Kris Fletcher - A Family Come True

If he could think of something to get her talking at least the seat-dancing would stop. If only his brain cells weren’t being hijacked by his—

Thank God, right at that moment she hit a key with a flourish, punched the air and let loose with a little “yeah, yeah, yeeeeah,” before letting out a sigh of what he assumed was satisfaction.

“Ha! Take that you brain-stealing piece of busywork!”

“What were you doing this time? Something for your mom?”

“Nope. One of my other clients.”

“Ah. Another website?”

“Honestly.” This time her sigh held nothing but exasperation. Lucky for him, he could tell it was totally fake. “Author assistants do more than build sites, you know.”

“I know, I know. You set up contests, format ebooks and...other stuff.” He could go into more detail, but he didn’t want her to know how closely he’d paid attention to her work talk.

Come to think of it, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know how much he’d picked up about it, either. It smacked too closely of being...well...too close.

“Very good. You get an A for listening.” She closed the lid on the laptop. “But this time I was planning a social media campaign. Not horribly complicated, but it’s a royal pain. I’ve earned a break. So.” She peered out the window. “Where are we? Belleville?”

“Not quite. We just passed the Trenton exit. About halfway there.”

“Good.” She twisted slightly to look behind her. He glanced her way. Mistake. Between her movements and the grip of the seat belt, her neckline was pulled sideways. He tore his gaze away, but there was no erasing the image of peachy skin and white lace that was now branded into his brain.

Yep. This trip was a serious blunder. Time to remind himself of the real reason she was sitting beside him.

“I think Xander believed the lines we fed him yesterday. About us being—”

“Right.” She sounded surprisingly flustered for someone who had spent the first hour of the drive soothing a wailing child and a howling dog without breaking a sweat. “I have to say, you did a great job. Of pretending, I mean. If the business world ever loses its appeal, have me introduce you to some of my mother’s cohorts. They might be able to make use of you.”

“Given some of the stories you’ve shared, I’m gonna say thanks but no thanks.” Especially because he hadn’t been acting so much as indulging his own needs at that moment—not that he would ever tell her that part. “But at some point we’re gonna have to come clean with him.”

“Yes. We should.”

Huh. She didn’t seem to have any ideas. Not what he expected from Darce.

“It’s your call,” he said slowly. “You’re the one who has the most at stake here. But I’m thinking, once we get back, we should probably be up front with him.”

“Right. I can tell him I was caught off guard by the jail thing, and you picked up on that and wanted to help.”

She was saying the right things, but they weren’t ringing true. But maybe she wasn’t sure how Xander would react. After all, she’d really known him only a few weeks.

“I can explain it to him. He might take it easier from me.” And if not, then Ian would rather any anger be directed at him than Darcy.

“You don’t need to—”

“Yeah, I do. It was my idea, remember? All you did was play along.” And he would forever be glad she had. Even not knowing everything that was happening, it had felt damned right to hold her close, to stand between her and someone who had caused her to look at him with that fearful appeal in her eyes. He might not be able to do a lot for Darce and Cady now—he didn’t have the legal knowledge to give her the advice she needed—but he had given her that.

“Still, I think if I explained things from my point of view, he’ll understand.”

“He probably will. But let me break it to him first, give him a chance to process it. You can go into the details later.”

“I don’t—”

“Darce. Trust me on this one, okay? It’s a guy thing.” Mostly his own thing, but let her think it was Xander’s ego on the line, not his. That would simplify life for all of them. “He’s going to be pissed, and he’s going to want to be sure that it was all for show.”

“And why should he have any say in that? He’s Cady’s father, yes, but that’s as far as it goes. He has no say as to what I do with my life, as long as Cady is safe and happy.”

“He just found out he has a daughter. Yesterday, when you first saw him, your instinct was to give her to me and trust me to take care of her. I took her inside. I fed her. I changed her frickin’ diaper.” And then I went back outside and kissed you, and everything changed, but I’m not going to dwell on that. “Cady is his daughter, but right now I’m the closest thing to a dad that she has. That’s going to eat at him. He’s going to want to know how deeply I’m tied to you two.”

Another reason why they had to end this farce sooner rather than later. The longer it went on, the more Xander would believe in it.

Ian’s own beliefs were totally irrelevant.

“I suppose you’re right.” The laughter had fled from her voice.

“I wasn’t blowing smoke last night when I said he’s basically a decent guy.”

“Except for wanting to take Lulu away from you.”

Crap, was that it? “Darce. He’s not going to try to take Cady away from you. Even if he wanted to, he just met her and he just got out of jail. He has enough to deal with already. Cady is probably the brightest spot in his life right now, but I guarantee you this, he’s smart enough to know he’s not in any position to try to be more than a very part-time dad for a long time.”

“I know. But...everything is happening so fast, and...”

He waited for one breath, then two. “And?”

“I...” She shook her head. “Nothing. It’s just me being—”

Three short beeps interrupted her words and had her diving for her phone. Damn it. Of all the lousy timing.

She pulled the phone from her bag, checked the display and frowned. It hit him that she’d been doing that a lot on this trip.

“Someone text-stalking you, Darce?”

“What? Oh.” Her laugh sounded strained. “No, I...well...I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but I might have a bit of a problem. With, um, Nonny.”

“Is she okay?”

“I don’t know.”

“What’s that mean?”

“It means,” she said bleakly, “that I left a message for her last night, but she still hasn’t called me back.”

CHAPTER FIVE

THANK GOD FOR rest areas.

Darcy stepped stiffly out of the car and allowed herself one blissful moment to stretch every possible bit of her body before she had to dive back into Mommy mode. She reached overhead, clasped her hands, lifted her face to the sun and pulled everything she could pull.

“Dang, that feels good,” she said out loud.

She hated being confined. It hadn’t helped that the farther they went, the more she’d started to worry. About Nonny’s silence. And how Ian was going to readjust to his family. And what Xander’s reappearance would do to her family.

The worrying, however, had been almost a relief compared to the other thoughts that had flooded her imagination—thoughts of what would happen if Ian were to stop asking her about things she was already obsessing over. If, instead, he were to lift his hand from the wheel and settle it on her knee and remind her that Cady wasn’t the only one who could benefit from some distraction once in a while.

Between the fretting and the lusting, she had a pretty good idea how it would feel to be a jack-in-the-box, all coiled tight and ready to spring. If she were to take off right this minute, how many laps could she do around the crowded parking lot before Cady started crying?