“What did I get them?”
“A lovely Armani layette for the darling baby Farryn, a gorgeous Hermes bag for the new mother, and a golf outing with the new father.”
“Are you talking about me?” Dallas asks from my doorway.
“What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at home?” I ask him.
“RiAnne is going to be in the hospital for a couple days. I took the rugrats to school and both the nanny and RiAnne’s mother are home with the little ones. I want to get the negotiations on the Captive deal done before Keatyn goes on her honeymoon.”
“Wow, that’s fast.”
“They want to move fast, and I was under the assumption that you were on board.”
“I am.”
“Then we need to come up with a new name if we’re going to give up Captive.”
“Like what?”
“I was thinking something to do with the three of us. Like Triad Films, maybe. Other synonyms for three are Trinity, Trio, Triplicity. Trivium. I actually like that one.”
“Three, huh? Maybe we should go with Menage A Trois?” I joke. But then I think about Ariela’s face when Shelby suggested a threesome. “Um, I need to talk to both of you about something. Tyler, will you close the door and have a seat?”
He does as I ask and then both he and Dallas sit in the chairs in front of my desk, looking at me expectantly.
“There is a new development in my life that I need you both to be aware of.”
Dallas looks at me shrewdly. “You find out you have a kid?”
“Sort of. Shelby is pregnant.”
“Do I know her?” Dallas asks.
“She was my date for the L.A. premiere.”
“Cheap champagne girl?”
I nod. “Yes.”
Dallas leans back, his hands forming a bridge as he thinks. “And you believe you’re the father?”
“Part of me doesn’t know how it’s possible, since I used condoms, but the timing is right, and she is definitely pregnant. Aiden says there’s a paternity test that can be done at eight weeks. She’s about four weeks along.”
“So, we wait until a paternity test determines you are the father then, once we know, we’ll deal with the outcome.”
“I told her I would find her somewhere nice to live.”
“Why did you do that?” Tyler asks.
“Because I’m a nice guy, and if she is having my baby, I’m not going to be some asshole baby daddy. She lives in a shitty place, and I don’t want the possible mother of my child living somewhere like that. She is also short on her rent this month because she’s been sick.”
“She’s already asking you for money. That’s a red flag, Riley,” Dallas states.
“She wanted to move in with me.”
“Oh dear,” Tyler says.
“And suggested we get married,” I confess.
“Gold digger,” Tyler coughs.
“That was my first thought, as well,” Dallas says.
“It was my first thought, too, but she told me she grew up with nothing and doesn’t expect anything from me other than for me to be a good father. Apparently, her father wasn’t around growing up.”
“Well, that explains a few things,” Dallas says with a chuckle. “Okay, serious advice from both your friend and your lawyer. Tyler, find her a place to live. I’ll draw up a document for her to sign before she’s allowed to move in that will spell out what happens if a paternity test doesn’t prove you are the father. If that happens, we’ll give her thirty days to vacate the premises. We’ll deal with anything else once the results come back.”
“That sounds good,” I agree. “Tyler, find her a place that is furnished somewhere close to me but not too close. And I’d like it right away. Somewhere nice.”
“I’m on it, Boss,” he says. “Do you have anything else pressing for me this morning?”
“Take care of this first. Everything else can wait.”
Tyler heads out, and Dallas goes over to the bar, grabs a bottle, and pours a shot in both our coffees. “How are you doing?”
“I’m in shock. I can’t believe something like this would happen just when Ariela is finally back in my life.”
“Did you tell her?”
“Yeah. She said it didn’t matter. That she would love any baby of mine. I want to have children with Ariela, not Shelby.”
“How’s her divorce coming?”
“I’m not sure. It’s not something we’ve talked about. Mostly because we weren’t talking after the Vegas fiasco. Then at Eastbrooke, it wasn’t the right place. Since she’ll be working at the vineyard all week and I’ll be here, we promised each other we’d have nightly phone conversations to get to know each other better. I’m sure the divorce subject will come up.”
Knox strolls in with Jennifer, not bothering to knock. “Heard you knocked up the blow job chick.”
“That is not for public knowledge,” I say. “Tyler, get in here!”
Tyler comes rushing in. “What?”
“You are not to tell anyone about this until we get a paternity test.”
“I haven’t told anyone.”