Page 25 of RomeAntically Challenged
“Are you serious?” Emmitt scoffed. “Is this because I’m claiming my right to take Paisley to the father-daughter dance?”
Gray lifted a judgmental brow.
Okay, that came out a little angrier than he’d anticipated but,Jesus effing Christ.Why did Gray have to be such a Boy Scout all the time? Emmitt wasn’t asking for clearance to drop into a hot zone from thirty thousand feet up. All he wanted was to finish the article he’d started, which required a few more interviews and pictures.
His camera and computer had made it back to Rome, but most of his notes and all the digital recordings Emmitt had compiled for the story were accidentally shipped to the home office in New York and were now being held hostage by Carmen.
“How about we make a deal?” The throb in his head had settled firmly behind his eyes. “You send Carmen an e-mail stating that I’m good to go and I promise not to take any new assignments until after the dance.”
“Lie to Carmen Lowell?” Gray laughed. “That woman isn’t going to let you off the hook until you apologize for every transgression since you met her.”
“Which is why I need a doctor’s note. Then it wouldn’t be up to her. HR would step in and she’d have to let me finish the story.”
“Did you ever stop to think that maybe the order came from HR and Carmen was just the messenger?”
No, Emmitt hadn’t. He’d been so frustrated by the entire situation that he’d just assumed it was another one of her Carm-trums. “Remember when she sent me on a last-minute assignment to Moscow, booked me a flight that landed at three a.m. in the middle of January, only the person I was supposed to interview was in Moscow, Kansas?”
“And the story wasn’t even yours to cover?” Gray had the nerve to laugh. “I warned you about mixing business and pleasure, Em. What can I say, you made your bed—not my problem that she’s still pissed to no longer be in it. But backburning a story and having to redo the entire layout of the magazine seems a little extreme, even for Carmen.”
“I’m not so sure.” But if Carmen wasn’t behind it, that meant the higher-ups made the call, and he needed to get Gray on board more than ever.
“Either way, you see why I have to do this by the book. If I clear you and then you’re further injured on the job, I’m opening up myself and the hospital to a lawsuit.”
“We both know I’d never sue you,” Emmitt scoffed. “You’re just making shit up because you get off controlling my life.”
“Life isn’t always about you and what you need, Em,” Gray said in that calm zen way of his that pissed Emmitt off. “When my practice merged with Rome General, I had to adopt an entire binder of rules and a board I answer to. We can’t all run around the world making up the rules as we go.”
As far as direct hits went, that one sank his proverbial battleship.
Emmitt didn’t globe-trot just for the hell of it. He had bills to pay, a college fund to contribute to. His job afforded him the opportunity to take Paisley on amazing trips around the world and explore places she’d never know of otherwise. She wasn’t old enough to have a driver’s license, but she had a stamp in her passport from four of the seven continents. Her upcoming graduation present—visiting the penguins of Antarctica—would bring that number to a whopping five.
From the moment Paisley had come into Emmitt’s life, Gray had always managed to have the advantage. He had a say in what weekends and holidays Emmitt got to spend with his own kid, how Paisley was raised. He even had the nerve to school Emmitt on what kind of gift was considered “too extravagant.”
Yes, Gray had been in Paisley’s life since before she could remember. And yes, Emmitt was thankful every day that Michelle had someone to help her raise Paisley. But just because Gray had showed up first to the race—a race Emmitt didn’t even know he’d been entered in until Paisley had turned five—that didn’t make him a better dad.
“You’re right, I don’t play by the rules. Funny how if it benefits you, like when I didn’t go after custody when Michelle died, it’s the noble thing. But when there’s nothing in it for you, I’m being selfish.”
Gray went so very still he didn’t even breathe. He just sat as if trying to register what Emmitt had said. When he spoke, it was barely a whisper, “You considered going for custody?”
“Damn right I did. She’s my kid.”
“She’s mine too,” Gray said, and Emmitt watched as the truth settled on the other man like a concrete slab. “Are you still? Thinking of going for custody?”
“I don’t know.” It was an honest answer to a difficult question he’d been struggling with since the day Paisley had called him in hysterical tears to tell him about Michelle’s accident. At the time, he knew leaving her in her childhood home was the right call.
But a lot had happened since then, and Emmitt had started questioning his decision.
“Paisley is my life,” Gray said. “The day I asked Michelle to marry me, I also asked Paisley if I could be her stepdad. And the day of the accident when I went to see Michelle, I promised I’d take care of Paisley.”
“That’s the thing, man,” Emmitt said, standing so he could face Gray head-on. “You always assume you’re the only one fit to take care of her. Did it ever cross your mind that she has a dad to keep her safe and wipe away the tears? That she has me?” Emmitt pressed his palm to his heart, as if the act alone would heal everything.
“How could I? You never let me forget,” Gray accused. “But you always manage to forget that I’m the guy who’s raised her since she was small.”
“Not by my choice. If I’d known I had a kid, I would have been there from day one.”
“I know.” Gray sat down, resting his forehead in his palm. “Michelle said it was her biggest regret. But she also made it clear, she wanted Paisley to live with me.”
Emmitt sat too. Or maybe his legs gave under the mounting insecurity that nugget of information had caused. “I know.”
