God, that felt so damn early. The lifestyle of DOM never really allowed for early morning risers, but then again, the lifestyle of DOM didn’t really allow for anything consistent. Do you really even consider yourself a part of DOM still? Doesn’t seem like it’s that important to you.
“Good, then I will see you at nine a.m. at the Breckenridge Brew Lodge. I will wear a black coat with dark black jeans and a white button-up shirt beneath the coat.”
“OK, I’ll—”
“I’ll find you. Don’t worry. See you tomorrow.”
It wasn’t as bold or cocky as it sounded. What were the odds this place, which didn’t even serve breakfast, would have anyone else at that hour? At most, maybe a couple of wayward, bored souls, but it was unlikely any single women would come there on their own.
“OK, see you then,” Kelly said, sounding surprised.
I hung up feeling somewhat good, but I was also beginning to feel like this “coincidence” was transforming a little too rapidly into “possibility.” The last thing I needed was the knowledge that I was a father. I didn’t do attachment well—it usually ended badly for me.
But I had to start somewhere, right? If I ever wanted what I really wanted, I had to take some gambles, right?
I guess we’d fucking see in about eighteen hours. The odds seemed too low for it to be anything worth seriously entertaining.
But I was starting to understand more and more Scott’s point about there being no coincidences.
The Next Morning
I walked up to the lodge about a minute before nine. I peered inside the window to try and see who was inside. Unfortunately, the window was much too small to make note of anything, and even if I could see something, what was I going to do, run away if it turned out that it was the same Kelly?
No, I had a job to fucking do.
I stepped inside and saw…her.
Not her.
Thankfully.
It was my client, but I could immediately tell it was not the woman I’d hooked up with two years ago. That Kelly had blonde hair and a thin figure. This Kelly had cinnamon-brown hair and, while not fat by any stretch of the imagination, had a little extra size.
The relief I felt was so strong, I had to step behind a wall to catch my breath for a moment. It was a little embarrassing to admit, yes, but the last thing I wanted to deal with today was a client that was looking for me. I would have sooner gone back to Scott and agreed to take over DOM than agree to take over as a father for a kid I’d never met and a mom I’d fucked once.
I walked over to her, a stoic expression on my face. She looked up and I gave her a nod.
“Kelly Bennett?”
Her smile immediately faded. In fact, she didn’t mirror my stoic face at all. She looked downright pissed.
And immediately, I knew I’d missed something. Maybe the girl two years ago…maybe I’d misremembered her.
No, there was none of that. I remembered all too well.
This was that Kelly.
She’d just changed her hair color.
Fuck me.
“You’re Liam?” she said, the tone of her voice one of disbelief and anger that was just barely simmering beneath the surface.
“Yes.”
She snorted and chuckled.
“Are you, though? Or are you actually Trent?”
And now it’s official.
The father I’m supposed to look for is me.
I’m a father. This is Mom. And this is the woman I fucked and almost literally left out to dry right after.
“It’s Liam, Kelly. That is my real name.”
“Yes, and based purely on Emily’s word, I’m supposed to believe you a hundred percent. Ignoring, of course, the fact that you left me in the bathroom, washing my hands, only to then get pregnant and have to raise a child all on my own!”
I bit my lip. What the hell was I supposed to say in response to that? That I was sorry? Surely, saying those three magical words would get me forgiveness.
“I am Liam. I promise you that is my real name. Trent is an alibi that I just made up on the spot that night.”
She scoffed and laughed again at me.
“I don’t know whether I should be insulted by that or feel somewhat good that you’re finally fucking honest.”
Her voice was starting to rise, to the point that the lone bartender behind the counter was starting to take note of us.
“Can we go somewhere private to talk about this?”
“What, so I can go to the bathroom and you can run for the hills again? Nice try, but Emily knows how to find you.”
“Can we at least lower our voices then?” I said. “I don’t care to have the town cops called over here because we’re screaming.”
The very request seemed to boil Kelly’s blood. I had been in a lot of dangerous situations—captured by terrorists, escaping from a shootout, hijacking a plane—but this, more than anything else, had me afraid. I couldn’t subdue Kelly like I could an enemy. I could only take whatever she said and hoped for the best.
“You know you’re the father, right?”
“I know that I was an asshole to you,” I said. “It seems a bit of a leap to say that I’m the father, though.”
“Not when I tell you that I didn’t sleep with anyone after the fact, nor did I sleep with anyone for a good six months before you.”
Fuck. What was I going to do, call her a liar and say she was trying to frame me? I was a dom, but I was not a ruthless asshole.
“You’re sure I’m the
