Page 72 of Act Like You Don't Care
I hoped.
Just in case, better to set down some ground rules right in the beginning and see where that led us.
Miles
Tam Laydon was the last person I’d ever expected to hear from again. And definitely the last person I’d ever expected to have ask me to meet him for lunch.
He’d picked a small restaurant off the beaten path, more of a family diner than anything I would have expected to see one of the rising stars of Hollywood in.
“I didn’t want to be interrupted,” he said shortly when I made some general comment on the place.
Interesting.
We ordered, and this time I didn’t say anything when I noticed that Tam’s food was bland. Was he sick? My mind drifted back to the night at the hotel and the days after, then dismissed the idea of an unintended pregnancy. Tam had shown me over and over that he valued his career above nearly everything else—he’d have his birth control locked down hard.
But then why were we here?
We talked generally about nothing in particular. His mother, a recent trip he’d taken back to visit family on the east coast. My sister going back for her masters, how my parents were doing. The usual sort of small talk that two acquaintance might indulge in, or the prelude to some much weightier topic.
So much weightier.
Our food arrived and we ate a little. Tam didn’t seem to have much appetite and every bite appeared to be by force of will on his part. I watched him discreetly, wondering what was wrong. Was he being blackmailed? Was that why the clandestine meeting, the subdued demeanor?
I was on the point of just asking when Tam put his fork down and reached for his water. “I thought you should know, I’m pregnant. You’re the father. I’m keeping it, but I don’t expect anything from you unless you want to give it. I wanted to make sure you were aware, though. I won’t keep it from you if you want to be involved.” He sipped at his water, his lips twisting briefly before he set it down. His leg started to jig under the table.
My head whirled in shock. I bit back the first question that rose to my lips— “Are you sure it’s mine?” He wouldn’t be here telling me this if he wasn’t sure. There hadn’t been mention of a new boyfriend or lover since the end of my assignment with him. In fact, he’d almost gone into seclusion, only coming out of his condo to work or vacation.
I was going to be a father. The enormity of it stole my voice for a long moment, while all the possibilities spun through my mind.Mom’s going to go mad with frustration.Then I realized Tam was watching me closely, with that squint of his that meant he was bracing himself for something he thought he wouldn’t like.
He was waiting for me to start treating him like an omega.
I remembered the Vinist and the list of Hollywood boyfriends who’d never lasted beyond the first time they tried to play alpha to Tam’s omega. I remembered Tam’s anxiety over anything that reminded the world of his omega status and how much harder he’d work to erase any hint of it. And I remembered the occasional flickering look of relief that would cross his face when I upset his expectations and didn’t try to put him in the omega box.
Being pregnant didn’t mean he wasn’t still Tam. He wasn’t going to stop wanting what he wanted, just because there was a child growing inside him.
Interesting, though, that he’d decided to keep it. Being who he was, he’d absolutely have… options.
Which meant that, being Tam, if I wanted honesty from him, I’d have to tread carefully and be patient enough to let the trust grow back up between us again.
“What would you like me to do?” I asked, probing for some hint of what he was after.
He avoided my eyes, face turned to the big front window to watch the shoppers walk past. “Whatever you want. I meant what I said—I don’t expect anything, but if you want to be involved, then I’ll arrange that.”
“What doyouwant?” I didn’t have enough information to make the choice he needed me to make. His body language was… odd, and while itcouldhave just been the unexpected pregnancy, well… Like I said, it wasn’t adding up.
“Fuck, Miles, what do you care?” He caught me in a grim, tired stare, his voice gone thin with strain. “I’m telling you that you have a choice here. You know I can afford to raise this baby with or without you. Do you want to be in the baby’s life or not?”
This was more than just Tam’s usual zero-to-sixty response to things. Now that he was wandering farther away from what I realized must have been a well-practiced set of lines, the emotion underlying this offer became more obvious to someone who’d seen him in all his moods.
He was scared.
And lonely.
“Of course I’d like to be in the baby’s life,” I said calmly. As if I wouldn’t have. “What can I do to help?”
He opened his mouth as if he’d expected me to say something different, then closed it again and looked back out the window.
Gently, I added, “You don’t have to know everything yet, but if there’s something you need right now that I can do for you, I’m here and I’m listening.”
