if put in a situation like this. Yet, here you are pretending you only met her two weeks ago.”
I leaned forward and placed my elbows on my desk, throwing my head in my hands. “You’re right. I know you’re right.” I felt like the biggest coward on the planet. “I’m just afraid I’ll lose her if she knows.”
I lifted my head.
“How would you lose her? I think she’d be happy to have the dad to help. Not just any dad, but a billionaire baby daddy. She could quit if she wanted and have nannies. It’s the dream.”
I rolled my eyes. Despite both of us being billionaires, Hamish grew up in a very different world than me. He’d always been a billionaire, as his father was wealthy before him, whereas my family grew up scraping by in life.
“Maybe with the company you keep, but I have a feeling Julia wouldn’t like that. She’s different.”
He scratched his head and scooted forward in the chair. “Really? Now I’m even more interested in her.”
I glared at him, my eyes telling him to back off.
He held up his hands. “Obviously not in that way, but if she has a sister, I wouldn’t mind—”
“Rock is dating her sister Laura, the chef at The Blue Chip.”
“Right, I met her. She’s beautiful and talented. Damn, you Diaz brothers get the good ones. She doesn’t have another sister, does she?” He crossed his fingers. This man was so juvenile sometimes.
“Yes. But she’s fresh out of college. Rock told me she just graduated. A little young, but you might just be immature enough for her. I’ve met her, and now I’m wondering if she might be too mature for you, despite being younger.”
“Okay, so here’s what you do.” Hamish waved his hands around as if about to impart great wisdom. “You get Rock to make Laura throw a dinner party, inviting all the Nutters sisters. Then I show up, impressing the hell out of the youngest while also talking up your maturity and telling Julia how great of a father you’d be, and everyone is happy by night's end.”
Not only was he immature, he was apparently a simpleton too.
“This isn’t a fairy tale. That won’t work.”
He leaned back and clasped his fingers together like an evil villain in a movie. “Oh, it will. Trust me.”
“I will try to convince her to go on a date with me. I’m sure I can bring it up then. Maybe after a glass of wine, she might be more willing to accept me as Nathan’s father.”
And less likely to wonder why I said nothing right away.
Hamish groaned, “Fine, but I like my idea better.”
Chapter 18
Julia
“I’VE LIVED IN THIS area all my life, and I never knew this restaurant existed,” I said, glancing around the small, wood-paneled private dining room.
Monty shrugged, his charcoal suit accentuating his dark honeyed skin. It was another perfectly tailored suit that hugged all the parts of his body I loved to admire.
“Hamish told me about it. It was a bit of a drive, but I thought it would be perfect for our first date.” He reached over the white-clothed table and placed his hand over mine. His thumb rubbed my wrist, sending shivers up my arm.
“I’ve never had rose petal panna cotta and lavender shortbread before—and my sister is a chef. I must let Laura know about it.”
I wasn’t thinking of my sister while lifting a forkful of the decadent pastry to my lips. My mind was focused on one thing and one thing only: Monty’s cock.
When he mentioned the date earlier on Tuesday, I was surprised and brushed it off. I wasn’t one of those women who assumed because a guy was fucking you that he wanted more. I liked the freedom of fooling around with men and being able to walk away if I felt like it.
But there was something about Monty that made me curious. I wanted to learn more about him. And, as barbaric as it sounded, I got a little thrill when he went all caveman on Hamish, acting as if I were his.
I could only assume it was the new-mother hormones raging inside me. The doctor told me I’d be even more hormonal in the weeks following the birth than I was while pregnant. That had to be it.
All week he kept asking about the date, and finally, on Friday, I relented. He was so happy when I said yes. It was like watching a little boy unwrap a toy he begged Santa for