Page 97 of Resisting Temptation (Men of Honor 3)
I feel my own eyes start to well, “I’ll tell him. He likes you a lot too, Alissa.”
She nods and cries harder. I give her one last hug before she goes into the house. The entire drive home I’m a mess of emotions. My heart is breaking for both of the kids, yet I’m also enraged at how judgmental she was. I better warn my father, I’m sure she will be bringing up our altercation with him, but I know he will have my back.
After I pull up to the house, I walk through the door to see Ruthie sitting on Cade’s lap, watching TV, with a box of pizza in front of them. He sets her down beside him and stands, “Hey, Red.”
I give him a sad smile. “Hey.”
He follows me into the kitchen and grasps my chin between his fingers to assess my face, “No cat fight.”
“No, but I definitely used some very powerful language on her.” He smirks, sending my heart into overdrive but I try not to let it distract me so I can finish telling him what happened. “She’s a real b-i-t-c-h. The woman wouldn’t listen to reason and Alissa is just as heartbroken as Christopher is. You wouldn’t believe the things she was saying about the kids, all because of who their father is.”
I shake my head and blow out an angry breath, feeling too upset to talk about it anymore. Cade pulls me against his strong, warm body. I wrap my arms around his waist and my heart rate slows as I breathe in his clean masculine scent.
“Has he come up at all?” I mumble into his chest.
“No.”
I release a sigh and step back, “All right. I’m going to go talk to him. Do you still have his phone?”
“Yeah.”
“Give it to me please, and I’ll give it back to him when I go down.”
“No. He isn’t getting it back for a few days.”
“Why?”
“Because the little shit threw it at me, and he never picked up when I called him so he can be without it for a few days.”
“That’s a little harsh don’t you think? He was upset.”
“So what, just because he gets upset doesn’t mean he can throw fits and ignore phone calls. How was I to know something bad didn’t happen to him?”
“You’re right and I will talk to him about that. Now give me the phone.”
He stares at my extended hand, “I’m not giving it back, Red.”
“Walker,” I try to say it warningly but what I really want to do is kiss his sexy stubborn face.
“Red,” he mocks in the same tone.
Giggling, I grab his shirt and try pulling him to me but he doesn’t budge. After giving me a sexy smirk, he pulls me against him and lays one hell of a kiss on me. I moan into his mouth as our tongues tangle in wild abandonment, his taste and scent flooding my senses. His hands cup my bottom to bring me closer while my hands snake up his shirt and my nails score across his hard, chiseled abs before they wrap around his waist. He releases a growl that has my panties growing damp and a throb starting between my legs.
When he finally releases my mouth, I take in lungfuls of much needed air. He stares down at me, hot and hungry.
“Is it bedtime yet?” I pant out heavily, still trying to catch my breath.
“Not yet, Red, but you better be ready when it is because your ass is mine tonight.”
I smile, “Mmm, I look forward to it.” Rising on my tiptoes, I give him one last kiss then step back and head toward the stairs. Once I’m far enough away I glance back at him, and hold up the phone I snuck out of his back pocket. “And thanks for giving back the phone, Walker.” I giggle at his shocked expression then quickly bolt down the stairs before he can take it back.
My smile dies and my mood sours as I reach Christopher’s closed bedroom door. I tap lightly and barely hear his mumbled, “Come in.” I open it slowly and see him lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, my heart breaking all over again at the sight of him. “Hey.”
“Hey,” he mumbles back, not looking at me.
I sit at the edge of his bed by his legs and face him. “I’m sorry Alissa’s mother is being so awful.”
He shrugs. “It’s not your fault. Besides it’s for the best, Alissa’s better off without me.”
“No, she isn’t!” I reply heatedly. “Do not let that woman make you feel like you are not good enough, Christopher, she is wrong. I know it and so does Alissa.”
He finally looks over at me and the pain in his eyes has me fighting to swallow back my emotion. “I’ll never get away from him. Everyone will always see me as his son. It won’t stop until I leave this place and go somewhere no one knows me.”
The thought of him leaving has my eyes welling with tears. Reaching over I grab his hand, “Please don’t leave me; I need you in my life. Once everyone gets a chance to see the real you, Christopher, they will know you are nothing like him, and if they don’t, well… screw them. You didn’t need them before and you don’t need them now. You have a lot of good people who care about you and have your back. Me and Cade, my family, along with Cooper, Sawyer, Jaxson and their families. We are what’s important and we will always have your back.”
He watches me a moment before asking, “How do you do it? After everything that’s happened to you. I mean, I don’t know the full extent of it but I can guess how bad it was by Cade’s scars. How can you not be bitter or angry? How do you just forgive people so easily all the time?”
I stare at him, taken aback, not expecting that question. I think about my answer for a minute. “Well, I don’t know. I guess it’s just the way I’m wired,” I shrug. “My grandma read me something a very long time ago that has always stuck with me, and it’s something I try to live by. Have you heard of Mother Theresa?”
