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CHAPTER ONE
Griff
How the fuck did I get here?
It’s nine thirty at night. By now, I’m usually curled up in bed with my laptop and some work…or another meaningless one-night stand. Instead, I’m rushing down Highway 30, the breeze from the open window whipping through my hair as I speed through the nearly hour-long journey toward Kihei. After more than three years, I’m going to see the one woman I haven’t managed to forget.
And the son I never knew I had.
Holy shit, I’m a father. That still hasn’t truly registered since I found out ten minutes ago. Now I can’t reach them fast enough. I dodge a slow tourist and run a yellow light. Yes, I’m breaking multiple traffic laws. And I don’t care. I just need to get there.
Then what? a voice in my head whispers.
I have no idea what I’m going to say to my ex-girlfriend, Britta. Well, that’s not exactly true. I intend to figure out why the hell I never heard about her pregnancy. Once, I loved that woman. I lived with her. I wanted to marry her.
Then I got stupid. And she let me.
Everything has been fucked up since.
I push the past behind me and try to think ahead. My first priority is to finally meet our boy. I’ll insist on it. My brother says Jamie looks a lot like me. Based on Maxon’s pictures, I agree. And I can’t wait to meet him.
I’ve missed so much—pregnancy, birth, first year, first steps, first words… I’m shocked by how badly that fact is grinding up my guts. Kids were never on my radar. They were cute—for someone else. I wasn’t interested in wiping noses or butts. But after one look at the picture of that little boy with my face and his mother’s blue eyes, I felt stunned. And I felt protective. That snapshot of him smiling at the toy truck he clutched in his chubby fist completely changed my world. It fired up my determination not to miss another day of James Tucker Reed’s life.
Oh, he doesn’t have my last name yet. But he will. I’m going to do whatever it takes to make damn sure of that.
In my pocket, my phone buzzes. I’m hoping it’s not a client. Though it’s true Realtors are never really off the clock, especially when one sells multimillion-dollar estates, I am not in the frame of mind to deal with work right now. Thankfully, when I glance at the display connected via Bluetooth to my Porsche 911 Carrera convertible to see who’s calling, I’m not surprised by the name that’s popped up. I’ve been expecting this.
I close the window and press the button to talk. “Hi, Keeley.”
“Griff, is your meeting with Maxon over? What happened?”
Our reunion a few minutes ago was the first time I’ve spoken to my brother in over three years, so it’s momentous. We used to be close, best friends and business partners—before I fucked everything up. Tonight’s reconciliation wouldn’t have happened without Keeley and her grudging agreement to dabble in a little corporate espionage and spy on Maxon for me. She also fell for him, despite the fact he hadn’t yet grown past his clueless douchebag stage. But I found out tonight that he fell for her, too. I’m not telling Keeley anything about my brother’s determination to win her back and persuade her to marry him just yet. She needs time with her family in Phoenix to think. Then, if she decides to return to Maui—and Maxon—I’ll help my older brother with his sweeping romantic gesture to slide a ring on her finger.
“Yeah. Maxon and I talked about the split, the major reasons we stopped getting along. Actually, we talked about a lot of things.” And it felt damn good after so much ugliness and strife. “We made up. We’ve decided that, instead of being competitors, we’re going to pursue the Stowe estate together. And if the arrangement works well, we’ll think about making the partnership permanent once more.”
“That’s great!” She sounds genuinely happy for me…but I hear the sad note in her voice. “It must have felt so fantastic to be with Maxon, talking business again, catching up…”
“Yep.” I sort through the meeting in my head, think of details that might cheer her up. “He seems different. I have you to thank.”
Keeley doesn’t say anything for a long moment, which tells me something about her mood. She’s never subdued.
“Don’t thank me. I really hoped he’d figured out what was important, but, Griff…I can’t change him. He has to want to be a different man. Just like you did.”
She’s absolutely right. But Maxon truly seems to have grown as a person. Hopefully, she’ll come home and see that.
Keeley sighs. “It’s so great that you and your brother are talking again. At least something good came out of the mess I made with him. Please be happy. After everything that’s happened, you deserve it.”
She’s being kind. I don’t deserve shit. I also know that arguing with Keeley about this is pointless.
And how is it possible my GPS says I still have another thirty minutes before I reach my destination?
I think back over the last few weeks, everything that’s happened… Then a realization hits me. She’s been my confidant and best friend for more than two years. So why would she stab me in the back like this?
“You knew I had a son, didn’t you?” I rake a hand through my hair. “How fucking long have you kept that from me?”
“So Maxon told you about Jamie?” she breathes. “That’s good. You need to—”
“How long?” No answer. The interminable moments are shredding my admittedly thin patience. “Goddamn it, Keeley…”
“Almost three weeks. I’m sorry,” she rushes to add. “I hope you’ll forgive me for not telling you.”
That’s asking a lot. Keeley knows I have deep trust issues. I haven’t told her the whole reason why, though.
Hell, I haven’t told anyone.
“Three fucking weeks?” I bark. “What the hell? He’s my son. Why would you keep him from me?”
“If I’d told you the minute I found out, you would have confronted Britta immediately and messed up everything I was building with Maxon for you and… I really only did what I thought was best in the situation.” She pauses. “Wait, it sounds as if you’re in your car. Please tell me you’re heading straight home.”
I hear what she’s saying. She’s probably even right. Everything would have blown up in my face if I’d jumped Britta’s case three weeks ago. There’s still a high likelihood it will tonight. On the other hand, all I can think of is that if I had known sooner, I might have endured a little less misery and might have been involved a bit more in Jamie’s childhood.
“I value my best friend too much to lie.”
Unlike some people. The subtext hangs there.
“C’mon, Griff. I would never intentionally hurt you. You know that.”
Fuck. I do. I have to take a deep breath, count to five, and remind myself that Keeley is nothing like the people I used to know. Once I have, I wish I could take the biting words back. You’d think after the misery I’ve brought down on myself by failing to trust that I might have learned. But no, my knee-jerk certainty that someone is fucking me is sometimes instant and unavoidable. In the back of my head, I expect people will shit on me. So I strike before they do. Sometimes before I even think. Damn it. I have to stop the bitterness that’s been rotting me for half my life and start handling it, along with my shock and frustration about Jamie. The first step is to apologize to Keeley.
“I do. I’m sorry.” I wince. “I’m an ass. You know this about me.”
