“There are a lot of places I shouldn’t go but here isn’t one of them.”
“Please, Nolan. This is my job. I can’t get into this with you right now.”
“Too bad,” he said, not willing to budge. “I have some questions and you’re going to answer them.” A surprising shock of awareness rippled through Nolan as he stared at the woman he last saw three years ago. His gaze returned to the toddler who was about three years old and that sickening lurch in his gut returned. He stared harder at the little girl and his brain quickly began picking out the easy similarities between himself and her fair features. "She mine?" he asked in a hard tone. When the woman’s lips tightened as if refusing to answer he repeated the question only this time his gaze narrowed with unrestrained anger. "Is she mine?"
"No."
He wanted to believe her so he could walk away but the sad truth was he knew she was lying. He could plainly see Buchanan traits in that child. "You're lying."
"What are you doing here?" she asked plaintively, her eyes growing wet. "How did you find me?"
"Funny thing about that. I didn't find you. Someone sent me an anonymous note saying I had a kid. Honestly, I thought it was a ruse to shake me down for some money. But I see now that whatever their motives, it had nothing to do with money. Surprisingly."
"And you think I sent that note?" she asked incredulously. "Well, I didn't."
"I'm beginning to realize that. Regardless of who sent the damned note, don't you think it might've been prudent to let me know I had fathered a child?"
"No." She lifted her chin. "I never had any intentions of you knowing."
"And why is that?"
"I'd rather not talk about this right now," she said, smoothing her daughter’s curls. "Please go. I'll call you later, I promise."
"I don't even know your name," he retorted with a shake of his head. "At the time, the mystery hadn't bothered me because it was a little exciting but now I realize that was pretty stupid."
"I didn't get pregnant on purpose," she nearly hissed, her eyes flashing with indignation. "But I'm not about to talk about this with you right now so get out. I promise I'll call you later. Leave me your number and we will set up a time to talk but I'm not going to have this conversation with you while I'm holding my daughter at my place of employment. Got it?"
"Is this guy bothering you, Shannon?" A deep gravelly voice asked from behind Nolan. Nolan turned and saw a mountain of a man giving him a hard look. "You were asked to leave. If you don't want your pretty teeth rattling down the back of your throat, I'd suggest you do as she asked."
Shannon graced the big man with an appreciative smile but said, "it's okay, Rocky. He was just leaving." Rocky stared Nolan down before walking away slowly, clenching a fist and purposefully crushing it against his palm with clear intent. Nolan didn’t want to leave but he had no doubt that Rocky’s threat wasn’t idle. And since Nolan had no wish to swallow his front teeth at the moment, he plucked a business card from his wallet and tossed it to her desk.
"I expect a call. Shannon." His gaze strayed to the toddler one last time and his knees wobbled. Eyes identical to his own stared back at him. Nolan stepped away, his heart hammering. "This isn’t over. Not by a long shot."
He left her with that promise and walked away, his brain frozen in place.
He had a kid. Holy fuck. He had a kid.
Shannon's hands fluttered as she handed Aubrey off to CeCe, her nerves completely shot. How did he find them? Who would have known that Aubrey was Nolan Buchanan's child? Precious few knew Aubrey's paternity and the ones who knew, would never betray her. When she’d found out she was pregnant, Shannon had been stunned. They'd use protection — she was sure of it. But there was no mistaking that eight weeks after that one night with Nolan Buchanan she was most definitely pregnant. And since there’d been no one after Nolan, and in spite of all attempts to be responsible, Shannon had found herself pregnant from a one-night stand. A little digging into Nolan Buchanan's reputation, had uncovered plenty of evidence proving that he would make a terrible father. She wasn't about to subject her child to a spoiled rich boy who treated people as disposable. Her one saving grace had been she’d never given Nolan her name.
But he knew now. One look at Aubrey and he'd known. Just as she had. Of all the dumb luck, Aubrey had been born sharing her father's genetics. And she was such a beautiful baby. Everywhere they went Aubrey elicited “oohs” and “aahhs” over her precious strawberry blonde curls and her aristocratic, China doll features. What was she going to do? Crossing a Buchanan was tantamount to tangling with a lion. But she wasn't about to hand over her child to a man who was a stranger.