Secret Baby Daddy (Part Four) Read online

  “And maybe you’ll get some company if it’s long enough.”

  His cocky smile tugs at my sex drive as he turns around and takes Sebastian to the spare suite bedroom. We stealthily got the baby car seat there by smuggling it beneath the rest of Colt’s luggage. Of course, he and I came up here separately, with Colt wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses so he can remain incognito as “Darrin Hayward.”

  With a light heart, I go into the master bedroom and its marble bathroom. Maybe soon I can try the rainforest shower, but that big bathtub is calling to me. I twist my hair into a high bun and pluck a fluffy hotel robe from the closet, although I might not need it right after my bath. Then I run the water and choose a silky blueberry and coconut scent from all the toiletries lined up on the counter. I flick on the TV embedded in the wall mirror to a junky reality show, then ultimately sink down into the bubbling, warm water, closing my eyes in pure rapture.

  As I run my fingertips over my skin, I think of Colt and how his talented hands never fail to bring me to a shuddering climax. I think of those pictures we took the other night, and I slip my hand underneath the water, using my fingers to part the folds of my pussy and adjusting my body so that a stream of water from one of the jets hits me in the sweet spot. I wish Colt was the one touching me instead. Damn, even as I try to work myself into the kind of frenzy he so easily brings me to, I need him, and anything less just won’t satisfy me right now. Not with him in the same damned hotel suite.

  With a sigh, I resign myself to waiting for him. I start to count the minutes until he can join me in here.

  The show on the TV ends and another begins, and my eyelids start to get heavy. The water cools off and my skin begins to pucker. Maybe Sebastian is being stubborn about getting to sleep. Maybe Colt could use some help.

  As I let the water out, I watch as it swirls down the drain. Maybe next time.

  I dry off with a heavenly, thick towel, rub some lotion into my skin, then wrap myself in the big robe. As I’m shaking my hair out of its bun, I hear something outside in the main area of the suite. A door slamming. A female voice and laughter.

  Huh.

  I go to the bedroom door to open it a crack, and when I peek out, I see something that almost takes me down at the knees.

  There’s a long, lean platinum blonde dressed in suede boots and a sexy gold crocheted dress whose hem ends where a guy’s imagination usually begins. Her straight, glossy hair rains down her back as she laughs and swans over to where Colt is shutting the other bedroom’s door behind him.

  Holy shit, I would recognize this woman anywhere and everywhere—in movies, on billboards, in magazine ads…

  “Surprise!” J.Page says as she holds out a bottle of champagne to Colt.

  As he walks away from the bedroom, he passes her right by. He doesn’t even make a move to grab the bubbly—not the one in the bottle and not the one in the flirty dress either. “Keep your voice down, Page.”

  “Why?” She smiles her magnetic smile and makes a show of looking around. Then she lowers her voice. “Do you have company in here, Colt? You bad, bad boy.”

  He’s across the room from her now. “How did you—?”

  “Get in here? Oh, honey, I didn’t learn to flirt like a sex demon with hotel personnel for no good reason. And let’s just say a big ol’ tip to the management wasn’t exactly a bad idea either. I told him I was coming up here to surprise you, and he agreed that I would be a wonderful gift indeed.”

  My palms start to sweat, my chest going tight. What the hell is happening?

  “How did you even know where I was?” Colt asks from between his teeth.

  J.Page makes herself at home by putting down the champagne bottle on the coffee table and running her hands down her sides. She sidles toward Colt and lowers her voice to a purr. “How did I find out where you were? Please—amateur hour. Remember how we share an agent? I finally got Murray to tell me where you ended up when you skipped town. And props to you, my dear—if I didn’t know any better, I’d be very touched by this redemption story you’ve concocted.” She comes to stand in front of him with a pout. “I can see the headlines now when the studio is ready for you to come out of hiding for the movie premieres: Naughty Boy Spends Time with Mommy After Engaging in Hothead Barfights.”

  “This isn’t just a redemption story,” he says tightly.

  “Whatever. It’s only too bad Mommy lives near Portland. Yikes. I can’t stand hippies, and this town is littered with them. Is there a law here that says its citizens can shower only once a month or something?” She looks up at him with that pout, then tugs at his tee shirt. “Now why don’t you make my trip worthwhile, Colt baby?”

  He backs away from her and walks off. “What’s with you, Page?”

  She follows him. “Colt, you should be grateful I came here to rescue you from such a dump.”

  She goes for his tee shirt again, and it’s one time too many. Anger flares inside of me. I don’t give a shit who she is or if every man who breathes wants to get into her panties—she’s clearly moving in on Colt, and I push open the door.

  When she spots me, her famously blue eyes widen. In person, she’s far more stunning and radiant than on screen—her skin is smooth and flawless, her lips pink and bee-stung, her breasts perky in that tight dress, her legs going on forever.

  First she looks at my hair, which feels like a red and brown mess compared to her shiny, luscious blond locks. Then her gaze travels down my length, and she makes a face like she sees a homeless person who accidentally wandered into the suite.

  She glances at Colt, and he turns to me. When she laughs, his gaze goes hard.

  “Oh, my,” she says. “Colt, honey, didn’t anyone tell you that a movie star’s redemption arc doesn’t have to include taking in charity cases?”

  Whoa. She’s clearly whip-smart—and savvy enough to hide this bitchy side from the general public.

  “Fuck off with that,” Colt says.

  She lifts her hands up, then backtracks from him, casually picking up the champagne and moving toward the dining area with it. Her hips swivel under her dress, and with every step she takes, I feel like she’s crushing me into the ground under her heels. She’s gorgeous. She’s sharp. She has it all. Next to her, I’m such an ugly duckling. So why is Colt still looking at me as if he doesn’t give a crap about her at all? It’s clear that J.Page is into him, so why would he choose me, the girl in an oversized robe with a few pounds still clinging to her from having a child?

  “Where’re your champagne flutes?” J.Page says over her shoulder. “We’ll only need two after you get rid of…” She jerks her chin back at me. “That.”

  Colt’s gaze flickers with anger. I shake my head at him, motioning to the other bedroom where Sebastian is. I’m willing to go in there while he deals with J.Page. I don’t want him to ruin his career by snubbing her.

  With a sick feeling in my stomach, I start to walk to the other door. Everything I ever feared back when Colt asked me to come to LA to be with him is coming true. I knew women would be all over him, especially women like this one. To see it happen right in front of me is a nightmare.

  “Colt, darling,” she says, planting a hand on her hip, demanding his attention. She looks him up and down with a clear appetite, as if I’m not even there. “You blew me off in Vegas, so let’s make up for a little lost time now, huh?”

  “Leave,” he says.

  I stop in my tracks. I want to tell him that I can handle her bitchiness, but he’s turning to face her, his body tense.

  J.Page laughs a little. “Excuse me?”

  “I told you to leave. You weren’t invited here in the first place.”

  When she looks at me again, it’s clear that her pride has been wounded. I’m sure no one ever turns her, the goddess of the screen, down because they’d rather be with a charity case in a robe. This must be a first.

  “Colt,” she says as if he’s making the biggest mistake of his life. “I forgive you, okay? He
re—let’s just drink this chilled bottle of Veuve Clicquot Yellowboam Ostrich Limited, and—”

  “Out.”

  She stares at him for a moment in pure disbelief. She glances at me again and narrows her eyes. A fast burn seems to roll over her, and she bares her teeth at me, then throws the champagne against the marble wall. The bottle shatters. She marches toward Colt, pointing at him.

  “You ungrateful son of a bitch!” she yells. “We’ll see who kicks who out!”

  As J.Page storms into the foyer, I hear Sebastian start to cry behind the door. I take one last look at Colt, who’s staring at the floor with his hands braced on his hips. The front door slams, and he keeps looking down, seething. Sebastian’s cries get louder, so I go to my son, my heart numb with confusion. I take my baby out of his car seat and hold him close as his cries subside.

  God, I only wish I could make what just happened outside this room disappear as easily as my baby’s tears.

  Chapter 3

  Don’t take anything Page said to heart,” Colt quietly says from the bedroom doorway.

  I’m sitting cross-legged on the thick carpet, nested in my hotel robe while I rock Sebastian in my arms. I’m still unsettled by the scene with J.Page, still feeling about two inches tall because of how she belittled me, and from the furious look on Colt’s face, he’s with me all the way.

  “She laid into you because she’s angry at me,” he says. “This has nothing to do with you.”

  “I didn’t know she was that much of a…” I look down at Sebastian, who’s resting contentedly as if the shit didn’t just go down outside this room. “You know what I want to say.”

  Raging bitch.

  “I know.” Colt sits down on a velvet chair, running his fingers through his loose hair in agitation. “I had no idea she would barge in like that.” He gives me a long look. “She’s never done something like this before with me.”

  “Do you think she heard Sebastian crying in here?” I ask. “Is she going to let your little secret out to the world?”

  “Just let her.”

  “Colt, you came here to avoid scandals, not create more of them.”

  He leans forward in the chair. “You and Sebastian aren’t a scandal. You’re my life.”

  His words are full of blazing conviction, and so are his eyes. I hold Sebastian closer in the face of Colt’s clear anger at his costar. This is a man who would go to war for us, and I only hope he doesn’t destroy every good thing he’s built for himself because of an insanely jealous actress who took him under her pretty wing.

  “I’ll take care of Page’s prima donna attitude and petty jealousy,” he says. “In the meantime, you just need to remember that you’re the only woman for me, Serena. Never doubt that.”

  I nod, pressing my lips together with emotion. Then I shake my head and let it all out. “It’s just not easy to think that way, Colt. J.Page is stunning on and off the screen. Next to her, I feel like…”

  As the heat in his eyes intensifies, I stop, because how can I argue that J.Page made me feel like a troll when Colt is sitting there right now looking at me as if there’s no comparison between her and me? That I’m the obvious winner?

  Love for him sweeps through me, and I’m carried away by it. “I know it’s been hard, waiting for me to talk to my family and reveal to everyone that you’re Bash’s father.” I swallow. “But I’m going to talk to my parents tonight. I’m going to tell them everything.”

  Colt doesn’t break eye contact with me, and it burns. “What about telling Jack?”

  “My brother will have to come later. I want my parents to know the truth first, because they aren’t the ones who’re likely to fly off the handle.”

  “Yeah, we’ll see about that.” Colt’s hard body seems to melt a little as he glances at Sebastian, then at me. “I want to talk to them with you, Serena. I want to be at your side while you’re facing them.”

  “Colt, the moment they see you, they’ll put up their defenses. This is going to take some finesse, so let me give them a try first. Okay?”

  He knots up, then relaxes and laughs quietly. “Did you more or less just tell me that I lack subtly?”

  I shrug, and we both laugh softly during this release of tension. I just wish laughing made me feel better about what I finally have to do tonight: go home and have one of the hardest conversations I’ve ever had with my parents.

  When I arrive home from my glorious weekend away, it’s without Sebastian. I talked with Margot and she told me I could drop off my son with her for a couple hours while I have The Talk with my parents, just in case the scene gets ugly. I don’t think it will—Mom and Dad are fair, rational people—but this is an ultra touchy subject with my family, and I don’t want Sebastian around to hear any raised voices or adults crying.

  Dad is in the garage, changing the oil in his RAV4, and he wanders onto the driveway, wiping his hands on a rag. “The travelers return! Mom is in the garden, plucking tomatoes for a dinner salad. She’s been having Bash withdrawals.” He cranes his neck to look into my backseat.

  My stomach turns. “Bash is at Margot’s for a short time. I need to talk to you and Mom about something.”

  He pauses, then frowns. “This sounds like a bad something, Serena.”

  “No. Not at all.” I fortify myself with a breath. “It’ll actually be a good talk.”

  From my point of view.

  Dad’s frown mostly disappears at that—sort of—and he helps me bring in the luggage. Once inside the house, he calls for my mom, and she appears on the patio, tugging off her gardening gloves and whisking off her floppy hat. When she sees that Sebastian isn’t with me, Dad explains that Margot is babysitting. Meanwhile, I quickly duck into the bathroom to splash water on my face and stare at myself in the mirror.

  You can do this, I think, even though the inside of my stomach is quivering and so are my hands. But my eyes are greener than usual because I’m still glowing from my weekend with Colt and Sebastian, and that gives me the strength to do what I have to do.

  My parents and I take seats at the dining room table, and they look as worried as hell. I rush to reassure them.

  “Don’t worry. I just want to talk with you about the future.” To put it mildly. “Is Jack coming by?”

  “He’s got a date this evening,” Mom says.

  Dad can’t help joking to cut the tension. “Poor girl, whoever she is.”

  Nobody really laughs, though.

  I’ve rehearsed what I’m going to say in the back of my mind a thousand times on the drive from Portland. But now that I’m actually facing my parents, it seems that I can’t find the right words.

  “Serena,” Mom says. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing’s wrong.”

  Dad frowns. “Outside, you told me this was about something good.”

  “And it is.” Do this. “Colt is back in town.”

  At first, they only stare at me as if they’re still waiting for the wonderful part. Then Dad leans back in his chair and looks at Mom, who has lifted her hand to her mouth and closed her eyes.

  “He’s changed,” I say. “And—”

  “Does he know about Sebastian?” Dad asks.

  I nod, and as my mom lowers her head, my father’s face goes as red as Jack’s does when he gets angry.

  I forge ahead. “Colt has met Sebastian already, and they adore each other—”

  “Is that where you were this weekend?” Dad asks. “With Colt?”

  “Yes. We knew we needed to sort things out, so we got out of town and had a good talk.” Here we really go. “He wants to meet with you now and show you that he’s going to be a good father to Bash.”

  Mom stands up. “This is the same guy who was recently in the tabloids for getting in fights? This is the father you want for Sebastian?”

  “Colt is genuinely trying,” I whisper. “And he’s going to overcome everything in his past. He just needs a chance.”

  Mom isn’t finished. “Well, he�
��s done such a fantastic job of overcoming all his issues before now, so let’s just call him up so he can come on over and join the family. Good God, Serena, do you remember what a mess he was? Why did you tell him about Bash? How did this happen?”

  Dad looks up at her, and his flushed face has cooled. “Julia, we need to hear her out.” He lets out a long breath, then says, “We knew this day might come.”

  Mom stares at him for a moment before sinking back into her chair. I don’t think Dad is on Colt’s side as much as he only wants to give me the opportunity to tell them why I’ve gone off the deep end, and as that fact seeps into my mom, she sits back with her arms crossed.

  I tell them about how Colt found me in that Portland bar, how he wants more than anything to turn over a new leaf in life, how I want all of my family to hear him out as soon as they find it within their hearts to do so. Finally, I let them know that I don’t want my brother to know about any of this until they’ve come around themselves.

  In the end, it’s Dad who pulls through for me—at least a little. He turns to Mom. “Bash is Colt’s son, Julia. He could get real ugly about this if he wanted to, but he wants to talk to us. We need to hear what he has to say.”

  Is there a part of Dad that’s remembering how close Colt used to be to them before his wild, rebellious side drove him and my parents apart?

  Mom’s mouth barely moves as she speaks. “Maybe you should see Colt before I do, Jason.”

  “And maybe you and I should talk about this tonight.” Dad turns to me. “Could we do that, Serena? Take the night to talk this over with each other?”

  I nod, but I think Dad knows that letting Colt into Sebastian’s life really isn’t their choice to make. I rise from my seat, but before I go to Margot’s to pick up my son, I say one last thing.

  “I want us to stay a family. I love you guys so much, but I love him too.” I bite my lip, then add, “I always have and always will.”

  Then I walk through the front door, hoping my parents don’t break my heart.

  After I pick up Sebastian and return home, I close the door to my room while Mom and Dad hang out in the family room with Sebastian before his bedtime. I call Colt to tell him the positive news: he’s been invited to dinner tomorrow night at the Warner household with just my parents and me.