Strong and Steady - Vanessa Vale Page 0,22

it been a bad idea to come after all? “Do…do you still want me to go with you?”

He frowned. “Why wouldn’t I?”

I looked down at my bright pink toenails, swiped my foot over the blades of grass. “I’m a mother.”

Leaning down, he looked me in the eye, and I had to meet his steady gaze. “From what I gather, a pretty good one.”

The compliment made me smile although somewhat shyly. I had to know where he stood because I could walk away now with only a dent in my pride. I knew if I spent much time with him, there was a chance I could be truly hurt. “That’s not going to change. Being a mother, I mean. Does that bother you?”

“If you said you had a five-year-old, it might. Not because of the reasons you think.”

I lifted my chin, waiting. I’d wanted honesty.

“I had a shi—bad childhood, and I’m not a good bet for little kids. I’d break them or damage them mentally. Something. But if your boy is at the Naval Academy, he sounds more like a man to me. I doubt I can ruin someone that old.”

Those weren’t the words I expected. Too much baggage, too much effort for someone else’s kids, perhaps. Lots of possibilities. But I never thought he'd say he was flawed, damaged enough that he wasn’t worthy. To me, from the little bit I knew about him, that didn’t seem possible.

The conversation had gotten heavy pretty fast, so I just nodded and moved on. “You can say swear words. I promise I won’t make you wash your mouth out.”

He grinned. “I’ll try, but I’m a country boy at heart.”

“Just don’t ma’am me.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

I laughed, as he’d probably wanted, and I changed the subject. “I didn’t know you and Simon knew each other. From where?”

He looked at me suspiciously. “You really don’t know, do you?”

I felt like I was missing the punch line of a joke. “Know what?” Then it came to me. Oh shit. I backed up a step, realizing my gaffe and pasted on a fake smile. “Oh. You’re gay. Why didn’t you tell me you were gay? It doesn’t bother me, if you were afraid to tell me. I mean—”

“Emory,” he cut in, shaking his head, hand up. I think he actually rolled his eyes at me. “I’m not gay.”

I sighed in relief. Not that I cared if he was gay, but I didn’t want him to be gay. I wanted him to like women, preferably me.

“I’ve never met Simon before, but he knows me. Knows of me. I’m well known in the MMA community.” When I frowned once again, he added, “That’s Mixed Martial Arts. I’m sure you’ve seen it before on TV or a commercial or something. I did that professionally a while ago and won some big fights. I’ve retired from fighting now.”

I cocked my head and looked at him, thinking maybe I’d recognize him or something, but I didn’t follow the fight scene, and I would have remembered him before. “Are you saying you’re famous?”

He ran his hand over the back of his neck. Clearly being famous wasn’t something he wanted to share with me. “Sort of, but not that famous if you haven’t heard of me.”

“I don’t even know your last name.”

“Green. Grayson Green. But everyone knows me as The Outlaw.”

I frowned. “The Outlaw? Not The Cowboy?” I looked him over. He wasn’t wearing that sexy snap shirt today but still. Damn fine in shorts and t-shirt. “That would totally work.”

He shook his head. “That name’s already been taken.”

“Grayson Green, The Outlaw. Yeah, never heard of you.” I grinned, but it slipped. “Does it bother you that I didn’t recognize you?” Had I hurt his feelings? I fiddled with the leather strap of my purse. I’d never met a famous person before.

“Hell, no.” His vehemence had me looking up at him. “I’m glad actually. A lot of people try to get close to me because of what I did not who I am.”

I bit my lip and thought about how that must feel. “That must be pretty annoying.”

He clenched his jaw. “You have no idea.”

I didn’t know much about him but definitely wanted to know more. “So. About that lunch? I’m starved.”

It was Gray’s turn to grin. “I still want to have lunch with a woman who has a kid, and you still want to have lunch with a famous guy.”

I nodded. “Exactly.”

Something flared in his eyes, bright and hot. “I’d like for you to be