No. Tessa was just a means to an end. That was all she was to anyone. For Corinne, she was a substitute mother. To her clients, she was a path to creating law out of ideas. And to Zach, she was a convenient lay while he manipulated Sophia away from her.
“You don’t want to lose Sophia.” She pulled her lips between her teeth, biting down hard to stem the tears before she met his eyes again. “And you won’t. We’ll set up reasonable visitation. If I need to take time off work to bring her here while you’re filming, I’ll find a way to do that at least once during the season so you won’t have to go months without seeing her. You’re welcome to Skype and call her whenever you want.”
“I want more than that, Tessa.” He closed in and gripped her biceps. “I want you.”
She sputtered a disheartened laugh. “No, you don’t. The only reason you’re saying that is because you know Sophia and I come as a package deal. You want all or nothing. That lawyer of yours isn’t stupid. She read you, she read the situation, and she positioned you for the kill.” She poked his chest with one rigid finger. “Next time you talk to her, ask her if she’s got kids of her own. I’ll bet you your first paycheck as a television star that she doesn’t. Because when it comes to kids, there is no all-or-nothing. Everything is a fucking negotiation. A goddamned moment-by-moment battle over minutiae. A day-by-day, hour-by-hour, moment-by-moment work of art—all in infinite shades of gray. There is no sanity or stability in trading a child between parents on opposite sides of the continent every few months. And there sure as hell is no pulling a child from one parent to live with the other just because she’s starting kindergarten, and expecting everyone’s life to be all ribbons and flowers.”
“Those were her words,” Zach said. “Not mine. I just want to be her father, Tessa. And I want to do it with you.”
“You will be a father to her. A damn fine one, I have no doubt.” Tessa’s throat tightened with emotion. She’d experienced enough deception. “But not with me.”
Pulling out of his grasp felt like a rip in her heart. She turned away from him and moved to the door. Once she’d forced herself to open it, she stood back, inviting him to leave. “I’ll call you before we leave so you can say good-bye to Sophia. That will give you a few days to figure out your schedule and tell her when you’ll see her again.”
20
Zach peered through the back window of the Uber. “Wow, she has way better taste in places to live than me.”
“It has nothing to do with taste,” his driver said. “It has everything to do with affordability.” He put the car in Park and looked over his shoulder at Zach. An Ethiopian immigrant, he had dark, dark skin, a long, thin face, and a warm smile. “And if she lives in this neighborhood, you might want to put a ring on her finger.”
Zach laughed. He’d figured out the ring part about forty-eight hours after she’d left Hawaii. As far as money went, she certainly had way more money than Zach did. So he was happy to discover that questionable rentals and nice rentals could be found so close together in DC, because he now lived only about two miles away. Hell of a lot better than almost five thousand miles. Though, he had to admit, his job and surfing prospects sucked. Majorly.
“One step at a time,” he murmured to himself, then told the driver, “Thanks, man.”
He stood on the sidewalk and looked up at the brownstone, a clean, sandy-colored stone building with arched windows and ornate decorative detail. It was…impressive. And he was feeling pretty puny at the moment. Especially when his brother worked as a big shot in the Capitol building at his back.
But, damn, it was fucking cold here. “DC in winter is not going to be a fun experience.”
Unless he could take Sophia sledding and teach her to throw snowballs. She was plenty old enough to get on a snowboard, and judging by her surfing ability, she’d probably be a killer snowboarder.
He had to stay positive.
The wrought iron gate barely reached his knees, and he opened it with a chuckle. “Must not have grown them tall back in the nineteenth century.”
As soon as he stood at the front door, Zach’s humor died and nerves took its place. He pulled in a deep breath and prepared to get hammered. It had only been a few weeks, but he hadn’t spoken with her since he’d said good-bye in Maui. She’d texted him only once—with her attorney’s information. She didn’t answer his calls during the day, and she wasn’t returning his voice mails. Either Abby or Sophia answered Tessa’s phone in the evening. Even when he asked Sophia if he could talk to Tessa, their daughter had recited the “she’s busy” script. When he emailed Tessa, he got polite responses that contained information only about Sophia’s activities, school schedule, and possible dates he could see his daughter. Something he had no doubt she’d have Abby facilitate if he didn’t take steps to change that.
So here he was, ready to get gut punched. Not altogether undeserved, but he still wasn’t looking forward to it. He was fully prepared to wait on her doorstep if she wasn’t home, but her firm said she wasn’t at work when he called, so he hoped… Well, he hoped she wasn’t having the receptionist lie to him too. If that was the case, Zach’s ass would go numb waiting on these concrete steps.
The front door was glass framed in wood. Beyond the glass, Zach saw a hallway on the right and a staircase on the left, leading up, but that was it.
“Here goes nothin’.” He lifted his hand to knock, but paused when he saw three mailboxes to his right—for units A, B, and C. Oh, shit. It was a brownstone housing three different apartments.
He’d memorized her address, but had forgotten about a unit number, and there were no names on the boxes. Crap. Now what? He pulled out his phone to check his phone for the email with that information when a man came down the set of interior stairs to exit.
Zach stood aside, said hello to the man, then asked, “I’m here for Tessa Drake?”
“And you are?” he asked, protective.
“I’m Sophia’s dad.”
His brows went up. “Really.” He stuck out his hand. “Well, put ’er here, man. She’s a great kid.”
They shook. “Yeah, well, that’s got more to do with Tessa than me.”
“Yeah. Haven’t seen you around before.”
He nodded. “That’s going to change. I just moved to DC.”
“Welcome, man. I