Licking her lips like a damned siren, she got to her feet.
“Come here.” He pulled her in, his hand at the back of her head, plundering her mouth with his tongue.
She kissed him back, enthusiastically. He turned her and backed her up against the door. He ran his hand up under her skirt, relishing the silky, hot skin of the back of her thigh, the lower curve of her ass, then the sweet, wet heat between her legs. She moaned as he slid a finger deep and ran his thumb over her clit.
She gripped his arms. “Please, James.”
He should tease her, play a little, make her beg. But he couldn’t take one more second not being balls deep. He rolled a condom on and lifted her against the door then bent his knees and thrust.
They moaned together, and he started moving immediately. He thrust again and again, taking them both higher and higher. He felt her clamp down around him just seconds before he roared her name as he came hard.
Panting, he leaned into her, resting his head against the door over her shoulder.
Slowly he became aware of her hands and knees gripping him. He pulled back and looked down her. She gave a big sigh and smiled up at him. He squeezed her ass, then let her legs swing to the floor as he stepped back and dealt with the condom.
They both worked to straighten their clothes then moved in to kiss again. As their lips touched, James’s phone dinged with a new text message.
He pulled his phone out, kissing her, glancing down to swipe the screen to open the message, then kissing her again. He lifted the phone and peered at it. Then he frowned.
“Everything okay?” Harper asked.
“It’s Lexi. She has the DNA test back. She wants to meet us at the apartment.”
Harper frowned, too. “That doesn’t sound good.”
No, it didn’t. James punched the button to dial Lexi’s number. “Lex, what’s going on?” he asked the second she answered.
“I was called into work tonight and just checked my mailbox, so I didn’t realize I had the results here,” she said.
“That’s okay. What do they say?”
“Let’s just meet at your apartment, and I’ll tell you both everything,” Lexi said. “I assume you’re with Harper.”
“I am.” James looked at the woman whose hair was a mess and whose lips and cheeks were pink. She looked well fucked. And happy. Why did his gut tell him that the happy look was going to be temporary.
“I’ll meet you there in ten minutes,” Lexi said.
“Just tell me now.”
“There’s… quite a bit to tell you,” Lexi said. “It really will be easier in person.”
James blew out a breath. “This doesn’t sound good.”
“I know,” Lexi agreed. “I’m sorry.”
Well, shit, that really didn’t sound good. Feeling like he had a cement block in his gut, he said, “Fine. See you soon.”
It took him a second to meet Harper’s gaze.
“What’s going on?” she asked quietly, obviously sensing something big was happening.
“I’m not sure exactly. Lexi got the DNA results back and wants to talk to us. She said it would be easier to explain everything in person.”
Harper frowned. “Oh.”
Yeah, oh.
“I haven’t asked Marcus about Caroline,” he said. He knew Harper would put the pieces together and realize Caroline was the girl from the W state. The final contender for Isaac’s mom.
Harper nodded. “I guess we could ask him quickly if he’s got her contact information.”
James nodded.
“Or we could come back.” Harper frowned. “I’m worried. I just want to get home to Isaac right now.”
James blew out a breath. “Me too.” Then he held out his hand.
Harper hesitated for just a second. But that second was long enough to make the ball in his gut tighten further. They both sensed something was wrong, and they knew it was going to change everything. Was Isaac sick? Did he have a genetic condition that was going to cause a disability or long-term problems or even be terminal? James felt cold suddenly. None of that had occurred to him. It had all seemed so easy to this point, actually. The baby had shown up, James had headed over to get Harper, she’d jumped in to help, they’d fallen in love with Isaac and each other, and they’d planned a future. It had all seemed to be falling into place. Yes, not knowing and needing to find the mother had seemed liked a complication, but he’d fully expected to offer her whatever she wanted to have her turn over all of her parental rights and for him and Harper and Isaac to ride off into the proverbial sunset together.
A moment later, Harper took his hand. Her pause had really only been for heartbeat or two, but it had felt like a year in some ways.
They stepped out of the office and turned down the hallway, heading out of the club without speaking. James pulled his phone out and called up his Uber app. There was a car available a couple of blocks over. They weren’t far from the apartment, but a car would get them there faster than walking, and while a part of him wanted to put off whatever Lexi was going to tell them, suddenly James needed to know what was going on. It was a burning in his gut.
He reserved the car and started up the side street. Harper didn’t ask a single question. Not even when he stopped by the car and opened the door for her. They didn’t talk on the drive back to the apartment or as they climbed the steps.
But he paused outside his door.
“You okay?” he asked Harper.
“No.”
He nodded.
“You?” she asked.
“No.”
She also nodded.
Finally, he inserted his key and opened the door. He knew Lexi wasn’t here just yet, since he hadn’t seen her car downstairs, but if she was coming from the hospital, she wasn’t far. She might have gone home to get Caleb, though. If this was really bad news, she might want James’s friend there to help break it.
He pushed the door open, letting Harper step in first, then following her, but she came up short. He bumped into her and looked up to see what had caught her attention.
It was Sophie and Isaac and Fred. Isaac was propped up in his car seat, sitting on the middle couch cushion. Fred was right beside him. They were both listening to Sophie read from what appeared to be a thick textbook. In French.
She gave Harper and James a little wave and smile but kept going, her voice almost singsong as she read the text out loud.
When she got to the end of the page, and what sounded like the end of the chapter, she stopped. “Hi,” she greeted.
“Hi,” Harper said, finally stepping fully into the apartment.
“I needed to finish reading that chapter, and he will just not go to sleep,” Sophie said, looking at the baby with a soft smile. “So I thought I’d combine studying with entertaining.”
“Looks like you have a rapt audience,” Harper said, moving to gaze down at the baby and the dog.
Fred gave a soft woof and wagged his tail. Harper ran a hand over his head and back and then let him lick her hand.
“Has Isaac been fussy?” she asked Sophie.
“No, not really,” Sophie said. “A bit when he was wet and hungry. But mostly he’s just been awake. Alert. Like he just wants to hang out and not miss anything.”