Just Like That (The Kings)

In the doctor’s office, Teddy looked at me with worried eyes. “Will it hurt?”

I crouched to level with him. “Not even a little bit. It’s a cotton swab—like a really big Q-tip. The nurse will rub it on the inside of your cheek and that’s that.”

I patted his shoulder and stood next to his chair. The office of the county DNA Diagnostic Center was sterile, and its plain walls and too-bright lighting made my eyeballs ache.

It kind of reminded me of home, and I didn’t like it.

I glanced at Hazel, who was fidgeting and picking at her nail polish while we waited to be called back. Lately her eclectic style and love of mood lighting had been taking over the house. At first it was a throw blanket, then something she called a pouf showed up on my living room floor. Yesterday, she had insisted on using only table lamps for indirect lighting instead of the very expensive overhead light fixtures I’d had custom made for the house.

Nothing she added to my house matched, yet everything seemed to tie together in her weird, bohemian style.

I wasn’t used to someone else coming into my home and disrupting the order I’d created, but I also wouldn’t admit that I didn’t hate it. The soft lighting was actually kind of nice.

Instead, I mostly grumbled and stayed quiet about it whenever something new and unexpected showed up inside the house.

That’s what you get for moving them inside.

“Theodore Adams?” A male nurse entered from the back, glancing up from his clipboard as he looked around the waiting room.

Teddy stood, and Hazel walked with him to the back, where they’d collect his sample and we’d all find out if he was really my kid.

Since we’d seen my sister, Hazel had casually brought up the Bluebird Book Club meeting more than once. It was clear to see that she wanted to go, but we hadn’t talked about it since our breakfast a few days prior. I considered what I might do to keep Teddy occupied while she was gone.

My mind came up blank.

“Fuck this,” I grumbled and pulled out my phone.

I needed reinforcements.

I slipped the phone into my pocket and leaned back into the uncomfortable office chair. With my eyes closed and head tipped toward the ceiling, I pressed my thumbs into my eye sockets.

Roping them in is probably a huge mistake.

Stress was compounding, and the pressure in my head was like a kettle that was about to blow. I needed a break. A minute to breathe. A fucking second where every decision didn’t completely upend a company or ruin a kid’s life.

My phone rang, and I stifled a groan before clearing my throat and answering. “What is it?”

Veda’s no-nonsense voice was on the other line. “Well, good morning to you too.”

I sighed. “Sorry.” Veda didn’t need apologies, but I still felt like less of a prick if I tried.

“Look, I know you have your paternity appointment today, and I wouldn’t bug you if it wasn’t important,” she said.

My head throbbed. “Go ahead.”

Straight to the point, she said, “We lost Data Collective.”

I sat up in my seat. “What the fuck.” An elderly lady next to me scowled, and I rested my elbows on my knees and lowered my voice. “What happened?”

“They said they aren’t comfortable moving forward with the deal. They cited concerns with the contract timeline, but my best guess is⁠—”

“They don’t want their company associated with King Equities while my father is on trial for first-degree murder?” I said.

“Bingo.”

It was really happening. King Equities was crumbling beneath me, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to save it.

“All right. I’ll figure it out and be in as soon as I’m done here.” I ended the call without waiting for her response and set my jaw.

Moments later, the nurse came back with Teddy and Hazel behind him. I stood when he called my name next.

I brushed past Hazel and Teddy as I followed the nurse to the room.

The DNA test was a necessity. Something I could actually check off my to-do list without adding seventeen more items.

It was also the most practical way to get to the bottom of Olive’s claim that I was Teddy’s father. Despite my deep dive into old emails and text messages, I still came up short whenever I tried to find out more information regarding how—and when—I’d met Olive Adams. She had convinced both Hazel and Teddy that I was his father, but I still couldn’t find the evidence.

Still, I had to try. It was my job to take charge and get results. My entire life people looked to me for answers and expected me to step up, and I did it.

I simply could not find a plausible connection between Olive and me outside of that photograph. I had always been a realist—that was just how I was built.

Still, I couldn’t quite explain the dread that filled my gut as the nurse walked me toward the back.

How do I accept the truth—that I couldn’t possibly be Teddy’s father—when my feelings for him and the prospect of actually being his dad wouldn’t stop growing?

After leaving the testing center, I drove Hazel and Teddy back to the house. She informed me they’d be going to the beach and asked if I wanted to come.

There was a tiny spark of yearning—like a reclamation of a childhood I had missed out on.

I shook my head, knowing every minute I was away from the office, more shit was hitting the fan. “No, thanks. You two have fun.”

“Back to the office?” she asked.

“I’ll be there if you—he—needs anything.” I cleared my throat, hoping she didn’t catch the tiny slip.

Hazel nodded and lowered her lashes. A lock of wavy hair tumbled in front of her face, and my fingers itched to brush it aside. My palm rose, tempted to see what would happen if I gave in.

My fingers curled into a fist and I turned toward Teddy. “We’re doing guys’ night in while Hazel goes to her book club. Are you okay with that?”

Teddy shrugged. “What guys?”

I tried to act casual. “Just some of your . . . um, uncles.”

I probably shouldn’t have referred to them as that, but what else was I supposed to call them?

Teddy’s face lit up. “Yeah!” He pushed open the passenger door and bounded toward the house.

When I looked over, Hazel was smiling at me.

“What?” I asked.

“Guys’ night?” She asked, and I tried not to stare at how pretty she was when she smiled.

I did what I could to play it cool. “I don’t know what to do to keep a kid entertained while you and your coven do whatever it is you do. I figured between all of us we could keep Teddy alive.”

Hazel blinked and gave me a flat, unimpressed look. “That’s very comforting.”

With an impatient sigh, I ignored her jab and leaned toward the glove compartment. I didn’t have to, but I let the back of my hand absently drag across her bare knee. She didn’t move away, and the jolt of her skin against mine was intoxicating.

I pulled a stack of papers from the glove box and handed them to her.

She accepted the papers with a puzzled look. “What’s this?”

I gestured toward the stack. “It’s everything needed to enroll Teddy in second grade here. They’ll want an address. You can use mine.”

She thumbed through a few pages and blinked up at me. “You contacted the school for me?”

With a stern nod, I sat back in the driver’s seat. “I took care of it. I know it’s going to take a while to get the paternity results back, so he might as well enroll here. Registration is all paid for, but it’s not a big deal if you make other plans.” I looked out onto the yard so she wouldn’t detect the nerves simmering at the edge of my voice.

A tightness seized my chest as I waited for her to confirm they’d be leaving.

“Um . . . thank you.” She seemed surprised that someone took the initiative to handle something for her.

“I could tell my sister’s questions about the school year freaked you out. Now it’s one less thing you have to worry about.” I was used to taking care of things. I just wasn’t used to how satisfying it felt to take care of things for her.

Her hand brushed against the handle of the car door.

I didn’t want her to leave. I wanted to stay locked in the cocoon of my BMW and show her what I would rather be doing instead of going to the office. I wanted her to thank me with that lush mouth of hers, only to prove I’d done it because I’d wanted to.

The silence in my car grew as we both stared. Her eyes were locked with mine, but in my peripheral vision, I could see the rise and fall of her chest.

“Thank you.” Her eyes were soft and unwavering as she looked at me in a way that made me feel twenty feet tall.

The air inside my car was fraught with unanswered questions and lingering tension. I knew better, but the feral part of me didn’t care who she was. I lifted my hand and brushed that stray lock of hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear. I should have dropped my hand, but instead I reveled in the way my fingertips could feel the hammering of her pulse behind her ear.

Her mouth opened as if she was going to say something, but stopped when I dropped my hand.

“Goodbye, Hazel.” I sat back in my seat and stared out the front window.

Without a word, she pushed open the passenger door and left, taking my breath with her.