“I think a lot of straight men do,” she tossed back, not bothering to tone down the sarcasm.
“Yes, but I don’t think they’re using them to forget all the stuff I’ve done wrong.” Marty looked her straight in the eyes. “Shaw doesn’t use you.”
“No,” she quietly agreed.
In frustration, she smacked the pillowcase against the side of the house. She didn’t want to give Marty an inch, but a little of what he was saying was getting through. A little. That didn’t mean she’d ever understand him or accept what he’d done to his kids.
“Shaw doesn’t use me,” Sunny went on when she had more control of her voice. “More like he resists me. I think Shaw gets overwhelmed with the responsibility, too. Responsibility that you’ve put on him.”
“I know. I know,” he repeated, groaning. “Shaw was born old. He always put more on his shoulders. Once I saw that he could run the ranch, I knew it was time for me to leave.”
Sunny turned on him again. “And that makes you a shit.”
“Agreed. But, darlin’, it makes me a shit without an illustrator for my stories. Please don’t let your disgust for me get in the way of that. I might have felt sorry for you way back then, but I could also see how talented you were. I also believe you love doing the sketches. I can see your heart in the pictures.”
Her heart was indeed in those sketches. “I didn’t mean for that tail feather to look like that,” she snapped. Then she realized this probably wasn’t the time to bring that up.
He gave a hint of a smile. “Well, it’s sold a lot of copies to drunks and perverts.”
“Yes!” Sunny said that a little too loud, a little fast, and she didn’t want to agree with him on anything, including the obvious.
The next few seconds crawled by. “Just consider staying on as the illustrator,” he finally said. “I would offer you a huge bonus or a raise, but that’d probably feel like a bribe to you. Unless it’s a really big bonus or raise.”
She scorched him with a fresh glare. Sunny didn’t want any humor in this. She wanted him to suffer...but she didn’t know exactly why. It’d probably been a smart business move not to let the world know that the world’s worst father was putting stories out there for kids. And as for the illustrator part, it was possible that she was the only artist he’d known. It was as if Marty had considered that sketch she’d given him to be an audition of sorts.
But that didn’t mean everything between Marty and her was resolved. There was the part about his feeling sorry for her when she’d been a kid. Heck, he probably still felt sorry for her. After all, she had Sunshine for a mother, and Sunshine’s parental flaws were legion.
Marty and she looked up when they heard footsteps coming around the side of the house. Shaw. He stopped, eyed them both, his stony gaze settling on Marty.
“Don’t worry, I’m leaving,” Marty said to his son. He lowered his voice and added to Sunny, “Just consider staying as the illustrator, darlin’. The bonus and raise are optional.”
Marty walked away, moving past Shaw, but Shaw spared him only a glance. He kept his attention on Sunny as he made his way to her.
“Are you here to kidnap me?” she asked.
“Uh, no.” Shaw’s forehead wrinkled. “Do you want me to do something like that?”
His question had a sexual edge to it. Of course, Shaw always had a sexual edge. Even now, with the kidnapping attempts and arguments, Sunny wanted to slip into his arms and kiss him. She resisted because if she did that, she’d be using him. He likely wouldn’t object—who was she kidding? He definitely wouldn’t object. But it wouldn’t be right, not with her mind in tatters.
“Ryan said you were going to a sperm bank to get knocked up,” she heard Shaw say.
Well, Ryan hadn’t kept that secret for long. Then again, she hadn’t really said it was a secret.
“He’s worried about you,” Shaw added. “He just wanted me to make sure you’ll be okay. Plus, I’m guessing he didn’t want to talk to you about sperm.”
“Understandable,” she muttered. It wasn’t what she wanted to discuss with Shaw, either. Still, she was in love with him, and this was something he needed to hear. “I want to have a baby. This is the first step.”
He nodded, and she could practically see him gearing up to do the right thing. To step up to the plate, something he’d been doing his whole life. Well, Sunny was going to put a stop to that.
“I don’t want you to be my baby’s father,” she threw out there before he could speak. “I don’t want you to ever feel you have to do something with me that you don’t want to do. That includes kidnapping sex,” Sunny tacked on because she couldn’t help herself.
She hated to see him twisted up the way she was.
He didn’t smile. In fact, despite her attempted humor, his expression didn’t change. “Give me twenty-four hours,” he said.
Sunny shook her head. “For what?”
“Twenty-four hours before you go to the sperm bank. After you drop off Ryan, come back here. I want us to talk. When we’re done, if you still want to go to the sperm bank, I’ll drive you there myself.”
With that, he turned and walked away.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
SHAW WAS PRETTY SURE he wouldn’t die from the pain, but it might be a while before he could sit down. Or sleep. Or not take a step without wincing.
Or wonder if he’d just done the dumbest thing in his life.
He was certainly doing plenty of wincing now as he came out on his porch with his coffee to wait for Sunny.
As promised, she had driven back to Lone Star Ridge after getting Ryan settled in Austin, but she’d arrived so late that she had said she’d come over in the morning. That had turned out to be a good thing because it had allowed him a little more time to get some things done. However, the delay had eaten into the twenty-four hours he’d given her. Maybe she wouldn’t hold him to that deadline. Maybe she’d listen to what he had to say.
And what he had to show her.
If it didn’t work, then the limping and pain were the least of his worries. At least one thing would strike a good chord with her; everything else could be a gigantic bust.
He drank his coffee and glanced around at the place he’d made his home. A month ago, it had been everything he’d wanted. He had a job he loved. Family that he mostly loved with the big exception of Marty. However, even Marty had come through—sort of—when it came to Sunny.
Shaw’s stomach clenched a little when he saw Sunny’s SUV approaching. She got out, looking better than any woman had a right to look. A body-skimming blue dress...and carrying a duck. Yes, a duck. She had tucked it under her arm like a football and walked toward him.
“There are some repairs being done on the barn this morning, and it was freaking out Slackers,” Sunny said. “Em asked me to bring him with me.”
“Slackers?” he asked, staying put on the porch. He wanted to go to her, wanted to pull her into his arms, but he didn’t want her to see him limp. Plus, this way he got to enjoy the view of watching her walk toward him.
“Em named him.” She didn’t say that with a smile, and Shaw didn’t know if the disapproval was because she’d been assigned duck-sitting duty or if the name was one big bad memory.
Maybe both.
Maybe, too, because she was here to tell him that she’d kept that appointment at the fertility clinic in Houston.
“How’s Ryan?” he said, not only wanting to know but to get it out of the way. It was possible some of Sunny’s lack of smile was because of the boy.
“All moved into the dorm. Now I know how moms feel when their kids leave the nest. But I didn’t get all sixteen years with him before that happened.” She glanced away for a couple of seconds. “I miss him.”
Yeah, he’d figured she would. “Kinsley asked if I’d drive her up to see him in a couple week
s. Maybe we can all go together?”
That put a little light in Sunny’s eyes, and she nodded. Smiled, even, but it wasn’t a full-fledged Sunny smile. The kind of smile that made you believe life could truly be, well, sunny.
“Come in,” he offered. “I’ll get you some coffee, and we can talk.”
She looked down at Slackers. “I can’t leave him out here. He might waddle off.”
“Bring him in with you.”
She continued to look down at the duck. “He can get...aggressive if he thinks I’m in trouble so you might want to keep your voice pleasant.”
Shaw frowned and looked down at the duck. He had no intentions of yelling or such. “Aggressive?” he asked, wondering what the heck had happened for Sunny to learn that about Slackers. And what exactly was aggressive about a duck?
“He went after Hugh when he tried to kidnap me yesterday to convince me why I should get back together with him.” Sunny said it in an almost matter-of-fact tone, but there was nothing matter-of-fact about it.
The rage came like a fast storm. “I’m going to kick Hugh’s ass.”
She lifted her head, met his gaze and gave another of those little-bitty smiles. “If he comes back, I’ll let you do just that. Then I’ll have Leyton arrest him. I filed a restraining order against Hugh this morning.”
That soothed the rage a little. However, it was a gut punch of surprise that Sunny had had to do something like that and that Leyton hadn’t told him about it. Of course, maybe Leyton had wisely figured the info had best come from Sunny. Anything was better coming from Sunny.
“I didn’t file a restraining order against Marty,” she went on, stepping onto the porch. “He tried to kidnap me, too.”
Well, shit. No wonder Sunny had asked Shaw if he was there to kidnap her when he’d shown up yesterday at Em’s. He’d thought it was some kind of sex game she wanted to play. He should have pressed for more info, and then he could have kicked two asses—Hugh’s and his father’s. And here Marty hadn’t mentioned anything about an attempted kidnapping when Shaw had talked to him the night before.
“Marty showed me a sketch I’d done of you and him,” Sunny continued. “I’d given it to him as a gift when he’d been visiting. He said the sketch was the reason he’d wanted me to do the illustrations. It wasn’t just because he felt sorry for me.”
“Yeah, he explained that to me,” Shaw admitted.
And Marty had put a good spin on it, too, making it sound as if Sunny might keep on doing the graphic novels with him. Now, Shaw had to wonder if Marty had left out anything else.
“Marty said he’d make sure you got a raise,” Shaw added, and judging from her nod, his father had told the truth about that. “So, will you keep on working with him?”
“Maybe. Probably,” she said. Then she sighed. “I just hate that I let Aurora and him take a whack at my self-esteem like that. I can draw pictures.” Sunny added almost defensively, “I’m a good artist.”
Shaw leaned in and kissed her. “You’re better than good. You’re freaking amazing.” And that included the kiss, too. She tasted like sex and sin.
And Sunny.
That was the best part.
The worst part was the annoying loud squawks the duck made, and Slackers gave Shaw a non-friendly peck on the chin.
When Sunny pulled back from the kiss, she smiled again and ran her tongue over his bottom lip as if to gather up his taste. That caused his body to do a little clenching and begging. He might be able to do something about that, but first he had something to give her.
“Come inside,” he repeated. “And bring the duck.” Considering the critter’s crappy attitude, that was a concession for him. Still, Shaw would do whatever it took to get her to stay long enough to hear him out.
“What happened?” she asked when he turned to walk inside. “You’re limping.”
He waved that off, and once they were inside, he shut the door.
“You’re in pain?” she pressed, but Shaw silenced her question by picking up the package on the entry table and handing it to her.
“It’s from Hayes,” he said.
Her eyes went wide with surprise, and she set the duck down on the floor so she could take the package. Her eyes went even wider when she saw what was inside.
“My sketchbooks.” Her voice was mostly breath and came out as an awed whisper. She quickly flipped through the one on top. “These are the ones that I gave Sunshine in the plea deal. How’d you get them back?” Her surprise turned to wariness. “You didn’t steal them, did you? Or did Hayes steal them?”
“No theft involved,” Shaw assured her. “Hayes traded for them and then had them couriered to me so I could give them back to you. He also got Sunshine to sign a release, saying they’re yours and that she has no claim on them.”
He enjoyed that openmouthed stunned look she was giving him. In part because he knew this was good, that it was going to make her happy. And also because if her mouth stayed that way, it’d make it easier for him to French-kiss her.
“How?” Sunny managed to say. “What did Hayes use for the trade?”
This was a good part, too. A sweet little comeuppance for her witch of a mother. “Apparently, when he was about sixteen, Hayes put a nanny cam in the attic because he thought someone was sneaking up there. He ended up getting a recording of Sunshine giving head to one of the cameramen. Apparently, it wasn’t a very flattering video of Sunshine and didn’t capture her good side.”
Sunny’s mouth dropped open again.
“Hayes traded the sex tape for your sketchbooks,” Shaw went on, “because he wanted to make up for Tonya stealing your diaries.”
Now he kissed her open mouth, and without the duck there to peck him, he went in for something longer and deeper. He didn’t stop until the duck pecked him on the leg. Apparently, he was going to have to bribe the stupid thing if he wanted to finish up things with Sunny. Shaw went to the pantry, took out a box of Cheerios and dumped some on the floor.
“Uh, that could lead to duck poop,” Sunny pointed out.
He didn’t care. Shaw went back to her, pulled her into his arms and finished the kiss. Unfortunately, he didn’t finish it without wincing again.
Sunny stepped back and stared at him. “All right, what’s wrong with you?”
He’d wanted to get in a little more kissing before he launched into this, but it was obviously time for him to let her know what he’d done. “I need to show you my ass,” he said.
Clearly, she’d been expecting him to say something else, but that didn’t stop Shaw. He hadn’t bothered with a belt, so that was one less thing to work through to get to the zipper of his jeans. He lowered his jeans, and boxers, as well, with as much care as he could manage. He still winced. Then he turned so that she could see his butt cheek.
When Shaw had planned the big reveal, he hadn’t taken into account that for him to see her reaction he would have to crane his neck and look over his shoulder—both of which caused pain. Still, it was worth it to see her “you nailed this” expression and hear the soft, sighing way she said his name.
“Oh, Shaw,” she repeated, going closer for a better look.
Since he’d already checked it out in the mirror, he knew that his butt cheek was inflamed and an angry red color. But Sunny would look past that and see the tattoo.
It was a heart with the shape formed by the words on her own tat.
Love you forever.
And in the center was Sunny’s name.
He didn’t point out that his name was one letter shorter than hers and therefore had likely been less painful for her, but Shaw did mumble, “I’m so glad your name wasn’t Penelope.”
“Do you really love me?” she asked in that breathy voice.
Holding on to the waist of his jeans with one hand, he eased back around to face her. “Do you think I w
ould have gotten an ass tat if I didn’t? That Love you forever isn’t lip service. Or in this case, ass service. I love you, Sunny.”
Risking a duck pecking and pain from just moving around, Shaw drew her back to him for a kiss. Judging from the enthusiastic way Sunny kissed him back, the tat—or maybe it was the I love you—had hit the right mark.
“Oh, and as for the sperm you want, I just happen to have that,” he told her. “No charge. Let me be your sperm donor, Sunny.”
He winced, not from pain but because that hadn’t sounded as good aloud as it had in his head.
“You do know that sperm could lead to a baby?” She winced a little, too, probably because of the way that’d sounded.
“That’s what I’m counting on.” If his swimmers were a tenth as potent as Marty’s, he could knock her up today, and they’d have that baby shortly after Christmas.
She didn’t exactly jump into his arms or rip off his clothes. “Are you really, really sure?”
This was the easiest question of all for Shaw to answer. “Yeah, I’m really, really sure.”
Sunny smiled and proceeded with the clothes ripping while she kissed him and backed him toward the bedroom. Shaw ignored Slackers’s protesting squawks and pecking attempts, and closed the door in the duck’s face. Sunny and he had a baby to make.
And the start of a new life.
“You’re going to need a bigger house,” Sunny muttered, right before she hauled Shaw’s sore ass to her and Frenched him out of his mind.
* * *
If you enjoyed Shaw and Sunny’s story,
you won’t want to miss Austin and McCall’s
rekindled romance in Chasing Trouble in Texas,
the second book in the Lone Star Ridge series from USA TODAY bestselling author Delores Fossen.
Keep reading for a special preview!
Tangled Up in Texas Page 27