Billionaire's Secret Baby

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Ember

How could I not know about Cohen Nash owning this freaking resort?

Seven years of making sure to never cross paths with the man, and here I am, staying in a resort that he owns. What were the chances of that happening?

Houston was a big city, but not so big that people didn’t talk about each other, especially those who’d made a huge success out of themselves. And Cohen had made an enormous success out of himself.

I’d only ever seen the man wearing jeans and t-shirts — the expensive suit blew my mind. And he’d never looked better either. I hated how easily he affected me, making my insides melt just by seeing his handsome face. And when he touched me, moisture blossomed in my lower region, the way I’d only experienced with him.

Unfortunately, the way he made me feel was on the taboo side since he’d dated my sister before dating me. Not that anyone in my family knew about that one week of the hottest and most passionate s*x of my entire life. And the secret week would have to stay that way — permanently. No one could ever know that Cohen and I had even shared so much as a single kiss on the cheek. My sister would die, and my parents would kill me if they ever found out the truth.

His wavy dark hair had been longer back then. Now he wore it in a neat, shortly cropped style that made him look much more mature than he’d looked back then. But his eyes were still the same gorgeous green as always. He’d always been muscular, but I could tell he’d devoted much more time to keep his muscular physique in peak condition. Still the hottest guy I’ve ever known.

Madison had already showered and changed her clothes after our run. As I emerged from the bathroom in a white robe provided by the resort, I found her sitting on the bed with my cell phone in her hand. “Yeah, Grammy, this place is crazy nice. And the man who owns this place knows Mom, and he knows Aunt Ashe too. Isn’t that crazy?”

Rolling my eyes, I went to the closet to pick something out to wear for lunch. “Tell Mom I said hi.”

“Mom says hi.” Madison smiled at me. “Wear something nice like me, Mom. I wanna go somewhere fancy for lunch.” She moved her hand over her blue dress, which made her dark hair stand out.

“Fancy, got it.” I pulled out some casual grey slacks and a pink blouse. “I’ll wear my pink flats with this.”

“How about your black heels,” she counseled me with her wise fashion sense.

“Didn’t bring them.” I was on vacation with my six-year-old kid; I hadn’t planned a night out to town. “The flats will work.”

“Anyway, Grammy, why did Aunt Ashe break up with Cohen? He’s so handsome, and now he’s got like a zillion dollars or something — at least that’s what Mom said. Aunt Ashe really messed up.”

“Your Aunt Ashe is very happy with your Uncle Mike, so she didn’t mess up,” I let her know. Plus, Ashe hadn’t been the one to do the breaking up.

Cohen had been the one who ended their relationship. And as far as I knew, he’d done all the breaking up with all the girls he’d dated. He’d broken many hearts along the way.

From what he’d told me, I was the only woman ever to break up with him. Not that my heart hadn’t been broken when I put an end to things.

I’d liked Cohen. We had similar interests, and I really enjoyed his company. And he had bedroom moves that blew my mind. Leaving him wasn’t easy. As a matter of fact, it was one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do.

But it had to be done.

“Are you sure about that, Grammy?” Madison asked as she looked at me with raised brows. “Mom, Grammy says that he broke up with Aunt Ashe.”

“I don’t know why you care or why you thought that she broke up with him in the first place. No one told you that. You just came up with it on your own.” I took my clothes, then went back into the bathroom to put them on.

“He doesn’t look like a mean person, so I thought that it had to be Aunt Ashe who broke up with him. You know what she’s like.”

I did know how my older sister could be. But I didn’t like my kid talking about her aunt in a negative way. “She’s good to you, and you know it.”

“Yeah — me and only me — for some reason. Not Uncle Mike, and she can be pretty mean to Abby and Joey, even though they’re her own kids. You remember when she made them eat all the disgusting green peas on their plates? You didn’t make me eat all of mine. That’s because you’re nicer than her.” There was a pause, and then I heard her talking to my mother, “Grammy, I’m sorry. I know Aunt Ashe loves me very much. But she’s very bossy most of the time. And she has to have her way all the time.”

Looking in the mirror, I saw a line etched on my forehead. I’m only twenty-seven for the love of all that’s holy.

Rubbing my fingers over it, I tried in vain to smooth it out. The fact was that I had a lot on my plate right now and for the last seven years. I needed this vacation to help take the load off my back for a couple of days. But now that Cohen was here, I knew that wasn’t going to happen.

The man had a strong will, and once he set his sights on something — or someone — he didn’t let up until he got what he wanted. And I could see it in his captivating green eyes. He wants me.

So, I would have to find ways to avoid him for the rest of our stay. And that was precisely why I planned on taking Madison out of the resort for all our meals. The resort provided all the meals for free, so the plan had been to eat at the restaurants there to save money. But with Cohen around, I wasn’t about to take any chances.

The man was, and always would be, a man-w***e. And I had no room in my life for a man like that. Actually, I had no room in my life for any man at all.

Since work already took so much of my time, my free time was reserved exclusively for my daughter. I’d taken the job three years ago, and it had changed our lives significantly.

We’d gone from living with my parents to being able to get our own place. Sure, I was just renting, but at least we had our own home. And I could buy my daughter the things she needed without relying on my parents for help.

Making good money was nice, even though it interfered with being with my daughter. But my sights weren’t set on remaining a mud-logger forever. My goal was to work in my company’s office one day — whenever a job opening came around. Then things would be different, and I would have plenty of time to spend with my daughter.

“Grammy! Don’t say things like that. It’s rude,” Madison chastised her grandmother.

I’d finished getting dressed and came out to see what was going on. “Madison, don’t talk to your grandmother that way.”

Her jaw hung open, and her eyes were as big as saucers. “But Mom, she said that Cohen Nash was a no good, no account womanizer who used her daughter, then left her crying for weeks on end. And he seems too nice to have done those things.”

“Tell your Grammy goodbye so we can get going. We’ve gotta go find somewhere to eat.” I held out my hand, wiggling my fingers for her to give me my cell phone.

“I love you, Grammy. Even if you are wrong about Cohen. Bye.” She swiped the screen, ending the call before giving me the phone.

“She’s not entirely wrong about him, honey. But your aunt didn’t cry for weeks, it was more like a few days. Her pride was injured more than anything else.” The fact was that my daughter was right about her aunt. Ashe was bossy, and she did have to always have things her way. She’d always been like that. We’d gotten used to the way she acted, but Cohen never had. And that’s why he ended things with her. He’d told me that much.

“What was Grammy talking about when she called him a womanizer?” She got off the bed, then went to look at herself in the mirror.

“A womanizer.” I still preferred to call him a man-w***e. “Well, he was one back then. But he was young, only twenty-two. It means he used to date a lot of different girls.” Maybe he still did. The absence of a wedding band on his finger told me that he hadn’t settled down with anyone. Plus, he didn’t mention having any kids of his own, and I felt sure he would’ve done that had he had some. But what did I know? I hadn’t even heard that he’d become a zillionaire.

“If he was young when he did those things, then I don’t think it counts. Do you, Mom?” She smoothed her hair with one hand as her natural waves could be rather stubborn.

“You can’t judge a person based on their past.” Smiling, I took out the hairbrush. “Come here and let me give your hair the once-over, then we’ll go find somewhere fancy to eat, just the way you want.”

“While you were in the shower, I looked at the little book that was on the table. This place has three really fancy restaurants right here in the resort. I want to eat at this one.” She ran over and picked up the brochure, then pointed at something. “I can’t sound out the word.”

“Essence.” I didn’t want to eat inside the resort and risk running into Cohen again. “I thought we’d go out to find somewhere to eat.”

“But look at these pictures – it looks so yummy!” She stuck out her bottom lip in disappointment. It was a look that I could never say no to.

“Okay, honey. We can eat at the place you want.” I would just have to make sure not to run into Cohen again. Easier said than done.