“One at a time, buddy,” Josh said.
“Right.” Zach envied the man’s cool. “I don’t know what I’d do if you weren’t here.”
“Enough,” he said smoothly. “You’re family. We’ll always be here for you.”
That made a smile turn Zach’s mouth. His biological family had never backed Zach, yet every member of the Renegades, none of whom were any blood relation, had been there at every turn from his very first job with them.
His gaze moved over the bar. They were sitting in a booth with a direct line of sight to the stool where Tessa had been the night he’d seen her for the first time, where she’d waited for hours, watching him while thinking he was Ian, waiting all that time for “Zach” to show. God, what a mess… A colossal clusterfuck of a mess…
“What did Ellen say about your rights?” Josh asked.
“That after we prove she’s mine through DNA, we can work out some kind of custody arrangement.”
“Man, I can’t lie. I’m envious.”
Zach focused on Josh. “You are?”
“Yeah. I really want a kid, but Grace isn’t ready. And she’s right. I know we should wait. Give ourselves time to be a couple before we dive into family, but the thought of having a little guy running around just makes me…” He shook his head. “I can’t explain it. It gives me a joy I can’t describe. I love the idea of that cementing force of my own family. Of working with Grace as a team toward something we both cherish. It’s…I don’t know, grounding or something.”
Somewhere, beneath all the turbulence inside Zach, he identified with Josh’s beliefs. Only his “family” wasn’t going to happen at all the way he’d hoped it would someday—girlfriend to wife, wife to family, raising children together, growing old together. No, Zach was going about it all ass-backwards. Now he was suddenly looking at being a single, part-time father with an impossible schedule.
“She also agreed with you on staying close to Tessa,” Zach said, squirming in his seat at the uncomfortable thought. “But I don’t like the idea of manipulating her.”
“It’s not manipulation,” Josh said. “You like her, right? I mean you told me you two had an amazing night together.”
“We did. And, yeah, I like her. I mean, I did before all this happened. Now… Shit, now I don’t know which way is up.”
Marshall’s rented Lexus pulled into the parking lot. One problem at a time, he reminded himself. “Marshall’s here.”
“I suggest you get over it,” Josh told him as he glanced toward Marshall’s car. “Do what you have to do to keep your kid, dude. If you don’t, you’ll spend your whole life regretting it. I’ve seen it happen enough to know.”
Josh emitted an aura of supreme control. Maintained the mindset of walking away a winner like no other option existed. He was looking at Zach with his back toward the door, but he seemed to know the moment Marshall stepped in the bar. His smile turned edgy, and he muttered, “Game on, sucker.”
Zach waited until Marshall looked his way to wave him down.
His agent came up to the table with his normal upbeat-but-rushed air. “Hey, guys.” He offered his hand to Zach as he slid his briefcase onto the seat beside him, then took up residence on the other side and flagged a waitress. “Hey, gorgeous, whiskey and Coke for me.”
“How’d filming go today?” he asked them.
“Good,” Zach answered.
“Fantastic. You’re blowing the studio away, man. We’re narrowing down the options.” He tapped his briefcase. “I’ve got their boilerplate contract right here. I know filming’s keeping you busy, but we need to carve out time to go over things.”
It burned Zach that this man had a hand in the deal that would turn Zach’s dream into reality and take him into a whole different phase of his life.
“I need to talk to you about another contract issue.” He shifted in the booth and leaned his shoulder against the wall, angling toward Marshall. Zach channeled Josh’s grounded, controlled confidence as best as he could.
“Oh, yeah?” Marshall sat forward and clasped his hands on the table. “What’s that?”
“It involves a woman named Corinne Westerly.”
Marshall darted a look between Zach and Josh with a shake of his head. “Doesn’t sound familiar. Remind me. What company is she with?”
“He’s going to deny it, they all do,” Josh had counseled Zach beforehand. “He’ll try to change the subject, divert to another issue, turn it around. Just keep going at him, stick to the facts. He’ll break. It’s all about perseverance.”
“She’s not with a company. She’s a woman I hooked up with after the party in Huntington Beach when they inducted me into the Hall of Fame.”
Marshall’s high-energy aura slipped a little. He frowned, shook his head, then sat back as the waitress served his drink. “Thanks, darlin’.” He took a sip. “Man, that’s a long time ago. Hell, I don’t even remember who I hooked up with that night.”