Page 9 of Mateo & Nicole

Before she could lift her eyes to meet his, the sound of light, quick footsteps shuffled down the hallway and headed right for them. Strange. They didn’t sound like any animal he’d ever heard. Nor did it sound like an adult man—so it wasn’t going to be Daniel.

Nikki’s eyes widened larger than he’d ever seen just moments before a kid burst into the kitchen.

“Mom. Guess what?”

A little kid!

Mateo only vaguely noticed the way Nikki tensed beside him as he stared at the young boy in question. Where had he come from? What was he doing here?

Wait a minute.

Mom?

With slow movements, Mateo turned his head to face Nikki, finding her as pale as the fresh eggshell-colored paint on the walls in the kitchen.

Mom.

This kid belonged to her. Nikki was a mother. And she hadn’t told him.

He swiveled his attention from Nikki to the boy and back again. “Did you forget to tell me somethin’?”

The boy seemed to have suddenly realized he’d done something he wasn’t supposed to. Of course, he did. The way his mother looked, like she might pass out at any given moment.

Mateo frowned. “Nikki,” he whispered in warning. One thing he wouldn’t put up with was lying. Caroline had lied. She’d cheated, and she’d left. Mateo refused to spend time with people who couldn’t be honest with him, and yet here he was, standing next to a woman who hadn’t told him she had a kid.

“He can’t stay here.”

5

Nikki

Tears stung in Nikki’s eyes as she gaped at Mateo. She couldn’t hold back her emotions as she blustered at him. “What? Why?”

Mateo folded his arms tightly against his chest, fury flickering in his gaze as he turned a sharp stare on her. She wanted to shrink away from it, but she couldn’t move. He had her pinned with his eyes in a way that didn’t quite make sense.

She attempted to ask again, motioning to Paxton to hurry to her side as if she could shield him from what was happening. “Show me where it’s against the rules to have my son here. You can’t just fire me because I have a child. That’s against the law.”

For a moment she thought he might sneer at her—tell her that she wasn’t technically hired until he filed the paperwork and got her tax information in order. But he didn’t.

The slew of emotions that ripped through her was achingly painful. She’d gone from disgruntled to being in denial, and already she was ready to drop to her knees and plead for him to let them stay. She needed this job. She needed to get out on her own and take care of her son, and no one wanted to hire a woman who had been absent from the workforce for as long as she had. “Please, Mateo,” she whispered, her fingers digging into Paxton’s shoulders until a surprised sound escaped him. “I need this job.Weneed it.”

They both looked down at her son, and Mateo shook his head. “I didn’t mean I was going to fire you. But he can’t stay here.” He gestured to the wrangler’s cabin. “As much as I’d like to say it wouldn’t bother me, I can’t in good conscience allow a child to live under the same roof with several men who don’t have completed background checks. If something happened to him, I’d be liable.”

“But I can’t afford to live anywhere else—at least not until I get a few paychecks?—”

He cut her off simply by turning his back on her and heading toward the door where Paxton had materialized. She scrambled after him, taking Paxton’s hand in her own.

“I’m sorry, Mom. I forgot.”

She gave a loving, patient look to her son. “It’s not your fault, sweetheart,” she whispered, “I shouldn’t have taken so long.” She’d gotten so wrapped up in her conversation that she’d let herself forget that she’d only come out of her room in search of a notebook.

Mateo stopped in front of her door and pushed it open. His gaze swept through the small area, and his frown deepened considerably before he motioned to it with disgust. “Aside from the other men who will be staying in this building, I can’t see how you’d think you could live in here comfortably. This space is only meant for one person.”

She pulled Paxton against her front and scowled at Mateo, repeating what she’d told Daniel. “It’s better than living on the street or in a shelter.”

Mateo’s frown intensified. He shook his head and pulled out his phone.

She watched with horror as he lifted it to his ear. Who was he calling? Was Daniel going to get in trouble? Would he go so low as to contact child protective services? “Who are you calling?” she demanded.

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