Bree kicked off her heels and unzipped her skirt. It’d been a long, but productive meeting. They’d sold out of the majority of their sponsorships and were at nearly three quarters of their registration capacity.
They’d gotten the local shop owners onboard by opening the vendor opportunities up to them first at a special rate. Everything was organized and running smoothly and many of the local townsfolk had signed up to serve as volunteers for the event. They were in excellent shape.
Bree changed into shorts and a tank, then grabbed her phone to respond to a few emails before dinner. She opened the patio door and let the cool breeze drift in. The smell of charcoal indicated that Wes had already fired up the grill.
She opened the front door to get a nice cross breeze in the guest house.
“Hello, Brianna.”
Bree froze, a chill running down her spine. Her hands trembled and her heart raced. She didn’t need to look in those icy blue eyes to know whose voice it was.
“Alex, what are you doing here?”
His toothy smile quickly dissolved into an equally disturbing frown. “I’ve been trying to reach you for months. You haven’t responded to any of my messages.”
She stood taller, narrowing her gaze. “Then you should’ve taken the hint.”
The frown morphed into a scowl. “I understand why you’re treating me this way, Bree. But I just want to talk.”
“There is nothing for us to talk about. Not now. Not ever.” She stuffed her hands in her pockets, hoping he couldn’t see how badly they were shaking.
“I’ve come all this way to talk to you. The least you could do is let me take you out to dinner, so I can explain. I know I wasn’t the best person back then, but I’m different now. I just want to show you that I’m not that man anymore.”
“Maybe you are different now. If so, that’s great. But you put your hands on me, Alex. I can never trust you again.”
“It was one time, and I told you how sorry I was. That I didn’t mean to do it. I was so stressed out back then, you know?”
“That’s not an acceptable excuse for how you treated me. I should’ve left you long before I did.”
“I told you, I’m not that guy anymore.” A vein bulged in his forehead. “If you can’t go to dinner, we can talk now. I only need ten minutes. Let me come in. We can sit down and hash this out.”
“I don’t want to hash things out. I don’t miss you or us or the way things were. I don’t want any of it, and I don’t want you. Please, just go away.” She scanned the room for something she could use as a weapon if he tried to force his way inside the door. “I don’t want to get the police involved, but I will if I have to.”
Bree recognized the signs of rage building. The muscles of his neck corded, his pale skin was mottled and his nostrils flared.
“I’m simply asking for a chance to explain myself, and you’re threatening to call the cops on me?” he practically shouted as he dragged his fingernails through his dirty blond hair.
Bree didn’t flinch, determined not to show any fear. It was fear that fed the monster.
“I’d do it in an instant and happily watch them drag your ass to jail. That probably wouldn’t go over too well with that investment bank of yours.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Try me.” She stood her ground. Her chest heaved and her breath came in noisy pants as her own anger overtook any fear she might have had facing him again.
“Everything all right, babe?” Wes was suddenly behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist possessively.
“Peachy.” She wasn’t sure when Wes had entered through her patio door, but she was grateful he was there.
“Who is this?” Alex’s gaze shifted from Bree to Wes and back again.
“The man who plans to marry her. And the owner of an aluminum bat with your name on it if you don’t turn around right now and walk your happy ass outta here. While you still can.” Wes’s voice was calm and his tone icy as he dropped his hand from her waist and stepped in front of her.
Alex huffed, his jaw clenched. “You’re as crazy as she is. Who needs this? You two deserve each other.”
He turned and stomped down the stairs to his Mercedes-Benz parked outside. Neither of them moved until he drove away.
When Alex’s car left the lot, Bree released a noisy breath, her hands to her mouth.
“Are you okay, baby?” He gripped her shoulders gently. When she nodded, he pulled her into his arms and held her. Wes closed and locked the front door. “Here, come sit down.”
He got her a bottle of water and sat on the sofa beside her.
She took a sip, her hands still shaking. “I can’t believe he showed up here.”
“Tell me everything you know about this guy.”
“The short answer? Biggest mistake of my life. That’s what happens when you don’t listen to your gut,” she added under her breath.
“Go on.” He leaned forward intently.
Bree brought Wes up to speed on her history with Alex Hunt, and his persistent attempts to contact her over the past few months.
She drank more of her water. “That line about the bat...that was good. Sounds like something your mother would say.”
“Who do you think gave me the bat?” Wes walked over to the window and looked out of it again. “I don’t trust this guy to act in his own best interest. You’re staying with me tonight.”
“Wes, I appreciate what you did. I really do. But I’m fine. Alex won’t be back.”
“Didn’t seem like he was too good at taking a hint or following instructions.” Wes crossed his arms, his expression grave. “Guys like that are unpredictable. You never know how far they’ll take things. Do you have a restraining order against this guy?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Then get one.”
“I don’t want the negative publicity, especially with the tournament coming up. Nor do I want to be seen as a victim.” She paced the floor. “That would tank my endorsement stock ten times faster than a male athlete being convicted of an actual crime.”
“You don’t want to be seen as a victim. I get that, but I’m far more concerned about you actually becoming one.” A deep frown made his brows appear as angry slashes. “This isn’t something to play with.”
“And it isn’t fair. I never asked for this.”
Wes cupped her cheek and spoke softly, his eyes filled with concern. “I know it isn’t, honey. But the priority is to keep you safe. You believe that taking action against this guy will make you look weak, but it will empower you. You, in turn, can empower other women dealing with the same bullshit. You want to help people? This is a way to do it.”
“Okay.” Bree nodded begrudgingly. “I promised Bex I’d get the police involved if the situation escalated.”
“You should’ve told me about this guy earlier. We could’ve put a halt to this before it got this far.”
“I know that we’re friends, and you want to help, but I’m not looking for a man to save me. And I don’t need a knight in shining armor who walks away the first time he gets freaked out or things get tough.”
“Fair enough.” Wes wiped his palms on his black basketball shorts. “Now, about why I have trouble saying...” He sighed, then stood again. “It’ll be easier if I show you.”
* * *
Wes led Bree through the patio door and over to his place. He went to his bedroom and retrieved the most precious thing he owned. A black leather photo album with gold lettering on front.
His heart hammered in his chest as he handed the photo album to Bree.
What would she think of him once she knew the truth?
He didn’t doubt her discretion. But would she look at him differently? See him as the monster he saw in the mirror?
Bree seemed as nervous as he was. She opened the book reverently. As if it was an artifact that needed to be handled with care.
She studied the pictures on the first two pages. Pictures of the same little boy at various ages from newborn to about twelve years old.
“He’s your son.” She nearly whispered the words, her fingers delicately tracing the boy’s nose and mouth. Mirror images of his own.
“Yes.” Wes nodded, taking the seat across from her. “His name is Gray Grammerson.”
Her eyes lit with recognition. “The facing capital Gs that form the door of the cage on your tattoo. That’s for your son.”
Wes didn’t answer. He didn’t need to.
She turned more pages. “Most of these photos were taken from a distance. So you obviously don’t share custody of him.”
“Right again.”
“So he lives with his mother?” Bree stopped turning the pages.
“Not his bio mom. She gave him up for adoption without ever telling me. In fact, I’d never have known about my son had it not been for a mutual friend from university.”
“That’s awful. Why would she do that?”
“Probably because she didn’t think I was worthy of being a father to our child. We weren’t together by the time she learned about the pregnancy. I think she also wanted to punish me for hurting her.”
Bree raised an eyebrow. “What did you do to make her hate you?”
“I was young and selfish. My life was about meaningless hookups. I wanted her, and she didn’t want to be with someone who didn’t love her. So I told her I did.” He swallowed hard. “We were together a few weeks. Maybe a month. When I was ready to move on, she was devastated.”
Bree’s eyes were misty. Her expression relayed both disappointment and compassion. “What happened to her?”
“She was an American expat, too. She returned to America. At the time, I was a selfish little prick. I thought, good riddance. I had no idea...” He winced, his eyes not meeting hers. “I had no idea she was pregnant with my son. A few years later, a fellow classmate contacted me. She’d run in to my ex, who told her about the baby. Our baby. She’d given him up without notifying me. I was devastated.”
“Where’s his mother now?”
“She’s an international-aid worker stationed at one of the largest refugee camps in Uganda.”
“Have you talked to her since you learned about your son?”
Wes’s jaw clenched involuntarily at the thought of confronting Janine. He shook his head. “It’s a conversation I can’t imagine going well.”
Bree studied a photo of Gray being pushed on a swing by his adoptive mother. “How’d you find him?”
“It’s one of the few times I readily accepted help from the Westbrooks. Liam helped me find a detective, who tracked down my son. When I found him, he was in a loving, wonderful family with good parents. I didn’t have the heart to disrupt their lives.”
“So how’d you get the pictures? The detective?”
“He dug up everything he could find at the outset. A lot of the pictures were on his adoptive parents’ social-media pages. I have him do a checkup twice a year, just to make sure everything is okay with my son.”
“He’s so handsome. Just like his father.” Bree smiled faintly as she thumbed through the book, and Wes felt as if she’d given him a lifeline.
She hadn’t condemned him or walked out in disgust at the pig he’d been back then. When she reached the end of the book she closed it carefully and set it on the coffee table. She stood in front of him, opened her arms and embraced him.
He hugged her tightly, overwhelmed with a sense of relief and gratitude.
“I’m so sorry.” She kissed his head. “It makes sense now, how you feel. But, honey, you can’t punish yourself for the rest of your life. What you did was wrong, but you’re not the one who gave your son away. And look at the effort you put into finding him and into making sure he’s safe.”
Wes didn’t speak. Pain, shame and regret swirled inside him, along with a deep affection for her. Bree’s warmth and compassion soothed his soul.
Made him feel human again.
“You aren’t the person you were then, Wes. Let go of the guilt and forgive yourself. I know your son wouldn’t want you to torture yourself this way.”
“What makes you believe that?”
“Because I’d give anything for my bio mother to love me even half as much as you love your son.” Her voice broke, tears running down her cheeks.
Wes pulled her onto his lap and kissed her. A kiss that started off tender and sweet. Two people comforting one another over their loss and grief. It slowly heated up. Her kiss became hungrier. His hands searched her familiar curves. Her firm, taut breasts filled his hands.
His tongue danced with hers, the temperature between them rising. He’d missed the feel of her. The taste of her warm, sweet skin. He wanted to lose himself in the comfort of their intense passion. But not before he’d told her everything.
He pulled his mouth from hers, their eyes meeting. “There’s something you need to know.”
Bree stared at him, her chest heaving, her face filled with apprehension. “All right.”
“I love you, Bree. And I’m not just telling you that because you said it first. I’m saying it because it’s true. I’ve waited my entire life to feel like this about someone. I’ve been miserable without you. I’m afraid I was an awful best man during Liam’s stag weekend.”
Bree grinned.
“What’s so funny?”
“I’ve been miserable without you, too.”
Wesley closed the vent on the grill and locked the patio door. He took Bree upstairs and made love to her, in the fullest sense of the words.
Dinner would have to wait.