Previously...

Congressman Seth Walker offered Brett a position as his head of public relations. Later,  Brett worried that Marilee's advances would risk the new opportunity.   Heather tried to convince Miranda to keep her baby.  When she refused, Heather told Brett about the baby, who intercepted MIranda at the hospital just after she called off the abortion.  Alex gleefully told Renee that she and Jordan slept together.  Ethan admitted to Brooke that he was still in love with her.  At the energy conference in Rio de Janeiro, James slept with Leigh Purcell.  Back in Hollywood, Nathan cornerned Brooke and tried to rape her, but she escaped and locked herself in the bathroom.  

Episode 61

"Hot & Wrong"

It was early in the morning in Los Angeles and a steamy haze hung over the city.  Smog warnings had already been issued twice that week and it looked to Ethan as though they could expect another one today.   Getting out of his Mercedes in the porte-cochere of the Blackthorne mansion, he jogged up to the door and went inside. 

“Good morning, Mr. Blackthorne,” said Leilani as she made her way through the foyer with a feather duster.  “Would you care for some breakfast?”

He shook his head.  “No, thank you, Leilani.  I was just looking for Mrs. Blackthorne.”

“I don’t think she’s come downstairs yet,” Leilani replied before making her way into the dining room to tend to the breakfast buffet.

Ethan turned and started up the stairs when Nathan came down, already dressed and smiling big as ever.

“Ethan, how nice to see you,” he said and paused on the landing.  “What brings you by so early this morning?”

He ran his hands through his hair.  He was dressed in gym shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt, having just finished a workout when Brooke phoned him and asked him to come over.  “I’m here to see Brooke,” he said.  “Have you seen her?”

Eyeing him knowingly, Nathan shrugged and gestured up the stairs.  “I think she’s in the nursery.  Michael hasn’t been feeling well and I think she spent all night in with him.”  He watched Ethan’s expression, wondering if Brooke had already cried to him about last night and their unfortunate miscommunication.  Knowing Brooke, she would blow everything that happened out of proportion, just like all the others had before.

“Well, I think I’ll go check on her,” Ethan finally said.  When he got to the nursery, he pushed the door open gently and peered inside.  Michael was asleep in his crib and Brooke was curled into a ball in the rocking chair, staring into a daze across the room, her face white as a sheet.  The curtains and blinds were drawn shut and a few thin rays of light filtered inside the dark room.

“Brooke,” he said gently and approached her.  He could tell something was terribly wrong.  He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen her so despondent.  “Brooke, I came as soon as you called.  Is everything okay?”

She shook her head, crying silently as she privately relived the terrifying incident with Nathan the night before.  Alex had been right about him all along.  She’d warned her about what kind of man he was.  She was lucky to have gotten away from him in time.  The first thing she did when the sun came up was call Ethan.  Perhaps it was a mistake, but he’d been there for her in the past when she needed him, and she knew he would be again.

“Is it James?” Ethan asked as he knelt down beside her.   He didn’t notice Nathan spying from the hidden doorway in the closet.   “Has something happened?”

She shook her head and sobbed on his shoulder.  “No, it’s not James,” she said.

“Well what?” he asked, stroking his hand down the back of her head.  “Brooke, you have to tell me or I can’t help you.”

Sobbing, she shook her head again.  “I can’t,” she said.  “I just needed you.  I needed someone.   Please Ethan, just stay with me.”

He obliged with no hesitation, holding her in his arms and wishing she would tell him what was wrong.  Her frail state of mind was breaking his heart and all he wanted to do was kiss her and tell her everything was going to be okay.

But she’d made her choice.  She married James.  Not once, but twice.  He refused to get his hopes up again.

It was well after midnight in Rio de Janeiro.  James was standing outside on the terrace that jutted out from Leigh’s hotel room at the Peninsula.  He watched the city lights and listened to the hustle and bustle of the streets, cars honking and tires squealing.   He took a deep breath of night air and swirled a cocktail around in his glass.   It was late but he couldn’t sleep.  His actions the night before were weighing on him and he began to feel guilty.

What happened between he and Leigh felt perfectly natural.  It was like coming home to an old friend.  It had been six years but they slipped into the same comfortable niche that they had those few weeks in Acapulco in 2000. 

But Brooke was his wife and he loved her, despite their recent troubles.  They had a son together and a life together.  They’d even survived her affair with Ethan.  How was his sleeping with Leigh going to affect that?  It was a secret that would weigh on him heavily.  Even if he did go home tomorrow and forget about his tryst in Rio, he would never be able to look Brooke in the eyes.  He would have to tell her the truth.

Inside the room, Leigh stirred awake on the luxurious bed and stretched languorously as a cool breeze blew against her skin.  She sat up and saw James outside.  Smiling, she wrapped herself in a silk robe and joined him on the balcony.  Her long, auburn hair flowed down her back and she smelled of papaya and coconut lotion.  James detected her fragrance before she announced herself.

”Did I wake you?” he asked.

Leigh smiled and slid her hands around his bare chest.  “I don’t mind,” she said, nibbling on his neck.  “Is anything the matter?”

He finally turned and looked at her.   She immediately knew what he was going to say.  It was the same story each time she met a man who was otherwise spoken for.  It wasn’t that she made a habit of sleeping with married men; sometimes they didn’t even tell her first.  She spent a lot of time at her hotel in Acapulco and unfortunately had the bad luck of falling for the wrong men.  Married men.  But James was different.  She knew exactly what she was getting into but she didn’t care.  He was everything she’d ever wanted.

“I’m going home tomorrow,” James said.  “To my wife and my son.”

Leigh nodded and put her arms around his neck.  “I know,” she said and brushed her lips against his.  Closing her eyes, she drew him into a passionate kiss and pulled him back inside the hotel room. 

James didn’t fight her. He lowered her robe and buried his face in her cleavage, panting with desire as he let his lounge pants drop to the floor.  He lifted her into his arms so that she straddled him, and they joined instantly.  Leigh threw her head back and licked her lips as James carried her to the bed and gently set her down.  He made love to her with more vigor and stamina than he had to any woman in years.  It seemed so right to him that they were together and intimate. 

Later that morning in Los Angeles, Leilani opened the front door and greeted Brett as he entered the foyer.   He started to ask if Miranda was home but his question was answered for him when she walked down the stairs in a lavender pantsuit and matching Chanel handbag

“Brett, now isn’t a good time,” she began.  “I’m on my way to Hotel Terranova.   My banquet manager quit and we have a banquet tonight in the Ambassador room.  I have to go over the seating arrangement with the staff.”

“You’re not going to work during your pregnancy, are you?” he asked, planting his hands firmly on his hips.

She frowned and shrugged indifferently.  “Of course.  Why wouldn’t I?”

He stepped forward and reached out to her stomach.  “Because you’re carrying my child.  I want you and him or her to take it easy for the next nine months. I don’t want you taking any chances with my baby’s life.”

Miranda’s eyes narrowed on him and she crossed her arms in disapproval.  “Hold on a minute, Brett.  You may be Biff’s father, but I’m his mother.  I make the decisions-“

“Wait a minute,” Brett cut her off.  “Biff?  Are you serious?”

“Yes,” she replied defiantly.  “Do you have a problem with that?”

He expected nothing less from Miranda.  “How do you even know it’s a boy?”

She shrugged and ran her hand over his stomach.  “I just have a feeling, that’s all,” she replied.  “So as I was saying, you can’t just start giving me orders and telling me that I have to put my entire life on hold.  We’re not married anymore.  You have no rights when it comes to this baby.”

He looked at her in disbelief.  “The hell I don’t,” he said.  “It’s my baby too. “

She rolled her eyes and stretched her purse tightly over her shoulder.  “Don’t start this, Brett.  This is exactly why I didn’t think I wanted to have the baby in the first place.  Just because I’m pregnant does not mean that we’re getting back together.  And it doesn’t mean that you’re going to be in this baby’s life.”

“You don’t mean that!” Brett exclaimed.  “You can’t keep my away from my own baby.  I won’t let you.”

“You have to be kidding me,” said a voice from down the hall.  They both turned and saw Stormy coming out of the gym, sweaty and panting with exhaustion from a workout.  “Are you pregnant with his baby, Miranda?”

She let out a deep breath and threw her hands up in resignation.  This wasn’t the way she wanted the news to get out.  First Heather blabbed to Brett, which she still wasn’t sure that she could forgive her for.  Now her brother, who had a permanent hate-on for Brett, knew everything too.  All she needed now was Brooke to walk in and stick her nose into it.

“I do have rights,” Brett insisted.  “I’ll be damned if I’m going to let you and your family keep me from being part of my baby’s life.”

“You dirty son of a bitch,” Stormy exclaimed, his chest heaving as he walked up to Brett and met him square in the eye.  “You did this on purpose, didn’t you?  You knew you were going to be kicked out of this family so you got my sister pregnant just so you’d have a tie to the Blackthornes forever.  How did you do it?  Tamper with her birth control pills?  Poke holes in your condoms?”

“Stormy, that’s enough,” Miranda fumed.  “It was unplanned and unexpected.  I’m just going to have to make the best of it.”

“Make the best of it?” Stormy asked in a rage.  “Jesus, Miranda, are you forgetting why you divorced him?  He lied, cheated, and manipulated everyone within four hundred miles.  He’s out of your life and it’s got to stay that way.”

“Wrong again, junior,” Brett said with a smug grin.  “Miranda’s pregnant and I’m going to be a daddy whether you like it or not.”

“I don’t like it,” Stormy said, stepping closer and issuing him a look of warning. 

“Knock it off, both of you,” Miranda insisted.  “Stormy, this is really none of your concern so please keep your opinions to yourself because they really don’t interest me.”  She turned to Brett and gritted her teeth angrily.  “And if you ever want to see this baby or have any part in his life, then you had better keep your opinions to yourself because I won’t stand for being bullied.”

With that, she bounded over to the door and raced outside to her car.  Brett turned back and looked at Stormy, ignoring the determined look in his eyes.  He wouldn’t let Miranda or her brother stand in his way of being a father to his baby.  He had rights and he was going to make damn sure they were acknowledged.

“There you are,” Alex said to James when she found him in the restaurant at the Peninsula Hotel in line for the continental breakfast.  “Don’t tell me you’re skipping another seminar today.  Why exactly did we come here, James?”

He rolled his eyes.  “Alex, do you ever stop?” he asked.  “We’re here to network.  What do you think I’ve been doing this whole time?”

She glanced across the dining room where Leigh was sitting at a table waiting for him.  “Is that what you call it?”

“If you and Renee aren’t getting anything out of this conference then you have no one to blame but yourselves.”

“Speaking of Renee,” Alex said with a groan.  “Where did she go, anyway?  I saw the hotel van carting her off somewhere about an hour ago.”

James went for a cheese danish and sighed.  “She wanted to leave early so she booked a commercial flight back to the states.”

“She left?” Alex exclaimed so loud that the entire restaurant turned in her direction.

“Yes, now will you keep your voice down?  Why do you care anyway?  You didn’t want her to come along in the first place.”

Alex set her jaw, certain that she knew why Renee was returning home early.  She was going back to see Jordan and confront him about what she told her.  One thing would be certain, Jordan would be furious with her when he found out she told Renee that they slept together. 

“Look, this conference was just a bad idea,” she finally said.  “I’m going to leave too.  I’ll book a flight out immediately.”

James shook his head with aggravation and started over to his and Leigh’s table.  “Do what you want, Alex.  You always do anyway.”

She clenched her fists, angry that Renee was trying to outfox her.  There was no way she would let her sink her claws any further into Jordan.  She would make damn sure of that.

Miranda parked her car at Hotel Terranova and made her way into the crowded lobby, her heels tapping on the tiled floor.  Big sunglasses covering her eyes, she snatched a stack of phone messages from Link, the concierge, and continued on her way.  She stopped in her tracks when Heather approached, a timid look on her face, as if she knew she was about to get a tongue-lashing to end all tongue-lashings.

"What do you want?" Miranda guffawed.

"Miranda, I just want to talk, that's all, " Heather replied.

"Why?  So you can dig around to see if I have any other secrets that you can blab?  Sorry, Heather, I'm fresh out today."

Heather followed her across the lobby and grabbed her arm.  "Please understand.  I didn't mean to break your trust.  I've just seen a different side of Brett lately and-"

Miranda raised an eyebrow and looked at her curiously.  "OH really?  What side would that be?"

She quickly dismissed the question.  The truth was she had not slept with Brett.  She had seen him for a different person though, even if Miranda and Stormy never could.  "He's trying to get his life together.  To be a better person.  I think getting out of that house is helping.  I just thought he needed to know, that's all."

"Listen to me," Miranda began angrily.  "I make the decisions on who I tell about my pregnancy.  Not you.  The next time you tell anyone, especially Brett, something that I told you in confidence, I swear to God I'll go carnival freak crazy on your ass."

With that, she stormed toward her office and left Heather standing with a look of disbelief.  

“And the brush-off continues,” said David Jenner from a corner by the front desk. 

Miranda finally stopped her manic pace and turned toward him.  She lowered her sunglasses and offered an exasperated sigh.  “Am I supposed to know what that means?” she asked.  “I didn’t see you there if that’s what you’re getting at.”

He grinned his absurdly handsome grin and took a step forward.  Clad in white shorts and sprayed into a tight navy blue Lacoste polo, he looked sporty and confident.

“Well did you forget how to listen to your voicemail?” he asked.  “I must have left you four or five in the last couple of days.  Am I getting some vibes here?”

Sighing, Miranda opened her office door and rushed inside.  She dropped her purse and the phone messages onto her desk and tried to catch her breath.  “If you’re getting vibes they’re not coming from me,” she said, then turned to face him.  “David, what exactly do you want from me?”

He hid his surprise with a smile.  “I don’t want anything from you.  I just thought that we were-“

“What?” she interrupted hastily.  “A couple?  An item?  We shared one bad date.”

“I’d like to see you again.”

Miranda ran her fingers through her wild, untamed hair and laughed.  “Why on earth would you want to see me again?” she asked.  “David, let me let you in on a little secret.  I’m pregnant with my ex-husband’s baby.  It’s not exactly an ideal way to start a relationship, and from the impression I get from your reputation, you aren’t the type to start settling down with an instant family.”

David leaned in and kissed her, refusing to give her another opportunity to push him away.  After a second of two of hesitation, Miranda wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back. 

“I never said I wanted to settle down,” he said with a wink after they broke from the kiss.  “But I do think you’re the most exciting woman I’ve ever met, and I’d like to see you again.”

Miranda, entranced by the magical kiss, felt her entire body tingle as if telling her to go after David with everything she had.  But she knew she should hold back in light of everything that was happening.   The complications were endless.

Heather knocked on Brett’s door and waited impatiently for him to answer.  After a second or two she knocked again.  When he finally answered, she rushed inside and barely gave him a chance to acknowledge her.

“I just saw Miiranda at the hotel,” she said hurriedly.  “She is really pissed at me for telling you about the baby.”

He ran his fingers through his blond hair and flopped onto the plush white sofa.  “Not like it matters.  She’s going to do everything she can to keep me from being a part of its life.”

“What?” Heather gasped and sat down beside him.  “She can’t do that.  You’re the baby’s father.  You have every right to be in his or her life.”

“Well she’s not going to make it easy for me, I guarantee you that.  And neither will Stormy.  He thinks I got her pregnant so I could be part of her life forever.”

“Did you?” Heather asked pointedly.

His brow furrowed and he shot her a harsh frown.  “Of course not,” he said.  “It was an accident.  I told her I wanted to have a baby months ago but she said it wasn’t the right time.