Must Be Wright (The Wrights 3)

“Are you ever going to go out with me?”

She sighed and rolled to face him, then curled her fingers around his. This was the closest they’d ever been, and his heart pounded hard and fast. His thoughts started to gray around the edges as his focus tunneled until all he could think about was Gypsy.

She moved his hand away from her fac

e, but didn’t let go. “I think you missed the whole point of our talk tonight. The bottom line for me is that, at this point in my life, Cooper comes first. It won’t take long for you to be saying the same thing about Belle. And if you think working your life around Belle will be difficult, adding a relationship to the mix would truly throw a monkey wrench into the system.”

“I can’t begin to tell you how much I admire you for the way you raise Cooper, but there has to be a happy medium somewhere. If you give up everything you want just so they can have everything they want, what are you teaching them?”

“I’m not saying they get everything they want. I’m saying they get everything they need. And at this age, I don’t think you can ever give them too much attention.”

“What’s the deal with Cooper’s father?” He’d wanted the answer to that question as long as he’d known her, but the fact that no one at the bar knew the answer meant she never talked about it. So he’d respected her privacy. But he saw things changing between them, and he felt knowing the answer would tell him a lot about her. “You’ve never mentioned him.”

“He’s not worth mentioning.”

“He’s missing out on one hell of a kid,” Wyatt said. “And the most amazing woman I’ve ever met.”

“He wasn’t interested in having another kid.”

“Another?”

She let out a deep sigh and averted her gaze. “He’s an entertainment agent. Used to come into the club where I was working in Miami. I was in VIP customer service, so we interacted a lot. He traveled for work, but when he came into town, we were together. When he left, we talked on the phone, FaceTimed, texted. We were seeing each other for over a year when my birth control failed.”

For as long as Wyatt had known her, he hadn’t seen or heard of her dating anyone, and the way she handled flirty men at the bar told Wyatt she didn’t want to date anyone. Which was why he made the idea of dating all fun and games. He knew going at her directly would get him nowhere.

Now he was glad he had. It might have taken what felt like forever, but he was right where he wanted to be. He had her all to himself, opening up about things she didn’t tell just anyone.

“That’s when I found out he was married.”

Gypsy’s declaration hammered Wyatt in the chest. “What?”

“Yeah.” Her expression turned grim. “He had a wife and—I kid you not—five children. Five.”

Wyatt’s eyes closed on a curse. He couldn’t even imagine how hard that news must have hit Gypsy.

“He was so understanding.” Her voice changed as she imitated his words. “‘I’ll take care of you, baby, don’t worry about anything. I’ll take you to the clinic. I’ll even pay for the procedure.’”

It took Wyatt a second to understand he’d been talking about an abortion. He’d always believed a woman’s choice was her own, but that was hard to reconcile in his heart when he thought about Cooper. Wyatt truly loved that kid.

“When I told him I wanted to keep the baby,” Gypsy said, “he tried to buy me off. Actually pay me to have an abortion.”

Wyatt gritted his teeth. “I hope you hid his body well.”

She let out a surprised laugh, then sobered. “I did one better. After I got him to sign over all his parental rights, I made a stop at his wife’s house on my way out of town. If I’d been her, I sure as hell hope someone would give me a heads-up about my cheating husband.”

“Oh, what I would have given to be a fly on that wall.”

“No, you wouldn’t. It was awful. So, so awful. She had no idea. She’d dedicated her life to this man, and she was so damn sweet, her kids loving and adorable and well-behaved.” She shook her head. “Being the one to deliver that kind of news was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. On the upside, she divorced him and took him for everything he had, which was substantial. And she and I still talk. We want the kids to know each other when they’re a little older.”

“Jesus.” Wyatt stared at her, speechless.

She met his gaze with a wry smile. “Spell broken?” She gave a dramatic roll of her eyes. “Thank God. I’m not going to have to worry about your annoying flirtation anymore. I should have told you this a long time—”

Wyatt reached for her. Sliding his hand around the back of her head, he pulled her mouth to his. He needed her to shut up. He needed to absorb this new level of admiration. But her lips were warm and soft, and she didn’t fight against the kiss, pushing his purpose in a whole different direction.

He pulled away, just a whisper of space between their lips. Her gaze was heavy-lidded and vulnerable, and that was something he’d never expected from this warrior. A fist of heat gripped his gut. “You wouldn’t believe how long I’ve wanted to do that.”

Relief slid through her eyes, and a little smile tipped the edges of her lips. Then she leaned in and kissed him. Really kissed him. A flurry of butterflies tingled through his body, head to toe.