“Done.”
There was a knock at the door.
“What now?” Jules groaned in frustration.
“Mommy?”
“Hush, sweetie. Someone’s at the door.” She pulled the door open wide as she grumbled, ”Who is it?”
Damn him. He had to be a smart ass by sending the text from outside her hotel suite. Double damn him for looking so damned sexy as though he stepped out of a men’s fashion magazine and landed at her door wearing a sheepskin coat, unbuttoned, that showed a white buttoned shirt underneath. His jeans were like the ones she remembered him wearing—showing off all of his attributes. One hand held his Stetson, and the other held the leash attached to Lucky.
“He’s wearing a jacket,” Jules remarked, noticing Lucky’s red coat.
“It’s his service vest. He needs it when we go out. Otherwise, people won’t know why there’s an a-hole lying unconscious on the ground with this ferocious beast on top of him.”
“He’s not ferocious.”
“Glad you think so.”
Becca turned to face the voice at the door. “Dane! Did you find Flopsy?”
“Lucky did, sweetheart. That’s why we’re here.” He pulled the bunny from the inside pocket of his coat and handed it to her.
“Flopsy!” Becca cried out as she hugged the stuffed toy.
“Are you going to invite us in, or is this how we make the exchange?”
Jules stepped back, allowing Dane and Lucky entrance to her suite. She let Becca down who immediately hugged Lucky.
“Thank you, Lucky. You saved Flopsy.”
“He sure did,” Dane said appreciatively. He bent down and removed Lucky’s leash. “I don’t know where he found the little guy, but I’m sure glad he did. Did you miss your bunny?”
Becca nodded her head, still hugging the dog’s neck with the bunny sandwiched between them. “He’s my best friend.”
“Thank you. Becca’s been upset since she realized Flopsy was missing.”
“I think there’s been a lot of upset today.”
“Yes, there has.” Jules closed the door. “Would you like a drink? I think we both could use one.”
“I hope we don’t always have to have alcohol when we’re together,” he teased. “It’s not always the best foundation for a relationship. And yet, I think we can thank a bottle of Remy Martin for making us parents of this little one.” Dane shrugged off his coat and placed it and his Stetson on a chair by the door.
“We weren’t drunk.”
“I didn’t say we were.”
“I don’t have any hard liquor. Will red wine do? I have a nice bottle of Merlot.”
“Sure. Thanks.”
Dane looked around the hotel suite. It was acceptable for one of the city’s mainstream hotels, although not on the same level as his condo.
“How long will you and Becca be staying here?”
“Hopefully, one more week. I’m having some minor repairs done to my townhouse before we move in.”
“You’re welcome to stay in my condo if you’d like.”
“Thank you, but no. We’ll be fine here.”
Dane turned his attention to Becca. She’d curled up beside Lucky with one arm draped around Lucky’s neck and the other clinging to her bunny. “Let’s put her to bed so that we can talk.” Dane made his way to them and crouched beside Lucky and the sleepy child. “Stay,” he said softly to Lucky as he scooped Becca up in his arms. “Where to?” he asked Jules.
“She’s in here,” Jules said as she led him to the bedroom.
Jules pulled back the duvet then stood back to let Dane place Becca on the bed. She covered Becca with the duvet then kissed her on her forehead. “Sweet dreams, baby.”
Dane waited for Jules to step back before he leaned over and kissed Becca on her cheek. “‘Night, Becca. Daddy loves you.”
He followed Jules out to the living area and took a seat on the small couch that was part of a small seating area.
“Come here, boy.”
Lucky came to Dane and sat by his feet.
“He’s very well trained.”
“He has to be. My life depends on it. He’ll warn me before I turn into the big unconscious asshole on the floor.”
“That’s not funny.”
“Well, you didn’t disagree with me when I first said it, although I’m glad you don’t think my dog is ferocious.”
Jules handed him his glass of wine. Noticing that there wasn’t much room left for her to sit beside Dane without sitting on his lap, she opted for one of the armchairs facing him.
“Thank you for returning Flopsy. I hope it wasn’t too much of an inconvenience for you.”
“Family is never an inconvenience.” He took a sip of his wine, nodding his head in appreciation. “Very nice.”
“Thanks. It’s one of my favorites.”
“I’ll have to remember that. Speaking of favorites and family,” Dane paused while he stretched out his long legs in front of him, “Your favorite aunt could do with a phone call, maybe one with an apology. I’ll leave that up to you.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“She said you’d say that. It seems Val knows you pretty well for not having had much contact with you in the last couple of years.”
Jules watched him with wary eyes. The man she had asked to rescue her from a bad situation and who eagerly obliged her, the man who played along with being her fantasy boyfriend for one perfect night seemed to be playing with her now. He seemed too relaxed, too comfortable in her presence, especially after what she had said to him earlier. This time Jules could only see him as a stranger, a man she didn’t know, and one she should handle with caution.
“Did Val tell you why we had a falling out?”
“Not really. Something about a difference of opinion.”
Jules chuckled.
“Care to let me in on the joke?”
Jules finished the contents of her glass before answering him. “After Uncle Ned died, I asked Val to move out to Toronto to live with us. I thought it would be good for her. Instead, she told me she didn’t want to leave High River because it was her home.”
“I’m sure it was a difficult decision for her. She thinks of you as her daughter.”
“I know that, and I accepted her decision. It’s what she said to me after that caused us to become estranged.”
“And that was?”
“You honestly have no idea?”
“Tell me.”
“She chose you over Becca and me to become your housekeeper.”
“I didn’t know.” Dane saw the doubt cross her face. “I swear to you. I had no idea you were her niece. We ran a thorough background check on her. The Jules Montgomery in her file is not you.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“Do you think that I hired Val knowing she was related to you? Why would I do that? And why in hell would I not contact you?”
“Maybe you forgot about me. Your brain injury—”
“I may have forgotten a lot of things when I got hit, but believe me, you were never one of them.” He closed his eyes, forcing himself to recall seeing Val’s file. “Bates checked you out himself. He told me you wouldn’t be a problem.”
“Bates?”
“My right-hand man. Do you remember the man who was sitting beside me in the bar the night we met?”
“No.”
Dane shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. He was there that night. He kept an eye on us, making sure that creep didn’t cause us any trouble.”
“So?”
“Bates knew what you looked like, so if he came across your picture with Val’s, he would have made the connection.”
“Why wouldn’t he have told you?”
“That’s a good question. It’
s something we’ll discuss on our drive home.” Dane got to his feet and retrieved the opened bottle of wine. He filled Jules’ glass and then his own, finishing the bottle.
Dane reached out to Jules and touched her hair. The red waves felt exactly how he remembered them—silky soft and thick.
Jules leaned into his hand. She couldn’t help herself. Her body had missed his touch.
“I’ve never stopped thinking of you, Red. If I had known you were Val’s niece, I would have contacted you right away.”
“I didn’t trick you into getting me pregnant.”
“The thought never crossed my mind.”
“When I was a teenager, I got pregnant. There were complications. I lost the baby and almost died after the delivery. My doctor told me that there was too much internal scarring and that I’d never get pregnant again.”
“What do doctors know? Right?”
Jules gave him a sad smile.
“What are you thinking?” Dane released her hair then took his seat on the couch.
“You’re the father of my child, and I don’t know anything about you.”
“Don’t kid yourself. You know me. The man you asked to rescue you five years ago is the same man sitting in front of you now. I may have been pretending to be Gary, the bush firefighter, but there was nothing disingenuous about me. How I spoke to you, treated you—that was all me, no pretending. And I know you weren’t faking it with me.”
“And yet there’s another side to you, one that I didn’t see and one that I can’t accept.”
“It’s not another side. It’s all me.”
Jules looked away from him, shaking her head.
“Jules, look at me.” His voice was steady, demanding. “When a man senses that a woman can see right into his soul and she doesn’t flinch, he never forgets her. You looked deep into my soul, and you saw me. All of me. That I know and I would stake my life on it.”
“One night together doesn’t make us soulmates.”
“We were pretty damn close. Is that what you have with the psychiatrist?”
“Mark? No! We’re friends, nothing more.”
“Does he know that?”
“Yes, he most certainly does.” Her eyes opened wide when she realized something. “You’re jealous of him.”
“I don’t want him to be first in line to be Becca’s father. That spot is mine.”
“Fatherhood has to be earned. DNA isn’t the only requirement.”
Dane finished the contents of his glass. “We made a baby who happens to be the smartest most adorable little girl I have ever seen. I’m her father. There’s no disputing that. I plan to be in her life, and yours, too, if you’ll let me. I can handle you not wanting me as a lover, but I won’t let you keep me out of Becca’s life. I’ve already missed out on too much.”
“She’s not always adorable, you know. Having a very bright child can be challenging.”
“Like reading Little Red Riding Hood countless times?”
“That’s the latest favorite. You haven’t heard Becca read Goldilocks and the Three Bears.”
“I can’t wait.”
She could see it in his eyes—the sadness in knowing that he had missed out on Becca’s first years. If she were honest with herself, she had to admit that she felt the same knowing that Becca’s father was missing out on this unique child.
“I’ve thought about you often, especially when Becca does something that I don’t recognize in myself. I wondered if it was a part of you.”
“Why didn’t you—”
“Try to find you and tell you that you got a one night stand pregnant?”
“You were never a one night stand.”
“I didn’t know what we were, Gary.” She didn’t correct herself. To her, he was Gary. Her Gary. “We happened by chance. We didn’t know anything about each other. I didn’t want to burden you with a baby.”
“A child is not a burden.”
“I never thought of her as one.”
“You found me once. You could have done it again.”
“No, I couldn’t. You said so yourself that I was lucky to find you that night. And besides,” Jules took a sip from her glass, “deep down, I didn’t want to.”
Dane let out a ragged breath as he leaned into the back of the couch, his gaze focused on her.
“You were a fantasy—one perfect night. I didn’t want to ruin my memory of you by being disappointed by your reaction to my pregnancy. If you had rejected us, I wouldn’t have been able to bear it.”
“I would never have rejected you. You’ve always been with me.”
“It’s easy to say that now.”
He shook his head. “No, I’ve always felt that way. After we spent our night together, I woke up missing you. It took a run-in with a truck and a knock to my head to make me realize that I needed to get my life on track so that I could be with a woman like you.”
“Did you find her?”
Dane gazed down at his hands. It had been too long since he’d felt the softness of a woman’s skin or the touch of a woman. “You’re a hard woman to replace.” He shrugged. “It looks like you’ve moved on.”
Jules opened her mouth to speak and then changed her mind. “It’s getting late.”
“We haven’t talked about Becca. It was part of our deal.”
“Another time, okay?”
“I want to spend time with her. As her father. We have to tell her who I am.”
“No. Not right now.”
“Why? What’s wrong with telling her? She likes me. She loves my dog. What’s wrong with telling her now?”
“I want to talk to Mark first.”
“Why? As your boyfriend or as a psychiatrist?”
“If you’d let me finish.” Her glare silenced him. “Mark is a child psychiatrist, and I trust his advice. He may suggest that we wait until Becca gets settled in her new home and gets to know you before we spring it on her that you’re her father. It may be too much for her to process.”
“That’s bullshit. Becca didn’t have any trouble riding in a stranger’s car or spending the night in a stranger’s home. You put her in Val’s care, and Becca trusted that she was safe. Which she was. Telling her that I’m her father will be received the same way. She trusts you, Jules. And she trusts me.”
Jules got to her feet. “Sorry. I’m not ready to tell her.”
“Not ready, or you don’t want to?”
Her chin lifted in defiance. “I’m her mother. I get to decide if and when I tell her.”
Dane stood up and stepped toward her. Jules held her ground, her back straightening.
“It’s because of what I do. Isn’t it? You don’t want her to have a father who’s a trained killer. You’d rather she had a shrink for one.”
“I never said that.”
“You didn’t have to. I can see it in your eyes, the way you look at me.”
“I’ve had a lot to deal with today. You can’t expect me to make a decision right away because you want it. Becca is my responsibility. Mine alone. And I am not going to let just anyone into her life because of his DNA.”
Jules was exhausted. Tears formed in her eyes, threatening to fall. She needed him gone. She needed to be alone, with time to think about the man who had haunted her dreams.
Dane reached for Jules. His hands grabbed her upper arms. As he leaned into her, his nose almost touched hers. “Let me remind you that when you approached me in my bar, you had no clue as to who I was or what I did. You didn’t care as long as I’d pretend to be your boyfriend so that creep would give up and leave you alone. You never once asked me what I did. You didn’t care as long as you got what you wanted. Someone to keep you company, make you feel safe, and make love to you so for once in a very long time you wouldn’t feel alone when you went to sleep.
“I wouldn’t have stayed with you if I’d known what you did.”
“You knew, or at least the thought crossed your mind. Do you remember me offering to take care of the creep and you asked if I was going to kill him? You asked me more than once how I would deal with him. Admit it, Red, somewhere deep inside you knew what kind of man I was.”
“I never.”
“You didn’t lie to me then, don’t start now. We played a game, but don’t kid yourself. We never cheated. Everything we said about ourselves was true. Every way we reacted to each other’s touch, body, smile, was genuine. That night, I knew a helluva lot about you, and you knew more about me than any woman has. It didn’t matter that we didn’t know each other’s name, we knew each other on the inside, and that is more than most couples ever do.”
He kissed her. God help him. He couldn’t help himself. The way she glared at him in defiance, pretending that there was nothing between them when he knew to his very core that there was. Her denial demanded punishment of the most sensual kind. His hard mouth covered hers, he tasted red wine and the salt of her tears.
Jules softened in his arms. His mouth was hard against hers. She fought against giving in to him, and yet her body betrayed her, remembering what it felt like to held by him and to be kissed by him. Her lips parted, allowing his tongue to taste her. She heard his soft moan and answered with hers. His scent filled her—musk, man, and scotch mixed with red wine. An unusual taste, but one that suited him, and made her want more.
He released her—first his mouth and then his strong hands. Dane took a step back, his gaze fixed on hers.
Jules’ green eyes sparkled, betraying her emotions. “What do you want from me?”
“I want my daughter. And I want you.”
She shook her head. “I can’t.”
“You will.”
Dane turned from her and headed toward the door. Lucky followed close behind him. Dane shrugged on his coat and put on his Stetson.
“Time to go home, boy,” he said softly to his dog as he clipped on his leash. “By the way, whatever happened to that creep?”
Jules gasped, her head snapping to attention. “He ended up in the hospital that night. My uncle told me that he was mugged. You didn’t—”
Boss Page 6