Page 103 of Castings & Curses

Dylan sneered at me. And like the child I was, I stood on the porch and mooed at him. I continued to do so until the car pulled all the way out of the driveway.

I hated that man, and he had my child.

I banged doors on my way back inside and into my bedroom. I scrambled around until I found my phone.

‘Dylan in town. Custody issues. Can I see you?’

‘Sending Sarina to Mom now.’

I laughed. I didn’t care if all we did was sit in the kitchen with cartoons on in the background and talk, I just didn’t want to be around anyone right now. Terri-Ann obviously pitied me, I didn’t want that. I wanted someone who would be angry for me, with me.

I hadn’t even bothered to run a brush through my hair when Dylan was here. I could look as perfect and as beautiful as possible, and he’d still hate me. So why bother? I had a very good feeling that I could look like crap and Eric would still find me beautiful.

In the bathroom, I twisted to see my back in the mirror. I didn’t see any scratches, but there might have been a bite mark or two. I got dressed and headed to Eric’s, the baby and my nerves dancing. Eric had marked me, now I wanted to know if that had been intentional or not.

This time, when I pulled up in front of Eric’s house, I really stared at it. This was grand and old. Not in an old plantation sense of old, but a turn of the last century robber baron kind of old. The door opened and Eric leaned on the frame, his arms crossed. He watched me looking at him and his freaking mansion.

I climbed out of the van. “Who the fuck are you?” I asked as I walked up to him.

He shrugged. “I’m just me, Paisley. What’s that supposed to mean?”

He reached out and took my hand. “I’m on call, so I might have to leave.”

I sighed. “I know how it works. But you said you also do some marketing for your family business, this house… What is your family’s business? Are you one of the big chicken packers around here, and I’ve missed it somehow?”

He laughed. “You’ve missed something. I thought you said you grew up around here.”

The door closed and he started up the stairs.

“I did, but I have baby brain, oh my God that asshole never even commented on the baby. No snide remarks, nothing. He is fully ignoring the fact that I am pregnant.”

“Dylan?”

“Yes, he just showed up on Terri-Ann’s porch and demanded time with Liv. Legally, I have to let him. I need to call the lawyer who handled the divorce for me. I need something in there about making arrangements.”

“You don’t have a custody agreement already?”

I shook my head. “No, Dylan wanted to be spontaneous and not tied to a schedule. I’m changing that. I need planning, a schedule. Because this is ridiculous.”

The bed was still unmade from last night. I smiled. Oh, this is what he thought we were going to be doing. He pulled his shirt off as I turned to say something.

Confronted with his broad chest and the way his pecs were covered in chest hair kind of sent all thoughts completely out the nearest window.

I pulled my shirt over my head and tried to put my hand on the part of my neck where he left teeth marks.

“Did you do this on purpose?”

His hands were gentle as he ran his fingers over the bite marks.

I closed my eyes and leaned onto him. He was warm and had that same clean scent he had last night. I wanted to touch more of him, have more of his skin against mine.

I felt the rumble in his chest before I heard the growl. It sent a shiver dancing across my skin.

“I did.” He nuzzled the side of my neck. His breath tickled, and then I felt the scrape of those teeth again. “Mine.”

I was oddly okay with that.

His large hand spread over my belly. “He doesn’t need to claim this child, I will. From now on, anyone who asks, it’s mine.”

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