31 Days of Summer (31 Days #2) (27 page)

‘Then I’ll learn fast,’ he volunteered with a
shrug. ‘I won’t be outdone. How’s my boy?’

‘He’s perfect and currently sleeping like a
proverbial baby.’

‘Can I see him?’

‘I don’t want to wake him or it will throw him out
of a very carefully crafted routine,’ I advised.

‘You don’t have to wake him, I’d just like to see
him.’

‘No talking then,’ I warned, as I threw the duvet
back and got up, touched that he really seemed invested. I padded over to his cot
and held my iPad over him, letting Dan see him flat on his tummy, his hands up
either side of his head and his cheek turned to the side. His tiny lips were
parted and he let out a mild snore every few breaths and I heard Dan chuckle
and pulled the iPad back up to look at him.

‘Does he always snore like that?’ he grinned.

‘Sometimes,’ I smiled.

‘It’s adorable. He’s adorable.’

‘He is, pretty damn perfect if you ask me. So how
was your day?’

‘Back to normal,’ he sighed. ‘Emails, phone
calls.’

‘Did you … did you go and see her?’ I asked
hesitantly.

‘Yes.’

‘How did it go?’ I slapped myself on the forehead
as soon as I asked the question, forgetting he could see me. How did I expect
it to have gone when it was always a one sided conversation.

‘I knew what you meant,’ he chuckled. ‘I told them
that I was a father and asked how they’d feel if you came to live with me.’

‘And?’ I whispered, dreading the response.

‘They’re fine about it. Really excited for me, for
us. They also want to meet him if that’s not too weird for you? They’re like
family to me after this long.’

‘That’s fine,’ I smiled. I was glad that they were
accepting. Maybe this whole scenario was really going to help him deal with his
dilemma once and for all. I mean, I was prepared to be patient but what woman
wants to live with a guy long term under those conditions?

‘So you’re moving in?’

‘No, I told you we’d give it a trial.’

‘What’s to trial?’ he sighed. ‘Sex is off the
charts fantastic, we love each other, we have a son together and I love your
cooking. What else do we need to work out?’

‘You love my cooking,’ I laughed and he winked. ‘I
think the decision to live together should be considered a bit more seriously
than basing it on sex and cooking.’

‘And love and our child,’ he added.

‘Yes, well our track record at spending time
together wasn’t exactly spotless, so I’m coming for two weeks and then we’ll
talk about it.’

‘Two weeks?’ The look of distaste on his face
spoke volumes.

‘I agreed to only take four months maternity
leave, Dan. I finished two weeks before Oliver was born, so I’m due back two
weeks on Monday.’

‘I told you that you don’t need to work. Name your
salary for being my live in girlfriend and I’ll pay it.’

‘You’re lucky we’re on facetime or I’d slap you,’
I uttered, as I climbed back into bed and he frowned with a look of
bewilderment on his face.

‘What’s wrong with that?’

‘Don’t
even
get me started,’ I sighed as I
snuggled down in bed.

‘What are you wearing?’ he purred, as his eyes
roved over the screen.

‘Too much for phone sex,’ I yawned, recognising
the tone in his voice. ‘I have this new boyfriend who fucked me thoroughly all
night, on top of cooking and looking after Oliver and entertaining a pissed
Brooke all afternoon and evening and I’m absolutely shattered. So if you ever
want sex again, you’d better let me sleep right now.’

‘I heard when you get serious with someone the sex
dries up,’ he sighed.

‘It’s not sex if we’re not in the same room, trust
me, Friday night you’d better be feeling vigorous as I’ll be expecting you to
make up for the next few days.’

‘Don’t wish for things you can’t handle,’ he
chuckled. ‘Speaking of Brooke, what can I get her to say thank you for being persistent
enough to have us meet again?’

‘She’d love a Mazda,’ I yawned.

‘An MX-5 like yours? What colour?’

‘Very funny, I was joking.’

‘I wasn’t. Doesn’t she have a car?’

‘I was joking, Dan. She loves champagne and luxury
chocolate.’

‘Fine don’t tell me, but you know I have ways of
finding things out.’

‘Hmmm,’ I agreed as I felt my eyes closing. His
voice was so husky, if I wasn’t so tired I’d be tuned into the horny feelings
it usually gave me, tonight though it was like a lullaby. I’d have to try him
talking to Oliver when he was having trouble settling down.

‘Ellie?’

‘Hmmm?’ I moaned, even going that step further in
a groan was an effort. My limbs had gone so heavy.

‘Nothing, baby. Sleep. I’ll call you tomorrow.’

‘O … k.’

‘I love you, Ellie Baxter,’ he whispered as I
zoned out with a happy internal smile.

Tuesday 7
^th
July ~ Year Two

Dan

‘Stuart. I need architect
plans drawn up by Friday morning. Who can you sort for me?’

‘By Friday?’

‘Yes.’

‘Friday?’ he queried again.

‘Do I need to repeat myself or have you suddenly
developed a mild case of Tourette’s?’

‘No, no Tourette’s Sir, but it’s hard to get a
good architect at such short notice let alone to have him draw up plans as
well.’

‘Well if it was easy I’d have booked someone
myself. That’s what I pay you so well for, all your connections and your
amazing ability to achieve the impossible.’

‘Amazing ability?’

‘Are you intent on making me repeat everything? You
know how much I value you. What’s the name of the guy that drew up the plans
for my house in San Francisco?’

‘David Cummings,’ Stuart replied. How the hell did
he do that? I chuckled at my stupid self-questioning. Ok course it had
something to do with his photographic memory, one of the reasons I poached him
from his previous employer all those years ago.

‘Get him. I don’t care what you have to offer him,
but I need extension plans for the house drawn up by Friday afternoon at the
latest.’

‘For the house? Sorry Sir, I didn’t mean to repeat
again, but can I ask why you need an extension? Does the server need an
upgrade?’

‘No, no upgrade required. This is in strictest
confidence until I say otherwise, understood?’

‘Of course,’ he replied instantaneously. I needn’t
have asked, I trusted Stuart implicitly. He’d worked for me for eight years
now.

‘You remember the emerald and diamond bracelet I
asked you to acquire last year and the card that went with it, that had you
trip over your feet?’

‘Of course,’ he chuckled.

‘Well, I’m planning on asking that lady, Miss
Baxter, to move in with me and I’m told that the current configuration of my
house isn’t suitable for my three month old son.’ I laughed as I heard Stuart
spit coffee or water out and start to choke.

‘Forgive me,’ he spluttered. ‘But I had no idea
you were still seeing her, I was under the impression that you’d refused to
take things further and you’re telling me that you have a …
son
?’

‘She discovered she was pregnant after we parted
ways and chose not to burden me with the fact.’

‘Forgive me for being impertinent, but are you
sure … the child is yours? That this isn’t some elaborate scheme to obtain access
to your considerable wealth?’

‘Given that it’s you I won’t take offence, but no,
I trust her implicitly and she was struggling to reach a decision as to whether
to even tell me that he existed. Anyway, they’re coming to stay on Friday
evening and I’d like to reassure her that I’m serious about making our
relationship work.’

‘May I ask the little chap’s name?’

‘Oliver.’

‘Oliver Davenport, like you?’ he exclaimed.

‘Sadly not yet. Oliver Baxter is on his birth
certificate, but I intend to work on that issue as well,’ I replied. No way was
my son not having my name. Both of my names.

‘Then let me get right on it. And, Sir?’

‘Yes.’

‘I’m very pleased for you, you sound …’

‘Happy? Yes, I certainly am,’ I confirmed, as I
interrupted him. ‘I’d also like you to acquire another piece of jewellery for
me too.’

‘Emeralds again?’

‘Yes, some earrings.’

‘Any limit?’

‘No, just make sure they’re an exact match to the
bracelet.’

‘I’m looking forward to meeting this Miss Baxter,
she seems to have thawed you out considerably.’

‘I can still make you write your own P45 you know,
Stuart,’ I laughed.

‘Anything else I can do for you this morning?’

‘Actually yes, my spare guestroom is just that, I
need it turning into a nursery.’

‘You’d like me to find a decorator?’

‘No, I’m going to do that myself, but I’d like you
to source some solid wood furniture, painted white, if you can get some with
carved teddy bears on it even better, and I need it all here by Friday the
latest as well. Use the plans on file to work out what will go where, but the
kid has lots of bears, so plenty of storage. Liaise with Pete to have it all delivered
there and he can bring it down from the village in his boat.’

‘You’re going to … decorate?’ he asked, the
amazement apparent in his voice.

‘I can do other things than write programs, code
and boss people around you know. And while you’re at it, cancel any
teleconferences I have this week, I don’t care who they’re with. My son’s room
takes priority. Update me when you have news.’

‘Certainly, Sir. And many congratulations, I’m
very happy for you.’

‘Thanks,’ I responded and switched off my ear
piece as the smile spread across my face, threatening to split my cheeks. I’d
hardly slept all night, trying to think of every possible excuse Ellie would
have, not to agree to live with me, then coming up with the solution to each of
those objections. I wasn’t going to give her one damn excuse. I walked barefoot
into the guest room and put my hands on my hips as I looked around, wondering
where to start, while thankful I wasn’t into clutter. I took a deep breath then
stripped off my t-shirt and set to work, moving out the bedside tables, chest
of drawers and the bed. The built in wardrobe that straddled each side of the
entrance to the en-suite was more tailored to adults, so I’d need to install
extra rails for his smaller baby items on the one side and maybe fitted shelves
for whatever other stuff babies needed. I rang Pete and asked if he could come
and help move the old furniture up to the storeroom attached to my gym, and to
do the shelving and rails if I purchased the materials and he agreed to come
tomorrow morning. I managed to dismantle the bed and move everything down next
to the pool table out of my way and wiped the perspiration on my forehead away
with my arm, before making a list of the paint I’d need and looking up the
closest baby store on the internet. I took a shower and dressed in my jeans and
a fresh t-shirt and rang Mrs. McAdams.

‘Morning Daniel, would you like some lunch
preparing?’

‘Actually I’m good thanks, I can do a mean
omelette now thanks to your tuition.’ I’d given up trying to get her to call me
Dan. I was actually amazed I didn’t have multiple personality disorder, the
amount of names I was known by. ‘I’m actually after another favour. Do you have
plans this afternoon?’

‘Other than preparing your evening meal, no.’

‘Then could I ask if you’d accompany me to town, I
need some assistance from a woman who knows all about babies, given you’ve had
six I can’t think of anyone better.’

‘Babies?’ she uttered.

‘Long story, which I’ll explain on the way. Tell
Mr. McAdams to meet us at the pub at six p.m. and dinner’s on me.’

‘That’s very kind of you. How soon do you want me
to be ready?’

‘Is half an hour too short notice?’

‘Not at all. I’ll be down in twenty minutes in
case you set the kitchen on fire again,’ she said with an edge of humour in her
voice.

‘Once,’ I retorted, ‘and I had it perfectly under
control.’

‘Aye, I’m sure,’ she chuckled and put the phone
down. I smiled, I was really fond of the couple, they’d never once pressed me
as to what had happened to make me so bad tempered over the last eleven months,
but simply checked in on me on a regular basis trying to lift my spirits, Mrs.
McAdams in particular not taking any prisoners when it came to putting me in my
place. I made myself a Spanish omelette with some bread and butter and grabbed
my wallet and a jacket just as she arrived at the door.

‘The baby store?’ she raised her eyebrows.

‘Yes. My girlfriend’s coming to stay on Friday for
two weeks,’ I advised and noticed her eyebrows raise even higher in shock. She’d
been nagging me for the last two years to start dating again and had been far
too excited when she’d discovered Ellie had been back to visit last year.

‘Girlfriend,’ she nodded with a big smile on her
face that just accentuated her wrinkles, but suited her.

‘Yes,’ I replied with a roll of my eyes. She
looked over at the furniture I’d deposited by the pool table and crossed her
arms as she studied me. ‘I needed to change the room, as she’s bringing my
three month old son with her.

‘Sweet baby Jesus,’ she uttered and reached out
for the door frame. ‘You’ll be giving an old lady a heart attack if you spring
any more surprises on me young Daniel. You have a
son
?’

‘Let’s talk on the drive. I have a lot to fill you
in on, and need your help knowing what sort of things I need to buy for his wardrobe
and for Ellie to feed and look after him while she’s here.’

‘For you
both
to feed and look after him,’
she corrected me. ‘It’s a whole new age now, you need to get with the program.’

‘I do indeed,’ I laughed, as I held the door open
for her.

She’d made me laugh by bombarding me with
questions on the drive down to town, but I was grateful for her advice when
confronted with row after row of baby related items that left me stunned. I’d
been so busy with setting up my company when Rebecca was pregnant, I’d just
given her the cash and she’d done all the shopping. She’d also prepared the
nursery in yellow, with trains running around the walls to please my father,
who was a steam train fanatic. When I lost her, my parents had cleared out the
room of all baby paraphernalia and told me that they’d redecorated, making sure
there were no reminders for me. I never saw it though, I’d never returned back
to the terraced house we’d shared. I’d disappeared to America to lick my wounds
and had buried myself in work and sold the house with all the contents, wanting
no reminders of my previous life, other than pictures which my parents had
saved for me. I spent the next five years in Southern California, building up
my business into a multi-million pound corporation and losing myself in strings
of short term sexual encounters and the BDSM world I’d discovered in San
Francisco. I purchased my home in Kensington when I returned, determined to
straighten myself out and stop my emotional detachment issues, but I’d soon
found my way back into the ease of sex parties, where everyone knew where they
stood and there were no expectations of me. This lifestyle also satisfied my
need for control, to avoid anymore unexpected changes in my life.

That’s where I’d met my best friend Logan. I’d had
an eye on a blonde and he’d seen me watching her and had jumped in first, which
had pissed me off. So I’d muscled into their conversation determined to outdo
him. We bounced off each other so easily it took some time to realise that the
blonde had given up and walked off, so instead of sex for the night, we got
hammered and compared conquest stories and kept in touch from there. It was
ironic that at around the time I knocked up Moira, he lost his job and turned
to his escort gig, causing both of our lives to change dramatically, but we’d
kept in touch. He’d used his fake name at parties, as I’d used my middle name,
so each of us knew the other by our current personas. I needed to ring him, I’d
not had a moment to let him know about Ellie or Oliver. I couldn’t wait to see
his reaction. I also wanted to know how he was doing with his inappropriate
crush on the brunette he’d deflowered last year, Summer Beresford. Even I knew
her name, he went on about her that much.

‘Ok, I think we have everything. You’ll have to
tell her to pack light as you got all the fancy gadgets she may need and far
too many clothes for him. He’ll have outgrown them in a month or so,’ Mrs.
McAdams tutted.

‘I want to make the place feel like home to them
both. What’s that?’ I questioned, as I pushed the overloaded trolley towards
the till and pointed at a blue object that looked like a big Gummi bear. She
picked it up and examined it for me.

‘It’s a light, made from moulded plastic.’

‘Put it in the trolley. He likes bears.’

‘He doesn’t know it’s a bear. It’s just a big blob
to him, he doesn’t even know it’s blue for heaven’s sake.’

‘Are you seriously going to criticise me for wanting
to buy something nice for him?’ I chastised.

‘Who knew you had a sentimental soft side?’ she
replied, as she smirked at me. I narrowed my eyes and she quickly pulled a
face. ‘Fine, one big blue bear going into the trolley.’

‘I want to paint the room blue too. With white
clouds.’

‘Turned into Michelangelo now as well, have you?’

‘Why is it since my mood lightened everyone feels
the need to take the piss out of me?’

‘It’s called friendly banter and a sense of
humour, something you’d better learn fast if you want this lady of yours to
stick around, as well as romance.’

‘I’ll ask for advice when I need it, thank you.’

‘Some big hot shot businessman you may be, but you’ll
always need advice in your personal life, you just haven’t realised how badly
you’re in need.’