The Buchanan's Baby (Billionaire Romance) (Bought By The Billionaire Brothers) (4 page)

BOOK: The Buchanan's Baby (Billionaire Romance) (Bought By The Billionaire Brothers)
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“I’ll take it,” the attorney answered, shaking her head, plainly believing Shannon was a foolish girl. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you when you’re sitting in court crying because you spent so much money for so little outcome.”

“Duly noted,” Shannon said, standing to leave. “I expect you to do your best to win, though.”

“I’ll do what I can. In the meantime, don’t pick fights with the father. Make nice, if you can. It’ll make things more smooth down the road.”

Shannon accepted the attorney’s advice with a barely noticeable nod and then left, anxious to get back to Aubrey.

Make nice with Nolan? What did that mean? Take him to dinner, chat casually about the weather? Try to forget that every sexual fantasy she’d entertained since that night featured him? Her cheeks burned at that private admission. That was before he was a reality, she reminded herself. It was fun to fantasize about being with Nolan again when there was absolutely no chance of it happening ever again. And now that he was trying to take her child from her? Hell no. She wouldn’t touch him — for real or in her mind — for all the money in the world.

As far as she was concerned, Nolan Buchanan was Public Enemy No. 1.

Nolan didn’t have a single memory of his father that wasn’t clouded over with a veneer of disdain. When he was younger he’d often wished their childhood was more like the other kids his age rather than the cold, over-privileged existence of his youth. He’d yearned for a father who played ball with him or taught him something of value rather than the workaholic who rarely noticed his children at all unless they were underfoot. The Buchanan children had been raised by a succession of nannies — most of which their father had slept with at some point or another — and later, when they were too old for nannies, they’d all been shipped off to private boarding schools. Sure, they’d received the best education money could buy but somewhere along the way, they’d missed out on some very important lessons. He knew his sexual appetites were excessive but until now that hadn’t mattered. He loved women — all shapes and sizes — and his pursuit of women had been one of his most pleasurable activities but he had to admit, after seeing how happy Penny and Dillon were, he had to wonder if he was defective because the idea of settling down made him a little queasy.

How was he supposed to raise a daughter? He knew how to woo a woman, to bend her to his will so he could do all manner of filthy things to her, but he didn’t know the first thing about being a good father to a little girl. For the first time since he was a young boy, he was uncertain as to how to proceed. The coward in him wished he could do as Vince suggested and simply walk away, dusting his hands free of the whole mess. But that wasn’t possible. Just the idea of never knowing how his little girl was faring or who was raising her made him want to howl with something he couldn’t define.
What the hell was happening to him? Was he losing his damn mind?

Maybe he was overthinking the situation. He was dealing with a woman, first and foremost. He knew women. If he could get Shannon on his side, the rest would fall into place.
Maybe he could be a good part-time father and his life wouldn’t have to change all that much. Nolan began to warm to his current track of thought. Yeah, he could be a weekend father and be on his best behavior for that time and still be an amazing father to his little girl. Of course, she’d want for nothing. He’d make sure of that. The best of everything for his girl. Top shelf, all the way. Relief at having puzzled through his dilemma made him laugh as his shoulders let go of their tension. He rotated his arm and grimaced. He needed a massage immediately. But first, he picked up the phone and dialed the first florist he found.

“I’d like to order a dozen of your most exotic, expensive roses,” he said to the florist.

“Certainly,” the florist responded with a note of excitement. “And where should we send these beautiful flowers?”

“Have them delivered to the San Jose Juggernaut hockey team, care of the sport trainer, Shannon.”

“Last name, sir?”

He paused, frowning. He didn’t have her last name. He pulled his phone and quickly did an Internet search for the sport trainer information for the San Jose Juggernaut and smiled in triumph. “Garrity. Shannon Garrity,” he answered.

“Excellent choice. A note perhaps to accompany the gift?”

“Write, ‘To New Beginnings’,” he said, liking the sound of that.

“And who shall I say the flowers are from?”

“She’ll know.”

“Very good.”

Nolan gave the florist his credit card number and hung up feeling smug. He’d been going about this all wrong. He should’ve used his tried-and-true methods of softening a woman to his will. Sweet charm had never failed him before; he had no reason to believe it would fail him now.
For the first time since he’d received that anonymous note, he felt as if he could breathe. He chuckled at how twisted up in knots he’d been when the solution had been staring him in the face from the start. Glad to have a clear plan that made sense, he turned his mind to other pressing matters. After a few business calls regarding Buchanan Enterprises, and a quick update to Vince, he realized he had the day to himself and ringed the hotel for a massage therapist.

P
erhaps if he were lucky, he could persuade the massage therapist to throw in a happy ending as well. On the heels of that pleasurable thought, he hummed a merry tune as he walked into the shower.

 

CeCe entered Shannon’s office carrying the biggest, most amazing bouquet of exotic roses Shannon had ever seen and she wondered which player CeCe had received them from but when CeCe put the flowers on Shannon’s desk with a delighted smile, Shannon eyed the roses warily. “What’s this?” she asked.

“What do they look like, silly? They’re the most beautiful roses I’ve ever seen.
“Someone likes you,” CeCe said, giggling. “Who are you dating and does he have a brother?”

“I’m not dating anyone,” she answered, frowning as she plucked the card and read the message. “To New Beginnings.” She dropped the card as if it were poison. “
Ugh. They’re from
him
.”

“Him who?”

She graced CeCe with an impatient look. “Nolan Buchanan.”

“Ohh, your baby daddy.”

“God, don’t say it like that,” Shannon groaned, eyeing the flowers with open distaste. She’d never been a rose type of girl, preferring tulips. “You can have them. I don’t want them.”

“Are you kidding me? What’s wrong with you?” CeCe asked. “They’re gorgeous.”

“They’re…inappropriate. I shouldn’t be accepting gifts from Nolan when I’m about to take him to court.”

“Yeah, but maybe he’s just trying to make amends for the way he came off yesterday.
Maybe you ought to cut the guy some slack.”

Shannon narrowed her gaze at CeCe. “Maybe you should mind your own business.” Realizing the snap in her tone, Shannon immediately apologized, saying, “That was uncalled for. I know you don’t understand why but Nolan isn’t the kind of man I want to encourage, even with the slightest, seemingly harmless gesture.”

“It’s okay. I get it.” CeCe shrugged and picked up the flowers, admiring their beauty. “They’ll look just as nice on my desk as they would on yours. Besides, it always looks good for an available woman to have flowers on her desk.”

“And why is that?”

CeCe smiled as if she thought Shannon were helplessly clueless (which maybe she was, who knows) and answered, “Because everyone knows if a man thinks a woman is unavailable, it simply makes him want her more. Nothing is more pathetic than a sad, lonely woman hoping for a date. If you act as if you have more dates than you know how to juggle, your value goes up.”

Shannon stared at her intern, appalled. “Why would you want a man who would even think of dating someone who is already taken?” Case in point, Nolan’s comment to her the second they’d met and decided to leave the club together. He hadn’t cared if she were attached as long as he got what he wanted. At the time, she hadn’t cared and to be honest, his bold approach had been sexy but now? Reprehensible.

“Life is for the living, Shannon,” CeCe said walking away with the flowers. “Try it sometime.”

Shannon glowered at CeCe’s retreating b
ackside and muttered to herself, “That girl is going to end up with an STD before she’s twenty-five” and then returned to her work, going over the assessments for the coach. She loved her job but someday she hoped to land a position within the NHL. She was willing to travel to Calgary, too, if it meant getting a position with a major hockey network. The minors were good for building a name but the real money was in the professional league. She sighed, someday it’ll happen. She was good at her job and she knew her stuff. Just stay focused, she told herself.

Someday, all of this trouble would fade into memory because her life would be amazing.

Until then, she had to slog through the manure and push past the ass in her way.

-4-

 

Nolan
double-checked the address he’d managed to find for Shannon Garrity and adjusted his sleeve cuffs before the door opened. The apartment complex was clean and in a decent neighborhood but, she’d likely jump at the chance to have a home of her own, which he’d gladly provide — provided she move closer to him. He smiled, pleased with himself and the plans he had in mind. He couldn’t wait to see Shannon’s expression when he told her how he was going to change her life for the better.

But as the door opened, Shannon sucked in a sharp breath and a scowl followed. “What are you doing here?” she asked,
plainly unhappy to see him at her doorstep.

It took a moment for him to adjust to her stance and he
thought perhaps she hadn’t received the flowers but as he took in her completely hostile body language, he had a sinking feeling his flowers had ended up in the trash. “You didn’t like the flowers?” he asked.

“They were beautiful —
 and inappropriate. Why are you sending me flowers?” she asked.

“I thought it might serve as an apology for coming on so strong. I overreacted to a stressful situation and my temper overrode my good sense. I was hoping the flowers might make up for the uncomfortable altercation between us.” She nodded grudgingly, seeming to accept his reasoning but she didn’t invite him in as he’d hoped. “We have a lot to talk about, don’t you think?” he ventured.

“Yes, I suppose that’s one way to look at it.”

“Is there another way?”

“Well, you could just leave us alone and go about your life as you did before and we’ll do the same.”

“C’mon now, what kind of man would I be if I did that?”

“I wouldn’t blame you,” she said, almost in earnest. “I mean, the situation was dropped in your lap seemingly out of nowhere. I wouldn’t blame you in the least if you wanted to walk away. I swear, I won’t ever come after you for child support.”

“I will provide for my child,” he said, not liking where this was going. “
No Buchanan would ever go without.”

“Aubrey’s not a Buchanan,” Shannon said stiffly. “She’s a Garrity.”

“Not for long,” he said, waving away her comment. “I need to establish paternity with a routine DNA test and then it’ll be a simple thing for the lawyers to change her name.”

“I don’t want to change her name,” Shannon said, her jaw setting. “She was born a Garrity and she’ll stay a Garrity until the day she marries and decides to hyphenate.”

“What is wrong with you? She’s my child and she’s going to have my name. End of discussion.”

“Is this part of your apology, too? Coming over to my house and trying to push your name onto my child? Because if so, your apology sucks.”

He bracketed his hips, growing angry that Shannon wasn’t falling in line with his plan. He opened his mouth but quickly shut it as he tried to refocus. “Can I come in, please? I really don’t want to have this private conversation in front of the whole world.”

“I’d rather not.”

“Shannon, I am her father and I’m not going anywhere. We can do this the easy way or the hard way and trust me, I’d rather do this in a way that works for us both. We can be on the same side, you know. And if you’d let me, we could be friends.”


Trust is required for friendship and I don’t trust you.”

“That’s not fair, you don’t know me.”

She looked away and he knew he’d made a point.
Score one for me
. Shannon stepped away, relenting. “Okay, but only for a minute. I don’t bring men home. I don’t want to confuse Aubrey.”

He smiled, happy with her admission. He didn’t like the idea of strange men being around his daughter. And, now that he was around Shannon again, he remembered all those feelings he’d pushed down when she’d left so abruptly. It was the chase he craved, he told himself when his gaze sna
gged on her tight, pert behind — nothing more. He’d forgotten what a sweet ass she had but now there was no escaping what he’d sampled that night and as he recalled, he’d been more than willing to go another round or two but she’d called it quits prematurely. But just as he began entertaining memories of that sordid night, Aubrey toddled in carrying a ragdoll and his breath caught in his chest. Shannon scooped up the child and held her tightly, as if he might rip her from her arms and run away with her. “She’s…very pretty,” he said, the awkward compliment not even close to conveying what he felt when he looked at Aubrey. She was quite possibly, the most beautiful child in the world. He could see himself in her features but enough of Shannon to give her a soft feminine side. As if she knew he was talking about her, Aubrey’s cupid bow lips split into a wide smile that revealed a dimple in the very same place as the one on his right cheek and he could only stare for a long moment. “She looks like me and you,” he said when he could speak again.

BOOK: The Buchanan's Baby (Billionaire Romance) (Bought By The Billionaire Brothers)
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