forward after the kiss…but when the song changed to a pulsing EDM tune, everyone had run back to the dancefloor, and Kaitlyn had stepped away.
I was determined to respect her decision, to not do anything that might make her feel uncomfortable or pressured—but damn, I couldn’t stop myself from wishing she’d change her mind.
So we were stuck in an uncomfortable limbo, pretending that it didn’t happen.
It didn’t help that Kaitlyn looked absolutely gorgeous in the morning light. Her hair was in a loose braid that trailed over her bare shoulder. Her fair skin had the slightest golden cast, like she’d forgotten to wear her sunscreen a few times on her daily runs. She was sitting with her leg kicked up on the chair and her arm draped over it, a casual pose that telegraphed how at home she felt here.
“May I ask what the photos were of?” Kaitlyn said, startling me out of my examination of her.
I grumbled for real this time. “Just the usual tabloid bullshit about how I’m ‘out of control’ and partying too much. Someone was taking photos of me at Club Obsidian, and they look pretty incriminating.”
I might able to threaten the website into taking them down. But probably not before Harper’s maternal grandparents saw them.
“Can I look?” She held out her hand and I scrolled to the picture and handed my phone to her.
I watched her face cycle through surprise and displeasure as she flicked her finger along the screen. “I’m in a bunch of them too.”
It was true. Kaitlyn was seated next to me in a few photos from the end of the night, and the angle made it look like she was practically in my lap. Nearly every posted photo showed me throwing back a clear liquid in a tumbler with ice. The implication was that I was downing vodka by the gallon. I guess the truth—that I’d been drinking water—was less likely to get clicks.
“‘The party doesn’t stop when you’re at the top’?” Kaitlyn read the headline. “Ugh, that’s awful.”
“Look at the last series of photos.”
“They got us leaving Club Obsidian too? Oh my God, Hope looks wasted .”
“Did you see the shot of me with my head back and my eyes closed? I was literally blinking but it makes me look like I’m about to pass out.”
Her face was grim when she handed my phone back. “I’m sorry.”
“Let’s talk about something positive. How is Harper’s progress coming along? Anything new to report in the past day or so?”
Kaitlyn glanced toward where Harper had disappeared. “Actually, yes.” She sat up a little straighter. “Harper and I walked all the way down to the storage shed! We’ve been working on breathing techniques, and I paired the exercise with walking, so before she knew it we were there. I got a little nervous once she realized how far we were from the house, but luckily we spotted a bird’s nest so I was able to get her to focus on that instead. Then we started the breathing again and walked back to the house.”
I couldn’t believe it. The storage shed was halfway down the driveway, farther than any of us had gotten her to go. “That’s incredible.”
“What’s ‘credible?” Harper asked, zipping back into the dining room clutching markers and a sheet of paper.
“You are,” I replied. “Now let’s get you moving on that picture, because I need to start my day.”
Harper was already back in her chair with her tongue jutting out of the corner of her mouth as she concentrated all her attention on drawing.
I took the opportunity to check my messages and was hit with yet another bombshell. A text from my PA Ella telling me that the woman I was relocating to Raleigh to manage my new club was opting out due to a better offer from that asshole Lucas. She was still in the building, and Ella was begging me to come in to work my magic.
“There’s that noise again, Daddy,” Harper said, her eyes flicking between her drawing and my face.
“Whoops. Your Daddy just has a lot going on.” I shot a look at Kaitlyn and frowned. “I need to head out.”
She nodded. “Okay, take care. We’ll see you when we see you.”
I pushed the chair back and started to stand.
“Daddy, no! Look at what I made for you,” Harper said, thrusting the drawing toward me.
I walked over to her and studied it. “Tell me what I’m seeing.”
She beamed at me. “It’s a family picture. That’s me,” she pointed to a little blob in the middle of the page. “And that’s you holding my hand. And that’s Kaitlyn holding my other hand.”
I hid my shock that my daughter had included Kaitlyn in a family image. But it made sense. She was a big part of my daughter’s life, and she was becoming a very important part of mine, too.
One that I couldn’t stop thinking about.
I glanced over at Kaitlyn, and when our eyes met her face was unreadable.
“It’s a wonderful drawing, thank you Harp,” I said, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. “I love it.”
I turned to leave.
“Daddy! Take it with you!”
I paused then turned back to my daughter. “Of course I will. I’ll keep it in my briefcase, okay?”
“Okay! And look at it when you feel sad. Because whenever we’re all together you act happy!”
My daughter was too damn perceptive.
“You’re right.”
I didn’t dare look at Kaitlyn again. The implication of what Harper had picked up on wasn’t lost on me, just as I’m sure Kaitlyn noticed it too. The fact that the three of us had an easy, warm connection. That we liked being together. And that everything felt better when we were.
I tossed my keys to Devon our valet and sped through the lobby, my mind spinning. I knew that Catherine was our top choice to relocate. I didn’t want to lose her because of what she could bring to the table but, more importantly, because there was no way I was going to let Lucas win again . He made her an offer she couldn’t refuse? Mr. Rushing was about to find out how easily I could top him.
Ella was waiting for me clutching her tablet, looking green.
“Hi James, thank you for getting here so quickly. She’s in your office.”
“Did she give you a number? How much is he offering her?” I didn’t even bother with pleasantries, but Ella was used to it.
She shook her head. “She wanted to wait to talk to you.”
“How receptive does she seem to negotiating?”
Ella squinted. “Hard to say? You know how Lucas is…he’s good at making promises.”
“And shitty at keeping them. Okay, let’s go.”
“One more thing…” Ella’s pretty face was frozen in a frown. She swallowed hard. “Someone is waiting to talk to you. He won’t give me his name.”
She pointed to a dark corner in the lobby where a man was hovering in the shadows. He strode over to me, reaching into the breast pocket of his blazer, which made me instinctively brace myself for whatever he was about to do. I quickly scanned him to assess the threat level. His suit was two sizes too big, and his shoes were the wrong color. The man clearly didn’t fit in. What could he possibly be doing here?
“James Morris?”
I gave him a curt nod, and he handed me an envelope. “You’ve been served,” he said, then turned and headed for the elevator.
My stomach seized. I tore it open, dread spreading through me as I skimmed through the document.
Mitch and Maureen Dresher were suing me for custody of Harper, claiming that I was an unfit parent. The frequent CPS visits made sense now; they were building a case against me. The frequency of them looked bad even though they never turned up a damn thing.
I crumpled the paper in my fist while trying to remain calm in front of Ella.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“I’m fine,” I lied.
There was nothing I could do about the lawsuit at the moment. I’d have to do what I always did in times of crisis, which was focus on the immediate. Right now I had to convince someone that Morris Enterprises had her best interests at heart, and that we valued our employees. I couldn’t even hint at the rage that was swirling inside of me.
I exhaled slowly, letting some of the tension drain from my face. My personal life remained private, despite what the tabloids seemed to think. I couldn’t let on about the turmoil I was feeling.
“Let’s go.”
Ella finally allowed a smile, knowing that I could make everything right.
Despite what the Dreshers seemed to think.