Page 93 of Delinquent Daddy (Banks/Kincaid Family 2)

Oh, joy, Ellie thought, a little panicked. Boston was dragging her right into the lion's den.

The trip to Kansas City was a total blur. Ellie knew her daughter was constantly chattering from the backseat. And Boston would occasionally comment. But she was too nervous to pay attention to anything they said.

She sat in the passenger seat with her hands tightly clasped in her lap, staring straight ahead out the windshield.

Boston's Infiniti was a smooth ride. It was like floating on top of a glass lake. And he had the temperature acclimated perfectly. If Ellie were in any other state beside utter dread, she would've really enjoyed this cruise in his luxury automobile. As it was, she didn't even feel the leather seats at her back or hear the low, soothing music coming through the speakers.

She was going to meet his family. His entire family.

Ellie had always wondered what they would be like. She used to snatch up any scrap of information he'd give her about them. Heck, she'd gone and given him her virginity the first time he'd told her about his dad's occupation, if that were any indication as to how special she found his opening up to her to be.

The more he had dodged family topics, though, the more she'd wanted to know about them. She'd been so sure he must have awful parents who were pressuring him to do well in school and get into Yale. They had to be rich and socially elite, only concerned with upholding a superior reputation.

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Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

But then she'd been in calculus class one day and the teacher had been handing back graded tests. When he'd called out the name Montgomery Kincaid, a guy, looking astonishingly like Boston, had lifted his hand. Blinking, Ellie studied him for so long, he'd glanced her way as if he could feel her stare. Flushing, she quickly jerked back around in her seat.

From then on, she'd paid sharp attention to Mr.

Montgomery Kincaid. And it didn't take long to realize he was indeed related to Boston. She'd actually heard him mention his brother to his friend he always hung out with.

So sure he had this high-nosed snob of a family, Ellie had been shocked to realize Boston had a normal-acting brother.

It confused her that Boston wouldn't even mention him.

Today, on the way to see them again, Ellie held no such disillusions. Boston's family wasn't awful. In fact, they seemed pretty close to him. From everything she'd heard Cassie tell her, they were very involved in his life. He'd only kept them from her because she hadn't been important enough to meet them.

It was a bitter pill to swallow, realizing the only reason she was meeting them now was because she was Cassie's mother. And it did nothing to ease her anxiety. Instead of trying to be nice because she was with Boston, they were going to study her and ask themselves what was wrong with her, what had she done to lose him?

They were going to hate her.

When Boston slowed the car and pulled into a huge, elegant drive that was already packed with at least a dozen 220

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

automobiles, her heart literally stopped beating for a nanosecond. When it thumped back into gear, it started again so hard, it nearly cracked her ribcage.

"Libby's already here!" Cassie cheered from the backseat.

Her daughter was out of the car as soon as Boston pressed on the brake. Feeling deserted, Ellie watched Cassie race across the lawn to where a group of kids were already gathered and playing.

Next to her, Boston chuckled. "Such enthusiasm," he said, killing the engine and unbuckling his seatbelt. He opened his driver's side door and began to exit before he realized Ellie wasn't following. Pausing, he glanced over his shoulder.

"What's wrong?"

She sent him a panic-stricken expression. For the life of her, she couldn't control the fear. She couldn't even appear to be strong in front of him. "I can't do it," she blurted out. "I can't go in there."

"What? Why not?"

She gnashed her teeth, refusing to tell him. But the words still bubbled their way from her throat. "You know what they're going to think of me."

Boston's eyes flared. He pulled his foot back into the car and turned to her fully. "Ellie," he said calmly. "No one thinks badly of you. And no one is going to say anything bad to you either. Trust me. They're all more disappointed in me because I didn't stick around long enough to make sure you really weren't pregnant." Quietly reaching out, he took her hand and gave a reassuring squeeze.

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