Propositions (6 page)

Troy moved around, looking uncomfortable in his chair. “Did … did she know? About Conner?”

Jessica shook her head and explained the whole fiasco of her parents moving her to Melbourne and how hard it had been trying to track him down.

Marie interrupted their conversation when she brought out plates of steaming hot food. She gave them both warm smiles and left quickly back for the kitchen.

“Conner. Please tell me about him?” Troy pleaded.

Jessica took a mouthful of scrambled eggs, not really knowing where to begin. “He was born on July twenty-fifth and turns twenty next month. He likes his sport. He was good at school and loves the outdoors.” It dawned on Jessica just how similar Conner was to Troy in his younger days. “He’s now studying architecture at university and lives with a friend near campus.”

Jessica took a moment to butter her toast. What else should she tell Troy? Should she talk about the good times—Conner’s first steps, school days, holidays or birthdays? What about the bad times—not knowing where Troy was, the tantrums Conner could throw when he was young, or how he hated to eat pumpkin? She took a bite of her toast as she sifted through the thousands of stories rattling around inside her head.

“Conner was a good kid,” she said when she’d finished her mouthful. “And I think he’s grown up to be a decent young man. Graeme, my ex, was a great father and still is. Troy, you have to understand, I thought you left me and wanted nothing to do with Conner. He’s never wanted to know you, or find you, for that matter.”

“I realize I can’t turn back the clock, but I never would have left you and our son if I’d known. Things would’ve been so different.”

“Yeah, well they aren’t.” The memory of the two of them doing it in the park the night before he left flashed through Jessica’s mind. All so long ago. “You broke my heart. I never thought it would heal. But it did with time.”

“I’m sorry. Believe me. I’ll never be able to forgive myself for not contacting you. I feel worse than shit, Jess.”

“You look it, too.”

“Thanks for that.” He smirked. “Do you have a photo of him? Of Conner?”

Jessica pulled out her phone from her jacket pocket and scrolled through her photos. “Here. This is Conner at Easter time with his girlfriend, Becky.”

Troy held the phone in his hands and a tear escaped from his eye. He quickly wiped it away.

“He has your eyes, Troy,” she said. “Every day of my life I thought of you and couldn’t understand how you could not want to be part of his life. He’s such a wonderful kid.”

Troy straightened his shoulders and looked directly into her eyes. “When can I meet him?”

“I don’t know. I’ll have to talk to him—”

“I’d appreciate that. God, Jess! I want to meet my son.”

On the long drive back to the city, Jessica’s fingers tapped nervously on the steering wheel while she processed her thoughts. How the hell was she supposed to tell Conner? How did one approach such a conversation?

Hey Conner, your dad’s turned up out of the blue.

Conner, your biological father wants to meet you.

Hey—you wouldn’t believe it, but guess who I ran into today?

All of them sounded crazy. The very essence of it all still shocked her to the bone.

Jessica couldn’t delay the inevitable any longer. Her fingers shook as she found Conner’s number on her phone and hit dial on the Bluetooth connection.

“S’up,” Conner said as he answered the phone.

“Hey.” Jessica felt a cold sweat break out on her brow. “How’s my boy doing?”

“Studying hard. Two more exams to go until the midyear break,” Conner mumbled.

Jessica could hear a crunching noise through the line, like he was munching on potato chips. Music was playing in the background and several loud voices were shrieking with excitement. It didn’t sound like much studying was getting done. She smiled to herself, secretly glad her son was having fun with friends. She had missed out on all the young adult years of going out, drinking and attending football games. Rather than going to friends’ parties, she’d fed her baby his bottles and changed his diapers.

“I need to talk to you about something important that’s come up,” she said. “It’s urgent. Can I swing on by your apartment?” She struggled to keep her voice steady.

“Um, now?” Conner hesitated. “Can I meet you somewhere instead? How about at Pepe’s Pizza on the corner for dinner? It’s just that … the apartment’s a mess.”

“Studying, right?” Jessica knew perfectly well that his mates were over drinking and watching football. “No worries, I’ll meet you there in an hour.”

* * *

Pepe’s Pizza was warm and inviting on a cold Sunday evening. Half of the restaurant was full of families having early dinners with their young children. Italian opera music hummed from the sound system a little too loudly for Jessica’s liking. She realized she was famished as the aromas of garlic, parmesan and pepperoni wafted from the wood-fire ovens. She took a seat near the window at a table covered in a red-and-white checked tablecloth. She’d started to check her emails and messages on her phone when she looked up and saw Conner bounding through the door.

Jessica couldn’t help but admire how handsome her son was. She even noticed a group of teenage girls at a table gawk and giggle at seeing him. His bronzed skin set off his amazing blue eyes—just like his father’s. He dressed well, compared with many of his friends, looking quite the catch in designer jeans and woolen sweater. After spending time with Troy this weekend, she was astounded by how much Conner resembled his father.

“Hey, Mom.” He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek before flopping into the chair across from her. “S’up?”

Jessica swallowed hard. Her mouth felt dry. “Let’s order first, hey?”

They ordered pizza and a couple of beers. Conner rambled on with news about university, sport and outings with Becky and his friends. Jessica listened as best as she could but her mind was on other matters.

“So, what’s so urgent that you had to see me?” he asked.

She flipped her phone round and round in her hand as she pondered how best to approach the daunting subject. But there was no point in dancing around it any more. “I have some news about your father.”

“Why? What’s happened? Is everything all right?” Conner looked at her with concern.

“Not Graeme. Your biological father, Troy. I know where he is.” She held her breath.

Silence dropped like a weighted lead balloon between them. For ages he sat there staring vacantly at a spot on the table, his only movement was the furrowing of his eyebrows and the odd twitch of a muscle in his jaw. Jessica’s heart thundered in her chest as she let him absorb her words. All she wanted to do was reach out and hold him and tell him that everything was going to be okay.

Conner grabbed a table napkin and twisted it into tight knots. “I don’t want to know anything about him. He left.”

“Conner, please?”

He slumped back on his chair and blew a puff of air at the blond hair that had fallen across his eyes. She could see so many emotions playing across his face. Rage, anger, hurt, shock—all of the same things she had experienced.

“You’re not going to believe this, but he’s only recently got back from America and started working at Gumtrees. I’ve just come from there after we talked.” She braced herself for the next reveal. “Conner, he didn’t know about you. He never knew you existed—even after all the efforts I made.”

Shock flashed across his eyes, filling her heart with sorrow.

“I don’t care. I already have a father,” Conner snapped, and his eyebrows furrowed more deeply. She could see the pain in her son’s eyes.

“I know it’s a lot to take on board. I’m still trying to comprehend it as well.”

He shrugged. “I don’t care where he’s been or what he’s been doing. It doesn’t change anything. I don’t need him. Graeme’s my dad. I don’t want to have anything to do with Troy.”

Deep down Jessica knew curiosity about his biological father would get to him eventually. He just needed time to absorb it all. “I know. Please take some time to think about it because Troy really wants to meet you.”

Conner’s back straightened as he sucked in a sharp breath. “What? I don’t want to meet him.”

“Please. Just have one meeting with him. Then you can decide whether or not you want to continue to get to know him,” she went on. “He doesn’t have any other kids, and I don’t think I’ll be able to keep him away from you for very long now that he knows.”

Jessica heard Conner mumble some profanities as she took a sip of her beer.

“I’m not making any promises.” He crossed his arms in front of his chest.

The waiter appeared with their meal and placed the pizza and garlic bread on the table. Jessica sighed, but was thankful for the interruption. Conner grabbed a huge slice of scalding hot pizza, stringing melted mozzarella cheese across the table as he dropped it on his plate. “Enough about Daddy dearest. What’s been happening at work? How’s the hotel stuff going?”

Jessica relaxed a little, feeling the tension dissipate from her shoulders. “It’s keeping me on my toes.”

Conner licked his fingers and took a swig of his beer. “What’s Nate Somers like? Like … I mean … he’s mega rich?”

Jessica gulped. “I suppose he is. To me, he’s just another client and business as usual. I mean he’s nice enough.” She felt color rise in her cheeks as images of his nice, firm, naked body flashed through her mind. “He’s got a lovely accent, he’s tall, handsome—”

Conner coughed. “Alright. I’ve heard enough. Sorry I asked.” Then he shoved another slice of pizza in his mouth. “You’re all red, Mom. Do you have a thing for Nate Somers?”

Jessica moved uncomfortably on her chair, caught off guard by her son’s observations. “No. Not at all, why?”

“I don’t care.” He shrugged again. “It’s just that I know you haven’t been with anyone really since Dad, er, Graeme. Maybe you should start dating?”

Her heart melted. He was such a sweet young man to care or even notice. Oh! But there was definitely no need for him to know what was really going on with her and Nate.
At all!
Conner was entering dangerous territory and she’d had enough of emotionally charged conversations for one day.

“One day maybe, when I have time. You know me—it’s all business, no pleasure.”

“Yeah, right, Mom. Whatever.”

* * *

Sunday evening in Melbourne was cold and drizzling with rain when Nate and Brooke arrived late after their delayed flight. They checked in at the Crown Hotel, and Nate immediately retired to his room. He had worked sixteen-hour days for the past week. Nothing unusual. He couldn’t wait to have a hot shower to soothe his tired muscles and he looked forward to his first early night’s sleep in ages.

After soaking under the steaming showerhead, he hopped out and toweled himself dry. As he walked out of the bathroom, the king-sized bed loomed in front of him, and thoughts of Jessica filled his mind. He was disappointed that he’d been unable to catch up with her before he had to fly to Melbourne. Work got in the way as always, as he had to oversee the installation of the communications system and staff training exercises. As he ran his fingers through his wet hair, he glanced at the bedside digital clock. 10:10. It wasn’t too late to call her now.

He reached for his cell phone off the nightstand, hit her number and paced the floor while he waited for her to answer.

“Hello.” The sound of her soft voice made his groin twitch against the fluffy white towel.

“It’s Nate.”

“Yes, I have Caller ID. Are you in Melbourne? Is everything okay?”

“Yes, everything’s fine. Brooke keeps me in line.” 

“You and Brooke, hey?” she asked. He detected a serious note to her question.

“Oh, don’t even go there. Definitely not.” Brooke was certainly not his type. “How was your weekend? Did you have your meeting?”

He heard Jessica sigh heavily. The sound of her breath sent shivers down the side of his neck.

“Draining, to say the least. It was a very different outcome than what I expected. But everything will be fine.”

“Good to hear.” He paused. She sounded tired and suddenly he felt bad for calling so late. “I’m sorry we didn’t get to catch up before I left.”

“No harm done.”

“Well, I aim to make it up to you.” He was suddenly feeling bold and playful. “Are you in bed?”

“Yes. I try to get to bed before midnight at least once a week.”

“What are you wearing?”

“What?” She gasped. “Is that the tackiest line ever in an attempt to seduce me over the phone?”

Nate smiled. That was exactly what he had in mind.

“I’ve just had a shower. I’m still wet. I’m wearing nothing but a towel. Just hearing your voice and picturing you naked has given me a hard-on. You have my undivided attention. So let’s have a little bit of fun. So, once again what are you wearing?” Nate had never done anything like this before … over the phone. But with Jessica, he was in unchartered territory anyway.

“Pale blue flannelette PJs,” she replied.

Nate closed his eyes. Jessica could be wearing a hessian sack and she’d still look amazing. The thought of unbuttoning her top made his dick grow even harder.

“Unbutton your shirt.” He lowered his voice in an attempt to be flirtatious. “I want you to imagine I’m undoing one button at a time …”

“Nate? What are you doing?” Jessica giggled.

“Shh. I want you. Now.”

“But we’re five hundred miles apart!”

“Close your eyes. Visualize.” Nate walked over and knelt on his bed and let the towel fall away. “I’m kneeling on my bed. My cock is in my hand and I’m rubbing it up and down.”

Nate heard Jessica’s heavy breath come down the line. It sent tingles all over his body. The vision he had of her touching herself was so hot. Her full breasts arching toward him, her smooth stomach, her legs spread wide open for him.
Holy crap!
He was turned on. The phone sex was definitely working for him. “Jess, you’re driving me crazy. I want to bury myself inside you again. I want to fuck you till we both can’t walk.”

“Nate? Seriously stop.” Jessica laughed loudly. “You’re crazy. I’m not having phone sex with you.”

“Come on, baby.” His breath was heavy. “Tell me … where do you want me to kiss you? Where can I touch you? What does it feel like?”

“Nate. Enough.”

All he could hear was her laughter while he knelt there alone with his dick in his hand. It took a moment for him to regain his composure. He was really starting to get into it.

“Spoilsport,” he grumbled. Okay, phone sex might not be her thing. It had been worth a shot.

“Nate, it’s late,” said Jessica. “I’m tired. And you have an early start in the morning.”

“Yeah, I know. You’ve certainly set up a full week for me. I’m back late on Friday night, but no doubt I’ll talk to you before then.”

“I look forward to it. Goodnight, Nate.”

“Night, Jess.” He clicked off the phone and threw it down on the bed. He looked down at his hard cock and sighed as images of Jessica still swarmed in his mind. Phone sex might not have worked on Jessica, but it did on him.
I need another shower. A cold one this time.
Nate stood up off the bed and headed to the bathroom once more.