Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Was she sure it was his?
What the f—
Did he honestly think she’d come to Texas just to trap him? “Honestly, I’ve never been so insulted.”
“Fair enough, but as you said it’s not like we know each other or that we were even in a relationship.”
He sounded so reasonable and she knew he was justified to ask questions. But she’d been dealing with a bunch of crap and she wanted just once to have a man step up and not look for an out. She shook her head.
“I don’t have a DNA test in my bag but I’m happy to take one,” she said. “It’s odd that you think of all the men I know you’d be my first choice to approach with my news if I weren’t absolutely certain.”
He shifted back against the seat of the swing and she noticed how his jaw tightened. She braced herself for an angry outburst. She’d read about his twin and that he was known for his hot temper and inability to control it.
“You’re right. You weren’t even coming to see me, were you?” he asked, standing up and walking a few feet from the swing. He put his hands on his hips and stared across his large backyard; and she noticed his head was bowed slightly.
He was complicated, this twin whom she didn’t know. And she realized she had been a bit touchy about the paternity of the baby, but it was one of her hot buttons. She got up and went over to him, putting her hand on the small of his back.
“A lot of the more salacious reports about me like to paint me as a carbon copy of my father—someone who’s insatiable when it comes to the opposite sex, jumping from bed to bed—but there isn’t much I can do about it.
Still, it does bother me,” she said. “To be fair my reaction to the news of this pregnancy was very similar to yours. It was only one time. But as my doctor said, that’s all it takes. ”
“Yeah, I know. I never meant to insult you,” Alec said. He turned to face her and one side of his mouth quirked in a tentative smile. “Seems I owe you another apology.”
“Apology accepted,” she said. He wasn’t what she expected. There was a humbleness and sincerity to him that she’d seldom encountered.
“Alec, would you and your guest like something to eat?” his housekeeper asked.
“Are you hungry?” he asked Scarlet in turn.
“I’m not, but if you are, please eat,” she said.
“I always have a snack after a polo match,” he said. “Please bring it out to the dining area, Rosa.”
“Si, Rosa,” he said, then spoke to her in Spanish.
Scarlet had only a rudimentary knowledge of the language, but she understood as he thanked Rosa for the food and told her that she could take the rest of the afternoon off to enjoy with her family.
Rosa smiled at him and put the tray on the table in the dining area under the trees.
“I asked Rosa to bring drinks for us... O’Malley’s Blonde Brew. But now I’m thinking you’d prefer juice or water?”
“Water would be great,” she said.
He gestured for her to go and have a seat at the table while he went to the bar area and opened a small refrigerator that had been built into the river stone.
As she sat down, she realized that this pregnancy situation was more complicated than she’d considered. Obviously, her first priority was to make sure that the child had a parent who loved her and put her first, but now there was more that she hadn’t thought of.
She’d never considered he’d suspect she was lying about him being the father.
She supposed his suspicion was fair enough, but it raised more questions.
She would have to be careful where she had the test. She wasn’t ready for the public to know about this pregnancy, not until she decided what she was going to do.
The tabloids would have a field day with this story.
She didn’t want her child to grow up with the stain of all the mistakes and tragedies that had dogged her life. She wanted a more protected upbringing for the child. The kind of childhood that a place like Cole’s Hill and a family like the Velasquezes could provide.
She wanted the baby to have the kind of family that Alec seemed to have. But she knew firsthand that appearances could be deceiving.
“You look very pensive,” he said.
“Wow. That’s not a word I usually hear applied to me.”
“I expect you’re more used to sexy, glamorous, trendsetting,” he said.
She shrugged. She’d cultivated an image for herself and a lifestyle to fill the emptiness left by the death of her mother and her father’s distance.
“Maybe. What words would describe you, Alec?” she asked. It was time to stop dwelling on what she knew—she wasn’t an ideal candidate to become a mother—and find out if he had the qualities to be a good father.
“I want to say dangerous, sexy—of course—and I’m... That’s where it breaks down. Honestly, I’m reliable. And tenacious—I can’t let things go. Also, according to my brothers, I’m a sore loser.”
She laughed at that. “I am, too. I don’t see the point in pretending I’m okay with losing. If I compete I’m doing it to win.”
He nodded, moving the cloche off the tray and pulling his plate toward him. She noticed that it was nachos. “Do you mind if I eat? Are you sure you don’t want anything?”
“I think you better. Don’t want to see you hangry.
I’m okay,” she said, realizing that she sort of liked this man.
She wasn’t going to rush to judgment because there was a lot about him she didn’t know.
But he’d been honest with her today, and after the big lie that had started their. ..well, relationship...she needed that.
She sipped her water while they exchanged opinions on books, music, TV and movies. He did everything digital—watched it all on apps.
“But I do have a library in my house,” he added. “As much as I prefer the convenience of digital, I like seeing books on my shelves.”
She did, too. She was surprised at how much they had in common. It gave her hope that he might be the solution she’d been searching for.
“What else do you prefer?”
“Not lying to you,” he said.
“Me, too,” she said. “I’d like to see more of this place.”
“I’m done here,” he said. “Let’s go.”
He offered her his hand, and when she took it, a shiver went up her arm. She wanted to be smart about this thing with Alec. Keep it all about the baby. But a part of her liked him and still wanted him.
After he ate, Alec took her on a tour of his gardens. His mind was roiling with so many different thoughts it was hard to focus.
He’d never been so careless in his dating life. But to be honest there was something about Scarlet that was different from any other woman. There had been a spark when he’d first been introduced to her at the gala and it hadn’t lessened at all over time.
“Scarlet isn’t a typical Irish name, is it?” he asked as they strolled down a path lined by rosebushes in full bloom.
“No. Not at all. My mom picked our names. She loved Gone with the Wind. She loved how it was the strength of the women that kept everything going. She wanted my sister and me to have that same strength. So she named Tara after the plantation and me after Scarlett O’Hara.
She never really liked Melanie so that wasn’t an option. ”
“I love that. I’ve never read Gone with the Wind,” he admitted.
Scarlet shook her head, her long blond hair brushing her shoulders as she smiled over at him. “Me neither. But I have seen the movie numerous times.”
Suddenly, the smile left her face and he realized that there was more to the story. Should he push or just let it be? He wanted to know more but he was actually enjoying not being in constant conflict with her. He didn’t want to have to apologize again.
“My brothers and I are all named after our ancestors,” he said.
“That’s nice,” she said. Then, without missing a beat, she blurted, “What are we going to do about this baby?”
This baby.
Not our baby or her baby. This baby. Was she trying to figure out what kind of man he was before she included him in her life and the baby’s life?
Was he reading too much into her word choice?
“I don’t know. I think if you aren’t opposed we’ll have a DNA test,” he said.
“I’m not opposed. It will make my lawyers happier, as well. I’m not scheduled to start shooting my reality show again until late October,” she said. “I’d like to keep this quiet until then.”
“That suits me. I do have to go to the West Coast in the morning. It’s not something I can put off. Will you be here when I get back? I don’t mind coming to New York to see you. Mauricio and Hadley have a place there that I can use as my base.”
“I think I’ll stay here,” she said. “For now.”
“I’ll leave you the numbers for my sister and Hadley, so you aren’t alone,” he said.
“I have Billie and another friend here with me, and Hadley already gave me her number,” Scarlet said.
“That’s good,” he said. She realized he was mentally going through some list and he’d switched from being relaxed into some sort of business mode. It was interesting to watch.
“Also, I was invited to book club with Hadley and her sister so I have that to look forward to,” she said.
“Book club? You know they just go to a bar and hang out, right?”
“I do.” She waited to see if he was going to try to tell her not to go.
“I guess that sounded a bit judgy.”
“Yeah, just a bit,” she said. “One thing you should know about me, Alec, I’m not stupid. I play a role for my reality show and social media but that’s not really me.”
“I get that. I sort of clean up the online profiles of large companies and people in the public eye who stand to lose a lot if their image doesn’t jibe with the expectation of who they are,” he said. “I never thought you were stupid, Scarlet.”
“What do you think about me?” she asked. “You’ve never said. I mean I know I shocked the heck out of you by showing up here, but beyond that, I don’t know what you think.”
“That’s a loaded question,” he said, stopping in the middle of the willow branch arbor and turning to face her.
The scent of jasmine was strong here; she realized that someone had woven the climbing vine into the willow branches above their head.