Page 6 of Rugged Fox

"Don't worry, my own sperm donor made sure I learned that lesson. I won't be knocking up any girl until I'm ready to be a father."

I wanted to bang my head against the table for the second time in a matter of minutes. I never lied to Lucien about who his father was or how I got pregnant. I wanted him to be armed with the truth so he could face any problems head-on. But the downside of a small town was no one knew how to keep their mouths shut for long.

"Just because a pregnancy isn't planned doesn't mean the child isn't loved."

It was the same thing I told him often. I never wanted my son to think I regretted having him.

"I know, Mom." Lucien rolled his eyes. "You tell me that all the time but we also wouldn't be in this position if it weren't for me. The gang only wants me because of Alejandro. If I didn't share his DNA, you wouldn't have to deal with the subtle threats."

I hated how right he was, but I couldn't help reminding him that it changed nothing.

"The day you were born was one of the best days of my life. Don't ever think I would change that."

"Aunt Lyla, tell her."

My best friend held her hands up. "Sorry, kiddo. I'm with your mother on this one. I've never seen your mama so happy as the day you were born. It doesn't matter how you were conceived, having you in our lives only makes things better. No amount of damage to a mailbox will ever change that."

Lucien rolled his eyes again.

"Thank you," I mouthed to her.

It sucked that my son thought otherwise.

A few minutes later, one of the busboys brought our food out. I was ashamed to admit I couldn't remember the kid's name. He was quiet except when interacting with customers to ask if they needed anything. I made a mental note to ask Bee his name when she came back to the table later.

We were halfway through the meal, I thought maybe we would get through dinner without any more incidents.

I was wrong.

Way wrong.

And that was evident when Ms. Dixie, my other neighbor, strolled in the door. The woman looked around, and the moment she recognized me, her little old legs hoofed their way in my direction. I knew even before she got to the table that I was in trouble.

"Young lady," she started in immediately. "Didn't your mother teach you to never answer the door naked? Don't answer that." She waved me off before I could say anything. "I know for a fact she did, and yet you were hollering the town down in nothing but some underwear."

"I was in an oversized t-shirt actually." My voice betrayed me when it squeaked.

Ms. Dixie wasn't known for being quiet, and right that very moment, everyone inside the diner had stopped eating and were looking our way. If the entire town didn't know before, they would by the end of the evening.

"That's not how you greet a potential suitor, my dear. You have to make them work to see the goods."

I could feel how hot my face was. I was ten seconds away from begging the universe to open up a hole and swallow me up. I was pretty sure things couldn't possibly get any worse than they were.

And then the door to the diner opened up again.

CHAPTER FOUR

Easton

Hendrix and I walked through the door of The Crazy Fox diner and came to a screeching halt. Everyone inside had stopped talking and turned to look at us. I got the feeling it was more than just because we were new to the town.

"What did you do?" Hendrix whispered from the corner of his mouth.

"Why do you assume this has something to do with me?”

"Because I just arrived today. You've been in town a few days."

Hendrix wasn't wrong, but I couldn't think of a single reason the entire establishment would stop eating to stare at us. That was until I looked around the place for the second time and met a familiar set of emerald-green eyes.

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