Page 20 of Off Limits Daddy

I let out a frustrated growl. "No, I don't want you to fake a relationship with Aiden. I want you to fake it with me. All I'm saying is that if you fake a relationship with me, that means we’ll spend time together and you might have an easier time learning about what that picture meant. And hopefully, protect Aiden, because if that picture means what you think it does, I have no doubt in my mind that Wally Creighton would come after Aiden."

“I thought you said protecting him is your job.”

“I can’t protect him if DSS takes him from me.”

She put her hands on her hips and turned away. Although she looked frustrated, I took it as a sign that I was winning this argument. At the very least, she was considering my points.

She swung her attention back to me. This was it. Either Agent Veronica Marsden was going to marry me or I was going to lose Aiden.

5

Veronica

No. That was the word that should've been coming out of my mouth. Duncan's idea was beyond ridiculous. So, why wasn't I saying no? Why was I actually considering his crazy proposal? Good God, I was.

It couldn't be because of the way my brain fogged when he embraced me, his lips settled on my cheek, and his warm breath whispered in my ear. I was an FBI agent, for goodness’ sake. I wasn't ever thrown off my game by hormones. Although apparently, I was, because when he was so close to me, every memory of that night in the sauna not only flashed in my mind, but through my body as well, making every part of me light up like a Christmas tree.

But now I had my wits back, so I needed to put an end to this crazy idea of a fake engagement. Seriously, who did that?

Except… maybe he was right in that if I wanted to get information from Aiden, spending time with him would help. The boy clearly trusted Duncan, so by being in Duncan's orbit, maybe he would trust me as well. In fact, that might be theonly way Aiden would feel comfortable to tell me what he saw, assuming he saw anything. But I had come to the conclusion that even if Aiden hadn’t witnessed the murder of Detective Donovan and Darcy Patrick, which I felt certain he had, he had been living in Wally Creighton’s house for a year. Surely, he saw or overheard something in that time.

Then there was the anguish I saw in Duncan’s eyes as he begged me to be his fake fiancée. Aiden hadn't been with Duncan very long, but it was clear that Duncan was all in, fully committed to parenting this child. Foster children had a hard enough go around in life as it was. I’d hate to be the reason that Aiden would be ripped from a man who was prepared to give this boy a full life.

But to be his fake fiancée? How would we even pull that off? If anyone at work found out, I'd be a laughingstock. Hell, I'd probably be fired. Then again, I could look at it as an undercover operation.

I turned my attention back to Duncan, his pale blue eyes watching me, and in them I saw that he believed I held his future as a father in my hands.

"I'll do it?—"

"Thank fuck.” He reached for me, but I pressed my hand against his chest.

"But… I'm not going to marry you on New Year's Eve. I'm also not going to commit to six months of this farce. I'm only going to do this for as long as it takes for me to close out this case."

Duncan smirked. "Don't some cases take years?"

He was right. Sometimes, they did. But in my mind, if I could get the information I needed from Aiden, coupled with the information I had about Detective Donovan and Darcy Patrick’s plot against Wally and their subsequent murders, as well as all the information from Liam and Oliver Quinlan, I should be ableto close this case out in a couple of weeks. Two months, tops. Perhaps that was a little pie-in-the-sky, but I really felt like I was on the verge of all the puzzle pieces falling into place and my being able to arrest Wally Creighton, not only for identity theft and fraud, but murder as well.

"It won't take me that long. So, whatever you need to do to keep Aiden with you, that's how long you have to convince them."

He studied me for a moment, but I think he realized he had no other option. He'd painted himself into a corner by telling Aiden’s social worker I was his fiancée, so he had to stick with that.

He nodded. "Deal."

"One more thing. There's not going to be any repeat of what happened in the sauna."

He smirked again, but this time his expression seemed to be telling me that we would see about that. "It was good, though, wasn't it?"

"It was very good, but I'm working here. My pretending to be your fiancée and looking like this happy little family is all it's going to be. Pretend."

He actually feigned pouting. "That doesn't mean there can't be any moments of pleasure."

All my girly bits were screaming that they agreed with him. But I was a professional. "In this case, it does. Take it or leave it."

"I'll take it. As much as I enjoyed fucking you, Veronica, my priority is Aiden and keeping him with me."

"Good. Then we have a deal."

He thrust out his large hand, and I took it, watching as it completely enveloped mine. His hands were warm, and once again, my body remembered what it felt like to have them touching me. I quickly disentangled my hand.

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