His Instant Heir(11)

       
           



       

But he knew that wouldn't satisfy him. Knowing he had a son was making  him think of things that had never seemed important or that he'd never  thought would be applicable to him. Suddenly he wanted to visit that  mansion in Beverly Hills that he'd inherited when his mother had died  eight years earlier. Suddenly he wanted to hold his son in his arms and  show him how to be tough enough-no, to protect him so he didn't have to  be tough enough to survive in the world. He knew that he wanted that  little boy that he'd only seen on Cari's phone to grow up without the  issues and fears that had dominated his own life.

"I'm sorry, Cari. You probably did the right thing by keeping our son a secret," he said.

"I did the only thing I could," she said.

"Now that we both know we have a son, I will be able to help you with the decisions," he said.

"I don't need help," she said.

"What do you need?" he asked, knowing he was going to have to be  cooperative and to try to convince her he possessed whatever traits she  deemed necessary for her son's father. Because the more he thought about  DJ, the more he realized that for the first time since he'd left home  and started helping Kell acquire and break businesses apart, he wanted  to build something of his own. He wanted to build something that would  last with his son. He wanted to build a family.

* * *

Cari wasn't too sure exactly what she needed except to get home and to  get away from Dec. He was trying and that was one of the sweetest things  she'd ever seen him do. Okay, it was definitely the sweetest. Dec  wasn't a man who asked. He normally bullied and pushed until he got what  he wanted.

She knew that she'd thrown him a curveball and she should probably get  him to agree to as much as he would tonight. But she hadn't counted on  it feeling like a curveball to her, too. She'd thought he'd deny the  existence of a son. She'd feared he'd just shrug and walk away. But this  reaction was the one she'd secretly hoped for.

In her mind's eye she could just imagine Jessi shaking her head and  telling Cari to snap out of it. And Cari knew that Jess would be right  to say those words. Dec was still the same man he'd been earlier. She  had to remember that people didn't change in less than an hour.

Dec was a man who destroyed things. He was the axman for Playtone Games  and there were probably hundreds of people whose lives he'd altered with  the cold-blooded decisions he made every day. It was silly to think he  wasn't going to apply those same principles to his personal life.

"I guess I should be going. If you don't want to take me back to the restaurant, I can catch a cab."

"Why would you say that?" he asked her.

"I figured you need some time to process everything I said tonight."

"I definitely do, but you're not catching a cab," he said. "We have to start getting to know each other."

She nodded. "That's why I came to dinner with you tonight."

"That, and guilt," he said.

She couldn't help but smile at the knowing way he'd said that. "Maybe."

She hadn't realized what a heavy emotional strain keeping DJ a secret  had been, but for the first time this evening she felt able to breathe  and that knot of tension in her stomach had loosened.

"So tell me …  Well, tell me about how you first took the news," he said. "It had to have been a shock."

She leaned back in her chair and she remembered she'd gone to the  walk-in clinic in Vegas where she'd been for her last gaming trade show.  The news that the doctor had delivered had been more of a confirmation  of what she'd sort of already guessed. "Immediately I knew I couldn't  tell anyone who you were."

"Why not?" he asked. "Are you close to your sisters?"

"We are sort of close. When our parents were alive, our dad was busy  working and our mom had her moments when she was unavailable to us. So  Emma and Jessi sort of looked out for me," she said. "I wanted to tell  them, especially since Emma already had a son, but I was afraid and  unsure. And I had this little baby inside of me and I knew that I was  all he had."

She almost touched her stomach, remembering the very instant when she'd  made the decision to keep the baby's father a secret from her sisters.  Dec hadn't called and she'd felt like it was her and the baby together  against the world. "I just knew that I had to protect him and keep him  safe. From that moment forward I did everything for him."

He was watching her like he'd never seen her before, and she couldn't  blame him. She didn't have to be a rocket scientist to know he'd wanted  the evening to go in a different direction. And he was handling it as  Dec handled everything.                       
       
           



       

"Does nothing throw you?" she asked.

"This did," he admitted. "I have always been so careful and never planned or anticipated a child."

She smiled. "DJ surprised us both. I said something similar to Jessi  when I was decorating the nursery a few weeks before he was born and she  said that maybe there was something in the universe that had a  different plan for me."

"Do you believe that?" he asked.

"I can tell you don't. But a part of me would like to think that what  happened between you and me was more than just hormones going crazy.  That even though one night was all you really wanted from me there was  something more going on there. I know I sound like a hopeless romantic,"  she said.

"I'm not romantic," he said. "I think the condom malfunctioned and we  have a son. Nothing more was involved in it. But I do think what you and  I do with him, how we raise him, how we treat each other, those are the  things that will have a long-lasting effect on him."

"I agree," she said. "Which is why until I say otherwise, we're going to keep the fact that you are DJ's father a secret."

He didn't look too happy about her decision but she really didn't care.  She wasn't about to risk her son or herself falling for a man who was  used to leaving. Who was used to always having one foot out the door.

"Okay, but you and I will date."

"Why? Whatever for?"

"It's the only way to get our families used to the fact that we are  together. And eventually they are going to learn about me and DJ. Don't  you think it will be a lot better if we give them a chance to get used  to me first?"

He had a point.

"I don't think so. We should keep this just between us."

But her sisters were going to give her the third degree. Even so, she  was tired of keeping the secret of DJ's father. And it looked like she  was going to have a chance at the family she'd always wanted with the  only man who'd ever kissed her and made her forget everything but the  way she felt in his arms.





Six


Dating. Dec wanted them to date and Cari had left him with a vague nod  of the head, but had been careful not to agree to anything. There was no  way that their families were ever going to accept them as a couple.  Emma and Jessi would have a lot to say about her dating a Montrose.

Especially given the way that Dec had been sent to evaluate and chop up  their company. No matter what spin he tried to put on it, everyone knew  he was there to break up the company in payback for her grandfather  cutting old Thomas Montrose out of Infinity all those years ago.

She rubbed her bleary eyes as she stared at the digital numbers of the  clock. It was three-thirty and she doubted Emma would appreciate her  showing up to pick up DJ. But she needed her son home in her arms. She'd  made a bad choice in allowing her sister to take him to her home.

Tonight she needed to hold his warm little body close and breathe in his  sweet baby scent and remind herself that she could be strong. Instead  she was lying in her big bed and dreaming of Dec. Was it any surprise?

She hadn't forgotten their one night together. Since then, no other man  was interested in her. And to be honest she wasn't interested in any  other man. Was she interested in Dec?

Attracted to him? Definitely. More than that? She just didn't know him  well enough to be sure. The parts she'd seen had shown her a man who was  ready for a good time and serious about business, but there wasn't much  else she could say about him.

Perhaps his dating idea was a good suggestion. She'd have a chance to  get to know him and see if he was really the right man to be a father to  DJ. It didn't matter to her that he'd provided the sperm. In a very  basic way she almost felt as if she'd gone to a sperm bank … . Why hadn't  she thought of that lie to tell her sisters?

Jessi already suspected that DJ's father was someone they knew. She was  always asking sly questions and trying to pry the name out of her. And  if Cari hadn't been so determined to keep her secret she would have  given Dec up long ago.