Against the Edge (The Raines of Wind Can - By Kat Martin Page 0,91
be a good dad to Sam, but he was hell on women.
Twenty-Six
“I’ll pick you up when school’s over. You got the cell phone I gave you, right?” In case Sam needed him. Ben held open the door of the Denali and the boy jumped out in the parking lot of his new school, slid the straps of his backpack onto his shoulders. “My number’s programmed. You remember how to use it?”
Sam nodded. “Is Claire really staying?”
Ben’s jaw tightened as he slammed the rear car door. “That’s what she says.”
“You don’t want her to?”
Hell, yeah, part of him did. The part that thought how much he liked waking up with her in his bed, making love to her in the mornings. The part that knew exactly how to arouse her hidden fires, then douse the heat and slow her passions to a tempting simmer.
The other part was terrified of the things she made him feel. He’d told himself that in another few days, a week at most, she would be gone. He would miss her, but he had a son to think of now. In time, he would forget about Claire.
Now she was staying, and he had no idea how to deal with a woman who made him feel things he swore he would never feel again.
He looked down at Sam. “Claire has a life in L.A. If she doesn’t go back, she’ll probably miss her friends.”
Sam watched the kids streaming past him in jeans and T-shirts, carrying backpacks or an armload of books, hurrying toward the front doors of the school.
“I miss my friends. If she stays, I’ll make sure she doesn’t get lonely.”
Ben ran a hand over the boy’s dark hair. Every time he looked at his child, something tightened in his chest. From the moment he’d stared into the picture of a kid with eyes exactly like his own, he’d felt the kick. When he’d seen him in the swamp, his small hands blistered and his jeans stiff with dirt, his heart had expanded with something he had never felt before.
From the moment the kid’s arms had gone around his neck, he couldn’t imagine living another day without his son.
But Claire was different. Claire was a woman. He didn’t need the trouble a woman would bring into his life. He’d done fine without Claire before she’d come along. He’d do fine once she went away.
Ben ignored the part of him that had felt a bone-jarring relief when she’d told him she was staying in Houston. It was just that he’d grown used to having her around. It wasn’t that he admired her for her grit and determination. It wasn’t that he was grateful for the love she felt for his son. It wasn’t that even in a pair of sneakers with her hair clipped back and her jeans rolled up, she made him want her.
And even if those things were true, it didn’t matter.
He wasn’t about to get tangled up with a woman.
Even if that woman was Claire.
Ben headed back to the house, drove around the block a couple of times to get his head straight before he pulled back into the garage and walked into the kitchen. He found Claire waiting. She’d known how angry he was. He wasn’t sure she’d be there. Then again, one thing Claire wasn’t was a coward.
Herc jumped down from her lap as she rose from her chair at the kitchen table. Pepper stood up from his place on the floor, took a long look at the cat, then lay back down and went to sleep.
Ben looked at Claire and found himself wishing she wasn’t wearing her hair loose, the way he liked it. That her soft pink sweater didn’t fit so nicely over her pretty breasts.
His jaw still felt tight. He didn’t like surprises and this was a doozie. “So what is it? You still don’t think I’ll be a good-enough father?”
“I think you’ll be a great father. That isn’t the problem. The trouble is, all of this is new to Sam. Moving to Texas, going to a new school, having to make new friends—living with a man he’s known less than a couple of weeks.”
“In time he’ll get used to me.”
“I’m sure he will. In the meantime, he still isn’t sure he can trust you. He trusted Troy Bragg and look what happened.”
Ben didn’t like the reminder. “So what are you planning to do?”
“Spend time with him. Have him stay overnight on the weekends sometimes—if you’ll let him. His mother