Home is Where the Heart is by Christie Mack Page A

needed her, but this time, he was going to make sure he didn’t do anything to break their hearts. He simply wanted to be a part of his son’s life—both of their lives.

    Later that night, after settling into Nick’s two-bedroom bachelor pad, Jordan sat outside on his small but peaceful balcony with a bottle of beer in one hand and his iPhone in the other. He sank back into his chair, taking in the view of Yellow Valley’s local university surrounded by tall oak trees. Jordan had to admit, no matter how much he loved the city life, or how good the city of Miami was treating him in his busy lifestyle as a professional football player, it felt so good to be back in his hometown. He guessed he was still a country boy at heart.
    As he stared out at the familiar surroundings, he contemplated if he was doing the right thing, or if his decision to make this call had been made too quickly.
    Jordan knew he needed to do it at some point. One way or another, it needed to be done, and the sooner, the better. At least if he filled his agent in on the son he never knew he had, he was taking control of his own life, rather than waiting for the news to spill out into the public on its own. Paul couldn’t be mad at him this way.
    He scrolled through his phone contacts until Paul’s name and number showed up, and breathing in and out a deep breath; he pressed the call button and waited. It felt like a very long time before Paul picked up, even though it was really only a couple of seconds. His agent was usually attached to his phone, despite his wife being not-so-happy most of the time that he was constantly working.
    “Hello? Paul Synods speaking—”
    “Paul, it’s Jordan.” He cut Paul’s introduction off. “We need to talk.”
    He cut to the chase, knowing he had to get it off his chest before he changed his mind and backed down from telling him. Jordan reminded himself he was doing the right thing by being upfront with Paul about his latest revelations before he found out the hard way. This way, he couldn’t get pissed at Jordan for not informing him of the issue from the beginning.
    “Okay, what’s up?” Paul said, sounding unsure of where the conversation might go.
    Jordan took in a deep breath, anticipating the next part of their conversation. “There’s no easy way to say this…”
    “Then I usually just say it. That’s often the best way,” Paul said, trying to calm his best athlete.
    How did one confess life-changing news to somebody? Jordan saw no easy way to tell his agent, other than to simply blurt it out in less-than-subtle words. Paul was a simple man. He was a husband and father, so he would have to understand how Jordan was feeling right now.
    “I’ve recently discovered that I’m a dad,” he said in a rush.
    “You’re what?” Paul could barely make out the words, stunned by his client’s explosive response.
    “I’m a dad. I have a son with my high school girlfriend. He’s five years old,” Jordan said again, speaking more slowly into the phone receiver.
    How much simpler could he put it? It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out. Sure, it was a surprise even to him, but it took guts for Jordan to actually admit to his agent his surprising news about becoming a father, but he didn’t think he could say it any more clearly.
    “Are you one hundred percent positive he’s your son? There isn’t a chance he’s not yours?”
    Jordan pulled the phone from his ear for a moment and scratched his head. Of course, he should have seen this coming. Paul was a virtuous agent, and always got the job done with a constructive attitude. Jordan knew he could always count on him to be there as both his confidante and paid employee when imperative decisions needed to be made regarding his career and personal life.
    He was hard and tough as nails when he needed to be, but these attributes were only two of the many reasons why Jordan still employed him as his agent. He always found a loophole to