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Normally when they were this close, he’d hold her hand or touch her leg. As he began the explanation, he kept both hands on the tabletop, uncertain of how she’d react if he reached for her. “Before I met you in Virginia Beach last weekend, Nicole called wanting to see me. I told her it’d have to wait until I got back. Wednesday night she stopped by.”
“Yeah, I heard.”
Weeks earlier, she’d seen Nicole Sutton on a magazine cover announcing the birth of her son with her fiancé, another well-known Hollywood actor. So she’d recognized her right away. Paige had also disliked her immediately. Logically, she shouldn’t have. She’d never been in the same room with Nicole before tonight. Her heart hadn’t cared about logic. It’d only cared a gorgeous woman who’d dated and slept with Scott had intruded on their time together. Things only got worse from there.
When she heard Nicole mention a recent visit, her heart hit her lap. He’d had his ex-girlfriend—no, wait—incredibly sexy ex-girlfriend over and failed to tell her. Not what she wanted to hear.
Before she’d digested that news, Nicole dropped her next bombshell announcing Cooper wasn’t her fiancé’s son. Somehow even before Nicole asked when Scott would get the paternity test done, she’d known the reason behind Nicole’s visit.
“Nicole came to me before the third possible father.”
Yeah, she’d heard Nicole mention someone named Alastair. “Only three?” Great actress or not, the chick had rocks for brains if she’d cheated on Scott with two other men.
“She gets around,” Scott answered with disgust. “If you believe her story she started seeing Jordan in September. We were together until November. She had sex with Alastair in October too, in exchange for a movie role. Isn’t showbiz wonderful.”
People in Hollywood lived in their own crazy world. “Do you think the baby is yours?” Saying the words took all her willpower.
“I just don’t know. It’s possible. We used protection, but it’s not foolproof. And we had a condom break one night.” He rubbed his palms together, frustration written all over his face.
Were they really talking about him and his ex-girlfriend having sex? People didn’t have those kinds of conversations. Let it go. It happened. Move on.
“I should’ve told you all this Wednesday night, but I hoped Jordan would be Cooper’s father. Nicole did too. I screwed up. I’m sorry.”
“Yep, you did. Not that it makes it okay, but I kinda understand.” She didn’t want to voice the next question, but had to. Some conversations you couldn’t avoid. “What if the test comes back and you’re the father?”
He didn’t hesitate to answer. “Joint custody. If Cooper’s mine, I plan on being in his life. When she’s not filming or on vacation, Nicole lives in Manhattan. According to my lawyer that fact should make the legal aspects easier to handle.”
She’d expected no other answer from him. It was part of why she loved him.
“It won’t change anything, Paige.”
“You might want to talk to your cousins who have children or something, because becoming a father changes your entire life.”
Reaching over, he took her hand. “I meant it won’t change things between us. At least not for me. Does it for you?”
I’m not sure. He hadn’t cheated on her. If the baby was his, Nicole had gotten pregnant before they met. However, if he and Nicole shared a child, maybe they should get back together. Try to make it work for the baby’s sake. If they did, they might go on to have a good marriage and many more children. Was it fair for her to stand in the way? Especially considering she might never be able to give him the family he wanted, something she’d yet to share. She’d hoped to get up the nerve this weekend. Now she didn’t see it happening.
“Paige, I love you. And no matter how this situation turns out, I’ll love you. You know that, right?” he asked, an indication she’d kept quiet too long.
She hated to lie, but for now, she’d tell him what he needed to hear because she’d never sort out her feelings tonight. It’d have to wait until she was alone. “I love you too. And you’re right, this doesn’t change anything between us.”
Chapter 13
Waiting and him didn’t do well. It didn’t help he’d learned a long time ago that with enough money you could get anything done in a shorter amount of time. No dollar amount could rush a paternity test. He’d asked.
Another couple days. He hoped, anyway. If it took much longer, he ran the risk of killing the motor on his treadmill and burning out his biceps. Reaching for his towel, he wiped the sweat from his face and left his home gym. As he passed the kitchen, he grabbed the mail he’d left there earlier. On the top sat an envelope with his cousin’s return address. Scott left the rest of the mail behind and tore open the envelope from Derek. Yep, an invitation to his cousin’s wedding, although he hadn’t needed to send one. At the engagement party, Derek had announced his and Brooklyn’s wedding would be Labor Day weekend, despite the protests from both Abby and Scott’s mom. Even his sister Courtney had chimed in that night, agreeing with the older women. Scott had no wedding planning experience, but disagreed anyway. While his cousins Callie and Sara had planned for over a year, his cousin Trent and his wife had managed to pull a nice ceremony together in about two months. No doubt with mom as well as Abby on the job, Derek and Brooklyn’s wedding would be as nice despite the limited time frame.
Scott tossed the invitation down and checked his watch. By the time he finished showering, Paige should be home from work. Hopefully, tonight she wouldn’t say she was too tired to talk. The past two nights their conversations had been short. On Monday when she claimed exhaustion he hadn’t questioned it, but she’d done the same thing the night before too. He realized it could be true. She worked twelve-hour days at a high-stress job. But she’d never done it before this week. If she was already upset with him, calling her on it might make things worse.
Although maybe a little quieter than usual, Paige had seemed fine all weekend. More than once she’d reassured him the situation with Nicole didn’t change things between them. Even so, he couldn’t stop thinking her reluctance to talk this week stemmed from the paternity test results, something he had no control over unfortunately. If he did, the test results would come back negative, and he’d again have Nicole Sutton out of his life.
A little voice kept telling him to be prepared for the opposite.
Showered and dressed, Scott finished a granola bar before trying Paige. When the call immediately went to voice mail, he checked his watch. Almost eight o’clock. Except for the nights when he’
d been abroad, he always made his calls around this time. And she always answered. At least a dozen reasons could explain why she hadn’t tonight. She could be in the shower. Or on another call. Maybe she’d left her phone at work or in her car. She could’ve forgotten to charge it, and the phone had no power.
Despite listing the possible reasons, his unease grew.
