The Father of Her Son - By Kathleen Pickering Page 0,92
and her son, but what if that little boy’s hopes were dashed when Evan turned out to be a fraud? She closed the door to his room suddenly thinking that there was no place to hide in the huge penthouse from the man who stood there with expectation on his face.
He wanted to finish the conversation she’d started earlier.
“Another glass of wine?”
“No. Thanks.”
He pulled a sheepish grin. “I have a feeling this conversation is going to be difficult. Want to talk about it in my bedroom?”
His subtle scent rising on his body heat made her fingers itch to touch him. He looked so sexy barefoot in his jeans and faded gray Led Zeppelin T-shirt stretching across those shoulders she’d tasted naked once. God help her, with his black hair pushed back, those sky-blue eyes were questioning her as if he was remembering the very same moment. Despite herself, she grinned. “Absolutely not.”
He held out his hand. “Come on. I’ll make some tea. We’ll sit on the balcony.”
She folded her arms. “Let’s just talk.”
He made a sweeping gesture. “Okay. Lead the way.”
They hadn’t even made it across the kitchen when she turned on him.
“Did you or did you not quit your job, Evan?”
He stopped in his tracks. Was that disappointment filling his face?
“I don’t lie, Kelly.”
“Did you marry me to seduce me into giving you an interview about Campbell?”
Now he frowned. “Are you kidding me? That question isn’t funny at all.”
She planted her hands on her hips. “That’s not an answer.”
“What did Helen Thompson say to you?”
She pinched the bridge of her nose debating whether to explain because he’d hadn’t given her a straight answer yet, but pressed on. At this point, she’d stepped over the line of caution. What did she have to lose?
“Helen said that Buzz raped her on four different occasions. That she and Doyle made up the story about Matt being a love child to force me to come forward and defend myself. And, she found the fact that we are recently married rather interesting, as if you’d taken vows as a measure to convince me to speak out.”
He shook his head. “All that from a woman I never personally laid eyes on let alone had a conversation with. Amazing.”
“So that’s your reply, Evan?”
He looked at her as if seeing her for the first time. “You know something, Kelly? I was taking a chance marrying you. And I married you because I fell in love. I think I’ve loved you from the first day I came into Herby’s and you overpoured my coffee.”
Kelly’s breath caught in her throat. “Evan...”
He held up a hand, his aqua eyes flashing with anger. “No, wait. I want to make sure you understand exactly how much you mean to me. Three hours ago, I got a call from Steve. He’s not letting me quit because I’m violating my contract. But he offered me carte blanche at NCTV if I can convince you to talk about Campbell on the air.”
“This is what I’ve been talking about.”
“You think I don’t know that? Do you know what I told him?”
Kelly lifted her chin a notch higher. “What?”
“I’d see him in court.”
Kelly stared at him, wanting to push away the distrust with hope. “How do I know this isn’t all just an elaborate ploy between you two to get me to talk?”
“And there lies our problem. You don’t trust me. I’m wondering if you managed to survive Campbell’s assault in one way, but not in others.”
Kelly swallowed hard. Evan was voicing her own worries, and she didn’t like the sound of them.
He continued. “Let me be clear, Red. Do I want to interview you and nail Campbell so hard he can’t get up? Hell, yes. It’s like instinct for me. I see wrong and want to make it right, especially because that bastard hurt the woman I love. Will I coerce you to speak out? Absolutely not. I respect you enough to honor your wishes. But nothing I say will convince you otherwise. You’re dug in so damned deep behind that wall of yours, that I’ll never have a chance to love you the way I want to.”
She stepped toward him. “If we’d just been given time like normal folks to build understanding between us.”
“It won’t work, Kelly. We’ll do too much damage to each other before we can get to that place. When this is all behind us and I’ve put Buzz in jail as I promised, I will file for divorce.”