Intense

“No, I don’t, but you are the father of my child.”

“Maybe.”

“Look at him. You look exactly the same.”

I glanced at the kid again and frowned. I couldn’t deny it, at least not for long, but I couldn’t let myself get too distracted either.

“All babies look alike,” I said, moving back toward the kitchen.

“Where are you going?”

“I’ll be back,” I said. “I need to get a hotel room. I’m only in town for a little bit.”

She bit her lip and stepped toward me. “You’ll come back, though, right? Spend some time with him?”

“I’ll spend some time with you,” I said, “maybe see if we can’t keep a condom intact.”

“Just come back,” she said.

“I will.”

I got out of there before I changed my mind. I needed to get out of that house and away from that baby and fucking process some of this shit.

It wasn’t every day a guy found out that he had a secret baby somewhere out there.

Plus, I did need to get a hotel room. And I needed to sweep the area and make sure nobody was actively surveilling her place, make sure she was safe.

I checked my gun and then started to move around her house, checking the place.

I was going to throw myself into my work. I had to distract myself from my reality for a while, at least until The Network wasn’t a threat anymore.

I had a fucking baby, and his mother had made my cock fucking rock hard the second I saw her again.

I might be fucked, and not in the way I wanted.

5

Tara

I crossed and uncrossed my legs, nervousness flowing through my veins.

I kept thinking back to the day before. One second I was totally freaking out for no reason, imagining people were following me around me, and the next Emory showed up at my door.

I felt a hot flush tingle down my arms just thinking about him again. He was exactly like I remembered him, that cocky smile, that incredible, muscular body, those piercing eyes.

But it was totally bizarre the way he just appeared like that. He didn’t really even explain himself at all. And when I showed him Mason, his son, he seemed basically disinterested. The only thing he seemed to want to do was talk dirty to me.

Which I didn’t mind exactly, but it was confusing. The man just found out that he had a son, and he was basically uninterested. He’d acted like he could really not care less.

And then he was gone again. He got out of there so fast I almost didn’t believe he had shown up. I didn’t even bother telling my parents or Lindy about it since it felt like a dream. Maybe I was hallucinating and I really did just see a ghost.

Except when my phone rang this morning and it was him asking me to meet him for coffee, I knew I wasn’t dreaming.

I looked around the café and sipped my coffee. I was a little early, and the afternoon rush was just starting up. I was at a little table pressed up against the wall underneath a window with a nice view of the parking lot. Local art hung on the walls, and the whole café had a library-meets-bar vibe about it.

I watched the people come and go, expecting to see him every time the door opened. I didn’t know what I was doing here or what he wanted, but I figured maybe now he was finally going to talk to me about Mason.

Truthfully, I didn’t know what I wanted from him, either. I was just fine taking care of Mason myself, although it was hard. The only thing was, Mason needed a father figure in his life. Maybe Emory didn’t want to stick around in Dayton and change diapers, and I couldn’t blame him if he didn’t. Frankly, I didn’t even know where he lived or what he did for a job.

But I hoped he’d be in Mason’s life somehow. I didn’t need him to drop everything in his life and stay here to help raise Mason, but I did want him to at least show up for birthdays, to give Mason a positive male role model.

But maybe Emory wasn’t such a positive role model. I blushed thinking about the things he had said to me, the way he touched my body.

And just as I began to remember that night, he walked in through the door.

Tall and handsome, his eyes swept the room, seeming to take it all in at once. He spotted me and this grin broke out across his face. I stood up as he walked over.

“Tara,” he said.

“Hi, Emory. Thanks for coming.”

He smirked. “You’re very welcome.”

I extended my hand to him, wanting to try to feel at least a little familiar and normal. He looked at my hand and smirked. He grabbed it and pulled me closer to him. He kissed my cheek gently and then let me go.

Chills ran down my spine.

“Funny that you’d want to shake hands,” he said.