Page 40 of Baby Daddy
CHAPTER 19
Dee
We ended up spending the rest of Saturday with Drake. After lunch at the famed Beverly Hills Hotel coffee shop, where Drake and his father regularly lunched when he was a boy, he wanted to show us some sights. With his convertible top down, we drove through Beverly Hills, where he pointed out movie star mansions before heading into Hollywood to Grauman’s Theater where we all went crazy comparing our handprints and footprints to every major movie star who’d ever laid their hands or feet into the cement. I had promised Tyson a movie and we ended up at The Grove, a fairytale-like outdoor mall with a tram, where they were playing a thirty-five-year anniversary edition of ET. My first time seeing it, I loved it as much as she did.
“Drake no go home!” begged my little one in her best ET voice over dinner at the adjacent Farmer’s Market. “Can he sleep over again?”
“I’m afraid not tonight.”
Tyson folded her arms across her chest and gave me her pouty look. “Not fair. Tomorrow’s my birthday!”
Before I could utter another word, Drake jumped in. “What are you doing for your birthday?”
Tyson’s face lit up with excitement. “Mommy’s taking me to the Santa Monica Pier. Do you want to come with us, Drake? It’s gonna be so much fun!”
“Tyson!” I reprimanded, but what did it matter?
I knew in my heart that I had won half the battle and lost the other. I couldn’t say no to my daughter. Especially in light of her birthday. Drake was coming with us tomorrow. I’d be lying, however, if I didn’t admit that I wished I’d let him stay over. The threat of Kyle returning loomed. The house was secure. I had to wear my big girl panties. Truthfully, I was more afraid Drake wouldn’t let me keep them on.
The rest of the night, thank goodness, transpired without any drama. Maybe Kyle was more afraid of Drake than I was of him. Drake did after all kick his ass and, with his size and strength, could do it again. I reminded myself that under his skin, Kyle was a coward. He’d given into failure rather than challenge it and succeed.
Drake picked us up in his convertible mid Sunday morning. Warm and sunny, the weather couldn’t have been more perfect for a day at The Pier. Or another exhilarating ride in Drake’s convertible. Drake once had the radio turned to some countdown station, and in the back seat, Ty was belting out the songs at the top of her lungs. I turned to look at her and my heart melted. She was now six. It was her “big girl” birthday. Time flew by so quickly, and part of me wished I could slow it down. No matter how big she got, she would always be my little girl.
“Ty has a great voice,” Drake remarked, cutting into my bittersweet thoughts.
“I know,” I said proudly, shouting above the blasting music and blaring wind. We were cruising down the 10 Freeway, which took us directly to The Pier.
Drake cast a glance at me. “I heard you sing the other night at that club.”
I cringed. Gah! I must have been so drunk. “I’m sorry you had to endure that. My voice is so bad it could scare off aliens.”
He laughed. “Oh, then Ty got her talent from her father?”
His unexpected reference to Kyle sent a shiver down my spine. “M-maybe…”
My companion instantly realized his faux pas. Kyle was dead to me. Dead to Tyson. “I’m sorry.” His voice was low and remorseful.
“It’s okay.” Recovering, I asked him if he sang.
“Yeah. I have a pretty good voice if I must say so myself.”
“You’re so full of yourself. Prove it.”
He smiled smugly. God, he was gorgeous in his Ray-Bans, T-shirt, and ripped jeans. His hair rippled in the wind, making it more sexily tousled than ever. I had the burning urge to run my fingers through it, but refrained. The next song came on—an Ed Sheeran one. A memory unexpectedly resurfaced. We’d danced to it at that club. I loved that song and I loved the way Ed sang it. Drake joined in.
Oh God. He did have an incredible voice. Soft with just the right amount of rasp. Pitch perfect, he harmonized with Ed. He was melting me. And then on the line about people falling in love in the most mysterious way, he took my left hand, entwining his long fingers with mine. A delicious flurry of tingles spun around in my body. I glanced at him, and his eyes met mine for a brief moment. He flashed a saucy smile as he continued to sing.
“Oh baby, take me into your loving arms,” I sang the lyrics silently in my head as he faced the road again and finished the song, harmonizing perfectly with my favorite recording artist.
“Wow, Drake! You sing great!” exclaimed Ty before I could say a thing.
“You do,” I agreed, my shaky voice a cross between awestruck and love-struck. Why was he kicking up an emotional dust storm inside me? I had never felt this way about a man. Not even with Kyle. What I had with Kyle was wild infatuation. Idol worship. The need to escape. What I felt with Drake was different. It felt real. Honest. Down-to-earth. I liked him. I actually more than liked him. He was giving me a slow burn that could turn into a wildfire if I didn’t keep a lid on it.
The traffic was light and we got to The Pier in less than an hour. At the sight of the ocean and the rides, Ty squealed with excitement.
“Mommy, I want to do the roller coaster first! Please? Pretty please!”
The five-car roller coaster was whipping around a ginormous bright yellow track. People were screaming. I’d never ridden a roller coaster or a Ferris wheel. My drunkard mother never took us to amusement parks. Never. And now maybe I was too old for one. Ty, however, had been counting down the days to go to The Pier, and I hoped she was tall enough for the roller coaster. I’d read online you had to measure at least forty-two inches and Ty was borderline that.