LITMIR.BIZ

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she’d neither anticipated nor prepared for. Her stomach clenched. She’d expected dismissal, denial, even accusation, but not this barely disguised anguish.

      “You’ve raised her with your husband all this time?” His voice was low, laced with a hint of annoyance.

      Further guilt slipped into her veins and sent her pride soaring to high-alert. “Yes. Gerard loved her like she was his own.”

      A flash of color darkened his cheeks and his gaze shot to her left hand. “Loved? Past tense? You’re not married now?”

      She glanced at her ring finger and her cheeks warmed. “No. Gerard’s dead.”

      “Dead?”

      “He was killed in a road accident over a year ago.”

      He stared at her for a long moment before glancing toward the people walking through the lobby. “I’m sorry.”

      “Thank you.” She cleared her throat and fought the painful beat of her heart. She had to take control and veer the conversation away from her personal life. Belle, and Belle only. Everything else was out of bounds. “I’m not here because I want anything from you. You have the right to know you have a daughter. I shouldn’t have kept it from you all this time. Before Gerard died we discussed bringing Belle—”

      “Stop.”

      She froze.

      His gaze ran over her face and lingered at her lips. “You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to tell me about your marriage or what happened before your husband died. Not yet.”

      Heat pinched her cheeks. “That’s the last thing I want to do. I was trying to explain...apologize, for not coming here before now. I don’t want to discuss Gerard with you any more than you want to hear about him, but he is a part of this. He was the only father Belle has ever known.”

      He glared. “And that’s my fault?”

      Carrie’s heart picked up speed to see such anger in his eyes. “No, but—”

      “Fine, then I’m not prepared to listen to you talk about the man who’s effectively raised my daughter for the last two years. Not yet.” He pushed to his feet and fisted his hand in his hair. “I need time to process the news I have a child I know nothing about. You disappeared, Carrie. Even knowing you carried my baby, you didn’t come back.”

      Irritation simmered deep inside and Carrie glared. “I didn’t disappear. I went back to my life after an insane few days with you.”

      His eyes locked on hers. “An insane few days?”

      She lifted her chin, steadfastly refusing to acknowledge the hurt that flashed across his gaze before he blinked and it was replaced with defiance. “Yes.”

      His jaw tightened. “Right. That’s all it was to you.”

      Carrie looked past him to the bustling lobby. “I didn’t know how else to do this but to just come right out and tell you.” She forced her eyes to his. “You’ve got my number. If you want to contact me—”

      “That’s it?”

      She frowned. “You just said—”

      “What did I say?” He glared. “That it’s okay for you to tell me I have a daughter and then you’re free to leave the Cove again? I don’t think so. I need some time to think. You’re going nowhere until I come find you and we decide what happens next.”

      Panic skittered up her spine and squeezed like a fist inside her chest. “What happens next?”

      “Yes, Carrie.”

      She swallowed hard as protectiveness for Belle rose up inside her. “Nothing has to happen straight away. I wanted you to know because I can’t live with this hanging over me anymore. I don’t expect you to step up...or see her...or—”

      “Be in her life any way at all unless it’s by your rules?” He huffed out a laugh and snatched his hand from his hair. “Who do think I am, Carrie? You’ve told me I’ve got a child. Now you wait for me.”

      “I wait for you?” Carrie barely stopped herself from teetering from the chair. “What do you mean wait for you?”

      “You wait for me to get my head around this.”

      The anger emanating from him spilled like poison across the table between them. Carrie stood, her body shaking. “I’m leaving.”

      He gripped her arm, his eyes blazing. “I don’t know what you expected, but if you thought I wouldn’t give a damn, you’re mistaken. I don’t walk away from the problems that drop into my lap uninvited. I never have before, and I’m not about to start now.”

      She glared. “Belle isn’t a problem. She’s a little girl who’s lost the only father she’s ever known.” She yanked her arm from his grip. “From what your friend Nick told me, you’ve got plans, so why don’t you do us both a favor and continue with them? It’s Christmas. Go be happy with your family.”

      “It seems one half of my new family is standing right in front of me.”

      Her heart shot into her throat. How was this getting so out of her control? Scott was a player, a womanizer, yet the man standing in front of her was reacting so differently than a man who didn’t give a damn would or should. Panic flowed through her on a heated wave. She had to do or say something to stop the look of possession in his eyes. “Belle and I are nothing but strangers to you.”

      He glared. “You really think that?”

      She lifted her chin. “I know that. From what your friend ranted at me this afternoon, you already have a family.” Shame that she might have slept with a married man curdled like soured milk in her stomach. “So go and do what you need to do and call me whenever you want to talk, but I will not stand here and listen to you say Belle is your family.”

      He lifted an eyebrow. “Nick told you I had a family?”

      “Yes.” She crossed her arms to hide the trembling. “I didn’t come here to cause you trouble. You can chastise me about my lack of thinking, but don’t for one minute start blaming me for wanting to protect my child. You can’t lay any claims or demands on me without knowing her or me. More importantly, without us knowing you.”

      His cheeks darkened. “You think you need to protect her from me?”

      Tears burned and she nodded. “I don’t know you, Scott.”

      He stared at her for so long Carrie took a step back, nerves jumping in her stomach. “What?”

      “The family Nick spoke of is my mother and three sisters.” His jaw tightened. “I’m the furthest thing from a married family man you’re likely to meet in this town.”

      Relief he wasn’t married coursed through her, only to be snatched away again by the boldness of his honesty. “Right. So what are we arguing about? Clearly, you’re happy with your life just the way it is. I can leave on the first train tomorrow and you won’t need to see me ever again.”

      “You’re going nowhere. Not yet.”

      Their eyes locked and Carrie opened her mouth to protest, to tell him he didn’t get to lay down the rules, but nothing came out. No words of wisdom or wit burst forth to put the man in his place. She snapped her mouth closed.

      He smiled softly. “Did you think I was married? Had kids?”

      She crossed her arms. “And if I did, you find that funny?” She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t sleep around, and I certainly don’t sleep with other women’s husbands or partners.” Her body trembled with frustration as his gaze softened to careful curiosity rather than hostility. She blinked and glanced across the lobby. “I should go.”

      “If Belle’s mine, she’s my family. I care about my family more than you’ll ever know.”

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