The Billionaire's Unexpected Baby(38)

"You're an idiot, mate."

Brooks glanced up to see Harrison standing in his door way.

"Well, that's certainly not the first time you've said that to me."

"No, but it might be the one time you've deserved it the most. How do  you have a woman like that and then just walk away from her?"

Brooks scowled at him. "I don't have her. I never had her. And the woman  sent me divorce papers. Exactly what else am I supposed to do with  those?"

Harrison shrugged. "I don't know. Shred them. Burn them. Fold them up  into little hearts and write a million apology notes on them. Anything  would be better than signing them."

"Too late for that," Brooks said. "They're already signed."

"Well then, you deserve every year of miserable lonely life left to you."       

   





Brooks stared at him, shock coursing through him at the stark,  depressing sentiment. "You really suck at cheering up a friend when he's  down."

"That's not why I came here. You don't deserve to be cheered up. I was hoping to knock some sense into you."

"About what? You're acting like I had a choice in this matter."

"Didn't you? No one forced you to walk away and no one certainly forced you to sign those damn papers. That was all you."

"I did it for her."

"Why? Because she's better off without you? Don't give me that load of  bollocks. You didn't walk away because it was better for her; you did it  because it was easier for you. It's easier to say that she's better off  without you than to try and win her heart and fail. This way you still  get to play the hero who is sacrificing his own happiness for the woman  he loves. When in reality you're too busy wallowing to go fight for  her."

"There's no point in fighting. Marcus is there. She doesn't need me."

"First of all, stop using Marcus as an excuse. She barely knows the man,  and doesn't seem to have any desire to get to know him better except  for the sake of her daughter, and more importantly the man is based out  of the country. He's not here for longer than a few weeks at a time  anyway, and from what I heard he has no plans to change that. So saying  you're staying away so that he can be with her is about the dumbest  excuse I've ever heard. Second of all, of course she doesn't need you.  She's a strong, independent woman. She doesn't need anybody. That  doesn't mean she doesn't want you. And that's not the question you  should be asking yourself anyway. The real question is, do you need  her?"

Brooks sat quietly for a moment, Harrison's words soaking into his  brain. "Yes, I need her. Not being with her physically hurts," he said  finally.

"Well, then … "

"But it doesn't matter. The last time I saw her she screamed at me to get out. She doesn't want anything to do with me."

"You pissed her off, mate. Been known to happen. Then again, women have  been known to change their minds on occasion, too. But you have to give  them a reason to. You haven't told her anything except that you're not  good enough, you're not right for her, you can't deal with the one man  she can't cut out of her life. So why don't you start showing her that  you were wrong. You keep saying she made her choice, but you never gave  her any other choice to make."

Damn. He hated it when Harrison made sense. "Okay, then. If I concede that you have a valid point?"

"Then I guess you need to decide what you're going to do about it."

Brooks shook his head. "I'm never going to deserve her, you know."

"You going to let that stop you?"

Brooks grabbed the papers off his desk.

"What are you going to do?" Harrison asked.

Brooks met his gaze and stood, the papers crumpling in his hand. "Go see  Marcus, first of all. After that … I have no fucking clue. Guess I'll  just have to make shit up as I go along."





Chapter Twenty-Four

Leah handed Marcus the diaper bag and the little cooler that had baggies  of her breast milk. "You sure you'll be okay?" she asked him for the  thirtieth time.

He laughed. "I promise, we'll be fine. It'll be good to spend some time  with my little princess before I head back to Hong Kong. And my mom will  be with us the whole time. She won't let me screw anything up too  badly. And you'll only be a phone call away if I need you."

Leah nodded. "Seriously, if you need me, I can be there in a flash. Just  call. Even if it's for something small. You never know … "

"Leah, we'll be okay. Now go have fun with your friend. Spend a few baby-free hours relaxing."

She nodded. She knew she was being silly, but it was also her first time  away from Olivia. Marcus generally came to visit at her apartment, but  he was heading back to Hong Kong soon and wanted to spend a few hours  with the baby, show her off to some extended family who was in town.  Leah would have gone also, but Kiersten insisted on whisking her away  for a spa day. Which, honestly, did sound heavenly. So Leah agreed to  let Marcus take Livy for a few hours. She'd known it would be hard. She  hadn't known it would be like ripping out a piece of her soul and  letting him take it for a spin around the block.       

   





Moments after Marcus pulled away, a town car with tinted windows pulled up.

Only it wasn't Kiersten who climbed out of the backseat.

Her heart stopped for a second before doing the butterfly dance with her  stomach. "Brooks? What are you doing here? I thought Kiersten was  supposed to … "

"I bribed her into setting up the date with you. Don't get mad," he said  at her frown. "I needed to talk to you, and you didn't seem inclined to  give me the time any other way."

"You could have just asked, you know."

"Yeah, but where's the fun in that?"

She started smiling in spite of herself. How did he always get her to do  that? Her phone buzzed and she pulled it out of her pocket. A text from  Kiersten.

Don't be mad! He promised free babysitting for a month. Can't pass that up. Hear him out okay.

She glanced back up at him. He stood at the open door of the car with  such a hopeful expression she couldn't bring herself to say no.

"What is all this about?"

He stepped back from the door and gestured for her to get inside. "If you'll come with me … "

She raised her eyebrows, not sure she wanted to go down this whole road  with him again. He still hadn't sent in the divorce papers. Which  surprised her, considering he was the one who walked out in the first  place.

"Brooks … "

"Please," he said. "I know I was an unforgiveable ass, but we've already established what an idiot I am. Just … please. One hour."

She sighed. This was probably a really bad idea, but she couldn't say no to him. "Fine. One hour."

The big grin he flashed her had her heart skipping through her chest  like a little girl with a lollipop. She climbed in the car and he slid  in next to her. They didn't talk much until she noticed they were  heading out of the city.

"Brooks, where are we going? I need to be home by four. Marcus is bringing the baby back."

"I know, don't worry. I'll have you back in time."

"What do you mean you know?"

"I spoke with Marcus this morning."

"You what?"

"We sat down and had a nice, long talk. And both walked out without a  single drop of blood being shed. You should be proud. Now, just be  patient for once," he said with a grin. "I have a surprise set up for  you."

"A surprise, huh? Am I going to like it?"

For a moment the excitement in his eyes dulled. "I really don't know. But I hope so."

They didn't say anything else but the silence wasn't uncomfortable. He  was one of the only people she could sit in a room with without saying a  word and not feel the need to fill the silence. When they started  winding through neighborhoods of large family homes she sat forward,  watching out the window.

"Where are we?"

"We're almost there," he said, the excitement back in his voice.

They finally pulled into a quiet, tree-lined cul-de-sac, lined with  beautiful two- and three-story homes. They came to a stop in front of  the house at the back of the cul-de-sac. A picture-perfect white house  with black shutters and a flower box beneath each window. There were  several blossoming trees in the yard and a flower-lined path up to the  front door.

And a white picket fence. It had an actual white picket fence.

"Brooks," she said with a tremor in her voice, beginning to have an inkling of what this might be about.

"Come on," he said, opening the door and sliding out. He held out a hand to help her from the car.

"Whose house is this?" she asked.

Brooks still held her hand. He pulled her to his side, wrapping an arm around her waist. "It's yours, if you want it."

"What?" she said, her voice barely more than a whisper.

"Come on," he said, tugging at her hand like a little kid in a candy store. "Let me show you the rest."