Gentlemen Prefer Curves: A Perfect Fit Novel (13 page)

“I don’t think he does. If he did, he wouldn’t have waited four years to come after me.”

“I want to believe that,” Ellis said. “Trust me, I want to grab a knife, go to his house, and slice off his balls. But something is not meshing. What man picks up his life and moves to the hometown of a woman he has no feelings for?”

*   *   *

Carter opened his eyes when he felt a forty-pound weight settle on his chest. “Good morning, beautiful,” he said to his daughter as he kissed her forehead. Her curly hair was a matted tangled mess and she had pillow lines on her cheeks, but the sight of her on his chest made him smile.

“Good morning, Daddy. Did you sleep good?”

“I did,” he lied. He hadn’t been sleeping much since he slept with Belinda. His nights were spent unwillingly reliving that afternoon. All he could think about was how she felt against him, and how she smelled and the husky sound of her voice when she moaned. But he also remembered her tears and how hurt she was. He never wanted that. He never wanted to be a witness to that kind of pain. He had been so set on divorcing her, on starting his life over without her, but these past few days he had been doubting his decision.

“You look real tired,” Ruby said, touching his still-bruised cheek.

“That’s because my daughter woke me up at six o’clock on Saturday morning.”

“I wanted to talk to you,” she said softly.

“About what?” he asked cautiously. He knew she was still curious about Belinda, but she hadn’t said a word about her since the day of the trip. Belinda might be an uncomfortable subject for him, but he never wanted his daughter to be afraid to talk to him about anything. “You can talk to me about anything, you know.”

“I know. I wanted to talk about what we was gonna do today.”

He was behind at work and he knew he should spend the day catching up but the world wouldn’t end if he forgot about work for a couple of days. He had been preoccupied this past week. He owed his daughter a day. “What would you like to do?”

“I want to go to the park with the lake and I want you to take me in a rowboat and I want to look at the sky.”

“Really?” That was the last thing he’d expected to hear from her, but then again she wasn’t the typical five-year-old. “You like looking at the sky?”

“Yeah. I like to see stuff in the clouds.”

“Okay, beautiful. We’ll go to the park and I’ll take you in a rowboat and we’ll look at the sky. How about we have some breakfast first? Maybe pancakes.”

That earned him a frown. “I don’t think you should make pancakes, Daddy.”

“Why not?” He grinned at her. “Don’t you like them?”

Her eyes went wide. She was an honest kid but a sweet one, and he could see her struggling not to hurt his feelings. “I think we should make cereal instead.”

“How about I buy you breakfast? I know a place that makes pancakes that are way better than mine.”

“Okay,” she said, smiling. “That’s a good idea.”

CHAPTER 8

Gone fishing …

Belinda woke with a start. Her cell phone was ringing and someone was pounding on her front door. For a moment she was in a complete daze, unable to do anything but lie in her bed and process what she was hearing. Her phone went to voice mail but the door … Somebody was at her door. She looked at the clock on her nightstand. Just after six
AM
.

Who the hell could be at my door this damn early?

She made herself get up and shoved her arms into her bathrobe so she could get down the stairs to make the awful pounding stop. Her neighbors were probably ready to skin her alive, and she didn’t blame them. Whoever was at her door was going to get it. She wished she had grabbed a baseball bat on the way down, but it was probably for the better. A girl like her couldn’t do hard time in jail.

She finally reached the door and flung it open to see her father standing there in full fishing gear.

“Bill Junior!” He barged in and gave her a rough hug, causing her to wonder if he really thought she was a boy instead of a girl.

“Hi, Daddy.” Her anger melted away. She couldn’t really be mad at her father. Slightly annoyed, yes, but not angry.

“No time for chitchat, Junior. Go get into your gear. We need to get to the lake. The fish are biting today.”

“I’m sorry, but did we have a father–daughter date I’m forgetting about?”

“Nope. I wanted to see my kid so here we are. I’ve been wondering about you since your friend Cucumber called.”

She didn’t even bother to correct him. “I’m fine, Daddy. I promise.”

“Good. Now go get dressed. I got a special pole for you in my truck and a cooler full of beers. It’s going to be a good day.”

She was supposed to go into the store this afternoon, and she had planned to spend her morning doing absolutely nothing, but she couldn’t tell her father no, even if fishing was the last possible thing she wanted to do.

*   *   *

Carter and Ruby arrived at the lake a little after eight that morning. The park surrounding it was mostly empty this brisk morning. Only a few joggers and a couple of guys fishing. Carter envied the joggers. He used to run in the park before he had Ruby, but since she’d come into his life he’d had to stop his daily morning runs in the park. He now had only a treadmill to look forward to each day. Maybe when she got older he could start running outdoors again. Or maybe she could ride her bike alongside him while he jogged. He wouldn’t mind having her with him.

“Can I hold one of the paddles?”

He looked down at his daughter, who had blueberry syrup dripped all down her shirt, and handed one over. It was really too big for her to handle, but he let her try anyway—it was only a few feet to the docks and she looked kind of cute when she was so determined.

“You got something, Bill Junior?” he heard a deep booming voice say. He thought the voice sounded familiar; something about the slight Texas twang alerted his memory. He looked at the two fishermen at the dock. One was massive; even from a distance Carter could see the man’s muscles bulging beneath his gear. The man he was with was much shorter, and soft looking, chubby almost. Carter guessed it was a father and son out for a day of fishing. They were dressed in identical dark-green waders, khaki vests, and floppy camouflage hats. If he ever had a son, he might like to do that. His grandfather had taken him fishing a few times. His father never had, but then again his father had spent most of his childhood at work.

“Come on, Rube.” He took the oar away from her. “I think that boat in the middle has got our name on it.”

“Reel it in, Junior,” they heard as they got closer. “That’s it. You’ve got a big one on there. Look at that! Your first fish of the year! That’ll cook up nicely for dinner tomorrow.” The man slapped his son on the back. “Now take it off the hook and toss it in the cooler.”

“I don’t want to take it off the hook. You do it.”

“Oh, don’t be such a girl!”

“I am a girl, Daddy!” Carter recognized that voice yet he couldn’t stop himself from approaching them just as Belinda was ripping the hat from her head. “See? A girl with boobies and everything.”

“Aw, Bill Junior! Don’t say stuff like that to me.”

“Why not? You seem to forget I’m a daughter and not a son.”

“I don’t. I just like my girls a little tougher is all.”

“Really? You married
Mamá
and she is the girliest girl on the planet.”

“Yeah, well, I just married her. I don’t like to hang out with her. I like to hang out with you.”

“Oh, Dad.” She sighed, grabbed the fish, and pulled it off the hook. “This is the grossest thing I have ever done ever, but I’m a tough bitch and I don’t want you forgetting that.”

Belinda’s father ruffled her hair. Now Carter recalled how he knew his voice. Bill Gordon was one of the best damn ballplayers in the history of the game. He remembered watching him as a kid—his grandfather had taken him to a game when they came to New York on a trip. It was funny that he ended up married to his daughter twenty years later.

“That’s my girl.”

She grinned at him and then proceeded to wipe her hand on his shirt. It was funny that he would meet Belinda here again. In the same park. At the same lake she’d fallen into. As hard as he tried, he couldn’t get the image of her out of his head—the one with her clothes plastered to her soaking-wet body. He went to sleep with that image in his mind. He went to sleep remembering the passion that had overtaken them a few days ago. He went to bed missing it, missing the way his few minutes with her had taken the hollowness away.

“Belinda?” Ruby called softly as she walked ahead of him a bit. He didn’t stop her, even though he knew it was a bad idea to approach Belinda. He couldn’t make himself turn away.

Belinda turned and smiled genuinely at her. “Hey, baby doll!”

“I didn’t know you was gonna be here today. My daddy is gonna take me in a boat.”

“I’m here with my daddy, too. We’re fishing.” She looked over to Carter then, her smile quickly dropping from her face. For a moment he thought he saw hurt in her eyes, but she quickly covered it. “Hello, Carter.”

“Carter?” Bill Gordon turned at the name. His big hulking frame moved quickly toward Carter, and for a moment Carter was sure a broken nose was in his future. But Belinda grabbed her father’s massive hand and held it between her own, stopping him from doing any bodily harm.

“Dad, I want you to meet my friend Ruby.” She gave her father a very pointed look and then smiled down at Ruby.

“Ruby?” Bill gently removed his hand from Belinda’s and scooped Ruby up. Carter’s instincts kicked in, and he stepped forward. He knew his child. He knew how uncomfortable she was around strangers, and Belinda’s father was a giant.

But Belinda grabbed his hand this time, saying nothing—just watching her father with Ruby.

“Ruby? They should have called you Diamond, because you are just about the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen. Look at this girl, Bill Junior! Isn’t she beautiful?”

“Gorgeous.”

Ruby surprised him by giggling. Immediately Carter felt himself relax. She wasn’t scared. Maybe she was growing out of her shyness, or maybe the Gordons just had a welcoming way about them.

“Oh, look at that. She’s missing teeth! That’s the damn cutest thing I’ve ever seen. I guess I should be introducing myself. I’m Mr. Gordon, Ruby. I’m glad to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Gordon. Can you show me how to fish?”

His face lit up. “You want to learn? Of course I’ll teach you, but you have to touch worms. Are you ready for that?”

She nodded.

“Good. But we have to get off this dock and go where the water is a little more shallow so I can show you how to cast. I don’t want you falling in so soon. Can you swim, girl?”

“Not very good. Daddy always has to go in with me.”

“Well, you’ll learn this summer.” He set her on the ground and handed her the bag they kept the bait in. “We’ve just got to head down that way a little.” He pointed to the shore to their left. “Are you ready?”

“Maybe we should check with her father first, Dad,” Belinda stated.

Bill gave Carter a hard look. “Mr. Lancaster doesn’t have any objections. I think it’s best for all of us if me and Ruby go fish over there for a few minutes.”

“That’s fine with me, sir.”

“Good. Come on, Ruby Red. We’ve got fishing to do.”

Carter watched his little girl head off with Belinda’s father. Normally he wouldn’t have let her walk away without him, but this time he did.

“My father loves kids,” Belinda said, reading his mind. “You don’t have to be worried about her. He raised me and I came out pretty good.” She smiled softly at him, and awareness of her trickled through his body. It was then he realized that their hands were linked. How long had it been since he held hands with anybody except Ruby?

She must have realized it, too. She pulled away from him and stared off at her father in the distance.

“She’s shy,” he told her. “She doesn’t speak to anybody. I worry about her because I see her struggle to talk—but she talked to you. She went off with your father. This is very big for her.”

“We’re not bad people, Carter. Despite what you think of me, I would never do anything to hurt her.”

“You only like to hurt me.”

She looked up at him then, her mouth open. But no words came out.

“You don’t hit like a girl.” He pointed to the fading bruise on his cheek. “I take it you learned that skill from your father.”

Her eyes flashed with regret. “I’m sorry I hit you. I shouldn’t have done it.”

“I probably deserved it. Given the way your father was coming at me, I’m guessing I would have had two black eyes if you hadn’t stopped him.”

“He’s fifty-six years old, but he’s a big son of a bitch and he would have killed you.”

“What did you tell him about us?”

“Nothing. I came home from San Francisco devastated. I didn’t need to say a word.”

“I think we should talk.”

“Do you really want to? I thought you wanted me out of your life as soon as possible.”

He did—or at least he thought he did. “We slept together. You can pretend it didn’t happen all you want, but I can’t. We live in the same town. We are going to run into each other over and over. We need to figure things out.”

“You could go back to San Francisco. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about bumping into your stupid face every time I left the house.”

He almost smiled at her childish name-calling. There were only two women who could ever make him smile. Ruby was one of them, but Belinda was the first. “I’m not moving back. Ruby likes it here. I’ve never seen her so happy.”

“She could have been happy anywhere. Why here, Carter? You know this is my town. You had to know how difficult it would be to live where I am.”

“You are not my only tie to this place. My best friend and his family are here. I spent every summer break here during college. I want my child to grow up here.” He shook his head. “I never thought you would move back to Durant. I had a private detective track you down. I thought you lived in the city.”

“That was four years ago. Why did you have me tracked down?”