Damon
I had her right where I wanted her. Then the damn butler knocked and now she’s taken the spot across from me on the other couch. I can make my play from across a crowded room if I want to, but prefer to be close when I make my move.
Sipping on the tall glass of dark liquid, I watch her as she fidgets with her much too long skirt. It hits her at her ankles for the love of God!
“So are you ever going to tell me why it is you’ve brought me to you, Liv?”
After one long drink, she places the glass on the coffee table that’s separating us and puts her hands on her knees as she leans forward. “Damon, do you remember a woman who you called Jennie?”
Shit! I knew this had to be about her!
“I do,” I say with an ease that masks my surge of adrenaline.
“And can you admit to me that the two of you had a five-day-long sexual experience?” she asks with a hint of pink highlighting her high cheekbones.
“I can admit that to you, Liv. Why would I have trouble doing that?” I ask her as she’s not making a lot of sense.
“I just like to get things like that on the record.” She takes out a small recording device and places it on the table. “Would you mind if I recorded our conversation?”
“Actually, I do mind.” I reach out and take the thing off the table. “What you and I say here stays here. That’s how I roll, baby.”
“I see,” she says and looks a bit uncomfortable.
Getting up, I go sit next to her, making myself more comfortable as I lean back and lay my arm on the back of the couch. Taking one finger, I move it over her shoulder lightly. “Go on, Liv. You’ve had your question answered. What else do you need to know? Is Jennie your girlfriend or something? Are you trying to figure her out? Because that woman isn’t a person you can easily figure out. She’s a bit above the rest of us. A sexual phenomenon, if you will.”
Her cheeks go red. I run my hand over one of them and she looks at me. “Please stop, Damon.” The way her eyes begin to shimmer has me worried.
Removing my hand, I ask, “You love her, don’t you?”
“I do,” she murmurs. “I did.”
“You did?” I ask as I lean in closer. “What happened between you two that you’ve called me to come to you?”
“Jennie isn’t her real name. That’s only a nickname.” She runs her shaking hand over the front of her shirt.
I take it, stroking the top of it with my thumb, trying to help her calm down. “I thought as much. It’s not a big deal what her name was. If you’re worried about me, don’t be. She and I were never a real thing. And you seem to care more for her than I did. Is she bringing me up for some reason? If she is, I’m sure it’s just to make you jealous.”
“We were not lovers, Damon,” Liv says with a low moan. “You’re making this harder than I thought it’d be.”
Taking her by the chin, I make her look at me. “Just spit it all out. I’m quite adapted at taking in a lot of information at one time.”
Her hand moves over the hand I’m holding her chin with, and she holds it, moving it to rest on her lap. Red lips quiver as she says, “Jennie was actually named Genevieve Salisbury. She was a wealthy woman whose family owned a candy company. She and her parents were in an accident at the manufacturing plant a few months ago.”
“An accident?” I ask as my heart flutters.
She nods. “Yes, all of them were killed in the accident.”
Pulling my hand away from hers, I hold it to my heart. “That’s terrible.” But then I wonder why the hell this woman wants me here. “That’s awful news. But what does it have to do with me?”
The sound of a door opening has me looking past Liv, and I see a young boy standing still in the doorway of what seems to be a bedroom. “Aunt Wiv?”
She turns and gets up to go to the child. “Harold, you’re awake. You should come meet the man who has come to see you. The man I told you was coming.”
Without asking a thing, I do wonder why she’d be telling the little boy I was coming to see him. I sit and wait as she picks up the blonde-headed kid, bringing him back to sit on the couch, and leaving him on her lap. His big blue eyes stare at me as he leans his cute head on Liv’s breasts.
Lucky!
“Hi there,” I say and stick out my hand for a shake.
He looks up at Liv and she gives him a nod, then he shakes my hand. “Hello, sir.” He has a cute little British accent.
Liv’s voice has me looking at her as she says, “Damon, I’d like to introduce you to Genevieve’s son. This is Harold.”
“Harold?” I ask then run my hand through his mop of curls. “I think you look more like a Harry to me.”
He giggles a little then buries his face right into Liv’s plump breasts. She runs her hand over his shoulders, then pulls him back and looks him in the eyes. “Harold, do you recall what I told you about this man?”
He nods and I feel a little nervous. “What could you have possibly told him about me?”
“There’s a one hundred percent chance that you are his father, Damon.”
My world tilts and I lean back on the couch, trying hard not to pass out. “No way.”
“Now that I see you two together, I’m even more convinced. Genevieve was confident about it, Damon. But you’ll be required to get a DNA test done before anything else occurs,” she says as she strokes the little boy’s hair.
Looking back at him, he looks at me too. His hair is like mine when I was a kid. His eyes are his mother’s. His face is plump with baby-fat, but I can see the slight dimple on his chin. With time and growth, that dimple should become more prominent, just like mine is. His lips already look a bit chiseled.
When his plump hand touches the top of mine, I feel something odd as he says, “I miss my mummy.”
The way my heart pounds and clenches at the same time has me reaching out for the kid. He comes to me, climbing on my lap, and I hug him tightly. “Me too, buddy.”
His mother and I weren’t a thing to each other. But it’s not a lie about missing her. I did think about her from time to time. She was great in bed and everywhere else.
Suddenly I feel shame as I sit here, holding her son, a child who might be mine, and think about her and me that week. Looking at Liv, I have to ask, “How long before I can take this test? I don’t want either of us to get attached if I’m not his …”
“I’ll ring the butler to bring in the person I’ve hired to do the test. We can have the results back in five days. Hence why I’ve made arrangements for you to stay that amount of time.”
“Then let’s get this going.” I run my fingers through the kid’s golden locks and take in the smell of his clean scent as I look at Liv. “Can I count on you to help me?”
She nods and I breathe out a sigh of relief. I’m no parent. I’ve been there for my country and my fellow military personnel, but not a soul else. A thing my father used to condemn me for.
Thinking of my father, I know I have no clue as to how to be a father. He sure as hell didn’t!