I Do…. Dani Wade

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      “The way Scott explained it, before I kicked him out of my house, was that she was bad news and he was saving me from making a mistake. The way Jenny spun it before she followed him out the door was that he’d seduced her.” He expected to feel the familiar pain of betrayal but only emptiness washed over him. “They aren’t together and weren’t again as far as I know. Turns out he was right. I found out later it wasn’t the first time she’d cheated. She’d also been with one of the guys on the squad. Made me look like a fool.”

      “She’s the fool.” Julia came to stand before him. She lifted Charlie from his arms and sat down, laying her son beside her on the soft leather. “And your brother?”

      “Scott was in the army for several years. Now he works out of D.C. for the U.S. Marshals.”

      She squeezed his arm and the warmth of her hand relaxed him a little. “I’m not interested in his job. What about your relationship?”

      “My dad had a health scare almost two years ago. I passed my brother in the hall at the hospital. That’s the extent of it.”

      “Oh, Sam.”

      “We were never close. My dad didn’t encourage family bonding.”

      “Still—”

      “This isn’t helping our arrangement.” Sam took her hand in his. “How long have we been dating?”

      “Four months,” Julia answered automatically.

      “Favorite color?”

      “Blue.”

      “Where we going on a honeymoon?”

      “A Disney cruise.”

      “You can’t be serious.”

      “Because of Charlie.”

      He laughed. “Fine.” Some of the tension eased out of his shoulders and he asked, “Big or small wedding?”

      “Small, close friends and immediate family.”

      “Who are your close friends?”

      Her eyes darted away and she took several beats to answer. “The girls from the salon, I guess. A few of them, anyway. My sister.”

      “What about your friends from high school?”

      “I didn’t really have friends. Followers was more like it, and most of them have outgrown me.”

      “Their loss,” he said, using his earlier phrase, and was rewarded with a smile. “What about your ex-boyfriend? Do you still have feelings for him? Should I be jealous?”

      “Of Jeff? No. We were over long before he left me.”

      An interesting way to phrase it. Sam couldn’t help but ask, “Could I kick his butt?”

      She smiled. “Absolutely.”

      “Good. When is your next court date?”

      “Friday.”

      “Do you want me to come?”

      She shook her head and Sam felt a surprising rush of disappointment. “I might be able to help.”

      “You already are.”

      “You can’t believe the judge will award custody to Jeff and his family. Is he even going to be here?”

      “I don’t know. But I can’t take any chances. Even if he gets joint custody, they could take Charlie from me for extended periods of time. I won’t risk it. Jeff made it clear he didn’t want to be a father, so I don’t understand why he’s letting this happen. He was never close to his family.”

      “Have you talked to him directly?”

      “I left a message on his cell phone right after the letter came. I might have sounded hysterical. He hasn’t returned my call.”

      “You’re going to have to tell your family what’s going on before it goes too much further.”

      She nodded. “I realized that tonight. If my mom finds out your dad knew before her... It’s all too much. I’m finally starting to get my life on track, with the salon and Charlie. For the first time in as long as I can remember, my mother isn’t looking at me with disappointment in her eyes. When she finds out...”

      “Vera will want to help. This isn’t your fault.”

      “It sure feels like it is.” She sank back against the couch and scrubbed her hands across her face. Sam saw pain and fear etched in her features. It gnawed away at him until he couldn’t stand it. Why was she so afraid of her mother’s judgment? Why did she think so little of herself, to believe her son was at risk of being taken away? Maybe she’d made some mistakes in her past but Sam didn’t know anyone who hadn’t. She couldn’t be punished forever.

      He might not be willing to give his heart again, but he needed to give her some comfort. He wasn’t great with words and knew that if he got sentimental, she’d only use her dry wit to turn it into a joke. Instead, he placed a soft kiss on the inside of her palm.

      She tugged on her hand but he didn’t let go. “You don’t need to do that now,” she whispered, her voice no more than a breath in the quiet. “There’s no one watching.”

      One side of his mouth quirked. “It’s a good thing, too, because what I want to do to you is best kept in private.”

      Her mouth formed a round oh and he lifted a finger to trace the soft flesh of her lips.

      “Charlie.”

      “I know.” He leaned closer. “You’re safe tonight. Almost.”

      “We shouldn’t...”

      “I know,” he repeated. “But I can’t think of anything I want more.”

      “Me, too.” She sat up and brought both of her hands to the sides of his face, cupping his jaw. “This isn’t going to get complicated, right?”

      “Other than planning a pretend wedding, a custody battle, my meddling father and a town filled with nosy neighbors? I think we can keep it fairly simple.”

      She smoothed her thumbs along his cheeks and her scent filled his head again. “I mean you and me. We’re on the same page. It’s all part of the show, the time spent together, pretending like we’re in love. It ends when we both get what we want.”

      He agreed in theory, but at the moment all Sam wanted was her. He knew telling her that would make her more skittish than she already was. He didn’t want this night to end quite yet, even if her sleeping son was going to keep the evening G-rated. So he answered, “That’s the plan.”

      She nodded then licked her lips, and he suppressed a groan. “Then it won’t matter if I do this...” She brought her mouth to his and they melted together. When her tongue mixed with his, he did СКАЧАТЬ