31 Days of Summer (31 Days #2) (21 page)

Saturday 4
^th
July ~ Year Two

Dan

I disconnected the live
conference feed and sat back in my chair with my hands behind my head. We were
finally approaching the finishing line of my new software platform, that was
set to rival the leaders and put my market share up into the top five companies
in the world, as well as earning me untold profits. Like I needed more money.
It was more about pride, succeeding in anything I set my mind to and I usually
did. Rebecca, Moira and Ellie were my only failures in life. Brought to my
knees by three God damn women, one of whom I never even fucking loved and was
paying the ultimate price for. I glanced over at the picture I still had on my
desk of Ellie, standing in the snow in her underwear blowing me a kiss and
smiled sadly.

Fuck. I missed her every damn second of every damn
day. I still got myself off to the thought of her, not having been able to
contemplate sex with anyone else. I felt a shiver run down my back at the
thought of her having moved on, and inhaled and exhaled a few times, slowly.
Dr. Beaumont had been patiently working with me on controlling the anger I felt
inside, on the guilt I carried over Rebecca and Moira. Even I had to admit I’d
made progress. With everything
but
Moira. Logic told me I should let her
go, but logic wasn’t being given a chance to convince me. I still felt like I
deserved that guilt and if I let her go I’d be letting myself off too easily. I
never discussed Ellie in my sessions. I knew I’d been the reason we weren’t
together, talking about it wasn’t going to resolve the deep seated issues.
Besides, just thinking about her hurt. Recalling her bright green expressive
eyes, soft kissable lips, her hair, her
body
, damn it. Eleven bloody
months since I’d last seen her and she still affected me just as badly. I
pressed the telephone speaker system when it rang, it was Stuart calling from
the London office.

‘Stuart.’

‘Good morning, Sir. Sorry to bother you, but I
have a caller on the line asking to speak to you. I did say you were unavailable,
as she’s not on the list of known associates or family, but she insisted it was
urgent.’

‘What’s her name?’ I enquired with a frown.

‘A Miss Hanson, Sir.’

‘Hanson?’ I frowned, the name sounded familiar.

‘A Brooke Hanson,’ Stuart confirmed. I sat
upright, that was Ellie’s best friend. Why the hell was she ringing me?

‘Did she say what she wanted?’

‘Not other than saying it was urgent, in rather
colourful language when I refused to put her through,’ he replied making me
chuckle. Ellie had always said her best friend had quite a mouth on her. Did I
really want to take her call? What could she possibly have to say that would be
of interest to me? Speaking to her about Ellie would just open up old wounds.
Wounds that were still fresh.

‘Repeat that I’m unavailable Stuart and if you
can’t get rid of her hang up,’ I ordered and cut him off before I changed my
mind. I’d been clear, perfectly clear, that we were over if she didn’t give me
a chance that day. Why wait eleven damn months to do something about it, then
use her best friend to make the call? I folded my arms as I stroked my bottom
lip deep in thought, wondering if I’d been too rash, then decided I wasn’t.
Even if, by some miracle, she’d come around to the idea that I was never going
to let her get pregnant and tempted me to see her again, she could always change
her mind in the future, or constantly nag me to change my mind. Neither of us
would be happy with either scenario. I frowned as the phone rang again and
Stuart’s number reappeared.

‘Stuart.’

‘Sir, I’m so sorry but she’s insistent that you’ll
want to take her call, I can’t repeat the obscenities she used, but she said
it’s about Miss Baxter and insists on speaking to you urgently.’

‘I told you to tell her that I’m not available.
Hang up on her if you have to,’ I ordered.

‘I have. Twice. She just keeps ringing and the
receptionist is refusing to answer the phone in case she gets her again.’

‘Get Ian to work his magic and block her number
then, do I really need to give you lessons in shielding calls?’

‘No, of course not Sir, but when I told her that
was the route I’d take if she called again, she advised that she’d turn up in
reception and cause a scene, unless you agreed to speak to her.’

‘God damn it,’ I muttered. Ellie had said she was
hot tempered and from the stories she’d told me of her I had a feeling she
wasn’t making idle threats. ‘Put her through.’

‘Sorry, Sir,’ Stuart replied and I heard a click
as he transferred her over.

‘Miss Hanson, I’m an extremely busy man and I
don’t appreciate you verbally harassing my staff or making threats to get your way.
You have exactly sixty seconds to state whatever the hell you thought was so
damn important to waste my time with, before I cut you off, block your number
and issue a restraining order preventing you from coming within fifty metres of
me, my premises or staff, and the clock is already ticking.’

‘Wow, she said you were bossy, but damn,’ she
uttered down the phone.

‘Forty-five seconds, Miss Hanson.’

‘Shit, I thought this was a good idea and now I’ve
actually got through I’m wondering if it really is.’

‘Forty seconds,’ I advised, as I kept an eye on my
watch.

‘It’s like fucking countdown, or Robocop, “Sixty
seconds to comply”’ she quoted in a robotic voice. ‘I’m no good under pressure,
besides she’s going to bloody kill me for ringing you,’ she sighed.

‘Ellie hasn’t put you up to calling me?’ I
frowned.

‘No! She’s going to tear me a new one when she
finds out and she already smashed a plate yesterday, because I pissed her off
by pushing her to ring you herself, which she’s never going to bloody do, because
she’s worried about your reaction. So that’s why I’ve rung to tell you. How
many seconds do I have left, because if you’re about to hang up I need to know
how long I’ve got so I can figure out which of my not so subtle blurting
options to go with?’

‘Tell me what?’ I demanded, as I forget all about
the ticking hand on my watch and stiffened up. If Ellie was refusing to call me
and arguing with her friend over it, something was wrong. Really wrong.

‘O shit, now you’re all direct and to the point.
Seriously, how many seconds? I really don’t work well under pressure.’

‘I’ve frozen the clock, Miss Hanson. What is so
damn important that you’d risk falling out with your best friend over?’

‘Ok, ok Brooke, you can do this,’ I heard her
breathe. ‘Ellie’s going to be really pissed, but she’ll forgive you. Shit, who
am I kidding? She’s not going to forgive me. She’s going to go bat shit crazy.
What am I thinking?’

‘MISS HANSON!’ I barked down the phone.

‘She’s had a baby,’ she shot back and then gasped,
as if she’d not meant to say it. I blinked a few times, sure I’d just heard her
wrong. Ellie was having a baby? Ellie had
moved on
? It was like someone
was twisting a knife in my stomach. ‘Are you still there?’ whispered her friend
down the line.

‘I’m sorry Miss Hanson, but if your friend is
having a baby, I really don’t see what concern that is of mine,’ I replied
coldly. What the fuck was this? She’d just rung to rub salt in my wounds, to
gloat because I hurt her friend?

‘Not
having
a baby, she’s
had
a
baby. Ok Brooke, you can do it, you can do it, just say it out loud. It’s four
little words, you’re not reciting the bloody old testament or the Harry Potter
… whatever the hell a series of eight books is called, an eightology?’

‘Miss Hanson, I’m still not clear what you’re
saying.’

‘What
is
a set of eight books called? She’d
know being all book geeky. Maybe it’s an Octopusology as they have eight legs,
don’t they?’

‘I’m about to start the clock again,’ I warned,
losing patience with her ramblings, She was worse than bloody Ellie, not to
mention the anger building up inside of me. If she’d had a damn baby with
someone, she’d barely waited for the sheets to go cold before inviting someone
else to settle between her thighs. Here was me thinking her love for me was
real. Nice to know how quickly she got over me, while I was here wallowing in self-bloody
pity.

‘She’s had
your
baby,’ she blurted out,
stunning me into silence as my mind tried to process what she’d just said.
‘Hello? Are you still there? Shit, don’t tell me I’ve given you a heart
attack?’

‘I think you must be mistaken, Miss Hanson. I’ve
not seen Ellie for nearly a year, it’s not mine.’

‘He is. She’s still crazily in love with you and
hasn’t slept with anyone since you walked out on her. He’s three months old,’
she confirmed. I swallowed hard and opened my mouth to speak but nothing came
out. Instead I felt a tightness in my chest and tears pooling in my eyes, which
I rapidly blinked back as I pulled myself together.

‘He?’ I uttered.

‘Yes. You have a son, a really beautiful, healthy,
son. He has your black hair, his eyes are steel blue at the moment, but most
babies have blue eyes when they’re born so that doesn’t mean anything. But if
what I heard about you is right he definitely takes after you. He never stops
eating, he’s too long for his age so he’s going to be tall, and I have to tell
you I don’t make a habit of going around looking at babies penises because
that’s well … gross and probably illegal, but you’ll be pleased to know that he
stacks up there,
really
well.’

‘I have a son?’ I repeated slowly, still not quite
sure I was hearing right.

‘She wanted to tell you so badly, but well, she
told me about your past and didn’t want to stress you out or make you feel like
she was after your money, so that’s why she didn’t call you. She’s been trying
to pluck up the courage to tell you herself since he was born, but she’s scared
how you’ll react. You’re so quiet right now that
I’m
scared how you’ll
react, as well as how she will when she finds out I’ve told you. I’ve just risked
my friendship with her because I really hoped that you’re the good guy she told
me you were, and that now it’s all done and dusted you’ll want to be part of
his life, and you won’t blame her for doing this on her own and keeping you in
the dark. She’s an amazing mother, she doesn’t need your money, but I know she
misses you and she’s still madly in love with you and it’s eating her up inside
that you’re not together. If you still feel anything for her, well there’s no
reason for you to stay away is there?’

‘Has anyone ever told you that you talk too much?’
I enquired, as a smile spread across my face. Not only did I have a son, but
Ellie had survived the birth and was still in love with me, just like I was
with her. This had to be the best fucking day of my God damn life.

‘It’s been mentioned. So you’re not mad?’ she
asked, her voice laced with nerves.

‘No, I’m not mad, surprised as hell but not mad.
You must really love her to risk falling out with her by going behind her
back.’

‘Well duhhh. She’s pretty damn loveable to
everyone, except you with your fucking heart of ice. So what now?’

‘What now indeed,’ I replied, as I shoved my chair
back and stood up. ‘I’ll be in London in less than three hours Miss Hanson,
you’d better make sure she goes nowhere.’ I could hear her still talking as I
hung up. I dialled my pilot as I strode to the bedroom to grab an overnight
bag. I didn’t even care if I found out she’d deliberately got herself pregnant
by me, it was done. I knew only too well that the past couldn’t be changed, all
I cared about was dragging the woman I loved into my arms and reclaiming her
with my lips, then holding my son for the first time. I didn’t even know his name,
I didn’t even care about that. They were both alive and well, that was all that
mattered. Maybe my shit run of bad luck was finally over. For the first time
since I first clapped eyes on Ellie, I could see sunshine on the horizon,
instead of black storm clouds gathering.

My heart was pounding so loud I didn’t think I
even needed to knock the door, I was sure she’d hear me. The French doors in
the lounge were all thrown wide open and I could hear soft music playing in the
background. I ran my hands through my hair and quickly checked my appearance
again. I was nervous as hell. Brooke had better be right that Ellie hadn’t got
over me, either way this time I wasn’t giving up. I was never walking away from
her again. Even if she was seeing someone else, I was getting her back. She was
mine. She’d been mine from the moment I first saw her photo and accepted that
booking, and I wasn’t going to give her the option to say no. She wasn’t just
the woman I was in love with, that I’d bloody pined over for eleven months, she
was the mother of my son. I raised my hand, which was shaking, and knocked on
my front door. I took some deep breaths in anticipation, as I heard feet
running down the stairs and the door being unlocked from the inside. As she
came into view she took my breath away, as I drank her in. She was wearing a denim
mini skirt with her long legs on display, barefoot, which I found sexy as hell,
and in a tight fit white t-shirt. My cock sprung immediately, just like it
always did around her, an inherent reaction and attraction. If I’d loved her
breasts before, now they were even fuller and her nipples were larger and
overall she was in amazing shape. As our eyes locked I felt my heart explode
with emotion for her. While all the love that had been there for me before was
still hidden in the depths of her eyes, I saw fear and she sucked in a startled
gasp as her face paled.