Big Shot(33)
After a while, Samantha stepped out onto the deck with a happy, bright-eyed baby in her arms, Charlotte, who was about six months old, if Wes remembered correctly. Clay’s wife joined the women again, and the conversation around Wes suddenly faded as he watched as Natalie asked to hold the little girl, and Samantha didn’t hesitate to hand the baby over.
The expression on Natalie’s face was soft and wistful as she talked to Charlotte and tickled her belly, and the infant bounced in her arms and waved her fists gleefully, making Natalie laugh. Gently, she caressed her hand over the wispy blond hair on Charlotte’s head, then Natalie leaned in and gave the baby a sweet kiss on the temple.
That’s when Natalie caught him watching, the look etching her features filled with unmistakable longing that said, I want this so much. Not with him, he knew, but with a man who could, and would, give her those things.
In that moment, Wes was grateful that his heart was concealed inside of his chest, because it suddenly felt heavy with a regret he’d never, ever experienced before. And he certainly didn’t want to start thinking about what ifs right now. But all at once he was hyperaware that most everyone around him at this party was married and happy and starting families and moving on with their lives. Hell, even Mason’s wife, Katrina, and Levi’s wife, Sara, were walking around with noticeable pregnant bellies and glowing about it. And Wes was . . . right where he’d always been. Single, happy—which was relative to each person, he supposed—and swearing he didn’t want to have anything to do with settling down.
“Uh, oh, are you feeling the urge to populate with some baby Sinclairs?” While Wes had been lost in his thoughts, Jackson had come up beside him and figured out what had ensnared his attention . . . Natalie holding a baby. He took a drink of beer from his bottle and glanced at his friend, giving him a droll smile. “Not even close.”
Jackson studied him for a few moments longer before glancing back at the circle of women and speaking again. “You know, the whole marriage thing isn’t as unpleasant as you might think.”
Wes arched a brow. “This coming from the guy who went through a nasty divorce?”
His friend shrugged. “So I didn’t get it right the first time, and looking back, I never should have married Collette, because I did it for the wrong reasons. But Tara . . . ” A sappy smile transformed his expression. “She is everything I want and didn’t know I needed. And so much more. But I suppose that’s something you’re just going to have to figure out for yourself.”
Wes rolled his eyes in humor. “Okay, yeah, thanks for your words of wisdom.” But he already knew they didn’t apply to him. And especially not him and Natalie—his best friend’s little sister and a woman who’d already set down strict guidelines for their affair, which didn’t include anything other than getting laid regularly for the next two weeks.
“By the way, isn’t that the brunette who was ignoring you that time we met for drinks over at the Popped Cherry?” Jackson questioned in a speculative tone.
Wes was surprised his friend remembered that evening. “Yes.”
“And now she’s dating you?” he asked incredulously. “How the hell did that happen?”
“She lost a bet we made, and now she owes me two weeks of her time.” That was the nice, polite version.
“Jesus, Sinclair, you’re resorting to bribing women now?” Laughter tinged Jackson’s voice.
“Hardly. I’ve never had to bribe a woman for anything. Natalie lost, fair and square.” He finished off the last of his beer. “So far, it’s been . . . interesting.”
Jackson scoffed. “A beautiful, sexy woman like that, and the only word you can come up with is interesting?”
Other words definitely came to mind to describe his time with Natalie so far . . . aggravating, frustrating, amusing, entertaining, and hot as hell. He couldn’t ever remember having so much fun with a woman before. But then again, no other woman would have ever dared to follow through with the stunts that Natalie had that night at his poker game. And looking back at that evening, Wes realized for as exasperated as he’d been at the time, he now thought about it with a fond smile. It took a daring woman to provoke him the way she had, without fear of the consequences. A woman with ingenuity to keep him guessing, which was a huge turn-on. Being with Natalie was like a whirlwind, and he enjoyed that unpredictability more than he would have ever believed.
Jackson’s wife, Tara, came up to them and grabbed her husband’s hand. “Hi, Wes,” she said to him with a smile. “Do you mind if I steal Jackson away for a few minutes?”
“Of course not,” Wes said graciously. “He is, after all, the birthday boy.”
Jackson’s eyes lit up hopefully, teasingly as he looked down at his wife. “Is this some kind of surprise present you can only give me in private?”
Tara batted his arm as a blush swept across her cheeks. “Behave yourself. You already got that present this morning.”
Jackson chuckled. “Yeah, that was a fantastic way to start the day, but I’m not opposed to another one of those presents.”
“Stop,” Tara said, embarrassed but still laughing.
She pulled Jackson away, and since Wes didn’t see Natalie around—last he’d seen of her she was heading into the house with Samantha and the baby—he ventured over to Clay to continue a conversation he’d been having with the other man about a commercial building in the city he was interested in purchasing to open another bar.