Page 38 of Queen of Diamonds
“Dear God, not him, too,” Rand muttered.
Alex thought that was hilarious, which set off his son, the two of them—carbon copies of each other—laughing like demented hyenas. Their glee seemed contagious as the rest of the Gentrys joined in, including Kinsey. Well, except for Nate, who wore a scowl as he tried to stare Rand down. But Rand saw the amusement in his eyes, and it was then he knew. The Gentry brothers might razz him over Kinsey, doing their best to give him a hard time, but—although they probably wouldn’t say so—they approved. He qualified that. As long as he didn’t hurt her. Then all bets were off.
“I have something to say,” Kinsey said, drawing all eyes to her. “I can’t tell you how awesome it’s turning out to be to have brothers, to have a family. But—”
“I knew there was a but coming,” Nate muttered.
“Yes, there is. You three can’t just stomp your way into my life and start dictating what I can and can’t do.” She pointed her knife at Nate. “Especially you.”
“She’s got your number,” Taylor said, smirking at her husband.
Court chuckled. “You’re too smart for your own good, little sister.”
“Dude,” Alex said. “What do you expect? She’s got our genes. Of course she’s smart.”
She grinned at Alex. “Being a Gentry makes me smart?”
“Well, duh.”
“Oh, oh, oh,” Madison said, bouncing in her seat. “She’s the queen of diamonds.”
“I’m what?”
“When they were undercover at Aces and Eights, Alex was known as the jack of hearts, Court the king of clubs, and Nate the ace of spades,” Lauren explained. “They always thought the bar was the queen of diamonds. Little did they know they had a sister, but they do, so you’re the queen.”
“I can do queen,” Kinsey said, doing an impressive imitation of a queen wave, getting more laughter from her new family.
Rand watched the byplay between Kinsey and her brothers with amusement, immeasurably pleased that she’d found a family worthy of her, men who knew how to love and protect what was theirs. She was pretty independent and might not like the idea of being under their protection, but that was how men thought, political correctness be damned.
They needed to have a serious talk. He might be working toward being comfortable around children again, but nothing would change his mind about having another one. It was more than the fear of losing another child. If he did have one, he would be a nervous wreck, afraid to let his kid out of his sight. He’d want to keep his child away from other children and their contagious germs. He’d end up smothering the poor kid with his fears of all the things that could steal his child from him, like the fucking flu. One sneeze would have him speed-dialing an ambulance.
Before he worked himself into a knot of anxiety, he closed down his thoughts. Now wasn’t the time for them, but Kinsey needed to understand where he was coming from before anything more happened between them. So they would talk, and where they went from here would be her decision.
“No, Annie. Frogs don’t like hot dogs.”
“Froggie hungry, Rosie,” Annie said.
Rand glanced over to see the youngest of Nate and Taylor’s girls trying to feed a hot dog to her stuffed frog. Zoe had had a frog, and it was something she would have done. For a brief second, the pain of missing her was intense. Then a memory of her came, the time she put her frog in the toilet because it needed a bath, and he found himself smiling.
Rosie, Taylor’s foster mother and now the girls’ nanny, handed Annie a carrot to feed her frog. That seemed to satisfy Annie, and peace was restored. That he smiled now when thinking of his daughter seemed a miracle.
“Today wasn’t so bad, was it?”
Rand turned his head toward Kinsey. They were back at her apartment, sitting on her back patio. “It was good. Really good.” He had a few hours before he needed to head to the bar for the night, and he’d asked for a little time to talk.
“I’m glad you stayed, but I wouldn’t have thought any less of you if you hadn’t.”
“The truth, I wouldn’t have if you hadn’t been with me.” He reached over and took her hand in his. “We do need to talk, though.”
“Okay, I’m listening.”
“I like you, Kinsey. A lot. There’s something between us, and I think you feel it, too.” She nodded. “But I need you to know that I’ll never have another child.”
“Because?”
She wasn’t going to make this easy. He let go of her hand and stood. The tinkling noise of her fountain was a soothing sound, and he stared at it, trying to collect his thoughts. Did she come out here often to read a book, or maybe to just sit and think? There were so many things he wanted to know about her, but wasn’t he being selfish to want to see her when, in the end, there was nothing he could promise her?
“I don’t want to hurt you, Sunshine.” He went back to his patio chair, pulled it around to face her, sat, and put his elbows on his knees. “I want to spend time with you, but usually when a man and woman start seeing each other, both understand that it could possibly lead to something. Love. Marriage. Children.”
