Justin took a deep breath and fought the grin at the corner of his mouth. “He wants to change it to Travati.”
Aubrey nodded. “Of course he does,” she mumbled and opened the cabinet to pull out the tea. She was losing. She really couldn’t win. First the trip and then his name, the luxurious lifestyle with the private plane and the penthouse and the swank home in Lake Como, Italy. How could a farm in Kansas and a mom with a herd of dairy cows compete with all of that?
“I thought … I thought you’d be happy that things are going so smoothly. I thought you agreed Max needs a father.”
“I did agree, I do agree.” She fumbled with the box of tea. “Dammit, I do want him to be happy.” She tossed the box onto the counter, frustrated, then crossed her arms over her chest. “He’s not just coming with you to New York,” she spit out. “He’s leaving me behind.”
“Come with us,” Justin said. He inched forward, closer to her.
Again with that masculine, musky scent and those broad shoulders and that smile, his damn smile. He pulled her into him, against his body, against his arousal, his touch defusing her temper.
“I can’t come with you,” Aubrey said. She placed her hands flat on his chest between them. “I have a business to run.”
“When was your last vacation?”
Aubrey rolled her gaze toward the ceiling. “Hmm, I think the first year I worked for you.”
“I’d say you’re due for another.”
She pressed back, away from his grasp, and turned back to the box of tea. “No can do. Would take weeks of work for me to leave.” She pulled two mugs from the cabinet. “This is your time with Max. I’m just”—she set the pillow teabags into each mug—“I’m just going to miss him.” Her voice trembled. She wasn’t just afraid that she would miss him now, but that this absence would be the beginning of Max being gone for forever. She poured hot water into each cup.
“I know. He’ll miss you too. He’s already told me that should he get to visit me that he’s worried to leave you.”
“Me? Not much happens here at Rockwater Farms. Why would he be worried to leave me?”
“Well, for starters, he’s afraid your having to do his chores is way too much work for you.”
“Right.” Aubrey pulled the honey from the cabinet. “Like I haven’t done that before.”
“Then, as he says, there’s his cranky grandpa.”
Aubrey turned toward Justin. “His words, not mine. Dad’s just a little—”
“Cranky?” Justin cocked an eyebrow.
“Okay, maybe a little.”
Justin tilted his head.
“Okay, yes, Dad can be cranky, but he always has time for Max.”
“I know, and Max always has time for him too. But he’s worried to leave him alone with only you and Nina because he knows how hard you two work.”
Aubrey lifted the teabag from each cup and set them on a small plate, then added honey.
“And that is exactly why I’ll miss my boy,” Aubrey said. She lifted a cup, turned to Justin, and handed it to him. “Because he’s thoughtful, and kind, and wonderful, and not long ago, as wrong as it was, and I know it was wrong, he was all mine.”
A flash in Justin’s eye passed quickly. Was he humoring her? Most likely yes. “Think of me as a welcome addition, not a burden.”
“You are, this is. I know all these things are good for Max, really I do. It’s just … Oh Justin, I’m sorry,” Aubrey said and set her tea down on the counter. “This is happening so fast for him, for you, for me.”
“You seem to be the only one having a problem with the changes.”
Heat built in Aubrey’s chest. “Yes. Yes, maybe I am, but I’m also the one who has dedicated my entire existence to raising Max. Granted, that was my choice, and of course I know I made a grievous mistake not telling you about your son, and for that I will always be sorry. But dammit, I’ve done a fine job in getting him to this age, and now you’re just going to swoop in here with your private jets and sports-star friends and Hamptons home and billions of dollars and steal my son.”
Justin lips thinned and he set his mug on the counter. “Our son.”
“What about it? Our son, I said our son.”
“No, Aubrey, you didn’t. You said my son.”
“Semantics,” Aubrey said. She turned away and grabbed for the towel beside the kitchen sink.
“Think I’ll head back to my suite. Mind if Max stays in the extra room at my place tonight?”
“Why not,” Aubrey said, her voice petulant. “He’ll be staying with you every night soon enough.”