Page 62 of Under My Skin

“It’s not your fault, man.” Ian got up and dragged his chair closer to where I was sitting, with my two sisters from other misters still refusing to let go of me. “There’s nothingtomake right. You didn’t know about Isaac. And thesecondyou found out about him, you stepped up to the plate. Made sure Daniknew you weren’t going to let her do this alone, no matter what happens between you two.”

My chest tightened again at the thought that my relationship with Dani might be limited to co-parenting Isaac. I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to do that. How I could be the kind of father Isaac deserved while pining away for his mother, the only woman I had ever seen a future with.

“I know I don’t deserve her, but I?—”

“Nope. You arenotallowed to finish that sentence, sir,” Kyler said, pulling back just enough to pin me with a harsh glare. “How many times have I told you that when you finally met the person you were supposed to be with, she’d be the luckiest girl in the world?”

“Gee, thanks, baby. I’m feeling the love,” Ian teased.

She chuckled as she let go of me and sat on his lap, kissing his cheek. “Other than me. I thought that went without saying.” Then she turned back to me. “Seriously, though. This situation sucks, and I’m not going to pretend it doesn’t. Nothing anyone can say or do will bring Amara back. But you and Dani found each other despite everything that was working against you. That wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t meant to be.”

“How ass-backward is that, though?” I took a deep breath. “Dani and I found each other because her sister died giving birth to our son. Who I didn’t even know about, because my psycho bitch of a publicist decided to keep his existence from me. What kind of fucked-up master plan is that?”

“It’s not a master plan,” Melissa said, grabbing an orange cake donut and sitting back down. “No one plans for a tragedy like that. Not even the universe. I’m a firm believer that fate changes, even if some parts of it stay the same. Isaac was conceived for a reason, and you were always supposed to be his dad. But the way you found out changed because of what Vickidid. And so did the role you’re supposed to play in his mother’s life. Because Daniishis mother now.”

I nodded as I swiped at my cheeks. “She is. And she’s an amazing one, but she doesn’t see it.”

An ear-splitting grin spread across Ian’s face. “Yeah, man, you’re officially a goner. I called it the second you told me about that bullshit plan of yours.”

I snorted. “Yep, you did. But I was too much of a moron to see it. Until she started singing along to ‘Domino’ when I was driving her home from our first date. I don’t know what it was about seeing her like that, just lost in the music and happy, even if it was only for a minute. But like…I just knew I wanted to make sure she was always that happy. For the rest of her life.”

Now it was Kyler’s turn to grin. Just like I knew she would. She’d been waiting for the day when I fell for someone pretty much since we became friends in high school.

“It’s still a sucky situation, but seriously, B, you couldn’t have given me an engagement present I would have loved more,” she said as she got back up to hug me again. “I love knowing you found someone who makes you as happy as Ian makes me.”

“One step at a time, Ky,” I chuckled weakly. “I have to convince Dani to give me a chance first. She didn’t say or do anything when I kissed her on Monday afternoon at my lawyer’s office.”

“Um, from what you told us, you didn’t really give her a chance to,” Melissa snickered. “You kissed her and then just walked away. Who does that?”

“Give Casanova here a break, Liss,” Ian teased. “He doesn’t know how to do the relationship thing yet. He’ll learn.”

I couldn’t help it. I laughed. Leave it to these three to manage to make me smile when my whole life was in shambles. And that was why they would always be family to me, no matter what.

“There he is,” Kyler said, rubbing my back. “So, do you have a picture of Isaac? I wanna see him.”

“Correction:wewanna see him,” Melissa piped up.

Fuck.

No, I didn’t. What kind of father didn’t have a single picture of his own son?

Okay, so I hadn’t really had a chance to take one, but still. It made me feel like even more of a deadbeat than I already did.

But I knew just where to get one.

“No, but I’m sure Dani can send me one. I’ll be right back. I need to grab my phone. And don’t even think about taking the last lemon bizmark while I’m gone.”

“No promises.” Kyler stuck her tongue out at me.

I got up from the table and headed into my bedroom, unplugging my phone from the charging cord. When the screen lit up, the first thing I saw was a text notification, and once again, hope started to spring to life inside me. But it was quashed just as quickly when I opened my messaging app to find that it was from a blocked number.

Blocked

Running away to Kansas won’t break the bond we have, baby. Distance can’t keep me away from you, and neither can that fucking whore who thinks she can take what’s mine.

My stomach twisted up into a knot, threatening to expel the donuts I’d just eaten.

This had to be Vicki. She’d known about my trip to Kansas because I’d told her about it when she was working for me. To make sure she didn’t try to schedule me for any events while I was here.

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