Page 40 of Delinquent Daddy (Banks/Kincaid Family 2)

He couldn't tell his parents; he was too humiliated. She'd always assumed he just wasn't close to his family. That was why he'd never talked to her about them, why he'd never introduced her to them. But then she caught him calling his mother once; she listened to him talk to her on the phone and realized they meant a lot more to him that she'd ever thought. She was the one who hadn't meant enough. She was the one who hadn't been worthy enough to meet his hallowed family.

As he hung up from that call and closed his eyes, letting out a long, tired breath, Ellie knew he'd been too embarrassed to announce he'd gotten a no-one girl from nowhere, Tennessee pregnant. Instead, he'd lied and told his mom he was staying in Lawrence through the summer because he'd found a job. He made no mention of Ellie or their baby.

Things changed considerably after that. They'd broken up weeks before, but it was officially over from that point on. He tried to be polite to her, but neither of them could stop the cool distance. And all too often, they fell into the stupidest fights.

After trying to pick out baby names, with him shooting all of her suggestions down, Ellie sighed in disgust. "Well, want do you want, Boston?" she growled.

He spat back, "I don't know! Okay? I do not know. All I can tell you is what I don't want."

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Delinquent Daddy

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"Oh?" she asked cockily. "And what's that?"

"Well, for starters, I don't want to be sitting here picking out baby names. I don't want to be seven months from becoming a father. I don't want to tell my parents I've made the biggest mistake of my life. I don't want to miss my first semester at Yale."

Blowing out a stream of curses under his breath, he surged to his feet and stormed off. And hormonal freak Ellie had become, she curled into a ball and cried.

Boston called her that night at one in the morning to apologize. He actually sounded sincere in his regret as he offered her an olive branch by announcing he liked the name Cassie. But there was still that note of desperation in his voice, telling her loud and clear how trapped he felt; he just wanted to be free of it all. He wanted out, and he wanted to attend Yale.

Getting into a bus accident the next day had been like providence. Ellie hadn't really been hurt. She'd barely gotten jostled, but the encounter had made her bleed and fearing for the baby, she'd agreed to go to the hospital. She'd been looked over and immediately cleared. She'd actually been waiting to be signed out when Boston had rushed into the emergency room where she was lounging on a cot.

She hadn't planned on lying to him. It'd been a spur of the moment thing that surprised her even as she did it.

There was a mixture of guilt and concern in his eyes when he stepped into her hospital room, like he felt as if he'd wished this kind of tragedy on her and now that his wish was granted, he realized how wrong it had been to want it. But he 101

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came to her anyway, slowly, like a repenting sinner approaching the confessional.

"How are you?" he asked softly.

All she could do was nod and close her eyes. His trembling hand on her brow made her start crying all over again. When she looked up at him, he actually looked scared. "What about the baby?"

The idea hit her so suddenly, she didn't even really have time to change her mind before she asked, "Have you told your parents yet?"

He looked distinctly ashamed before he slid his gaze away and mumbled, "Not yet."

"Good," she rasped. "Because there's nothing to tell them anymore."

Boston whirled back in shock. "What?"

"There is no baby," she lied. "The baby's gone."

"You...you had a miscarriage?" She couldn't quite read how the news hit him. He looked struck, sure, surprised to say the least. His eyes seared into hers, so she could plainly see the thoughts and feelings flash through him. But they moved and changed so quickly, she doubted even he knew what was going through his head at that moment.

She turned her face aside. "I just want to be left alone, Boston. I want to finish college, go home to my aunt, and forget this ever happened. And you have to leave for me to do that. So, please...just go. I never want to see you again. I want to move on and forget."

He stared at her with wide eyes, clearly unable to believe she was sending him away. For the briefest of moments, he 102

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

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