Jack

 

My nephew? Keith’s baby? Keith had a child? Wait. Hold on, just a minute. My little brother was a dad. He’d had a son. I could feel my own eyes burning—goddammit, Keith, why did you have to die? And that this woman, this beautiful woman, who was my brother’s baby-mama, the mother to my nephew, should show up here—this week of all times—to present him to me? Fucking hell.

 

I was not going to cry. I mean, I didn’t do that. There was just something in my eye. I took off my shades and rubbed my face, getting a grip.

 

Okay, so maybe I jumped the gun with ordering the woman out of my office before hearing her out. I’d own that.

 

The kid had a loud set of lungs. Apple didn’t fall far, I guessed, presuming the woman wasn’t lying. If that was really Keith’s son. But there was no question in my mind now—I needed more information. I needed more time with her to hear her story, to see if what she said was true.

 

Could we do a test? I had no idea if that was even possible, to see if this baby was my nephew. I mean, I knew they could do paternity tests, but uncle-ernity? I just had no clue. But it was definitely worth looking into, to find out.

 

Once I was sure I had gotten my eye problem under control, I looked up front, expecting to see nothing out of the usual, but hoping…ah! She hadn’t left yet. Ha. She didn’t get very far at all, did she? Nope. I could only see the top half of her head, this time looking up with a kind of strange look in her big, brown eyes. It was clear she had been crying, but now there were no tears, and her expression was caught somewhere between wonder, confusion, happiness, and lost.

 

Trini, on the other hand, looked…maternal and ridiculously happy. Well, that was new. She had the baby in her arms and was smiling and cooing at it, rocking her body to soothe the kid, I guessed. Trini liked babies. Who knew?

 

I slowly made my way to reception, resettling my sunglasses on my nose to shield the glare from the picture windows. Damn, but my head was still pounding. There was too much going on.

 

I leaned against the partition wall in the doorway and crossed my arms over my chest, just taking in the blonde on the loveseat. She really was gorgeous. Everything about her was soft-looking. I knew already that she had some backbone, and a good bark when riled. But it was nice to observe this other side for a minute—to see her more relaxed as she gazed at Trini enjoying a moment with the baby.

 

Her eyes slowly shifted over to me, and there went the moment. She stiffened her spine and stood up, watching me for any indication of a renewed attack. I wasn’t going to give it to her.

 

“You’re still here,” I said.

 

“As you see.”

 

“Maybe we should start over. I’m Jack, as you know. You are…?”

 

“Oh. Yeah. Um, Ellie. I’m Ellie Garrett.”

 

Slowly, with trepidation, she made her way forward and took my extended hand briefly, and then everything was suddenly hot.

 

It was like a lightning bolt had struck between us. My eyes flared, and my body went into automatic pilot. I actually started to get hard, just from that tiny little contact. She dropped my hand too quickly, and her face flushed again. I had noticed it the first time, in my office, but was too busy in my head to really process it then.

 

I watched her for a second, then looked over at the baby, reminding myself that she was—or rather, might be—the mother of my brother’s baby. Therefore, for what seemed like far too many reasons to count, she was not an option, despite the attraction. And I knew for sure that it was mutual. No way did she not feel that heat with me. But I wouldn’t go there, not with her.

 

Damn shame.

 

“Okay, Ellie Garrett, would you like to come back to my office, and we can talk?”

 

“Yeah, Jack. I’d like that.” She gave me a little smile. Wow. I really liked her smile. I liked what it did to her face. I wanted to see more of that. And I liked hearing my name from her lips. I liked her lips. I liked her voice—soft, a little bit husky, but smooth.

 

No. This was all wrong. She’d said she needed my help. Well, we’d have to see first about figuring out how to tell if that baby really was Keith’s, and then go from there. Hell, I hoped it wasn’t. I mean, it’s not because I didn’t want to help her. But I couldn’t see a way to spend time with her without wanting her, and if she was Keith’s baby-mama for real, then wanting her was a dead-end, and I wasn’t into self-punishment.

 

On the other hand, if this really was Keith’s baby, that would be…astounding. Amazing. Incredible, and wonderful. I’d have a little part of my brother, living, breathing, here. It was really too much to process.

 

I caught myself staring at the baby. I think I’d also been staring at her, at Ellie, too. Good thing I was still wearing my shades. My brain today was really on slo-mo. I glanced back at Ellie. “Well, come on back, then.”

 

I held the door for her as she gathered her bag and her baby, then followed her back to my desk. Trini actually pouted before she let the kid go. Today was OTT bizarre.

 

Once she had settled herself in the chair, and I in mine, I just sat there looking at the baby in her arms. Ellie knew I was trying to see Keith in him, but I couldn’t. The kid had dropped off to sleep, and it just looked like a baby—any baby. What the hell did I know about babies? Answer: nothing. They all just looked like babies to me. They were completely interchangeable.

 

I figured it was time to get things moving.

 

“Okay, so, here’s the deal. I don’t know you. Keith never said anything to me about you. Sorry, but that’s a fact. Did he know you were pregnant? Did he know about this kid? I think he would have told me. So, how do I know that what you’re saying is true?”

 

She’d come prepared for this, and that quickly became obvious. “There is a test they can do now to check for uncles and nephews, and it’s so specific, that if it’s positive it usually comes out with a ninety-nine plus percent accuracy rate.”

 

Whoa. This was interesting.

 

She went on. “It’s a DNA match specifically targeting the baby’s and uncle’s Y-chromosomes, so they don’t even need my DNA to rule out the mother’s part of the mix. They’ll only be comparing your two Y chromosomes. Yours and little Petey’s.” She was looking down at her baby with a little smile—mother in love—and fortunately missed my grimace.

 

“Petey? That’s his name? You mean Peter, right? Jeez, Petey.”

 

She looked back up. “Yes. His name is Peter, but I like Petey, for short. I sometimes call him Petey. He likes it. It fits.” She was getting her back up about it.

 

“Easy, there, woman. Calm down. Peter is a man’s name. I don’t know what Petey is. I’ll call him Peter, if it’s all the same to you.”

 

“Fine. You call him Peter. Whatever.”

 

She side-eyed me and sighed deeply. Damn, that was a nice sound. I liked how it made her chest rise high. Her tits were phenomenal. Well, they would be, I figured. She’s probably nursing, so yeah. But…wow. Nice. Really, really nice. I wanted to bury my face in her cleavage, to weigh and massage her breasts in the palms of my hands, to tweak her nipples and taste her skin…

 

“…so if you can afford it, we can get right on that, we just need to order the kit and…”

 

I tore my eyes away from her chest. “Wait, wait, what? I kind of missed some of that.”

 

She smirked. “My eyes are up here, dude.” She gestured to her face with her free hand.

 

“Can I help it if I was admiring a beautiful thing?”

 

“Oh, and he’s a charmer, too. It’s my lucky day.”

 

“Maybe it is, baby.” I wiggled my eyebrows at her, and she blushed some more and looked down—and then I cursed myself again. I had no business flirting with this woman, especially if she was the mother of Keith’s baby. Damn, I had to get myself under control.

 

Getting back to the point, I repeated, “So we do this test first, right? You okay with that?”

 

She didn’t look thrilled—I got the feeling there was something more she wasn’t telling me—but she nodded shortly and directed me to a website for the testing lab.

 

After placing the online order, I didn’t let her off the hook. Leaning back in my chair, I leveled my eyes on her across the desk. “So, what aren’t you telling me?”

 

She looked surprised, like she thought she was being sly and that I wouldn’t have noticed. She had a lot to learn about me. I didn’t get played. If she thought she could fool me, she had another thing coming.

 

“I…I don’t know what you mean…” She fidgeted with the baby blanket, which didn’t need adjusting. The kid had fallen asleep.

 

“Get real, babe. There’s something.”

 

She flinched at ‘babe’—oh, no, was she one of those feminist ballbusters?—but otherwise kept her mouth shut. Pursed, in fact.

 

“Okay. Be like that. When do we get these results?”

 

“In about two weeks, I’m pretty sure. So, the kit should arrive tomorrow…I guess I’ll see you. We’ll come back here in the afternoon, okay?” She started to get her shit sorted again, and looked like she was beyond ready to leave.

 

Oddly, I didn’t want her to go—not just yet. I wanted a few minutes of…I wasn’t sure. Maybe just more time with her. I liked her presence.

 

Okay, fuck. I liked her. I was totally attracted to her—which could prove problematic—but hey, I was a red-blooded American man. The woman was hot—beautiful-hot. I scrambled my brain for something to continue the conversation.

 

“Hey, listen, we should exchange numbers, in case anything comes up. I wanna know I can get in touch with you. And for you, too, if you need anything.” Damn, I was babbling. I shut myself up, but looked at her expectantly.

 

“Oh, yeah. Um, I don’t actually have a phone, so that won’t work. Um, I guess I could find you here at the shop if I need you, right?”

 

“You don’t have a phone? Who doesn’t have a phone? It’s basic life and security. You’re a mother, woman. You gotta have a phone. Fuck.”

 

She was ready to go, so I stood up and started following her through the shop. “Yo, Trini, I’ll be back in a while,” I called out as I caught up to Ellie and put my arm across her shoulders, pinning her to my side so she couldn’t just run away. No way was she going to up and disappear on me now. Not like this. She didn’t have a phone. WTF.

 

“Is this a money issue?” I looked down at Ellie, but I mostly just got a view of her hair and phenomenal cleavage next to the baby on her shoulder.

 

“Um…yeah, right now it is.” Clearly, she was not excited to share the reality of her financial straits, but she was smart enough not to try to lie to me about it. She had said she came to me because they needed my help. I figured it had to be money. If Peter really was Keith’s son, I was more than willing to do what I could. Scratch that—I’d be damn proud to do it.

 

“All right. I’ll take care of that, first thing. We’ll get you a phone, right now. Shit, I came in on my bike. Where do you live? I’ll go pick up a phone, bring it over to you.”

 

By this time, we were outside the shop and headed down the sidewalk toward where I assumed she had parked her car. She stopped, though, and turned to me, taking a step back at the same time. She would not meet my eyes. “Um, that’s really nice of you. Petey and I can just wait here, in my car, if it’s all the same to you. You don’t have to go more out of your way.”

 

She gestured to a silver mid-eighties Buick sedan that had not seen a good day in decades. The thing was a clunker on its last hope and prayer. I got suspicious, and my voice went hard. “Tell me where you’re staying, Ellie.”

 

“Just outside town. It’ll really be easiest if we just wait for you here, then we’ll get out of your hair.”

 

That was not good enough. I stepped in really close to her and leaned down, putting my mouth to her ear, and whispered, “Ellie, I’m going to ask just one last time. Where. Are. You. Staying?”

 

Several ominous moments beat the time in my ears like a drum. Her scent was filling my nose, right near her neck, and I think she swayed a little bit. Damn, I was getting hard just being this close to her, but I would not back down. She needed to know that.

 

I could feel her answer before I heard it, and I could barely hear it at all when she whispered back, “In the car.” Her head was hanging low, and I about saw red.

 

“No. The Fuck. Way.” I was glaring her down with anger and incredulity. How the hell did she think that was an okay place for her to be caring for her little baby—living in a goddamned piece of metal, parked on the edge of town? “No you’re not, not anymore, babe. Hand me your keys.”