Croc's Return (7 page)

The one without chocolate-smeared hands held out his arms and commanded, “Up.”

Caleb stood.

The child waved his arms again, and Melanie laughed. “He didn’t mean stand up. He meant pick him up. Looks like you’ve made a friend. That demanding fellow is Rory.”

Making friends—even if cute and scary to hold, as the child clung to his upper body like a monkey—wasn’t what Caleb came for.

“I need help,” he blurted out.

“You’re doing fine.” Melanie said in a soothing tone. “Don’t worry. They’re practically impossible to drop now. They’ve got a grip like their mother. It’s when they’re babies you gotta watch out. One minute they’re diaperless on the change table, peeing in the air while you’re diving looking for a towel, and the next they’re rolling in opposite directions and hitting the floor. Good thing they’re tough, just like their daddy.”

Andrew, tough? Caleb vaguely recalled slamming him into a locker a time or two. Which, in retrospect, was a bit of a dick move. But hey, that was high school.

“Yeah, so about that help. I have a son.”

“His name is Luke,” Melanie announced as she walked away and entered a living room.

Caleb followed, a monkey still on his hip. “You know him?”

“Duh.” Melanie rolled her eyes. “I babysit him when Renny’s at her day job.”

Jackpot. If anyone could help him understand his son, Melanie could, because asking Renny was out of the question. “Perfect. I need pointers on being a dad.”

Well, that got her gaping. “You mean you’re planning to stay?”

“I think so. Maybe.”

Her dark brows drew into a frown. “Maybe? That’s not good enough. You are either in one hundred percent or you’re out. That boy deserves better than to have his hopes raised, only to have them dashed.”

“What if I swore to do my best?”

“What if I swore to hunt you down and geld you if you hurt my best friend and her son again?” So sweetly said, yet he caught the threatening thread underlying it.

“Deal.” Because if he disappointed Renny, and now his son, Melanie wouldn’t have to hurt him. He’d be dead.

In her summer frock—bought on a clearance rack for a fraction of its price—Renny stood with Luke on the edge of the picnic currently in full swing behind the Bittech Institute.

I shouldn’t have come.

She hadn’t planned to come, but Melanie—using some kind of alien sixth sense—must have sensed Renny’s plan to back out because she called and played Renny the world’s tiniest violin.

“But you have to come, or I’m liable to go completely nutso on those uptight human wives of the other executives.”

“Have you forgotten? I’m human,” Renny retorted. She hadn’t inherited her father’s shifter gene, but Luke sure had an animal inside. Every now and then, his eyes would flash a vivid green and his irises would slit. What she would do when he shifted into his croc form, she didn’t know. She couldn’t exactly teach him what to do. The one person who could was the one she wanted to avoid.

A man she couldn’t stop thinking about.

After the revelation the night before that Caleb had not even known about Luke, she’d struggled with her emotions. On the one side, she simmered with rage at the knowledge he’d destroyed her letters, and thus ignored their son. But, at the same time, she couldn’t help a spurt of hope. Hope because she’d seen the genuine shock in his eyes when he heard of their son.

And admit it, a part of you has already forgiven him because at least now you know he didn’t intentionally abandon our child.

Rewind and try to remember, though, that he did abandon you.

For that alone, she should never forgive him, and that would probably work a lot better if she could stop obsessing about him.

Her inability to keep him out of her thoughts proved to be the catalyst for her choice. Rather than stay home and deal with all the chores—and let her mind churn over what to do with Caleb—she chose to go to the picnic.

“Get dressed,” she’d told Luke. “We are going on a picnic.” Thing was, now that she was here, she wasn’t sure she’d made the right choice in coming.

While dressed in her nicest, Renny still felt as if she stood out among the other women in their crisp pastel linens with their perfectly coiffed hair. Her flowered summer frock was almost as bad as Melanie’s vivid red strapless summer gown with its high waist and frothy skirt.

A tingling awareness only gave her a second to brace herself before she heard a murmured, “Hey, baby.”

Before Renny could reply, her son reacted, whirling to face Caleb, his little body bristling as he put himself between them. A soft growl rumbled from Luke, and she couldn’t help her mouth rounding into an O of surprise.

“Luke. Stop that.” She almost said,
Don’t growl at your father.
The sharp nip to her tongue stopped the words in time.

Even if Luke didn’t understand who stood before him, Caleb did, and he sucked in a breath. He looked at her instead of their son, his expression torn, eyes full of panic, his breath coming fast. “So this is…”

“My son, Luke.” No way was she confirming this was Caleb’s son aloud, not with Luke listening. She wondered what Caleb was doing here and what he planned to do next.

Renny certainly never expected him to drop to his haunches and bring himself eye level with their son.

“Hey there, Luke. My name is Caleb.” The big, scarred soldier, who outweighed Luke several times over, held out his hand, anxiety making him tense. Was it her or did his body tremble?

If the moment wasn’t so emotionally charged, it would have made her smile.

No smiles. No softening. She had to remain strong. “What do you think you are doing?” Renny demanded.

“Introducing myself,” Caleb said, never taking his eyes from their boy. The outstretched hand hung out there, and Luke appeared to ponder the offering before slowly slipping his smaller one into the grasp. Caleb shook it as if it was made of spun glass.

That made her laugh. “He’s not going to break that easily.”

“I’m tough.” Luke puffed out his chest. “Because I’m the man of the house.”

“You are?” Caleb replied lightly.

Luke nodded. “Mama said so on account I have no daddy. Rory and Tatum do. So do Philip and Cory.”

Her son’s unexpected talkativeness caused Caleb to blanch, and he might have squeezed a little too tight. Or her son sensed the weird vibe in the air. Either way, Luke yanked his hand away. “I wanna go play.”

“Stay in sight,” she admonished as Luke ran off and joined Melanie’s boys, who were already leading their mother on a merry chase around the tables set with white linen and covered dishes.

“What are you doing here, Caleb? What are you trying to prove?” With Luke out of earshot, Renny didn’t feel a need to temper her words.

“I’m not doing anything. Just thought I’d go to a picnic.”

“You don’t work for Bittech.”

“Not currently. But Daryl was saying I should apply, seeing as how they’re looking for more guys to beef up their security.”

“If you’re staying, then I am leaving.”

She spun, meaning to grab her son and go, but Caleb stepped in front of her, a brick wall of muscle that once upon a time she would have snuggled.

“Running away, baby?”

She angled her chin. “Merely trying to avoid a scene. What happened to you staying away from me so it wouldn’t be awkward?”

“I changed my mind.”

Excuse me?
“Well, change it back. You were right. This is awkward.” And exhilarating. But most of all, it was scary, scary because she didn’t really want to go.

He moved closer, and she automatically took a step back.

“Do I make you nervous?” he asked.

Caleb made her feel a lot of things. Nervous was among them, but maybe not for the reason he thought.

“I don’t want anything to do with you. Was I not clear enough before?”

“You don’t want to be seen with me. Can’t say as I blame you. I’m definitely not as pretty as I used to be.”

No, he wasn’t, but he was definitely sexier, his boyish edge hardened by experience. The scars didn’t take away from his attraction, merely showcased his toughness.

“I am not that shallow, Caleb. I really don’t give a pickle what you look like, but I won’t have you leading Luke on. He’s got it tough enough as it is without you confusing matters.”

“What’s confusing about the fact I’m his father?”

“Not yet you aren’t. That title has to be earned.” Because she was damned if she was just going to let Caleb into her son’s life without him proving he could handle it.

And he had to prove he wouldn’t run off again.

Before Caleb could respond, she walked away, making a beeline for Melanie, who wore a plastered smile on her face and had a death grip on her water glass. A trio of wives surrounded Melanie, cutting off all escape.

Being a good friend, Renny plowed right on through with a murmured, “Excuse me, ladies, but I need to borrow my BFF here for a minute. Girl stuff.” She yanked her friend away from the gaggle and, once they’d gone a few yards, stopped.

Melanie blew out a breath. “Thanks for saving me. My inner kitty was really pushing me to sharpen my claws. I’m pretty sure the tall one to my left is made of plastic.”

“Don’t thank me yet. I’m mad at you. How could you tell Caleb I would be here?”

“That jerk. I can’t believe he ratted me out,” Melanie huffed.

“He didn’t.”

“You tricked me.”

“Telling the truth isn’t a trick, and it was easy to figure out since you were the only one who knew I was coming.”

“Fine. So I told him where you’d be. What else was I supposed to do? He showed up at my place wearing a woebegone expression.” Melanie jutted her lip and batted her eyes.

Renny snorted. “I don’t care how sorry he looks. I’m not ready to deal with him yet.”

“You never will be, which is why you need to suck it up. If not for your own peace of mind then Luke’s.”

“Nothing wrong with my mind.” Most days.

“Except for the fact you never got over him.”

“What are you talking about? I’ve dated other guys. Slept with a few, too.” None that left a lasting impression, though.

“And how many lasted more than a few weeks?”

Try more than a few dates. “It’s not my fault I’m picky.”

An eloquent roll of her eyes was Melanie’s initial reply. “Why not just admit none of them were the right guys?”

“I have no problem admitting it. I’ll know it when I find the one.”

“Or you’ll deny it until you die a spinster of old age. God, you’re stubborn.”

“What are you implying?” Renny asked, even if she already knew.

“You are the Queen of De-Nile,” Melanie said, the old joke not enough to tone down the seriousness of their talk. “I think that the reason you never moved on was because you’d already found the one.”

“Are you talking about
Caleb
?” Renny’s voice pitched.

“Are you pining after another guy I don’t know about? Hell yeah, I’m talking about Caleb. Admit it, he’s the one.”

“
The one
”—and, yes, Renny finger quoted it as she said it—“left me without so much as a goodbye or a reason. And now he waltzes back into town and thinks he can say he is sorry and suddenly become a part of my life again.”

“Hate to break it to you, girlfriend, but he already is a part of your life. He always will be because he’s Luke’s daddy.”

Hard to argue that fact, so Renny went for diversion instead. “Speaking of daddies, there’s Andrew with Rory under his arm, and he doesn’t look very happy.”

“When is he ever happy?” Melanie muttered.

Trouble in suburban paradise. As the best friend, Renny was privy to many secrets, one of them being the fact that things hadn’t been right between Melanie and Andrew for a while. But Renny knew Melanie was doing her damnedest to change that. Was that where the plan for another kid came from?

“Want me to go save the boys?” Renny asked. She seriously meant save, too, because while Andrew might have donated sperm, his fathering skills left much to be desired.

“Too late. They got into the donuts.” Tatum, lips powdered in white, his small hands, too, clutched at his father’s dark slacks. White fingerprints marred the fabric. Melanie sighed. “Dammit. I better get Andrew’s spare set of clothes before he has a fit.”

“You travel with spares?” Renny asked.

“Spares?” Melanie snorted. “Try triplicates. I have twin demons of mischief. We’re lucky if we only need two outfits a day. And Andrew is so finicky when it comes to being clean. I’ll be back in a few.”

Melanie teetered off in the direction of the parking lot, stopping halfway to slip off her heels.

Renny held back a smile. Her friend might have married upper middle class, but at heart, she was still a bayou girl, and preferred to go about barefoot.

Alone for the moment, Renny let her gaze rove until she located her son, only to discover Luke was being watched by Caleb, watched with a rapier gaze, and she noted how he clenched his fists instead of lunging when Luke tripped chasing Rory around a tree.

Caleb might hesitate to intervene, but she wouldn’t. She went to his side, concern creasing her expression. “Are you all right, bug?”

Before Luke could burst into tears and make a drama about the green stain on his knee, a deep, gravelly voice interjected.

“Of course the boy is fine. He’s tough. Anyone can tell just by looking at him. Must get it from his mother.”

Renny might have chided Wes for his words, except one moment her son went from looking like he’d start wailing to puffing his chest out and boasting, “Didn’t hurt at all.”

And off went her boy, chasing the twins again.

A moue twisted her lips. “I can’t believe that worked.”

“He’s a boy.” Chauvinism, alive and well, and thriving in Wes Mercer.

Standing, Renny stroked her hand down her skirt to make sure it hung where it should before she took in Wes’s appearance, a hard guy to miss. Nothing about the guy was small, from his bulging arms to his wide shoulders to the smirk on his lips.

“Something funny?” she asked.

“Other than the way you’re mollycoddling your boy?” The dark arch of his brow spoke of his disdain.