His Instant Heir(9)

"I know."

He gave his claim tag to the valet. "Is it still okay to take my car to the marina and come back for yours?"

"Yes," she said. She hoped while they were having a drink she'd be able  to tell him about DJ. But she still wasn't sure how to say it. Also, a  part of her didn't want to tell him. She still wasn't sure he was ready  to be a father.

"Here's my car."

"A Maserati?"

"Yes, I like my cars fast and sexy."

"Why am I not surprised?" she asked. "Have you ever thought about what you'll do when you have a family?"

"I'm not planning on one," he said. As he glanced around and she met his  calm brown gaze, she realized that he spoke the truth. She'd hoped to  learn more about him as a man and all she'd learned was that his mom was  a volunteer who hadn't made much time for him. Maybe that was why he  didn't want a family.

"Oh," she said, knowing she sounded a little unsure. But really, what else could she say?

"I'm too much of a loner."

Well, there you go, she thought as she climbed into the car. What was  she going to do now? No matter what he wanted or even what she desired,  he had a son and she was the mother of that child. Whether he was ready  to be a father or not. She owed it to him to let him know.

It was just that her fantasy of him suddenly falling to his knees and  making declarations of love for her and DJ were gone. She realized that  this was real life, not some fantasy world where everything was going to  work out simply because she dreamed it.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yes," she said. The miles to the marina flew by and Cari leaned her  head back against the seat as the bluesy beat of Stevie Ray Vaughan  flowed through the car. Stevie sang of heartbreak, and even though Cari  knew she didn't love Dec she couldn't help but feel like she was a  little heartbroken, too. It was the first time she realized that dreams  could be broken as easily as a heart.

* * *

Dec felt the mood change as soon as they got to the marina. He was a  member here because he lived on a yacht that was moored here. He'd  learned a long time ago that he didn't want a big house, but he  suspected that was his way of keeping himself different from his  parents. He liked to pretend that all the stuff he could buy meant  nothing to him. He doubted that Cari would be agreeable to a drink on  his yacht, the Big Spender. His cousin Allan had named it for him-a  tongue-in-cheek reference to the fact that he liked expensive toys.

He led the way through the member's-only club to a table set on the  balcony far away from the other diners. It was quiet this time of night.  He signaled the waiter and when he arrived Cari ordered a decaf coffee  and Dec did the same.

"I seem to have said something that upset you," he said.

"I have something to tell you," she said.

"Go ahead," he invited.

"Um … it's not as easy as I imagined it to be," she said.

Now she was starting to worry him. What could she possibly have to say to him that was so difficult?

"Are you married?" he asked.

"No. I wouldn't have come to dinner with you if I were involved with another man," she said. "Commitment means something to me."

"It means something to me, as well," he said. "That's why I avoid it."

"Really? Did something bad happen to you in the past?"

"Yes."

"Tell me about it," she said.

Their coffee was delivered and the waiter left. But he didn't start  talking. He didn't like to think of his past. Didn't like to discuss the  fact that he was an orphan and his adoptive parents had been in a  facade of a marriage. He was just the final piece in their perfect  little image of a family. But none of it had been real.

"I'm not interested in the past," he said at last.

"But without the past we have no way of measuring where we are going."                       
       
           



       

"I'm more of a live-in-the-now man."

"But you have to plan for the future," she said. "Just having business goals would necessitate that."

He shrugged. "I'm driven at work. But it's more because I don't like to fail."

She shook her head. "I don't know what else to say. Or really how to say this. Our one-night stand … "

"Yes? Has it lingered in your mind? I know it has mine."

"In a way," she said, twisting the charm on her necklace with her fingers and then patting it down.

He glanced at the piece of jewelry, for the first time noticing that it  was a charm with a small head on it and two initials. DJ.

DJ?

He was starting to put things together but what he was coming up with  made no sense. Whatever it was she was trying so hard not to say to  him … it couldn't be what was flirting around in the back of his mind.

She wouldn't have waited so long to get in touch with him. He had to believe that.

"What are you trying to tell me?"

She took another sip of her coffee and then put both hands on the table  and leaned over toward him. Even in the dim lighting he could see the  tension in her body and the nervousness in her eyes. He calmed himself  the way he did when he had to fire someone. He pushed down all the  emotions that had been swirling around him all night-even the lust that  he'd hoped would lead to more than just a kiss.

"It might sound …  That is to say after you left- Dammit, there is no way  to say this nicely. I was pregnant, Dec. I had a baby nine months ago. A  little boy," she said. Now that she'd started talking she couldn't seem  to stop. "I know I should have called you or gotten in touch but at  first I didn't-couldn't believe I was pregnant and then … well, your  company was planning a hostile takeover of mine and … "

"I have a son?"

"Yes. He's nine months old," she said. She fumbled for her handbag and pulled out her cell phone.

He ignored her as the thoughts circled his mind. He never planned to  have a kid because he didn't know how to be a father or really what it  meant to be part of a family, and he knew from his own upbringing that a  bad parent could be worse than no parent at all.

She was saying something else to him but he couldn't hear her words. All  he knew was that the plans he'd made for his life had just  disintegrated. He had to figure out what to do with this. A child. His  child.

She handed him her phone. He glanced down at the screen and saw his son  for the first time. His eyes were the same deep brown as Dec's were. His  smile was small and toothless and his eyes wide. It was easy to see the  baby was happy. And Dec felt his heart skip a beat and his stomach  clench. This changed everything. It added a complication that even Dec  couldn't navigate easily.

He stood up, knocking his chair over as he turned to face the glass and  saw a reflection of himself. He'd never belonged to anyone, not really,  and now Cari had told him he had a son. The first blood relative he'd  ever known of.

"I have a son?"





Five


Cari knew she could have handled the announcement a little better, but  at least it was out there, and a part of her felt relieved. She'd always  told herself Dec had made his choice when he'd left and she'd made the  best decision for herself-to have her son on her own. She'd felt bad  about keeping DJ a secret from him, but she'd had no other choice.

Dec was quiet and those warm brown eyes of his were cold and hard. She  knew she'd given him a shock and she wanted to just finish the  conversation and get out of the marina bar. She'd never felt this unsure  in her life. Except maybe that moment when she'd held her son in her  arms for the first time and realized that she wanted to give him the  world but had no idea how to take care of him.

"Given that you said you don't really want a family-"

He spoke without moving his eyes from the picture on her cell phone.  "That was before I knew I had a son. He has my eyes." There was a sense  of awe and maybe a little nervousness in his voice. She'd never seen him  like this before. This had shaken him.

Finally he put her cell phone back on the table and glared over at her.  Aside from the occasional smile, this was the first real emotion she'd  seen from him. He looked angry and, if she was being totally honest,  scared. She had had months to get used to the fact that she was going to  have a baby. And he'd grown inside of her, giving her a chance to  adjust to the fact that he was real.

She felt a little guilty at how she'd sprung the announcement on Dec. He  seemed shell-shocked. When he sat down again she reached for his hand,  but he drew it away from her and stared stonily at her.                       
       
           



       

"I know he has your eyes," she said at last. "Listen, we have a lot to talk about," she added, taking control of the situation.