Voices from a group of workers filtered into the daycare room. “Put it down there,” someone shouted.
Jay had hired a company to move equipment around so they could relocate the boxing ring into the center of the gym in preparation for tomorrow night’s fight. I’d given Jay all I had in training. He’d seen a vast difference in me. I was sharper, edgier, and back to my old self. I was ready to take on Reggie on Saturday night, and I had to thank Ruby for that. Since our amazing night up in the Berkshires, we’d been inseparable. She often spent nights at my apartment, and in between our intimate web of being tangled together, we talked about the past, the future, her parents, my family, school, and Raven, although I sensed some unease in her. I chalked it up to me, and her thinking that I would leave her again. I had to give her time.
When we weren’t together, she dominated my thoughts—how she lightly snored, how she snuggled against me the entire night, how her strawberry scent drove me fucking crazy, and how I loved waking up to her beautiful face.
I was deeply immersed in all things LEGOs when a loud noise in the gym broke my concentration. Snapping on the lid to the LEGOs container, I glanced up. Ruby stood in the doorway with a ghostly look on her face.
I pushed upright faster than a cat who had just spotted a mouse. “What happened? What’s wrong? I thought you had to work. Did Tommy do something to you? I’ll kill the fucker.”
She smiled, but it never reached her eyes. “Chill. I do have to work in an hour, and Tommy didn’t do anything. I told you I could handle him. Stop being all freaked and bossy.”
“Stop looking like you’ve seen a ghost. You’re pale.” I snatched her hand. “Besides, you like when I’m bossy.”
“Only when we’re alone.”
Visions of being naked with her, her playing with her nipples, my mouth on her, and her mouth on me flickered slowly through my head, pausing on the sexy positions that made my libido kick into gear. I kissed her ear. “I want to dance naked with you under the stars.”
She tensed.
Not the reaction I was going for. “What’s wrong, baby?”
“I wanted to see you and Raven.”
“I’m right here. But what’s really going on?” I wasn’t complaining. Far from it. I wanted her by my side as much as possible. I also understood a mother’s need to see her child. Maybe she didn’t trust me with Raven. Maybe she didn’t trust me period. I couldn’t blame her. No matter how many times I assured her that I wasn’t running, words were just words. Nevertheless, she had to work in an hour, and Firefly was at least an hour on foot since she didn’t own a car.
“I’m tired,” she said on a sigh.
Something wasn’t right with her. “Baby, tell Tommy you quit. Kade wants you to work for him at Rumors anyway.” Kade had offered her a job earlier in the week. Ruby told him she would think about it. I believed she was overwhelmed by all the attention she’d been getting from my brothers and Lizzie. Anytime Ruby had been at my apartment, Kade, Kelton, and Lizzie had fired questions at her about Raven. She’d been a trooper, answering them all.
“I can’t. Norma isn’t back yet, and Pete needs me.”
I ground my back teeth together. Pete, the asshole bartender. I wasn’t going there. Ruby wanted space to become her own person, but she was driving me nuts with her staunch attitude on working at Firefly. I’d asked her if Tommy had approached her about fighting again. She’d said no.
“Ruby, I’m trying really hard to help here. I can’t if you don’t tell me what’s going on. I sense something more than you wanting to see me and Raven.” Whenever she talked about Raven, she always had a huge smile on her face. Not at the moment, though.
Her delicate throat moved. “Kross, we’ve had a great week together.” Her lips quivered.
Anger morphed into panic as my blood gelled. “We did have a great week. With many more to come.” God, I hoped so. My heart couldn’t take it if she decided she didn’t want to see me anymore. I was beginning to understand why Kelton had built a wall around his heart for years. Mine hurt just thinking that Ruby and I wouldn’t be together. Yeah, dickwad. Now you know how she felt when you moved back to Ashford.
“Sorry. I don’t know how to say this without freaking you out.” Her tone caused my pulse to pound in my ears. She puffed out her chest. “I love you,” she said as her face went completely white.
Angling my head, I drew in my eyebrows. Probably not the look I should have been displaying. I should have been grinning and kissing her. I just couldn’t get past the oddness of her timing, and at the gym of all places. Not that we had to be in the throes of sex or anything. The desperation in her voice confused me and scared the fuck out of me. It sounded as if she was saying good-bye.
“Kross, I need your help,” a voice behind Ruby said.
I diverted my attention to the man with the hard hat. “Be right there.”
He flicked his head then lingered behind Ruby.
Since we were on the topic of love, I was tempted to share my feelings. But the hard hat man was hovering. “I’ll be right back.” I kissed her on the forehead. “Don’t go anywhere.”
She grabbed my hand. “I’m also sorry.”
I could feel my forehead creasing harder than before. “For?”
“Kross,” the hard hat man said again. “We’re on the clock.”
I swallowed hard. Jay had needed to run some errands, so I was in charge. I just hoped he would return quickly. I didn’t want to be interrupted while Raven was there, especially during the paternity test. “Let me answer this guy’s question. Then we can talk.” I kissed her on the lips. “Okay?”
She nodded as fear blanched her face, making her whiter than when she’d walked in. Fear was certainly squeezing my limbs into a tight knot. I didn’t want to leave her, but Jay would have my hide if he returned and the ring wasn’t moved.
I walked over to the hard hat man. “Make it quick,” I barked.
“I need more rope clamps,” he said nicely as though my bite didn’t bother him in the least. “Apparently, some were missing to begin with. I also need rope spacers. Three shit the bed when we were taking the ring down.”
I would have told him not to worry about it, but rope clamps were essential for the boxers’ safety so they didn’t fly out of the ring onto the floor, or worse, into the crowd.
“I’ll check the storage room. Jay usually keeps extra clamps.” I shot a look over my shoulder at Ruby before I reluctantly crossed the gym floor to a small entryway that held two closets. One housed boxing and gym equipment. The other closet stored cleaning supplies. I ducked into the equipment closet, flicked on the light, and searched the shelves for clamps. As I did, my mind tumbled, trying to figure out why Ruby was so frightened.
Because the last time she told you she loved you… “Shut the fuck up,” I said out loud. It wasn’t the thought of me running that had her scared. Something else was going on if she had trekked from Firefly to the gym with only an hour to spare before work—something besides her wanting to tell me she loved me.
I spotted the box of clamps, grabbed them, then dug into a plastic bin and plucked a handful of rope spacers. I jogged back to the hard hat man, who was standing beside the half-assembled ring in the middle of the gym. “If you need anything else, let me know.” Without waiting for him to acknowledge me, I hurried back to Ruby. On my way, Ms. Waters walked in with Raven and a skinny dude in his thirties with a canvas bag strapped across his body.
“Hi, Raven.” My voice carried over the muddled sounds of tools in motion. I wanted to wait until after the paternity results came back to tell Raven that I was her father. I wanted to be one hundred percent sure. Then it dawned on me. Maybe Ruby was worried about the paternity test. Maybe I wasn’t the father. Nah, I was. Looking at Raven as I stood there, I could see she was a Maxwell without a doubt. Besides, Ruby wouldn’t lie about something as big as Raven’s father.
Raven waved her tiny hand as Ms. Waters removed her knitted hat. I glanced
back at the daycare room, expecting that Ruby would have emerged when I’d said Raven’s name. Nothing.
While the threesome made their way over, I poked my head in the daycare room. Ruby was gone. What the fuck? I glanced around the gym. No sign of her. Maybe she went to the restroom. I was about to check when Raven ran into the room.
“Hi, Kross.” Raven’s dimple popped out as she beamed up at me. “Ms. Waters told me we’re going to play for a little while.”
“We are.” I waved my hand around. “What do you want to do first? We have dolls, LEGOs, I can read a book to you.”
She stuck her finger in her mouth. “LEGOs.”
Ms. Waters walked in with the skinny dude on her tail.
“Raven.” Ms. Waters pushed up her glasses. “Before we play, let’s allow Mr. Matson to do his job like we talked about.”
Her striking blue eyes were wide. “With the Q-tip?”
“Yeah,” I said. “It doesn’t hurt. It probably tickles.”
“I’m ticklish,” she said so seriously.
“So am I,” I added. “We’ll giggle together.” I crouched down then unzipped her coat. “Let’s get comfortable.”
She shrugged out of her coat. “Do you like my new shirt?” She stuck her hands on her hips and twirled around like a ballerina, showing off her white cotton shirt that had tiny purple flowers on it.
“It’s pretty.” My stomach did some weird flips at how freaking adorable she was and at the thought that she was even my child.
With her ponytail swinging, she dropped down on the mat next to the bookcases, where we stored containers of toys and books.
Before I sat down, I glanced out through the window then the doorway, hoping Ruby would return. All I saw were the workers. I joined Raven, crossing my legs underneath me, although I wasn’t as limber as she and her mom were.
Mr. Matson readied his test, removing a long Q-tip from a package. “This won’t take but a second.”
Ms. Waters made herself comfortable in the only adult chair in the room. She watched as though she was taking mental notes on the interaction between Raven and me.
As we waited for Mr. Matson, I dumped out the LEGOs I’d collected earlier. As Raven began sifting through them, my phone vibrated. I pulled it out of my back pocket. The text from Kelton read, Kade and I will be there in five minutes.
I’d forgotten all about my brothers joining me. They were salivating to meet Raven. My parents were as well. But we didn’t want to overwhelm Raven too quickly, at least not until the paternity results were back. Plus, Ms. Waters recommended that we keep the introductions to a couple of family members for the time being.
“Ms. Waters, you’re still okay with my brothers joining us today?”
She nodded. “It’s fine. It’s also uncanny the resemblance between you two.” She gestured at me and Raven with a painted pink nail.
I grinned while I set my gaze on Raven. She was engrossed in building something with the LEGOs. I’d seriously thought she would go for the dolls. I couldn’t wait for my brothers to meet her. My heart was firing on all cylinders just knowing she could be my daughter. Scratch that, she was my daughter. If that DNA test came back with results saying I wasn’t her father, I would flip out. Then I would have a serious chat with Kody and Kelton. Because this little girl was a Maxwell.
“I’m ready.” Mr. Matson proceeded to swab my mouth first. When it was Raven’s turn, he said, “Open wide.”
She did as he instructed. After he was done, she giggled. “That didn’t tickle.”
“Easy peasy,” I said. Then we dove into playing with LEGOs.
“There’s a rush on the order,” Mr. Matson said as he packed up. “Results should be ready within the week.”
“Thanks.” I snapped a LEGO together, silently thanking Mr. Davenport as well for helping me to get the ball rolling.
Kade and Kelton ambled in as Mr. Matson took his leave. Kelton was carrying a box covered in a black cloth. I smirked, knowing what was underneath.
Kade and Kelton eyed Raven. With her legs stretched out, she was absorbed in everything LEGOs.
“The daddy thing suits you, Bro,” Kade said low, not taking his eyes off of Raven.
Kelton’s mouth dropped open as he too fixated on Raven.
Ms. Waters came over to them. “Hi, gentlemen. I’m Ms. Waters.”
Raven looked up. I couldn’t tell if she was staring at Kade or Kelton, but in one second, she crawled the six inches over to me and sat in my lap. I would have sworn that my heart burst open.
She pointed at Kelton. “How come he looks like you?”
“Those are my brothers. The one that looks like me is a triplet.”
Kade had tears in his eyes, while Kelton still had his mouth open.
Raven touched my face. “What’s a triplet?”
“Triplet means three. And three of us look exactly alike.”
“He doesn’t.” She pointed at Kade, who was blinking as though he was either trying to dry his tears or keep himself from breaking down. I knew the feeling all too well.
“Kody isn’t here,” I said, wanting to tell her everything about our family.
After Kade and Kelton managed to snap back to reality, they acknowledged Ms. Waters as they found a spot on the floor with Raven and me. With our large physiques, Kade, Kelton, and I seemed so out of place in this small room. Yet we were so at home and at ease hanging out on the floor with a kid, surrounded by toys. Weird.
“What’s in your hand?” Raven asked Kelton.
His blue eyes flashed with excitement. “I heard you like lizards.”
Her head of thick black hair bobbed up and down as she curled a small arm around my neck. I was a goner. She had me hook, line, and sinker.
Kelton removed the cloth. Inside a Plexiglass container with holes on top was his iguana.
Raven hopped onto Kelton’s lap in a flash. “What’s his name?” She studied the reptile with fascination.
“Harry,” Kelton said.
“Again?” Kade and I asked in unison.
“Family joke?” Ms. Waters asked as she sat near us on a small child’s chair.
I laughed. “Every pet lizard Kelton had, he named him Harry.”
Raven tapped on the box. “Can you take him out of the box?”
“Maybe another time,” I said. With my luck, Harry would take off, much like the lizards Kelton had owned when we were kids. My mom or my sister would scream when Harry surprised them. I couldn’t risk Harry surprising someone during the bout tomorrow night. I glanced up at the door again, wondering where Ruby was. She must’ve left the gym. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have missed Raven for the world.
Kelton answered Raven’s questions about Harry while Kade and I watched the amazing interaction between my brother and my daughter. I’d never pegged Kelton for a daddy. He’d always been the lady’s man. He was going to be a great father whenever he and Lizzie had kids.
When Harry moved, Raven giggled as she jumped onto Kade’s lap. As though he was a natural with kids, his arms went around her, and tears surfaced in his eyes again. “He’s not getting out of that box,” he said as he tucked a stray hair behind Raven’s ear.
“Will you protect me if he does?” she asked.
“Always,” Kade responded.
Yeah, Kade would make an awesome dad one day as well.
A lull of silence grew among us as Kade, Kelton, and I exchanged grins.
Then Ms. Waters fired her own questions. “Kross, where do you live? Where do your parents live? Have you thought about finding a place to settle down?”
I’d talked to my parents about the boathouse my old man had converted into a man cave for us boys when we’d first moved to Ashford. Currently, Kody was staying in the man cave. He’d offered to move back into his old bedroom in the main house, at least until I found a place closer to Boston.
“My parents have a separate place behind their house that they’ve offered until I can make other arrangements.” Liz
zie would have loved for Raven to live with us at the brownstone in Boston, and I would have loved that setup too. But according to Mr. Davenport, the judge wanted to see a family home environment, not one with roommates and parties. Not that we had parties.
Ms. Waters opened her mouth to speak when Penelope glided in with her gym bag on her shoulder. “Why is the gym closed?”
I guessed she had completely overlooked the sign on the main entrance that said we were closed.
Her green gaze narrowed in on Raven sitting in Kelton’s lap. “Kelton, you have a daughter?”
“No.” Kelton set the lizard down on the other side of his leg and grabbed some LEGOs. His tone was even, quiet, and not the cocky Kelton tone he normally used around Penelope. He wasn’t fond of her. He’d always thought Penelope was after the limelight I received for boxing and nothing else.
I pushed to my feet at her startled expression. “Can I talk to you outside?”
Once we were out in the gym area far away from the daycare room, I came unleashed. “Where have you been? Obviously, you’re okay. What happened to you?”
“Is the little girl yours? Because she doesn’t look like Kade.”
“She’s mine.”
Her eyebrows snapped up. “Since when?”
“It doesn’t matter.” I gripped her elbows. “Focus, please.”
“I’m fine. I was just drunk that night.”
I wasn’t about to argue that I hadn’t smelled alcohol on her. I had to stick with my own advice and get to the heart of the matter. “That night, you were babbling about a guy and Ruby.”
Dare to Dance Page 21
