“You’re sure?”
“Positive.” He never paid off the media like this.
Wayne always fought, but right now Temperance and Timothy were more important than his ego.
“Also, the results from the DNA have come back. Would you like me to open them? Mail them to you?”
Glancing over at Temperance and Timothy, remembering last night, he was torn. He couldn’t do this. Not now.
Everything was going so well. He knew without even looking at those damn results that Timothy wasn’t his.
A couple of days had all it had taken for him to see what he could have. Temperance underneath him, Timothy as his son.
Did he want the family? Love?
“Open them up,” he said.
He heard rustling.
“Zero percent chance of fatherhood. You and Timothy share absolutely no DNA at all.”
Even though he’d expected it, something twisted inside his gut.
Timothy didn’t belong to him, and as soon as he gave that work over to child services, they’d be looking for the kid’s relatives.
He wasn’t ready to do this.
“I’m going on vacation. I’m not going to be available for a little while.”
“Wayne?”
“Frances, give it two weeks, and then send those letters to the woman who dropped him off.” Before he could change his mind, he hung up.
He’d put a time limit on this little playtime.
For two weeks he was going to have the family he dreamed of. Two weeks he imagined was all it would take to get over this feeling he was having, and then he’d want to go back to his own life. Temperance could go back to her life, and he’d have his.
That was the plan, and he intended to stick to it.
****
Timothy was playing on the beach, and Temperance sat watching him. The previous day, Wayne had surprised them both with a vacation to Italy where they could have fun and be away from it all.
She’d packed for the both of them. Lilah had called and said since the exposé, she’d been getting calls for more work. Temperance was happy for her friend, of course, but she was also a little torn.
Her life, or lack thereof, had been spread out for whoever read the magazine, her parents’ deaths glossed over as if it was just another factoid to amaze people.
Not to mention the way Wayne had behaved with his friend, and the subsequent surprise vacation.
She held her cell phone, taking pictures of Timothy as he played at building a sand castle.
“You’re deep in thought,” Wayne said, taking a seat beside her.
“Just thinking.”
“Will this get me in trouble?”
“No.”
“I thought you’d love Italy. It’s hot, it’s beautiful, and we can both relax.”
“Why are we really here, Wayne?” she asked.
“I wanted to take you away from what you think. You’re getting too caught up in being the nanny.”
She rested her head on his shoulder. “So this is about me becoming a lover? To relax and not think about the fact you’re paying me to be here?”
“I have no intention of tipping you for the sex.”
“Rude,” she said, laughing.
After their first meeting, she didn’t think she’d ever enjoy Wayne’s company. It had only been a couple of days, evenings really, and she did find his company pleasant.
“Is this what you do with all your women? Woo them on a luxury getaway, and then trade them in for the next one?”
“No. I don’t tend to last the night with them.” He cupped her cheek, tilting her head back. “You’re the first woman I’ve slept with.”
“You’re forty years old.”
“So?”
“You’re telling me that in all those years you’ve not slept beside a woman, loved her, held her, comforted her?”
“No. I haven’t. I’ve fucked them. There’s been no emotion with them.”
“So you meant what you said when love was the thing you always wanted?”
“Yes. Love is something that often seems to be freely given, and yet, it’s the hardest thing to find in this world.”
“You love your work,” she said.
“I do. My company is everything.”
She pulled away from him. “At least you have something to call your own.”
“Are we comparing our wounds? What we do and don’t have?” he asked.
“I’d lose. I’ve got a small savings account. I live within my means, and I don’t make stupid purchases. I’m always saving for that rainy day.” The truth was, she was saving for that family home that would never happen.
Now she was just depressing herself, and there was no need to.
“Let’s not talk about the past or the future. Just live in the now.”
“And what’s the now, Wayne Myers?” she asked. “What do you want me to think of all of this?”
He wrapped his arms around her waist and tugged her between his thighs. She was laughing by the time he pulled her between them.
“What I think is you should be with me, and we should enjoy being a family. At night, I want you in my bed, and Timothy will be taken care of. Show me, Temperance,” he said.