Tempt Me

A reluctant smile tugged at his mouth. He was so serious and intense, she braced herself and waited for him to find the words to explain.

“I wasn’t in love with Kayla,” he said at last. “We’d barely been dating a month, but she got pregnant. I thought since we were in it together, I should step up and do the right thing,” he said.

She let her tea sit and cool off while she listened, more interested than she should be about his history, for personal reasons more than professional curiosity. She cared about him and his daughter. “Sounds admirable,” she said.

He scrubbed a hand over his face, rubbing his eyes. “Maybe. But the thing is, we weren’t in it together. She got pregnant on purpose and didn’t tell me until after we were married and things went to hell. I guess she thought my job was exciting and I had money to keep her happy.” He snorted at that. “There was nothing happy about her.”

Mia winced, shocked any woman would trap a man—outside a television soap opera, that is. “Why wasn’t she at least satisfied if she’d gotten what she wanted from you?” Mia asked, wondering about the ex-Mrs. Rhodes, who she disliked more with everything she learned about her.

“She bitched about the way the baby changed her body and she was miserable. She once told me she’d made a mistake poking holes in the condoms but she was too far into the pregnancy to do anything about it.” He paused and met Mia’s gaze. “I thank God for that fact every day.”

“I know you do.” She knew how much he adored his daughter, but inside she was disgusted by any woman who could manipulate a good man like Austin. And to then complain about her situation? She couldn’t comprehend it.

“I’m sure you’re curious, so here’s the rest of it. We made the marriage work for two years. And she left me and Bailey for a rich guy she met at the gym… until he got bored, dumped her ass, and she came back. She said all the right things about having learned her lesson and wanting to be a real mom this time. So I took her back for Bailey’s sake.”

He braced a hand on the table and glanced over. “God, I was such an asshole.”

“No.” She pulled her chair closer to his, the warm scent of his aftershave hitting her without warning, powerful, hot, and sexy. All the wrong things to be thinking about now, while he was baring his soul.

“Want to know what I think?” she asked in a husky voice she hoped didn’t betray her yearning. She didn’t wait for his reply. “I think you’re a great dad who would do anything for his daughter. That’s something to be proud of, not to beat yourself up over.”

He shook his head and let out a pained laugh. “Well, it’s a mistake I won’t make again. Not with anyone, but especially not with Kayla. She doesn’t have the patience or the temperament to be a parent. But thank you for saying that about me.” He lifted the mug and gave her a sexy half-smile.

She glanced away. Not sexy. Just a smile. Jeez. She couldn’t contain her thoughts around him for one single second.

“But I do want you to know the reason she can’t be allowed near Bailey again.” He took a sip of the hot tea, drew his tongue over his lips, a movement she couldn’t help but follow.

“Bailey was four… almost five,” he said, bringing her back to focus on what was important. “As far as I know, and hope, too young to remember. I worked late and Kayla was home. Bailey’s schedule was pretty much the same as now except for the fact that it’s later now. And she tries to negotiate harder.”

“She’s good at brokering a deal.”

He shook his head and laughed, but he quickly sobered, his expression turning dark. “She was… is… precocious. All I know is the morning after that night, I helped her get dressed for the day and she had finger marks on her arm. Adult-sized red marks,” he said through clenched teeth. “I asked her what happened. She said, and I can still hear the words, clear as day, ‘Mommy did this,’ followed by big crocodile tears.” He rubbed his palm against his eyes and she ducked her head, giving him a moment of privacy.

Nausea filled her at the thought of anyone hurting that child, let alone her mother. “I’m sorry,” she whispered after a moment.

“Yeah, me, too. Sorry I gave her a second chance. Sorrier I didn’t document it. Kayla didn’t deny it, either. Said Bailey wasn’t getting dressed fast enough, was giving her a hard time, so she grabbed her—hard enough to bruise—and forced her into the pajamas.”

“What did you do?” Mia was almost afraid to ask.