Against the Edge (The Raines of Wind Can - By Kat Martin Page 0,92

has only been dead a few months. I want to be close if he needs me.”

“He’s not your son.”

Silence fell in the room. It was a low blow even for him.

Claire’s chin firmed. “He might have been. If I had continued to press for the adoption. If I hadn’t come to Houston to find you.”

Touché. He knew she could be tough when it counted. Still, the words shook him. What if Claire hadn’t come? What if she’d kept her promise to Laura, let the police handle Sam’s disappearance as a runaway? Let the boy slip away and never be heard of again? His stomach knotted. He never would have even known he had a son.

If it hadn’t been for Claire.

And everything she had said about Sam was true. The boy needed someone he could trust. Sam wasn’t sure about his father yet. He trusted Claire, and with his mother gone, he needed a woman who loved him.

Claire moved closer, until she stood right in front of him. “I thought we were friends at the very least. You want me gone so much you’re willing to deprive your son of a friend he so desperately needs? Do you want to get rid of me that badly?”

He felt as if she’d struck him. Claire was more than a friend. A helluva lot more. Too much more. That was the trouble.

“Is it another woman? Because that...that won’t be a problem for me. I’ve got my own apartment. A job. We can work out the details so we don’t...don’t have to see each other very often. I’ve known all along you’d get tired of me and want to move on.”

His chest clamped down at what he saw in her eyes. Hurt? Betrayal? Resignation?

Before he could stop himself, he caught her shoulders and jerked her hard against him, crushed his mouth down over hers. He kissed her long and deep, felt the hot rush of desire that happened whenever he touched her.

“I’m not tired of you,” he said gruffly. “Hell, I can’t get enough of you. That’s the problem, Claire. I’m not good at relationships. I’m not cut out for this kind of thing.”

Her eyes glistened. She reached up and cupped his cheek. “I hope you’re wrong, Ben. Because you’re in a very important relationship now. You have a son who needs your love. You’re going to have to learn how to give it. You won’t be able to hold it back from him. Not if you want him to be happy.”

He didn’t reply. She was right. She was the only woman he had ever known who made so damned much sense.

“I’m staying, Ben. Whether you want me to or not.”

He watched her walk off toward the guest room, and that same feeling of relief hit him again. His son needed her, and she wasn’t going to let the boy down. Nothing he said or did was going to send her back to L.A.

Claire Chastain wasn’t going to walk away. Not like Laura had done. Why the thought struck him he didn’t know.

As she pulled open the guest room door, she looked back at him over his shoulder. “Oh, by the way. Your son’s birthday is a week from tomorrow. You might want to get him a gift.” The door closed sharply.

Jesus! He’d read Sam’s birth certificate. He knew the date his son was born. But he hadn’t even thought of it being the kid’s birthday, and unless Sam mentioned it, he wouldn’t have remembered. He didn’t want to think how Sam would have felt if he had forgotten.

But Claire wouldn’t let him forget. She would be there if Sam needed her. If Ben needed her. He thought of her and their heated kiss and felt a shot of hunger.

It didn’t matter than he didn’t want to want her. It didn’t matter that he didn’t want to get any more tangled up with Claire than he already was.

And deep inside, the hard truth was, he was glad she was going to stay.

* * *

Claire carried a pretty green variegated philodendron into her new apartment. Last week, she’d flown back to L.A., packed her personal belongings, loaded them into her car and started the long drive back to Houston. The movers were almost done loading her furniture when she had pulled out of the driveway.

Mr. Hobbs, her gray-haired manager, waved goodbye. They had talked before about the possibility of her moving, and he had said not to worry, renting a unit in such a desirable location