“Then, I want Terra to be my new mommy,” she insisted.
Fuck. “Again, pumpkin, I’m sorry,” he replied softly. “The girls at school misunderstood. Terra’s not going to be your new mommy.”
Allie’s bottom lip jutted out, quivering slightly. Not often did she not get her own way with Gray, within reason. This was one thing that Gray couldn’t control, though, and there was no way to explain to his five-year-old daughter that he’d made a huge mistake by lying about his relationship with Terra.
He’d made an even bigger mistake by letting her into his heart.
Allie was disappointed that Terra wasn’t going to be a bigger part of her life—he could see that. The sad part was, so was he.
Chapter Eight
Terra
She couldn’t stop hearing Gray’s words from yesterday, or the cruel tone he said them in. She hated that he thought she was so damn scared of her feelings. That she was so damn scared of him.
Mostly, she hated that he was right. She was scared of those two things, but it was because they collided together to form a petrifying truth—she was scared of her feelings for Gray.
She thought she hated him—hell knows she wanted to—but once Terra saw beyond that obnoxious front he put up she knew there was no denying that Gray Radden wasn’t just the cocky asshole he pretended to be. He was a sweet man with a heart of gold and loyalty to a fault. It might have taken him being a single dad to his daughter for that truth to come out, but Gray wasn’t the boy she remembered from years ago. He’d grown into a man, and a sexy, stand-up one at that.
That wasn’t going to stop her from ending this fake relationship, though. She couldn’t be his fake fiancée, couldn’t be his fake anything. This town wasn’t big enough to allow that kind of charade to go on much longer, anyway. Someone was going to ask too many questions, and someone was bound to get hurt in the process.
Someone like her. Or him. Or even poor Allie.
Terra had noticed how quiet Allie was when she’d arrived earlier in the morning to take the little girl to school. She’d noticed how silent Gray was, too, and the way his jaw remained clenched throughout their entire short interaction, but she’d done her best to focus on Allie. She was the sole reason Terra was there, especially after her and Gray’s argument the day before.
It hurt Terra to know she’d somehow hurt Allie, too. Hurting Gray had been gut-wrenching enough, but Allie was an innocent bystander in this game. She had nothing to do with the fake relationship game, yet everything to do with Gray’s reasons for wanting to play it.
Allie was Gray’s reason for everything, she knew that.
He adored his daughter, had a good heart, and was a strong and loyal man...who wouldn’t want that?
Terra, apparently. But only because their whole relationship was built on a lie. Hell, even that was a flimsy foundation, so she didn’t know why it was bothering her so much. She was upset about her fake relationship breaking up.
Except it wasn’t, was it? Fake, that is. It might have started that way, but the way he’d held her and kissed her and yearned for her...and the way she’d begged for him...
That wasn’t fake at all.
She shook her head. That was exactly why this all had to end now. They’d made a mistake, and if Gray wasn’t going to, she would be the one to own up to it.
She pushed her hair back over her shoulder as she walked through the front doors of Radden Automotive. She had an hour to wait until she needed to pick Allie up from school. If this conversation went bad—and she didn’t know what other way it could go—then she at least had the excuse to leave and not be subjected to the storm of anger that was undoubtedly coming her way.
“Hey, Mr. Radden.”
Bart looked up from the stack of work orders in front of him and his face lit up at the sight of Terra.
Shit, this is going to be even harder than I thought.
“Terra, hey,” he said. “Fancy meeting you here, daughter-in-law-to-be.” He grinned ruefully. “Wow, that’s a mouthful, huh?” He chuckled at his own joke.
Terra knew the smile she was trying to muster up must look like a scowl mixed with a look of disgust. But the disgust was for herself. She was about to rain on this man’s parade, a man she’d once believed was just as crass and ignorant as she’d thought his son was.
Wrong again.
“It sure is,” she replied weakly. “Is Gray around?” She cast a glance across the garage bays but couldn’t see him from where she stood.
“Nah, you just missed him. Sent him out on the tow truck to bring a vehicle back for repair. Had to get him to do something seeing as his mind was obviously off somewhere else today. Hell, I probably shouldn’t have given him the damn keys to my truck, either, but if he wanted to clock his time in for the day, he was going to have to do something productive.”
Terra cringed. She knew exactly what was on Gray’s mind, and she felt even worse knowing that their argument was causing an even bigger riff between him and his father. “You know what it’s like,” she countered, trying to defend Gray without actually sounding defensive. “Something’s on your mind and you can’t quite focus on anything else. We’ve all been there.” She shrugged, hoping to make it seem like no big deal.
“Or someone,” Bart replied with a knowing grin. “It’s you, isn’t it? Hell, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to that boy. Can’t really blame him with his head in the clouds when he’s going to be marrying you. You’re probably the only thing him and I have ever seen eye to eye on, Terra.”
Gray’s father might have meant it in a joking manner, but she heard something else in his words that stopped her in her tracks. “You both agreed?”
“Trust me, I’m just as shocked as you are.” Bart chuckled.
“No, wait.” She couldn’t keep up with the thousand thoughts bouncing around in her mind. “You and Gray talked about us? I mean, Gray said that?”
Bart arched an eyebrow, and Terra knew damn well she was piquing his curiosity, but the man nodded. “Yeah, the other night. Gray was still here after the garage closed. I told him you two might have rushed things a little bit, but that I couldn’t think of anybody better suited to keep him in line.”
The other night. So, not last night, or he would have said that. If it was the night before that, then it was before they slept together. Before everything went to hell because of her own fears.
“And Gray agreed with you.” She had a hard time believing that, but Terra needed to know. It was important. “Gray said those words to you.”
Bart, thank God, laughed at her incredulity. “I believe his exact words were that he never expected you, but that no one was more surprised than he was by how much he cared about you. That, to me, is saying something. There’ve been days—hell, probably years—when I didn’t think my son had it in him to care about anybody but himself. But you’ve turned him around, Terra Payton. You made a man out of him.”
She wasn’t sure if she could get the words out, her breath coming out in short, shallow spurts thanks to the emotional hysteria that was threatening to overtake her. She swallowed it down, desperate to keep herself calm. “He’s a good man, Mr. Radden.” She met Bart’s eyes steadily. “He’s a hard worker and a good father.”
That seemed to take Gray’s father aback. “I know that.”
“Then, tell him.” She gave the older man a sad smile. “Please. He needs to know how you feel. He needs to know that you care.”
Whatever Bart Radden was thinking in that moment, it was a conglomerate of feelings that he wasn’t quite sure how to handle. Terra could relate, more than he knew. But Gray’s father nodded, and Terra felt a sliver of hope swell within her. Maybe Gray and his dad could mend the wounds of their relationship that had caused them so much pain throughout the years. There was a chance. All Bart had to do was talk to Gray about how he felt.
She couldn’t think about that right now, though. Terra had to go find Gray. Because she needed to tell
him how she felt, too.
Chapter Nine
Gray
There was so much about the entire situation that was pissing Gray off. Well, he would use the term pissing him off purely because it was better than confessing that it was hurting him more than he wanted to admit.
Sure, their relationship started out as a fucking joke. It was a joke that should have never been played, that much he knew now, but that was besides the point. And, really, Terra got the money she wanted for watching Allie, he got a nanny for his daughter when he needed one, and their little charade had got his dad off his back for a short period of time. Honestly, it even seemed to lighten his dad up a bit, which was interesting all by itself.
It should have been a win/win situation. Everyone got what they wanted.
Then, everything changed. Suddenly, he wanted more. Terra wanted more. And by God, did they ever get more.
But Gray got more than he expected—that was where he and Terra obviously differed. He’d awakened that morning after possessing her sexy body and claiming it as his own with even more devout desire to know her. To have her. In the darkness and moonlight of those wee hours of the night, Gray had developed more than just a raging physical need for Terra.
He woke up wanting her body, her mind, and her soul.
Then, she tossed him aside like it didn’t matter, after making him think it did. Gray wasn’t sure how he had read her so wrong, and he’d never been one to equate sex with feelings, but that was the thing...
He did have feelings for Terra Payton, and really, truly thought she had feelings for him as well. Fucking her in his bedroom was, well, more than fucking her in his bedroom. His daughter had been sleeping soundly down the hall, and never once in Allie’s lifetime had Gray taken that chance and brought a woman home like that. Terra had been different. In so many ways.
But that didn’t matter now. She had let him know in no certain terms that it didn’t matter what he felt, or what he wanted.
Because she didn’t feel or want the same. Terra was getting the fuck out of town the first chance she got. This gig had only been temporary.
He had only been temporary.
Gray threw the truck into park, thankful it was after hours and he wouldn’t have to face his father while he unhooked the sedan in need of repair from the tow truck. The man had been on his ass all day. For once, Gray couldn’t blame him. He hadn’t been able to concentrate all damn day because of—
Terra.
“What are you doing here?” The words came out of his mouth with more surprise and less malice than he intended. “And where’s Allie?”
Terra stood in the parking lot, leaned up against the steel siding of the garage. Dressed in a denim jacket and jeans, Gray could only see the edge of her lace-trimmed top peeking out where the top three buttons of the jacket were undone. Her hair was loose, falling over her shoulders in waves. She’d changed since showing up that morning to help Allie get ready for school. She looked different. Serious. Scared. But a different kind of scared from the look he’d seen yesterday morning.
She pushed away from the wall. “Allie is with your parents. I told them we needed to talk.”
Yeah, that didn’t sound ominous at all. Gray climbed out of the truck and slammed the door. “There’s nothing to talk about. You said everything you needed to say yesterday.”
“I didn’t, actually.”
“Jesus, there’s more?” Gray snapped, wiping the back of his hand across his forehead.
“There is.”
“Well, I don’t have time for it, Terra. As you can see, I’ve got a car that needs unloading and an alternator that isn’t going to fix itself. Don’t you have a town to get the hell out of or something?” He was being harsh, but he couldn’t help it. If she thought his defenses had been up before, having his heart ripped out of his fucking chest didn’t help matters.
“Gray, I was wrong.” She stared at him without blinking, hands at her sides like she didn’t quite know what to do. “I was wrong,” she said again, this time more adamantly.
Whatever he expected, that wasn’t it. Gray stared at her, feeling like the air around him had thinned and he couldn’t get his lungs adequately filled.
“When I was in high school,” Terra continued, “I spent the whole time wanting out of this town. I counted down the days until I could leave, and when I could, I did. And now I’m back, Gray, I don’t know how to stay.”
Her words broke something inside him. Gray figured it was his resolve crumbling down around him. No matter how determined he was to be angry with her, he couldn’t deny the longing he heard in her voice, or the plea in her words, like she was begging him to help her.
“Let me teach you,” Gray said finally, his tone void of the edge that had been there moments before. “Let us teach you.” He had to let her know that he and Allie were a package deal.
The sigh that came from Terra’s mouth was filled with both relief and gratitude. “Just be my reason to stay, Gray,” she whispered, a lone tear falling onto her cheek.
Gray closed the gap between them and reached out, pulling her against his chest. His arms were wrapped around her so tight he was afraid he’d never be able to let go. “If I’m going to be your reason to stay, sweetheart, you’re going to need to be my girlfriend.”
“Your real girlfriend?” She pulled back and stared up at him, eyes wide and wet from her tears.
He chuckled softly at her question, pushing a stray strand of her hair behind her ear. “I think it’s been real since the start, we just didn’t want to see it.”
That made her laugh despite her tears, too. Terra nodded. “And what about this godforsaken fake engagement?”
“Fuck it.” Gray laughed, wiping tears from her cheeks with his thumbs. “It’ll be a long engagement. No one needs to know it started off fake, and they can damn well wait for us to do it when the time is right.”
“We’re going to get married someday?” There was no mistaking the renewed fear in her eyes, and Gray gave her a crooked grin.
“Anything’s possible, sweetheart.” He leaned down and kissed her lips, the warmth of their mouths colliding in the chill of the evening breeze. “But I know two things for sure.”
“What?” She nestled herself into him, gazing up into his eyes that made Gray bite the inside of his lip.
“I’m going to make you so fucking glad you asked me to teach you to stay, Terra. Because I’m going to teach you a few other things along the way. Trust me, I’ve got some goddamn sinful things I can teach you once I get you home.”
Terra’s eyes lit up with a heated mischief that matched his own, but she chuckled, nudging against him. “Oh yeah? I like the sound of that, Gray.” Her fingers snaked up under the hem of his T-shirt, making him suck in a breath at the electricity that zapped through him with her touch. “And what’s the second thing?”
“The second thing is the most important, if you can believe it.” He ducked his head and kissed her again, not pulling back until he knew she’d be left breathless. “The second thing,” he started again, surprised at just how breathless he was, “is that there is absolutely nothing fake about how I feel about you, Terra.”
The eyes that sparkled back at him glistened with more tears. “I’m falling for you, Gray,” she confessed. “That can’t be faked.”
“No, it can’t.” Gray stepped back and held his hands out to her, a symbol of just how true he was to his word that he would guide her and teach her how to stay and build a life here if she would let him. “You...this...us...it’s all very, very real, Terra. It might’ve started off as a fake engagement, sweetheart, but I plan on making good on every promise I just made to you. You just have to trust me.”
Terra stared at his outstretched hand, then to his steady gaze and back again. Finally, just when Gray thought she was going to change her mind, Terra stepped forward and entwined her fingers with his.
“I do,” she whispered, saying her first vow to him that was just as r
eal as the promises he’d made to her. “Take me home, Gray.”
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Other Books by Cass Kincaid
The Bad Boy Hockey Collection:
Single Daddy.Com
Puck Daddy
Unexpected Daddy
Defensive Daddy
The Bad Boy Hockey Collection: A Collection Of Single Daddy Romances
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Standalones:
Made For Sin
Screwed In Sin City
Rough Ride
The Bad Boy’s Promise
Bound By Him
A Nanny For The Professor
A Nanny For The Doctor
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Office Antics Series:
After Hours
Off The Clock
Overtime
Working Late
Office Antics: The Complete Series
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His & Hers Duet:
Corrupting His Good Girl (His And Hers, Book 1)
Taming Her Bad Boy (His And Hers, Book 2)
His & Hers Complete Duet Box Set
A Nanny For The Mechanic Page 4
