Delinquent Daddy (Banks / Kincaid Family #2)(84)

by Linda Kage

happen to be in town, I doubt you'd stop by merely to answer my phone for a couple of minutes. What's going on? I know it must be about Cassidy. Unless...you changed your mind about us?"

She lifted her face. When his piercing blue eyes drilled into hers, she was forced to look away. "No, I...it's not about Cassie either. I mean, not directly. Because of her maybe, but not—"

She realized she was rambling and took a brief moment to let out a long breath. Then she looked up and decided to get straight to the point. Just spill it out Band-Aid fast. "I've decided I'll take child support from you after all," she blurted out.

For a moment, he merely stared at her. She could tell it was the last thing he expected her to say.

Then his face cleared. "Ah...okay. I mean..." He glanced away, and she wondered if that was a wince she saw. "Okay,"

he repeated, his voice a little softer.

She blinked. "That's it?" she said wearily. "You're just going to say okay?"

He shrugged. "I can afford it. And I owe it, so...yeah, that's all I'm going to say."

"Well, okay, then," Ellie said, blowing out another breath, relieved this time. "That was easier than I thought it'd be.

I..."

She looked up and met his gaze. All thought seemed to seep from her head.

Clearing her throat, she forced her stare away. "So, are you just going to talk to Helena and get it...figured out then?"

312

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

"That's exactly what I'll do," he assured her with a nod.

"You'll have your first check to you by the end of the week."

"Thank you," she said quietly and turned toward the door, more than ready to get out of there.

But Boston caught her arm. "Are you going to tell me why?" he asked, his voice curious and not at all upset.

Ellie laughed, hoping he didn't hear the nervous trill behind it all. "Why?" she repeated incredulously. "Isn't it obvious? I'd be a fool if I didn't snatch up all that money. That's why."

"I guess that means you're not going to tell me," he murmured.

"I just did," she argued, spinning around to frown at him.

But he shook his head. "No, you didn't. I know you, Ellie.

And I know it took every ounce of pride you have to come in here and ask this of me. You don't want my money. You'd go broke before you ever accepted a penny from me."

She laughed again, and this time she knew he could hear the desperation. Tears filled her eyelashes. "Well...I have gone broke, so...there you have it."

When she risked a glance toward him, he just stared at her. "What happened?"

She sighed and closed her eyes. There had never been any intention for her to tell him the truth, but for some reason the words just spilled out of her. "I lost my job today."

He pulled back in surprise. "At the lawyer's office?"

She nodded.

"Why?"

"I, uh..." She blew out a breath. "Do you remember the man I went out with this weekend?"

313

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

He frowned, confusion in his crinkled brows, but nodded.

"Ted?"

"Yes. Well, he, uh, he's a...a client of my boss's, which you already know. But, anyway, when our date didn't...end well, he called Winston. And here I am."

"Didn't end well," Boston repeated, still scowling. "What do you mean, didn't end well?"

There was no way in hell she was going to tell him that part. But when she refused to speak, he moved closer and took her hand. "Ellie," he said in a soft, stonily serious voice.

She looked down at their connected fingers. And melted.

"Okay," she relented. "It pretty much followed the same pattern you and I followed the night you kissed me on the porch, but ah, when I pushed him away, he didn't take it as gracefully as you did."

"What are you talking about? I didn't take it grace—" The meaning of her words finally seemed to dawn on him, and he about broke her fingers when his hand suddenly clenched around hers. "What did he do?"

"Well..." she hedged, hoping he'd just drop it already. "He, uh, he kept trying to kiss me."

" I kept trying to kiss you, Ellie."

"Well, I didn't like it when he did it," she snapped.

"You didn't like it when I did it," he returned. When she let out an irritated sigh, he gripped her hand again. "Ellie, what...did...he... do to you?"

"Nothing!" she said impatiently. "He just didn't want to stop until I kneed him...between the legs..." She winced before adding, "And then in the nose."

314

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

Boston shot to his feet. "I'll kill him."

"What!? Boston, no." Ellie popped up after him and had to grab his arm to keep him from leaving the office right then and there. "Are you crazy?"

When he turned back to her, she took a reflexive step away. Good Lord, he actually looked crazy.

"He hurt you," he hissed.

"No," she said quickly. "He just scared me a little."