The Perfect Gift: A Christmas Billionaire Sexy Romance (Three Wise Men Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

long time.”
    “How are you doing? Have you eaten?”
    “Yes, Mum.” She could hear the smile in his voice. “Compared to some other people, I can actually cook a decent meal. I’d frozen some Bolognese that I’d cooked a few weeks ago. It wasn’t bad, even reheated.”
    It didn’t sound as if he was living with anyone. She scratched at a mark on her jeans. Why did it matter? It wasn’t as if she was interested in him.
    She touched the back of her fingers to her warm cheeks. Yeah, right.
    He cleared his throat. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but I know so little about you. Is Ryan’s father there with you?”
    She scratched again at the mark on her jeans. “No. Jack left while I was pregnant. He wasn’t interested in being a dad.”
    “Huh.” Brock sounded distinctly unimpressed.
    “Yeah. He lives in Australia somewhere—I don’t know where. He doesn’t want to know Ryan. He won’t even pay child support.” Erin swallowed. It still hurt to say the words. The authorities had tried to force him to pay, but he moved often and they had trouble keeping tabs on him. She’d long ago stopped expecting miracles.
    “Christ. That’s harsh.” Brock’s voice was sharp.
    Erin blew out a breath and rested her head back on the wall. “It’s more complicated than it sounds. He told me when I met him that he didn’t want kids. I didn’t think much about it—I just thought it was something young guys say, you know? We’d only been dating six months when I fell pregnant. He still thinks I did it on purpose, out of spite I guess. I didn’t, but that doesn’t matter if he doesn’t believe it.” Hell, why was she blurting all this out? Surely Brock wasn’t interested in her life history?
    But she heard the glug of liquid being poured into a glass, and then an exhalation, as if he’d returned to his chair and stretched out to relax. “There are always two sides to every story. I wouldn’t presume to make judgements about your… husband?”
    “We never married.”
    “Partner, then. But after saying that, I don’t think it says much about him that he’d turn his back on his son, whatever the circumstances—or perceived circumstances—of his conception.”
    “Thank you.” His comments warmed her from the inside out. “It’s easy to think it’s my fault that Ryan doesn’t have a visible daddy. It’s nice to hear someone say otherwise.”
    “Your ex doesn’t see him at all?”
    “Nope. It’s Ryan’s birthday tomorrow—nice to spend it in hospital, eh?—but Jack hasn’t even sent him a present.” She sighed.
    Brock fell silent for a moment. Then he said, “What hospital are you in?”
    “Whangarei. Why?”
    “Just wondered.” He didn’t elaborate, and she heard the clink of ice cubes being swirled in a glass.
    “What are you drinking?” she asked.
    “A very nice ten-year-old Islay malt.”
    “Ooh. Bowmore? Ardbeg?”
    “Laphroaig actually. I’m impressed. You like whisky?”
    “I do. I haven’t had a glass since Ryan was born, though. He doesn’t sleep well and I get up several times a night. I worry that I won’t hear him if I’ve had a drink, especially since he started having asthma attacks.” She gave a long sigh. “I’d kill for a drink now though. Maybe I’ll treat myself to one next weekend.”
    “Why, what’s happening then?”
    “It’s my birthday.”
    “Oh?”
    “Yes. The ripe old age of twenty-seven! Obviously it depends whether Ryan’s out of hospital, but I think he’ll probably be discharged tomorrow as he’s doing so well. Mum wants to give me a break and said she’d stay with him once he’s asleep so I can have the night off. She wants me to go away somewhere.”
    “Sounds like a great idea.”
    “Yeah, although I probably won’t go. You know what it’s like. The guilt weighs too heavily.”
    “You have to look after yourself too, Erin.”
    She loved the way he said her name. “I suppose.”
    “I mean it. We’re no good to our