Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 75516 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75516 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“No!” Words burned holes in my tongue. Things that I wish I could say out loud instead of keeping them bottled up inside, but I couldn’t bring myself to open that can of worms, not now when everything was so uncertain between us. I know with his volatile personality that he’s just looking for any excuse to be rid of me, and I won’t be the one to give him the rope to hang me with.
Why did she have to show up here now? The day after our night together? Even if he’d been tempted to open his heart to me again, that was all gone now with her presence, I’m sure. I’d forgotten how Calen could get when he heard the word ‘no’ then again, he’s never been this mad at me before in the past, so this was new. I’d seen it directed at others, though, but never myself. That, too, had changed.
I took a step back from the murderous look on his face and swallowed hard. “He needs changing.”
“In case you’ve forgotten, you just left a fully stocked nursery with a state of the art changing table, I might add, to come in here to do what?”
I placed the baby on the bed to get away from that look and started tugging at his clothes only to find that he was dry as a whistle.
“See, he doesn’t even need changing. Now you’re gonna go out there and apologize to her. And if you ever embarrass me like that again, you’ll live to regret it. Now give me my son. She’s going to be his Godmother, so get used to it.” I was backed into a corner, not sure what to do or what to say to get out of it, but those words ignited whatever pitiful rage I could muster in the face of his anger.
I reminded myself then and there that I’d faced my worst fears that I’d defied the person I feared most in this world to protect my son. I may owe Calen for how I disappeared and kept his son from him, but there’s no way in hell I’d ever let that woman anywhere near my child. I snatched the baby up and held him close to my chest while looking over his head at his dad.
“She’s not. I don’t want your…your… I don’t want her anywhere near my son. If you try to let her have him, I’ll leave with him right now.” Oh shit! Calen marched across the room and leaned down into my face. He’s not my mother! Though her cruelty outweighs his by far, he doesn’t just threaten action but carries through each and every time. He’d once told me that if a man doesn’t follow his word, he’s counted as a fool.
“Don’t you ever fucking threaten me again!” He said the words low and hard so as not to alert our son, I guess, but they seemed all the harsher for it. That, coupled with the look in his eyes, had me retreating and deflating. Anger and jealousy roiled together in my chest, and I found myself close to tears because there was nothing I could do. I had no claim to him, no foot to stand on if he decided that he wanted to be with her.
“Now, give him here.” He took the baby from me as my eyes filled up with tears.
“Stop being an idiot; you think I’d let someone hurt my son? Besides, you know Dana she’s been one of my best friends since forever, long before I met you and get this, she’s never betrayed me before, so I trust her with my son more than I do you.” If he meant to hurt me with that one, he succeeded spectacularly.
I felt the scream tickle the back of my throat and, for a split second, knew that I was going to lose my mind. Instead, I swallowed the hurt and my pride and rushed to follow him out the door. She was waiting for us with a triumphant look for me, and that same simpering sticky sweet smile she always saved for him but was now aimed at my son as well.
I took everything in me not to revolt when Calen handed the baby to her, but my son, bless his perfect little heart, started screaming and reaching for his father, witch. “Hey, big guy, what’s the matter? That’s your aunt Dana, don’t you want to say hi?” I stepped forward, ready to snatch my son if he tried to force the issue, but Calen held onto him and rocked him on his shoulder soothingly.
“Well, Dana, I see your touch with kids is still in great form.”
“You know me, mother of the year in the making. I don’t know why babies hate me. I guess they can smell the career-driven genes in me and think they don’t stand a chance. No matter, unlike all the others, this one is yours, so I’ll have plenty of time to get to know him. Isn’t that right little guy?”