The Doctor's Secret Son

ty. “I wasn’t expecting you to come here and demand to stay at my house and interrupt our lives.”

His brow lifted. “You thought I’d stay away after your phone call?”

“I didn’t know what to think. You were the one who said you didn’t want children. Four years ago and less than two weeks ago. Plus, you’re leaving the country again soon. When I called I thought you might already have gone.”

“And yet you called.”

He made it sound like a dirty thing that she had done. Did he wish he could go back to not knowing Joss existed?

“You don’t have to be here. Just go back to Atlanta or wherever it is you’d rather be. There’s nothing Joss and I need from you.”

“No, you’ve done a really good job convincing my son that he doesn’t need a father.”

“Of course I have. I want him to grow up happy and healthy and if he bemoaned the fact that he didn’t have a father it might affect his mental and emotional health.” Didn’t she know firsthand how growing up without a father felt? “I’d never knowingly let that happen.”

“But you would have allowed him to grow up without a father had our paths not crossed again at CCPO?”

“Probably,” she admitted, hating that it was true, but acknowledging it all the same. “I’d convinced myself I was doing you a favor in not telling you.”

“Because?”

“Because I thought you were living the high life in Atlanta...that you didn’t want to be tied down by a relationship and kids.” She tossed his former claim back at him.

“And what is it you want, Chrissie? What is it you hope to gain from having told me about Joss?”

He had money and was probably implying that was why she’d told him. If so, he was wrong.

“There isn’t a thing you have that I want,” she declared with a tilt of her chin.

Her angry spark had his brow arching.

“Isn’t there?”

She shook her head.

“We both know that if I touched you, you’d go up in smoke.”

No, she didn’t know that. Well, maybe she did, but she wasn’t admitting to a thing.

“If you think I haven’t noticed how you watch me, you’re wrong.”

Okay, so maybe she watched him. A lot.

“You’re a man living in my house uninvited. Of course I watch you. Trying to make sure you don’t steal the silverware.”

“Ha,” he snorted. “Real funny.”

“Despite your claims of wealth, I know nothing about you, Trace. Nothing. So don’t you go making fun of me trying to protect my son and myself.”

He considered her answer a moment, then said, “You know all you’ve asked to find out.”

“Fine. Since you keep bringing him up, tell me about your father.”

“I don’t talk about my dad.”

Yeah, neither did she, but still, she tossed her hands up in frustration. “Exactly my point. You say one thing and do another. Just as I asked you to tell me what happened to your side and you didn’t.”

The struggle on his face was real. “What is it you want to know about my father?”