My son's new daddy is the Alpha Beast

7. A body like Christian Hogue

CHAPTER SEVEN

Kyle did not come to see me off and maybe that did break my heart a little but I would never admit it out loud. Palmer had a court session in the morning, or at least she claimed so. I knew she was avoiding me but she would eventually come around. She always did. Rafael and Grandma had been besides themselves, whining about how they were going to miss us and I was very certain I would miss them too. What had shattered me however that Wednesday morning, was a call from Josh that he had been called in for a job interview and so he wouldn’t come to pick us up. At eleven I’d left New York, embarking on the five-hour journey with my son in the backseat and the location of the town pinned on my GPS. Knox had played on his tab for about an hour then fell asleep in the backseat for the most part of the journey. It was around four ten in the evening when I rolled into the town which was no exaggeration if I said it was literally in the middle of nowhere and yet looked fancy enough. The weather had changed and the once clear sky had thickened with grey clouds out of nowhere.

Forests lurked on either side of the road as I drove into the town and just like any another small town, the people would look up in curiosity, staring but never saying anything. I placed a call to Josh, putting it on loudspeaker as I slowed down. It would definitely rain soon and there was nothing I hated more than getting soaked.

“Hey,” His voice filled the car and Knox instantly woke up, rubbing his eyes. I shook my head, smiling in amusement at the way his eyes puckered up, excitement dancing on his face. The little boy had barely slept a wink yesterday after learning he will be coming to stay with his dad.

“Hey. We just got in town. Its um…quite charming per say,” I said, unable to hide curiosity. It was nothing like Oakwood but that is what made it interesting. As charming as it seemed despite the hovering rain, there was something strange about it that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Maybe it was its very forestry landscape which was nothing like the town I grew up in. I would eventually get used it though.

“Where exactly are you?” he questioned.

I peered out of the window noticing on my right was a hotel by name of MAMA’S KITCHEN and gave the vibe of the town’s info hub; you know, the kind of place townsfolk converge at the end of the day to gossip about other people.

“There is a hotel. Mama’s Kitchen,” I answered. I could see the rain lingering and there was no way I wanted it to pour on me. Getting soaked when it was already cold, was not something anyone in their sane mind would want.

“How about you and Knox wait for me there? You could grab something to eat and I’ll pick you up in let’s say fifteen, twenty minutes,” he said.

“Okay. You better hurry up though. It looks like it’s going to rain and trust me, I don’t want to catch nasty cold on my first day here,”

“Don’t worry. I won’t let you,” He promised.

After I cut off the call, I called grandma and Rafael to tell them I arrived. I did hear grandma sniffling a bit but she lied it was an imminent cold. I locked the car door, made sure Knox was dressed up in a warm hoodie before we walked inside the hotel, the bell by the door jiggling. In a way, I had missed the small town life with fresh air and always huddled in silence. The small chatter in the quite crowded hotel died down the instant I graced the inside of the hotel, every single pair of eyes turning to us. I clutched on my son’s hand, refusing to let the nerves get to me. Maybe for a few days, they would stare at me, trying to figure out what my deal was but eventually they’d get used to seeing my face around.

We settled down on an empty booth overlooking the parking lot and almost instantly, a waitress walked over with a notepad ready to take down out orders.

“Hello. Welcome to MAMA’S KITCHEN.,” then her green eyes quickly furrowed, “Tell me I’m wrong but you are Josh’s baby mama, right?”

It was my turn to be surprised. How the hell did she know? Did Josh say something about me and now the entire town knew about me? Was that the reason they were still staring at me so openly and some even making it obvious they were talking about me?

“Yes. How…” I trailed off.

“Oh, I’m pretty close friends with Josh,” she chuckled almost in amusement, “I’m Kate and you are in great hands,”

I felt relief cascade through me. This was not a bad start in a town I knew no one except for the one man who got me pregnant.

“Thank God! I was almost having a panic attack,” I returned her smile. If I was being honest, she was not really the kind of person who seemed like they would hang out with Josh. While he was more on the poplar jock stereotype, she seemed like one those girls that put on gothic-kind of make-up and don’t speak to anyone. She had one too many piercings and at first glance, one could easily mistake her for unfriendly except she was the exact opposite of that.

“So, what can I get the two of you?”

“What would you recommend?” I questioned.

“If you want something light, I’d suggest some Thai-style Peanut chicken wraps, if you are not allergic to nuts of course. Dip that in some honey-ginger peanut sauce and you’ll thank me,” she smiled. She seemed pretty enthusiastic about the food and well, I’d trust her.

“We’ll take that,”

“Good choice, Ava,” she walked off.

“Mum? Why are the people looking at us?” Knox questioned, his blue eyes, curtsey of his father’s genes, darting everywhere around us in fear.

I reached over the table, squeezing his tiny hands as I smiled in reassurance, “Because you are a handsome boy,”

His eyes instantly shone, “I’m pretty,”

“Yes, you are,”

“When is daddy coming?” he questioned. The relationship between Knox and his father had been amazing on video-calls and I bet it would even be more amazing physically.

“He’ll be here soon. Let’s eat first, okay?” I spoke.

He nodded and for a while, I listened to him talk about his father with pride. Even when our orders came, he still went on and on about him. Seeing him like this, was a conviction enough that I’d made the right choice no matter what Kyle and Palmer thought. We were mid-way through the food when the bell jiggled, the man I had seen almost seven years ago, crowding the door way. He was much taller now, perhaps a good six-point two or three feet with a buff body and definitely way more good-looking in person. His eyes hovered around for a second before we made eye-contact and he walked over, each step taped in slow motion almost in rhythm to the beat of my heart. Even after all these years, he still affected me so much.

“You are actually here,” he whispered, almost in disbelief as he pulled me into a tight hug and all I was aware of was the heat burning through my body inexplicably.

“I’m glad that I’m here,” I whispered back, letting myself feel all the punishing desire.

When he pulled out of the embrace, he turned to Knox, picking him up and at the moment I was distracted by the ringing of my phone. I glanced at the screen. It was Palmer video-calling me.

“Excuse me,” I said, already heading out to pick it.

“Hey,” I started. It looked like she was still in the office.

“Hey,” she benefitted me with a small smile,” Listen, I know you must think I’m selfish and maybe I’m. It’s just that, we’ve never been apart before and now you are far away from me. I guess I couldn’t bare the thought of you being that far away. It was too much to handle but he is your son’s father. He deserves to have a chance and who knows? Maybe in a few days you’ll be calling me, panicking on what to wear for a date,”

“I’m glad you understand. So how did Vince-“ I barely finished my sentence when someone rammed into me, knocking the phone off my hands while I totted to the side, catching my balance in the last minute.

“No, no, no,” I whimpered, watching the screen on my phone shatter against the sidewalk. I quickly picked it up, realizing it was beyond salvation. My face growing red with anger, I turned to the culprit who was walking away like nothing happened. He seemed unbothered at all.

“Hey, you,” I called, walking after him and he stopped, turning around.

“What did you just call me?” His voice was low, thickened with rage. What right had he to look pissed when he just broke my phone? I only bought it last month and it had cost me quite a dime.

“Listen, I don’t want trouble Mr.,” I reached over, grabbed his hand and slapped the phone in it as I looked at him, “Either have my phone fixed or buy me a new one, please,”

For a second, his eyes that reminded me of a hazelnut, flickered with something like a luminous green but it was barely a second and I’d probably imagined that. I crossed my arms, refusing to let my emotions get the better part of me. He was a swoon worthy specimen with a roman nose that sat beautifully on half-dome cheekbones, a physique that reminded you of Christian Hogue and well, that wavy, Apollo-gold hair falling a bit over his shoulders did do him quite the justice. However, his attitude, unless there was a befitting explanation to it, was unsettling.

“Excuse me?” he asked again, the same rage returning to his eyes.

“Okay, let me break it down real slow for you since you seem not be understanding the words coming out of my mouth. I was on a video-call with my sister and you bumped into me really hard if I might add, my phone broke and you walked away without even bothering to say sorry,” I explained, feeling myself getting angry.

He pushed his hands inside his jeans pocket and for a second, I was drawn to the way his shirt strained against his biceps. Damn! He was a whole snack.

“Listen, I don’t care who you are but next time you call me, hey you, I’ll snap your body into half and nobody would miss you,” he threatened, making me recoil. He was the one on the wrong and he was acting like it was me?

“You are right. You don’t know me and I don’t know you either. So how about you repair my phone and we try not to cross each other’s paths, huh?” I questioned. I didn’t want trouble and this guy, whoever he was, seemed to crave it. Who threatens someone to literally murder them over something that small?

His eyes rested on mine for a few more seconds, almost as though debating on what to do next. In a strange way, even though he was unnerving and threatening me, I suddenly didn’t feel the need to fear him. Hate him? Definitely. Who wouldn’t when he was being this condescending? But fear him? No and that bothered me for some reason.

“I’m going to give you a piece of advice lady. As long as you are in this town, you are going to behave. Otherwise, you may just end up dead,” He said and just like that, he walked away, leaving me with my lips parted in surprise.

Before he could round the corner, he stopped and I thought for a split of a second, he probably regretted how he’d acted but I was wrong. He did not even turn around and instead, dropped my phone into a litter box on the side of the road before disappearing around the corner.

I was so going to murder him if I ever ran into him again.

Huffing, I walked back inside the hotel where Josh, Kate and Knox were laughing about something.

“Are you okay? You look like someone ready to throw hands?” Kate laughed, exposing a set of pearl white teeth.

“I might just as well do that,” I sat down, “Remind me again why this town is supposed to be magical?”

“Why? What happened?” Josh questioned, seemingly amused.

“Well, some guy broke my phone and when I asked him to either repair it or but me a new one, he suddenly began threatening me, threw my phone in the trash and just walked away,” I complained.

“That doesn’t sound like the townsfolk. Probably whoever it was, had a pretty shitty day. Don’t worry about it though. I have an extra phone at home and you can use it, till I buy you a new one,” Josh said. Sometime I wondered whether he was too nice.

“Well, thank you,” I paused, changing the subject,” So how did the interview go?”

“They just called me while you were out. I passed and you know what’s the great news about this? I had a talk with them to see if there were any other available positions in the company. It turns out, the CEO fired his PA on last week. How about you apply for the position? With a good word from me, you have a pretty good chance of getting it,” he shrugged.

“Wait, really?”

“Yes. Although you might want to get started on your application now. The deadline for submission is today midnight and even though I actually know the CEO, he is pretty strict on deadlines,” he said.

“Thank you so much,” I smiled. Well, maybe I would not have to do so much job-hunting then.

“No, don’t thank me. It’s the least I could do after making you drop your entire life and move here with me,” he squeezed my palm over table appreciatively.

There goes the butterflies in my stomach again.