The Twins' Rodeo Rider
Page 20
Lily hung up the phone.
Her hand was shaking.
Her face pale.
Then red.
Then pale again.
Seeing her so distressed, it was all Gannon could do not to wrap his arms around her and make everything okay. “Rex Carter?” he guessed.
Lily scoffed and ran a hand through her bangs, pushing them off her forehead. “Worse,” she moaned. “My son’s father.”
“Bode Daniels.” The star quarterback for the Dallas Gladiators football team.
Lily’s shoulders sagged as she nodded miserably. “And his sports agent, PR rep, publicist and two lawyers.”
That was quite an entourage. Gannon studied the expression on her face. “And you had no idea they were coming?”
“None.” Lily paled again as outside in the corridor a collection of convivial voices rose and fell. Their footsteps faded.
“Do you need a lawyer?” Gannon asked, only half joking.
“I already have one. Liz Cartwright-Anderson.”
Who was, Gannon reflected, also a mutual friend.
Lily reached for her suit jacket and slipped it on. “But Liz is on vacation with her family right now, at Padre Island.” And she was the best Laramie County had to offer.
Desperation mingled with the worry in her long-lashed turquoise eyes.
It got to him—big-time.
With effort, he once again resisted the impulse to take her in his arms and smooth a hand through her hair. Anything to comfort her. “Want me to fill in for her? I’m a family-law attorney, too.”
Lily looked tempted for a nanosecond, but then she shook her head. “No. I’ve got it.” She paused, as if steeling herself emotionally for the battle ahead. “I trust you can see yourself out...?”
Gannon sighed. She’d made it clear a long time ago that she didn’t want—or need—him. Probably never would. “Sure,” he said, just as coolly. “And, Lily?”
Their eyes held. For a moment, something shimmered between them, lingered like a dust mote on the air, then disappeared altogether. “Good luck with that—whatever it is.” He jerked his head in the direction the voices had gone.
She nodded. Her expression turbulent, she took off toward her meeting.
Gannon made it as far as the lobby in the town hall before the second thoughts set in. None of this was his problem. Lily’d articulated that numerous times. And yet...she was in trouble. And maybe her son, too. He could feel it in his gut.
He’d been brought up to never ever leave a lady in distress. That went double when an innocent little kid was involved.
He wasn’t about to start now.
Copyright © 2015 by Cathy Gillen Thacker
ISBN-13: 9781460375921
The Twins’ Rodeo Rider
Copyright © 2015 by Tina Leonard
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.
www.Harlequin.com