That just pisses me off.
“What the hell is wrong with her? You don’t think she’s good enough? Because she—”
“Whoa!” he says laughing, holding his hands up for me to stop. “First of all, put your fangs away. Secondly, I didn’t mean anything bad by that. She’s cute and sweet, but we have nothing in common, and there was mostly heavy uncomfortable silence between us the entire time we tried to talk.”
“That’s because you were too busy staring at your phone instead of paying her any attention. She’s easy as fuck to talk to.”
His grin only grows. “I’m sure you’re right. Anyway, I’ve sort of got some shit of my own going on right now. And dating isn’t exactly on the agenda. Turns out... I’m a father.”
I think my jaw just hit the floor. What. The. Hell?
His grin is gone as the weight of the world settles into every feature he has.
“When the hell did Erica have a child?” I ask in a rasp whisper. Am I that oblivious to the world around me?
He lets go a sad, bitter laugh while shaking his head. “Erica didn’t have a kid. This kid is six-years-old. I met the mom long before Erica and I got together, and I had a one-night stand. I used a condom, but... apparently shit happens. Condom broke, and I didn’t even remember our night together until she said something about it.”
I can barely breathe, so I can only assume he’s suffocating.
“Damn. And you’re sure? That’s it’s yours, I mean.”
He nods slowly, his eyes cast downward as he struggles to digest it all.
“Yeah, it’s legit. I have a daughter. Just got the results back from the paternity test yesterday. That’s why I left, and that’s why I was texting. My lawyer has been working hard on this. I seriously have a daughter named Angel.”
Still a little in shock, I ask, “Is she living here?”
“Yeah. The mom’s name is Allie. I met her one of the times I was in Cancun. Turns out she was living four hours from here, and moved here to be with one of her friends. Now she’s a nurse at Sterling Memorial. She wasn’t sure about telling me, but the kid kept asking about a father, and then we literally ran into each other at the grocery store. She took it as a sign that she needed to do the right thing.”
Holy shit. “And she didn’t think to do the right thing years ago?”
He frowns as he leans over and rests his elbows on the desk. “It was a one-night stand. She didn’t know my last name. She only came to Sterling Shore to meet me once she saw me in a magazine article with Tag. She started to call me several times and kept chickening out.
“But she ended up landing a good job at the hospital, and now she’s living here. She’s been trying to find the courage to approach me for the past three months. I want to know my kid, but she’s made it clear that I’m not allowed to give her money or see her outside of Angel. Apparently I was a major asshole to her that night. It was a bad year for me, and I fucked her and walked away. I don’t really blame her for not being too happy with me.
“I begged Ash not to set that date up with Brin last night, but you know how pushy she is. Tag hasn’t told her what’s going on, so she didn’t know any better. Then I felt like a jerk for being such a horrible date, and I wanted to make it up to her by asking her out on another date. But the truth is, I’m seriously not in a place to date right now.”
I can’t blame him for that. Hell. That’s wild.
“Sorry, man. I wish I knew what to do.”
He blows out a harsh breath as his hands shake. I don’t know how he’s holding it together. “Allie is going to let me meet Angel eventually, but it might take a month or two. She wants to ease her into the transition. A month. I might have to wait an entire month to meet her. My lawyer says he can make sure I see her within a week. But Allie is already terrified of me using my money and influence against her.
“I’m afraid if I push her too fast, she’ll flee and I’ll never get the chance to know my daughter. So I’m playing this her way. She wants time, so I’ll give her a little time. In the meantime, Tag’s helping me get my house ready for a kid. There’s a lot of shit to being a dad, and I’m honestly freaking the fuck out a little.”
“I’d be freaking the fuck out a lot,” I murmur, reaching under the desk and pulling out the bottle of whiskey to hand him.
He raises and shakes his hand in one motion, refusing the alcohol. “I have to go to Mom’s right now. She still doesn’t know. I’m about to break the news to her, and hope she doesn’t beat the hell out of me. I can’t believe I didn’t give her my last name. Hell, I think she said I lied about what it was.”