“Where?”
“Here. At the restaurant.”
She furrows her brow. “I thought you were having dinner with Joshua and his dad.”
“I did.” I give her a knowing look.
“And he was there, too?”
I laugh under my breath. “You could say that.”
She tilts her head, confusion knitting her brow. “What do you mean?”
I inhale deeply, running my hands down my blouse, steeling myself for what I’m about to admit.
“My one-night standisJoshua’s father.”
My confession hangs in the air between us as the room falls eerily silent. No polite conversations wafting into my office from the lobby. No music playing in the background. No phone ringing.
It’s just me and the truth I’m still struggling to come to terms with.
“You’re kidding,” Genevieve says, her eyes wide in shock.
“I wish I were.”
“So last night, when you showed up at the restaurant to have dinner with Joshua and the dad he just found out about…”
“Yup,” I say, nodding miserably. “That was him. Declan. My one-night stand.”
She stares, stunned into silence for a full ten seconds, her mouth agape. Then she slumps back into her chair. “Holy shit, Claire. That’s…that’s some plot twist.”
“It wasn’t just a plot twist. It was a plot catastrophe. The whole situation was just…” I shake my head, looking for the right word. But there’s only one. “It was awful, Gen. Truly awful.”
She reaches across the desk and covers my hand with hers, squeezing. “I’m sorry. I can’t even imagine what a shock that must have been. Did you two get a chance to talk about it? Clear the air?”
“We did.”
“And?”
“We agreed Joshua can’t know. Declan just found out he has a son. He wants to be in his life. I refuse to interfere with that.”
“For what it’s worth, he sounds like a good person,” Genevieve offers in consolation. “Like he’s taking his new role as a father seriously.”
I’m not sure it helps. Because the fact he’s a good person makes the truth sting even more.
While I didn’t learn much about him during our one night together, apart from the fact that he turned me into a quivering bundle of nerves with one touch, he shared quite a bit about himself last night. And everything I learned solidified what I sensed before inviting him into my hotel room. That he’s a decent person.
He served ten years in the navy. Then put himself through college and law school. After graduating, he was recruited by one of the most prestigious civil rights firms in the country. Now he spends his days fighting for the rights of those unable to do so themselves. He’s spearheaded some of the top cases in recent history, sometimes taking it all the way up to the SupremeCourt. He spoke about his work like it’s sacred. Like every client matters. I could have listened to him talk for hours just to be around that passion again.
“So what are you going to do?” Genevieve’s voice cuts through, and I snap my gaze back to her.
“Nothing.” I shrug. “Joshua has looked for answers about his dad for years. He has those now. And has a dad who wants a relationship.” I force a smile. “After everything he’s been through over the past several years with his mom, he deserves to have something good in his life. I won’t come between that.”
“And you think you can be around his father and pretend you never slept together? That it never happened?” I can hear the skepticism in her voice.
“It was one night. It didn’t mean anything,” I insist, although the words taste sour on my tongue.
My one night with Declan meant more than any other night I’ve spent with another man in recent history.
