Tempting a King (King Family Romance Book 1) by Isla Drake (small books to read .txt) 📗

“Hey,” I say, answering the phone.

“I ordered pizza for dinner,” he says. “Should be here by the time you get back.”

“Good,” I say. “I hate buying all these groceries and then coming home to cook them.”

“Exactly. If you grab some buns, I’ll grill burgers tomorrow. Liam wants me to show him how.”

“Sounds good.” I smile as I turn down the cereal aisle.

“Oh. We’re out of milk,” Finn says. There’s a pause and I can hear Liam’s voice in the background. “We also need strawberry Pop-Tarts.”

I roll my eyes. “Uh huh. What else did Liam tell you to ask for?”

Finn sounds offended. “I have no idea what you mean. I happen to love strawberry Pop-Tarts.”

“Right,” I say, putting a box of the breakfast pastries into the shopping cart.

“Okay, I think that’s it,” Finn says.

“I’m hanging up now.”

“Don’t forget cheese for the burgers! Hurry home!”

“Bye.” I laugh softly as I hang up. Liam has Finn right where he wants him. I’d be annoyed if it wasn’t so cute.

Before I can slide my phone back into my pocket, it rings again. I swipe the screen to answer and put the phone to my ear.

“Let me guess, we desperately need Oreos too?” I say, smiling.

“Hannah?”

I abruptly stop walking and all thoughts of groceries leave my head. The voice is familiar. It’s a voice I used to know. A voice I used to hear daily. After several seconds, my shock fades enough for me to speak.

“Paul?”

I hear a relieved sigh followed by Paul speaking again. “It is you! Thank goodness. It took forever to track you down.”

I can’t seem to think straight because all I can manage is to repeat his words back to him. “Track me down?”

Paul seems oblivious to my state of shock. “You have no idea,” he says. “I finally got ahold of your mom and she gave me your number. How have you been? How is everything in Oak Hill? You are still in Oak Hill, aren’t you?”

“I…” I blink, trying to clear the buzzing in my head. Did he just say my mother gave him my number? I’m going to have to talk to her about that.

“Yes. Fine,” I belatedly answer his questions. I realize that I sound like an idiot, but I can’t seem to form a coherent sentence.

“Good.” Paul’s response comes quickly, too immediate to be thought out. “That’s good. I’m glad.”

I shake my head. It occurs to me that I’m still standing unmoving in the middle of the cereal aisle. I push my cart over to one side to allow a stern-faced older gentleman to make his way past me. Finally, my brain and my voice seem to return from whatever hiatus they’d just been on.

“Not to be rude Paul, but why are you calling me now? I haven’t heard from you in over 8 years.”

I hear him let out a breath. “You’re right. I’m sorry about that, Hannah. I am. But I’d like to talk to you if you have time.”

My brain runs through possible scenarios for why Paul might want to talk to me. When the initial confusion wears off, my first real thought is Liam. Does Paul want visitation now? After all these years, has his conscience finally come to life? I envision sitting down with Liam and explaining to him that the father who’s been absent for his entire life is suddenly back and wants to see him. I picture his confused face as he asks where Paul has been this whole time or why he hasn’t been there all along. All this flashes through my mind in an instant and I feel a rush of protective anger surge through me. I try to tamp it down so I can concentrate on the conversation with Paul.

“What did you want to talk about?” I’m pleased that my voice is steady.

“I’d rather not do it over the phone,” he says. My heart stutters. If it’s serious enough for him to want to meet, it must be something big. “Can we have dinner? Tomorrow night?”

I scramble, trying to remember what day it is and whether I have anything planned. I can’t think of anything right off, but it’s because I’m still shocked and confused that I’m talking to my ex-husband.

“Let me check my schedule,” I hear myself say.

“Sure. Absolutely.” Paul’s voice is agreeable. He sounds almost relieved. “You can text or call me back on this number.”

I mumble some form of agreement and end the call. I stand frozen in the cereal aisle until I notice a woman pointing at something behind me and I realize I’m blocking the cereal she wants.

“Excuse me. I’m sorry.” The words come out in a strangled whisper that I’m not sure the woman even hears. I pocket my phone again and push my cart toward the dairy section of the store. My mind is a whirl of questions and I feel like I can’t draw a full breath. Why is Paul calling now? Liam and I are happy. We’ve been happy without him for years, but now we have Finn too. Things are good. Better than good. My life is amazing. I’m happy and so is Liam. I don’t want Paul to come back and mess with that happiness. Feeling like I’m on autopilot, I somehow manage to get the rest of the items on my list and head for the checkout. My mind is far away from the grocery store and I know I need to get it together before I go home to Liam and Finn. They’ll be able to see something is wrong and I’m not sure what to tell them.

By the time I’ve loaded the groceries into the back of my car, I’ve reached a decision. I’m keeping the phone call to myself for now. At least until I’ve met with Paul and figured out what he wants. There’s no sense messing with Liam’s head for no reason. I’ll meet with Paul and hear him out before I talk to Liam or Finn. It