Page 6 of Delinquent Daddy (Banks/Kincaid Family 2)

He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against a nearby wall. "Sorry I woke you," he apologized, realizing how lame he sounded but not sure what to do about it.

She cleared her throat. "It's okay. I went to bed early anyway."

Of course it was okay. She was too forgiving. Hell, she'd probably forgive him for everything else if he'd just let her.

But he couldn't. He'd wanted out instead. So in return, karma had bitch slapped him, and now his life was crumbling around him.

"What were you saying?" she prompted. "About a girl."

"I..." His mind went blank. What was the name he'd just chosen? Damn, he was losing it. "I like the name Cassie...for a girl. What do you think?"

"Cassie," she repeated in that sleepy, sexy voice of hers.

"Um...okay. Sure. What if it's a boy?"

He paused. Crap. He hadn't gotten that far. To be honest, he thought he'd been doing good finding one name.

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Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

"I don't know," he mumbled.

"Well, there's still plenty of time to decide. We don't have to figure it all out tonight."

He wanted to though. He wanted to clear the air between them. Suddenly, he wanted to apologize and get that forgiveness he hadn't wanted before. He wanted to tell her how sorry he was for being a butt in the past few weeks—the past few months, actually. He shouldn't have blamed her or accused her of trying to trick him into anything. He shouldn't have been so hateful. He'd just been so freaking scared. It'd been easier to lash out and get mad. He could deal with mad.

He couldn't do scared. He hated being scared.

"Ellie?" he said, his mouth opening to beg her forgiveness right then and there over the phone at one o'clock in the morning.

"Yeah?" she said.

"I..." His mouth opened, but no words came out.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he assured her quickly. "It's just...nothing. I'm sorry I woke you. I'll see you tomorrow at the doctor's appointment. It's at two, right?"

But he hadn't seen her the next day for their check-up.

Instead, he'd gotten the call. Ellie had been in an accident.

Someone had sideswiped the public transportation bus she'd been riding. She'd ended up in the emergency room and had gone through a miscarriage...or so she'd told him. He'd never actually spoken to a doctor about it.

Boston hadn't seen her again after that announcement.

She'd asked him to get out of her life, and he'd been too 23

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

scared, heartbroken, and relieved to argue. So, he left, never to return and discover if she'd been lying about the miscarriage.

Well, it was time to learn the truth.

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