Still Here: A Secret Baby Romance (2 page)

I
don’t know
what it was about her, but the look in her eyes when I showed up lit a fire somewhere deep inside of me.

And unlike with most women, it wasn’t just lust.

She was angry, she was hurt. Good. I wanted to see her irate. Wanted to see her squirm.

She looks so damn beautiful when she’s angry.

I wasn’t cruel, not unnecessarily so, but I wasn’t going to let her off the hook. I didn’t hold grudges, but this deserved, at least, a little bit of torture.

Then she’d know one-tenth of the way I felt after she left me. Not so much as a goodbye.

Even worse, when she ignored every email, text, and voicemail I sent her for a month afterward. Maybe it was what I deserved. Lord knows I did it to at least a dozen women. But she was different. I was different.

Twenty-four years old, and still as beautiful as the day I first laid eyes on her, when she was working for my dad. Just cleaning up around the office, filing some paperwork. It was a local outreach he did for any student willing to apply.

She was seventeen, but I waited until her eighteenth birthday until I asked her out. Until I made my move.

I was a dick but I wasn’t a creep.

It was her last summer before college.

I was home, just graduated and there was nothing more beautiful than her. Not all the dozens of women I’d dated before or after. She was a little too young, but she was so strong-willed. So fiery. None of that was gone.

No.

It was just like the first time I saw her. I’d made a joke she didn’t like, and she glared at me with those bright blue eyes. Just like she did today. She still felt something. I knew it. I could convince her to repeat the past. I knew I could. I wanted to. Hell, this was one project worth pursuing. I wanted to relive it all.

Except the part about her breaking my heart.

No, this time, I’d get exactly the ending I wanted. I wasn’t going to let her slip away from me a second time.

“
B
ranch
,” I said the word through clenched teeth.

He was never here when I needed him. And I needed him the last year.

Shit was getting heavy with the business, it was growing like nothing I’d seen since I’d taken over, but he was off running around with his women.

First it was St. Lucas, then it was Martinique, and then the last two months at his retreat in Key West. Sure, he clocked in from his vacation homes doing some work from his computer, here and there but mostly he was enjoying the retirement he was supposed to be easing into.

What he wasn’t doing was giving me insights in how to run this aspect of the business. Not that it was the worst thing in the world. I had to admit, it was easier without him here, hounding over me.

“Son.” Branch Graves had several folders spread out across my desk. Of course he would be sitting in my office, in my desk. Never fails. "I see you’ve been doing your best to cock everything up and destroy my legacy."

He was always one for melodrama.

“What in the hell are you talking about? The business is doing well. Solid. And I don’t have to try and pull any of your stunts. I call that a definite win. You can go back to Key West now, to your woman and your yachting around.” I wasn't going to take his crap, not when he wasn't here calling the shots. He wasn’t helping when I needed it.

He just threw me in the deep end with the expectation that I could swim.

Everything to him was life or death when he was here. It was like he didn't understand the ins and outs of the business.

Except he did, and he used this as a manipulation tactic to try my patience and get exactly what he wanted.

He was a shrewd business man, I had to give him that much.

“You know for this to work you’ve got to get your hands dirty, shit like this isn’t going to work. Your profits are steady, sure, but you aren’t actually growing at the rate I’d expect. And you’re buying up land at twice the price-” I cut him off.

“You’re retired.” I was starting to lose my patience.

“Semi-retired.” My father leaned onto the desk. “You have permits you need to acquire for your farms. Judge McKean called me yesterday. Said he hadn’t heard from you.”

I fought the urge to throw all the shit off my desk and kick his ass out. The last thing the employees needed to see was the two of us going at one another.

That hadn’t happened for a long time.

“I won’t bribe him for my water rights.” I wasn’t going to do what he told me. It wasn’t the right thing. I’d never been one to do business that way, and he knew it.

Things were going just fine until he stuck his nose into my affairs. I was supposed to be running this place. He had a million other things to run, hell he had several business ventures brewing right now. He was too busy for this. Semi-retired and still empire building.

Only my father.

It didn't matter that he had too many obligations. None of it stopped him from coming in here and micromanaging every aspect of the day to day operations when he decided I wasn’t following in his footsteps, or some other garbage.

“Then you won’t get them. At least not without making major repairs to the land.” My father’s square jaw clenched. “It’s a more expensive route to go, Wyatt. This would save us time and money.”

“Cost of doing business,” I shrugged. “I’m not going to bribe a judge to save money only to find out the consequences of the water table are disastrous for the people who live around it.”

Cutting corners might save money in the short term, but a bad well with contaminates could cost a lot of money in lawsuits. It could shut down the business.

I didn’t give a damn if it was the way it was always done.

“Fuck, Wyatt. Just contribute to his campaign for re-election. He’s got two fundraisers next month. Buy a table at both, bid on his shit.” I cringed at his use of language. He was always fast and loose, even with his mouth. My mother had never let him swear around me, and I made it a point to save those words for when I was genuinely angry. And right now, I was damn livid.

I sighed. “I told you, I’m not going to play your little games. You have a business to run, dad. Hell, you have multiple.” It was the truth. This small agro-business was nothing compared to his factory and operations in Denver. He didn’t need to come up here every few months and try to tell me how to do my job.

I was doing just fine before him.

“Do it or I’ll fucking stay. You want that?” My father was an asshole. He cussed and swore and acted like a dick just to get what he wanted.

“Fine, but if I do it it isn’t because of the water rights, it’s because I genuinely like his no-nonsense rulings. Usually,” I admitted. He was being unreasonable, and we both knew it. I hated being reduced to this. I was wedged into this responsibility to begin with, and now I was being forced to make these decisions.

My father huffed.

“Think I’ll stay around until Monday, Minnie keeps telling me she wants to head to Cancun. I’ll meet her there.” My father was always running off, chasing his latest conquest and her little friends. The name and the face changed, but not much else.

“Is this your latest?” I asked. I crossed my arms and rolled my eyes. Anyone else might say this was the one thing we had in common, but the truth was I could never be like him. I could never string along a woman and then dump her after weeks or months when I got bored.

One night. That’s all I gave women. A single night and clear boundaries. I wasn’t about to let anyone walk in and take over. I wasn’t going to be like him, going from one woman to the next, always making promises that he was going to keep them then dropping them when they least expected it. I couldn’t do it.

The only person I ever thought would fill that spot walked out on me a long time ago.

“You could say that. She is okay with sharing.” He raised his eyebrows in two quick motions, and I fought the urge to wretch.

Everything worked so much better when he didn’t stick his fucking nose in the business.

“Now tell me about this new land you’re looking at buying? Jack’s old place?” he asked. Dammit, the last thing I wanted was for him to go poking his nose around Rose's property. The slow smile on his face meant only one thing. He was scheming. Trying to get a better deal out of the situation.

“I’m not budging on the price. You agreed to it,” I reminded him. It was a generous one, we both knew that.

“I know I did, but I hear there is an underground spring. Tell me more.” He tried to look uninterested. “How did Miranda look?”

Ah, the age old question. How did the girl who turned him down for Jack Shannon look. Predictable.

“Only if you promise to leave tonight.” I had to figure out a way to get Rose to spend time with me, and I wanted him to be as far away as possible.

“Don’t think you’ll get rid of me that easily. Besides, we have that investors’ dinner tonight, anyway. ” He chuckled and leaned back against my office chair.

I groaned.

"Oh, you didn't think I knew about that, did you, son? I was the one who set it up. I want to introduce you personally to a few of my friends. Some people who have their eyes and ears to the ground."

"Dad," I started.

He slammed his hand on my desk. "I won't hear of it. I've invested everything I have in this business. Into you. You need to start taking charge-"

"And controlling the business the way a good rider controls the bull." I didn't need to see his lips moving. I didn't need to hear the rest of it. I knew exactly what he was going to say.

The old man couldn't resist.

“Get changed, we’re going skeet shooting then to lunch.”

Shoot.

He’d get bored with me after a week or two, and then he actually would join his mistress in Cancun. I just had to wait it out.

I
rummaged
through my new desk trying to find some semblance of order in it. Whoever worked here before me had left everything there, not even bothering to clean up the candy wrappers in the drawers. And there were a lot of them.

Little miss sugar-rush sure rushed out of here in a hurry.

It was a government job, and the pay was decent, but it wasn’t what I ultimately wanted. Still, it beat sitting on my mother’s couch listening to her tell me all of the things I needed to “get along better” in life.

I loved her, but she was a damn firecracker, and that wasn’t me. I needed to get my feet under me before I could even plan. I looked up from the mess to see a woman coming down the hall toward me.

“Rose, is that you?” she asked, and as soon as she got close enough I realized who she was

Suzan Reynolds. She’d graduated a year ahead of me, but because we were neighbors and cousins she inserted herself wherever she could in my life.

Momma must’ve told her I was working here. I silently cursed my mother. Sometimes I swore she had it out for me.

Especially when she sent Suzy in after me.

“Oh, hi Suzy! Can I help you?” I was the secretary over intake for all the applications, letters and inquiries for the county clerk. It was an easy job. Busy, but not hard.

“Actually, yes. We have our renewal permits for the bank’s elevators to pick up. Did Samuel leave those there for us?” she asked. She worked very hard to sound as critical in her job as possible.

I did everything in my power not to roll my eyes. I looked through my stack of outgoing and found the little manilla envelope.

“Here they are.” I smiled pleasantly and handed them to her, but she showed no sign of leaving.

“Aunt Miranda told me you were coming home, but I didn’t realize you got a job here. Good for you, must’ve been hard coming from being a high paid what was it? Paralegal? At that fancy firm.” Her contempt was thick, but I didn’t care. It was a miserable job and a miserable life.

“Lincoln and associates. I worked directly for Nancy Lincoln.” The woman was a nightmare, and it didn’t help that my ex-boyfriend was her son and partner. The pain of the breakup was still fresh.

“Yeah, whatever. I thought you’d never come home?” she asked.

She smiled so sweetly I had to try and accept it as a question, not her rubbing it in my face.

“Well, I guess I grew up and got over that.” I smiled, trying to look innocent. She certainly hadn’t grown up any.

“Yes, I guess so. I’m doing very well in my job, by the way. They promoted me to head of tellers.”

“Oh, very nice.”

“I didn’t need no fancy degree for that, either.” Another dig. One with improper grammar, but still a dig.

“Ma’am?” I was so busy trying to ignore the anger that was building with Suzy’s every comment that I didn’t even notice the delivery man who’d come up behind her.

“Can I help you?” I asked. I was relieved someone else was there. It took the pressure off of my interaction with Suzy.

She could be a real pill.

“I’ve got a delivery for Ms. Shannon.”

He handed me a vase filled with tiger lilies and black-eyed susans. They were my absolute favorite. I’d always preferred wildflowers to things like roses. My mom called it ironic.

Maybe it was her. Probably wanted to make me look like I had an admirer.

I had to remember to raise a little hell with her when I got home. She was meddling again. Had to be.

“Who’s it from?” Suzy asked the delivery man before I got a chance to even read the card.

“Mr. Wyatt Graves, ma’am,” he said easily.

So much for client confidentiality.

I huffed and looked from him to her. He was a wisp of a kid, couldn't have been more than nineteen years old. Probably went to community college down the street.

I reached into my pocket to pull out a tip but the delivery man held up his hand. “No need, ma’am. Mr. Graves has taken care of it all.” He exited quickly, but unfortunately, Suzy didn’t go with him.

Too bad, they would've made a perfect couple. The town gossip with the kid who couldn't keep his mouth shut.

“Jesus, all that money and he can’t even send you decent flowers? What’s he sending them to you for?” Her voice dripped with a mixture of jealousy and disdain.

“I honestly don’t know.” I didn’t want anything to do with him, but they were my favorite flowers. “I saw him at the house the other day,” I admitted, but I hadn’t expected anything more to come of it.

For your first day at work. I’m sorry about the other day,- Wyatt.

I smiled at the perfect little note and put it away. He didn’t need to do that, but it didn’t hurt.

“Wyatt Graves?” Suzy leaned in and whispered into my ear, “You know about him, don’t you?”

“What about him?” I asked. I could feel my cheeks starting to redden with embarrassment.

“He’s always been a bit of a player, but he’s worse than ever. I saw him at the bar the other night. He even hit on me,” she said. Everyone in town knew that Suzy was engaged to some business man from out of town. Hell, I knew and I hadn’t even lived there for years. Not that anyone had ever seen proof of him.“Wait, you aren’t associating with him, are you?”

I had no intention of associating with him, but listening to her say that was more than a little upsetting. She got under my skin.

“I am. He’s working with my mother.” I pursed my lips together and looked at her with narrow eyes. She always was a nasty little gossip. I wasn’t going to say what with exactly, but there was no way I was going to let her be nasty. Even if it was about Wyatt.

“Well, be careful. He only wants women for one thing, if you know what I mean. He’s been with half the damn county, and the next one over!”

“Still a Playboy, huh?” I was curious. I wanted to know what she knew. I shouldn’t have. I should’ve completely ignored her little comment and made sure that I didn’t listen. It wasn’t going to help me in any way, shape, or form to listen to Suzan.

“Oh my god, yes.” Her eyes lit up with the opportunity to gush. Just what I needed, to pull the cork from the geyser.

I shouldn't have asked. She sat down in the seat across from my desk and leaned in. “Just last month he broke Sally Newport's little heart. She thought she could ‘change’ him, but of course, after two weeks he got tired of her.” She flipped her hand. “He does that to everyone. But he is so handsome, the women forget. Or they try to, anyway.”

Sounded like Wyatt. I didn’t expect him to change.

He was trying terribly hard to worm his way into my good graces, and I wasn't sure why. I didn't need a man like him interfering in my life. I was getting over a guy like that. I didn't need another.

But those smokey eyes enticed me. I grinned as I thought of him ordering the flowers.

Maybe I would cut him a break. Just this once.

I didn’t expect him to be anything other than he was. I wouldn’t fall head over heels for him, but he was nice to look at.

Even if he did have to open his mouth and spoil it.