Delinquent Daddy (Banks / Kincaid Family #2)(31)

At the moment, she hated him for acting so rationally. She still wanted to rail, and scream, and cry. How dare he make her feel even more unhinged with his calm, collected demeanor?

" We're not going to do anything," she growled, putting more weight into trying to shut the door. But the man must have an iron foot. He'd didn't budge.

"I can't just turn around and leave, El."

"Yes, you can. You've done it before."

He sighed. "Will you at least let me come in to apologize?"

She cracked off a harsh laugh. "You don't want to apologize."

"Yes, I do. My mother was right. I didn't think today.

I...hell. I guess I assumed you already knew I was taking her to Chuck E. Cheese's. Please believe me when I say I never meant to scare you...or your neighbor."

119

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

"Apology accepted," she said quickly. "So, now you can go."

"Ellie, I'm not going to leave. Not this time."

"Then what do you want?" she said with a shaky voice.

"For starters, I'd like you to stop crying."

"I'm not crying," she muttered and wiped at her wet cheeks.

She could actually hear his amused smile. "There's more than an apology I need to give you," he murmured. "I had my sister Helena work up a custody agreement today. She's a lawyer too."

For a moment, Ellie stopped breathing. Custody agreement?

"I...here," he said, sounding suddenly uneasy. There was a sound of crinkling paper, and then a legal sheet was thrust through the three-inch crack in the door. "We wouldn't have had the problem we did tonight if we'd come up with some kind of agreement. So, look it over and tell me what you think."

Ellie spent a minute just staring at his hand, the same long, talented fingers that used to touch the most intimate parts of her body but were now handing her a legal battle.

Slowly she reached out and slipped the sheet from his grasp.

Her chest physically hurt as she dropped her gaze to the document. After glancing over it, which was fairly easy for her since she worked in a law office and understood such forms, she lifted her eyes.

"Every weekend?" she uttered. "You want her every weekend?"

120

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

Why didn't he just demand one of her lungs? Actually, those might not be such a difficult organ to give up. At the moment, the damn things seemed to be malfunctioning; she found it nearly impossible to breathe.

Blue eyes peeked through the open slit. "I thought that was more than fair. You'd still get her a majority of the time."

"But every weekend?" Ellie repeated in horror.

"What?" Boston demanded. "What's wrong with it?"

"It's just that weekends are the only chance I really get to spend time with her," Ellie argued even though she knew that was a mistake as soon as the words left her mouth. Showing any kind of weakness to Boston was bad.

"Well, that's a whole hell of a lot more than I've ever gotten to spend with her, now isn't it?"

"But...she only met you yesterday," Ellie reasoned. "She doesn't know you well enough to—"

"And just whose fault is that?" he shot back. "If you hadn't lied to me, I wouldn't be some stranger who—"

"Oh, you wanted to go, Boston. Otherwise, you would've stuck around long enough to know there was a baby. You—"

"I left because you ordered me to go!" he roared. "Do you think I wanted—"

"I know exactly what you wanted," she cried out loudly in order to be heard over his yelling. "And it had nothing to do with me. Now get out and leave us alone."

Before she realized what was happening, Cassidy came charging into the living room. Ellie jerked in surprise. "Cass—"

121

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

Wet hair swinging behind her and her long nightshirt hanging down past her knees, Cassidy bulldozed her way toward Ellie.

"Leave him alone!" she screamed, flying forward. She pushed Ellie in the stomach with all the strength she had, making Ellie lose her grip on the door, and causing Boston to spill inside.

Surprised, Ellie leapt back and blinked rapidly. If Cassidy had pulled out a gun and shot her, she couldn't have felt more hurt and betrayed. Horrified because tears immediately filled her throat, she could only stand there and gape as her child laid into her.

"This is all your fault," Cassie snarled, her eyes full of lethal accusation, making Ellie feel exposed and ripped open as her daughter pushed on her stomach again. "If you'd just told him about me all along..."

Cassidy would've gone on and on, but surprisingly Boston was the one to stop her.

"Hey, hey," he said softly and crouched next to the nine-year-old, taking her face in his hands. "Let's not get mad, okay? Why don't I tuck you in? I want to tuck you into bed again. Okay?"

Cassidy blinked at him. The tension in her face slowly eased, and she finally nodded. "Okay."

Boston gave a slow smile. "Good," he answered and straightened, reaching for her hand. He cast an unreadable look Ellie's way before walking their daughter down the hall.