the bowl in her hand. Instead of going out, she let the screen bang shut between them. “What are you doing here?”
“We need to talk.”
“No, we don’t.”
“Yes, we do. Invite me in or come out here.”
Zeno, whining at the sight of the bowl, offered his opinion.
Nathan reached for the door handle.
Carin beat him to it. “Fine. We’ll talk out here.” She yanked the door open and stalked past him onto the porch. Zeno pushed between them, his eyes fixed on the bowl, his tail thumping madly.
Nathan reached down and absently scratched his head. “Who’s this?”
“A dog.”
“No? Really? I’d never have guessed.” Sarcasm dripped. “What’s his name?”
Carin didn’t want to say, knowing full well what he’d think. But if she didn’t, Lacey undoubtedly would. “Zeno,” she said defiantly. “Lacey’s choice.”
A corner of his mouth lifted. “Somehow I didn’t imagine it was yours.”
“He turned up about the same time your book did.” She put the bowl down so that Zeno would have to stay between them to eat. Then she straightened up again, wrapping her arms across her breasts as if they could protect her.
“I was surprised Lacey had read my books.”
Carin shrugged. “She was curious.”
“About them or about me?”
“About what you did. Your job.” She turned away from him and stared out into the darkness. Down the hill she could hear the faint sounds of steel drum music coming from the Grouper Bar and Café. The night breeze, which normally she looked forward to, seemed chilly now, and Carin rubbed her bare arms to ward off goose bumps.
“She seems interested,” Nathan said after a moment.
“I guess.” She still didn’t look his way, but she didn’t need to in order to know he was there, right on the other side of Zeno. It was almost magnetic, the pull he had over her. She’d never felt that way about any other man. She didn’t want to feel that way about this one. Didn’t want to fall under his spell again.
“What do you desperately need to talk to me about?” she said when he didn’t speak.
“Lacey. Fishing. This parenting bit. How we’re going to handle it.”
“I handle this ‘parenting bit’ just fine, thank you.”
“Good for you. But you’re not handling it alone anymore. There are two of us now. And you’re going to have to remember that. We need to present a united front. We don’t argue in front of our daughter.”
“Don’t tell me how to parent!”
“I backed you up tonight.”
“I said thank you.”
“And I’ll expect the same from you when I tell her something.”
“If I agree with you, I will.”
“Whether you agree or not,” Nathan said evenly.
“No way! If you think you can just waltz in here and take over and expect me to back you up—”
Nathan lifted a brow. “Like you took over and never even told me we had a child?”
“You wouldn’t have wanted—”
“You didn’t let me decide what I wanted!”
“So I’m the bad guy in this? I’m the one everybody blames?” Carin said bitterly.
First Lacey, now Nathan. As if she’d taken on single parenthood for thirteen years to spite them both.
“You’re not the bad guy, Carin,” Nathan said gruffly. “I’m sure you did what you thought was the right thing at the time.”
She snorted. “Thank you very much for the vote of confidence.”
“Jesus, what is it with you? I’m trying to give you the benefit of the doubt!”
“Don’t bother.”
He drew a breath, then let it out and sighed. “Look, Carin. I didn’t come here tonight to fight with you. And I didn’t come to Pelican Cay to make your life miserable. I came because my daughter’s here.”
If Carin had ever dared hope he’d come back for her, she knew now that she’d hoped in vain. It was only Lacey he’d come for.
She swallowed the hurt, told herself it didn’t matter, that she wasn’t surprised. Which she wasn’t.
“And you’re determined to do your duty by her.” Her tone was mocking. She couldn’t help it.
“Yes, damn it, I am.”
“Bloody noble of you. And unnecessary. We don’t need you.”
“Lacey does. She said so.”
Hell. Oh, hell.
“Well, I don’t need you. And I don’t want you!”
“Don’t you?”
His quiet challenge made her glare at him in fury. “What are you saying?”
“That once upon a time, you damned well wanted me!” And he stepped around Zeno, who never even looked up as Nathan hauled her into his arms and kissed her.
It was a kiss to remember—a kiss so like the passionate kisses they’d shared so long ago that it was as if all the years between vanished