Money Shot (48 page)

“Oh my God, just stop. You are not making it better. I fucked a teenager. Oh my God.”

I was getting angry. He was ruining everything. “Why is that a problem? I’m well past the age of consent.” His face looked like I’d just murdered Santa Claus. And all the Christmas elves.

“I’m twenty-seven. That’s a world away from nineteen. I need to go.”

“But I thought we were getting brunch.”

“I am not getting brunch with a teenager. I wouldn’t have spent the night if I’d known. Hell, I wouldn’t have come with you last night if I’d known.”

He picked up his scattered clothing quickly and efficiently. He was fully dressed within two minutes, and he grabbed his coat and was gone.

Easy come, easy go.

It was years before I saw him again.

Rediscovery

Logan

NOW

I look at the private investigator’s report in my hand. He did an incredible job, considering that I didn’t give him much to go on: nineteen, dark skin, night at the bar. He pulled credit cards until he found the right girl, the one who had bought my whiskey. Violet Carter, age twenty-two. Mother is a federal judge; father is deceased. Her mother is the youngest black female federal judge, and she has a reputation for being a ballbuster. The dossier has just a little about Gail Carter, but it does say that she was a professional ultra-runner while she was getting her law degree. To someone else, she would be scary, but I’m not really afraid of anyone. I live a charmed life; no one can stop me. Well, except for my dead parents. I guess Violet and I have that in common.

She has a kid. Two years old. Her name is Lucia Carter. No dad listed, and I feel a brief moment of rage towards the irresponsible fuck who left her to raise a child alone. Who does that?

I have a blue box in my pocket, and I have a prenup in hand. We can hop into any bank and find someone to notarize the document when she signs. Easy.

I get out of my limo, and I knock on her door. The PI told me that it would be best to knock right now, because she has just a little time at home before she has to go to her second job. The second job that her asshole deadbeat boyfriend should be working.

I hear footsteps. The door opens. She’s standing there, looking every bit as wonderful as that one night.

She’s visibly shocked to see me. “Holy shit.” Her hand goes to her throat. “You found us.”

“Hi. I’m Logan. Can I come in?”

She backs away from the door and gestures for me to come in. Her eyes are still huge.

Her home isn’t that big, just a little two-bedroom apartment. It’s painted in cheery sunshine yellow, and all the furniture is retro. She has covers on everything; there are toys on the floor, and her little girl Lucia is playing with an Elmo doll while watching Caillou.

“This is nice.” It’s the sort of picture of domestic bliss—well, domestic disarray—that my parents would have loved for me to have, even at the middle-class level.

“I…” She clears her throat. “I have to go to my job in a half hour, and I have to drop Lucia off before then. Can I ask you what brought you here?”

“No ‘Hi, how are you?’ I take it.” I smile at her, and she flushes. “Straight to business.”

Her hands are clasped tightly together. “Sorry, I just have to go soon.”

“I’d like to offer you a deal.”

“What kind of deal?”

“Well, for starters, you wouldn’t be working two jobs.”

She snorts. “That sounds nice. If you could be more specific, that would be great.”

“I’d like to marry you.”

Agreement

Logan

Her mouth is hanging open, and her jaw is practically on the ground.

“What?”

I get down on one knee. “Violet Carter, would you do me the honor of marrying me?”

Lucia has stopped playing with her Elmo, and she looks over at us with mild interest. Marriage is something that happens in Disney movies when you are two. Lucia is walking over to us slowly, like a little zombie sailor.

“Mama, who dis?” She looks me over. “He big.” She walks forward and touches my shin. “You nice?”

I snap the ring box shut; this seems like a much easier way to get a yes from Violet. Lucia is also cute as a button, with her precious little curls and her rose headband. She’s dressed in pure pink, and I know that she’s loved. I slide the box into my pocket, and I pick Lucia up. I stand. Her body relaxes into mine, and she pulls lightly on my hair. “Hair soft.” She pets my temple, which is about as high as she can reach. “Is nice.” She twists her body around so that she can talk to her mother. “Nice man, Mama.”

Violet is looking at the two of us together. “Do you know who her father is?” She locks eyes with me.

“No. It doesn’t matter to me. There’s only one woman I’d ever marry, and that woman is you. I’ll treat Lucia like my own kid, no matter who her dad was, because she’s yours.”

She shakes her head. “I don’t understand. We had one night years ago. If you’re not here to get custody of Lucia, why did you choose me?”

It clicks in my head. Lucia is the same color as Meghan Markle. “Lucia’s mine.” I look at her more closely. In the picture in the file, she’s just a tiny thing. But now that I’m looking more closely, she has my eye shape and the extremely long eyelashes that have been my curse since childhood. Her nose and her mouth are her mother’s, but half of her is mine. I clutch her a little tighter. “Lucia is my baby.”

I can see the tension in Violet’s body. “Did you come to take her?”

I shake my head. “I came to marry you. Listen, I have a prenup in my pocket. We can get a marriage license today and be married within a week.”

“Why should I go with you?” The look on her face says that it won’t be easy to convince her.

“Why shouldn’t you?” I counter. “I can give Lucia everything, the very best start in life. I’m a billionaire.”

“We’ve done just fine without you.” Her hands are on her hips, and the volume is being turned up. “How dare you sweep into our lives and just think that we should be a family? You haven’t been around for the last three years!”

“I had no idea that you had our baby,” I protest. “I want to make it right.”

“If you wanted to make it right, you shouldn’t have walked out on me all those years ago. I didn’t know your name; I had nothing to say when they asked me who the father was.”

“I’m here now. I’m sorry that I wasn’t there for you, but we can fix it. If you marry me, you can choose never to work again. Lucia will have the best of everything: the best doctors, the best schools, the best food. I can take care of you.” I kiss the top of Lucia’s little head. She wiggles to get out of my grip, and I put her on the ground. She goes back to playing with her Elmo.

“If you marry me, I will set you up for life. Lucia will have a trust fund—well, she’d have that without us getting married, but claiming her as my child helps things. You’d have more than a million dollars in your bank account, just from day one. You could have anything you wanted.”

“Anything?” She touches her dress. It’s sunshine yellow, and it looks good on her. It’s plain cotton, and the fabric is starting to pill. “A car, designer clothes, Cartier jewelry, new Yves Saint Laurent shoes, a gourmet chef, a reliable housekeeper?”

“Anything.”

Decision

Violet

My mind is racing as I think of all the ways that I could have a better life if I had just a little money. I don’t even need a million dollars to make a better life for me and Lucia.

“I need to make some calls.”

I take out my cell phone. My first call is to my aunt Taylor.

“Auntie Tay.”

“Girl, where are you? Shouldn’t you be here with Lucia by now?”

“Naw, Auntie Tay. I won’t be bringing Lucia today. I’m staying home tonight.”

“Ok, baby girl. I’ll talk to you later.”

Auntie Tay is the most easy-going person in my family. She’s been a godsend when it comes to childcare, but it looks like I won’t need her tonight.

My second call is to my work friend Shana. “Hey, girl.”

“Hey.”

“What are you up to tonight?”

“Not much—just chilling, doing some laundry, drinking some wine. I’m thinking about baking some cookies; I know that Lucia loves my oatmeal no-bake cookies.”

“I won’t be able to make it in tonight. Could you please, please cover for me?”

“No problem. I can always use the extra cash. I’m on my way, sugar.” She lives above the restaurant where I normally work, so her commute is just a few minutes. I send a text to my boss to tell him that Shana is taking my shift, and then I turn off my phone.

“All done.” I clear my throat. “So how about getting a marriage license?”

“Is that a yes?”

“I think that a future with you in it is going to be the better option for Lucia.”