It Happened One Night

The mere thought had him running his hand over his face in an attempt to wipe away the tangled feelings that had threatened to swamp him since discovering Emmie was his daughter. He had been crazy about the kid before. But now that he knew she belonged to him—that she was his own flesh and blood—it caused a tightness in his chest that was almost debilitating. He had never felt such love in his entire life and it had been almost instantaneous.

And then there were his feelings for her mother. What he had thought to be nothing more than a strong case of lust had turned out to be far more than he could have ever imagined.

His heart slammed into his rib cage with the force of a physical blow and he had to take several deep breaths as he gave in and acknowledged the emotion that he had avoided putting a name to. He’d fallen hopelessly in love with Kiley and he hadn’t even seen it coming.

He’d known that he wanted to spend all of his time with her and that he desired her more than he had any woman in his entire life. But not once had it occurred to him that he was falling in love with her.

As the certainty of the emotion settled in, he knew he wanted to be the man to hold her while she slept at night, wanted to wake up with her each morning and spend the rest of his life spoiling her the way her jerk of an ex-husband never had. He wanted to help her raise Emmie and wanted to give her more babies for them to love and enjoy.

Unfortunately, he was almost positive he had destroyed any possibility of her ever allowing him to do that when he’d refused to talk to her about it further. And he really couldn’t say he blamed her. They had things they needed to work out and spending the past few days holed up in his house brooding about it all wasn’t accomplishing anything.

“You blew it, Gordon,” he muttered miserably as he opened his eyes to stare at the bottle in his hand.

Drinking the last of the beer, he set the empty bottle down on the end table next to the other three he had polished off earlier. He had overreacted to the entire situation when he’d confronted her at the day care center and driven the only woman he had ever loved—would ever love—from his life. Most likely for good.

Josh sighed heavily. Now that he’d had a few days to cool down and started looking at things rationally, he could understand Kiley’s wanting to be positive about who had fathered Emmie before she approached him about it. It just made good sense to handle it that way.

He could even appreciate her reasoning for not wanting to tell him until after the funding committee decided on the additional funds for the day care center, too. She hadn’t wanted there to be any question about her motives. He respected and admired that kind of integrity.

And although her fears were unfounded, he even got why she was afraid he wouldn’t step up to the plate and be the father Emmie needed. She was trying to protect her child—their child—and there was no way in hell he would ever fault her for that. He would be disappointed in her if she didn’t.

As he sat there staring at the twinkling lights on the tree, he thought back over the past few weeks. Spending time with her and Emmie had given him a glimpse of what his life with them could be like, and he wanted that more than he wanted his next breath.

He smiled through the mist of emotion gathering in his eyes. He’d enjoyed the nights they spent together eating in front of the television while they watched a movie, even if it had been the same cartoon both times. Then, after the pony princess was tucked into bed for the night, he loved sitting on the couch with Kiley, holding her close, talking to her and kissing her until they both gasped for breath.

He had even loved taking on the responsibility of being their protector. Initially, Kiley hadn’t appreciated his insistence that he drive her and Emmie to his place to ride out the ice storm. But just the thought of her having an accident on the icy roads or either one of them being cold and uncomfortable in a house without heat and electricity had been more than he could bear.

Sighing heavily, he uttered a curse word that he only used around the guys or when he did something stupid like smash his thumb with a hammer. He loved them both unconditionally and that was something that would never change. But he was afraid he had come to that realization too late.

Unable to sit still, he stood up, gathered the beer bottles and went outside to the shed to toss them in the recycle bin. Standing in his backyard, he stared up at the star-studded night sky. He wanted it all—Kiley, Emmie and to be the best husband and father he could possibly be. But what could he do to get them back to where they had been, to make things right between him and Kiley?