The Best Goodbye(48)

“Tell me what set you off. Was it Elle walking out of my office? Just because she comes in here to bitch doesn’t mean I want her here. You need to trust me.”

“You didn’t call or even text me all day,” I blurted out.

A slow smile tugged at his lips, and he shook his head. “I was giving you some space to accept this. Us. Last night was intense, and I didn’t want to overwhelm you. But if I’d thought for a second you were waiting for me to call, I’d have fucking called you.”

All the worry and jealousy that had been eating me up vanished, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. “I’m sorry.”

He chuckled and leaned in to claim my mouth in a kiss that was as sweet as it was hot. I grabbed handfuls of his hair, and his hands gripped me tighter as he pulled me against him. “Wrap your legs around me,” he said against my lips.

When I did, he walked me over to the sofa and sank down onto it while holding me. “I think I’ll keep you in here all night,” he said with a cocky grin.

“I’ll definitely get written up then,” I replied.

He shrugged. “I know the boss.”

Laughing, I leaned in to kiss him again. Because when we were like this, I was home.

Captain

I stood watching Addy in the dining room with one of her tables. I kept trying to focus on work, but I always ended up right back here. She laughed at the older man who was telling her some story that his wife looked amused by as well. She had a charm about her that put everyone at ease. I found myself wanting that all to myself.

“So that’s what has you so distracted lately,” Blaire’s voice whispered beside me. Turning, I looked down at my sister, who was checking out Addy with a grin on her face.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, a little annoyed to be caught by Blaire of all people.

“Coming to find out why you’ve ignored my last two phone calls and only given me one-word answers to my texts.” She nodded her head in Addy’s direction. “I like what I see. This is a good reason to ignore me. Bethy said she saw you with an attractive redhead and an adorable little blond girl last night. I thought I’d come see you and ask about it. But I can see for myself instead. So she has a daughter?”

I stepped back into the hallway before Addy could turn and see us looking at her and talking. I hadn’t noticed Blaire’s friend Bethy in Grayton last night, but then I’d had my eyes on my girls. No one else had mattered.

“Come to my office,” I told her. If Blaire was going to ask questions, I wanted some privacy.

“I didn’t peg you as someone who’d date a single mom, but I’m liking this side of you.”

“The girl, Franny. She’s mine.” There, I’d said it. I needed to tell someone. I wanted to tell someone. Blaire’s eyes went wide, and her mouth fell open as she stared at me.

“Yours?” she asked, still in shock.

“Rose . . . is from my past. A piece of my past that I keep close. It’s a long story. I didn’t know about Franny until a week ago.”

Blaire’s eyes flared bright, and she placed her hands on her hips like she was ready to attack someone. “She kept your child from you?”

I shook my head and held up my hand to calm my firecracker sister down. “It’s not like that. She couldn’t find me. I left that life and ran. Changed my name, made some choices that were bad. Finding me wasn’t easy. But she kept looking until she did.”

Blaire’s stance relaxed, and her expression softened. “Oh, well, that’s different.”

I nodded. “Yeah. She hasn’t had an easy time. I blame myself for that, but she has me now, and I’m not going anywhere.”

We stood in silence. I could see the wheels turning in Blaire’s head. I just had to wait for her to think it through.

“I want to meet them,” she said simply.

“Good. I want them to meet you, too.”

Blaire smiled. “I can’t believe this.”

If she only knew the real story . . . but I’d never tell her. My past was something that would stay between Addy and me. Blaire had just come into my life a few years ago. We shared the same father, but I’d been born to a teenage mother, who gave me up for adoption. When I had decided to find my birth parents, I also found Blaire. A sister I hadn’t known I’d had. We were growing closer now, but this was still more than I wanted to share with her.

“And her name isn’t actually Rose. It’s Addy. She was checking me out to make sure I had turned into a man worthy of our child, so she disguised herself and changed her name.”