Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set (213 page)

"Okay," he said, and then went back to watching TV.

That was a relief, she thought.  They were quiet until the doorbell rang.

He got up and answered it.  A pretty young woman who looked about their age was standing on the door step holding several Styrofoam containers. 

"How ya doin' baby?"  The woman said.

Daylin stiffened.  "I'm fine Kateisha.  How are you?  How's Ozzy?"

"He's okay.  He misses you.  How come you don't come around anymore Daylin?"

"I told you Kat."

"It still doesn't make sense to me Daylin," Kateisha said and muttered something under her breath that to Jess sounded like 'baby daddy'.

"I'm sorry, but you know that what you're doing is only making it harder on Ozzy."

"Yeah right, Daylin.  You not comin' around is what's harder on him."  She noticed Jess then.  Her face changed.  "Oh.  I figured you were feeding Cam and his crazy girlfriend, not another cheap slut."

Jess could see that Daylin almost shut the door in her face then but she still held their food in her hands.  "Okay Kateisha.  You've said enough."

"It's true Daylin."  She gave Jess a bright smile.  "It was me two years ago, it was me two weeks ago and now it's her.  When's it gonna end Daylin?  When are you gonna stand up and act like a real man?"

Daylin took a deep breath and then let it out.  Jess could see that he was trying to hold his temper and it wasn't working.  She got up and took the food from Kateisha's hands, taking it out to the kitchen so the angry woman wouldn't have to see her anymore.  Why did the delivery person have to be someone Daylin had slept with she thought?  It was a good thing she wasn't staying long.  She had a bad feeling Kateisha wasn't the only one who felt like they'd been betrayed by him.

Daylin pulled out his wallet and shoved some bills into Kateisha's hand without looking at them.  "Keep the change Kat," he said.  "Buy Ozzy something nice."

Then he shut the door in her face.  Jess could hear a car squeal its tires and wondered exactly what had gone on between Daylin and Kateisha.

He came into the kitchen and started pulling plates out of the cupboard.  He dug out silverware and sat down next to Jess.  “I am so sorry."

"Don't worry about it.”

"If I had known Kateisha was working tonight I would have ordered someplace else I swear."

"Did she say something about baby daddy?"

Daylin sighed.  “I'm sure she did.  It's very frustrating.  Sometimes I wish the kid was mine.  It would make everything so much easier."

"So, she has a son and he's not yours, but she wants him to be yours?  Or she for some reason thinks he's yours or what?"

"I think she wanted him to be mine so much that she told herself that there was a chance that he was.  Or maybe she thought I wouldn't remember when we'd been together.  I don't know.  He is the most adorable kid, so smart, so sweet.  I really wouldn't mind if he was mine.  But he's not.  There's no way in hell he's mine.  I was with her damned near six months before she would have gotten pregnant, a couple times after she was already pregnant.  And yes, smart guy that I am, about two weeks ago."

"Why don't you get a DNA test and prove her wrong?"

"I wanted to.  We had one scheduled, but she backed out.  It didn't bother me at first because she really needed help with him.  Her babysitters tend to be a little flaky and she needed somebody to watch him.  He's a good kid and we had fun.  Until she told him I was his Dad."

"She told her child that you were his father?  How old is he?"

"He's almost two now.  It tears me up not to see him, it really does.  If I had any kind of real feelings for Kateisha I'd pretend I was his dad in a heartbeat."

"Wow.”  Then it dawned on her that if Amanda had lived he'd have a child now.  "How old are you Daylin?"

"Twenty-five.  You're twenty-four?"

"Yeah."  He would have a six year old child and she wouldn't be sitting here, because nothing but death could have torn him and Amanda apart she thought.

"You okay?"  He reached across the table and squeezed her hand.

"Yeah, I was just thinking."

"I think about it all the time Jess.  A son or a daughter.  They'd be in school by now.  Hell, it could have been twins.  Her Mom had two sets." 

The way he seemed to read her mind was driving her crazy.

"Wow."

"Yeah, she was the oldest of seven kids.  I wonder about them sometimes.  How they're doing with their mother.  Wonder if that piece of shit stepdad of theirs is still around.  I tried to keep in touch with them, but it was too hard.  If I can find them though, I made sure I put away enough money so that they could all at least get a start in college.  Or at least at something beyond that hell house."

"You put away money for college for six kids?"

He shrugged, like it was nothing.  "I was very lucky.  I got a good job straight out of college.  I have stock in the company and I've invested really well.  Cameron doesn't need to pay me back for the ring.  A couple grand doesn't mean shit.  I don't have to live in this house.  I do it because money doesn't mean a fucking thing to me."

She nodded, biting her lip.  She felt the same way, didn't care if she ever owned a house.  Her car was ten years old and it still ran perfectly well so she didn't plan on buying a new one anytime soon.  But it seemed like so much for Daylin to have put away what had to be a great deal of money.  He was so much more than the fickle ladies' man that everyone seemed to think he was. 

"What?" he said.  "You're looking at me funny."

"No, I'm not.”  She looked down at her plate, taking the last bite of her cheesecake.  She was stuffed, not used to such a meal.  She ate a lot of noodles and sandwiches.

"Yes you were.  Don't think I'm some kind of hero, Jess, because I'm not.  I'm just a guy who can never seem to get his head on straight."

"You seem pretty together to me.”

"I'm not.  I'm addicted to sex, because sometimes I'm lucky, and it dulls the pain for a little while.  But most of the time, Jess, I don't want to feel any more than you do."

"Huh.”

"What?"

"You seem pretty willing to feel way too much for me for someone who doesn't want to feel."

"Because in this crazy life babe, in what can sometimes be a painful and unforgiving world, you're lucky if you get one chance at what I had with Amanda, let alone two."

Such pretty words, she thought.  Even Levi at his best when he was trying his hardest to talk her into sleeping with him hadn't said anything even halfway like any of what Daylin had said to her, and Daylin had already gotten down her pants.  Could he possibly be for real?  Could she take the step off of the cliff that she was considering taking?  She knew he'd be there to catch her when she fell.

"Daylin.”  Her voice was throaty because there was so much emotion pent up behind it and she didn't know where to put any of it.  So, she did what she thought was safest at the time and said “Take me to bed."

He grinned, a slow, lazy, satisfied grin.  "I thought you'd never ask."

Chapter 4

They made love twice before she fell asleep.  She woke up a little after two am craving a cigarette.  She slipped out of bed and out to the living room and had just lit her cigarette when Daylin called out "Baby?"

"Yeah?"  All his babies, and darlings and loves were getting easier to hear. 

"Will you bring me a glass of water when you come back to bed please?"

"Yes."

"Thanks."

She put out her cigarette and ran a glass of water from the kitchen tap for Daylin.

Back in the bedroom, she handed it to him.  He said "Thanks."

"You’re welcome."  She didn’t want to admit to Daylin that she was planning her escape from not only him but Welton.  She had already let him get too close to her.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine." He gave her another heart stopping kiss and then pulled her back against his chest.  She was soon asleep again.

The next morning they were both naked and in what had become a rather involved session of foreplay when his bedroom door burst open.

Daylin moved in front of her and said "Seriously Cameron, you have got to learn to knock."

Cameron grinned while Jess hurriedly covered herself with the sheet.  "Turnabout is fair play bro.  How many times have you walked in on me and Lucy?"

"I don't want to count.  Where is she?"

"She is with her mother, and my mother, planning a wedding."

"Damn, she works quick."

"When we told them she was pregnant the first thing out of both of their mouths was when were we getting married.  I figured I could safely sneak away and leave the woman shit to the women.  Nice to see you Jess."

"Yeah, you too.”  She felt like she was still blushing.

"So did you walk away with the whole load last night or did Lucy give some back?" Daylin said.

"She gave some back, but we ended up walking away with $40,000.  Now maybe I won't have to be in debt to you for the rest of my life."

"Congratulations man, all around."  Daylin looked uncomfortable.  Jess wondered what Daylin had offered to loan Cameron other than the money for Lucy's engagement ring.  "But you said $40,000.  I thought you hit $35,000."

Cameron looked sheepish.  "We were actually up to almost fifty.  I made the mistake of leaving her alone at the table while I checked out this new machine.  Before I knew it she was down almost ten grand."

"Damn," Daylin said.  "That sucks."

"It's still a nice chunk of change.  Hey, do you think you could help me put some in the market?  See if we can make it grow?"

"Maybe.  You want breakfast Cam?"

"Why do you think I came here?  My mom and future mother in law were too busy fawning over my pregnant fiancé to notice I was there."

Daylin laughed.  "Go start the coffee.  Let me and Jess put some clothes on."

"Sure."  He winked at Jess.

She felt her face get hot again.  Daylin chuckled as Cameron shut the door. 

"How it is funny when you two walk in on each other-you know?"

Daylin laughed harder.  "I guess you'd have to be a guy to get it.”

"Sometimes I'm really glad I'm not.”

He laughed again and gave her a quick kiss.  "I'll see you in the kitchen."

She used the restroom, washed her hands and face and brushed her teeth, then she sat on the couch and smoked a cigarette before she joined the men in the kitchen.

"You can tell a dedicated smoker by how long it is in the morning after they wake up that they have their first cigarette," Cameron said, sipping from a cup of coffee.  Daylin was standing by the stove, flipping pancakes.  "How long do you last Jess?  Five minutes, ten?  I think Lucy's record was fifteen, but that was only because she had a really bad hangover."

"She was kinda distracted this morning.  I think it was about forty-five minutes." Daylin gave him a cocky smile.

Jess felt herself blushing again.

"You really are talented.  Nothing can distract Lucy from that first cigarette.  Well, until today anyway, and then it was the threat of my mom kicking her butt if she didn't quit that stopped her."

"Your mom is pretty scary."

"My mom's a sweetheart.  Your mom's the scary one."

"Yeah.”  Everyone was quiet for a minute, then Daylin said "You want strawberry or blueberry pancakes Jess?"

"Either is fine.”

"Cameron has to have both.  I swear you will never meet another twenty-five year old man that is such a child."

"Shut the hell up Daylin," Cameron said.

"Language man.  You're gonna be a daddy."

"Yeah.  I am."

Daylin laughed.  "You're scared shitless aren't you?"

"No.  Yeah.  It's not the cigarettes I'm worried about.  She knows she can't hide that because I'll smell it.  It's the alcohol.  I'm afraid she'll think she can cover it up with mouthwash or something."

Daylin put a plate in front of Cameron.  "You know that I’ll do anything I can to make sure your baby is born healthy.  Whatever you need, whatever she needs, it's there.  No questions asked."

"I know Daylin.  It's not the help not being there that I'm worried about.  It's her hiding it, being too stubborn to admit that she needs it."

"Her Mom drank for six months when she was pregnant with her.  It was a hell of a lucky thing that she was born healthy.  Do you think she'll do that to your child?"

"She won't mean to.  I know that even if she never wanted to say it, Lucy has wanted a baby for a while now, but she was just afraid that she couldn't stop.  And what if she can't?  I was a dumbass last night, not thinking.  I had a beer to celebrate.  She was practically drooling."

"It ain't gonna be easy but she'll do it.  Lucy worships the ground that you walk on.  Now that she's finally getting you to marry her, there’s nothing in the world that will stop her from making it happen."

"Who worships who?"  Cameron laughed.  "I know you're right, but it's gonna be there you know, hanging over her head."

"Cam, we will get through this together.  I promise.  Though Lucy may like me even less by the time it's over.”

Cameron smiled.  "You know she loves you Daylin."

"Sure she does."

Cameron gave Jess a bright smile.  "Seems like you're in a better mood today Jess.  Is my cousin getting to you?"

She didn't look at Daylin when he put the plate in front of her.  She knew the cocky grin would be back on his face.  "Not at all.”

"She's cold."  Cameron laughed.

"She must have learned from Lucy."  Daylin turned back to the stove.

"Oh, Lucy's plenty warm.”

"You two are disgusting.”

"We're just men darlin'," Daylin said.

"Better get used to it Jess," Cameron said.  Then he turned back to Daylin.  "So you really think it's gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, Lucy loves you.  It ain't gonna be easy but it's gonna be okay.  Has she convinced you to go house hunting?"

Cameron sighed.  "My mom is dragging us out first thing Monday.  She has a friend that's a real estate agent.  She called her first thing after she got done telling the whole world that Lucy's pregnant and we're getting married."

Daylin laughed.  "Aunt Hannah will have it in the newspaper by next week.  You wait and see.  You hear anything about that promotion at work?"

"They're still choosing.  Taking their damned time about it too.  It's been almost two weeks now.  Lucy thinks she might lose her job."

"What happened this time Cam?"

"I don't know.  It's a shit job anyway, but we need the money.  What little it is."

"She didn't tell you what happened?"

"She did, but it didn't make sense.  She said that there was some kind of screw up with the register.  They're trying to say that someone stole some money and with the times, they think it was Lucy or this other chick."

"Lucy would never do that."

"I know.  Her boss is a complete dick.  I think he's ballin’ the other chick, and that she’s the one that took the money.  But Lucy's going to end up taking the fall."

"Bullshit.  Then again, everyone knows Corcoran always tries to get down the pants of every female that works for him.  How much is missing?"

"Almost a grand."

"Damn man, that's fucked.  If that asshole pins this shit on her, she's gonna play hell finding another job.  Did she finish those courses she was supposed to be taking online?" 

Cameron shook his head.  "No, she couldn't get into it.  She still owes a bunch of money for that shit too."

"Cam, she's got hellacious credit card bills, a student loan from the first time she went to college and the debt from her failed attempt at online school.  What are you gonna do?  You're already in debt and you're not even married.  Did she finish paying off her car?"

"I paid it off with that bonus I got from work."

"Cam."

"What?  It's not like there was anything else important that needed to be done at the time.  They were killing her with the interest."

Daylin sighed.  "Are you gonna have trouble buying a house?"

"We shouldn't.  My credit's a lot better than Lucy's.  My mom said that she would cosign if she had to."

"I’ll cosign for you Cameron," Daylin said.

Jess was starting to feel uncomfortable again.  She felt like this should be a private conversation.

"I don't want you to have to do that."

"Don't worry about it.  You've got more important things to worry about.  Tell her to quit her job.  I’ll loan you a grand to pay off that asshole so she can get the hell out of that place."

"Daylin you already do way too much for me."

"I have to pick up the slack because you do way too much for Lucy.  At least you won't have to worry about covering your rent and hers now.  I assume that since your Mom is dragging you out house hunting that she's finally decided that it's okay that you two live together."

Cameron grinned.  "Yeah, the whole pregnant thing kind of cemented it."

"How's her mom taking the whole thing?"

"Better than we expected.  She was more scared about telling her mom than she was my mom."

"Your mom loves her.  She wanted you to marry her years ago until she found out Lucy shared her mother's fascination with the bottle."

"Yeah," Cameron said softly.  "Well, I guess I'd better get back.  Thanks for breakfast.  Maybe we'll see you again, Jess?  Lucy likes you.  She thinks you're going to be really good for Daylin."

"Wow, she has Lucy's seal of approval?" Daylin said.

Why did she feel like she was eavesdropping again Jess wondered?

"Yep.  We had a bet about how long it would be before you talked her into bed."

Her face was on fire again.  Was she that transparent she wondered?

"Oops, sorry Jess.  I'll call you Daylin, and thanks."

"Thanks for embarrassing Jess," Daylin said.

"I said I was sorry," Cameron said.

"It's okay," she said weakly, not looking at either of them.

"See, no worries bro.  See ya'll later." Cameron gave them a wave and then he was gone.

"Sorry.” Daylin said.  "Cameron's not used to being around someone that I really care about."

She looked up at him.  "It's okay.  We're adults.  I guess it was pretty obvious from what he walked in on us doing that we'd had sex."

He squeezed her hand.  "I don't want you to be embarrassed about it.  It's obviously not something you take lightly."

She shrugged, wishing she could take it more lightly.  Wishing that he hadn't awakened something in her that had been dormant for a very long time.

"So what do you want to do on this beautiful Sunday?"

"I don't know."

"Do you need anything?  Do you want anything?"

"I'm fine."

"Do you want to use my phone?  Don't you need to call your stepmom?"

"I don't think I'm ready for that.  My mom gave me her e-mail address.  I think I might be more comfortable e-mailing her, at least at first."

"Okay, you can use my computer then."  She followed him out to the living room.  He turned to her.  "Why don't you have a cell phone or a computer?  Some form of communication?"

"I never had anybody to call Daylin.”

"I can get a really good deal.  Nice, free phone.  We can add it my plan.  It wouldn't be much more a month than what I'm paying now."

"No way Daylin."  She logged into her e-mail account.  "You’re not going to buy me anything."

"You are stubborn aren't you?"

She rolled her eyes at him, copying her stepmother's e-mail address from her mom's letter and starting a new e-mail.  When she'd done that, she didn't know what to say.  Say to the love of her father's life that she'd never met, who if he'd only been able to stay with; would have guaranteed that she didn't exist because her father would have never met her mother.