His to Protect (3 page)

He snorted. “When was the last time you slept with Andrew before he died?”

Damn. “Not pulling any punches today, huh?”

“Should I be after your sister dropped that bomb on me last night?” he asked quietly.

Fair enough. “Maybe four months, probably a little longer,” she rasped out, embarrassed. Despite what her family had thought about her supposedly perfect marriage, she and her husband had been on a path straight for divorce. He’d been distant for almost a year before he died, blaming it on his job, but she’d suspected the truth. He’d been seeing someone. Looking down at her hands, she swallowed the shame. She hadn’t even been able to keep her husband happy enough not to stray.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Kell bit out.

Her head snapped up at the quiet words. “You knew he was cheating?”

He nodded once, his expression tight.

Rage popped inside her like fireworks. Kell had known? Of course he had. Probably everyone with the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team had. Those guys were all like brothers and they all stuck together. “Of course you did,” she muttered in disgust. She wasn’t angry at him, but the entire situation.

“I wanted to tell you.” There was a raw honesty in his voice that surprised her.

She ignored it and focused on the present. “It’s not important.” And it wasn’t something she wanted to talk about with Kell again. Ever. “I guess I expected a little resistance or something, but whenever you want to see Reece, you’re welcome to. If you want to come over now, that works, but… I’m not giving him up fifty percent of the time. He’s too young and I’ve been his whole world. I want you in his life, but I just can’t change his life like that.” The truth was, she wasn’t worried about that anyway. She was pretty certain Kell wouldn’t try to do that to her, but she also knew how much the courts favored mothers in situations like this—her parents had looked into it and had wanted to hire an expensive lawyer but she’d told them to back off. She was fairly sure that she and Kell could work things out amicably.

“Why are you living with your parents?” His question surprised her, but she supposed it was fair.

“Now that I have Reece I wanted to be closer to my family and DC holds too many memories. I have no family there, the cost of living is terrible and,” she shrugged, “I can teach anywhere. I only moved there for Andrew anyway. This is my hometown and I missed it. I couldn’t believe it when I found out you’d taken a job here.” It had almost seemed like fate—if she believed in that kind of crap anymore.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me I had a son sooner.” There was a bite of anger in his words that didn’t surprise her. He was almost preternaturally still, the anger pulsing off him in waves.

Sitting there, she prepared herself for whatever he’d throw at her. When she’d admitted to Andrew’s parents that their ‘perfect’ son wasn’t the father of her unborn child they’d called her all sorts of names. Her old friends in DC had been shocked she’d gotten pregnant with another man’s child so soon after her husband’s death. God, she could just imagine what Kell had to say to her now. Yes, they’d used condoms, but clearly one of them had broken. It wasn’t like she’d planned it, but for all she knew he could accuse her of getting pregnant intentionally. She nearly snorted at the ludicrousness of that thought.

“You’re moving in with me.”

Her eyes widened at his statement. “Excuse me?”

“I’ve already lost three months of my son’s life. I would never try to take him away from you, but I deserve to spend time with him. I’m not saying this is permanent, but I want him here. With me. I want to see my son every day when I wake up and when I come home at night. I deserve that.” His voice was heated.

Charlotte swallowed back the tears. Kell was such a good, caring man and a dark, very small part of her was a little jealous he wasn’t saying he wanted to see
her
every morning and evening. Which was stupid considering she didn’t want a relationship with him—or any man for that matter. “That’s insane, Kell. Babies are a lot of work. Sleepless nights, teething, crying—”

“Exactly. And I’ve had to miss out on all of that for three months.”

Because of you.
He didn’t say the words, but she could hear them hovering in the air. “So you seriously want me and Reece to move in with you?”

“It’s happening.”

She gritted her teeth. She hated when he got all bossy like that. Scrubbing a hand over her face, she sighed. Her first instinct was to say hell no, but the guilt swamping her over how she’d waited so long to tell him about Reece was stomping on that instinct. “What about your job or social life or girlfriend…?” She struggled to come up with more excuses, but just the thought of him having a girlfriend or even dating anyone clawed at her insides.

“None of that will be a problem.” Okay, he hadn’t exactly answered if he had a girlfriend or not. “This will be a temporary thing. All I’m asking for is three months and I think that’s fair considering what I’ve lost. It’ll give you time to find a place to live and after that we’ll figure out a shared agreement that works for you.”

“Three months, then we figure out a permanent solution?” The one thing she wasn’t worried about was Kell being a good father to Reece. The man was loyal and giving and would do anything he could to protect and care for their son. She was just worried about what being under the same roof as Kell would do to her heart.

There was something in his gaze she couldn’t define as he said, “Yep.” He crossed his arms over his chest, looking fierce and demanding.

Guilt was a huge factor pushing her into this, but the truth was her loud and usually drunk sister had just moved back into her parent’s house and she didn’t want her son around that mess. Not even for a little bit. She’d looked at a few places but they hadn’t been in areas she was comfortable living with a small child. She knew she was going to regret it, but… “Okay.”

Chapter 4

Kell waited impatiently in his foyer, trying to force himself to stop pacing. His heart was beating out of control as he imagined seeing and holding his son for the first time. He knew what he’d done was slightly dirty, playing on Charlotte’s guilt, but he didn’t give a damn. Though the thought of being a father scared the hell out of him, he wanted desperately to meet his son. He was supposed to be sent off for two weeks on an out-of-town security job, but he’d talked to his boss and worked things out so he could stay local for the next month—at least. There were so many things he and Charlotte needed to figure out, but the only thing he could focus on now was keeping both her and…his son close to him.

His throat tightened as he tried to wrap his head around the fact that he was suddenly a dad. His own father had been a violent alcoholic so Kell had basically raised his brother after their mom died. He knew more about babies than Charlotte probably realized.

At the sound of a car door shutting, he threw open his front door and strode outside. He hadn’t thought she’d be back so soon, especially since she’d be bringing over so many things for Reece. He’d wanted to go and help but she’d been adamant that she deal with her parents by herself. Considering how stubborn she could be, Kell knew when to pick his battles. As long as Charlotte didn’t change her mind about moving in, he could give her space.

When he saw Monique, the blonde with legs a mile long he’d gone on a couple dates with get out of her two-door sports car he froze, his excitement dying. What the hell was she doing here?

She gave him a little half wave as she strode toward him. Wearing a black skintight mini dress and high heels, she was almost as tall as him. “Hey, Kell.” Her voice was practically a purr.

“Hey, what are you doing here?”

She shrugged. “I was in the neighborhood, thought I’d stop by.”

He glanced at the road, which was thankfully empty of vehicles. The thought of Charlotte driving up now made him feel sick. Before she’d left, the indecision in her gaze had been clear and he wouldn’t let anything get in the way of her moving in with him. As she was leaving to get their son she’d mentioned that her alcoholic sister was now living with her parents too so he had a feeling that her acquiescence to move in was part guilt, part not wanting Reece to be around her sister. He’d let Charlotte run from him a year ago because her world had crashed down on her head and he hadn’t wanted to add to her problems.

Now things were different. He wasn’t some fucking rebound or a way to make herself feel guilty.

“It’s not a good time.”

Monique placed a well-manicured hand on his chest, her expression pouty. “Why not?”

Kell bit back his nausea. He didn’t want anyone touching him but Charlotte. A few months ago he’d tried to purge her from his system by dating Monique, but it hadn’t worked. They’d gotten physical but he hadn’t been able to sleep with her. Not when he kept picturing Charlotte’s face. It had felt beyond wrong. “Because I’m seeing someone.”

Her blue eyes narrowed, the intensity of her anger surprising him. “Since when?”

“Since now. Why the hell are you here?”

She shrugged and curled her hand against his chest. He took her wrist and removed it as gently as he could. She still didn’t walk away. “Saw you at the Garcia party last night.”

He frowned, not remembering seeing her there. “You were invited to the party?”

She shrugged again in that annoying way of hers. As she did, a compact SUV pulled up to the curb outside his house.

Charlotte.

“You need to leave. Now.” He kept his expression blank, trying to will the other woman to get the hell off his property. Right now everything with Charlotte was so tentative he didn’t want to screw things up before he had a chance to make his intentions clear. He knew she planned on sleeping in one of his guestrooms, but he planned on making that a short term thing. He wanted her in his bed and his life permanently.

Monique glanced over her shoulder, then glared back at him. “Fine. See you later.” With an obnoxious wave to Charlotte, Monique slid into her car and zoomed away.

Kell strode for Charlotte’s vehicle. He was surprised when she got out and rounded it, fury and hurt written on her face. She had her keys gripped tightly in a fist as she practically squared off with him. She wore the same jeans and green sweater, which did nothing to hide the outline of her generous breasts. “This isn’t going to work, Kell. I’m not going to introduce my son to a bunch of strange women.”

He tried to bite back his fury. Way to jump to conclusions. “That woman means nothing and she’s not coming back.”

Her jaw tightened as she stared at him, and all he could think about was kissing away that anger. Then she shook her head. “You can spend a couple hours with Reece, but this isn’t going to work. I knew it was a mistake when I said yes. We can’t—”

Unable to listen to one more word, he moved fast, covering the few steps between them in seconds until he was on her. His hand fisted in her hair, gripping the back of her head as he crushed his mouth over hers.

She let out a strangled moan into his mouth and for a moment he thought she’d shove him away. He wouldn’t blame her if she did. He was pushing too fast. When her fingers twisted into his shirt, tugging him closer, he knew he’d won for the moment. Sweeping his tongue past the seam of her lips, he didn’t give her a chance to resist. He kissed her hard and dominating, the way he wanted to fuck her. The need to take this woman, to slake his never-ending lust around her, was a primal, living thing inside him. From the moment he’d met her it had been like that for him. Unfortunately she’d been very taken. So he’d ignored her as best he could, but it had become damn near impossible when she was one of the sweetest women he’d ever met. Now that she was the mother of his child, his need to claim her was even stronger.

Breaking the moment, Charlotte shoved at him, wrenching her head back. “What was that for?”

“That woman is nothing to me and no woman is going to be in our son’s or my life now except you. I don’t want any woman but
you
,” he growled, unable to stop the admission. Her eyes were wide and definitely surprised. Still gripping her, he loosened his hold and slid his hand around to cup her cheek and neck. He could feel her pulse pounding out of control.

“Kellen, this is a mistake,” she whispered, suddenly looking exhausted.

God, he loved it when she said his full name. He wasn’t sure if she meant the kiss or her coming there, but he didn’t care which. Neither were. He knew it. She just needed time to see it herself. Dropping his hand to give her a little space, he looked over her shoulder into the interior of the vehicle. He could see the outline of the car seat, but it was turned away from the window. Excitement and nervousness punched through him in equal waves. He couldn’t believe he was about to see his son for the first time. “Is he in there?”

At the question, Charlotte’s entire face softened. She nodded. “Yeah. Sleeping.”

His heart beat faster at the thought of holding his son. “You managed to pack all your things in this vehicle?” The mini SUV had decent storage but he’d expected her to have a lot more stuff, especially for a baby.

She snorted, the sound irreverent and totally Charlotte. “No. My dad is hiring someone to bring over everything. They should be here in a few hours, but…” She trailed off, biting her lip.

That was when he realized what she meant. “No buts. You said you’d try this temporarily.”