Page 23 of Fortune's Baby Claim

“Are you sure about this?” Esme asked the following Monday afternoon as she stared up at the rustic yet elegant exterior of the LC Club.

The weekend’s unseasonably warm temperatures and sunny days had morphed into an overcast start to the week, one Ryder refused to take as an omen.

“I’d like you to meet my father and brother,” he told her. “Although today you’re just going to be getting Brandon because Dad missed his flight home from Miami last night.”

Whether Chandler had accidentally gotten the time wrong or chosen to take an extra day in the warm and sunny weather of South Florida, Ryder didn’t care to hazard a guess. It wouldn’t have been the first time his dad had extended a work trip to include a three-day weekend, especially when in a location filled with an ever-present bevy of beautiful women.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise. His father claimed that welcoming Chase and Esme to the Hayes family in whatever way their arrangement allowed was a priority, but Ryder knew the man too well to believe that.

“I appreciate that,” Esme said as she took Noah’s infant carrier from Ryder, leaving him with Chase’s. “I want to meet them as well, but we could have planned a dinner at the house like we did with Bea and Asa.”

Ryder swallowed against the uncomfortable emotions that burned his throat. “The difference is you enjoy your siblings. I did, too. Asa and Bea are great. I’m just sorry your great-aunt had to cancel.”

“Me, too,” Esme agreed. “Freya texted this morning and said her headache is much better, and she wants to meet you and Noah soon.”

Maybe that was true, or maybe Freya Fortune was working from the same playbook as Chandler Hayes.

“Very soon. But it’s better to spend time with my brother somewhere public.” He hadn’t shared with Brandon or his dad that he and Noah had moved into Esme’s house or anything about his hunt for a property they could buy together that would give them each more privacy.

He also had yet to convince Esme that a move would benefit her as much as him. If the kiss they’d shared the other night hadn’t proved that he had no interest in dating anyone else, he wasn’t sure what would.

Esme nodded but still appeared hesitant. “This place seems even fancier up close than it does from where I can see it on my walks around the lake.”

“My dad decided to make it the jewel in the Hayes Enterprises’ crown because of the location and the potential he sees in Chatelaine. I’d like to focus on improving the club’s already impeccable customer service and the attention to detail the staff offers. That’s what makes a property special, and if we have everyone in the company from the top down committed to that vision, it will benefit all of us as well as the bottom line.”

Ryder had walked several paces before he realized Esme was no longer in step beside him. He glanced over his shoulder to find her staring at him, a smile playing around the edges of her lips.

“What’s wrong?”

“You need to go back to work.”

“I told you I’m going to take some extra time off. I don’t want you to feel like I’m leaving you in the lurch. These boys are both of our responsibilities, and I’m going to prove to you that I take it seriously.”

Ryder also needed to prove that he wasn’t as incompetent a parent as he felt each time he compared himself to Esme. Just last night, he’d accidentally pinched Noah’s chubby thigh while buttoning the boy’s pajamas.

Esme had assured him that the angry half circle of tender pink flesh was something either of them could have caused. Even so, Ryder had been gutted by his son’s cries, especially when the baby seemed to struggle to gulp in air, which Esme also claimed was a normal thing babies did when they were crying too hard. He’d never heard Noah, who was typically calm and content, cry like that.

She was kind enough to refrain from mentioning that Noah was wailing so hard because of Ryder’s ineptitude. Sometimes, he wasn’t sure why Esme would bother to keep him around. How had he managed to handle fatherhood before her?

Between his family’s reputation and his deficiencies, plus the fact that he’d clearly shocked her with the level of his desire in the hallway, she had to know she could manage parenthood on her own just as easily as having to coach him through it. He wondered if encouraging him to return to work was a shrewd attempt to get him out of her hair.

“Your dad hasn’t decided on the CEO position,” she reminded him. “I can’t comment on your brother yet, but I know you’d be a fantastic choice to run the company. Don’t give up your dreams or aspirations, Ryder. They’re important.”

“Not as important as being a father,” he countered, willing her to believe him.

“Just consider it,” she pleaded and reached out to squeeze his arm. “It’s okay to want both.”

He nodded tightly but didn’t answer. Was it okay to want her most of all?

They entered the club and took the stairs to the second-floor restaurant overlooking the banks of Lake Chatelaine that served lunch on weekdays. He introduced her to a few of his coworkers, proud to have Esme at his side. She wore a navy-colored dress with pleats around the skirt. It flowed over her luscious curves and stopped just below her knees, and she’d paired it with tan ballet flats and pulled her hair into a low ponytail.

Despite the demure look, he found himself riveted by her shapely ankles and the delicate heart pendant she wore around her neck.

He might have it bad when it came to Esme, but at least she wasn’t the type of woman his brother would typically notice. Ryder held out hope that Brandon would behave himself and treat her with the level of respect she deserved.

As it turned out, Ryder had been worried about the wrong thing. Brandon was not only kind to Esme, but the jerk also blatantly flirted with her. Granted, Ryder had no claim to her other than in his secret fantasies, but she was clearly important to him.

Brandon knew that, so his flirtation made him feel like diving over the glasses of sparkling water and sweet iced tea and tackling his brother to the polished wood floor of the club’s dining room.

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