“I’m so sorry about this,” Brooke said, leading Chloe Lawrence upstairs into the nursery, where Bean was screaming.
She felt like screaming, too. The nerve of that man, demanding that she rearrange her entire life—again—to get married.
Married! She had a comeback to orchestrate, a record to release, a tour to get through and a baby to announce to the world. Not to mention the whole mom thing, which was a full-time job all by itself. Who the hell had time for a wedding? Maybe in a few years...
Besides—Flash wasn’t exactly making his case.
Yes, the sex was as amazing as ever, but she was not going to permanently tie herself to any man, much less one with an arrest record and a penchant for issuing orders. She had enough people in her life telling her what to do and when to do it, treating her as if she couldn’t possibly make her own decisions about her life and her career. And now she had to deal with his sister because, of course, Flash had called in reinforcements to try and wear her down, no doubt.
She was more than tempted to call Alex for backup, but that would undoubtedly lead to a brawl. And calling Crissy Bonner was out of the question—that’d be a brawl and a police report. For a brief second, Brooke debated calling Kyle Morgan, but that wouldn’t work either, because Kyle would be just as stunned to find out about Bean as Flash had been.
No, Brooke was on her own here.
Then Chloe said, “Do not apologize for anything involving my brother,” in a way that made it seem like she might consider Flash to be a butthead or something. When Brooke gave her a funny look, Chloe merely shrugged. “Look, I know he’s got it bad for you and I also know I don’t currently have all the facts, but just because he wants you doesn’t mean he deserves you.”
Brooke gaped at the woman in surprise because that was the thing she’d needed to hear right then. The second part, anyway.
What did she mean, Flash had it bad for Brooke?
“Thank you.”
But Chloe wasn’t listening. Instead, she’d moved to stand next to the crib, staring down at Bean with absolute adoration in her eyes. “Oh my. Oh, my goodness,” she whispered, clutching her hands to her chest. “Look at you, sweetie. Hi, honey—I’m your aunt Chloe.”
Brooke stepped around Chloe and picked Bean up. Chloe gasped, “Oh, he’s perfect,” her eyes filling with tears. “What’s his name?”
“James Frasier Bonner, but I call him Bean,” Brooke said.
“Can I hold him?” Chloe was already reaching out for the baby, but she stopped before actually plucking Bean from Brooke’s arms. “I’m sorry. I’m just—this is such a surprise and I love babies so much and it’s Flash’s baby. You even gave him Flash’s name!” She gave Brooke a watery smile.
“Sure. Here, take the rocker and we’ll see if Bean is feeling sociable.”
“Do you want to tell me what’s happened?” Chloe said. “I gather that Flash didn’t know about that little angel before a few hours ago?”
“No, he didn’t. No one knows, really.” She nestled Bean in Chloe’s arms.
“Oh, goodness,” the other woman whispered as Bean stared up at her. Then he turned on his father’s charm and smiled at his aunt, who promptly began crying. That startled Bean and made him cry. Frankly, Brooke had no hope of holding herself together. It’d been such a long night.
“I’m so sorry,” Chloe said again as Brooke took Bean back. “We’ve been trying to have a baby and...”
“It’s okay.” Brooke snatched the tissues and everyone took a moment to calm down. She felt terrible for Chloe—Brooke couldn’t imagine dealing with infertility and then discovering a sibling had accidentally had a child despite taking precautions? Brooke couldn’t fight the guilt that swamped her.
“I’m fine,” Chloe said, and her gaze shifted to Brooke. “So how did my brother stick his foot into it this time?”
The story spilled out of Brooke. She tried to keep to just the facts, but then Chloe would say something like “Those headlines must have horrified you,” or “He did what?” It probably wasn’t smart to pour her heart out to this woman she barely knew and only in a professional capacity because Brooke had no idea what might be splashed across the internet tomorrow, but, God, it felt so good to talk to someone besides her mother and Alex. The isolation of the last few months caught up with her all at once, and, before she knew it, she was crying into a tissue and Chloe was rocking the baby and everything was still a huge mess. Amazingly, Brooke felt better.
As Brooke finished the story, Chloe gazed down on Bean, who was playing with an expensive-looking necklace, his eyes drowsy. If Brooke was lucky, Chloe would be able to get the baby back to sleep, and if she was very lucky, no one would shout or slam a door or anything.
Brooke wasn’t feeling that lucky.
“So let me see if I’ve got this right,” Chloe said gently. “He told you that you had to marry him? He didn’t even ask?”
“No!” Brooke said as quietly as she could. Thank God, Chloe got it. “And that’s when you walked in.”
“Such a jackass. Whoops, sorry, sweetie,” she cooed to Bean, who blinked up at her and then launched another charming smile at his aunt. “But he didn’t lose his temper?”
“I guess not?” Brooke swallowed. “I mean, he’s got a right to be upset. But it was nothing like what those headlines described.”
Chloe smirked. “Did he tell you what the fight was about?”
“No?” That didn’t sound good.
But Chloe didn’t see fit to expand on that comment. Instead, she looked at Brooke. A shiver went down Brooke’s back because there was a calculating gleam in the woman’s eyes that hadn’t been there a moment ago.
“Here’s the thing, though—he’s not wrong.” Brooke inhaled sharply as Chloe went on, “From a public relations point of view, I mean. If you two are married, we could spin this as a secret long-distance relationship instead of a wayward one-night stand. We could make it sound highly romantic while we release little teases of this supposed relationship without revealing too much, while we build up to exclusive interviews and magazine covers. We’d have both your audience and ours hooked. The press would be fantastic.”
A pit of disquiet began to yawn open in Brooke’s stomach. That was probably exactly what the record company would tell her to do, but...
Yes, she wanted to go public with her son. Yes, it made sense to have a plan. And the PR would probably be great.
But was it asking too much for it to be on her terms?
To try to keep some part of her private life private?
“I don’t know if I like the sound of that,” she told Chloe, trying to be diplomatic about it.
“It’s a shame we can’t retroactively get last year’s date on the wedding certificate,” Chloe mused, all of her attention on the baby. Brooke wasn’t even sure Chloe had heard her. “But a lie you can prove wrong with a simple records search is a bad lie. Always lie as close to the truth as possible.”
Brooke definitely did not like the sound of that. “I don’t want to lie anymore.”
“Not lie,” Chloe went on. “We just want to bend the truth a little. You guys met, had an instant connection, but you couldn’t get your schedules lined up...hmm. No, that won’t work—Flash was kicked off the rodeo for half the season last year. He could have followed you around easily. No, you were hot and heavy until his arrest, and then you gave him an ultimatum to shape up, which he did.”
“Can we slow down for a second here?” Brooke asked, because this was exactly what she was afraid of—Chloe was still going to strong-arm Brooke into doing what Flash wanted, just like Flash had tried to do. The only difference was that Chloe would do it while being all sympathetic and understanding instead of yelling. “There’s no way my mother would approve of someone like Flash.”
But there was no slowing Chloe. “So he straightened up and you guys have been secretly dating for...five months seems about right. And now that he’s passed your tests with flying colors, you guys decided to get married! Yes, I like this. Flash gets his redemption story and you get a huge PR boost for your new album and—”
“I am not getting married right now,” Brooke burst out.
“I understand your reluctance,” Chloe said, not quite as sympathetic as she’d been before. “Flash has that effect on people. But here’s the problem—beyond a redemption story or a marketing blitz, what if something happens to you, God forbid?” Before Brooke could panic at this statement—was this a threat?—Chloe went on. “Without the legal protection of marriage, would Flash be able to take custody of his own son? Or would your mother keep this perfect little angel away from his own father? Not that we wouldn’t fight it in court,” Chloe went on, smiling at Bean. “After all, what’s the point in being billionaires if you can’t buy the best lawyers?”
Billionaires? Brooke inhaled sharply. This was a threat.
“But it’d be a long, messy legal battle, one where Flash might not get to see his own son for a long time. I don’t know what kind of person your mother is, but if you’re concerned about her choices now...” She let the words trail off, her implication clear.
A churning panic took hold of Brooke’s stomach because she was not going to get married so Flash could be redeemed and she was not going to marry anyone for the PR, but making sure Flash could care for his own son?
Because Chloe wasn’t wrong.
Crissy Bonner might be disappointed that Brooke had gotten knocked up and she would definitely hate Flash, but she loved Bean. She loved being a grandmother and keeping Bean all to herself.
Brooke realized she didn’t know how far Crissy would go to keep things that way—all while proclaiming it was for the best, no doubt.
“Is that a risk you’re willing to take?” Chloe finished softly. “I wouldn’t.”
“I’m not on death’s doorstep,” Brooke said, surprised to hear her voice shake. She surged to her feet and plucked Bean out of Chloe’s arms. “I don’t have to marry your brother to make sure he gets to see his child, and if you’re only here to be the good cop to Flash’s bad cop, then you can leave. Now.”
She didn’t wait for an answer as she stormed from the room and headed downstairs. She was done talking, done with the entire Lawrence family. God, she felt like a fool. Nothing had changed. She and Flash were electric together, but sexual chemistry only got a girl so far. She was not going to let a little lust blind her to the big picture.
She got to the bottom of the stairs and glanced at the front door. Had it only been—what, an hour since Flash had pressed her back against the door and made her feel exactly like the girl she used to be?
Less than an hour. Less than an evening for Flash Lawrence to blow into her life like a twister, leaving a wake of destruction in his path.
And who had to clean up after the storm had passed? She did. Again.
Starting right now, she and Flash were on a no-touching basis. She couldn’t afford to be selfish anymore. She had to be a mother, and if that meant it was her against Flash, the Lawrence family, her own family, her record label and, hell, the whole world, then that’s the battle Brooke would fight.
She was done hiding and done apologizing. As much as she might miss the girl she’d been before, she was a different woman now. There was no going back.
She strode into the library, her mouth open to tell everyone to get the hell out—but what she saw made her stumble to a stop. Flash had Pete Wellington pinned against the far wall and was punching him in the stomach again and again as Pete grunted in pain, like something out of her nightmares.
“What are you doing?” she cried out in horror.