Delinquent Daddy (Banks / Kincaid Family #2)(9)

Dropping her purse to the floor at her feet after she slid it off her shoulder, she backed away and watched Boston fill the room, still holding her other bag of groceries down at his side with one fist. Her eyes lifted, and she blushed as he glanced at the egg stain on her left breast.

39

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

"I..." she started, feeling like a total moron. "I need to clean this up. Just...wait right here," she called, already turning away and hurrying toward the kitchen.

Her pulse jack-hammered a mile a minute. Her hands shook uncontrollably as she dumped the rumpled bag on her counter and hauled the mangled egg carton from the top.

Filmy egg white dripped through her fingers as she deposited the whole container into the sink.

After rinsing her hands and dampening a washcloth, she extracted more groceries from their death tote, sponging them clean. She'd just wiped a sticky smudge off her plastic salad containers when she was struck anew by the situation.

Her daughter's father waited down the hall in her living room. Boston Kincaid was in her house, waiting for answers she didn't want to give. Vision blurring, Ellie grabbed the edge of the counter and coached her breathing back to normal.

Okay, she could deal with this. There was no reason to panic. She should leave the groceries to unpack later and finish her talk with Boston, though, oh God, she didn't want to stop dealing with the groceries. She wanted to continue washing them and putting them away, pretending everything was still normal and her whole existence wasn't being threatened.

Worst case scenario, she'd end up losing her little girl forever. Since that was very unlikely, she should just settle down, because she could deal with anything else he threw her way. But at the mere thought of losing her baby girl...

Her breath hitched. Cassidy was the best thing that had ever happened to her.

40

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

Ellie's pulse doubled, and she became dizzy all over again.

Fighting off the black dots blotting her vision, she straightened and smoothed down her slacks. She needed to go out there and confront him before Cassie made it home, which was pretty much any moment now. But as her hands slipped over her blouse, ironing out wrinkles, she encountered the egg mess.

"Shit, shit, shit," she muttered and fumbled to unbutton the shirt.

As she did, she hurried toward the doorway that led onto the back porch, which in turn doubled as the laundry room.

Glad she hadn't gotten around to folding the last load in the dryer, she yanked out the first top she saw and shrugged out of the egg blouse. Her fingers tripped over the buttons in her haste to shed it. She'd just lifted her arms to pull the clean, yet wrinkled T-shirt over her head when she turned to reenter the kitchen.

Gasping, she screeched to a stop as she came eye to eye with Boston. Grocery bag still in hand, he'd found his way back and was perched frozen in the opposite doorway across the room, appearing caught off guard by her state of undress.

Though ten feet of space separated them, he might as well be touching her by the way his gaze slid down her bra and flat stomach.

Ellie remained frozen for probably a full second before she yanked her shirt the rest of the way down. Boston made a disinterested snort as he stepped into the kitchen to set her second sack of groceries on the countertop. He turned away, keeping his back to her, and examined her mini kitchen.

41

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

"The eggs broke when I dropped the groceries," she explained needlessly.

Feeling moronic, she returned to the counter and wiped dripping yolk off other foodstuff. She made a point not to make eye contact with him. But from the corner of her peripheral vision, she watched him wander toward the refrigerator. Proof of his daughter's existence littered the surface.

Pausing at a picture of Cassie in her soccer uniform, posing with a ball, Boston studied the shot for a good fifteen seconds. Ellie wondered what he was thinking, wondered if he experienced that instant spark of pride she always did every time she looked at her daughter. He turned suddenly as if staring at the picture was too much to take in and zeroed in on a graded math test where Cassie had scored an A+. Slowly reaching out, he tugged the sheet from its magnet.

"Where is she?" he asked.

"What?" Ellie jumped and spun fully toward him, startled to discover he'd lifted his face and was staring at her, waiting for an answer. She focused on the test in his hand and let out a breath. "Oh. Cassie's at..." she was about to spill out her exact whereabouts. One of the carpool mom's would be bringing her home from tumbling lessons any minute now.

But she caught herself, realizing she didn't want him knowing too much.

"She's not here," she finished in a bold voice she didn't feel.

He scowled.

42

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

She sighed and stopped wiping. "Look, Boston. I don't know what gave her the idea to send that letter to your brother, but—"

"Dammit, Ellie," he snapped. "Is she mine or not?"

Ellie blinked. "Of course she's yours."

"Of course," he repeated on a derisive snort. Every muscle in his face pulled tight as he threw her a look to kill. "Then why did you tell me she died?"

When Ellie jumped at his tone, he paused to wipe at his mouth, a full attempt to gain some composure. But then it all slipped and boiled over again.