Intimate Strangers (4 page)

Oh man, she’d gone and ruined everyone’s day today, without even trying. Some days, Chelsea wondered why she even got out of bed. If it wasn’t for Ruan, she’d most likely just give up. There wasn’t anything else or anyone else to live for.

Inside, Hannah led Chelsea to the kitchen where Mac, Kayla and Tiaan were already seated around the large, round oak table. She slipped into a chair beside Mac when he motioned for her to and did her best to keep her gaze away from the father of her child. As usual, Hannah flitted around the kitchen, relishing in her job as hostess, setting out glasses and a large frosty jug of homemade raspberry and lemon iced tea. She returned a few seconds later with plates and slices of her lemon glazed cake.

Everyone except for herself and Tiaan took a slice. Chelsea didn’t gamble, but she would bet that he didn’t have much of an appetite either. He was busy staring at Ruan so she took the opportunity to look him over. The exciting and carefree man she met in the elevator had vanished, leaving in his place someone cagey and irritated. That mouth of his, the one always grinning, now turned down in a permanent scowl. How could one man change so much in twelve months?

His frame seemed a little thinner as well, though still quite bulky and muscular. Hannah mentioned that he’d been through, well, the exact word she used was
something
. Chelsea didn’t know what he did for a living, but again, if she was to wager, she’d guess he did something with the military.

Mac and Hannah both ran a foundation called
Help for Heroes
and if they hadn’t met him through that, then he must have known Mackenzie from before. What little she managed to find out about Mac was that he used to belong to a covert section of the US government and recently received a pardon from them in order to obtain his Canadian citizenship. Now he did freelance security consulting which he was taking some time off from at the moment to stay at home with Kayla and Erik.

Jeez, sitting here, so close to the man who haunted her mind – awake and asleep – for the past year…she could only describe it as surreal. A quick glance over to Ruan and her heart stuttered in her chest.

What did he see when he looked at their child? He did say he didn’t want any kids, making it abundantly clear that he especially didn’t want
this
child. Just the thought caused her heart to ache. All anyone had to do was spend a little time with Ruan and they fell madly in love with him.

If Tiaan just held his son, maybe he might feel a connection to him. A sob nearly choked her. Chelsea pressed her hand to her still not completely flat abdomen and sent up a silent prayer that if he did hold the infant, he wouldn’t want to run away and take Ruan with him.

Clearing his throat, Mac started off their talks. “So, from what I gather, Chelsea and Christiaan met about a year ago, and they both stayed at the same hotel.” He turned to eye his daughter, who seemed oblivious to any issue with her being there.

“Dad, seriously, we already did sex education and I’ve known how babies are made since I was about eight years old. Our neighbour in London had these two cats that would go at it like mad–”

“Christ, Kayla! What did we say about talking like that?” He shoved his hands over his face while expelling the air from his lungs in a hiss. Hannah giggled, causing some of her iced tea to spray out on the table. “Nice,” he growled, “the women in this household have a penchant for making a mess. Right, can we get this over with quickly? I’m not used to so much commotion.

“Based on the information we have regarding blood types, not to mention the fact that Chelsea’s story matches Tiaan’s, I think it’s safe to assume for now that Ruan
is
your son. Tomorrow morning I’ll take the three of you,” he paused, eyeing Chelsea, Tiaan and the sleeping Ruan, “down town and we’ll do a proper test to determine paternity. It’ll take about a week or so to get the results and have them mailed to us. So until then, let’s all just try and be civil towards each other.” Mac aimed his view directly at his friend as he finished the speech.

Tiaan’s dark whiskey hued eyes met hers with the same hunger and intensity as their first meeting and she could swear the earth moved a fraction of an inch. Suddenly, the moment passed, like she simply made it up. She blinked to see him staring at her like she’d grown a second head.

“Everyone okay with that plan?” Mac folded his hands on the table, fingers itching to reach for a second slice of cake.

“Yah,” Tiaan replied.

Chelsea opened her mouth but her watch started to beep, reminding her of her impending appointment. “Fine. I need to get to the bank to discuss keeping my loan from going into default–” Dammit! She didn’t mean to leak that information. The only people who knew about her debt were Hannah and Mac.

“Great, she owes money,” Tiaan snorted. “Don’t think you can ask me for any.”

At his rude statement, Chelsea squared her shoulders and stuck out her chin, eyes shooting daggers at Tiaan. “I already told you, I don’t want a damned thing from you. The section on Ruan’s birth certificate for father is blank and it’ll remain that way because he has no father. Regardless of your genetic contribution to the creation of
my
son, Ruan and I don’t have any room in our lives for a…a selfish jerk that neither wants nor needs us. My debt is my own fault for allowing myself to be duped by a heartless bastard in an elevator, and I am paying it off on my own, just like I have been raising
my
son. Alone, and without any help from you.”

Chelsea pushed back her chair and walked around the table to collect Ruan who finally woke up and was hungry. She ignored Tiaan’s glare as she brought the tiny, precious bundle to her chest and stormed out of the kitchen.

“Remember just a few minutes ago, I told you not to be such a piece of…” Mac paused, most likely recalling that Kayla was still in the room and that he’d have to curb his language. “Garbage…yeah. Did you completely forget about that?”

Before she was completely out of earshot, Chelsea heard Tiaan reply, “I don’t know what it is about her, but she gets my guard up. I can’t help it.”

So what? He turned her entire world upside down without a second’s thought. Chelsea got into her car and headed off to the bank, hoping to beg the manager to reconsider sending her case to a collection agency. If she had any extra money to offer, she would be paying more than just the smallest minimum on the very high balance.

Selfish. That’s the kind of man he turned out to be, and it tore another chunk of her heart away.

Five

After a sleepless night, Tiaan accompanied Mac and an incredibly pissed off Chelsea downtown to begin their adventure in paternity testing. On some kind of molecular level, he knew Ruan was his son, made of his own flesh and blood, but the biting, snappy woman who brought the sweet-natured babe into the world worried him.

Since her outburst yesterday, he received an earful from Mac explaining that the university and the scholarship program required her to pay back every cent with the highest possible – and legal – interest when she had to drop out of the program. Mac told him that the Dean felt her reason wasn’t good enough for her to not have to pay everything back.

He had to admit, that part did make him feel like a piece of crap. Not to mention her dream, which she’d had to give up because of him. How would he have felt, being forced to put aside his dreams because of a single night of passion? Hell, Tiaan knew he’d be just as irate about the whole situation as she was.

But…

Why hadn’t she told him that she wasn’t on the pill?

She had ample opportunity to announce that little fact. Or…

Wait…had she?

Tiaan sat in the waiting room, eyes closed, going through that night in his mind. As soon as the lift stopped moving and the lights went out, he jumped at the chance to comfort the sexy little thing. And no sooner had he kissed those soft lips did she end up nude and writhing on the floor beneath him. Hell, Tiaan never told her his name. He never gave her a chance to say much of anything, attacking her the way he did.

“Okay, Ruan Carstens and family?”

Tiaan snapped his gaze not to the nurse who spoke, but to Chelsea. At first, surprise touched her lovely features, softening her eyes and mouth. Then she glared at him, like
he
had made the nurse announce such a thing.

“It’s Ruan
Reid
and
he
isn’t a part of the family.” Chelsea very clearly motioned to Tiaan.

The nurse offered Chelsea a sad and understanding smile, like she knew how the other woman felt. Damn, so he was outnumbered here! Even Mac was taking her side.

Shit, this is all your fault though
, his conscience reminded him.

Ja, Ja, Ja
.

Stubborn bastard.

Trailing after the women, Mac shadowing him as if he might run the hell away – the thought crossed his mind – Tiaan entered yet another room, this one with a large cherry wood desk sitting in front of a wall filled with medical diplomas. He felt a pang of guilt for having taken that away from Chelsea. What field of medicine had she been interested in? He’d taken a few courses over the years, mostly in biology.

Watching her with Ruan and with Erik, he could see her being one hell of a pediatrician. She was a natural around kids and genuinely seemed to care about Erik even though she had no direct relation to the child.

The nurse ushered them all into the office and got them sitting down. “The doctor will be with you shortly.” She closed the door behind her with a very final sounding click.

With Mac in the middle and Chelsea holding Ruan on the other side, he watched her lift up her shirt and begin to feed the hungry little guy. In spite of the obviously non-erotic display, he was instantly hard, recalling how his own mouth had fastened over that very nipple. Jesus Christ, someone he helped to create was actually feeding from a part of the only woman who helped him get through months of torture! It wasn’t like he’d get turned on by the bloody buffet table so how did this happen?

“Don’t stare,” Mac reprimanded and jabbed him in the ribs.

I’m a bona-fide asshole
, he mused sardonically.
No better than a bloody, horny teenager
.

Thankfully the doctor arrived, saving his thoughts from becoming too degrading even for him, and they began the process. One heck of a lot of paper work to fill out before anyone was swabbed. Tiaan actually felt embarrassed that he didn’t know what Ruan’s middle name was, among other things, as he offered to fill out the forms while she continued to feed their baby.

After sitting with the idea for a few hours, as well as standing over him and Chelsea while they slept last night, he knew Ruan was his. Still, he needed this final formality though before he would officially allow himself feel anything.

“Erm, what’s his…
?” Tiaan was leaning across Mac to ask her just as Ruan pulled away, leaving him in full view of her exposed breast. All logic slipped away as images from that one night assaulted his mind.

Chelsea
was sprawled out on his hotel room bed, her hands secured high above her head with a slipcover that he had removed from one of the pillows.

That sly grin she gave him as she watched his mouth sliding further down her body
sent heat pooling in his groin.

He held her gaze, caught the darkening of her irises to cerulean when he reached his first stop
.

With a flick of his tongue over the stiff peak, she gasped,
thrusting her hips upwards, spurring him on.

Like a dare, silently begging…

Mac cleared his throat.

The doctor chuckled.

And Chelsea, her face turned about as red as the burgundy striped onesie that Ruan had on.

“Bloody hell,” Tiaan gasped, ducking his head between his knees.

“I um, I-I’ll do it.” Chelsea righted her shirt and handed Ruan to Mac, then she accepted the forms from the doctor who graciously passed them over. “Oh, wow.”

Tiaan sat up so fast he gave himself a head rush.
Act your age, old man!
his conscience cried out. “What? Did I put something in the wrong spot?”

For the first time since he re-entered her life, Chelsea graced him with a smile. Just a tiny one, not even enough curve to her lips to be called a half smile, but a smile nonetheless. Though beautiful when pissed off, she looked even better now. His heart relaxed just a little.

“I didn’t know you were…I mean, I um…never mind.” Chelsea hunched over the desk, shaking her head while she continued filling out the information.

Ah, she must have noted how old he was, written down under the ‘suspected father’ section. Quite a large difference between them. But if his memory served him correctly, age did not matter when they were together that night. In fact, nothing at all mattered except the two of them. They hadn’t even spoken much, other than to tell the other what they wanted from the next round.

Once the paperwork was completed and Mac paid the fee, the doctor took a buccal swab from both Tiaan and Ruan – who unfortunately had fallen asleep and was woken up during the procedure – to collect a sample of their DNA. They were told to expect a call in two days’ time and sent on their way. So that was it, now he just had to wait.

On the way to Mac’s SUV parked on the roof, the older man waited until they were all in the lift and then announced, “Hannah and I have decided to give you some time off, Chelsea, so you can have some space to sort your head out.”

Panicked, eyes filled with fear and her entire body tense, she parted her trembling lips and darted out her tongue to wet them. Tiaan developed a deep yearning to mirror her actions with his own tongue, to follow that trail on her ruby pout but at a much, much slower pace.

“I can’t afford to take time off, I…” Red-faced, she met Tiaan’s stare and held it for a fraction of a second, then averted her gaze. “They’re taking my car away. The bank gave me until tomorrow.”

“Jesus, how bad is it?” Tiaan wondered aloud.

“Doesn’t matter.” She straightened, visibly erecting a wall around herself. “It’s my problem.”

“Chelsea, Hannah and I already begged you to let us help. And if you feel the need to reimburse us, we won’t charge interest, so you can take as long as you need to pay it back. Please? Just give me a number.” Mac placed a hand on her shoulder, a show of kindness and comfort from a man who stood six feet, six inches tall. “You know I have vays of makeeng you talk…” He waggled his brows.

Releasing a shuddering sigh, Chelsea hung her head in resignation and…was it his imagination or did she hug Ruan a little more snugly to her chest?

“Two hundred and seventy-nine thousand.”

Bloody.

Fucking.

Hell.

“Is that it?” Mac let out a hearty chuckle, tousling Chelsea’s hair. Turning to Tiaan, he spoke through laughter. “Remember that one job you did with me, off the books a few years back? Christ, we each brought home three times that! Chelsea, I know it seems like a lot, but I’ve got plenty just sitting around in an account. You managed to get three years under your belt and that will count when you decide to go back.

“In the meantime, what the hell is the point of letting this debt continue to pile up on you when we can help? I know you’re not big on hand outs, so don’t see it that way. If you want, we can even have a legal contract set up so you don’t feel like we’re gifting this to you. What do you say?”

Since his early days in the military, when he first met Mackenzie Dunlop, Christiaan was never short on money, unlike growing up. So although he knew what it was like to live below the poverty line, he never knew the feeling of having a bank account in the red or collectors after him. And thanks to Mac, he never would.

Now because of a foolish lust-filled night he shared with Chelsea, she was suffering that fate. If anyone was to loan her the money, it should be him. But she would never take anything he offered, Tiaan recognized and understood it. He had betrayed her, in a twisted fashion. If he was in her position, he would feel exactly the same.

Tiaan watched the play of emotions across her face. A few conflicting ones surfaced, including dread, exhaustion, anger and relief, but the most prevalent one he saw was unhappiness. Chelsea appeared to have lost all of the playful confidence she possessed on the night they met. He wasn’t the only one who lost a piece of himself since their encounter and that recognition merely served as the boot up the side of the head he deserved.

“Only if you guys are sure,” she finally replied. “And I
will
pay you back, to the very last penny.”

Mac breathed a sigh and tightened his grip on her shoulder. “I wouldn’t expect anything less. But you’re taking this time off. You need it, we all know how tired you are. Hell, Chelsea, we’re your family now, okay? Kind of a messed up family,” he spoke through laughter while drying her tears with his sleeve, “but your family, nonetheless.”

Even though the elevator reached their final destination, neither Chelsea nor Mac made any move to exit the lift. Their embrace, completely friendly in nature, succeeded in giving the green eyed monster cause to rear his ugly head.

This was such a mind fuck. Part of him wanted to be the guy she turned to, the man who solved her problems and comforted her when she was down. The other part, the part of him that had his wires crossed, wanted to run the hell away from everyone and everything.

Perhaps he should have put off this trip and accepted those therapy sessions. Then again, even if he spent the entire six months in a shrink’s office, there was no guarantee that Tiaan would ever be the same again. Not just scarred and damaged on the outside, but ruined on the inside as well. So even if were possible for him to control the insanity in his head for five minutes, any woman who saw him without his clothes on would be horribly repulsed.

“Christiaan?”

“Hmm?” He lifted his head to see Chelsea observing him with unrestrained confusion.

“Are you coming? I’ve already put Ruan in the car seat and we’re just waiting for you now.”

“
Ja
, sorry.”

Walking side by side back to Mac’s SUV, he resisted the overwhelming desire to move his fingers just a fraction of an inch and hold her hand. What would it feel like, just to touch her somewhere so completely innocuous, such as her finger?

“You’re so different,” she spoke almost too softly for him to hear, “at least, from what I remember. But I guess finding out the way you did…” Chelsea shook her head, face hidden behind those wide, cinnamon curls. “Never mind. Sorry to bring it up.”

“No, please.” Tiaan stopped in his tracks and, just as he wanted to, held both of her hands in his. It felt like a drug, the sweetest release of his pain and agony.

What would happen if she used these same hands on the ruined flesh beneath his clothing?

Would he feel whole again?

A sea of turquoise gazed at him, those large, beautiful eyes of hers. “I never rang you because I never
saw
a slip of paper with a phone number.” At the very least, he owed her an explanation. “Moments after I awoke to find myself alone, I received a telephone call from my superiors and rushed to pack before catching the very next flight out. If I had seen your number, Chelsea, please believe that I would have contacted you.”

Her eyes searched his, seeking out some grain of truth in his words. If this test revealed that he really was Ruan’s father, at the very least, they would have to get along. No matter that he wished to crawl into her arms and seek out the comfort she might be able to provide him like a newborn child with his mother. Or that she alone possessed the ability to turn what was left of his brain to mush with absolutely no effort on her part.