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Neil had played with her mind, too. And her feelings—and her heart. You’ve got it all wrong, Sera... My marriage isn’t real... I adore you. Afterward, she’d discovered at the bar where she’d first met him that he’d been a longtime customer, and she hadn’t been the first woman he’d dallied with. And there’d been a baby, all right—or at least a toddler. A two-year-old who’d lived with his wife in Boston.
Jordan remained silent but sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets.
“What? Nothing to say? This news didn’t come as a complete surprise to you.”
“I told you what I know. It was sudden, and I just learned the mother’s last name. I’m still processing it.”
“How stupid do you think I am? These types of scandals are usually percolating for a while before they grab a lot of headlines. And you—” she sucked in a deep breath “—didn’t tell me.”
“I didn’t think you’d be this upset that I’d waited.”
“What?” She stared at him. “I wouldn’t be upset that you’re a father, and I didn’t know it?”
“Alleged father. And I recently found out myself.”
“But you knew before tonight.” She made a strangled sound and then muttered, “I should have learned my lesson with Neil.”
“Who’s Neil?”
“The guy I had the misfortune to date after he walked into my bar.” She paused. “Until I discovered he was married and had a wife and toddler daughter squirreled away in Boston.” Her voice dripped sarcasm. “Conveniently far but not too far away from Welsdale, where he traveled frequently on business.”
Jordan swore.
Sera gave a humorless laugh. “To think that I thought my biggest problem with you was some ridiculous bet that you’d made with Marc Bellitti about—” she waved her hand “—making me melt. I guess we all know who the fool is, don’t we?”
Jordan looked solemn. “Sera... I’m sorry.”
“Yes, I guess there’s nothing else to say, is there?” she replied flippantly, feeling traitorous tears welling. “Except sometimes I’m sorry isn’t enough. Goodbye, Jordan.”
* * *
Jordan stared broodingly at his apartment wall from his spot on the sofa.
When he’d reluctantly driven off earlier without settling things with Sera, he realized that he needed the truth first before he could convince her. Had he really fathered a child he hadn’t known about? He’d always been careful. In this case, more than three years ago, he’d been intimate with Lauren once, and he’d used protection. Sure, such measures weren’t foolproof, but it gave him reason to question the veracity of the claims here.
He’d met Lauren at a party, and she’d come on strong. She’d had a summer-vacation share on Cape Cod with a bunch of twentysomethings—and his house had been nearby. He’d quickly realized they didn’t have much in common, so he’d let her down easy and had never seen or heard from her again. Until now.
Sure, those minimal facts would be small consolation to Sera. But he also wasn’t the same person he’d been three years ago. These days, an aspiring groupie held little appeal for him.
He knew what he had to do. If he was already being stalked by paparazzi, the story was spreading quickly. He couldn’t afford to wait, even if his agent had flagged the story for him just yesterday—as he often did when his name popped up online, associated with good or negative articles. He’d have to tell his family before they read about it. Before they had a reaction of shock and disappoint akin to Sera’s.
He winced inwardly. First, though, he had to marshal his resources.
Picking up the phone, he called Marv.
His agent answered on the third ring, sounding sleepy.
“Early bedtime these days, Marv?” Jordan couldn’t resist teasing.
“What’s up?” Marvin replied in a gravelly voice.
Jordan sobered. “I need you to follow up on the recent gossip story about the baby I allegedly fathered. I can’t afford to wait, and we need to move up the timeline about how we react.”
“What happened?”
“A paparazzo caught up with me tonight, and the story is gaining traction.” He paused, tightening his jaw. “He blurted the woman’s last name, and I just discovered that this Lauren is someone I may have known.”
He didn’t need to spell things out for Marv. Lauren was a common enough name that it had been easy for both him and his agent to initially dismiss this story. But now he was admitting to Marv that this was a woman from his past. And Jordan knew he had to face the consequences, one way or another. “I’m willing to take a paternity test if necessary.”
