With Brave Wings (17 page)

"It would be my first lead," she said with a bashful smile.

"First of many." He reached over the countertop and brought her hand to his mouth, kissing her knuckles. "I'll do my best to reschedule as much as I can—"

"About that…" She was quick to interrupt. "If I expected you to travel with me, I would've asked you before I auditioned. I wouldn’t take Kayden away from you for this." She paused and fidgeted with her hair. "This…this—I mean, if I even get the part…" She blew out a breath. "You would stay here with Kayden."

Tennyson hesitated, concerned. While it would make sense logistically, he wasn’t sure Sophie would be able to be away from Kayden for so long. She was struggling to
talk
about it. To actually go through with it was a whole other ball game.

"Do you know what the schedule looks like?" he asked.

"Somewhat." She nodded. "Two months of filming outside Toronto, then three months on location in Germany."

Damn.
Tennyson stared down at his mug, pondering. He knew there would be several children in the film, so that meant they'd allotted more time for the shoot.

"Five months," he murmured. "You think seeing Kayden on weekends here and there will be enough?"

"No, but… It's the right thing. You've dropped everything to come with us the other times. It's my turn now." She tried to smile. "You have the entire summer planned out with Fight for Fighters—and you have that behind the scenes documentary you're part of, too. And honestly, where do you think Kayden will be the happiest? On set with me or on a rehabilitation ranch in San Diego where he can be with puppies all day?"

Tennyson sighed. She was right, though he'd do his best to fly out with Kayden as often as he could.

Gut instinct told him she would get this part, and for the first time, he realized he didn’t want her to go. This production would catapult her into the group of A-list actors. She wouldn’t have to work to establish herself anymore. She would be able to relax and be pickier with her scripts. And Tennyson couldn’t be prouder, but he was going to miss her more than words could express.

Goddamn, not only was he not getting over Sophie Pierce, but in his futile quest of trying, he'd been too blind to see that there would never be anybody else.

"We'll figure it out," was all he could tell her. And on so many levels, he hoped he was right.

*

Instead of driving down to Daniel's office, Tennyson got into his car and headed over to Asher's house in Malibu. If comments had once traumatized Sophie, perhaps they could heal her, too.

When he got there, he used his key and entered the hacienda-like house, calling out for Asher. Being greeted by five dogs was no surprise, but seeing Brooklyn and Maliah out by the pool was.

"Ash!" he called again. He petted the dogs on their heads and peered into the kitchen, but it was as empty as the den. Looking out the large windows, he saw Maliah swimming with one of the dogs, and Brooklyn was catching some sun. But no sign of Asher, so Tennyson walked out to the patio to say hello.

"Hi, Tennyson!" Maliah waved.

"Hey, sweetheart. No school today?"

"I'm on break." She pushed herself up from the water to check her phone.

"You'll learn all about school holidays when it's Kayden's turn," Brooklyn said with a grin. "By the way, happy birthday."

"Thank you." He smiled. "Do you happen to know where Ash is?"

"He's picking up lunch," she replied. "He should be back soon."

"Got it. I'm just gonna borrow his office for a bit." He would've done it in Sophie's loft if he'd had a printer in his room, but he didn’t. "I'll be out of here soon."

"Hey, Tennyson?" Her voice made him pause, and he looked back at her. "Asher—he's a good man, right?"

Brooklyn was a smart woman, and if she didn’t have a good feeling about Asher, she wouldn’t be here. But if she needed reassurance, Tennyson had no problems giving it.

"He knows it's not only about you, Brooklyn." He glanced over at Maliah, who was preoccupied with her phone. "My brother doesn’t take commitment lightly, so once he's in, he's all in. And yes"—he smirked—"he's a good guy."

"Thank you." Brooklyn smiled, visibly relieved.

"Anytime." With that done, he made his way upstairs to do something he'd never thought he'd do.

Go online to search for gossip about Sophie.

Chapter 15

The second Kayden went down for his nap, Sophie got busy. Her first plan had been to invite their closest over for dinner, but then she'd remembered last year. Small get-togethers and dinners were her thing. Tennyson preferred peace and quiet.

He was like Max in a way. They could be complete goofs and shit-stirrers, but mostly with Kayden. When others were involved, they withdrew to the few they were comfortable around. It made Sophie warm and fuzzy to think she was one of those—for both Tennyson and Max.

Dogs and men.

While the steaks soaked in marinade, she wrapped the presents she'd bought from her and Kayden. She hid all the birthday-themed items in her bedroom for now, which included one balloon that said "Happy Birthday, Daddy."

On her way back to the kitchen, there was a knock on the door, which made Pup bark.

"Come here, little rascal." She picked up the puppy and opened the door.

Oh, damn. It was Josh. Seeing him burst her family bubble and brought her back to reality.

"Hey, babe." He grinned and leaned against the doorframe. "I don’t see much of you whenever Noah's out of town."

Yeah…
that
was why. It wasn’t because she was avoiding Josh like a coward.

"I'm sorry." She smiled awkwardly. "Um, what's up?"

He reached out and touched her cheek. "I wanted to see if I could take you and Kayden out for ice cream or something."

That was sweet of him, but she couldn’t shake the discomfort she felt whenever Josh mentioned Kayden.

"I know you said you wanted some time to think," he added, "but I figured there's nothing wrong with going out as friends. After all, that’s what you did with Tennyson yesterday, right?"

Sophie tilted her head. "You mean the game?"

"Yeah." Something in Josh's eyes seemed to dim. "How come you didn’t tell me?"

That put her on edge. "I didn’t know I had to tell you."

Josh seemed to notice, and he flashed a grin to lighten the mood. "You don’t, beautiful. I know we're only friends—for now. But anyway, you wanna head out?"

"I'm sorry, I can't." Sophie adjusted Pup in her arms and took a small step back, wanting to wrap it up. "It's Kayden and Tennyson's birthday. We're having dinner later."

"Oh. Just the three of you?"

What the hell was his problem? Not enough had happened between them for him to have the right to be possessive. "Listen, Josh. I apologize if I gave you the wrong impression, but you're sort of making me uncomfortable. I never promised you anything, and it feels like you expect something from me."

She
had
thought about them in the past few weeks, but the attraction had begun to fizzle the second Josh had mentioned dates and being there for Kayden. It didn’t feel right at all, because she wasn’t looking for a stepdad for her son. He already had an amazing father.

Josh chuckled darkly. "Guess I got it wrong. My bad." He pushed himself off the doorframe and gave her a grim look. "I thought you were better than that, but you're a cocktease like the rest of them, aren't you?"

For a moment, she was sure she'd heard that wrong, but no. Holy hell, he'd actually said that.

"Go fuck yourself." She slammed the door in his face.

God, she was shaking from the shock.

She wasn’t a tease. Was she? She'd flirted with him—briefly—and they'd made out. That didn’t fucking mean she had to put out, especially not two minutes after their first kiss.

*

The next few hours weren't easy.

Sophie couldn’t let go of what Josh had called her, and then Kayden woke up in a hellish mood. Nothing was good enough, and his screaming caused her to forget the cookies in the oven.

"Goddammit!" she shouted, dumping the tray in the sink.

Of course, that startled Kayden, and he started screaming all over again.

"I'm sorry, Kayden," she groaned. "I suck, I know." She bent down to pick him up, but he didn’t want that. "Okay, okay, go play."

Instead, he plopped down and banged a plastic pan on the floor. "No!" he yelled. "No! Noooo!"

"Kayden!" she snapped. "Stop banging!" He didn’t, so she took the pan from him, and that was when the timer went off for the potatoes on the stove. "Someone give me
strength
."

Closing her eyes, she stood absolutely still and counted to ten. This was hardly the first time Kayden had woken up with a temper. She'd gotten through this a million times.

She blew out a breath, determined to get through the day, and picked him up again. Then she walked over to his high chair and placed him in it, attaching the straps over his shoulders so he couldn’t get out.

"Can you be nice?" she asked. "Can you stop shouting and tell me what you want?"

Kayden screamed and thrashed in his chair, so she ignored him. She turned to the stove and took off the potatoes. Once she'd drained the water from the pan, she set them aside to cool. She'd mash them later.

It took him a solid hour before he got too tired to cry, and by then, she was nearly done with dinner, but she was also dead on her feet.

"Mommy…" Kayden whined and sniffled.

Sophie checked the clock and saw that Tennyson would be here in about forty minutes.

She was far from ready, but she was
done
. The kitchen looked like a war zone, Kayden had thrown toys all over the living room, the table wasn’t set, and Sophie hadn't showered or picked out clothes.

She couldn’t be bothered, though. She just couldn’t. The dinner would be fine, and she could make the goddamn cookies another time. They'd have cake.

"You wanna rest a bit with Mommy?" she asked Kayden.

"No sweepy," he complained, yawning.

"Sure you're not," she muttered. Carrying him over to the couch, she sat him down and then put on cartoons for him. "Come here, my little monster."

She wasn’t worried he'd ruin the loft further. He could barely keep his eyes open, and when she lay down, he was eager to snuggle up against her chest.

"You can be such a pain in the butt." She kissed his hair and closed her eyes.

*

She woke up slowly, and it was to the sound of low murmurs.

"There's one more truck over there. Can you put that in your box, too?"

She heard little feet run across the hardwood floors and then how Kayden tossed a toy into his plastic box in the corner.

"Good boy. I'm gonna check on the bath. You can wake up Mommy, right?"

"Yeah."

"Nicely, Kayden."

Sophie stifled a smile as she felt Kayden's little hand on her cheek.

"Mommy," he whispered.

"Yes," she whispered back. She opened her eyes and blinked sleepily, noticing it was getting dark. Shit, how long had she been asleep? Sitting up, she pulled Kayden onto her lap and hugged him as she glanced over at the clock on the wall. "I slept too long." It was past eight, damn it. "So you're not cranky anymore, huh?"

Kayden merely grinned.

He was dressed in PJs and smelled like baby shampoo, so Tennyson must've given him a bath.

"Did you eat, baby?" she asked. Dinner at six had been pushing it as it was, and with his second nap, she had a feeling he wasn’t going down for a while. "Did Daddy give you dinner?"

"Yeah." He nodded and rubbed his tummy.

Sophie chuckled and looked around her, only now seeing that Tennyson had done a lot more than feed and bathe their kiddo. The kitchen was spotless, Kayden's toys were stowed away, and it smelled like food. Which meant Tennyson had mashed the potatoes and started the steaks himself.

I was supposed to do that.

Some birthday she was giving him.

"She's awake," she heard him say in his low, warm voice. He came from down the hall and smiled at her, looking all…delicious. Daddy-perfect. Sweats, a T-shirt that hugged his torso, a dishrag thrown over his shoulder, hair unrulier than usual, ink on display, and bare feet.

Sophie ached.

It wasn’t just her body that yearned. It ran deeper. Much deeper.

"You should've woken me up." She pouted at him.

"Not a chance." He chuckled quietly and took Kayden from her. "Judging by the sight I came home to, I'm guessing he's had a tantrum or two?"

"Or five," she grumbled.

He shook his head. "You should have called me, princess."

Princess.

He hadn't called her that since…since she'd visited him in Texas and they'd fucked for three days straight.

"No way." She stood up and stretched. "It's your birthday—"

"And it'll continue after your bath." He nodded toward the hall. "Dinner will be ready in twenty. Go."

"Are you for real?" Approximately ninety percent of her wanted to kiss his feet in thanks, but, again, it was his birthday. Today was supposed to be about him. "You should sit down and relax. I'll fix—"

He cut her off again. "
Go
."

*

Sophie relaxed into the big tub and allowed herself ten minutes—okay, fifteen—of complete silence. She soaked up the warmth and shut out the world, and then she showered and dried off before she found herself hesitating in her walk-in closet.

It's Tennyson.

She could be herself with him, and he obviously knew her day had been a mess. So she pulled on a simple cotton thong, a pair of yoga pants, and a T-shirt. She didn’t bother with her hair, makeup, or a damn bra.

Kayden was quietly watching a kids' movie on the couch, a towel underneath him, while munching on bits of grapes.

There was no way she'd intrude, so she padded on, finding Tennyson in the kitchen flipping the steaks.

"How was your bath?" he murmured.

"Like heaven." She opened the fridge and spotted the cake. "I feel bad, but thank you so much."

"Don’t thank me." He side-eyed her and smirked slightly. "Would you believe me if I said I got exactly what I wanted today?"

She giggled and scrunched her nose, grabbing a bottle of white wine from the fridge. "You wanted to come home to a complete mess so you could clean?"

"I wanted to come home to my two favorite people."

Ugh, she hated when he said things like that. It upset her because it intensified the ache. By now, she knew she
wanted
. But nothing with Josh. Nothing with anyone else—just that damn bastard. Tennyson.

If only he could be less eager to push her away to try new things.

For once, she wanted to be reeled in. She wanted to feel wanted. Needed.

"Where are those herbs you use for your mashed potatoes? This tastes off."

Now I'm only needed for herbs.

"
Excusez-moi
." She hip-checked him lightly and reached for the spice rack above them. "Got you hooked on my cooking, do I?"

"You definitely do," he chuckled. "Remember the first time you made dinner for all of us?"

Well, it hadn't been the first time, but it was the first since Tennyson and Asher became permanent fixtures in her life. "That was painful." She snickered and poured two tablespoons of herbs into the pot. "You all pretended to like it until I had a taste and nearly threw up."

"Didn’t help that you were pregnant." He laughed as he plated the steaks. "Anything could set you off."

Sophie still couldn’t look at tuna without gagging, which was a shame. She used to love tuna melts. "It's been a cool little trip down memory lane, but now I'm starving." She added some more butter to the mashed potatoes, and then she walked over to Kayden. "Baby, I think it's time we get Daddy his gifts. You wanna help me?"

"Loon!" he shouted, clapping his hands. He stumbled off the couch and rushed toward her bedroom.

"What did he just call you?" Tennyson asked, shocked.

It was funny, and she merely laughed until their baby boy reappeared with the big balloon he'd picked out for Daddy.

"Loon, loon!" Kayden ran over to Tennyson, who understood now. "Daddy, loon!"

Sophie giggled and finished setting the table. "Don’t forget to give him the gifts, Kayden."

"I'm pretty sure Kayden wants the balloon for himself," Tennyson chuckled. "What do you say, bug? You wanna keep this safe for me?"

Kayden was over the moon, and he forgot his parents, because watching cartoons with his new balloon was more important.

"Just be careful," Sophie told him. "Remember what happened at the store?" He'd popped one by squeezing it, scaring himself and everyone else nearby in the process. But if the balloon stayed in the living room, where they could keep an eye on him, she wasn’t worried.

Sitting down at the head of the table, she filled their plates with steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, and plenty of salad. The latter was something Tennyson always managed to "forget," so she took it upon herself to make sure he ate greens, too.