Page 9 of Reckless Curves
But she wasn’t a quitter.
It was a tough pill to swallow as a teenager. To learn that life was a constant battle. Six months ago she’d been tired, but now… now she was ready to fight for what she wanted.
She wanted her hard-won life on her terms.
She turned and looked at her brother and his hot, oh, so hot, new friend.
She might not know what she wanted to do with the rest of her life, but right now she knew what she wanted—and he was sitting on a lounge chair ten feet from her.
It had taken her four long years to wear Tom’s resistance down. The night of her twentieth birthday, the day she’d signed to sing for James Tan.
What a night that had been. More so because he’d given her Connor. A child that she never thought she’d have after her chemo. She would never regret her son or the night that created him.
Tom cleared his throat. “Are you okay?”
“Just reminiscing. It’s so strange sitting here.”
“I wish I’d been in Connor’s life earlier. Look, it’s obvious you need help financially, but I won’t just be a silent partner who only contributes money. I want to be in my son’s life.”
She looked into his eyes and knew if she had to do it all over again, she would. “That’s good.” She should be happy, right? It’s what she wanted—didn’t she? Yes, but it would also mean he was in her life too. “Why does everything have to be so complicated?”
“It’s not complicated at all. I’m Connor’s father and I have just as much right to see him, to be with him, as you.”
He sounded so angry, and yet he was the one who’d ignored her when she’d tried to let him know. For the past three years, he’d probably never even given her or Connor a second thought. She wasn’t the villain here. “We’ll work out child support and a visitation schedule.” Even though having him in her life regularly would send her world spinning, he deserved to be in her son’s life. She would have to act as if seeing him every day did not send her pulse racing. Worse still, she would have to watch him with his revolving door. She assumed he still maintained a rotation of women. She’d just have to hide how much she wished he wanted her the way shestillwanted him.
His presence was wreaking havoc on her hormones, but Kendra held her reactions in check. Something she’d become an expert at. She’d gotten used to being half in heat every time she was around him, and it seemed like that hadn’t changed. But, just to be safe, she’d better leave. Besides, she had to get home to relieve Mrs. Bailey from across the hall, since the elderly woman liked to go to bed by ten.
This had been an impulsive decision to talk with him, but her friend’s situation brought several ‘what ifs’ to light and she needed answers. She needed space to sort through what confronting Tom had set in motion. She’d half expected him to be happy to simply dish out money. She’d never even considered he’d want to be in Connor’s life—she’d hoped, but wasn’t certain, given he’d had no contact with him for three years.
She wanted to raise Connor with a father in his life. She’d always wanted Tom to be there for Connor, but she’d doubted that would ever happen, so to see her dream coming to fruition was scary. Dreams always seem so easy, it’s the reality that makes you think twice. Makes you question everything.
She stood because it was time to leave. She needed to consider a lot of things, emotionally and logistically, like how was this dual parenting thing going to work. “We’ll talk more about this when I have more time. I have to get home.”
Tom rose and ran a hand over his hair, making her want to do the same.Was it soft like she remembered from four years ago?Kendra needed to get out of there.
“So, that’s it?” he asked. “You drop a major bombshell on me and then run away? That’s not fair, to any of us.”
“Fair? Don’t talk to me about fair. Is it fair I had Connor all on my own? That I had cancer—OMG, life isn’t fair. I don’t have time to argue. I have to relieve the babysitter. Anyway, I need some space to think.” Kendra said, briskly making a move towards the door.
But Tom shot quickly past her and blocked her departure. “Think fast then because I’m not waiting too long to see my son. I’ve missed out on so much already.”
His eyes had darkened with the force of his emotions, and his supple mouth had thinned into a hard line. She wanted to kiss him until it softened again and let him devour her mouth. As if sensing her reaction, he reached out and ran a finger over her cheek.
“Please, stay. You can’t just drop this on me. I need to know—I need to know about my son. I have paid little attention to Connor before. Can I see a picture of him at least?”
His touch sent desire coursing through her, making her breathing quicken. She had to get out of there before he saw that even after everything, she still wanted him. “I—I’ll text you one or you can see him on my Instagram account, KendraB. I’m so sorry. I didn’t think this ‘revealing the truth situation’ through. I guess the news of my friend’s cancer returning sent me here on an impulse, it’s not every day you tell a man he’s a father. But Mrs. Bailey could only stay with Connor for a little while. I promise that we’ll talk soon, just not now.”
Tom’s gaze bored into hers. “Why would you tell me when you only had a bit of time? Are you punishing me?”
“No. No. Not at all. I just didn’t think you’d even care. I thought you knew all along and I was simply going to ask you to face up to your financial obligations.” Kendra couldn’t look away as tears stung her eyes. “It hadn’t occurred to me you didn’t know about Connor, or what this would mean for you. If I’d known, I would have told you differently. And made sure we had more time.” She gulped back a sob. “I really am sorry.”
Her words, or maybe her tears, made him flinch, and he quickly moved out of her way. Kendra yanked the door open and walked from the house to her car. She refused to look at him as she backed out of the driveway and then sped away into the night.
