Reunited...With Child (5 page)

She crossed her arms around her waist and took a deep breath. “To be fair, back then we weren't anything but lovers. We didn't know about each other's lives or really even care. We just met up each night and had hot sex.”

He looked over at her, his large blue eyes unreadable. He seemed so distant and so cold and she really didn't know what he wanted from her. She had no idea what she should say to smooth over this moment.

“That is a fair assessment of who we were.”

“Yes, it is.”

“Why did you decide to tell me now?” he asked.

She bit her lower lip and fought to find the right thing to say. “When I saw you last night, I realized I owe you the truth.”

She was in an indefensible position. She knew what she'd done was wrong and there was no way to spin this. No way to turn it into anything other than the painful truth.

“Now I'm not sure what I believe. But I'm going to take your word that Ty is my son because I can't figure out why you'd make that up. Unless you thought you could get money from me?”

“Why would I need money from you?” she asked. Granted, she wasn't a millionaire like Cam, but she owned her own home and her business was doing very well.

“Everyone always needs more money,” he said.

“I'm seeing a side of you I don't particularly like,” she said.

“I could say the same. What kind of woman waits until her son is almost two years old to tell the father about him?” he asked.

“I just explained that to you,” she said.

“I'm not buying it, Becca,” he said. “I'm not buying into any of your act anymore.”

“Stop talking to me like that,” she said. “You are angry and you have a right to be, but you are just saying mean things right now.”

“You're damned right I am. And I have a lot more that I'm trying to hold back. Nothing about this morning has done anything but make me doubt every word you've ever said.”

“That's fine with me, Cam. Why don't you leave and we'll never have to see each other again?” she said. She marched over to the door and opened it.

But Cam shook his head. “I'm not leaving yet.”

“Oh, I think you are,” she said. “I don't care if we ever see you again.”

“Sit down, Becca. We're about to come to an understanding and I'm not leaving here without my son.”

 

Cam had never expected to hear anything like the news Becca had just delivered. He let anger roil through him because if he had a chance to think, he was going to be hurt and upset. Two emotions he wasn't about to let her know she'd caused.

“The first thing we will do tomorrow is to find a doctor who can do a paternity test.”

“Why? I just told you that Ty was your son.”

“I want an official document saying he is and then we will modify the birth certificate so that my name is on there,” he said. Now that he was pushing aside the anger, there were a lot of housekeeping items that had to be tended to if they were going to sort out an arrangement for Ty that would ensure his welfare.

“Okay, I can see why you'd want that,” she said.

“Good,” he said, but he didn't care if she agreed or not. He had rights, and since she'd hidden his son from him since his birth, Cam intended to make up for lost time.

“Next up we will see my attorney and he will draw up papers for us to have joint custody. There will also be an agreement that states that none of my holdings or fortune will fall to you.”

“Fine,” she said. “This isn't about me, Cam.”

He nodded. “That just leaves the matter of Ty moving down to Miami. I can't live in New York and I want my son with me.”

“Wait a minute. I'm not ready to move,” she said.

“Too bad. You and Ty are going to move down this week and you will live with me at my house. He needs his mother nearby to make this adjustment easier.”

“What will I do there? My business is here.”

“You will design the Mercado interiors for me.”

“Are we going to get married?”

“Hell, no. I'm not about to repeat my father's mistake and marry a woman who puts her own needs first.”

“That's not fair. I put Ty's needs first,” she said.

“I will give you that,” he said. “I have to make a few calls. Pack whatever you need for the next few days and we will leave on my private jet to Miami.”

“I can't move that quickly.”

“You don't have a choice,” he said. “Either you do this or I take Ty and you never see him again.”

She was shaking, and tears glittered in her eyes, but she still wore that determined, stubborn look. He knew that he was making her mad, but he didn't give a damn. He'd never felt as betrayed as he did at this moment.

“I will do the paternity test and I will agree to joint custody, but Ty will continue to live with me in New York. You can see him on the weekends if you'd like. But you aren't taking over his life or dictating to me about mine. If you'd been a different kind of man over two years ago, you wouldn't be so shocked now that you have a son.”

“I'm not arguing with you about any of this. I know what I want and I will get it. You are welcome to hire an attorney and have him deal with mine. But my son is coming with me now.”

“Fine, I will do that. I think it's time you left,” she said.

“I'm not leaving without you and Ty. I can't trust you not to sneak off,” he said.

“Of course you can. I wouldn't have told you about your son if I didn't mean for you to have a chance to get to know him.”

“As noble as that intention is, Becca, it is too little, too late.”

She just shook her head. “That's fine. I don't want to move, Cam.”

“Too late,” he said. “My life is in Miami and Ty's will be, too.”

“I'm not giving up my son.”

“Then go get packing. My secretary will arrange for movers to come and get your stuff.”

“I will need to be here.”

“That's your choice but you must know Ty will be staying with me.”

“Dammit, Cam.”

“Yes, dammit, Becca. How could you not tell me we had a son?”

“You told me I was mistress material and nothing else,” she said. “Do you remember that?”

He did, but that didn't change the fact that she'd hidden Ty from him.

“I am not leaving until the movers have been called and I have a chance to talk to them. I will go to Miami with you but I'm not going to allow you to put me and Ty second in your life. If you want to be a father to him, then he deserves the best.”

“What do you mean?”

“You can't be a workaholic and a good father. I understand you want to punish me but I won't let you punish your son.”

Her words made him realize she was different than his mother had been when it came to her son. “I will be happy to put Ty first. Go pack up what you need. I will call a mover and get someone out here.”

He stopped as it finally hit him. “Oh, my God, I have a son.”

“Yes, you do,” Becca said.

He ignored her and went over to Ty, who was playing happily with his toys. He stared at the boy, and Ty smiled up at him. Then Cam reached down and rubbed his finger over that soft cheek of his.

“My son,” he said softly.

He stood there looking at the boy, and the anger that had been riding him since Becca made her announcement started to ease. He could never be mad at Ty or do anything that would jeopardize his son's happiness.

He looked over at Becca. “Why did you name him Ty?”

“It was my mother's father's name. I never knew him, so it seems silly to say he was my grandfather. His name is actually Tyler Cameron Tuntenstall.”

“You gave him my name?” Cam asked.

“Yes. I…I knew someday he'd ask about you and I wanted him to have a connection. I know you think this is all some kind of conspiracy against you, but I made the only choice I could for my son. It was hard for me
because I didn't want to follow in my mother's footsteps. I had promised myself that my children would have both a mother and a father.”

Later maybe he'd be able to appreciate those words, but right now he couldn't. “I didn't think it was a conspiracy. I'm beginning to think it was pure selfishness on your part.”

Cam turned and walked out the door without looking back. He knew she wasn't going anywhere in the time it would take him to line up a mover. Right now he needed some space. She'd knocked him for a loop, and he had no idea how he was going to recover. He only knew that his heart hurt.

 

Less than eight hours later Becca was seated on Cam's private jet and waiting for takeoff. Ty was seated next to her, his favorite stuffed animal—a yellow dog—and his blanket tucked close to him. He hadn't seemed too traumatized by today's events, and she had the feeling that he'd settle in to living in Miami more easily than she would.

Cam had arranged for a mover to get the stuff necessary for her and Ty to live in Miami. The rest of her belongings would be staying in the house. She had no idea what kind of strings he'd pulled, but the men had actually been at her house today and she'd told them what had to be boxed and moved. Her nanny, Jasper, would oversee the movers from here and in less than a week her belongings would be in Cam's house in Miami.

He sat across the aisle and hadn't said more than
two words to her since they'd gotten on the plane. The gentle lover of last night was clearly gone, and she had no idea how to reach him again. But she did know if she was going to move to Miami with her son, she wanted at least a shot at some kind of real relationship with Cam.

She wanted that picture-perfect family she'd always fantasized about. She knew she should try to break the ice but talking to him about Ty wasn't the way. Cam had demonstrated he was too volatile where their son was concerned.

Once they were in the air and could get up and move around, she took off Ty's seatbelt, but he was sleepy and nodding off in his car seat.

“There's a bed in the back,” Cam said. “I can lay him down.”

“Um…let me see the bed. We'll probably have to pile up some pillows around him. I don't want him to fall off.”

Cam nodded. She reached over to unlatch the car seat and Cam was waiting right there. “I want to carry him.”

“Of course,” she said. Cam had been like this all day. He was genuinely trying to get to know his son, and she had been very careful to let him.

Cam lifted him, and his blanket fell to the ground. Becca picked it up and then followed them to the bed at the back of the jet. It was luxuriously appointed and very comfortable-looking. He laid Ty in the center of the bed, and they worked to put some pillows around him so he wouldn't roll off the bed.

“I am amazed that I have a son,” Cam said.

“I am, too. He's such a precious little gift. I…my life changed the moment he came into it.”

“I bet it did,” Cam said.

He moved to leave the bed area, and she followed him. The jet pitched as they hit a pocket of turbulence, and Becca fell forward into Cam. He wrapped one arm around her as he fought to find his balance and keep them both on their feet. When the plane steadied, she looked up at him and he was staring down at her. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” he said, but he didn't let her go. “I can't believe we are in this situation, Becca.”

“What situation?” she asked. “Being parents?”

He shrugged. “That, but also moving in together. I still want you.”

“I think we need to figure out how to be parents before we do anything else,” she said.

“I would agree except for a pressing problem,” he said.

“And that is?”

“I can't look at you without wanting to kiss you and make love to you. I want to strip you naked and take out all my frustrations over your actions on your lovely body.”

“Sexual revenge?” she asked. His words thrilled her, sent molten heat pooling between her legs and made her nipples hard. She'd be lying if she said she didn't want Cam. That he wasn't the only man she thought of night and day.

“Yes,” he said.

She shook her head. “Would you forgive me if I gave in?”

“I don't know. I think so.”

She didn't know if she could do what he was asking. Being in his arms was one thing; knowing he wanted her just as some sort of way of getting back at her…well that wasn't exactly what she was into.

“Think about this,” he said, lowering his head. His mouth took hers slowly and gently. She felt the warmth of his breath over her lips and then the first foray of his tongue rubbing over hers. His hand tightened on her waist and the other one went up to the back of her neck.

His fingers tunneled through her hair, and he held her head firmly in his grip as they continued to kiss. She wanted to think that this wasn't making her agree with his idea, but it was. It reminded her of how long it had been since she'd had a lover. And she wanted him; she wanted release.

She put her hands on his shoulders and slid them down his arms. He was strong and muscled, and she liked the way he felt under her touch. She continued touching him, finding his belt with her fingers and caressing her way along the edge of his waist to the center of his pants and the belt buckle. She tiptoed her fingers lower until she felt the hard ridge of his erection. She rubbed him through his pants, up and down until his hips canted toward hers.

He lifted his head and stared down at her. His eyes narrowed, and the flush of desire burnished his cheeks.

“Let me know what you decide,” he said and walked back to his seat.

Becca stood there aching, wanting, and realized that Cam was still angry at her. She slowly walked to her seat and sat down, taking a magazine out of her bag. She flipped through it but didn't see the pictures or articles on the pages. She only saw herself and Cam, and she knew that if they were going to have a chance at a future together, one of them was going to have to bend. Was it going to be her? She wanted so badly for Ty to have everything she never had, and that included the family of her dreams. One with Cam.