Page 92 of Hot and Bothered

Jules’s body threatened to shut down. That was true, she didn’t want this man dictating anything about Evan but he could make things so difficult for them. What if he was right and the law was on his side? What if he tried to take Evan away from her? She needed a moment to think, away from the grinding chatter.

“I suppose so.” Looking up, she found Tad staring at her intently “Tad, what do you think?”

“It’s your decision.” Each word was said with brute force.

“I know, but I’d like your opinion.”

Intensity clenched his handsome face. “I don’t think you do.”

“Tell me.”

“I think he’s the father of your kid and he has every right to see him.”

The quietness in his voice was harshness of a kind. She just stared as the dissenting voices washed over her.

“Even after how he treated me.”

“Lots of guys are assholes, but that doesn’t mean they should be denied the opportunity to see their own kid. Especially when they weren’t in the loop.” The rebuke in his tone was unmistakable.

“So I should have told him?” Had she not been clear about what a jackass he was? She hadn’t shared the uglier details but Tad knew enough to understand how broken Simon had left her.

“You didn’t tell him and you can’t change that, but you can make it right now.”

He stared at her in a way that completely unnerved her. It felt like it was just the two of them, locked together in this battle of wills. All the competing voices faded out as Tad’s flinty eyes bored into her.

“Make it right? Why is it up to me to make it right? He dumped me like rubbish.” She knew in her bones what Simon’s reaction to the news of her pregnancy would have been, especially in the light of his marital situation.Get rid of it, Jules.That’s what he would have told her.

“This isn’t about who you were back then or what he did. This is about what’s best for Evan.”

Jack was livid, his color roaring high. “And a guy who cheats on his pregnant wife…this scum deserves to have the red carpet rolled out and welcomed into this family? Over my dead body. And anyone who thinks different knows where to take his opinion.”

“Jack,” Lili warned. “Jules asked him. He’s entitled to his say.”

“And I’m entitled to decide who I welcome into my home.”

Tad shot up, ignoring the hostility arrowing from Jack’s direction. He walked to the door, turning when he got there.

“You might not like it, Jules, but blood should out here. And I don’t mean Jack.”

She jumped up and followed him, shutting the door behind her to give them privacy.

“So I should forgive him?” The slow, sick spin in her stomach took her back to that office and Simon’s casual dismissal of her. She had known that telling him about the baby would have made no difference, not when he was trying so hard to reconcile with his wife. Why couldn’t her friend, the man who knew her inside and out, understand that?

He cupped her face in his big hands, sending warmth flooding through her. She hadn’t realized how cold she was until he touched her.

“Some things are unforgivable, Jules. Decisions are made that can’t be undone. Believe me, I know.” The hollowness in his eyes ripped through her. “But it doesn’t have to be that way here. Only you can decide where your line is, but I think you know what’s right.”

Tears stung her eyelids and clotted her throat. She could barely get the next words out. “I thought you cared about me. About Evan. How could you want this?”

His hands fell away from her face.

“I don’t want this. I’m crazy about you and Evan—don’t ever think I’m not—but if someone tried to keep me from my kid, I would do everything in my power to change that. He hurt you and now you want to hurt him. I get that, but you said you’re not a victim, that you take responsibility for all the choices you’ve made. The good and the bad. You can’t let Jack or anyone else decide this. It’s too important.”

He sounded just like Simon, albeit in Tad’s clear, commonsense way. It didn’t make it any more palatable. What happened to this special connection they had? What happened to being in each other’s gut?

“I need you to be on my side here, Tad. I need you to be my friend.”

“I’ll always be your friend, but this isn’t about sides. It’s about Evan. It’s about stepping up.”

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