“I can’t believe you.” Trina’s voice grew almost hysterical. “Why did you have to tell me this now? How can you be so cruel?”
“I just wanted you to hear it from me first.” He began debating when to end the call. In ten seconds? Five?
“Didn’t you know that I lost the baby?” She was crying now.
Oh hell. “I’m sorry. I hadn’t realized.” The baby hadn’t been his. It had been Billy’s, but he was still sorry to hear it. While he hadn’t been convinced Trina would prove a good mother, he wouldn’t have wished such a loss on her.
“I think I should go now.” She was sniffling. “I’m in the middle of a shoot. I just wanted to hear your voice. But I don’t think I can forgive you for getting someone else pregnant.”
“Okay,” he said solemnly, not about to remind her that she had gotten pregnant by another man during their marriage. He hadn’t even been dating Trina yet when he’d had a fling with Wynne. Trina was a very selfish, temperamental woman and he would never know why he had married her in the first place. He’d initially been devastated when he learned of her affair, but with some time and distance between them, Derek saw things very differently.
“No, I said I wanted only the yellow and red M&Ms, you idiot,” Trina yelled, apparently to a personal assistant. “Look, Derek, I have to go.”
Before he could manage a word, the line cut out. She had hung up on him. The longer he stayed away from his old life, the more he realized how shallow it had been. He didn’t think he could go back, not now and possibly not ever. Being with Wynne and Paige was refreshing. It felt so good to just be a man again, instead of Derek Shaw. Somehow, in all the fame and success he’d achieved, he had lost himself.
Now he was getting back what he had lost and more.
He walked the four blocks to Wynne’s flower shop, whistling the whole way. By the time he arrived and cooled his heels as he waited for Wynne to answer the door, the call from Trina was all but forgotten. Wynne pulled open the door, blindingly stunning in a tight black sweater and jeans. Her luxurious red curls were unbound, framing her face. She smiled in welcome when she saw him and stepped back to allow him entrance.
“Hi,” he said softly, unable to keep his gaze from appreciatively sweeping down over her lithe body. She was a beautiful woman. He couldn’t deny his attraction to her, inconvenient and irrational though it was. Just being in her presence was potent enough to make his blood heat.
“Hi, Derek.” The smile curving her lips deepened. “Paige is upstairs getting ready. Why don’t you come up for a minute?”
Derek followed Wynne upstairs, enjoying the view it afforded him of her luscious ass. As asses went, it was incredibly tempting—high and firm and just begging to be cupped. Of course, copping a feel probably wouldn’t earn any points for him in Wynne’s book. They were currently operating under a truce of sorts and he would hate to spoil it by grabbing her ass no matter how much he wanted to.
“Paige, honey,” Wynne called as they reached the top of the stairs. “Daddy’s here to pick you up.”
Derek grinned stupidly. No matter how many times he heard it, he didn’t think he’d ever get tired of hearing himself referred to as Daddy. It was, by far, the best role he’d ever played.
Paige came running down the hallway, a blur of miniature arms and legs, before flinging herself into his arms. “Daddy!”
He sure as hell would never get tired of being welcomed like this, he thought as he buried his face in her banana-scented curls. “Hi, sweet pea. How are you?”
“I’m assited to go skatin’.” She pulled back and pressed a noisy kiss to his cheek.
“Me too.” Derek looked up to find Wynne watching them. Their gazes met.
“Why don’t you come with us?” Derek asked suddenly, surprising himself.
“No,” Wynne vetoed without hesitation. “I have some errands to run.”
“Yes, Mama!” Paige turned around and jumped up and down in excitement. “Come with us! It’d be fun!”
“We won’t be gone for long,” Derek added, cajoling. The idea of spending the morning with both Paige and Wynne appealed to him.
“I don’t know how to skate.” Wynne shook her head. “I’d make a fool of myself.”
“I’m not much of a skater either,” he confessed, “but Paige saw ice skating on one of her shows this week and thought it looked like fun.”
“Please, Mama,” Paige pleaded prettily, clasping her hands together. She was still bouncing up and down in barely suppressed enthusiasm.
“I don’t know.” Wynne bit her lower lip. “I don’t want to intrude.”
“You wouldn’t be intruding,” Derek assured her, sensing he was about to win this particular battle. “Besides, we want you to come, don’t we, Paige?”
“Yep.” Paige nodded, curls bobbing as she tugged at Wynne’s hand. “Say yes, Mama.”
“Okay,” Wynne relented. “I’ll go skating with you.” She wagged a playful finger at Paige. “But no laughing if I fall, okay?”
“’Kay, Mama.”
Derek just smiled.
“You promised not to laugh.”
Wynne was sitting on the very luscious bottom Derek had been so admiring earlier, long legs stretched out in front of her on the ice. Paige, meanwhile, was giggling. Derek decided to take the gentlemanly route and offer her a hand. When their palms met, he felt the same charge that always went through him when his skin touched hers.
He pulled her slowly upright, but Wynne was a hopeless skater. The moment she was on her feet, she teetered forward and fell into his chest. Derek wasn’t complaining. His arms slid around her waist, anchoring her to him. Her breasts crushed against him and her lips hovered perilously close to his.
“I’m not very good at this,” she murmured breathlessly.
“You just need some practice.” He stared at her glossy pink lips. Was it his imagination, or did her lip gloss smell like strawberries? The urge to taste her mouth rose strongly within him.
“Maybe I should go sit down.” She licked her lips.
He groaned. “Is it strawberry flavored?”
Her eyes widened. “What?”
“Your lip gloss,” he bit out. “Is it strawberry flavored?”
“Yes.” Wynne’s tongue shot out over her mouth again. “Why?”
“No reason,” he lied, setting her away from him. Christ, he couldn’t make out with her in the middle of the public skate. He already knew several people had recognized him, and while he was more than accustomed to living his life in the spotlight, he saw no need to inflict the same on Wynne and Paige. One wrong move, and pictures of them would be all over some pimple-faced tween’s Twitter feed.
Paige skated around them, slightly wobbly, but an expert compared to her mother. She wore a pink knit hat with a fluffy ball on the top that bounced with each small stride she took. Her rosy cheeks complemented her hat, and if the grin on her face was any indication, she was having an excellent time.
“Look at me!” She skated in circles, her arms spread wide.
“You’re doing great,” Wynne enthused, still clinging to Derek’s arm with a death grip. “You’re so much better at this than I am.”
“I am, aren’t I, Mama?” Paige grinned with shameless self-confidence. “I bet I’m better than you too, Daddy.”
“I know you are.” He was aware of the proud grin stretching his lips. “Maybe you could give your mama some lessons.”
“Watch me, Mama.” Paige immediately put on her expert’s face. “You just move your legs like this, and your arms like this, and you got to balance.”
“Have to balance,” he and Wynne corrected simultaneously.
Their eyes met again, Derek falling into her vibrant green gaze. They were managing to share their parental duties quite well so far.
“Watch this,” Paige ordered, completely ignoring their grammatical lesson and taking off on a shaky tour of the rink.
“I’d go after her, but I’m afraid I’
d fall again.” Wynne cast him a quick, sidelong glance. “It’s terrible when all the eight-year-olds are showing you up.”
“And four-year-olds,” he added, pulling Wynne closer to his side as a little girl who looked about Paige’s age whizzed past them.
“Don’t depress me.” She flicked him another look. “I haven’t done this in years, not since my older brother forced me to go to free skates with him when he was playing junior hockey.”
“You have a brother?” Derek’s interest was piqued. It occurred to him that he wanted to know everything about her. He wasn’t entirely sure he liked that.
She nodded. Her high cheekbones had a rosy tinge from the cold air of the ice rink and she looked utterly adorable. “Kieran Carter. He plays for the Dallas Stars.”
Derek was stunned. “Kieran Carter is your brother?” As a huge NHL fan, Derek was more than familiar with Killer Carter, as Wynne’s brother was better known, for his crushing hits and disabling right hook.
Wynne flashed him a wry smile. “I can see you’ve heard of him.”
Derek sensed a story beneath her words. “Are you two close?”
“Not since he got drafted into the NHL.” Her smile faded and a shadow of sadness entered her eyes. “He doesn’t even come back for holidays. My mother visits him once a year.”
“You don’t?”
She shook her head. “I never had the money to pay for the tickets or to take off from work for so long.”
“He sure as hell could afford to pay for your flights,” Derek pointed out, feeling annoyed with her brother already.
Wynne just shrugged. “He’s not a big fan of kids.”
“So he never offered,” Derek finished for her. “Has he ever even seen Paige?”
“I send him pictures.”
It floored Derek that someone could have a family—the only thing he’d wanted all his life growing up as a foster kid—and yet want nothing to do with it. That anyone wouldn’t want to meet Paige was impossible for him to comprehend.
“I know he’s your brother, but he must be a total jerk,” Derek said tightly.
Wynne gave him a look of warning. “Let’s forget about my brother, okay? I think you and I need to talk.”
Hell. Derek had enough experience with women to know the phrase “I think you and I need to talk” was a bad omen. “What do we need to talk about?”
“Your plans. You’ve been great with Paige so far and I’m grateful for that. But she thinks you’re going to be living here in Atlantic. I don’t want you giving her unrealistic expectations.”
“I am going to be living here. I’m staying in the hotel for now, but I have every intention of finding a house.”
“So you’re going to spend some time here every now and then,” she said coolly. “You still have to explain to her that you’ll be spending most of your time in LA. I don’t want her to get hurt.”
His jaw tightened as an argument began brewing between them. He should have known their truce couldn’t last.
“I’m not planning on spending any time in LA,” he returned. “I’ll be spending all my time here.”
Wynne’s head snapped to face him. “What about your career?”
“I don’t give a damn about my career.” He shrugged. “It doesn’t mean anything to me. What’s important to me is my family.”
Family.
Another word he’d added to his vocabulary over the past week, a word to be savored. As a product of the foster care system, Derek had been a part of many families without every really belonging. But he had a family of his own and a place where he belonged, with Paige.
“You can’t be serious.” Wynne frowned at him. “You’re famous. You’re a movie star. You expect me to believe that you can be satisfied with living in a tiny town like an average Joe?”
“I don’t expect you to believe anything,” Derek said evenly. “I’ll prove it to you.”
“Derek.” She sighed. “I don’t think you’re capable of it, no matter how much you’d like to be.”
Anger rose within him. How dare she judge him so quickly when she barely knew him? She read tabloids and followed him in the news and thought she could make snap decisions about him. He was sick of being underestimated and judged by his past. He could damn well be a dependable father.
“You don’t know me,” he growled. “You hardly know what I’m capable of.”
“It’s not just you. I think anyone in your position would go back to acting in the end. What else will you do with your life if not act?”
Derek hadn’t really thought about that, but he wasn’t going to give Wynne the satisfaction of acknowledging it. He had more than enough money to live on for the rest of his life if he chose to never work again.
“LA isn’t the only place where I can act, Wynne,” he pointed out. “There’s New York, and Philadelphia has a pretty decent stage. If they want me bad enough, they’ll come to me. I don’t have to go to them.”
“What about your old lifestyle?” she asked. “I know all about the wild parties and the clubs. Can you go without that?”
He pulled Wynne closer to him, trying to bridge the gap suddenly growing between them. “I can’t deny what my life used to be, but I also can’t deny that I don’t remember much of it. It’s damned hard to miss something you don’t even remember in the first place.”
“You remembered me,” she said. “I don’t believe you forgot everything.”
“You’re different,” he said, unable to explain it himself. “All I know is that I’ve made a decision to leave my past behind. Paige is my future.”
“I want to believe that for Paige’s sake, but I can’t.”
Her doubt in him only fueled his determination more. Damn it, it was time he made something of himself. He wanted to be more than a washed-up actor with a dark past. He wanted to be a good father.
Paige swished alongside them in her skates, her cheeks even ruddier, the pink ball on her hat bobbing. “How’d I do, Daddy?”
“You did great, sweet pea.” He reached out and hugged her to his side. “I’m proud of you.”
“So am I,” Wynne added, her eyes glowing as she looked down at Paige.
“I’m tired.” Paige heaved a dramatic sigh. “I need a break.”
“Why don’t we head off the ice and go get some hot chocolate in the café?” Derek suggested. “That’ll give us a chance to warm up.”
Paige clapped her hands together and squealed. Derek had fast discovered his daughter tended to emit a high-pitched squeal whenever excited. A girl thing, he had decided. “Yay! I love hot chocolate.”
“Hot chocolate it is then,” he said, taking his daughter’s hand and sliding his arm around Wynne’s waist to help guide her off the ice.
Wynne was wrapped up in her bathrobe when the doorbell rang.
It was Saturday night, Paige was sleeping over at her mother’s house, and she was about to fill the tub for a bubble bath. After the week she’d had, she needed a night of relaxation. Maybe she had imagined the doorbell, she decided.
Until it rang again. She certainly hadn’t been expecting company. She headed down the steps and crossed her shop. Pulling the curtain aside to peer out the window, she saw Derek on the sidewalk, hands in his pockets, the streetlight making his blond hair look like a golden halo. But she knew he was no angel. A fallen angel was more like it.
Without thinking, she pulled open the door. A blast of cold winter air hit her. She winced, feeling it swirl about her ankles and calves. She gestured for him to come inside.
“What are you doing here?” she asked when the door had closed on the frigid night. She was painfully aware of her nakedness beneath the robe. Her fingers cinched her waist belt tighter to make sure the robe didn’t gape and give him an unexpected peep show.
“I stopped by to see Paige,” he said, dragging his gaze up to meet hers.
“She’s sleeping at my mother’s tonight.” She pulled at the belt some more, just for good measure. “I
thought I told you.”
“I don’t think you did.” He shook his head. “I should have called. It looks like I’m interrupting you. I’ll just go.”
“No.” She reached out and snagged the sleeve of his jacket. “Wait. There’s something I wanted to talk to you about, anyway.”
“Oh?” He raised a brow, his gaze sliding downward yet again. “Can’t it wait?”
She blushed, feeling suddenly awkward. “It’ll only take a minute.”
A crooked grin curled his lips. “Maybe you should put on some clothing if you want to talk to me.”
Her heart kicked into overdrive. “Why?” It was a stupid question, but she wanted to hear him say it. She needed to know he felt this crazy attraction between them, pulling them together, every bit as much as she did.
His eyes darkened. “Do I really need to explain?”
She licked her lips and nodded, ensnared.
Derek moved closer to her. “Let’s put it this way. If you don’t put on clothing in the next thirty seconds, I’m going to have a hell of a lot of fun peeling you out of that robe.”
She exhaled in one long, shaky breath. God, she really was having a hard time resisting his blatant sexual appeal. Think, she ordered herself. Remember what you wanted to talk with him about. Right. What had it been, anyway? Her mind was engulfed in fog.
His arm slid around her waist, pulling her snugly against him. His cock was hard, pressing against her in a tantalizing promise. “What is it?” He angled his head, dipping it so their lips almost touched. Almost, but not quite.
“I don’t know.” She inhaled and exhaled slowly, aware of his breath fanning her lips. “Forget about it.”
“No, finish your thought,” he said, his eyes burning into hers. “It must have been important.”
Wynne couldn’t speak. He hadn’t even kissed her yet and she was trembling, falling into him. She wanted to kiss him so desperately she physically ached.
But he didn’t kiss her. Instead, the knot at the front of her robe came undone. Startled, she looked down to find Derek’s hands pulling it apart. Her fingers closed over his in protest.
Win My Love (Love's Second Chance Book 3) Page 5
