Page 4 of Undeniably Unexpected (Boston’s Irresistible Billionaires #6)

I give Keegan a short, tight nod. That’s it. My only response to her question whether I’m hiding my son from the world.

“Wow. Okay.” Keegan stares at me as if she’s unsure what to do or say next. “You have a son. I feel like I just said that, but it bears repeating. Or maybe it doesn’t, and I’m having an out-of-body experience.”

“As I said, it’s a long story, and right now, I don’t have much of a choice but to keep it a secret.”

She blinks and studies me and then Fenric. “This is just so crazy,” she muses, her tone absent, almost lost before her eyes snap back up at me. “Are you okay?”

I don’t know how to answer that, and she’s the first to ask, so I go with honesty. “Not really, no.”

No one knows about him other than a select few, and I’ve kept it that way intentionally.

Everything with him is at risk, and I have to play it just right.

But now Keegan knows. And while I trust she won’t go and run her mouth—she is a Fritz, and those people know scandal and secrets like a second language—I still didn’t want this.

At least not yet. Not until I felt like I had a better handle on things and a solid plan. Which I’m working on. I’ll do anything and everything for Fen. Even put the job that’s been my answer and salvation second. I might not have a choice soon.

Fen’s bright gray eyes peer up at me through the fan of his dark lashes, and he smiles the smile that never fails to make my chest clench and my stomach squeeze tighter. He pulls on my nose, not liking my disguise, but I make sure he watches me put it on so he knows it’s still me.

“How are you, lad? Cold?”

He doesn’t answer with words, but he smacks his mittened hand on my cheek as if to say, yes, arsehole, of course I am .

I peer at Keegan, who is still staring at me as if I’m the apparition of Jesus before her eyes, and then over at Tinsley, who shrugs, at a loss for what to do.

“You have a son,” Keegan all but whispers. “He’s beautiful, by the way. He looks like you. The real you, that is. Not this big-nosed hipster getup you’ve got going on.”

I cough out a small laugh. “Thank you. This is Fenric, or Fen, as I’ve grown fond of calling him. But I really can’t discuss this out here, and we are late for an appointment. Can I ring you later? Make sure your wrist is okay?”

“Your wrist?” Tinsley jumps in. “What happened to your wrist? And now that I’m asking, what happened to your coat? Shit, babe, you’re a mess, and I loved that coat.”

“Ugh. Me too.” Keegan holds up her right hand. “I slipped leaving the coffee shop, and fell on my hand and wrist while my yummy drink drenched me. These boots are not meant for walking on ice. It’s fine.” She examines it, though most is still hidden beneath her ruined coat. “I’m sure it’s fine.”

“Go to the hospital.”

I point at Tinsley and then Keegan. “Ah, see, I’m not the only one who thinks you should go.”

“I’m not going. I spend enough time in hospitals, and if it’s still bad in the morning, I’ll get it X-rayed when I go in for my shift.”

“Stubborn as always,” Tinsley gripes. “Fine, but Loomis isn’t the only one who’s going to check up on you later. Speaking of that, though, we really do have to go.”

“Yes. I’m sorry, Keegan. I am. I wish I could stay and tell you more.”

“I understand, and you don’t need to feel like that,” she says genuinely. “You don’t owe me any explanations.”

I frown, as does Tinsley, both of us feeling a bit helpless and not knowing what to do.

“It’s not that, Keegan. I swear.”

Flippantly, she waves her good hand in the air.

“Really, I’m just, well, obviously, I’m shocked, but I’m not mad you didn’t tell me or anything.

I don’t know you all that well, and as I said, you don’t owe me anything.

I need to get going, as do you.” She gives me a quick, awkward side hug since I’m holding Fen and her wrist is hurt. “I won’t say anything to anyone.”

The sincerity in her eyes cuts the breath from my lungs. Keegan is probably one of the sweetest and most loyal people I’ve ever met. I don’t want her to go. Not like this. But I can’t stay, and any feeling I have that’s urging me for more isn’t a voice I should heed.

“Thank you. Please take care of your wrist.”

“I will.”

She gives Tinsley a hug and walks off, and that’s that. I watch her for a moment, her red curls bouncing behind her as she carefully manages the sidewalk, and something inside me pulls in the worst of ways. Something more than guilt or worry.

I look at Tinsley. “I feel dreadful.”

“Don’t. I’ve known Keegan my entire life. If she were truly mad or upset, she’d let you know it. She’s a big girl and no stranger to wild stuff. Remember, she’s a Fritz. Text her later and leave it at that.”

I nod. Tinsley is right, and I know it. Keegan said she was fine, and I have to believe her. Even if I can’t help but feel I’ve made a total cock-up of everything. Again.

“Come on,” Tinsley continues. “My mom’s waiting.”

I walk over to Tinsley and wrap an arm around her, shifting Fen to my other side.

Tinsley has been my best friend since we first met on a set a few years ago, but she’s become more than that to me since Fen was dropped on my mum’s doorstep four months ago.

Her help has been immeasurable, and not just in being there or offering me a shoulder to lose my sodding mind on.

Her connections and friends have been lifesaving, and between her and Mum, I’ve slowly been getting my bearings.

Except Mum is back in London, and I’m here, and things are about to get very serious for me.

I’ve notified no one. Not the police or anyone in the four months I’ve had him.

Was that wrong? Likely, but my life isn’t so simple.

It’s extremely public, and with that, a nightmare for both Fen and me would have ensued.

He's only a little boy. He doesn’t need that kind of public scrutiny and chaos taking over his life.

But now it’s getting to the point where I’ll have to announce publicly that I have a son, and with that, American Child Family Services will get involved since I’m living here for the next few months and working on a visa. I’ll also have to figure out his citizenship.

Before that happens, I want to make sure I look like the picture of a perfect father, and single fathers with a reputation of a Hollywood bad boy who work bastardly long hours aren’t that.

“How was your meeting with the production team?” she asks, both of us keeping our heads down and avoiding eye contact with anyone. Fen’s tucked into me, and I’m glad because these sidewalks are slippery and I’d hate for him to slip and fall the way Keegan did.

“It went well. My film sidekick, Tommy Hardgrave, was there, and the female lead, Kierra Thorn, is to come in next month.”

“How was Tommy?”

I shrug. “Fine. Seemed nice enough and enthusiastic about the project. He asked about my disguise.”

She winces. “What did you say?”

“That I prefer to keep a low profile. What else could I say? Regardless, they want to start shooting next month, which will hopefully be enough time for me to get things sorted out. It’s going to be long hours, though, and a lot of physical demands with the stunts they want me to do.”

“Action hero by day, diaper-changing maverick by night,” she quips.

“So it seems. Balancing the scales of career and fatherhood is like juggling chainsaws. Though in my case, the chainsaws are on fire, and I’m blindfolded.”

“We’ll figure it out, Loomis. We will.”

Despite the uncertainty tugging at my gut, I lean over and kiss her temple. “Thank you for the we . As always, you’re my star.”

We reach the building where Dr. Fallon Monroe, Tinsley’s mum, practices.

She’s a pediatrician and has been quietly helping me, likely at her own risk.

Tinsley guides us in and through the back, where she punches in a code on a keypad on a door that says Employees Only.

We enter, meandering along the pale green halls until we reach the room we used the last time I brought him here.

I close the door behind me and sit on the bed, the white paper crinkling beneath me.

I glance down at Fen and chuckle lightly.

He’s out. No surprise there. The lad hasn’t slept well this week since we’ve come from London, and I’m afraid he’s fighting a bit of a cold if his runny nose is any indication.

If I hadn’t helped my mum with my two younger brothers growing up and had a basic sense of what to do with a child, I’d be losing my mind.

More than I already am.

Tinsley climbs on the bed beside me, and a few minutes later, there’s a knock on the door, and Tinsley’s mum pops her head in, spots us, smiles, and scoots in, closing the door behind her.

“Hi!” she greets us, coming over and hugging Tinsley. “I trust you had no issues getting in?”

Tinsley shakes her head. “Nope. Easy-peasy.”

“Excellent. How’s he doing?” Fallon runs her hand along the back of Fen’s sleeping head, and I remove his hat now that we’re inside.

“Good, though I’m worried he’s got a cold. His nose has been running like a leaky tap, and he’s drooling more than usual.”

“Every child does this time of year, and both the runny nose and drooling could also mean he’s getting more teeth.

I’ll take a look, though. Let me pull up his chart and labs.

” She sits down at the computer and starts typing away, only to pause and read over whatever it is she sees on there.

“Ah, okay, all of his titers came back negative.”

I blink, feeling my brow furrow. “What does that mean? Titers?”

“Those are blood tests that measure whether or not someone is immune to a certain disease. In this case, it indicates he was never vaccinated. Since we don’t know how to reach his mother or have access to any of his previous health records, we don’t know if this was intentional or lack of care.”