Page 27 of Second Shot

“You’ve never behaved a day in your life,” I mutter, feeling the loss of his heat the moment he stepsaway.

He chuckles. “I’ll make you a promise. If you agree to move in with me, I’ll keep my hands to myself.” His head tilts to the side, a wicked, dark promise dancing in his eyes. “Until…”

“Untilwhat?”

“Until you beg me notto.”

I snort. “Not going tohappen.”

He shrugs. “Then you have nothing to worryabout.”

I have everything to worryabout.

“Move in with me. Let me take care of you andNoah.”

“If you’re trying to pull some hero crap, I don’t need yourhelp.”

“Didn’t say you did. But it’s still myresponsibility.”

Since when does Kane Madden care aboutresponsibility?

My head is pounding. I rub my temples and let out a breathysigh.

I hatehim.

The thought doesn’t hold the same potency it used to. And no matter how hard I try to stir up that familiar feeling, it’s muted by the fact that the man standing in front of me is the father of mychild.

How the hell am I supposed to hate himnow?

“I can’t,” I mutter, more to myself than to him. “It’s a terribleidea.”

“Give me one good reasonwhy.”

“I can give you a hundred. For starters, we can’t even be in the same room without arguing. And how weird is it going to get when you start bringing women home, or whenI-”

A low growl vibrates in his throat. “I think we have enough to deal with without bringing other people into it.” Something dark crosses his expression when he says, “Unless you’re already involved with someone. You seemed pretty friendly with that guyyesterday.”

Again, with Felix. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he wasjealous.

“He’s just a friend. He was there for me when I didn’t have anyone else to turnto.”

“You could have turned to me.” There’s a fierceness in his words, the first real hint of anger he’s shown. “Youshouldhave turned tome.”

Swallowing hard, I know he’s right. “Yeah. Maybe I should have.But…”

I clamp my mouth on all the excuses I’ve created. The real and imaginedones.

He takes a step towards me and reaches out like he’s going to touch my cheek, but he drops his hand before making contact. “Just let me be here for younow.”

I hold his gaze, searching for anything that will help me say no. Wanting to see some sort of falseness in him. But the man who stares back at me is someone I’ve never really seen. Someone devoted, caring,honorable.

Someone that could break myheart.

“I’ll think aboutit.”

I can see it’s not the response he wants, but he gives a small nod. “Okay.”

“Okay,” I repeat, suddenly awkward, and not knowing where to go fromhere.

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