Chapter Three
Aurora
I let Mark out, refusing to engage in conversation with him about Nick.
Our daughters are friends, which is our main connection.
And we are next-door neighbors, nothing more.
As an ex-cop turned security guard, Mark tends to look out for Leah and me—and I appreciate it.
But I have to admit, his behavior today has been odd. Over the top.
With Mark gone, I return to the kitchen to find Leah eating her pancake, which brings me back to the moment Nick ended the men’s pissing contest in favor of sitting down and cutting up Leah’s pancake so she could eat breakfast. He even asked her how she liked her syrup poured.
My entire body heats at the sight of him giving my daughter his full attention.
Our daughter— something I am sure he’s already realized.
I step into the room to find Leah engaging Nick in conversation. “My birthday party is soon!”
“When is her birthday?” He glances at me, obviously confused, and I understand why. We met over the summer. I had Leah nine months later.
“April twelfth!” Leah says.
“We had a painting party planned indoors, but Leah came down with a fever and a cold and then croup. She was sick for a week so we had to postpone. Only the place we’d planned to have it was booked every weekend for the next month,” I explain.
“So Mommy said if we waited till almost summer, we could have it outside and Ariel could come!” Leah says, barely catching her breath.
“Now I want Cinderella because Mommy and I watched the movie and now she’s my favorite princess.
But we already promised Ariel she could come and Mommy said we don’t want to hurt her feelings.
” Leah’s explanation involves hand gestures and a lot of rambling.
The twitch of Nick’s lips as he tries not to laugh is nothing short of adorable.
I thought he was hot last night in his tuxedo.
But the guy sitting in my kitchen, wearing dark jeans and navy tee-shirt, is sex on a stick.
Muscles I didn’t know he possessed bulge in his arms, and the razor stubble on his jaw takes my breath away.
“When is the party?” he asks.
“It’s in two weeks on Saturday.”
“I also want to invite the prince but Mommy said he’s busy.” Leah puts her fork down and looks over, giving me a view of her sticky face and hands. I’m about to suggest we wash her up when Leah’s eyes light up. “Mommy, can Mr. Nick come to my birthday?”
“Yeah, Mommy. Can Mr. Nick come to her birthday?” Nick parrots, similar eyes to my daughter’s sparking with laughter.
“We’ll talk,” I say to both troublemakers.
It takes another hour for me to get Leah washed up—which includes a bath because her hair is sticky, too—and dressed. Then I call Melly and ask her to take Leah for the day, so Nick and I can talk.
“Bye, Mr. Nick!” Leah calls out as Melly, looking stunned and confused, leads the little girl out the door.
I told the woman who is the closest thing to a mother I’ll ever have that I’ll explain…soon. Then I called Cassidy and Dash and promised to visit the new parents tomorrow.
All the while, Nick sat in the family room, television on, waiting. At the thought of being alone with him, nerves pulse inside me. And knowing I’ll have to explain how I grew up make things even worse.
I finally join him, walking into my favorite room. The overlarge sofa enables me to relax after a long day, something I cherish. I don’t have much time to myself these days, and that is also something Nick needs to know.
“Welcome to the madness that’s my life,” I say pointedly .
He has to understand that life with a child is messy, busy and chaotic. It isn’t all sunshine and fun. Hi, Mr. Nick, come to my party, Mr. Nick .
He pushes himself to a standing position and gestures for me to come over. “Aurora, you look ready to break. Sit down.”
I start for the chair beside the sofa but he lowers himself back down and pats the cushion next to him.
I pause.
“Come on. We need to talk and sitting across from each other like strangers isn’t going to make it easier.” He treats me to a panty-melting grin, but that isn’t what I want from him now. Even if that smile affects me like no man’s ever has, before or since.
I settle on the ultra-suede cushion and bend one leg so I can face him. Our gazes meet and hold.
“She’s mine,” he says.
There is no need to ask—he obviously knows. “She is. I had no way of finding you and—”
He holds up a hand. “Stop. We both know there’s no fault here.”
“But you came back, and I hid.” Which ultimately deprived him of being involved in every stage of his daughter’s life so far.
“It’s not like you knew you were pregnant and hid it.” He reaches out and takes my hand. “Tell me. What could have been so bad that you wouldn’t see me again after the night we shared?”
I rub my free hand against the soft sweats, seeking comfort. “I don’t know where to begin. My life is—and was—complicated. But I’ll start with the things that affect you.”
He wraps his fingers around mine. “I’m listening.”
Nodding, I blow out a long breath. “The day we met…”
“Your birthday.”
I meet his gaze and smile. “You remembered.”
His soft gaze meets mine. “I remember everything.”
A lump rises in my throat. “That day, I’d aged out of foster care.
I know now that there’s extended foster care and independent living resources if you meet certain requirements but my case worker rarely showed up.
At the time, I had no idea I had options.
The family I lived with was only too happy to see me go and the feeling was mutual. ”
“Jesus, Aurora. I had no idea,” he says, his tone low.
That day, I took one look at the table of guys who obviously had money and knew there was no way I could admit my circumstances to Nick.
“I didn’t want you to know. The people who owned the diner said I could stay in the back room. It was tiny and hot but I had a roof over my head and they allowed me to take my meals there. As far as I was concerned, I was lucky.”
His thumb rubs back and forth over the top of my hand, encouraging me to go on.
I swallow hard. “When you asked me out, it was a bright spot during a really shitty time. We were great together and we connected. But I could tell you were smart, that you came from a good family, and you had money. I had nothing and was embarrassed by that fact. So I decided to make the most of our night together, because I knew it had to be a one-time thing.”
A few seconds of silence slip by as he seems to process my story. “And then you realized you were pregnant.” He sets his jaw, his tension and frustration obvious.
I nod. “It was scary, but I was determined to make it work. I finished high school with morning sickness. I graduated and began working full-time at the diner. And I found a free clinic where I met a doctor who was kind.”
If it hadn’t been for that doctor, there was no way that my family could have found me.
“Go on,” Nick says.
“The doctor had a girlfriend, and she offered me a place to stay and a real job, working on the books. That meant I was getting a real paycheck, instead of getting paid under the table, the way I had been at the diner. So by the time Linc Kingston came looking for his half-sister, there was a paper trail for him to find.”
“Fuck.” Nick runs his free hand through his hair, never letting go of me with the other. “How did I miss the fact that you were so alone?”
“I got good at hiding what I didn’t want other people to know. But Nick, the doctor who helped me out was Braden Prescott.”
His eyes open wide. “My cousin?”
I nod.
Their family story is incredible. One of Nick’s uncles, Paul Dare, was the sperm donor for his best friends, the Prescotts, who couldn’t have children. The family was sports royalty, all but Braden, the doctor.
“Small world, huh?” I ask.
“Even smaller, me finding you again.” His eyes gleam with an emotion I can’t name.
Is he really that happy to have found me? How does he feel about discovering he is a father? He’s had no time to think about, let alone process, the news. Nor do I know what he intends to do.
I slide my hand from his. “It is. And we have to figure out how to handle things for Leah. That’s what matters. That’s who is important in all this.”
“I agree.” He leans in close. “And you need to be aware, I want her to know I’m her father. I want to be part of her life.”
I rise to my feet, nerves kicking in. “How?”
“What?”
“How do you want to be part of her life? In what way? Where do you live? What state? Because we’re here.
My family is here and that’s where Leah is staying.
” I feel myself fraying at the edges as the possibilities spin out in my mind.
“What about your life? Do you have a wife? A girlfriend? Are you going to want some kind of custody?” I ask, my voice rising.
Panic fills me as all the possibilities spiral in my mind. No matter what he wants, all I can think about is that I could lose my daughter.
“Whoa.” Nick rises and comes up beside me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.
He smells delicious, like musk and man, and despite everything, my body reacts to his scent, his nearness. But I can’t focus on our chemistry. I have to concentrate on my daughter and the life I’ve built for my child and myself.
He turns me to face him. “I have no intention of trying to take Leah away from you. And there’s no wife, no girlfriend, no one but me… And you… And Leah, to worry about.”
I force in deep breaths, telling myself to calm down. He isn’t the enemy. He is just an unexpected new presence in my life .
“Better?” he asks, staring into my eyes.
“Yes.” I still didn’t know where he lives but I believe him when he says he isn’t going to take my daughter in any kind of custody fight. And that knowledge allows me to relax a little. I’ve spent the better part of my life alone, relying on no one but myself.
“Good.”
“We can’t just spring the news that you’re her father on her.”