Page 25 of Sold to the Single Daddies

I needed a swift smack to the head because I was sure I was dreaming.

“Why did you bring me here?”

He held up his hand. “Stay here. I think there’s a crib or something in the attic.”

I sat on the side of the bed and grimaced as a plume of dust came up around my head. It had clearly been a long time since the Hellstone’s had had company. I looked down at Lucky just as his eyes popped open and he opened his mouth to scream. I didn’t have to check a clock to know it was his last feeding time of the night. I didn’t hear Tate coming so I pulled my shirt up and let Lucky feed.

I had no clue what I was doing. I knew I didn’t belong in the house with Tate, though. I needed to leave as soon as I could. I’d have Harley come pick me up as soon as she could and Lucky and I would retreat to Dallas for a while.

“I’ve seen one of these things at my sister’s house for Hank.” Tate walked into the room with a vintage looking bassinet and froze. “You’re…”

I glared at him. “I’m feeding our son. Don’t make it weird.”

He cleared his throat and put the bassinet close to the bed. Instead of leaving, he stood there, watching me. “Is he okay?”

“Of course, he is.” I cradled Lucky closer. “This happens to be his favorite thing to do so he’s doing great right now.”

Tate’s eyebrows shot up and he smirked. “He must take after his daddy.”

My cheeks flushed and I glared up at him. “Really?”

He shrugged. “What do you want me to say? Your tits are out and I’m a red-blooded man.”

“More like cold-blooded.”

“Hardly.” Tate took a deep breath and tore his eyes away from my chest. “Do you need anything to make it through the night?”

“A room in a motel without a creepy Dave?” I stood up and walked to the other side of the room. “I can’t stay here, Tate. You and your brothers offered tobuymy son from me today. You clearly think the worst of me and I’m now convinced all three of you are monsters. As soon as Harley can, she’s going to come pick us up and take us back to Dallas. It’s clear to me that I’m not supposed to be here.”

He moved towards me. “You’ll stay here until we figure shit out with Lucky.”

“I don’t owe you anything more than what I already did. I hunted the three of you down and spent money I didn’t have to get here to make sure I gave you a chance to be a father to Lucky. I went above and beyond. Now I’m done. I’m going back to Dallas and if you want to be Lucky’s dad, you’ll figure it out. I wanted a father for him. I didn’t have that and Mason barely did. Lucky deserves a father but he deserves a father who doesn’t treat his mother like a money-hungry whore.”

Tate stepped even closer.

“What were we supposed to think?”

“Anything else! Even if you did think that initially, I’ve given you multiple chances to listen to me and change your stupidminds. If anything, y’all have just become more offensive each time.” I turned away from him and blew out a shaky breath. “Y’all are awful, Tate. You’re cruel and nasty for no reason. I don’t want my son to learn to be a man from men who are so openly hateful.”

“Too fucking bad.” His voice was tight as he swore and then stomped out of the room, slamming the door as he went.

Lucky jolted and let out a loud wail before dissolving into a screaming fit. I rocked him and quietly sang to him but it wasn’t helping. He was pissed off he’d been scared and taken from his dinner before he was ready. He wasn’t going to stop until he tired himself out. Still, I tried. I walked around the room, doing everything I could to soothe him.

When the sun came up the next morning, I’d only had a few hours of sleep and I’d had to sleep sitting up against the headboard so my body ached. I felt like death but I couldn’t take a sick day. I still had a little human to take care of and I had to find a way to get away from the Hellstone’s.

The bedroom door swung open just after the first rooster crowed. Mills was on the other side, his face already set in a dark scowl.

“Come downstairs. We need to talk.”

“You could always ask, asshole.” Still, I followed him downstairs and to the kitchen. West and Tate were both standing next to the stove, struggling with a pan of eggs.

“Tate told us you were keeping our son at that seedy motel. What the fuck were you thinking? How can you say you care about him and then take him to that place?” Mills jerked the fridge open and pulled out a package of sausages. “I don’t want you here but Tate was right to bring you. You can’t be trusted to keep the kid alive if you’re okay taking him to that shithole. You’ll stay here until we figure out what we’re going to do with him.”

I laughed.

“The hell I will.”

“And you’ll work for us. Can you cook and clean? You wanted a job? Now you have one. You’ll cook three meals a day for everyone on the ranch and you’ll keep this main house clean.” Mills raised a single eyebrow like he was waiting on me to thank him.

---