Chapter Seven
“So, what’s going on with you and your baby daddy?”
Katie glanced at Avery from where she was standing on a chair as she and her friend put up pink streamers across the patio’s awning for Val’s birthday party later that afternoon. Avery had come over to help with the decorations while her husband watched Leah and Val and put them down for a nap before all the activities began. Not only did it help not having any little ones underfoot while she prepped for the party and the bouncy house was being set up, Katie wanted Val to come home and be surprised to see the backyard transformed into a magical wonderland for her big day.
“My baby daddy?” she repeated in amusement as she stepped down from the chair and repositioned it in another corner.
Avery shrugged as she handed Katie the roll of crepe paper. “That’s what he is. He’s not your boyfriend. He’s not your husband. He’s the hot guy you hooked up with that resulted in a baby. So yeah, your baby daddy. How are things going with him?”
She hadn’t had the chance to really talk to Avery since Katie had met up with Connor at the park the previous weekend. Between getting last-minute things ready for her daughter’s party and being on a tight deadline for a few client ads that had claimed all her free time, she and her friend hadn’t had any time to chat and catch up on things.
So, how did Katie explain how things were going with Connor when so much had changed in a short period of time? In the week since he’d met Val, Connor had talked to her every single night, and now her daughter expected Katie’s cell phone to ring right before her bath time. The little girl carried the phone around with her, and as soon as it lit up and Connor’s name showed on the display—which Val had already come to recognize—she’d run to Katie for her to unlock the screen and answer it first.
It was the sweetest, cutest thing to watch Val walk through the house talking to him—her daughter couldn’t sit still—and how enthusiastic her conversation always was. She told him about her day, in more detail than Connor probably cared to hear, but there was no shortage of chitchat from Val.
Connor never talked to Katie right then. No, he always waited two hours later, when he knew Val was fast asleep at night, and then he’d call back so it was just the two of them on the phone. And just like her daughter, Katie had come to anticipate those calls, which always started out casually, with Connor asking about her day, or they’d talk about her work, or his business and his close friends, and his own childhood and family—which was the complete opposite of how hers had been, especially with his parents still being happily married.
There was a lot of getting-to-know-you stuff during the first part of their conversations, but somehow, someway, he’d inevitably say something that turned things hot and sexual. The man was a master at dirty talk—and no, she wasn’t complaining—and for the past three nights, since that first phone call, she’d hung up the phone with her body relaxed and satisfied from the orgasm he’d effortlessly coax from her as his deep, husky voice filled her head with all the erotic, sinful things he claimed he wanted to do to her. Just remembering last night’s panty-melting exchange made her face feel warm and flushed.
“Hello?” Avery snapped her fingers a few times, startling Katie out of her intimate and arousing thoughts. “Where did you go? You totally zoned out on me . . . ” And then Avery’s eyes grew wide in playful accusation. “Oh, my God! Have you and Connor been hooking up?”
“No!” Katie protested immediately, and threw the roll of streamers at her friend’s head, hoping to distract Avery from her line of questioning—and anyway, phone sex did not equal hooking up.
Avery caught the bundle of crepe paper before it fell to the floor and completely unraveled, but her face was lit up with glee, like she’d just figured out a huge secret. “You’re blushing furiously, Katie Kaswell, which I’ve never seen before. You and that hot hunk of a man are totally doing something.”
Trying to ignore Avery, Katie stepped down from the chair. Finished with the streamers, she opened the package for the My Little Pony plastic tablecloth and started arranging it over one of the long folding tables that would hold the sandwiches and snacks.
Avery helped straighten the tablecloth, though her grin never wavered. “You know, it’s okay to have a sex life even though you have a kid. You know that, right? You obviously had some kind of chemistry with Connor in the first place, so clearly the two of you are attracted to one another.”
Yeah, desiring Connor and wanting him grew stronger every night when he seduced her mind and body. Katie didn’t have many good friends, and she suddenly had the urge to talk to someone, to help her sort out all the confusing feelings swirling inside of her. Avery was her person, the one she trusted the most, and Katie knew her friend wouldn’t judge her.
Katie arranged the matching plates, napkins, and paper cups on the table. “Connor has been talking to Val every day, which she loves and looks forward to. It’s a great way for the two of them to get to know each other without it being forced. But later at night”—she met Avery’s curious gaze, feeling her complexion warm all over again—“well, he calls me and we talk . . . and do things.”
Avery laughed. “Do things? As in, phone sex?”
Katie nodded. “Yeah.”
“Is it good phone sex?”
“So good,” she admitted with a grin.
The man had a filthy mouth and a wicked imagination, which made the orgasms he enticed from her beyond amazing. While having phone sex was safe emotionally and physically, she’d be lying if she didn’t admit that she missed real sex. The kind she’d had with Connor in Denver. Feeling his big, strong hands on her body, his mouth driving her wild before he pinned her down on the mattress and filled her with deep, driving thrusts that had her gasping with pleasure and need. Self-induced releases and vibrators just didn’t compare to that, to him.
“So, you two have great phone sex,” Avery said, pointing out the obvious. “Seems like a natural transition to doing it in person, don’t you think?”
That was a question she’d struggled with herself. “I think Connor has every right to be a dad to Val, in every way, but I’m just not ready to be in any kind of relationship. With any guy.”
Bottom line for her, she didn’t trust her man-instincts any longer, and it was so much easier, and less complicated, with it just being her and Val. Then there was that fear of falling hard for Connor and getting hurt in the end when or if things didn’t work out between them, because there certainly weren’t any guarantees. She also had to remind herself that his picture had just been splashed all over a major magazine as one of Chicago’s hottest bachelors, and he was probably a very hot commodity at the moment—although he did spend his nights with her on the phone.
“I’m not sure I get what the problem is,” Avery said, bringing her back around. “Has he asked you to be in a relationship?”
Katie fussed with the pink and white balloons tied to one of the patio’s pillars. “Well . . . no.”
“Okay, so there’s one fear you don’t have to worry about, so why not just go for it and enjoy the sex? You already know how good it is with Connor, and it’s not like he’s a stranger. If you think about it, it’s the perfect arrangement.”
Over the past few days, Katie had surprisingly found herself coming around to that way of thinking. Considering all the things they’d already done on the phone together, it wasn’t a stretch for them to transition all that sexual tension to a physical affair. They were clearly heading in that direction.
Luckily, Katie was saved from having to reply to Avery as the doorbell rang, which was the beginning of the various deliveries she had ordered for some of the food and the cupcakes. The bouncy house was finished being set up, and Katie put Avery in charge of getting the snacks in bowls and mixing the punch for the kids while Katie put together some party games for the little ones to play.
A half an hour before the event was set to start, Avery went back home to gather up the girls to bring them over so Val could be the first to see all the party decorations before her guests arrived. Katie took the short but free time to change into a comfortable dress, and just as she finished zipping it up in the back and slipped into a pair of sandals, the doorbell rang again.
Thinking it was Val and wanting to witness her expression when she saw all the party decorations for the first time, Katie rushed to the door and opened it without looking in the peephole. Seeing Connor standing on the front porch instead, looking so breathtakingly gorgeous, with his blue eyes sparkling with a genuine happiness and his sinful mouth curving with a smile . . . all that hotness nearly short-circuited her brain. It definitely had her body doing inappropriate things right before her daughter’s birthday party.
“You’re early!” she blurted out.
He tipped his head curiously. “Is that a problem?”
“I, uh, no . . . of course not.” Jesus, what was wrong with her? “I just wasn’t expecting you to be the first one to arrive.”
His smile deepened. “I wanted to see and talk to Val before the party starts and her attention becomes all about the games and presents and cake.”
“Oh. She’s not here yet.” She nervously smoothed a hand down the front of her dress. “She stayed over at my neighbors for the afternoon while I got everything ready for the party so it would be a surprise when she saw it. She should be here soon.”
“Okay . . . ” His brows rose, his eyes now glimmering with humor as she continued to stare at him. “Can I come in?”
Oh, my God. Get it together, Katie! “Yes, of course!” She stepped back as he walked inside, and she noticed for the first time that his hands were filled with numerous gift bags that were clearly for a little girl’s birthday party. “You’ve got at least a half dozen presents. How badly did you spoil Val?”
“I swear I didn’t go overboard,” he promised. “And these aren’t all from me.”
That surprised her. “Oh?”
“A few of them are from my sister and my parents.”
Why that made her feel . . . bad, she didn’t know. Considering her own parents had never even met Val, she never expected his family to accept the little girl so easily without ever meeting her. “I’m sorry they weren’t invited,” she said, meaning it. “I . . . just didn’t want Val to be confused by seeing people she didn’t know or recognize on her birthday.”
“They understand the situation, Katie,” he said, not at all offended. “My mom and sister were just excited to buy some girly stuff and toys. I couldn’t very well tell them no. They’ll meet Val soon enough.”
He set all the bags on the coffee table in the living room and then turned back toward her. “I have to say, this has been one of the longest weeks of my life, but my phone calls with Val have gone a long way in keeping me from getting too impatient,” he admitted, right before his eyes went a little darker and more intimate. “And our phone calls . . . well, those kept me pretty damn happy, too.”
His gaze dropped to her lips, which she’d just dampened with her tongue, and when he stepped closer, she didn’t move back, because the desire flaring to life inside of her kept her riveted, and dear God, she wanted him to kiss her. Ached for the feel of his lips sliding against hers . . . not the fantasies he spun on the phone, but with the flesh-and-blood man.
Blinking slowly, sensually, he lifted a hand toward her face, and as his fingers touched her jaw, Katie heard her daughter’s high-pitched voice from the front yard outside, heading toward the door. That snapped her out of her trance, and she jerked back just as the door burst open and her daughter ran through, wearing the cute pink party dress that Katie had given Avery to change Val into, and her hair pulled back into a ponytail with a pink bow.
Val came to a sudden stop when she saw Connor, the little girl’s eyes slightly narrowed and confused, and Katie could nearly feel the anxiety pouring off of Connor, that his daughter wouldn’t remember who he was since she hadn’t seen him since last Sunday.
“Happy birthday, Val,” he finally said, and it was the rich timbre of his voice, which his daughter had heard every single night, that made a huge smile spread across her face and light up those matching blue eyes.
“Connor!” she said happily, clasping her hands beneath her chin. “You came for my buthday!”
“I said I would.” He smiled at his daughter, the softness in his eyes making Katie’s heart swell with a startling emotion.
Val’s eyes widened as she caught sight of all the gift bags on the table. “Are those for me?”
“Yes,” he said with a light laugh at Val’s enthusiasm. “But first, I think your mom has something to show you for your birthday.”
Val ran over to Katie and tugged on the skirt of her dress. “Show me, Mommy! Show me now!”
Katie touched the top of Val’s bouncing head. “In just one minute,” she said before glancing back at the two grown-ups in the living room.
While Connor’s attention had been focused solely on Val, Avery had been blatantly checking out her baby daddy. Her friend had seen the picture of him in Chicago Magazine, but Katie knew that eyeing Connor live and in person was far more impactful and magnified his good looks, personality, and charm by tenfold.
“Connor, this is Avery, my good friend and neighbor,” Katie said, introducing the two of them. “And that adorable little girl is her daughter, Leah.”
He gave them an amicable smile that only made him more breathtakingly handsome. “Nice to meet you both.”
“Likewise,” Avery said, completely enamored of him.
Katie held back, just barely, from rolling her eyes at her married friend.
“Show me, Mommy!” Val said exuberantly, reminding Katie of what awaited her daughter in the backyard. “Show me, now, pwetty please!”
“Okay, come on.” Katie took Val’s hand and the five of them headed toward the back of the house.
Val swung Katie’s arm back and forth as they walked. “I’ve been waiting and waiting all day long for my party and . . . ”
Her daughter’s squeal of delight cut off whatever she’d been about to say as they stepped out to the patio and Val saw all the streamers, balloons, and the My Little Pony piñata and other decorations that had transformed the backyard. There were cupcakes and goodie bags for the kids and fun games set up out on the lawn, along with the big, pink bouncy house that looked more like a castle for a princess.
“Is this for me?” Val asked in awe.
“Yes, baby, it’s for you,” Katie said. It was the first time she’d really gone all out for her daughter’s birthday, and seeing her guileless reaction, she was glad she had.
Val went up to Connor and slid her hand into his, as if it were the most natural thing in the world for her to do. “I want to go in the big castle,” she said, giving him a hopeful smile. “Will you take me?”
“Me, too!” Leah said, grabbing his other hand because she didn’t want to be left out of the fun.
Connor laughed, surprisingly comfortable being the object of both little girls’ attention—whereas some men might not be as tolerant. “Come on, I’ll go with both of you,” he said, clearly not wanting either one of them to feel ignored or that he was playing favorites.
The trio headed toward the bouncy house, with Katie and Avery watching them go.
“Oh, damn, girl,” Avery said on a wistful sigh. “Your baby daddy is so fine. And the way he is with Val . . . I swear my ovaries just exploded.”
Katie gave her friend an incredulous look at her outrageous comment. “Seriously?”
“Oh, yeah. Mark my words. There are going to be a few single moms here today who you are going to have to beat off with a stick.”
Katie shook her head. “I’m not his keeper, Avery.”
“You should be,” her friend said with a sly smile. “Even if it’s just to keep him as your baby daddy with benefits.”
Katie declined to respond to that remark. She and Connor shared a child, and despite their phone sex sessions, the truth was they weren’t in a committed relationship, and he was free to date other women.
Except that mental pep talk came to bite her in the ass a few hours later, when the party was in full swing and the moms who’d elected to stay during the festivities zeroed in on Connor, who was the only guy at the party. Even Avery’s husband had opted to stay home and watch football over being around a dozen screaming, sugar-fueled kids with endless energy to burn.
Katie had introduced him as a friend when everyone arrived, because until Val knew that Connor was her father, she didn’t want her daughter to hear the information secondhand somewhere else. But delegating Connor to the friend zone for the day did have a few of the single women eyeing him with too much interest while he spent most of his time playing with the kids out on the lawn and around the bounce house. The little boys climbed all over him like he was their own personal jungle gym, while the girls demanded his attention, too, and Connor did his best to keep them all happy while looking like he was actually enjoying himself.
Julia, a recent divorcee, strolled up to where Katie and Avery were cleaning up the paper plates, napkins, and cups scattered on the table now that the kids were done eating. The other woman was in her late twenties, with long, bleached-blonde hair. Her petite height was out of proportion to her huge, fake boobs, and she never failed have her figure on display. Today she was wearing a formfitting camisole that displayed an ample amount of cleavage, a pair of cute lacy shorts that showed off her tanned legs, and four-inch wedge heels.
“Your friend looks very familiar,” Julia said, talking as Katie kept clearing away the trash so she didn’t have to do it all when everyone left. “But I can’t place where I’ve seen him before.”
“I thought the same thing,” another woman, Rachel, said, adding her input to the conversation. “I keep thinking he’s that guy who’s featured in this month’s Chicago Magazine as Chicago’s Hottest Bachelor. The property redeveloper. Is that him, Katie?”
From across the table she and Avery were still clearing, her friend gave Katie an unmistakable look that said, You better claim him, and quick, and shut those bitches down. Except she wasn’t going to publicly claim Connor, and she wasn’t going to lie to Rachel and Julia, either.
“Yes, that’s him,” she admitted.
Avery groaned beneath her breath and shook her head in disappointment.
“My God.” Julia’s interest perked up even more as she gazed out at Connor with newfound enthusiasm. “Single, drop-dead gorgeous, and probably rich since he’s part owner in a real estate business. And he seems to love kids.”
Rachel laughed. “Sounds like you’re already sizing him up as husband number two.”
“Oh, he definitely has potential.” Julia studied Connor a few seconds longer before a slow smile curved her overly plump lips. “You know, he looks hot and thirsty. I think I’ll take him a cold bottle of water and save him from all those annoyingly hyper kids. Think that’ll earn me a date?”
“It’s worth a try,” Rachel said, encouraging the other woman since she herself was already married.
Julia grabbed a bottle of water from the cooler and made her way out onto the lawn, which wasn’t an easy feat in four-inch wedges. But she was clearly determined to be a good Samaritan and make sure that Connor stayed hydrated. When she reached where he was, she shooed away the little kids he was playing ball with and handed him the cold water.
Katie tormented herself by watching the exchange between the two of them. She couldn’t hear their conversation, but she could see Connor’s charming smile, as well as the way Julia laughed at something he said, then flipped her hair over her shoulder while making sure her chest was pushed out in a way that Connor couldn’t easily overlook.
Ugh. Katie hated the slow burn of jealousy that coursed through her, which only increased in temperature when Julia grabbed Connor’s arm to look at his tattoos. She brazenly ran her fingers over the ink, her smile undeniably flirtatious, but the kicker came when the other woman pulled her phone from the back pocket of her shorts and began typing something into it. The only thing Katie could think was that she was exchanging numbers with Connor.
Katie threw away the last of the ripped wrapping paper from the presents Val had torn open a little while ago, her stomach in an uncomfortable knot. And it didn’t help matters when she glanced at Connor and Julia again and found him looking at her while the woman in front of him had her head down as she continued to do something with her phone.
His speculation only made her feel self-conscious, and after gathering a few bowls and empty platters, she carried them into the house and sequestered herself in the kitchen so she didn’t have to witness her baby daddy making a date with Julia. For the next fifteen minutes or so, she made herself busy putting away leftovers and washing the dishes, knowing that Avery had everything covered out in the backyard.
Finally, when she couldn’t hide out in the house any longer since she had guests outside, she exhaled a deep breath and prepared herself to deal with whatever Julia and Connor were currently doing together.
She turned around from the sink, a startled gasp escaping her when she saw Connor leaning oh-so-casually against the doorframe that led into the kitchen. His arms were crossed over his broad chest, his expression concerned. She hadn’t heard anyone come into the house, and she had no idea how long he’d been standing there, watching her.
The thought was unnerving. “I was just getting some cleaning done so it doesn’t take me hours to do when everyone is gone,” she said, in case he’d come to find out where she was and why she’d been missing. The last thing she wanted him to think was that she was battling a green-eyed monster.
His gaze searched her face, his eyes too perceptive. “Are you okay?”
“Of course,” she said, realizing too late that she’d jutted her chin out much too defensively. “I’m fine. Why do you ask?”
He pushed away from the doorway and slowly approached her, making her heart race with each step he took in her direction. “Because I saw the way you were watching me and Julia before you came in the house, and you didn’t look fine.”
Somehow, she managed a nonchalant shrug and glanced toward the floor and away from those intense blue eyes. “It’s none of my business what you do with other women.”
He touched his fingers to her chin and forced her gaze back up to his, his thumb brushing along her bottom lip. “Do you honestly think that I would talk to you the way we do on the phone and say the hotter-than fuck things that make you moan my name as you come, then turn around and go out with someone else?”
She swallowed hard. “I don’t know what I think,” she answered honestly, hating that vulnerable note of emotion in her voice. The doubts and insecurities. “I just know that the men in my past haven’t always taken my feelings into consideration when it comes to relationships. Not that I’m calling what we do a relationship, it’s just that . . . ” Her voice trailed off, because she was at a loss over what to say next.
His jaw clenched with frustration. “Just for the record, I’m not like Brice, or any of the other idiots who came before him who didn’t know a good thing when they had it. And I don’t screw around with other women when I’m focused on the one I want. And to ease your mind, Julia doesn’t do a thing for me, because all I can think about is wanting you. I’ve had one relationship since our night in Denver over three and a half years ago and it was very short-lived, and you want to know why?” he asked as his fingers slid around the side of her neck and he drew her face, her mouth even closer to his. “Because I’ve compared every woman to you, and they always come up lacking. So do not doubt what you feel between us is real. You just need to let that guard of yours down and give what’s still between us a chance. Can you try and do that?”
He wasn’t asking her for a commitment, which she wasn’t sure she was capable of giving him when she’d never personally had a relationship with staying power, anyway. And truthfully, resisting Connor was getting more and more difficult, and taking that next logical step to just give in to what they both wanted and desired—each other—was easier than fighting their attraction when they were near one another.
She just had to be careful to keep her heart and emotions out of the equation, and just enjoy her baby daddy with benefits. “Yes, I can try.”