Page 3 of Outlaw

I nodded. Why would I lie about this? I didn’t ask that out loud though.

The man let out a bark of laughter, and his eyes crinkled at the corners. “Fucking hell,” he said. “This might be the best shit I’veheard all year.”

I stared at him, not sharing his amusement in the situation.

He nodded his head toward the gate. “I’ll open it up.”

Relief and anxiety battled for first place inside me. I was going to find Linc, and this would be fixed. Yet, seeing him again…well, I’d never been very good at ignoring the effect he had on me. Not as a child or as the thirty-three-year-old woman I had been five years ago. But this time, things were different.

I was engaged, and I had a child to think about.

I turned and headed back to the car. Thankfully, Stevie was still sleeping peacefully. She’d been nonstop chatter for hours on our drive here from Nashville. The lie I had told Hudson, my fiancé, about why I had to come to Madison wouldn’t have worked if I had left Stevie with a sitter. Attending the funeral of a former friend of my father’s was the best excuse I could come up with. Hudson hated funerals, and I’d known he wouldn’t offer to come along.

Besides, Linc had been a friend of my father’s. My dad worked for him and the rest of the Southern Mafia until he had a heart attack and left me alone at twelve years old with no one but my mom’s sister—Aunt Catherine. Not only had I barely known the woman, but she had also taken me away from the life I loved- the den of vipers I thought were kings.

I pulled my new ocean-gem-colored Toyota Camry—which Hudson had bought me as an early wedding gift after my fifteen-year-old Mazda finally gave up on life—through the open gate and immediately into a tunnel created by a canopy of trees. Branches from the live oak trees that lined the road on either side had grown out and connected, creating a stunning, shaded drive. I sucked in a breath at the sheer beauty and almost wished Stevie were awake to see this. She would be fascinated.

When the trees ended and the sunshine beamed down brightly, I squinted to see the extravagant house up ahead. A circulardrive sat in front of it with a water fountain in the center. Again, Stevie would love this. But her being awake was not a good idea. My gaze went back to the house. It was as spectacular as the trees. A matte-black Georgian-style mansion shouldn’t surprise me. Sure, it wasn’t as massive and sprawling as the Hugheses’ mansion in Ocala, but this was pretty freaking incredible. So much wealth.

I shook my head and blew out a breath.

“Not what I pictured you living in, Linc,” I whispered as I parked my car.

I left the car running and the air-conditioning going for Stevie. I’d have Linc come outside so I didn’t get far from the car, explain our drunken mistake, get his signature, get back in, then drive away. Never to see him again. Solid plan.

Hudson would never know about this. I’d get married in three months to a man who was good to me. Had a successful dental practice, a home with a backyard—perfect for a swing set. Stevie had never had a yard to play in before. My income had been a struggle all her life. We lived in a small apartment in a safe part of town.

But that was all about to change. She would have the things I wanted for her so badly. I just needed to get this signature and leave.

Before opening my door, I grabbed the marriage certificate and divorce papers, then I stepped out into the warm summer heat and waited on the man in the truck. He could go get Linc, and we’d get this all cleared up.

I stared up at the house and the staircase that led up to the front double doors. Above the entrance was a small veranda that looked over the front yard. Round topiary bushes sat on either side of the stairs and along the front of the house.

This place was something out of a magazine. I’d hated the black paint on one house in Hudson’s neighborhood, thinking it wasa ridiculous color for a house. Wrong. On the right structure, it was perfect. Even the columns on the front entrance and on the veranda were black. The only things breaking up the color were the windows.

Did a woman live here with him? I knew he wasn’t married to her. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t have a live-in girlfriend. The thought bothered me, and in return, that pissed me off. I did not care who or what Linc Shephard did.

One of the doors to the house swung open, and I stiffened.

Linc stepped out, and for a moment, I forgot about the papers in my hand that needed signing, the empty Vegas hotel suite with the short note he’d left for me, and the morning-after pill sitting on top of it. The fear, desperation, and pain that I had been dealt by this man’s actions seemed to slip away. Right now, I felt six years old again. My heart fluttered wildly in my chest.

The cowboy hat on his head was tilted back as he stared down at me, then continued in my direction. A plaid pearl-snap shirt with the sleeves rolled up, showing off the artwork on his forearms, jeans that fit his lower half in a way that made mouths water, and black combat boots made up his attire. He was rugged-looking. Less polished, like he had been in Vegas. More like the Linc from my childhood. The one I had wanted above everything else.

His gaze did a swift take of my body and locked back on my face, as if there had been nothing of interest to see there. That stung, and I wished it hadn’t. I didn’t care what this man thought of my appearance. He’d sure liked it well enough five years ago, but I guessed I’d changed since then. I was a mom, I’d struggled more than I ever had in my life, and I was stronger because of it.

“How can I help you?” he asked as he closed the distance, taking the steps with his long strides.

He didn’t appear angry, just slightly inconvenienced. As if I had interrupted something important. I glanced back as mynerves began to snowball down a hill, going full speed. The other man appeared amused, biting back a smile or possibly laughter as he leaned against his truck door, his arms crossed over his chest. When he nodded his head at me to answer Linc, I realized he was looking forward to this. He might have let me inside the gate, and he might have that dark, sexy thing going for him, but I didn’t like that man.

Turning back to Linc, I knew standing here silently was only going to prolong things. Tell him, get it over with, and remember that he wasn’t the man I had once believed. He was what he had always warned me he was. An outlaw. The very worst kind.

I cleared my throat and straightened my shoulders. There was no flicker of recognition in his eyes, and that was a slap in the face I hadn’t been prepared for. I would have thought he would remember me from our night five years ago. I mean, sure, we had drunk a lot, but we hadn’t been completely messed up when it started. Yet not even a tiny trace of recognition was there in those dark blue eyes of his.

Stupid, stupid girl. Why did I keep thinking that Linc had any redeeming qualities? Childhood fantasies should all be gone by now.

“I see you don’t remember me.” My words sounded as bitter as they tasted. “I’ll give you a small recap. We met in Vegas five years ago. You were there on business. I was at a bachelorette party that I didn’t want to be at. We danced. We drank. We drank so much that the pretend wedding package with Elvis sounded hilarious. Then, you bailed before I woke up the next morning, leaving a note that said,Take the pill. I don’t want any surprise kid showing up. Checkout is at eleven. Order whatever you want for breakfast.” I had memorized the note. I’d read it hundreds of times, wanting to find something in it hinting that our time together meant more to him than it appeared.

His brows drew together, and he studied me harder. I felt likea spotlight had been put on me, and every flaw on my face and body were beaming brightly at him. I didn’t let my insecurity show on my face though. He would never know the truth. Who I really was. How I had thought I loved him that night. How I had believed destiny had played a part in putting us there at the same time.

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