Rita Herron - Anything for His Son

But kidnapping her didn’t fit into the plan right now. And he had to stick to the plan with no variations. Variations might mean mistakes, and Finn couldn’t fail. He’d waited too long for this moment.

Hell, six months ago, he’d moved to L.A. to ingratiate himself into Rebecca’s life. First, he’d set in waiting for his father to implement his plan. But he’d finally grown impatient and had orchestrated his own meeting. He’d come on to Rebecca, and she’d responded with interest, although she’d initially turned down his request.

But in time he would have seduced her.

Pity now that he wouldn’t get to bed her. He had to take care of the kid.

Tugging his own ball cap down over his head to hide his face, he slipped through the crowd. Jesse would never see him coming, and neither would the nanny or anyone else. There were too many people in the park, too many distractions.

All he had to do was make his move, and Jesse was his.

Chapter Two

Ethan had taken out terrorists worldwide, maneuvered his way in and out of life-and-death situations that would make some people’s hair curl and had nearly died of gunshot wounds twice.

But Rebecca still had a way of robbing the air from his lungs. Just the sight of her made him feel as if he’d stepped onto a landmine. His heart was racing, his palms were sweaty and the blood rushed to his head.

In spite of the heat and the sleepless night she’d obviously spent, she looked gorgeous today, light and airy in her pale clothing with her sun-kissed skin glowing from the L.A. weather, and her silky hair lifted off her neck. Normally he preferred her hair down, flowing around her shoulders, so the up-do should have put him off. Instead he appreciated the tantalizing view of the sensitive spot behind her ear that he liked to kiss. The spot that drove her wild and turned her into putty in his hands.

His lips puckered at the mere thought, and he almost forgot why they were there and dropped a juicy one on her neck. But the sound of papers crinkling as she spread them on the table jarred him back to reality.

His feet felt like lead weights as he forced himself to cross the room. He had survived countless dangerous missions—he could certainly sign divorce papers. After all, his marriage to Rebecca hadn’t been a real marriage in over two years. He was an adult. Life had to go on.

“You seem in a hurry to get this over with,” he said in a gruff voice.

Her startled gaze swung back to him. “In a hurry? Ethan, I moved to L.A. two years ago.”

He sucked in a sharp breath. “So why today?”

Eyes narrowed, she chewed on her bottom lip and glanced at the window, avoiding eye contact.

His lungs tightened. “You’re involved with someone else?”

Tension rattled between them in the thick air. “Ethan…”

He winced. “So you have met another man?”

She slowly turned back to face him. Her hazel eyes glimmered with emotions. An apology? Regrets? Indecision? “Yes.”

A frown thinned his lips as he reached out and twisted a loose strand of her hair between his fingers. “Who is he, Bec?”

“Ethan, it’s not important—”

“Who is he?” He hadn’t meant to sound so demanding, but his voice came out cold. Harsh.

She closed her eyes for a brief second, then blinked and met his gaze again. This time conviction and determination darkened the hues. “A stockbroker.”

His jaw tightened. “That’s the reason you’re doing this, so you can be free and clear to be with him.”

The silence that stretched between them hammered home his fears.

“I’m sorry, Ethan. But yes. I’m…lonely.” She hesitated. “I’m sure you’ve been with other women.”

She’d be shocked to know that he hadn’t. He hadn’t had the desire. Because no one could ever replace Rebecca.

He couldn’t help himself. He slid his hand up her neck, caught the back of her head with his palm and leaned toward her. Her mouth was only inches away. He desperately wanted to kiss her. Feel her pulse throb beneath his touch. Make her forget wanting any man except him. “You don’t have to be lonely, Bec.”

Her eyes misted. “That’s not fair, Ethan. You know I care about you. I always will. You’re Jesse’s father—”

“Is that all I am to you now?”

She licked her lips, drawing his attention to the curve of her mouth. The one he wanted to taste again.

“No, of course not. We share a past. We…loved each other once.”

Once? The word triggered a spasm of pain in his chest. She didn’t love him anymore….

“But our marriage wasn’t working, Ethan, and you know it.” Her voice grew stronger. “I never meant to hurt you, and I know you didn’t want to hurt me. It… Our lives just got in the way.”

“And your life won’t get in the way with this stockbroker?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “But it’s time to try.”

He heard the honesty in her answer, and a pang of guilt assaulted him. He wanted her to be happy. “I never meant to neglect you,” he said softly.

“I know.” She pressed a hand to his cheek. “But we have to think of Jesse. Closure will be good for all of us.”

His throat thickened. How could a broken family be good for their son?

Despair thickened his throat. He’d vowed to be a better father than his old man, a better husband. But he’d failed at both. “I am thinking of Jesse. He’s my son, Rebecca. He deserves two parents.”

“You’ll always be his father, Ethan. You can see him whenever you want. That isn’t going to change.”

Did she really believe that another man in the picture wouldn’t alter things?

“Let’s face the truth,” she said. “You’re three thousand miles away. Jesse needs a stable male role model.”

He heard her unspoken words. One who was in his life on a daily basis . God, he was being selfish, wasn’t he? “This man…Jesse likes him?”

She nodded. “He seems to care about Jesse, too.”

Her words both soothed him and tore him up inside. Another man was on the verge of replacing him, both in her life and in his son’s, and he couldn’t stop it from happening.

“We can’t rehash the past,” she said in a voice filled with emotions. “I want you to be happy, Ethan. You are who you are. I realized long ago I had no right to change that, and I wouldn’t want to.”

And he had no right to hold her back if this man was what she wanted. Not when he hadn’t changed. He still worked ninety hours a week. Still accepted dangerous Eclipse missions. Still thrived on work.

Hell, he lived for the high and the danger. He didn’t know how to live without it.

Rebecca deserved better.

He dropped his hand, let it rest by his side for a minute, hoping to calm his shaking fingers.

Then he gathered his courage and reached for the pen to sign the papers.

REBECCA HATED SECOND-GUESSING herself. She hated even more the pain in Ethan’s eyes when she’d admitted her interest in another man. Guilt and affection for Ethan warred with the need to end the meeting as quickly as possible.

She shouldn’t feel guilty. How often had she seen Ethan the past two years? Even Jesse had been disappointed time and time again when Ethan had been forced to cancel.

Frank Sullivan was a nice man. A stockbroker who made good money. A man who had expressed interest in Jesse and coached the kid’s baseball team when he had no children of his own. He supported her career and lived close by, so that he could provide more of a stable influence on Jesse. After all, Jesse was growing up. He needed a man in his life. One he could count on.

One who didn’t disappear for weeks at a time, put his life on the line constantly. One who came home at night.