“Or you could take away his game system for a week,” Uncle James said.
“Or both,” I decided. “A little physical work along with the denial of his favorite thing sounds good. I just want my good kid back. I don’t want to worry about him flying off the handle and doing things that might get him hurt, or worse.”
“And you need to come up with a visitation plan for him and his mother, Kane,” Aunt Nancy said. “Something he can count on. And you can’t deny their visits as a form of punishment either.”
“But—” I didn’t know what else to say.
Aunt Nancy shook her head. “But nothing, Kane. It was your indecisiveness that caused Fox to run away. You have to make a decision and stick to it.”
“I don’t really want her alone with him at her apartment. She lives with another cocktail waitress with highly questionable morals.” I thought about it some more. “And Zandra doesn’t know any of my rules either.”
Uncle James gave me a stern look. “Only because you haven’t brought her around or spoken to her about how you want your son to be raised. Do yourself a favor—invite the girl over the way your son has asked you to a thousand times this last week. Then she can learn the ropes, and I’m sure she’ll want to keep doing what’s best for Fox.”
“You’re right,” I had to admit that to them and myself. “I’ll head that way and see if I can clean up some of the mess I’ve made.”
On my way over to Zandra’s apartment, I found myself calming down a lot. I would take her and Fox back home with me, and we would have the evening our son had wanted.
As I pulled up in front of her apartment, I noticed her red Mustang wasn’t there. Little spines of worry began to pop up. Getting out of the car, I went to the door and rang the bell.
A few moments later the door opened and a bikini-clad Taylor opened the door. “Well, if it isn’t Dr. Dad. I thought you told Zandy you would give her a few hours alone with the kid.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve changed my mind.” Looking behind her, I asked, “So, where are they?”
“She took him to buy him a bathing suit. He wants to take a swim in the pool. He saw it out the glass doors, just in back of our apartment.” She opened the door wider, backing up. “Come in. You can wait for them.”
“No, thank you.” I was hot as hell over Zandra taking my son anywhere without asking me first. If she’d asked, I would’ve told her no, as I still had no confidence in her driving ability. “I’ll be waiting in the car for them to get back, and then I’m taking my son home.”
“Your son?” she asked with a hint of sarcasm. “Isn’t he Zandy’s too?”
I wasn’t about to get into it with her. “I’ll be in the car.”
Sitting in my car, I gripped the steering wheel in my hands and tried not to bang my head against it. I couldn’t remember a time I’d been so mad. And when the little red Mustang pulled up next to me, I nearly flew out of my car.
Fox looked at me with his mouth hanging open when he got out of the car. “Dad, I thought you said I could stay for a few hours.”
Zandra got out too, looking at me with a stunned expression. “Kane, what’s wrong? Your face is as red as a beet.”
“Get in the car, Fox,” I said with a low, threatening tone. “Now.”
“But, Dad—” he whined.
“Do as I say. And do it right now.” My hands fisted at my sides as the anger rose up in me. I was about to let her have it, and I didn’t want my son to hear me berating his mother.
“Kane, stop it,” Zandra said. “We can talk about this. I have no idea why you’re so mad.”
“You didn’t ask my permission to take him anywhere.” I tried to keep my voice below a roar. “You’ve got no idea what it takes to be a parent, Zandra. I always make sure I know and trust a person before I allow my son to ride with them.” I looked at Fox again. “Get in the car. I’m not going to say it again.”
Zandra turned to look at him. “Go on inside and put on your swimming trunks. We’re going to swim just like I promised you.”
The air went out of me as my son walked away from me and went into the apartment. “No.”
Zandra came up to me, looking me in the eyes with a determination I’d yet to see in her. “You and I need to talk, Kane. Would you like to do it inside where my neighbors won’t be listening, or out here?”
“You can’t …”
“I can,” she said. “And I will.”
“I’m not going in there. So say your piece out here and then I’ll happily call the police if you won’t let me son come with me,” I let her know.
“Have it your way.” She stepped back, crossing her arms over her chest. “This is your fault. You’ve kept stringing him along. He’s only human, Kane Price. And I know I had to give that boy up, and I’m damn glad it was you who got him, but he’s mine, too. He wants to have a relationship with me, and by God, he will.”
“That’s not up to you two,” I reminded her.
“The hell it’s not!” She leaned her ass against the hood of my car. “If you didn’t want me in his life, then you never should’ve told him I was his mother! Do you think you can control that boy for the rest of his life?”
Do I?
“I’m not trying to control him.” I held my hands up in the air, having no idea what I was supposed to do in this situation.
Have I lost control of everything?
“Kane, I know that you don’t know me well. But the fact is that eating one meal together or coming into my work for one night isn’t going to be enough to know me, either. If you think I’m not fit to be a mother to Fox because of the way I acted that night at work, then you need to know that that’s not even who I am. When I’m at work, it’s all an act, and that’s all it is.”
My heart began to ache as my mind filled with the sight of those men’s lips touching her stomach. “You sure are a great actress, Zandra.”
“I’ve had to be.” Pulling her sunglasses off, she wiped a tear from her eye. “I had to get away from my parents. And I couldn’t do that without making enough money to provide for myself. So, I became a waitress at a nightclub where an older woman taught me how to flirt and how to tease, how to be comfortable doing what was needed in order to make big tips. You know how shy I was. You have to know that when I’m at work, that’s all an act.”
I had to be honest with her. “I don’t like it. I don’t like you working there. I don’t like it for a lot of reasons, Zandra.”
“I’m looking for another job, Kane. I know it doesn’t seem like it, but I am. As a matter of fact, that was how I’d been planning on spending my day today if you never called me. But now that I’ve got Fox around, I want to spend time with him. Tomorrow I’ll start looking a lot harder than I have been.” She stood up and looked at the door to her apartment. “It’s hot as hell out here.”
“Yeah, it is.” I walked up to her, taking her by the hands as I looked into her eyes. “I don’t want to tell you how you should be, Zandra. I want you to just know how to be. Does that make sense to you?”
She nodded. “It does. And I know you’ve got high expectations, Kane. But things take time. I’ve only got a high school education, and waitressing is the only job I’ve ever had. I can’t make something out of myself overnight.”
“You’re right. You can’t.” My heart had started beating faster as soon as I felt her hands in mine. It was distracting me from all other topics of conversation. “I kind of hate what you do to me, Zandra.”
Her pink lips barely parted as she whispered, “What do I do to you, Kane?”
“You take me back to who I was a long, long time ago. The man I’ve become disappears, and the kid comes out in me again. That’s not what I want at all.” Even as I said those words, my body leaned in.
“You can’t always be in control of everything.” She licked her plump lips. “Why are you always trying so hard to keep things just the way they are, the way they’ve always been? What’s so bad about change?
”
“Because I don’t know any other way.” It felt good to finally get the truth out, and I knew without a doubt that there were other things that would feel even better when they came out of me and went into her.
“I think you should let things play out however they’re going to.” She leaned in, getting her sweet lips closer to mine.
“I think you’re going to ruin me.” It was the truth, and I was sure we both knew that.
Her mouth came so close her lips grazed mine as she whispered, “Ruin? No. Change? Yes.”
Oh, Lord, have mercy!
Chapter 21
Zandra
The instant our lips touched, a fire ripped through me. I knew it then, without a shadow of a doubt, that my body had been claimed by this man from the first moment he’d touched my skin all those years ago. No one could do to me what Kane did.
Now all we had to get past was the fact that we shared a child.
His arms went around me as he pushed me back against the side of his car. One hand fisted in my hair, pulling it in a way that had my panties soaked instantly. His body pinned mine to the car, his cock thumped against my sex, and I knew that if we weren’t in public, he would’ve taken me right then—and I would’ve loved it.
But we were in public, a fact Dr. Price knew too. His mouth left mine. We were both breathing in short pants as we stared at each other. “Come home with me, Zandra.”
“’K.” I ran my fingertips over his clean-shaven face. “I think we can work things out, Kane.”
“I think I need you in my bed, Zandra.” His lips touched mine for only a second. “And then we can go from there.”
In his bed!
“’K.” Butterflies filled my tummy as he took my hand, leading me up to my apartment.
“Pack a bag, baby. You’re staying the night.” He stopped outside the door, and then turned to face me. “Let’s keep this under wraps when we’re in front of Fox, though. There’s no need to further complicate things with him.”
I understood that we couldn’t be all over each other in front of the kid, but I kind of felt like he wanted to keep me a secret. “For now.”
With a nod, he let my hand go then opened the door. Fox sat on the sofa with a glass of chocolate milk in his hand. “Fox, what the hell is that?” Kane asked him.
“Chocolate milk, Dad. Taylor made it for me.” Fox looked over his shoulder at Taylor, who still hanging around in her itty-bitty bikini.
Kane looked at me. “I don’t let him have sugar, chocolate, or cow’s milk, Zandra.”
I couldn’t believe what he’d said. “Are you serious?”
He nodded, then looked back at Fox. “And you know I don’t let you have any of those things. Go pour it out, wash that glass, and put it away.” Kane looked at me. “Go pack.”
“Aw, man. I didn’t even get one sip of it,” Fox whined as he got up to do what his father had told him to.
I headed to my bedroom to pack. “Should I bring anything special? Like, what’s the plan for today?”
“I’m going to cook us dinner out on the grill,” he told me. “Just like Fox has wanted since a week ago today.”
Fox shouted, “Yeah! And you told her to pack a bag. Does that mean she’s staying the night with us?”
“Yes, it does. I think she needs to be around us so she can learn our rules, son.” Kane’s tone turned stern. “That way you won’t be able to take advantage of her for not knowing what’s allowed and what’s not.”
Fox looked very guilty all of a sudden. “You’re right. Sorry, Dad.”
I left the room to pack and couldn’t help the thrill that ran through me.
Kane’s taking me home!
When I finished packing and the three of us headed out the door, I went to get into my car. “Did you leave something in there?” Kane asked me.
“No.” I turned to look at him. “I thought I would drive my car over. You know, so you don’t have to bother with me in the morning when you take Fox to school and go to work.”
Kane shook his head. “It’s no bother at all. Besides, I want to take you to the school and get you signed up to drop him off and pick him up. If we’re going to do this, then we’re going to do it right. So come on and get in my car; you’re riding with us.”
I had no idea what had suddenly gotten into Kane. He’d spent all of last week keeping me and Fox from spending time together. Now he was including me in everything.
I wasn’t about to complain, though.
He opened the passenger door for me as Fox got into the backseat. “Thank you.” I sat down, taking in the decadent, creamy leather seats in his Mercedes. “This is a very nice car, Kane.”
“Thanks.” He closed my door then went around, getting in the driver’s seat.
Fox buckled his seat belt, sitting in the middle seat. “Okay, Mom, lesson number one, I always sit in the middle seat in the back. It’s the safest place in the vehicle.” His father smiled, looking proud of Fox for letting me in on the rules. Then Fox added, “Now, if you guys have another baby, then the baby will go here, and I’ll take one of the other seats in the back. And that way I can help with the baby, too. You know, give him a bottle or his binky. That’s what my friend Josh does with his baby sister. His mom calls him her little helper.”
Kane looked at me and I felt my cheeks heating. “Blushing, huh?” He snickered. “Get ready to be doing that a lot. Kids don’t really have much of a filter. At least, ours doesn’t.”
Ours!
Everything felt surreal. Our little family was taking our first drive together. And we were heading to the home that I thought we might share one day, if everything worked out.
I knew I was getting ahead of myself, but I just couldn’t help it.
Fox piped up, “Yeah, Mom, when I think it, it comes out of my mouth.”
“Good to know.” A smile took up residence on my face, and it stayed there during the entire ride to their home.
Their home that was located in the Charleston Country Club community. Their home that was more like a mansion than any home I’d ever seen.
“Here we are,” Fox called out as Kane pulled into a horseshoe driveway and then into one of the stalls of his six-car garage.
“You’ve done extremely well for yourself, Kane, even for a doctor.” I got out of the car and looked at the other stalls. One had a tall, four-wheel-drive truck in it. One had a Chevy Suburban in it. There was a motorcycle in another one, and the rest of the spaces were empty. “You’ve got a lot of vehicles in here.”
Fox hopped out of the car, coming up behind me. “Yeah, Dad’s got lots of cars and stuff. The boat’s in the shop, getting ready for the summer. And the yacht stays at the marina.”
“Damn.” I caught my slip up. “I mean, dang.”
Kane went to the door then stopped abruptly. “Come here, Zandra. I need to show you how to use the alarm system.”
“Oh, I don’t know.” I didn’t think I would need to be in their home without them in it. “Why would I need to know that?”
“Just in case,” he said as he waved his arm, gesturing for me to go to him.
Which I did. “Okay, I guess so.”
He pointed at the pad. “Okay, I want you to do it. Punch in twelve fifteen, then hit the green button.”
The number hit me like a brick in the chest. “Twelve fifteen?”
“Yes.” His smile grew. “Does that number mean anything to you?”
“It’s the time my baby was born.” I looked at Fox. “It was the time you were born.”
“Yeah, I know. Dad uses that number for everything. He says it was the instant that his life changed,” Fox let me know.
“It was for me, too.” My heart skipped a beat.
Kane had to be the best father in the entire world. Our son was lucky he had him. And I hoped I might get lucky enough to have him too, one day. And hopefully that day wouldn’t be too far away in the future. But for the time being, I was happy just getting to spend
time with the two of them.
We walked into an enormous kitchen with gadgets that I didn’t even know existed. “Oh my gosh! Do you have a cook who knows how to run all this stuff?”
Kane laughed. “No. I know how to run all this stuff, Zandra. And I can teach you if you want.”
I was in over my head and knew it. “You’re a lot smarter than I realized you were, Kane Price. I mean, a doctor, and apparently some kind of a financial genius as well, and now I find out you’re a master chef, too. All I can say is … wow.”
“Yep. Dad’s got it all, Mom. And he knows how to work on cars and motorcycles too.” Fox beamed at his father, pride radiating through him. It was clear his dad was his hero—and I couldn’t fault him for that. I was started to think Kane might be my hero too.
Kane finally looked the slightest bit sheepish. “Well, I know a little bit. I still let my mechanic handle the majority of those kinds of things.” He took my hand. “Come on, I’ll show you the rest of the place.”
As we passed through one room after another, I realized there was at least one more thing to add to the list of things he’d mastered. The man knew how to decorate a home. “I can’t believe you did all this, Kane.”
“All what?” he asked as we stopped in front of a painting that was clearly meant to be the focal point in the foyer.
I held my arms out then spun around. “All this decorating.”
“Oh, Dad didn’t do that. Aunt Nancy did,” Fox informed me. “Dad, can I take her upstairs and show her my bedroom now?”
“Yeah. I’ll let you show her around up there while I get the pit going. I’ve got some pecan wood I want to use, and it’ll need time to burn down and get all smoky.” Kane left us, giving me a wink. “Be good, Momma.”
I had no idea how he did it, but with just a couple of words, Kane had me going weak in the knees again.
Fox grabbed me by the hand, taking my attention away from the sight of Kane’s backside as he retreated. “Come on, Mom.”
“Your dad sure has changed his way of thinking, hasn’t he?” I asked as we went to a staircase made out of shiny oak.
Dirty Little Secret_A Secret Baby-Second Chance Romance Page 16
