He cleared his throat and I could picture him pacing back and forth as he pushed his free hand through his too long hair where it flopped over his forehead. Whoever would have thought being unkempt was so unbelievably sexy?
“Did you look at them? The results, I mean . . . am I a father?”
I put a hand to my chest as my heart squeezed like it had a fist around it when his voice broke on the last word. So much for keeping it all professional from here on out.
“No. I didn’t open the envelope. I figured that was something you needed to do. I know how worried you’ve been.”
He barked out a laugh so ugly and harsh it made my skin rise up in goose bumps. “Worried? Fuck being worried, Sayer. I feel like the world has stopped spinning, like every goddamn thing I do or say is all backward because I can’t think about anything but the kid. It’s been weeks and he’s still in foster care, alone and probably terrified. He needs to know he has family. He needs to know he has me.” He swore some more and then sighed. “I ran into a problem with the install of the new electrical system at my current job and then my buddy Asa asked me to look at a space he’s thinking about investing in, so I’m a week behind on this renovation. I’ve been pushing the guys hard this week, and I still have some things I need to finish up tonight. I hate to ask since the jobsite looks like a tornado blew through it, but would you mind swinging by here on your way home with the results? If not I can come by your place later and pick them up. I don’t think I have the patience to wait until the morning.”
I picked the envelope up off the desk and tucked it into my purse. “I’ll come to you. Just give me directions.”
His sigh of relief was audible as he rattled off an address in a part of Denver I wasn’t exactly familiar with called the Highlands. I jotted down the information and told him I would see him in a few. But not before carefully asking, “Zeb, do you want to maybe call a friend or someone in your family? I know you’ve been waiting for what seems like forever to see what this test says, but when you see it, when it becomes real, you may not want to deal with it on your own.”
I had seen the way earth-shaking news sent someone into an emotional tailspin more than once. I wanted to make sure Zeb had all the support he needed to soften the blow.
“You’re going to be here, right?” His deep voice was extra raspy and the goose bumps that followed the way it dragged through my ears had nothing to do with unease this time around.
“Yes. I’ll be there.”
“Then you’re the only person I need while I find out if I am Hyde’s father. Honestly, if the results are negative I think my mother might take it harder than me. She’s already calling the little guy her grandson. I don’t want to disappoint her.” There was an edge to his voice when he said it.
I nodded even though he couldn’t see me and pushed my hair over my shoulders. It was tangled and all kinds of wavy and messy from being twisted and tied up all day.
“Okay, then. See you soon.”
He grunted his good-bye, and I had a brief moment of panicked indecision about whether I should put my heels and panty hose back on so that even if I wasn’t feeling particularly professional where he and his case was concerned, I could at least look it, but then decided he had been waiting long enough for this paperwork and my own insecurity and ridiculousness wasn’t a good enough reason to keep him waiting any longer.
I shut my office up, made my way down the elevator, and waved good-bye to the guard who kept an eye on the building after hours.
The directions that Zeb had given me led to an area of town that was actually really close to the lower part of downtown and just across the interstate. It was a neighborhood that was obviously in the middle of some serious gentrification, if the polished new storefronts next to the abandoned and broken ones were any indication. It was the kind of place that Realtors referred to as up-and-coming and it was obviously a neighborhood that could pay off big-time for an investor who knew what they were doing in the tricky housing market. When I pulled up in front of the cottage that matched the address that Zeb had given me, it was clear the man knew what he was doing.
His cottage was the ugliest house on the block. It was in a sorry state of disrepair and looked dilapidated and on the verge of falling in on itself. It was made to look even worse by the cute, obviously well-loved and well-maintained homes that surrounded it on either side. Kids played noisily in the yards on either side of the disaster and watched me curiously as I pulled in behind a mud-splattered Jeep. When I climbed out of my own car and headed toward the front door of the ramshackle home, I noticed that the tires on the ostentatiously masculine vehicle came almost up to my waist. It had to be Zeb’s. Anyone else would look ridiculous driving such a grotesque beast around town. He was the only one big and bearded enough to pull it off.
I didn’t even have to lift a hand to knock on the door. As soon as my bright pink tennis shoes hit the top step, the wrought-iron-and-glass storm door swung open and I was pulled inside by hard hands. I hit the center of a sweaty and strong chest covered in a thin layer of cotton. I returned the nearly smothering embrace and patted a back that was covered in ropy, work-hardened muscle, telling myself that petting him and clutching at him would be poor form under the circumstances even though I really, really wanted to.
“It’s gonna be fine. I promise.” My words were lost somewhere in his rock-hard pecs, but he must have heard me because he pulled back with a start and let me go.