Page 34 of Outlaw

When I reached the car, the driver was standing outside the door and opened it for me. I thanked him, then climbed inside to find Stevie already buckled into her car seat, her attention on the television screen while she ate a banana and held a box of oat milk in her other hand. Linc learned fast, it seemed. He was only on day two of thishaving a little girlthing, and he was figuring it out.

“I assumed bananas weren’t a choking hazard,” he said as the door closed.

They could be, but I decided against telling him that. He might never let her eat without me present again. She wasn’t a baby anymore, and it was mostly my own fears that had me still slicing grapes. The one time I’d tried to be brave and let her eat an apple without me peeling it and cutting it up, she choked. Ihad been traumatized.

“She looks content,” I told him.

The limo began to move, and I stared out the window at the other cars as we left the parking lot. Seeing them reminded me that I didn’t have my car. I had wanted to take it to Hudson.

“Where did they leave my car?” I asked.

“It’s parked in his driveway,” he told me, then reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out the key fob. “Here.”

I reached forward and took it.

He had known where my apartment was without having to ask me. He knew where Hudson lived. He’d known Hudson had bought me the car. I wanted to know what all he did know because I knew his information didn’t go all the way back to my childhood. It seemed to be that he had researched only current things about me. If he realized who I was, then it would uncover yet another thing I had hidden from him. Not that it mattered really. It wasn’t something that would change anything.

The drive to the dentist office was the shortest trip from my apartment I’d ever had—or my increasing dismay at having to tell Hudson all of this made it feel too quick. Prolonging the inevitable didn’t sound so bad about now. When the limo stopped, I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves.

Stevie looked around and then smiled brightly. “We awah at the office!” she said and clapped her hands together. “Let me out. I want to go show Hudson my weal dad!”

Oh good Lord. My eyes swung to Linc, who was sitting back with his long legs slightly spread and an arm resting on one of his muscular thighs and the other behind Stevie. He was smirking. I was torn between wanting to lean over there and slap him or rub up against him. I wasn’t sure which one of those was winning. He was the picture of raw, masculine power. Ugh. Damn him for being so incredibly sexy.

Straightening my shoulders, I turned back to Stevie. “Nottoday. I need to go inside alone. I’ve got to tell Hudson that you and I are moving to Georgia to live with your dad for a while. It is better if you and him stay in the car.”

She frowned, and I could see her trying to work this out in her head. She hadn’t been concerned about Hudson after finding out about Linc. But now that she was faced with it, the questions were starting to pop up.

“Will Hudson let us live with my weal dad?”

I didn’t look at Linc. I already knew he wasn’t going to like that question.

“Hudson doesn’t decide where we live. But he needs to know about it.”

“Will he live with us, too, aftah the wedding?”

Linc made a noise that was somewhere between a growl and a cough. Whatever. He deserved it. He had demanded we do this and given me no other choice. She had just met him two days ago, but she’d known Hudson much longer.

“The wedding isn’t going to happen this year,” I told her, preparing for tears. She had really been looking forward to that flower-girl dress.

Her brow puckered. “Why not?”

I should let Linc answer all these questions.

“Well, you see, since we’ve found your real dad and he wants to spend time with you and have you live with him, then that changes things. Madison is a long drive away from Nashville, and this is where Hudson lives and where his dentist office is. He can’t move with us.”

How was I supposed to explain this to a child?

She was silent for a minute, and thankfully, there were no tears yet.

“It’s okay,” she told me, patting my hand that rested on her leg. “We don’t need him now. I got a dad. My weal one. Hudson can be someone else’s dad.”

Unable to help myself, I cut my eyes over to Linc.

The bastard had a smug grin on his face as he lifted his shoulders slightly. “She’s got a point. Maybe you could just go tell him that.”

Glaring at him, I narrowed my eyes, unable to say what I wanted to in front of Stevie.

“I won’t be long,” I said and went to get out of the already-open door.

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