Heartless: A Small Town Single Dad Romance(92)

An excellent sign, to be sure.

I finally find the bottle of painkillers Winter dropped in the room before leaving with a gentle goodbye. “Here.”

“Why is there a carrot in your purse?”

Jesus. I’ve really broken his brain. Who can blame him though?

“I’m going to sleep at the main house tonight.”

He blinks. “Like hell you are.”

I jump out of his truck, taking the few strides over to my Jeep before clambering into the driver’s side seat. Am I handling this well? Probably not. But I’m having a moment, and all he’s doing is scowling at me and asking me about the carrot.

Cade grabs the door of my Jeep before I can close it and glares at me.

“I’m sorry,” I say. “I’m very aware that I’m not handling this well.”

“We need to talk,” is all he says, and it sounds so foreboding that dread settles in my stomach.

“I need a night alone. To gather my thoughts. So do you.”

I expect him to argue, and there’s a little part of me that wants him to throw me over his shoulder the way he did that day Luke and I hid from him. He slapped my ass and laughed, but this time he gives me a terse nod, and my stomach sinks.

He slams the door and pats the hood as I woodenly twist the keys in the ignition. I suck in a deep breath before shifting into drive. I pull away, feeling shaky and teary and totally lame for leaving him there after dropping that bomb.

I see his outline standing in the driveway even as I round the corner.

And my last thought before I lose sight of him is that he deserves better than being back here again. Because he’s so damn honorable that he’ll stick himself with me and this baby.

Even if it’s not really what he wants.





32



Cade

Cade: Willa is heading to your place. Can you let me know when she’s there safe, please? She’ll need the guest room.

Harvey: What did you do to her?

Cade: Why is that the first place your head goes?

Harvey: Because you have a knack for ducking things up.

Cade: Ducking?

Harvey: Duck off. You know exactly what I mean.

Cade: My fingers are broken. Thanks for your concern.

Harvey: My only concern is about possible brain damage since you let your girl walk out. She’s here safe.

Cade: My brain is fine.

Harvey: Could have fooled me.

I don’t need a night alone to gather my thoughts at all. But I could tell by the expression on her face that she did. I’ve seen that look before—a deer caught in the headlights.

Willa prides herself on going with the flow, but now she hit the rapids and she’s freaking out.

A lot has changed for her in a very brief time. I remember this feeling well, but it’s different this time around.

I’d rather she freaks out with me, but I also know better than to smother someone as independent as her, which is why I let her drive away.

But I jump in my truck and follow her to the main house, not about to sit at home alone when she and Luke are both under one roof.

Where they go, I go. It just feels right.

I pull up and kill my engine, eyes locked on the guest room window. When the light turns off, I get out and make my way inside through the front door. I should probably be thinking about a new baby—

and I will—but right now, all I can think about is Willa. Soothing her. Holding her.

Keeping her.

When I step into the dimly lit living room, I catch sight of my dad in his deep leather recliner, a glass of bourbon in his hand.

And he’s grinning at me like a fucking loon.

“What are you smiling at?”

“You made the right decision for once.”

I glare at him. “For once? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“Pour yourself a drink, sit down, and drop the asshole act with me, kid. It doesn’t scare me one bit.”

With a heavy sigh, I head to the kitchen and pour myself a very hefty three fingers of bourbon before heading back to the living room and flopping down onto the couch.

“You made the right decision coming after her. You start storming out on each other this early on and you’ll be in for trouble.”

“She didn’t storm out. She just needed space.”

“I can see needing space from you.” I scowl at him. “What did you do?” he asks, adding insult to injury.

“Nothing.” I pause, tipping my head. “Well, not nothing-nothing. Something came up and I could have reacted better. I froze.”

My dad’s hawkish eyes narrow as he regards me. “This have to do with Talia?”

I wave a hand and scoff. “No.” Talia waltzed in, stirred shit up, and took off again. Flaky as always.

“Well, fill me in. Maybe your old man can help.”

My head flops back against the couch, a wry laugh bubbling up out of me. “She’s pregnant.”

I can feel my dad’s stare, see him take a thoughtful sip out of the corner of my eye. “Did I let you watch the bulls get turned out with the heifers too much as a child, boy?”

I groan.

“You got something against condoms?”

“Dad.”

“Some sort of breeding kink I don’t know about?”