Page 75 of Accidental Dad's Best Friend

“Not during business.”

He laughs through his teeth. “Business, huh? So you are looking for a job. I’d have to see your resume.” He pours himself two fingers of whiskey and takes a sip, his hard eyes meeting mine.

“I’m not looking for a job, dad. I need to talk to you about something that happened…a few years ago.”

“You mean you leaving town after the stunt you pulled at Slay?”

“That’s part of it.”

My dad takes another sip and gestures towards the chair in front of his giant oak desk. “Sit. Please.”

“I’d rather stand,” I tell him. “I want to talk about why I left town. Why I stayed away for five years.”

“You mean it wasn’t because your reputation as a journalist was trashed? That’ll happen when you get too bold, you know. There are rules you have to play by in this industry. It’s all a chess game.”

“That’s not why I left. Or why I stayed away.”

“You can admit if you were ashamed, Izzy. You were a rookie. We all make mistakes in the early years, though most of us don’t fuck up quite that bad. But it would make sense to run off with your tail between your legs after–”

“I got pregnant.”

My words stop him. He blinks. “When?”

“Five years ago.”

“And…that’s why you left?”

“That’s why I stayed away.”

He nods, takes another sip, studies me. His jaw pulses while he grinds his teeth back and forth.

“Well damn. I mean I guess a career flop would have only gone even more postal if people knew that you got knocked up. At least you were able to take care of it before the press got ahold of that info. That would have really looked bad.”

I can feel the heat in my cheeks. But it’s not because I am embarrassed. I am pissed. “I didn’ttake care of it.”

He stares at me. “Miscarriage?”

My fucking god how the man can be so dense is beyond me. “I didn’t lose the baby, dad! I had him! His name is Jaxon and he’s my son. Your grandson.”

It takes a second but his expression slowly shifts from snarky to angry and confused. “You have a son.” It’s not a question. It’s a statement. And he doesn’t seem happy about it.

“I do. He’s five.”

My dad’s lips tip down in…disgust? My heart is racing so fast I feel like I might be sick. I didn’t expect him to be happy about itbut even with my low opinion of the man, I still didn’t think he’d take it like this.

He takes another sip of his whiskey and sucks the air between his teeth. “And the father? Or do you even know?”

“I know who he is. He’s the only person I was with.”

“Let me guess,” he leans back in his chair with a smirk. “Some writer at Slay? Or did you meet a small town guy? You gotta be careful of those chumps. They’ll do anything to get off their–”

“Ethan.” I say his name and honestly, I surprise myself. This entire conversation has been a gasoline trail and I am just lighting matches now. But I’m done. Whatever is going to come of this is going to happen very soon anyways. Might as well get the fire started.

The expression literally falls from his face and he leans forward. “What did you say? Ethan who?”

“Ethan Savage.”

His eyes narrow. “I’m not following.”

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