Who's the Daddy (Crescent Cove 3)

“Mrs. Evans?” Kelsey took a step toward the woman.

“Oh, goodness. Did I make it in time, dear?”

Kelsey laughed. “I think you did. Hurry up, let’s get you inside.” She turned to me and I waved her ahead.

My wife needed to have a plan of action. Nerves fell by the wayside when she had something to do.

I stuffed my hands into my pockets and took a deep breath of the cool night air. The canned air inside the hospital was killing me slowly. I checked my phone and gave my mom an update. She sent me a sleeping picture of my kid.

The scrape of sneakers and a lanky guy shuffling around the side of the building, then back toward the emergency entrance made me look up. I glanced back down as he disappeared. Twenty seconds later, he returned.

“You lost, man?”

“What? Oh, yeah. Not sure.” He pushed a mop of curls out of his face. “I, uh, am looking for my girlfriend—well, ex-girlfriend.” He huffed out a strained laugh. “So fucked up.”

My gut tightened. I straightened and stuffed my phone back in my pocket. “I’ve been here all night. I can at least point you in the right direction.”

“Maternity. Shit. I can’t even believe I said that word. She said she was here.”

I swallowed hard. “You found it.” I nodded to the doors behind me. “Who are you looking for?”

“You probably wouldn’t know her.”

“I’ve been in the maternity waiting room all night.” My hand fisted in my pocket. The bad vibes got louder in my head.

“Oh. Well, then yeah, maybe.” He speared his fingers into his hair, pushing it back from his pale, emo fucking face. “Kelsey. She’s a cute ginger girl. Sweet, a little goofy.”

The door opened behind me, but the growl that came out of me made the kid take a step back. “Whoa, dude. If you don’t know her, that’s cool.” He tried to go around me and stopped. “Kelsey, babe. I got here as soon as I could.”

“Tommy.”

I didn’t know that blood truly could run cold until that moment.

Now, I knew that it was a sterling fact.

Twenty-One

My heart stopped.

Literally.

There was no way this should happen in my life. Today of all days. “Oh, God. What are you doing here, Tommy?”

“You texted me.”

I glanced at Dare. His face was red and the tendons in his neck were bulging. He was still wearing half of his suit. His dress shirt was half open, showing a V-neck undershirt with the tails untucked. Instead of s

eeming unkempt, all I could notice were the ropey muscles of his arms on display, making my ex-boyfriend look even younger and more slight.

Tommy bounced on his heels, his Converse sneakers untied as always. He was wearing skinny jeans and a plaid shirt two sizes too big for his lanky frame.

Seeing them side-by-side was sobering.

My husband versus the boy I once knew. That I’d even had a moment’s sadness about Tommy breaking up with me seemed so stupid. I’d leveled up by miles.

I rushed forward and curled my hand around Dare’s arm. He pulled back and stepped away from me.

“Dare.”