Page 21 of Best Kept Secret

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For wanting to help with Annie.”

He probably should have accepted her gratitude and walked away, but something stopped him. “She’s my child too, Sonia. I’m not just helping. I want her to be a part of my life.”

She gave him a brief nod and then turned away.

A short time later, when he returned home, he noticed that Jared’s car was gone, and he heaved a sigh of relief. Now he wouldn’t have to answer any questions about the park and omit the fact that Kelsey had been there with him.

Why did everything have to be so complicated? If Kelsey wasn’t Jared’s sister and he didn’t have a child… He shook his head to dismiss that thought. Since she’d been born, he couldn’t imagine not having Annie in his life. She was the innocent one in all this, this mess that he’d created.

He recalled the one and only time he and Sonia had unprotected sex…

“It’s okay. I’m on the pill.”

“But you could still get pregnant.”

She stroked his erection and guided it to her entrance. “Imagine how good it would feel without a condom between us.”

He glanced down at her pretty face with the big blue eyes, and her blonde hair splayed on his pillow. They’d been dating for a few months, longer than he’d dated anyone recently. She was smart, gorgeous, and great in bed. How could he resist? It turned out he couldn’t.

“As long as you’re sure.”

“I’m sure.”

Less than a month later, she’d broken up with him. She’d explained that while their physical relationship was great, their emotional connection was lacking. “I’m at the stage in life where I want more,” she’d said.

It had come as a shock, yet he’d gotten over it once he realized she’d been right about their lack of emotional connection.

Seven months later, she’d called and shocked him again. “I’m pregnant with our child.”

He’d done the math and known it was a real possibility, but he hadn’t wanted to believe it. “How do you know it’s mine?” he’d asked.

“I didn’t date anyone else until two months after we broke up, and by then, I was already pregnant.”

“Why did you wait so long to tell me?”

She’d started crying, and it had taken her a few minutes to catch her breath. “Because I didn’t want to believe it, either. I thought I could do this on my own, but then I realized that wouldn’t be fair to you or our child.”

He’d gone to the hospital the day she’d given birth and met her boyfriend, Alex, and his daughter on the same day. Sonia had already chosen the name Annie, and since he liked it too, he hadn’t argued.

It had felt surreal when he’d first held Annie in his arms, especially with Alex looking on. He had to give the guy credit for standing by Sonia through it all, knowing she’d had another man’s baby.

He’d experienced a moment of panic wondering if they’d try to prevent him from being in Annie’s life, but the opposite had happened. It had taken some time to work out a system, but the three of them had committed to cooperating for Annie’s sake.

Since Sonia already owned a house with an extra bedroom that had since been converted into a nursery, it made sense for Annie to live there. However, he didn’t consider that a permanent solution. He’d been saving money to buy his own house, and once that happened, he planned to have Annie stay with him too.

Sharing an apartment with Jared, a confirmed bachelor, wasn’t the right environment for his little girl. It had been fine when it was just the two of them, but that had changed, along with almost everything else in his life.

Luckily, he had the support of his parents and his sister, Emily, who all lived nearby. They wanted to be involved in Annie’s life too, and once he bought a place of his own, he planned to have them over on a regular basis.

Cracking open a beer, he sat down on the couch with it. He didn’t usually drink in the middle of the afternoon, but today he felt like he needed it. Drinking beer reminded him of simpler times. He worked hard, played hard, and enjoyed his friends, family, women, sports, and beer (in any order). He’d been at the top of his game, rising in the ranks at the software company he worked for, but still having plenty of time for fun.

Now his definition of fun had changed. Fun was seeing Annie’s smile, hearing her coo, and holding her while she slept. Fun was strolling her through the park on a pretty spring day with Kelsey by his side. Kelsey. Just her name made him smile. She was also his definition of fun, but there were limits to the fun he could have with her. According to Jared, he shouldn’t be having fun with her at all, but it was too late for that.

The more time he spent with her, the more he craved her company. True, she was easy on the eyes, but there was more to it than that. She had a sweet, caring nature, but she was feisty too. It was the perfect combination.