With a nasty curse, he ripped the papers right in two. Kathy jumped in her office chair.
Stuffing the torn pages and the crumpled card back into the envelope, he strode out of the office.
He had a few things he wanted to say to Violet.
Eleven
Violet glanced at her watch as she checked her tomato vines for ripe vegetables, on her knees on her gardening mat. Dylan should have gotten her letter by now. With a sigh, she picked a tomato and put it in her basket.
She shouldn’t have listened to Trish. Her gut had told her not to send him that impersonal document, but Trish had scared the daylights out of her, insisting that without it Dylan could contest her custody at any point in her child’s life. So she had sent it, and now she regretted it.
Whatever feelings he had for her had surely been killed by that move.
Which should have made her happy, but only made her profoundly sad.
How downright stupid that the first man to treat her with respect, admiration, and sexual interest was the very man she had intentionally hurt.
She heard footsteps in the grass coming from the driveway, and when she looked up, she only needed to see as far as the ankles to know it was Dylan. She could feel his anger, emotion, before she even looked up and saw the fury racing across his face.
“I’m not signing this.” He threw the certified mail envelope down, where it hit her in the knee and landed in the grass, the torn document sliding out.
Violet picked up the pieces and put them back in the envelope, her heart pounding. “I guess not, since you’ve ripped it in half.”
“How could you send that to my work?” He was standing there in jeans and a T-shirt, feet apart in sandals, looking angry and belligerent, yet his voice cracked.
“I didn’t know your home address. And my friend, Trish, she’s a lawyer. She said we needed to do this or you could contest custody.” It sounded cruel, even as she said it. “I’m sorry.”
“You could have just talked to me. We could have worked this out between us before we went straight to the lawyers.”
He was right, and Violet sighed, setting her basket of tomatoes down. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I just feel really scared, Dylan, and unsure what to do.”
Looking out over the common green space her condo and two others shared, he shook his head. “What is it that you want, Vi? Just tell me exactly what you want deep down inside. I want to respect that, I do.”
She was going to cry. She already felt tears welling up. The tears had been coming pretty much nonstop in the last week since her stick had turned pink. It was time to be honest with herself, honest with him.
“I want what I can’t have.”
His swung his head to look at her, black eyes boring into her. “What’s that?”
“I want…you.” Now that she’d said it, admitted it out loud, she knew that was absolutely what she wanted. Tears rolling down her cheeks, she added, “I want you and me. I want our baby. Together.”
Dylan’s jaw moved. He squatted down in front of her. “Well, fuck me, Vi, that’s what I want, too.”
She choked back a startled laugh.
“So, what’s the problem?” His thumb wiped her tears away.
“I don’t want you to feel trapped. I don’t want to force you into what you’re not ready for. And I don’t want you to regret that you got stuck with me when you could have any woman you want. I’m not the kind of woman a man would feel proud to have on his arm.” It hurt to say that, to admit her fears and insecurities, to acknowledge that she wanted him, but understood he had better options.
But after everything she had put him through, she owed him complete honesty.
Dylan stared at Violet and wanted to just laugh. Holy crap, she had put him through five weeks of hell because she was afraid he’d leave her for a bimbo? That was what he was hearing, wasn’t it?
“I’ve had a six-foot-tall, built blonde on my arm before and it leaves a hell of a lot to be desired.” Dylan brushed her hair back and stroked her cheek. “You’re more attractive to me than any other woman I’ve ever met. When a guy cares about a woman, she becomes his standard, you see what I’m saying? Now come here.”
He pulled her into his arms, breathing in her scent, squeezing her tight to him, sighing with pleasure. God, he had missed her. “I like your hair like this, by the way. I think it’s the first time I’ve ever actually seen it completely dry.”
She sniffled against his chest. “Dylan, I really thought I had a logical plan and that it all made sense. I really thought I needed to use my head, not my heart.”
“I know. And now we’ve both agreed that was stupid.” With a grin, he rubbed her back and kissed her forehead. “We’ll just take it slow, okay?”
She nodded, her eyes shiny, her teeth digging into her bottom lip.
“Now, is everything okay? You’re feeling okay? You’ve been to the doctor?” It was starting to sink in that he had gotten her pregnant. Which meant she was having a baby. His baby. In actuality, not in theory.
“I’m fine, so far. I’m going to the doctor in two weeks for my first appointment.” She kissed him softly. “Please come with me if you want.”
That nearly did him in. “I’d love to.” Then, so he wouldn’t embarrass the hell out of himself and bawl, he gave her a smug smile. “And damn, I’m good, aren’t I? Home run first time at the plate.”
Violet laughed. “I did hear you’ve been having a great season.”
“I’m looking forward to a long career. With you.” He touched his lips to hers.
She smiled up at him. “More baseball metaphors?”
“Hell, yeah.” He pulled her up and stood next to her. “Now let’s go in and I’ll practice my swing.”
Rubbing her finger across her lip, Violet peered at him from behind the veil of her long, lustrous hair. “I’d like to try batting, too.”
Dylan went hard. He wasn’t sure what in the hell she meant by that, but it sounded kinky. “Another player has been added to the roster. Violet Caruthers, number sixty-nine.”
She clamped her hand over her mouth and flushed a very charming pink. “Oh, Dylan, that’s awful. I like it.”
He almost groaned. Instead he lifted her up a little, hands on her ass, so he could give her a very open, tongue-filled kiss. “I’ve never had sex with another player before, but there’s always a first.”
With a smile, Violet touched his cheek. “I’m very happy.”
“Me, too, gorgeous.” Instead of a dead body, he’d found a future. A family. Everything he’d been lonely for. Much better than a corpse.
Violet kissed the corner of Dylan’s mouth. “I’m so glad I’m a klutz and fell off that boat.”
“Let’s go inside, you can put that bikini back on, and we’ll reenact the whole thing, especially the part where you put your face in my crotch.”
Violet was feeling so content, satisfied, and pleased with the way things had turned out, she didn’t hesitate. “Sounds fun.”
The look on Dylan’s face was classic.
And the last thing in the world she felt like was shy when she stepped into her condo and peeled off her T-shirt.
Erin McCarthy
Erin McCarthy sold her first book to Kensington Brava through author Lori Foster's website contest in 2002, and has since sold an additional nineteen contemporary romances and novellas to Brava and Berkley Publishing. Her debut, BAD BOYS ONLINE, was a Romantic Times Top Pick, and BAD BOYS IN BLACK TIE was a USA Today bestseller. Erin lives in Northeast Ohio with her husband, two kids, and two cats.
