Sometimes, Stephen wondered if he should have lied to Nicholas by telling him that his other father was dead. But like everything else, nothing stayed hidden forever, sooner or later his secrets would come to light. Having Nicholas hate him later in life would break his heart.
“You have to tell him, tell them both, Stephen.” Julian tsked. “Sometimes I regret your job, it’s taught you how to lie to everyone, even to yourself, all too well. I want you happy, my little Stephen. After all you have been through, I want to see you smile; a real smile at that. I miss your laughter and seeing your beautiful eyes sparkle with happiness.” He got up and kissed Stephen on the crown of his head, cupping his cheeks lifting his head, so they were looking at each other. “I have supported you in every decision you’ve made. Even when we argue and fight about it. And I will stand beside you, now. Just remember to guard your heart from here on out.” He kissed him one more time and went to bed, leaving him to his thoughts.
Too late, Dad. I can’t guard my heart against the man I love. And only time will tell if I made the right decision.
** ** ** ** **
Brenden groaned as he fell on his back, he ran his fingers through his sweat-soaked hair. Opening his eyes, he reached over taking some of the tissue sitting on the bedside table and cleaned himself off, also removing the condom and throwing it into the wastebasket beside the bed. He closed his eyes again and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly just as Paige rested her head on his chest. He flinched and hoped that she didn’t realize, to cover his blunder he wrapped an arm around her pulling her practically on top of him.
“That was unexpected,” she told him.
“Are you complaining?” he asked.
“Hell no,” she answered and kissed him on his chest. “I’m glad you suggested we stay in and not go out.” She raised her head and looked at him.
This was a mistake. He was so pent up with anger that instead of going home to shower, he headed straight to Paige’s. The second she opened the door, he pulled her into his arms and told her to order in before bending down to kiss her. She pulled out of his arms and got off the bed. “Where are you going?” he asked her.
“To get something to eat,” she answered, picking up his shirt off the floor and putting it on.
She was beautiful, with thick red hair and blue eyes. And even after sleeping with her, Brenden still felt as if something was missing. He got out of bed and picked up his pants, putting them on and zipping them up. She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“You didn’t have to get out of bed, I could have brought it up and fed it to you,” she said seductively.
He wrapped his arms around her waist, slowly sliding his hands down, cupping her ass. “You are too good to me,” he told her.
“I’m just trying to show you how good I can be,” she told him as she reached up and kissed him gently.
“Good at what?” he asked her when they pulled back from their kiss.
“How good I can be as your wife,” she told him with a smile, then released him before walking out of the room not giving him a chance to respond.
Fuck, this is not good.Brenden knew he had feelings for Paige, but he was not ready to get married again. She was moving too fast. They’d only been dating for a few weeks. He needed to leave, if he stayed any longer he would end up making more mistakes and end up leading her on. Brenden got dressed, putting on his jacket before zipping it up. He went downstairs and looked around for Paige, finding her in the kitchen. She was standing at the counter with her back to him.
“Hey,” he said getting her attention. She turned and smiled, but it quickly disappeared when she saw he was fully dressed.
“Are you leaving?”
“Yeah, I should get up early in the morning,” he told her.
“Why? I thought everything was going great?”
“It is,” Brenden lied. “I need to get up early for work.” She stared at him, then nodded. He could tell that she was disappointed. “I’ll call you,” he told her. He bent down and kissed her on her cheek. He was walking to the door when she said something that made him stop.
“Why do I get the feeling I’m being dumped?”
“I don’t know how to answer that.” He turned around to look at her. She had her arms crossed under her voluptuous breasts.
“Just come out with it, Brenden,” she told him.
Brenden said nothing, there was nothing he could say.
“It was the wife thing, right?”
That time Brenden didn’t lie to her. “Yeah, I’m… I have a lot of personal stuff going on right now, and I’m not sure I’m ready for that kind of commitment.”
“Will you ever be?” she asked him. Her bottom lip trembled.
“I don’t know,” he whispered.
