by Natalie Ann
Dedication
For Chelle. Thanks for all that you do.
Prologue
Six Months Ago…
Jackie Monroe tossed her purse over her shoulder and plastered the best fake smile she could manage. For the last couple of months, she’d become a master at pretending to be happy and satisfied in a relationship that only gave her heartburn.
But only because her boyfriend kept canceling on meeting her family.
Like tonight.
She spotted her sister Kennedy and her new husband, Hawk, sitting practically in each other’s lap at the best table in Rosalie’s Bistro in the heart of Los Angeles.
Only, once again, Jackie was going to be having dinner alone. She tossed her purse over the chair and leaned in and kissed her pregnant sister. “How are you feeling? Any better?” Jackie almost never ate downtown. She avoided LA as much as possible, preferring the seaside town of Newport Beach, but this restaurant was the talk of the hospital, so why not give it a try.
“The morning sickness seems to be gone,” Kennedy said. “Thank God, but six months of that crap is way too long. So unfair when it’s only supposed to last three.”
Hawk laughed, shaking his head. “Yeah, but now the weird cravings are kicking in. Yesterday at lunch she had a hankering for chicken salad.”
“That’s not so weird.” Jackie nodded to the waitress as she poured a glass of wine from whatever Hawk had ordered.
“It is when she wants almonds, carrots, raisins, cucumbers, and grapes in her chicken salad with a side of apples and peanut butter.” Hawk raised his glass.
“Still don’t see how that’s a bizarre craving.” Jackie shrugged.
Hawk tossed his hands to his sides. “She put the peanut butter on the chicken salad. That’s disgusting.”
“You really need to learn to stop burying the lead, babe,” Kennedy said, patting her husband’s shoulder.
Jackie brought the wine to her nose and inhaled sharply. She didn’t know that much about wine, but she knew she was supposed to smell it first. This particular red had a thick earthy scent with a touch of citrus. She had no idea what that meant, but her taste buds danced in anticipation, and her stomach gurgled in delight. “So, how did you two pull off this reservation last minute?” It was certainly nice to have a rich brother-in-law who had connections and didn’t mind using them.
“One of the owners has an up and coming actor for a son, and we just signed him, so we called in a favor,” Hawk said, reaching across the table and resting his hand over hers. “I’m just glad you decided to come out with us.”
“Better than sitting home alone,” she said with a sigh. The last four times she’d set up for Edwin to meet anyone in her family, he either had to go out of town last minute for business, or his ex-wife pulled a fast one and he had his kids for the weekend. Jackie would never intrude on time with a single father and his children. Those moments were to precious and too far in between.
“What happened to Edwin this weekend?” her sister asked the one question Jackie would prefer not to answer, again.
“His stupid ex-wife wouldn’t let him change weekends,” she said.
“But she asks for it all the time, and he’s more than happy to oblige her.” Hawk leaned back in the booth and rested his hand on Kennedy’s belly. “He should tell his ex-wife to stick with the agreement.”
Jackie resented being jealous of her older sister at what was the happiest time of her life. Kennedy had gone through a lot of shit over the last couple of years, and she and Hawk deserved their happiness and overabundance of gross public displays of affection.
But Jackie wanted what Kennedy had, and she thought she wanted it with Edwin.
“Because he’s a good father and puts his kids before everyone, including himself.”
His dedication to his family had been one of the many reasons she’d fallen head over heels in love with him. As a child psychiatrist, specializing in custody battles, she knew firsthand how delicate these situations could be, so she could never judge or truly be mad at Edwin for doing everything possible to help his children navigate a broken home and make them feel loved, wanted, and protected.
Not an easy task when dealing with someone like his ex-wife.
“Have you met his kids?” Kennedy asked.
Jackie shook her head. “Not yet. We’re talking maybe in a couple of months. He doesn’t want to introduce anyone to them if it’s not going to go to the next level.” She bit back a smile. The topic of marriage had popped up a couple of times in casual conversation, but he did say he wanted to get married again, and he’d be open to having more children.
She didn’t have to have a ton. One would be enough, especially if she got to be a stepmom to his two other children. The entire idea made what little anger and frustration that coated her heart melt away.
“Next level?” Hawk said with an arched brow. “That sounds promising.”
Jackie smiled wide. “It does, only his ex-wife is a pain in my ass. I’m trying to get Edwin to give me the court documents from the custody hearing. I’m hoping there is something we can do that will force her to stop doing this. It’s not good for the kids.”
“Or you,” Kennedy said.
“I am honestly more concerned for the children, but it would be nice to have a boyfriend who actually shows up next month to Mom and Dad’s party. Dad keeps looking at me as if I made Edwin up.”
“Um, yes. I have a reservation for two under Marlow,” a familiar male voice said.
Jackie’s heart sank to her toes. She swallowed and slowly turned her head. “No fucking way.”
“What’s wrong?” Kennedy asked.
“That’s my boyfriend and his ex-wife.”
Edwin stood at the hostess stand wearing his favorite blue button-down shirt and his super sexy dark slacks. The ones that Jackie had helped him pick out. He rested his hand on the small of his ex-wife’s back.
Jackie knew it was Tina from pictures.
Tina tossed her long blond hair over her shoulder and smiled at Edwin, who leaned in and kissed her cheek. “Happy anniversary, sweetheart.”
“He did not just say that.” Jackie stood and smoothed down the front of her mini skirt. She glanced around the restaurant, making sure Edwin’s kids were nowhere to be found.
And hoping there wasn’t anyone else’s children in earshot because she couldn’t be responsible for the words that were about to come out of her mouth.
“What are you doing?” Kennedy took her by the arm.
“Are you sure that’s him?” Hawk asked.
“I had his dick in my mouth this morning, I know exactly who that is, and you’re not stopping me from going over there and saying hello.” She took one step toward closing the gap when she caught Edwin’s gaze. “And then telling that asshole to sit on a stick and rotate.”
His eyes went wide with shock. He did a double take, and then she could see the panic set in as he tried to coax his wife to go somewhere.
“Jackie, don’t do it.” Hawk inserted himself in front of her. “Not here. Not now. Not in front of whoever that is.”
“He lied to me, and he’s not going to get away with it.” Jackie sucked in a deep breath and sidestepped her brother-in-law.
Edwin stood by the hostess stand with his hands on his hips. His wife, or ex-wife, or whoever, must have gone to the ladies’ room because she was nowhere to be found.
Jackie took the five steps necessary to close the gap. “I thought you had your kids this weekend,” she said. “Or is it that you have your wife and your kids every weekend.”
“Jackie. Can we not do this here, please? I beg you. I’ll call you Monday,” he said so softly she barely heard him.
“Are you still married? Living with your wife and family and lying to me all this time?”
He nodded.
“Lose my fucking number.” Jackie spun on her heels and made a beeline for her sister. She slipped into the booth. “So, what looks good on the men
u?”
“You want to stay?” Hawk asked.
“Damn fucking straight I do. Let that asshole sweat all night for lying to me, his wife, and his children.”
***
Special Forces Intelligent Sergeant Alston Walsh paced in the waiting room in a Newport Beach, California hospital holding a picture of his six-month-old daughter that he hadn’t even met yet.
“Sergeant Walsh?” A woman wearing scrubs stepped into the waiting room.
He blinked. “Can I see her now?”
“I’m Doctor Ambrose. I’m sorry. Because Miss Hampton filed a restraining order, the police officer that is with her and your daughter said we can’t let you back there until Miss Hampton is willing to leave, and that isn’t going to happen anytime soon.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. When his cousin had called to inform him that Kari was walking around with a baby, Alston did everything short of going AWOL to get to California. He wasn’t going to be turned away because of a bogus restraining order. He’d never laid a damned finger on Kari, except to protect her from an asshole during a bar brawl.
“Sir, please watch your language.”
“Sorry,” he mumbled. “What can you tell me about my daughter’s condition?”
“Why don’t we go sit down over here.” She curled her fingers around his biceps and led him to the insanely uncomfortable metal chairs in the corner of the waiting room under the dull florescent lights. “We don’t have a diagnosis.”
“But she’s been here for three days, or at least that’s what I was told.” He slumped in the chair and stared at his Army fatigues half tucked into his steel-toed boots.
“Coralie came into the emergency room three days ago, presenting with diarrhea and vomiting that wouldn’t stop. Normally, with a stomach bug, we’d send a baby home after hydrating them, but this isn’t the first nasty bug she’s gotten in the last few months.”
He let out a long breath. “So, why does she keep getting sick?”
“That we don’t know, which is why we admitted her, but since she seems to be better and gaining the weight she lost, we’ll be discharging her in the morning.”
“Well, that doesn’t help me right now.” He shifted his gaze. “I know this isn’t your problem, but I didn’t know I was a father until yesterday. I have to be back at Fort Irwin in three hours. My team is leaving in the morning for a mission, and if I’m not there, I’ll be court-martialed. I won’t be stateside again for at least two months. This is the only chance I have to meet my daughter until I get back.” He sat up taller. “I’ve contacted a lawyer who is going to do whatever it takes so I can invoke parental rights or whatever it’s called, but all I want is a few minutes to hold her and let her know she has a father who…who…” He tapped his chest. His heart tightened so hard it hurt. “Who loves her so much that he can’t even explain it.” Never in his forty years on this earth did he think he’d be a father, much less want to be one.
He held up the picture that a buddy of his managed to get for him. “This is all I have, and I’d like one of me holding her. I just need a half hour. Hell, I’ll take ten minutes. There is no bullshit restraining order against me when it comes to my daughter, and you can fill the room with every security officer, cop, or whoever you want. I just want to meet my little girl. Can you make that happen for me?”
The doctor reached out and took his hand and squeezed. “Wait right here.”
He opened his mouth to ask where she was going, but she vanished in a second.
Alston stood and started pacing again. When he’d heard that Kari had a baby he wondered if it could have been his. Of course, once he did the math he knew, but he wanted the paternity test. Once he had the results in his hands, his entire world flipped upside down.
He was a father.
“Sergeant Walsh,” Doctor Ambrose said.
He stopped pacing. His arms slacked to his sides. Goosebumps coated his skin like water pelting his body from a warm shower.
“I’d like you to meet Coralie Elizabeth Hampton,” Doctor Ambrose said. “Your daughter.”
“My daughter,” he repeated.
Doctor Ambrose inched closer, holding a little girl in her arms. The baby sucked on a pacifier. Her little puffy cheeks moved with every suck. Her blue eyes were wide, and when he locked gazes with Coralie, his knees went weak.
“Can I hold her?”
“Of course.”
Holding his breath for a long moment, he took his daughter into his arms. She smelled like peaches and cream. She had almost no hair, but what little did dot her head was the color of sunshine. She spit out the binky, and her lower lip quivered. He expected her to start crying, but instead, he got a smile.
“Hey there,” he said. “I’m your daddy.” God, that sounded so weird, but it felt so right. “I’m going to have to go away for a bit, but when I come back, I’m going to get a different job, and I’m going to do whatever it takes to make sure you have everything you need.” He kissed her temple. “And that I get to be in your life.”
Chapter One
Doctor Jackie Monroe tapped her toe impatiently while she waited in line at the corner coffee shop down the street from Newport Beach Hospital.
“That is so annoying,” her sister Rose said. “Sometimes you’re way too uptight.”
“And sometimes you’re downright irresponsible for a grown woman,” Jackie retorted. Of the six kids, Rose was number three, so one could argue she was one of the middle kids and she certainly acted like it.
Jackie, on the other hand, being the second oldest, had always been accused of having firstborn qualities. She certainly couldn’t deny the allegations, but now that she was in her thirties, the jokes were old.
“Someone has to have a good time in this family besides our brothers,” Rose said with a laugh. “Did you see what Fitz posted on his Instagram?”
“If it’s another image of him without his shirt, a hockey stick, and some half-naked chick, I don’t want to know about it.” All of her brothers tended to have commitment issues, but Fitz took that concept to a whole new level.
“No hockey stick, and he did have his shirt on, but he was sucking a Jell-O shot from her belly button.”
“Oh, Mom will be so proud.” Jackie stepped up to the counter as soon as the gentleman in front of her finished his order. He turned his head and nodded.
“Mmmmmm, he’s cute,” Rose leaned in and whispered.
Jackie had to agree, but her self-imposed single status was good for another six months. After that, then maybe she might be open to meeting a stranger in a coffeehouse and see where it took her. That is as long as he’s not wearing a wedding ring. She cocked her head and checked out his right hand while he waited at the other end of the counter for his order.
Nope. No ring.
Shit. Stop. Even looking was a bad idea.
“What can I get you?” the waitress asked.
“Two Grande Carmel mochas and two chocolate croissants warmed up. Please.” She stuck her card into the machine, since it was her turn to buy breakfast. She and Rose did this almost every morning, and lately, they met most evenings for drinks and apps to commiserate their singleness.
“Look at his ass.” Rose reached around her and snagged a napkin.
“Could you be any more obvious?” Jackie stuffed the receipt in her purse and made her way to the other side of the café, trying not to stare too hard at the handsome man tapping aggressively on his cell. He had impressively thick biceps, and his tight white T-shirt hugged his stomach, showing off some chilled abs. He sported a pair of jeans that hung low on his hips and a pair of beach flip-flops. His dark hair was slicked back by his shades, and it appeared he hadn’t shaved in a week or so.
It was a good look for him.
Her phone buzzed.
“I thought you might like a picture,” her sister whispered.
She glanced at her cell. Her cheeks flushed. “That’s not fun
ny.”
“Why don’t I introduce the—”
“Don’t you dare,” Jackie said behind gritted teeth.
The sexy man pressed his phone to his ear. “Where are you? I’ve been waiting for over an hour.” He grabbed his coffee with his free hand and paused. “You’re not coming? You can’t do that.” He stood there holding his mug in the air.
And she was like a deer in headlights.
“She’s my daughter too, and you’ve kept her from me…stop trying to…” He pulled the phone from his face and stared at it for a second before he slammed his flimsy paper cup on the counter. Hot coffee spewed everywhere. “Fuck,” he mumbled. “Sorry.” He grabbed a bunch of napkins and did a lame attempt of cleaning up before storming out.
“Well, he’s a little too hotheaded,” Rose said with a slight chuckle. “Guess we dodged a bullet by not introducing you to him.”
“If you keep that up, I’m going to start setting you up on blind dates and not tell you, so please, stop. When I said I was taking a year off from dating, I meant it.”
Rose raised her hands as if someone were pointing a gun at her chest. “I was just trying to help a sister out. I mean, who goes without sex for a year.”
“They make vibrators for that.”
“Dear Lord, that’s pathetic,” Rose said.
Perhaps, but Jackie was never going to find herself in the same kind of situation she’d been in last year with Edwin, who still wouldn’t leave her alone.
Jackie nibbled on her croissant as she and her sister walked toward the hospital, making small talk about the weather and other lighthearted topics. Since she and Edwin broke up, Rose had been Jackie’s rock. She didn’t know what she’d do without her family, but especially Rose.
“I better get to work,” Rose said at the main entrance of the hospital. “I’ll see you tonight unless someone with a penis makes me a better offer.”
