I started the kids on a little math facts game. It got them up and helped worked out the wiggles before dinner while brushing up on their math. I had thought at one point that I wanted to be a teacher. I went to school and got my Associate’s degree in early childhood education, but raising Ellie on my own had made school difficult. I didn’t want to spend so much time away from her and had decided to put it on hold until she was a little older. I had been working in daycare facilities in order to keep her with me while earning enough money to support us. Even then, I was still stuck living in my dad’s house.
I heard the door open and close and assumed Mrs. Welsh was back from her wine hunt. The heavy footsteps told me otherwise. It was Mr. Welsh, which meant he would be ready for dinner. He liked to eat around the same time every night. Sometimes Ellie and I joined the family, but generally, dinner was my time with Ellie alone. We usually did puzzles, played one of her video games, or read. People often asked if I missed having a life, but in my opinion, I had a better life than most. I loved my little girl.
“All right, guys, head outside to play. You’ve got fifteen minutes, and then it will be time to wash up,” I told them.
“We get lasagna!” Ellie cheered, clapping her hands before racing out the French doors that opened into a backyard that was essentially a private playground for the kids with damn near every toy imaginable.
Mr. Welsh walked into the kitchen; his nose turned up as he smelled the air. “Is that lasagna?” he asked.
I smiled. “It is.”
“Thank you. I think we’ll have to give you a raise. You know you’re not expected to cook and clean,” he said with a friendly smile.
“I don’t mind. I like cooking, especially in this kitchen,” I told him.
“Is my wife in?” he asked.
“No, she ran to the store in search of wine to go with dinner.”
He nodded. “I have a guest coming for dinner tonight. I assume there is plenty?”
I softly laughed. “You know there always is. I make enough for a small army.”
“Great. I have a conference call. I’ll be in my study,” he said and walked out of the kitchen.
I figured I had better get the table set, knowing Mr. Welsh was likely entertaining a potential investor. I wanted him to succeed. I liked my job and I liked the family and didn’t want his business to fail and them to leave town. I grabbed the dishes and carried them into the dining room, setting it in a semi-formal style. As I walked past the windows facing the backyard, I checked on the kids before grabbing another load of dishes and the necessary condiments and carrying them back into the dining room.
I heard the doorbell ring just as I was pulling out the lasagna from the oven. I quickly put it on the stove, deposited the oven mitts on the counter, and headed for the foyer. Mrs. Welsh wasn’t home, and Mr. Welsh was on the phone. That left me to act as head of the house or butler, one of the many hats I wore.
I opened the door, prepared to greet the dinner guest, and froze. My eyes had to be playing tricks on me. There was no way Jacob Miner was standing on the other side of the door. I blinked, wondering why I had conjured him up after all these years.
He was looking at me with complete shock. I imagined I probably had a similar expression. “Jacob?” I breathed the word, the sound barely audible.
I couldn’t believe he was standing there. He was three feet in front of me looking handsome as ever. No, more handsome. He was a man now. He had those same hazel eyes that could flash blue to green with his mood. There were a few wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, but they were so much the same. His light brown hair was cut short, much shorter than it had been in the days we’d been together. There was the slightest hint of stubble on the stern jawline, giving him a rugged yet sexy look that was making my belly feel very warm.
He was staring at me, and the surprise at seeing me was evident on his face. I had a flashback to the last time I’d seen him. Neither of us had known I was pregnant at the time. One day, he was gone without a word. When I had found out I was pregnant, I had no idea where to even look for him. His cell phone had been shut off, and no one around town knew where he’d disappeared to. It didn’t take me long to figure out I was going to be a single mom. At that point, I decided to keep the identify of my baby’s daddy a secret.
“Erin Maxwell.” He said my full name as if he wasn’t sure it was really me.
His voice rolled over me, sparking more memories. I remembered what it felt like to be in his strong arms, his body over mine. I remembered everything. The way he had tasted, the softness of his lips and the hardness of his body. Staring at him now, I suspected he was far more solid than he had been in his youth. It sent me down a dangerous path as I remembered our last time together. We’d snuck out and lain together under the stars.
I heard a squeal come from the backyard. My initial reaction was it was just the kids having fun. A split second later I went into full panic as I stared at the man who’d fathered my child and had no idea. My eyes widened and my heartbeat picked up. I debated slamming the door in his face but remembered he was Mr. Welsh’s guest.
3
Jacob
It was the moment I had been waiting for. Eight long years I had thought about what it would be like to see the woman who had stolen my heart back when I was young and dumb. I had always planned to come back. I had so much to say to her. Over the years, I had hoped the feelings would fade. I hoped I could move on and never think about Erin Maxwell again. I had convinced myself the only reason I wanted to see her one more time was to show her I had amounted to someone. Seeing her again was not what I had expected. It was like a punch to the gut. She was beautiful. Her dark hair, a chestnut hue, looked silky, and I could almost smell the fruity shampoo she always used. She looked the same but prettier, more like a woman than the teenager I had been dreaming about for years.
I could feel her surprise at seeing me. It mimicked my own. While I had every intention of seeing her again, I hadn’t expected it to be right then. It was the culmination of eight years of longing to rest my eyes upon her, hear her whiskey-smooth voice, and smell that unique scent that was hers alone.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, her head slowly shaking back and forth.
“I was invited to din—” Realization slammed into me. Erin had answered the door of the Welsh house.
I had this strange idea she would be single. Why? Why would she have been single? I was staring at one of the most beautiful women in the world. She would of course be married. But married to my boss?
“Dinner?” she finished.
I blinked at her. “Yes, dinner. Larry invited me to dinner.”
She slowly nodded her head. “I see.”
I felt pure rage burn through my veins. The very thought of Larry touching the woman I had come back to Burning Butte to win back made me sick. I wanted to shout and pound on my chest with my fists. I would burn Western Energies to the damn ground if necessary. I wanted my woman. I had gone through hell to get my ass in a position to come back to get her, and I was not about to give up so easily. Jealousy had reared its ugly head, and all I could think about was reclaiming what I had lost. Or given up. I wasn’t going to lose Erin again, not without one hell of a fight.
Erin stepped back; her arm outstretched as she gestured for me to enter the home. “Come in. There’s a sitting room off to the right. Make yourself comfortable. Larry is on the phone, but he’ll be right out,” she said in a stiff tone.
Before she could say anything more, a blonde woman walked up to the door, wearing a tight skirt and a button-up shirt with a lacy bra peeking through the unbuttoned top. She took one look at me and smiled.
“Hi,” she said, a bright smile with perfectly straight veneers exploding across her face. “Is this your friend?” she asked Erin.
Erin shook her head. “No.”
“I’m here at Larry’s request,” I said, still not sure who the woman was.
“Well, I’m Mrs. We
lsh. I’m assuming you’re the new VP he’s been talking up.
I looked at Erin, who was staring at me with such confusion I actually took a step back. “I’m Jacob Miner,” I said with a friendly smile.
“You can call me Ivy. I see you’ve met our nanny. I just stepped out to grab some wine to go with our dinner. You wouldn’t think it would be such a difficult task, but I assure you it is ridiculous,” she carried on.
“Actually, I know Erin. We’ve known each other for years,” I said, looking back at Erin, who was looking at me with hurt and anger in her eyes.
I felt like an asshole. I had jumped to conclusions, and they were all the wrong ones. “I’ll let Mr. Welsh know you’re here,” Erin said, stepping around me and practically running down the hall.
. I turned to look back at Mrs. Welsh, who was eying me like I was a piece of meat at the market. I was waiting for her to reach out and squeeze me.
“Why don’t you follow me?” Mrs. Welsh said with the same flirty smile. “We can break into this wine and see if it’s any good.”
She walked past me, expecting me to follow. I did. She was a beautiful woman, but she wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted Erin, and she was the reason I was back in Burning Butte. I had so much I wanted to say and explain to her. She was my sole focus.
I followed Ivy into the kitchen, and I was a little taken aback by the sheer size of it. There were two refrigerators and two stoves and about three miles of counter space. She opened a drawer and pulled out a corkscrew.
“Jacob, you made it!” Larry’s voice boomed through the house.
I turned and smiled. “It’s not hard to miss this place,” I joked.
“Do you like it?”
“What’s not to like? This wasn’t here when I lived here,” I told him.
“Why don’t we go into the dining room and let Ivy finish up in here,” Larry suggested. “I’ve got a few matters I’d like to discuss.”
“Sure,” I said, following him through an archway.
“Larry Welsh, this is a casual dinner, don’t you dare talk shop all night,” Ivy pouted.
“I can eat, drink, and talk all at the same time dear,” Larry quipped without turning back to look at her.
I caught the look of disappointment on Ivy’s face, offering her a smile before continuing behind my boss.
My eyes scanned the area, looking for a glimpse of Erin. Larry was chatting away, talking about the house and how they’d found the property and on and on. I was barely listening. I made the appropriate sounds, nodding my head as we walked into the formal dining room with a table that could probably sit twelve. I wondered how many kids the Welshes had; it had never come up in our conversations and I didn’t remember seeing any family pictures in Larry’s office.
“Have a seat,” he said, gesturing to one of the dark wood chairs.
Larry moved to the sidebar and pulled the cork on a glass decanter. He poured two glasses of what I assumed was scotch before coming to sit down at the table. I took the glass and sipped the strong liquor, my mind on Erin and the hundreds of things I wanted to say to her. I had practiced what I would say when I saw her over and over, and now that I was within a few feet of her, I couldn’t think straight let alone speak.
“Thank you,” I mumbled, remembering my manners.
“How was your first day back home?” Larry asked with a smile.
I offered him a smile in return. “Interesting, although I haven’t seen much just yet.”
“You will, you will. Did you get the name of that realtor I sent?”
“I did,” I answered, my mind still not focused on the conversation.
“Great. You just let me know what you need, and I’ll make sure you get yourself a house right away. A little cash has a way of greasing the wheels if you know what I mean,” he said with a wink.
“I do. Thank you,” I said.
I couldn’t wait until I could become an official homeowner in Burning Butte. Erin’s brother and father weren’t going to run me out of town quite so easily this time. I wasn’t a naïve, kid who didn’t have the confidence to stand up to the town bullies. I didn’t care if they were holding badges. I was a law-abiding citizen, and there wasn’t shit they could do to keep me out of town.
Ivy bustled in carrying a large dish and put it down on the table. “I hope you like lasagna. Our nanny is the best. She made dinner tonight.”
“I love lasagna,” I answered, a little surprised to know Erin had cooked.
I remembered how much she hated cooking when she was a kid. With her mother gone, Erin had kind of been thrust into the role of the lady of the house. She was stuck taking care of her father and brother whether she wanted to or not. Cooking was not a chore she had loved.
“Let me go get the kids settled and we can have dinner,” Ivy said, walking out of the dining room.
I wondered why the nanny wasn’t taking care of the kids. “Will you excuse me for a second?” I asked Larry.
“Sure, sure. Bathroom is out the door and down on the left,” he said, staring at his phone.
“Thank you,” I said and left the table.
I wanted to find Erin. I couldn’t exactly go roaming around the big house, but I was hoping I would run into her. This wasn’t exactly how I planned our reunion going. I needed her to see I was there for her and her alone. The job was just a means to that end. I found the bathroom and waited a few minutes before walking back out and taking the long way back to the dining room. I never saw her. I took my seat at the table with Ivy across from me and Larry at the head of the table, trying to hide my disappointment.
“Will your family be joining us?” I asked, hoping it meant the nanny would also be eating dinner with us.
“No, they ate in the kitchen and are upstairs playing before it’s time for bed,” Ivy answered.
I smiled, nodding my head as I took a bite of lasagna. It was amazingly good. Erin had become quite the cook. Maybe she would cook dinner for me one day soon.
“Please tell the Erin I found her food delicious,” I commented.
“Of course. She is amazing. We were so lucky to have found her when we moved out here. I was worried we were going to have to try and find someone from the city and move them with us. I can’t imagine there would be a lot of young ladies willing to live in this small town. The nightlife must be so boring here,” Ivy said, clearly aghast.
I chuckled, taking a sip of the scotch. “Trust me, there is plenty to do, but it is probably not quite the same as one of the dance clubs in the city. Country folks have a way of finding their own entertainment,” I assured her, thinking back to the rowdy parties and silly, sometimes ridiculously stupid things we had done for excitement.
4
Erin
My heart was racing as I threw my car in reverse and backed out of the garage. The Welshes had been kind enough to give me my own slot in the massive building. I was still reeling from my encounter with Jacob. He was my boss’s new VP apparently? My head was a flurry of broken thoughts and old memories floating to the surface. It made it difficult to think straight, but I knew I had to get away from there with Ellie.
“Mom, I thought we were going to have lasagna,” Ellie whined from the back seat.
“I changed my mind. We’re going to have dinner with Grandpa instead,” I said in a cheerful tone.
“But you said we were going to have lasagna,” she repeated.
I sighed, looking in the rearview mirror and feeling a little guilty. “I’m sorry, sweetie. Plans changed. Don’t you want to see Grandpa?” I asked hopefully.
Ellie shrugged a shoulder. I knew she loved my dad. He’d been a huge part of her life. I felt bad for up and leaving the kids with Ivy, but I was technically off at six and I didn’t feel like sticking around and eating dinner with the guy who’d broken my heart all those years ago. I also didn’t want him to see Ellie. Jacob wasn’t an idiot. It wouldn’t take him long to figure out the math and realize she was his. That would surely lead to a v
ery uncomfortable conversation I didn’t want to have in front of Ellie or my bosses.
I pulled into the driveway of my childhood home where my father still lived, and sighed. I wasn’t looking forward to a lot of questions and hoped he wouldn’t ask. Ellie and I knocked once before heading inside.
“Dad?” I called out.
“In the kitchen,” he hollered.
I could hear the beeping of the microwave and guessed he was popping in his dinner. “Hey,” I said, noticing the TV dinner in his hand.
“Busted.” He grinned.
“You know those aren’t really a meal,” I lectured.
“I heated up some leftovers to go with it. That’s a meal,” he reasoned.
“I’ll make you something to eat.”
“What brings my two favorite ladies by?” he asked, giving Ellie a big hug.
“We just thought it was time for a visit,” I answered nonchalantly.
He gave me a look that said he knew I wasn’t giving him the full truth, but fortunately didn’t push it. That was part of the problem of living with a cop all your life. They were naturally suspect and couldn’t seem to keep themselves from interrogating their loved ones.
“Why don’t we work on that birdhouse we started?” he asked Ellie.
Ellie clapped her hands. “Yes! Is it time to paint it yet?”
“Almost. We have a few more sides to put on,” he advised.
I shook my head. “You’re building a bird mansion. That thing has more holes than the Welsh mansion has doors. You’re going to have twenty birds living in there.”
They both laughed as they walked through the door that led into the garage. I pulled open the fridge and dug around for something I could throw together. I found a pound of hamburger and a can of spaghetti sauce in the pantry. Spaghetti and meatballs, it was.
I tossed the ingredients into a bowl and began mixing, my mind going back to the moment I had opened the door to find Jacob standing there. It had been one of those moments where a person wasn’t entirely sure they were seeing reality. It was his eyes. That’s what told me I was looking at the bad boy I used to know. He was a man now, all grown up.
Bad Boy’s Secret Baby Page 2
