Chapter 8

Alice

I hated how I couldn’t stay mad at Connor for very long. He might’ve changed a bit in how he copped to screwing up, but that didn’t mean he didn’t put his boyish charm on full display whenever he felt like he could use it to his advantage. But he seemed to be honest when he told me he’d keep me on the same page about everything.

Still, I wasn’t happy to be dressed like this in front of some old-money folks like his board. I figured it’d be fine for some other people our age, especially considering it was all I had to wear, but not in front of a group of damn baby boomers.

“Darling!” exclaimed Wendy, a heavyset woman with her hair done up in a hard shellac. “Where’s your ring?”

My right hand shot to the fingers of my left and I’d realized that I wasn’t wearing it.

“That’s a good question,” said Richter, a gaunt, bony man who looked more like a mortician than a surgeon.

Connor flashed me a look that made it clear he wasn’t happy about this. My heart began to thud in my chest as I tried to remember where I’d put it. I’d taken it off when I showered this morning, and then I…

My purse!

I darted my hands into my purse, feeling around for the little zipper pocket. Once it was open I slipped my hands in and felt for the ring. To my relief, there it was. I pulled it out and slipped it onto my finger.

And the strangest thing happened as I put it on and looked at it: An odd emotion washed over me, something like happiness. Just seeing a gorgeous ring on my finger, despite the actual reason for it being there, was enough to make me happy. Was I more eager to be married than I thought?

I was still steamed at Connor about this whole thing. Part of me still wanted to grab him by that designer tie of his and wrap it around his neck until he gave me the apology that I was looking for. But as I stood there, my eyes fixed on the shimmering facets of the diamond on my finger, I felt my anger melt away.

I shook my head, bringing myself back to the moment.

“Now, that’s a gorgeous stone!” said Wendy, grabbing my hand as though I were a mannequin and holding it close to her face for a better look. “Your man’s got taste; can’t argue with that.”

“Very nice,” said Lionel, taking a peek, and then turning back to his plate of hors-d’oeuvres.

Glancing up, my gaze shot over to Richter, who seemed to be watching me with skeptical eyes. For a moment, I wondered if he’d picked up on the fact that something seemed out of sorts about my reaction to the ring—and how I was reacting to everything else. But if he had his suspicions, he kept them to himself.

“OK, all,” said Connor, “enough fawning. Food’s ready if you all are.”

But before he could begin to bring in the food, a low chime sounded through the apartment.

A quizzical expression appeared on Lionel’s face.

“We expecting more company?” he asked.

“Not to my knowledge,” said Connor. “Hopefully we don’t have any party-crashers.”

Then a buzz sounded from his phone. Connor glanced at the screen and nodded.

“Ah, it’s my son.”

“Your w-”

I almost had to slap my hands over my mouth to prevent the words from shooting out. Thankfully, I had the presence of mind to not ask a stupid question like that, despite my shock.

His son? He was a dad?

I glanced around the room, noting all of the pictures of the tow-headed, good-looking kid here and there. Right away I felt beyond stupid for not realizing that there was no one else it could be other than his kid. I wanted to be furious at Connor for not telling me this oh-so-tiny little detail, but more than that I was mad at myself for not having found it out through my research. I realized that Connor must’ve gone out of his way to keep his son out of whatever public eye Connor himself was in.

Either way, I had one more thing to be nervous about.

The elevator doors slid open and the boy from the pictures dashed out, his golden-blond hair bouncing wildly as he ran, a big smile on his face.

“Dad!” the boy shouted, running up to Connor.

“There’s the guy!” exclaimed Connor as he scooped up his son.

The guests went to fawning over him right away. I stood there awkwardly for a moment, realizing that not knowing who his son was didn’t exactly make my and Connor’s story more believable.

“What’s going on, Hunter?”

Connor flicked a knowing expression in my direction, as if telling me without speaking that the kid’s name was “Hunter.”

“We’re going to the pool and I needed to get my swim trunks.”

It took me a second to realize that he meant that there was a pool somewhere in the building. The perks of being loaded, I thought wryly.

Then Hunter’s eyes flicked over to me. The effect was almost shocking – not only was there the surprise of his whole situation, but Hunter had the same piercing gaze as his dad.

“Who’s that?” he asked, pointing a little finger in my direction.

Oh shit, I thought. Come on, Connor—think of something.

“He doesn’t know who your fiancée is?” asked Richter, his tone one of mild disbelief.

“That’s Miss Alice,” said Connor, not missing a beat, as cool as ever. “She’s dad’s new friend. And she’s going to be around a lot, so why don’t you go say ‘hi’?”

Connor set Hunter down, the boy making a cautious beeline over to me.

“This all happened so fast, with Alice coming back into my life,” said Connor. “Thing have been such a whirlwind that I haven’t even had time to introduce her to Hunter. Now’s as good a time as any, I suppose.”

Connor was handling the situation with aplomb, and now it was my turn. But I was never good with kids, and at that moment I was gripped with worry that I’d come off totally awkwardly.

“Hey, dude!” I said, squatting down to Hunter’s eye level and holding out my hand. “I’m Miss Alice! Nice to meet you!”

Hunter said nothing for a moment, as though the gears of his little kid brain were turning as he tried to figure out just what to make of this weird woman in front of him.

“I haven’t been worried about it, though,” said Connor. “I’ve been certain that the two of them would get along.”

Thanks for the pressure, I thought, my hand still in the air.

Tension took a tight grip on my stomach as I waited for Hunter to react.

Finally, to my immense relief, he took my hand and gave it a cute little shake.

“Nice to meet you, Miss Alice,” he said.

Then nothing. Clearly, the conversational ball was in my court

“You like to swim?” I asked.

His face lit up instantly.

“Yeah! Me and my friend Sean are gonna race! You want to come?”

My relief at Hunter warming up to me so quickly was almost overshadowed by how appealing the idea was of getting away from this dinner and taking a long dip in a heated pool.

“Can’t,” I said. “Gotta hang out with your Dad and eat some grub. You want me to save you something?”

“Nah,” said Hunter. “We’re having pizza.”

“Pizza and pool, huh?” I asked. “I’m jealous.”

I had to admit it: The kid was adorable. He was like a tiny, harmless little version of Connor. He radiated charm and was clearly one of those kids you could just tell was going to be a heartbreaker in a decade or two.

“OK, kiddo,” said Connor. “Dad’s gotta have dinner with his friends. You and Miss Alice can go for a swim later.”

“Fine,” said Hunter.

He rushed to his room and returned seconds later with a tiny pair of blue swim trunks in his hand. The guests doted on him a little more, and just like before, out of the corner of my eye I could see Richter watching me carefully, as though he were trying to figure out just what about this situation was amiss.

Once Hunter was off, another wave of relief washed over me. However, as surprised as I was by the whole thing, I couldn’t help but instantly like the little guy.

“OK, all,” said Connor. “Let’s eat!”