Chapter Six
"This brings back memories." Jace gave her a small smile as he settled himself down on the edge of the bed.
It did. The night of Logan's conception came rushing back to Amanda, leaving her breathless. Jace's scent was so thick in the small room that she had a hard time trying not to drool. Seeing him on the bed made her want to crawl onto her hands and knees and offer herself to him. It was strange–maybe even a little wrong–how quickly she responded to his presence. She took a deep breath to bring herself back under control, perched on the chair near the desk.
"Remember that trip to the ocean? We went with Megan and Pietro, and their brothers and sisters. And we decided that we were all going to stay in the same room?"
Oh. He wasn't referring to Logan's conception at all. Amanda tried to suppress her disappointment as she nodded. "I remember. I ended up sleeping in the bathtub."
Jace chuckled, but his face grew serious again. "Mandy, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have accused you of telling the tabloids about Logan. I should have known that you would never do that."
Amanda shrugged. She had never been able to stay mad at him, and now was no exception. "It's been six years. You don't really know me anymore."
"Yeah. I guess that's true, but I still shouldn't have jumped to that conclusion." He hesitated a moment. "I want to be in Logan's life. As his father."
She should have been thrilled to hear that. After all these years, Logan was finally going to have his dad in his life to do all the dad things that sons wanted. But hearing Jace say those words caused a swell of anxiety rise in her. He was a lawyer. He was insanely wealthy. If he wanted to just take Logan away from her, it wasn't like she could do a lot to stop him. And he certainly owed her nothing.
"I'm sure that Logan would like having his dad around," she managed to choke out, rubbing her hands over her trembling knees.
Jace's anxious expression softened and he shook his head. "I don't want to take him away from you, Mandy."
"I didn't say you did."
"I can see it written all over your face that it's what you thought. You don't have to be afraid. Joint custody. I'm sure we can work something out for the both of us. I'm going to be really busy out on the packlands, but maybe weekends…?"
Amanda licked her lips. Between her work and Logan's school, weekends were the only days that she could spend the whole day with her son. She didn't want to give that up. But she didn’t want to cut Jace from spending time with his son, either. She sighed. "If you are going to work on the packlands, maybe he could live with you when he goes to school out there. He splits his time between schools. I wanted him to be comfortable in both cultures."
"I'm going to be living in town. Driving him to and from school would work… but I want more time with him than that. But, uh, that actually brings me to another point. I'm going to build the two of you a house."
"What?"
"I know you're renting a place right now, but a growing pup like Logan needs a backyard, where he can shift and play. So I’m going to build you a house on the outskirts of town, where you'll both have plenty of room. No arguments."
"But taxes—"
"We'll work out child support payments to cover the extra expenses of a house. I know that you've never really cared for things, but I want to do this for Logan. For you." Jace leaned forward so he clasped her hands in his. "And I'm getting you a new car. I saw that beater you have—"
"It's not a beater. It was the car my grandmother gave me. I'm not getting rid of it." Her eyes narrowed and she yanked her hands from his. He wasn't going to waltz in like this. She wanted to be independent, which was why she wasn't living on her parents' farm. She wasn't just going to let Jace do everything for her.
"Your grandmother's car?" Jace shook his head. "Okay. I know how close you two were. Can I at least get it seriously overhauled and repaired?"
"I suppose…" She could keep it longer that way.
Jace smiled. "Good. I promise that's the last of the major changes I'll make other than a custody agreement for Logan. I can see how well you take care of him; I would never demand full custody."
Amanda smiled back, relaxing. It had been silly to think that Jace would try to take Logan away from her. He wasn't that kind of man. "Did you find who took those photos of us at the park?"
"Not yet. But I will, and soon."
"And did you…" Amanda hesitated.
Jace waited, a familiar, patient smile on his face.
"Did you already know about Logan?"
The smile faded. "I knew that you had a son. When I first heard about you being pregnant, I wondered if it was mine, but you were dating somebody else. I thought that if it was my baby, you would have told me, for sure."
"I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have—"
Jace shook his head. "I'd rather not talk about that right now, Amanda. Not until this tabloid mess is over."
"Okay." There was something else they needed to talk about, though… "Clarissa is really nice."
"Clarissa?"
"Yeah. I really like her. I'm glad that we could spend the day together."
She made herself continue to smile. What she was saying was the truth, even if it wasn't the full truth–that even if Clarissa was the nicest woman in the world, it only slightly helped to ease the sting that he had found himself another woman. It hurt that she wasn't his mate. But that wasn't something she was going to tell him. No need to look like the pathetic ex-girlfriend who couldn't get over him.
Jace let out a deep breath. "She likes you, too. She said that she thought you were really nice… and that you must have had a good reason for not telling me about Logan."
"I—"
"I know that you will need to explain that to me," Jace interrupted. "But right now I'd rather deal with the issues at hand. We can talk about that another time. But I'm glad you like Clarissa. It's important to me that you two get along."
Because Clarissa was going to be Amanda's son's stepmother. Amanda tried to ignore the sharp zing of pain in her heart thinking about that. "I'm glad that I like her, too. She'll make an excellent Alpha female for the pack. And I think she's going to be a great stepmom for Logan."
"She will be." Jace nodded, his smile softening. "She's told me that she wants kids, and it'll be great for Logan to have a little sister don't you think? He'd make a great big brother."
Amanda nodded. "He would. He loves babies, and has been hounding me to have another baby since he was three."
Jace threw back his head and laughed.
God, I've missed your laugh.
"Speaking of Clarissa, though, I had better get going." He stood. "She's making calls to find out who took those pictures of us at the amusement park, and I need to get the ball rolling on the lawsuit once we find out who it is."
"Of course." Amanda stuck her hands into her pockets. "I need to find a restaurant or something around here to get something to eat, anyway. Who knew hiding from the paparazzi would be such hungry work?"
Jace's smile faded. "I'm sorry you got caught up in this mess. Ever since the Banner case, the media have been all over me. Clarissa knew what she was getting herself into, but you—"
"It's not your fault. Can I walk you to your car?" That should be safe, as the paparazzi didn’t know she was staying here.
"Sure." The smile came back. "It's just down on the street."
They didn't speak as they headed down. Amanda couldn’t help but wonder what was going on in his head, if he was thinking about using the law to protect Logan from the vicious sharks of tabloid media, or if he was concerned about what sort of custody agreement the two of them would end up making. It helped that they were both going to live in the same town, and both of their parents were nearby. They could all spend time together on holidays. The regular day-to-day agreement, though, would be trickier.
Maybe I should suggest that he builds a house where we can all live together, with a separate suite for me and Logan. That way he can see him regularly, and it wouldn't be as stressful for Logan.
Maybe she would suggest that later. They were on the street by this time. Jace smiled at her as he fished his keys from his pocket. "It was good seeing you."
"And you."
Jace kissed her cheek, making her heart jump, and hugged her. She closed her eyes, letting his embrace linger a little too long before she stepped back. "I'll see you later."
"Take care of yourself."
Amanda nodded in agreement. She wrapped her arms around herself and stared wistfully after him as he drove away.