Page 16 of Who’s Your Daddy (Dadcoms #1)

Cal

W hile I’ve officially settled into my role as a dad and our new living situation in New Jersey, I can’t say the same for some of my roommates.

It’s been two weeks, yet Brian is more surly than ever.

“What was that man doing in our apartment?” he asks, leering over the conference table, a big ball of negative energy.

Ah. He must have run into the man I hired to handle a little home project.

“When was the last time you had a rumpy-pumpy in the sheets?”

Brian scowls. Lo, on the other hand, snorts. That reaction sends a thrill through me.

“A what?” The edge in his tone warns of the pain he’d like to inflict on me.

I don’t heed it at all.

“You know, when was the last time you had your wanker boinked?”

He straightens and runs a hand over his jaw. “For fucks sake.”

I grin at Lola, then continue to tease Brian. “A shagging, a banging, get nasty, make whoopie. Any of these familiar?”

His face is red and mottled, like he’s ready to explode. Blinking back and forth from me to Lola, he shakes his head. “Why are you smiling at him?”

She presses her lips together, flattening her expression. “I’m not.”

Bloody hell. I want to leap across the table and pummel his arse for wiping away that beautiful smile.

“You were.” The lines on Brian’s forehead deepen.

“You’re going to want to stop doing that.” With a wave of my hand, I push back and stand.

Brian sighs. “I have a feeling I’ll regret asking. Doing what?”

“A frowny upside downy?” I look to Lola for confirmation that the term works.

Her lips tick up again as she tries not to smile, but she gives me a simple nod.

Brian, on the other hand, storms out of the room, blustering and calling for my brother.

I cough out a laugh as I watch him go.

“So who was in the apartment?” Lola’s voice is quiet, making it hard to hear as I stand by the door listening to Brian rage in my brother’s office.

When I spin around to give her my full attention, I realize that I’ve made a grave mistake.

Lola is always pretty. I’ve never been able to ignore her presence, though she’s never had trouble ignoring mine. That has always rankled me, so I settled on taunting and teasing her. It makes it harder to pretend I don’t exist, and it’s easier on me, knowing her annoyance with me is warranted.

Right now she doesn’t look the least bit annoyed.

There’s a small smile on her lips and an excited glint in her pretty emerald eyes.

Like she wants to be in on whatever secret I’m about to share.

Like she’s not only tolerating me but she appreciates my presence.

It’s intoxicating. I could stare at this woman all damn day.

I’d do almost anything to get lost in those eyes.

To get lost in this feeling she’s evoking inside my chest .

“Security company.” The words escape me on their own, breaking the spell.

She blinks, as if she, too, was lost in reverie, and tilts her head in confusion.

Leaning against the door, arms crossed, I fight the urge to go to her. It’s nice sharing an office with Lola. Though I don’t know that she’d agree.

“Why?”

“Wanted cameras for the flat so after school, when Murphy and T.J. are here, they can hang out upstairs, and we won’t have to worry about whether they’re safe. Madame Esmeralda has a lot of people coming in and out all day.”

“Makes sense.”

“And if Murphy wakes up at night?—”

Lola frowns. “Wait, you had cameras installed inside the apartment?”

“Lo!” Sully shouts.

“I miss the intercom,” she grumbles, her eyes falling shut, before taking a deep breath, like she’s searching for patience. Just as her expression evens out, Sully screams again as if we didn’t all hear him and his grumpy arse the first time.

Lola presses her palms against the surface of the table and uses it to push herself out of her chair. As she straightens, a desperate, beleaguered sigh slips past her lips.

“Enough,” I bark.

Lola’s eyes go wide with surprise and jump to mine.

Shit. “Not you,” I say, backpedaling. “Never you.”

Jaw ticking, I stomp straight into my brother’s office.

Sully is alone, squinting at his computer.

Looks like Brian got all his bitching out.

I turn right back around and knock harshly on Brian’s closed door, then swing it open without waiting for him to acknowledge me.

“Partner’s meeting. Sully’s office. Now.

” My words are staccato and angry. I’m fuming.

As Brian whips his head up, I spin on my heel and head back into my brother’s office.

“Did you just bark at me?” Brian almost sounds amused as he appears in the doorway.

I point to the chair in front of Sully’s desk. “Sit.”

Brian reels back. “Excuse me.”

“Sit,” I grind out again.

“What the hell is this about?” Sully’s annoyed growl rolls up my spine. As always he acts like his time is worth more than all of ours.

Hands in my pockets, I eye them both. “You two are driving Lola insane.”

Brian points to his chest. “ We’re driving her insane?”

Sully narrows his eyes. “What’s wrong with Lo? Lo!”

I step inside and slam the door, pointing at him. “ That. Stop doing that.”

Sully looks back and forth between Brian and me, brows pinched. “Doing what? Asking her to do her job? We’ve got work to do, Cal.” He grips his armrests and tilts back in his chair. “At least some of us do.”

I ignore his jab. I get my work done. Maybe it takes me less time than theirs takes them, but that’s not my issue. I’ve never been good at sitting around, and I won’t do it just to make them feel better about themselves and their inability to work as efficiently as I do.

“We’re not going to scream at Lola. If you want something done, get off your arse and talk to her.”

Brian, the stodgy bastard, actually looks like he might smile.

Sully sighs. “I don’t have time to walk back and forth every time I need something. Lola doesn’t mind.”

“ She does mind ,” I quip. “And we can’t lose her.”

Just the thought of her going back to New York City like she’s always threatening makes it hard to breathe.

Brian relaxes in his chair. “She promised ninety days.”

Ninety? But we need her here for three hundred and sixty-five. Bloody hell, this is worse than I thought.

Grinding my teeth together, I shake my head. “Then we need to give her a reason to stay.” I pull a walkie-talkie from my pocket and toss it at my brother. “Here. ”

He catches it against his chest and holds it up. “What is this?”

“A walkie-talkie?” Brian answers, though his voice tilts like it's a question.

“Yes. Otherwise known as the Jersey office intercom system,” I explain.

Sully’s frown deepens. “What?”

“I’ll pick up two more. When you need Lola, you simply press the side, say pardon me, Lo ”—I glare at him—“and once she acknowledges that you aren’t interrupting what she’s working on, you ask her to accomplish the task.”

Both men are silent, studying me, for a long moment.

When they finally nod and agree, I turn and stalk out.

As I hit the threshold, Brian calls after me. “Oh, Cal, DCPP called. They’ll be by some time in the next forty-eight hours.”

At the mention of the Division of Child Protection and Permanency, my blood turns to ice. I swivel around. “Why?”

Brian shrugs. “Court needs to sign off on Murphy’s living situation. Ensure it’s safe. It’s standard.”

We may run one of the most preeminent family law firms in the country, yet being on the other side of this—waiting for a judge to decide that my son is safe with me—feels foreign. Wrong.

He’s my son. If Brandy had told me about him, then I wouldn’t have missed all this time with him, and there would be no need for the court to be involved at all.

No reason for them to have to decide whether I’m fit to take care of him.

I’ve done nothing—absolutely freaking nothing—to warrant the court’s concern about whether I have the right to take care of my son.

She left him. She should have to explain herself.

Dazed and nervous, I breathe through my nose and stalk out of his office. Just as I step into the hall, I barrel straight into Lola. As our bodies collide, she stumbles back, wobbling on her heels. On instinct, I grasp her arms to steady her.

“Bloody hell, are you okay?” I duck, assessing her.

She blinks up at me, completely silent.

“Do you have a concussion? Should we call a doctor? Sully!”

In an instant, my brother appears. Brian too.

Sully breaks into a smirk, brow arched as he zeroes in on the hands I still have cuffed around Lola’s arms. “Thought we didn’t yell anymore.”

“Wanker,” I mutter, eye still roving over Lola’s dazed expression. “I ran into Lola. She’s not talking. Should we call a doctor?”

“I’m fine.” She pulls out of my hold, taking her soft, warm body away. “You just surprised me is all.”

“Of course I did. I almost knocked you over.”

She shakes her head, like she disagrees, but she doesn’t speak, and that mask of indifference she wears so often slips into place.

Brian steps between us and looks her over. “You okay?”

“I’m fine,” she huffs.

Relief floods me, though it’s instantly replaced with the fear that had consumed me only moments ago. Blood pressure rising, I sidestep the group. “I’m going to check on the flat.”

“Check on the flat?” Sully asks. “Is this another euphemism for a coffee break?”

“No,” I grind out. “If DCPP is sending someone out, I want to make sure it’s perfectly clean and organized.”

I shake my head. What the hell good will that do? It’s up to them to determine whether I’m good enough to be Murphy’s dad and everyone knows I’m not.

He deserves better than me. He deserves better than this place.

My heart pounds wildly, the pain in my sternum intensifying. Fuck. Is this what a heart attack feels like? Is this how my dad felt before he died? Probably not. He was probably too focused on the young Ginger to panic like this? —

“Cal.” Lola steps up close and gently tugs at the hand I’m aggressively rubbing against my chest. “Why don’t we take a walk?”

I blink down at her, instantly captivated by her emerald eyes. She’s this steady calm in the storm. “They can’t take Murphy.”

“Cal,” Brian starts.

“They won’t.” Lola shakes her head. “Come on, let’s go for a walk. I’ll talk you through everything.”

“Can you come upstairs and look around the flat? Let me know if there’s anything else we need to have done?”

She gives me another one of her soft, easy smiles. The kind she offers to the kids she meets, when she’s trying to be the person they need in that moment. It’s the smile I’ve wanted for longer than I’ll ever admit. “Yeah, Cal, let’s go upstairs.”

On autopilot, I follow her up the steps, mesmerized by her swaying hips.

On the second floor, I point to one of the security cameras I just had installed. “See?”

She nods and licks her lips. “Very safe.”

Inside, I take in the flat through DCPP’s eyes. When I spot the wilting plants in every corner, I wince. “I can’t seem to keep them alive. I should probably remove some of them.” Head lowered, I take a step toward the closest one.

Lola grasps my arm, stopping me. “The plants are fine. They just need a little more water.” She releases me, then pads to the kitchen where she fills a glass with water.

“The man said to spritz them.” I point to my spritzer as she carefully pours water into the dirt at the base of one plant.

She lets out a light laugh. “Maybe we try really watering them, see if that makes a difference.”

“What if they take him?” The question is a choked whisper. It’s all I can manage.

She gives me that soft smile again, and I soak it in. “Would it help if I explained exactly what they’re looking for and what happens during these appointments? ”

Throat tightening with gratitude, I nod. Legally, I understand how this all works. But emotionally, I feel lost.

“This is all very standard. You’re his father but they want to make sure he’s comfortable with you and taken care of since you’ve just met. It’s similar to the reunification process but?—”

“But we were never unified to begin with.” A rush of anger works its way through me. I missed out on so much.

Lola nods. “Yes. You have nothing to worry about though. You’re doing everything you’re supposed to, dead plants aside.”

A chuckle escapes me. This woman has an uncanny ability to make even the most anxious of people feel at ease.

She returns to the kitchen for another glass of water.

“They’ll come in, chat with you, look at Murphy’s room, and do a quick check of the house, than ask about his schedule,” she says as she plucks dead leaves from another plant.

“They’ll watch you interact with Murphy for a bit, and then they’ll leave.

We’ll hear nothing for about two months and then we’ll get a letter saying the case is closed. No services recommended.”

“That’s it?”

She nods, focusing on me. “That’s it. Everything will be all hunky-dory.”

I break into a smile. “Are you doing my walkie-talkie thing?”

She shakes her head, laughing. “Probably failing, but yes. Did it work?”

“You called me a hunk?”

“No. Saying that something is hunky-dory means it’s fine.”

Tongue in my cheek, I tilt my head. “Nah, I think you just called me a hunk.”

“You’re—” She puffs out a breath and shakes her head.

“A hunk, I know. You just told me.”

With a snort she strides back for another glass of water.

“Careful, Lola, you keep smiling at me like that, I’ll think you like me. ”

She tucks her chin as she stands at the sink, trying to hide her smile. “I don’t.”

Twenty-four hours later, Lola’s prediction comes true. The meeting with DCPP is uneventful. Now we just wait for that little letter.

At least two months , Lola reminds me.

Sixty days.

And she promised Brian ninety.

I can’t let that happen. Lola can’t leave. Not when she’s finally smiling at me. So I’ll use the next sixty days to not only get to know my son, but to convince Lola to stay.