“There was a woman here to see you earlier. I believe her name was Harper. I told her you weren’t home. Now I’mwondering if she snuck in when I took my break.” He talked so fast I wasn’t sure I had understood it all.
The worry in his voice was clear, though. He knew I didn’t like surprises.
“Are you sure she said her name was Harper?” I tried to picture her face and came up with nothing.
“Yes, sir.”
“Did she have a baby with her when you saw her?”
“No, she did not. I would definitely remember a baby.”
“Can you try and get a hold of Ms. Harper? Maybe Tommy still has her information? He drove her home last time.”
About a year and half ago, I had spent a wild night with Harper. At the end of our affair, I had Tommy drive her home. Then I left for London. I honestly had not thought of her until now.
“I’ll get on it right away.”
“Thank you.” I ended the call, rubbing the creases on my forehead, staring at the very real baby in front of me. Of course, I was thinking the worst. If Harper was here and purposely left a kid at my door, did that mean…? Adrenaline rushed through me, and I couldn’t finish the thought.
Was this my baby?
No, that couldn’t be. I’d never had sex without a rubber. And Harper wasn’t the motherly type. She wouldn’t go and have a baby without telling me. Though, if I were being honest, I didn’t know much about her. And she knew nothing about me. Not even my real name. We only hung out for one night, and it wasn’t like we spent the time talking and getting to know each other.
Well, what was the point of dwelling on whatwe did and didn’t do eighteen months ago? As soon as Frank got a hold of Harper, I would have my answers. I unlocked the door, pushed it open with my shoulder, and pulled the pushchair inside.
For several beats, I considered where to park it…err…him or her. I wasn’t a complete idiot when it came to infants. My sister had four of them. I visited her often and even helped out a bit. The idea of being the sole person responsible for another human being, though, scared the shit out of me. One thing I knew for sure—never wake a sleeping baby. At this hour, I wondered if she was down for the night.
In the end, I brought the pushchair with me and left it next to the bar cart while I fixed myself a drink. I needed to calm the fuck down and come up with a plan. So far all I had worked out was that I needed to find Harper, find out if the baby was hers and mine, and then figure out a paternity test, a parenting schedule. My mind went down a rabbit hole of more things that needed to happen before I could be a dad.
Mainly, the baby couldn’t possibly spend the night. Or the day for that matter. I had work to do—an office to go to. Nicolas wasn’t the hard ass he used to be now that he was happily married and with a kid, but he still expected his hacker issue to be resolved in a timely manner. From what he told me this morning, his shareholders and clients were riding his ass about the security breach.
My phone rang in my pocket, and I grabbed it as if my life depended on it. “Did you find her?” I didn’t even check the screen to make sure it was Frank calling.
“No, I’m sorry. I spoke with her roommate. She said Harper left the apartment about a year ago?—”
“Did she say where she might’ve gone?” I asked before he finished his sentence.
“No, she didn’t.”
This was a dead end. “Thanks, Frank.” I hung up.
What now?
Calling my sister would unleash an avalanche of questions from my sister, and then Mom, and possibly all of London. Until I knew for sure this was my baby, I had to keep this quiet. I could already see the tabloids going to town with this juicy news. Not that I cared what they thought. But this could impact the company, and Nicolas was already in hot water over the cyber hack. I couldn’t add a scandal to it. His shareholders would pressure Nicolas into hiring someone else to fix his problem. I’d never been fired from a job before. I wasn’t about to start now. Yeah, the irony wasn’t lost on me. Not two hours ago, I had fired Isla for way less.
I went down through my options and list of people I could call for help. Out of habit, I called Casey. She picked up on the second ring even though it was almost one in the morning there. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes and no. I have an interesting situation over here.” I glanced down at the baby, noting her chubby cheeks and long eyelashes. No sense in beating around the bush. “Someone—well, we think it was a woman named Harper—left a baby at my doorstep.”
“Omigod.”
The silence on the other end of the line made the hair on the back of my neck prickle.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“What? Of course, I’m sure. It’s a baby.”
“No, I mean, was it meant for you?”
