Chapter 17
Brett
I’m feeding Maylee her morning cereal, making silly airplane noises, when Willow walks into the kitchen. Her hair is askew, her shorts are riding up her glorious butt a bit, and her nipples look pert under her tank top. In short, this woman is gorgeous and sexy as hell, but it’s like she doesn’t know it.
“Morning,” I greet. “I thought you’d sleep in more.”
“I’m good,” she yawns, scratching at her midriff. “How do I make coffee?”
I tilt my chin to the coffee machine and her eyes widen.
“That looks complicated.”
“We’re almost finished here. I’ll show you how it’s done,” I say as I feed a spoonful of oatmeal cereal to Maylee. “Yum, yum, yum,” I say, making a silly voice. When I look at Willow, she is staring at me funny. “What?”
“Nothing.” She blinks. “You’re so good with her.”
“I’m her daddy, I love her,” I say in an infantile voice.
Willow breaks into laughter. “I really don’t know you.”
I want to disagree but I don’t. I actually want to say she knows I can give her off-the-charts orgasms, which is why she is dreaming of me. Speaking of which. . .
“How did you sleep last night?” I ask. I place the last spoon of oatmeal in Maylee’s mouth and she swallows it down like a pro. I place one of her teethers in her hand and she brings it to her mouth. I get up and walk over to the coffee machine.
“The bed is amazing. I slept so well,” she says.
“Good. I’m glad.” I try to hide the heat I’m feeling over her sex dream. “This machine grinds fresh beans,” I begin to explain and Willow moves in closer to me. Close enough that I take in the scent of her floral shampoo. “You press this button and grind the beans, and then you fill this thing up right here, and place it here, and press a button. You’ll have the best coffee in your life. It’s a little old-fashioned but it came from Italy and the coffee is superb. I always love coming home to my coffee.”
My statement makes me think of the little things I used to look forward to when coming home after being on a sprint of away games. Now I have Willow and Maylee waiting for me, and it feels too damn good. “I’ll make you your first cup.”
I get to work making the coffee and using the frother to heat the milk. Then I add a spoon of sugar which I learned she likes back in Sugar Meadow.
“There you go,” I pass her the mug and our fingers brush. I feel the electricity between us from the small touch. Willow looks into my eyes. I watch her breath hitch, but she pulls her gaze from me like she is scared I will light her on fire. I may have been an intrusive asshole last night, staying at her door, listening in, but it gave me insight I didn’t have before. Willow wants me too and that knowledge is good for both of us in the long run.
“Wow, this is so good. You weren’t lying,” she groans and then holds the mug to her chest with both hands wrapped around it.
“Willow, there is one thing you need to know about me. I don’t lie. I’m a straightforward guy. I was honest with you the night we met. I am being honest with you now too.”
“That’s deep for a cup of coffee.” She giggles.
“Don’t do that,” I say, and her eyes turn round.
“What?” she asks with offense.
“You know what I’m talking about, Willow. I need you to know I’ll always give you the truth, no matter what. I don’t believe in games.”
“I appreciate that, Brett.” That’s all she says as she takes a seat at my kitchen table and drinks her coffee.
“Do you girls want to head out for breakfast?” I ask her.
“I’m starved.” She nods.
“Cool, I’m hungry too. I’ll go get dressed. But first I’ll get this little munchkin dressed,” I say lifting Maylee out of the high chair. I blow a raspberry on her belly and she laughs.
I head to Maylee’s room and dress her in a little jumper that has small flowers on it.
“Who’s my pretty girl?”
Her response is to smile and bat her thick dark lashes.
I place her in the crib with her mobile and she seems happy enough, so I go get dressed. Back in my room, I send my assistant, Stacia, a message asking if she can unpack our suitcases this morning while we go to breakfast. I get dressed in a pair of gray-colored jeans and an oatmeal-colored waffle Henley. I run my fingers through my hair and look in the mirror set up beside my closet on the wall.
You got to play your cards right with her. She wants you. Work your magic.
I shake out my shoulders a little, trying to take the edge off. I’ve never had to work for a girl before, yet it seems like I’ve been working for Willow since the first night we met.
I head out to the main room. Willow isn’t ready so I grab Maylee’s diaper bag, and I make sure it’s stocked with diapers, butt cream, and a change of clothes.
When Willow walks out of the room, my breath catches in my chest. She has her hair down in soft waves around her shoulders. She’s wearing a pair of baggy jeans with a heather-gray sweater that hangs off one shoulder. She looks beautiful and all I can think is I want to walk through life holding this woman’s hand and watching her smile because she doesn’t smile enough.
“Ready to go?” she asks, and she grabs the diaper bag.
“I got it ready; we just need some bottles, unless you’re up for breastfeeding.”
“I’ll breastfeed,” she confirms.
“Cool.”
We grab jackets and put on our boots. I wheel the stroller out into the hall. We get in the SUV and Willow’s cell rings.
“Aren’t you going to get it?” I ask.
“It’s Patty, I’ll talk to her later. Everyone wants to see us. I’ll see them when you are out of town.”
“You know the apartment is your home too. If you want to entertain or whatever, go ahead. I sent you Stacia’s contact. She can help out with whatever. I also asked her to come by this morning and unpack the suitcases.”
“You didn’t have to do that,” Willow replies.
“I wanted to spend the last day before going back to work with my girls. I didn’t want to spend it organizing clothes.”
Willow remains quiet.
“What kind of breakfast are you in the mood for? Bacon, eggs, pancakes, or some organic healthy stuff?” I ask.
“I could do either. I kind of feel like bacon and eggs, even though I should probably start eating a little healthier with all the weight I’ve gained,” she states, looking out the window.
“You’re perfect just the way you are, Honey.”
She turns to look at me and she fights a smile.
“What?” I ask.
“You need to stop talking like that,” she scolds.
“Never,” I say playfully. She shakes her head and breaks into laughter.
I pull into a spot in the parking lot at the restaurant. “Have you been here before?”
I ask.
“No.”
“They have good breakfast and lunch options. I come here with the team in the warmer months. They have a nice patio,” I explain.
We leave my SUV and head inside with Maylee in her stroller. A hostess seats us at a regular table instead of a booth so Maylee can stay in her stroller.
“This is a nice place,” Willow notes.
“The food is good too.”
“It feels good to be back in the city,” she says on an exhale.
“I’m glad you feel that way. I hate leaving you and Maylee, but I need you to promise me you’ll call me and keep me posted on things.”
“I can do that.” She nods. Things are cordial. Not exactly the way I want them but I’ll take what I can get. We brought Maylee inside in her car seat which snaps into the stroller since we didn’t need to wake her when we arrived.
The waitress comes to take our order.
“Hi, Brett,” she says. Shit. This isn’t good. I never slept with Tracy or was it Stacey? I just brought her to my apartment, couldn’t go through with sex and then we spoke about Willow.
“Hi, Tracy,” I greet.
“It’s Stacey.” She frowns, and I wince as my gaze lands on Willow.
She doesn’t react though. She just stays seated and smiles at me, so everything must be okay. I did say I came here with the guys a lot, so knowing the name of a waitress shouldn’t be a big deal.
Stacey takes our order and she gushes over a sleeping Maylee in her stroller.
When Stacey leaves, I am expecting to talk more with Willow but her eyes are glued to her cell. She’s chewing her lip nervously too.
“Is everything okay?” I ask.
“Hmm?” She lifts her head and looks at me like she didn’t hear the question.
“I asked if everything was okay?” I repeat nervously because Willow seems off.
She turns her phone to me. “Is this our waitress?” she asks, showing me an article written about my latest conquests. There is a snapshot of Stacey leaving my building with the title “Noble Strikes Again.”
Fuck me.
“That isn’t what you think,” I begin to mutter.
“I don’t care, Brett. I’m just wondering why you keep feeding me lines about wanting to be with me and then you bring me and your daughter to one of the spots you come to pick up chicks,” she says coolly. “This is exactly why I would never consider an us.”
“That isn’t fair. I admit I have a past. I can’t take it back. I wish I could, but I can’t. I was a bachelor with no ties and I made a lot of bad choices,” I begin.
“You know what?” She stands and this is going further south by the second. “I really don’t want to hear about it. I don’t want to be here anymore. I was trying to be your friend for Maylee’s sake, but I don’t think it’s going to work. I’m going. I’ll take Maylee with me to my meeting.”
“Willow.” I stand too. “You can leave Maylee with me,” I say, wishing I had something better. “Here, take the car.” I pass her my keys.
“You need your car. It has the car seat base,” she reminds me about the base that the car seat connects to.
“Right, okay then, let me call you an Uber for your meeting at the gym. Even though I would prefer you stay to talk about what is happening right now,” I voice, trying to stay calm, even with my heart beating fast. I don’t know anything about relationships. I’ve been trying to show Willow I am dependable and trying to be the best dad I can be to Maylee, but there is a lot I need to learn.
“If you can call me an Uber it would be great. I need to set up a new account,” she explains.
“Of course, give me a sec.” I pull out my phone and ask her the address for the gym. “The driver is three minutes out. Maybe take something to go.”
“I lost my appetite,” she states.
“Okay, yeah, sure.”
“Will you be here long? I just realized I need to breastfeed Maylee; we didn’t bring bottles.”
“Nah, I’ll ask for the food to be wrapped to go. I’ll eat at home.”
“There’s a bottle of fresh breast milk I put in the fridge this morning. It has enough to last a couple of meals.”
“Okay, no worries,” I reply, feeling defeated. Do I try to explain myself? It doesn’t feel like Willow would be willing to listen. She’s shut down and I get she is scared of being hurt but if she would listen to me, she would understand the situation.
“The car is here,” I say.
She puts on her jacket and doesn’t give me a side glance as she leaves the restaurant.
My heart sinks.
A few moments later Stacey brings our food. “Did I just see the mama leave?”
“Yeah, can I get the food to go?” I ask.
“Is she the woman you couldn’t get out of your head?” Stacey asks.
I nod but I feel myself frowning.
“Wow, you found her?” she asks with excitement.
“It’s a long story.” I nod.
“Is the baby yours?” Stacey asks.
“She sure is,” I say proudly.
“She’s adorable,” Stacey says. “But the mama isn’t sold on you yet, is she?”
Great, even a stranger can tell.
I shake my head.
“You’re a catch. She’d be lucky to have you,” Stacey observes.
“Thanks, but my past choices have come back to bite me in the ass,” I admit, unsure why I am confiding in a stranger again.
“Show her you’re a changed man and maybe tell her how you were pining for her. It was so cute how you couldn’t stop talking about her. I was annoyed you weren’t into me, but it was sweet how far gone you were on her.”
“Thanks, Stacey.”
“I’ll get this wrapped up for you.”
She returns a few moments later with the bill and bags of our food.
I thank her and leave the restaurant with Maylee.
When we are driving back home, Maylee wakes up and begins to cry. I hate to hear her cries because it spikes my nerves. I quickly park in the underground at my apartment building and get her upstairs. Her cries have turned into wailing now. I feel like I am failing her too.
I take her out of her car seat and place her in the bouncer set up in the main room while I warm her bottle.
I test the milk on the inside of my arm and then rush over to Maylee. I pick her up and take a seat on the couch. She sucks hard on the bottle. She was clearly hungry. I’m just relieved she calmed down.
I think back to the whole situation in the restaurant. Would it have made a difference if I told Willow Stacey and I were never together. Could I have done something more to make her listen to me? To stop her from walking out of the restaurant on us? I begin to think of my childhood, remembering the times my father left without saying goodbye. My stomach turns and I begin to feel sick. Willow is scared about what’s happening between us and my past choices are clearly bothering her. I need to confront her and we need to discuss what happened. She needs to know she is the only woman for me. She also needs to know that running away never solves a problem.